The early Christian Church essentially proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth as an "Heretic"--well, not openly. Sure--ostensibly, they named him "The ONLY begotten Son of God", and even founded a religion in his NAME--but NOT one based on his teachings. The overwhelming majority of people who consider themselves of the Christian Faith know next to nothing of the man who is the foundation of that faith, and even less about his objective while he walked this Earth. Certainly, this statement will result in vast numbers of "righteous Christians" up in arms, ready to tear me limb from limb--a very un-Christian response, I might point out! I might also point out that the newly established church of the time were not the only established faith organization to renounce his teachings, as we all know, because the essence of his message was to denounce the people who had set themselves up as the link between God and the people. He had the nerve to try and "cut out the middle-man"! NO established religious or faith institution--not Judaism, and certainly not "Christian", could afford people, especially "God's ONLY begotten Son", running around spreading the news that the priesthood and the rabbis are not only UNNECESSARY to achieve "Christ Consciousness" with personal, direct inner contact with God, but even worse, that they are actually a HINDRANCE to that purpose! Some of the direct decendants of Jesus' essential teachings, grouped under the broad label of "Gnostics" by the Church, whose sole belief objective was to establish that direct link or harmonious connection with God, without the "services" or "interference" of the priesthood. THAT is why the earliest Christian Church deemed it absolutely essential to stamp them out, to nip that "heresy" in the bud! ALL Christian faiths, even the protestant faiths, evolved from that point in time, too long after the Church had "filtered out" any of Jesus' teachings that might have endangered their role as "shepherds of their flocks"--too late, that is, to make the Protestant faiths any different in that regard. They still assumed that a "middle man" should be necessary.
Jesus rebuked those who had set themselves up as the only doorway between human beings and God. They had created a belief system which stated that no human being could get to God without going through the orthodox church and its hierarchy of human beings. They had created a belief system which stated that unless a person believed in the outer doctrines of the church, that person would not be saved.
He came to overthrow that closed system. He came to denounce the people who had set themselves up as the link between God and the people. He came to overthrow the power structures and to expose the power plays. He came to restore the key to knowledge which these people had taken away in an attempt to control the population.
God is beyond all form and all concepts created by human beings. You simply cannot experience God with your physical senses, and you cannot fathom God from the state of consciousness that Jesus called the "carnal mind". However, you can experience God directly by opening your heart to a mystical experience through which God can reveal his being, his essence, to you.
This ability to commune directly with God is the most precious gift that any human being has ever received. That gift is also our supreme personal responsibility. We must never allow anything or anyone in this world to take that gift away from us. You must never allow anything or ANYONE in this world to stand between you and your direct inner communion with God.
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Comments: 35
I believe that few people understand why they believe in God and even fewer know how man first came to conceive one-universal God. It would be instructive that your readers place an Internet search on Future of God Amen. There is an opportunity to learn about, "the beginning of the creation of God."
All civilizations have had some kind of organization responsible for teaching morality for its citizens and one that existed for over thousands of years was the priesthoods of Egypt. Can you tell us how would you replace religious organizations to teach moral values for people to live by?
But I DO have a problem with religions. Obviously, the entire world does!
I agree with you that religious organizations have corrupted their scriptures with myths and inconsistencies. In Future of God Amen some of the inconsistencies in these scriptures are identified, but a whole chapter is provided with recommendations for religious leaders and worshippers of the major religions to unify their beliefs and teach the word of God, which was announced by Jesus Christ 3 times in the Gospel of John - love one another.
I hope you realize that I am on your side to improve scriptures that are sorely out of date. In fact, you can visit my Post, "Was Gensis Inspired or an Emulated Work?" There, you will see why I advocate a revision of the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic scriptures.
Thank you Gerald for your responses. I hope you accept my reasoning for I know you are well read by your inputs.
Jesus did not cut out the middlemen, he replaced them with himself. The way to God, the way to salvation is through Jesus, not by following any teaching of any human or organization set up or controlled by them.
Then congregation one belongs to must be Jesus' congregation; controlled by him and following and promoting only his teachings. A Christian's faith should be in Jesus, not in the elders, priests or pastors of the congregation.
I agree also that most of the teachings and practices of those calling themselves Christians contradict Jesus' teachings; so in effect, they have branded Jesus as a heretic.
