The Universal Christ (by Richard Rohr)

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I have liked and appreciated the books by Richard Rohr since I first discovered his writing eighteen years ago. I have gradually acquired more of his work, and have found each book challenging, thought-provoking, and well written, if a tad heavy at times. I saw ‘The Universal Christ’ recommended in more than one place last year, so I put it on my wishlist and was given it for my birthday a couple of months back.

Richard Rohr is a Roman Catholic priest who has studied some psychology, and has counselled many individuals over the decades since he was ordained. He’s not a traditionalist, or a hard-line Catholic. He acknowledges that there are many ways to find God, that each denomination or confession may have some of the truth, but probably not all of it. He is a deep thinker, full of both common sense and insight.

Once or twice I have had moments of wondering whether Rohr’s theology and reasoning are entirely sound, but it doesn’t stop me reading. I like to keep a fairly open mind. My own beliefs have moved on from the rather single-minded evangelicalism of my twenties - and even then I was never a fundamentalist. I value mercy more than judgement, and am pretty sure there will be many more people in heaven than most of us expect. I found the book ‘The Divine Dance’ very thought-provoking when I read it four years ago, and in a sense ‘The Universal Christ’ follows on from it.

The basic premise is that Christ - and Rohr reminds us at the start that this is not Jesus’ surname, but a description of the Messiah, someone much bigger than the thirty-three years of Jesus’ life on earth. Rohr links Christ with the ‘Logos’, the ‘Word’ of God which was present from the beginning, according to John’s gospel, and which was involved in - and part of - the initial creation of the heavens and the earth.

And thus, Rohr explains, since Christ was an active participant in the creation from nothing, he is still part of it - still present: not just in other people, but in animals, plants, even the sea and the air. And yes, in a sense that’s obvious; we know that God is everywhere, that he’s involved in everything. But it’s easy to forget that our awe at a waterfall or a glorious sunset is not just seeing God’s handiwork, but, in a sense, seeing God himself.

The perspective of this book is, I found, quite refreshing and ultimately very encouraging. The focus is on love, and mercy; on God’s presence in us and with us. At first it felt almost as if Rohr were down-playing Jesus and his sacrifice for us - but he doesn’t at all. However he does point out that some who thank Jesus for what he did seem to ignore his life, example and teaching - which form the bulk of what we know about him.

I had not previously come across the idea of the ‘Great Comma’, although it had occurred to me more than once while saying the Apostles’ Creed that there was a significant gap - 33 years - between, ‘born of the Virgin Mary’ and ‘Suffered under Pontius Pilate’. So I found that concept, which is the main heading for the second part of the book, particularly interesting. A great deal of what Rohr said resonated quite strongly with me.

His writing is good, persuasive and yet not at all coercive. He doesn’t mind people seeing things differently, but invites his readers to re-think some Scripture verses in the light of what he has said, to be open enough to see that we may have become entrenched in unhelpful viewpoints, many of them not in fact Scriptural; not even commonly held views from the Early Church days.

While the focus is on Christ being in and part of everyone, Rohr isn’t a Universalist in the generally understood term; he accepts that there are people who have cut themselves off from God’s love. But he doesn’t condemn or criticise, instead inviting people to begin to experience Christ for themselves.

For believers, those interested in faith, perhaps even those who have been put off by fundamentalists. It’s quite heavy-going in places; it took me over three weeks to finish this, reading just a few pages each morning and having plenty to think about. But I’m very glad I read it.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews