Harvard University for a long time now has been considered, a university for modern studies that include complicated scientific research. It is regarded up to now as a legendarily secular university. On the other hand, “Jesus who lived over two thousand years ago is associated in most people’s minds with simplicity, humility, and spiritual life. He is also the central figure in the world’s largest religion” (Cox, 1). One would notably question why Jesus is being associated with Harvard here. In the ’80s, Cox was instructed to edify students on a course that had Jesus, as a central focus in Moral Reasoning classes. This was an undergraduate program aimed at teaching moral choices. The university had brought up a concern showing that most professionals are currently interested in self gains, it was said that they are doing awful things which are unethical. Owing to this, the university decided to incorporate this course in their curriculum, because, they believed this was what was missing in educational combinations they were giving out to students. They believed it was of no use to give students high-quality edification in complicated scientific subjects or humanities when in the end, it does not serve any purpose because of the lack of moral values. The course was what was dubbed “Making Moral Choices Today”, attracting huge numbers of students which made Cox write the book “When Jesus Come to Harvard”, and it focuses on teaching moral issues. This paper will therefore focus on this topic.
This book is centred on a course that Cox taught to undergraduates at Harvard for approximately 15 years. The cause addressed mainly matters on moral choices and how an individual can go about making the choices. It was decided that Cox teaches a course that included the making of moral choices because currently people of diverse professions are either looking for answers to these choices or are carrying out their professions without the choices. This was incorporated in the curriculum at Harvard although it was not an institution where theology or such social courses were offered.
Cox shows us that these choices are very simple as they include the use of simple phrases like, yes and no although they look so intricate to use. He further states that this question, or the use of these words in peoples’ minds, is believed to be so simple, but the devil is found in answering or using them. He says people do have bad answers to such questions.
The author tells us that ethical choices are currently complex. In the book, Cox tries to portray to us that currently, people are trying to use Biblical teachings in trying to answer ethical choice questions and other intricate questions. What they lack (for those who try) is the direction. Cox tries to explain where the imaginations of people go when they try to explore difficult questions and/or make responsible choices.
For more than 15 years the Christian theologian (Harvey Cox) was responsible for teaching a course dubbed “Jesus and the Moral Life”. This he did at Harvard University to undergraduates, a college that was previously a secular university. Many people waited for a long time for him to talk about his knowledge, sharing his notions and the life and times of Jesus whose expressions and actions are shown in the 4 Gospels.
In the stimulating and soul-stirring book, “he relates the stories of Jesus and stories about him to some of the most nettlesome ethical and moral conundrums of our times including genetics, money, intergenerational conflict, medical procedures, race, ecology, torture, violence and nonviolence, leadership styles, and death” (Brussat, 4). Cox is up to now a theology teacher who can talk about all kinds of religious beliefs with no lost touch of his own beliefs. Cox sheds light on all aspects of religious beliefs. “He brings to this multileveled consideration of Jesus and the multilingual contemporary scene an informed sensitivity, sharpened discrimination, and an ethically awakened conscience” (Brussat, 4).
When lecturing at Harvard University, Cox realized that the son of God was not the sole-possessor of the entire Christian community. A lot of Jew students took him as one of their own whose observations were frequently in sync with those of prophet Isaiah and Jeremiah. People of the Buddhist religion viewed him as a Buddhist, a person who dedicated his life to helping other people. Muslims on the other hand viewed him as a prophet shown in the Qur’an. He normally interpreted religious books more than any other person had ever done to his students. He shows us that people are normally engraved in shallow ideas concerning religious views. He tells us that a lot of people only say what the Bible says, or Jesus said when in a real sense they don’t know what the Bible or Jesus meant. This he says is not even religious. In his part, he asserts that he does not say God says or what the bible says, but rather this is how it is done.
Even if Cox lectured on the different occurrences found in the Bible, for example, Jesus’ temptations by Satan together with the starting of his ministering as a rabbi/teacher in Jerusalem, a lot of his students notably put in great efforts in relating Jesus’ ministering during his time, with the intricate and thorny matters of current lifestyles. For example, the students thought the instruction saying that they should not be anxious concerning “tomorrow”, hard to comprehend. As shown by Cox, “in a culture where concern about the future is constant and date books or Palm Pilots are a necessity, the ideal of living gratefully in the present moment struck them as a moral choice they could not make” (Cox, 128).
“He also discussed a lot of the parables Jesus taught while emphasizing their capacities to shocking or dashing our expectations. These stories allude to the in breaking kingdom of God and the changes that are part and parcel of it” (Cox, 128). Cox further challenged students to see Bible teachings with a new dimension. The secret behind the comprehension of the importance of Jesus to current matters, Cox says, is in the use of imaginations to look up into the state of affairs he is teaching and then have compassion with what he tries to tell us. “Comparable to the way the Jews have used the Midrash and Catholics have used the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. These approaches yield a lively and salutary alternative understanding to the just-the-facts obsession of our society” (Cox, 332).
Cox’s comprehensive interpretation of God’s Summoning Moses on Mount Sinai is one among the many book’s high points. This is because he puts a challenge on us, he challenges us to make moral decisions just as Jesus’ special conduct towards the poor in the society, and his perception of peaceful co-existence, and the love he had for enemies. Again the author has several sharp notions on the study about a historical Jesus, an extremely well-liked Left Behind series, “impersonality as “one of our gravest moral dilemmas,” and why Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison stands as “one of the most buoyant and life-affirming documents in all Christian literature” (Cox, 332). This book was written in a succinct manner relating the times and life of Jesus as compared to the intriguing current lifestyles. The author tells us that this is why Jesus was used as a moral exemplary to instil moral values in the students.
In a synopsis, Harvard University initiated this program to help people try to build moral or ethical choices, to know exactly what they are supposed to do in any unethical situations they find themselves in. A Harvard faculty decided that Cox was supposed to incorporate the religious icon (Jesus) since most of the graduates coming out of this university were only handicapped to the respective professions that they were taught. It was noticed that the university had ideas that were secular and therefore, there was the need to incorporate such religious courses. What was missing as shown in this book is that the graduates were not making use of their professions more responsibly. As a result, the university made it compulsory to take at least one course in moral reasoning. Therefore this was a project aimed at preparing the students on ways of applying their education or professions morally and accountably.
Works cited
Cox, Harvey. When Jesus Came to Harvard. Boston: Mariner Books. 2004. Print.
Brussat, Frederic. Spirituality Practice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2009. Print.