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
Cheers.
Fixing that situation was impractical and since Jeremiah 31:31-33 is a promise that one day the written law would be abolished and replaced by a law written on hearts, Jesus set about preparing the congregation for that. So in a sense I agree that, "Jesus was teaching his group of students to meditate in order to commune with God. He admonished them NOT to worship him. He taught them how to reach DIRECT contact with God, rather than enslave them with yet another deceiving religion, selling them a bill of goods."
The purpose of the religion he instituted was to do away with the deception that was being perpetrated. The teachers had "made the word of God invalid" with their traditions and they were "teaching the commands of men as doctrine", (Matthew 15:6-9) so He set out to correct that.
Most of "those who think they are Christians today haven't got an inkling that what Jesus was teaching was a practice of physical, mental, and spiritual discipline." I disagree with the connection with yoga though.
Though he remained true to Mosaic Law, Jesus himself strayed from the religion taught in the Hebrew bible, which at that time consisted of (1) the Pentateuch, which lists the Mosaic Law and tells how God selected Israel to be his chosen people, (2) the history books telling the history of the Israelites from their Conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon, (3) the poetic and "wisdom" books dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world, and (4) the books of the biblical prophets, warning of the dire consequences of turning away from God. Though admittedly, the inspiration came from God, but the books were still written by men who felt they were the "chosen" of God, and therefore biased in their scope. Jesus taught not only Jews, but also non-Jews, and even more unorthodox, he taught women as equals! Most importantly, he taught that people can be forgiven their sins if they were truly repentant.
When I say he was teaching yoga, I meant a broader definition than the connotation you might assign to the word. Yoga (union, joining) is a broad term, but basically it is a system of philosophy aiming at the mystical union of the self with the Supreme Being in a state of complete awareness and tranquillity. It is essentially a "user manual" for getting the most out of life! The way I read it, Yoga is exactly what Jesus was trying to impart to us, NOT a "religion", which "teaches the commands of men as doctrine"! True, He set out to correct that, not as a "Religion", but as a better or optimum way of life.
“The only thing I can see that religions have accomplished is to draw lines in the sand, to separate people into "us" and "them". Religions have caused more hate and ugliness than anything in the history of mankind, and I, for one, have had my fill of them!”
Gerald, I am a man of 75 years of age and since I was a little boy I used to think about God and where did he come from? Raised as a Catholic, I received sufficient religious training to understand the Christian view of belief but also, I had the inquiring mind to visit Protestant, Methodist, Baptist churches, as well as Jewish temples. After reading several books by religious scholars, I became highly interested in the history of Egypt after reading, The Book of the Dead by E.A. Wallis Budge. Fascinated by the elaborate ceremonies, prayers, and beliefs of the Egyptians, I read books by one of the greatest Egyptologists, Henry H. Breasted.
When I retired, I sat at the computer to write for my four daughters to remember me by after I am dead. Forgive my sharing too much of why I wrote the book. But, I must say, it took me two years of research and further reading to complete it and why? I am a man who searches for truth. I do not accept ideas unless in my gut they have a ring of truth. More importantly, I do not like being made a fool of and I will not allow my daughters to be exposed to ideas that make no sense. You will find my book deals with the findings of Egyptologists and my conclusions are based upon referenced material by distinguished authors as well as scripture.
I am impressed with your indignation at religious organizations corrupting the marvelous belief in God, a legacy given to us by the Ancient Egyptians. Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religious leaders will not reveal the truth that their beliefs are rooted in the religious beliefs taught by the Egyptian Priesthood for many centuries. Rather than write anything further, I encourage you to request a copy of my book by sending me your mailing address. Just e-mail me at: nickginex@gmail.com If any of your readers would like to learn a factual history about how man first conceived God and how that God has profoundly influenced the development of the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religions, they could place an Internet search on, Future of God Amen.
I would like to continue a dialog with you because you have the desire to fight for the truth. But also, many of your readers may benefit from our discourse. Only by active participation can we make our world a better one.
I'd be happy and honored to read your book, but I sincerely hope you won't be expecting a critique, since I am really not pre-disposed as any kind of literary critic. How shall I give my address to only you? Through Gather Mail?
A History of Egypt
The Dawn of Conscience
Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt