Jane Fonda: “Jesus was love, not just love for some, but for all” 

The Hollywood actress and icon, Jane Fonda, has been vocal about her admiration for Jesus Christ as a historical figure and his teachings of love, compassion, and justice.

Her spiritual beliefs have been deeply influenced by her activism and social justice work, which she sees as an extension of her understanding of the teachings of Christ.

Her relationship with Christianity remains one of reflection, introspection, and a constant search for truth and meaning.

In a blog post about this specific topic, she wrote, “I am frequently asked about my faith. At the end of my marriage to Ted Turner, I became a Christian. For several years prior, I had begun to feel I was being led. I felt a presence, a reverence humming within me. It was and is difficult to articulate.”

“Today I think I know what was happening: I was becoming embodied, whole. I had spent 60 years disembodied, trying to be perfect so I could be loved. You can not be whole if you are trying to be perfect,” Fonda added.

Fonda later shared a certain Bible quote that influenced her deeply.  She said, “In Matthew 5:48 when Jesus tells his disciples, ‘You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,’ it was a mistranslation of the Greek adjective ‘teleios’ which actually means ‘whole, fully formed, fully developed.’

She then explained, “Jesus was not telling his disciples to be perfect like God, he was telling them to be whole, like God.”

“I find particularly moving and plausible his special relationship with Mary, the apostle that is revealed in the Gospel of Mary. Jesus was love, not just love for some and not for others but…love…for all,” Fonda stated.

Jane Fonda sees the connection between Christianity and Feminism

In the same post, Fonda shared her views on experiencing spirituality within the context of Christianity.

She said, “Lots of folks go to church every Sunday and spend the rest of their time avoiding dealing with the question of consciousness. They think about God and talk about their religious beliefs but avoid experiencing Spirit.

“Thinking and experiencingare not the same. One happens in the head. The other is a flash, a rush of intuition that seems to permeate our entire being,” Fonda added.  

“That is what Jesus meant when he said that God is within us. That is what I am seeking, and I have found that since I have come to feel God within me, I experience less fear—of anything, including death,” she explained. 

Another result of her faith is that Fonda has become a deeper, more embodied feminist. She explained, “Helen LaKelly Hunt is right when she says in her book ‘Faith & Feminism,’ that feminism is about fighting for the core beliefs and values of Christianity.”

“She wrote in her book that religion and feminism are different expressions of the same impulse toward making life more just and whole,” Fonda concluded.