What's In A Name?

Our Unity teachings have encouraged us to think of the term Christ as the spiritual potential within all people. However, it is clear that all New Testament writers used Christ and Jesus interchangeably. Most people do the same today. Christ is a Greek term that means anointed. In the Old Testament, anointing was a ritual reserved for kings and prophets. In the New Testament, it is a title referring to the Messiah. Jesus Christ is intended to be understood as Jesus the anointed, Jesus the Messiah.

The associations we make with Christ may make our attainment of Christ Consciousness seem like a remote possibility. Evidence suggests that Jesus himself avoided the title. "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make (anoint) him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself" (John 6:15). The focus of his teaching is directed toward the spiritual awakening, not for the purpose of attaining an evolutionary advancement of the soul, but for the purpose of living a fuller, freer life right now.

I have been asked where I got the idea that our soul is evolving. It is a generally accepted belief in New Thought that was adopted by Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity:

“As death has no power to help anyone, the condition of the Adam man is not bettered by dying. Therefore, when people are re-embodied they ‘come forth . . . unto the resurrection of damnation,’ in other words, condemnation or correction. Everyone begins where he left off.”

I once embraced this belief. With the abundance of NDE research now at our disposal, I’ve wondered if Fillmore too would have exercised his declared right to change his mind. It is important for us to embrace this life, this journey on earth as our own. I do not think Jesus held himself up as the example for us to follow: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18). I am inclined to believe he taught that the soul is complete, and his mission was to help us learn to let this light of completeness shine through every aspect of our daily life.