For the past 60 years, I held in trust a wooden model of the Mayflower. The Mayflower was the ship the Pilgrims sailed in 1620 as they migrated from England to the coast of America in search of a place where, without fear of punishment, they could practice their Christian faith. As I replaced the rigging on the Mayflower model and reglued the masts so that they could properly hold the varnished canvas sails, I began to contemplate what the Mayflower ship represented. It seems heroic that the Pilgrims were willing to risk their lives to leave England and to sail across a treacherous sea in a ship as small and unstable as the Mayflower, as I was taught, in pursuit of religious freedom.

But then I asked myself if the Pilgrims’ desire to preserve their freedom of religious expression ever masked intolerance of another’s freedom of religious expression? And what does it mean to believe in religious freedom today when many Christian citizens support only political candidates who advocate for their flavor of Christianity while being intolerant of other religions? Is this the freedom of religion that the Pilgrims sought as they sailed on the Mayflower, to promote their own religious vision while repressing all other religious beliefs? Is this the religious expression, shaped by religious intolerance, that we as a nation today profess as sacred governance?

The predominant message of Christian preachers and teachers today is that Jesus died to save us from our moral sins. This message is so prevalent and accepted that most Christians fail to recognize that Jesus never claimed that his ministry, as reflected in his life and teachings, was to save the world from sin. To the contrary, as the Bible makes clear, moral sin was never the primary focus of Jesus’ teachings.

This exegetical divide within Christianity over biblical interpretation raises fundamental questions.

• What did Jesus teach?
• Is salvation just spiritual, or is it earthly and even political?
• What does it mean to believe in the Bible if we disregard what Jesus and the early church taught?

Today’s topic will challenge many popular Christian assumptions and beliefs. My intent with this topic is to reclaim the early teachings of Jesus and his early followers, enabling us to reassess what we value, what we believe, and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.

We live in violent times. Nations openly battle each other in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, with the United States providing military aid to the countries we favor. And while most US citizens do not fear a direct military attack by another nation, we do fear surprise attacks from international terrorists as well as homegrown violent extremists.

But just what does Christianity teach about violence and war? And more specifically, when, if ever, is war and violence just?

These are the questions we all ask and the answers we all seek. I hope that this theological and historical analysis of our existential experience will enable us to reassess and reclaim what we value, what we believe, and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.