Subject: Re: Fw: Idolatry Revisited
Date: Tuesday, September 08, 1998 10:20 PM
jc's religion differs from Bible believing Christianity in many crucial areas. I call them "salvation issues" because they are at
the
core of what the Bible teaches concerning salvation (going to heaven when you die).
Here are a few and I'm sure jc will correct me if I've misrepresented him...
jc doesn't believe Jesus was God (that contradicts other new age beliefs!); Bible believing Christians do.
H.
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I do believe that Jesus IS the "Son of God", but not in the same way that
exoteric Christianity does. I believe that we are all sons and daughters of God.
The way that Jesus differed from the rest of us was that he was a "Fully
Realized" Son of God. jc
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jc doesn't believe the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is the inerrant, fully reliable, solely inspired word of God ; Bible
believing
Christians do.
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H. is correct here in his description of my view on the Bible.
jc
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jc doesn't believe Jesus is the only way to God (that's so arrogant!); Bible believing Christians do.
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I Believe the Christ is the only way of salvation. Where we differ is that exoteric/orthodox Christians believe that Christ
expresses only through one personality, Jesus of Nazareth. I believe that Christ expresses through
us all. "I am a center of expression for the Primal Will to Good, which Eternally Creates and Sustains the Universe."
jc
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jc doesn't believe in a literal Satan (you'd have to sacrifice you common sense for that!); Bible believing Christians do.
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Correct. I do not believe in a literal Satan. I see the Devil as an expression of the delusion of believing in "Separation".
jc
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jc doesn't believe in eternal, forever, no-second-chances punishment for the unbeliever (Of course we all get second
chances. God is like a loveable grandfather who corrects us but then hugs us); Bible believing
Christians do.
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Correct.
jc
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So, we Bible believing Christians are either of bunch of backwoods hillbilly, narrow minded, redneck,
fundamentalists... or we humbly accept what God teaches because He is God and that's reason enough.
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I do not look at my Christian brothers in this either/or manner. Also, I am not saying that my path and approach to God is any
better than anyone else's either. But that's OK too. The benefit of conversing and sharing
with each other, is that is helps us on our own paths. I believe that for a Christian to converse
"Mindfully" with a non-Christian helps the
Christian to be a better Christian. The same can be said for the "other"
believer. Engaging "Mindfully" with the world allows the Christian to put
in to practice his Christian principles, and allows the other person to do the same. Thus ALL benefit.
jc
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God said it, I believe it, that settles it. H.
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H., did you read my previous email to N. on this subject? I was somewhat surprised that N. did not respond, especially since
he aspires to be a Christian Apologist, but for your benefit, I'll include an excerpt from my email here:
Now assuming (for the sake of argument) that Christ is a separate and external supernatural entity manifest as Jesus of
Nazareth, and that we must perform certain rituals and profess certain beliefs in order to obtain
"salvation", then I would be very interested in your interpretation of
just what these specific criteria are.
Is obeying the Ten Commandments enough?
Is being a good and kind person enough?
Is just saying the apostle's creed enough?
Could a person believe that Christ is Both Jesus AND the indwelling source of all life, and still get "Saved"?
For a person who lives their life by these "Criteria", what kind of person
would they be if they sincerely followed these "criteria"?
- Kind ?
-Gentle ?
- Respectful ?
- Loving?
- Law abiding ?
- Obedient to God's Will, as they understood it?
If a person possessed all of the above traits, but failed to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as God's ONLY Son, would a Just
and Loving God still send them to an eternal punishment in an unpleasant place called "Hell" ?
When I have asked these questions in the past, I usually got (from S.) a reply something like, "Hey I'm not saying that these
"good"
people are going to hell. The Bible says so! And since the Bible is the inerrant
literal word of God, it's not for me to try and second guess God."
This kind of response, while it may be sincere, is still a cop-out, because (I believe) it contains within it a circular argument which alleviates the believer of the responsibility of discerning the letter of the law from the intent. (This is tantamount to seeing the outer "Vehicle" of something as the "Whole Thing" while ignoring the Indwelling True Essence)
This "letter of the law" approach to life is the cause of innumerable
problems, and often leads to one using "Superficial observation and hasty generalization" because it is often a
deceptively simple thing to look at the surface to see if the "letter of some rule" matches the
"surface appearance" of some situation.
May we all come to learn ever greater discernment.
Your comments?
jc
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