Dogma Wounds Churches

      Fundamentalist religious tenets that are irrational contain the seeds of their own demise as human knowledge expands and spiritual understanding evolves. This explains the decline in church membership in the 21st century.  Ultimate, mystical Truth does not change, therefore, religious tenets must change as we reach higher levels of understanding which naturally occurs when our knowledge of both science and spirituality expands. If human institutional tenets do not change as we collectively understand higher levels of Truth, then such dogma will be cast aside as irrelevant. 

       God is the unknown Truth and power behind the creation and evolution of the universe and everything within it. Though this is beyond the human intellect to comprehend completely, we are capable of spiritual insights, thoughts, and actions that allow us to express and demonstrate the very presence of God. This was the understanding that Jesus had and it was his desire to share this knowledge and power with all others who were also seeking the presence and guidance of God. Jesus never taught that we should worship him. What he did teach was that we should follow him, be like him, or even better. Make this the new foundation of your church organization so you can heal the wounds of theological dogma. Learn to demonstrate unconditional love in every moment then welcome rational spiritual believers back into your church membership.

A Meditation On Life's Purpose

 My purpose in life is to be the best me that I can be in every moment of now. I am an individual expression of the life, love, truth, and reality of God, the creative power within all that is and all that can be. As I seek to be guided by the wisdom and will of God, I cocreate through my thoughts and actions moments of righteousness, love, hope, and justice. That is forever my purpose within every circumstance I experience.

I do not have to control anything other than my own thoughts and motives. I do not have to influence others in any way, than by my example. Love and justice toward others from me will ultimately harmonize with the divine in them. We are of the same source and reality.

As I let go and let God, I am at peace.

Faith And Politics

           It is interesting that the goals of democratic political systems and religious systems have some similarities. They both establish rules of conduct to support their members or constituents. Religions accomplish it through faith-based tenets. Democratic governments do it through civil laws passed by legislative assemblies.  However, there is one huge difference between these systems that many of our country’s citizens seem to forget.

 

The goal of each church or religious organization is to provide a clear and fixed set of beliefs that will attract as many people of like mind to join in its assemblies and activities. Religions have specific dogma and provide a discipline that supports their basic beliefs. What makes a religion develop is membership conformity to its central religious tenets. This establishes criteria for excluding those who do not agree.

 

The goal of civil governments, however, is based on a different premise. Civil, democratic governments try to find ways to include its citizens of all different religions and cultures in the making of laws for that jurisdiction. In fact, a primary purpose of parliamentary procedures is to guarantee full consideration of minority opinions before a vote is taken. What makes a democracy work, is broad cultural knowledge, a sense of acceptance, fairness, and flexibility. 

 

In recent decades evangelical Christians have become politically active with the goal of making our state and national civil governments reflect their conservative religious beliefs. Their goal is to elect representatives and appoint judges at all levels, to enact and interpret law according to their evangelical beliefs.  Other perspectives are not important, because evangelicals believe they know what God wants.

 

When inflexible religious faith gains political power the core of our democracy weakens. Dissenters are treated as heretics and every maneuver is used to label such opponents as un-American extremists and to silence them. 

 

In my opinion, one’s spirituality can and should be consistent with scientific knowledge, human experience, reason, and a perspective of unconditional love and justice towards all. Anything else is a populist faith based on hearsay that requires relentless propaganda and retribution. 

 

It is my belief that God has no favorites. We are all to treat one another with equal love and respect. This message is the point of Great Commandments as well as the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story Jesus used to interpret the commandments, according to the author of the Gospel of Luke. 

 

Evangelical Christianity is a theology created by human thinking at the lowest level of human understanding. It appeals to the human mind’s tendency toward the superstitious, and replaces reason with fear, guilt, and magical solutions. Worst of all it is held as absolute truth so believers can absolve themselves of any sense of personal responsibility for what they say or do.  It is an unethical approach to life that reverses the point of Jesus’ actual teachings.

 

Many evangelicals behave like cult members with a magical, mystical Jesus as their central idol. Biblical scholars have known for centuries that the historical Jesus did not teach doctrine consistent with fundamentalist Christian dogma. Despite this, many churches do not educate their lay members about these findings. In fact, fundamentalists have done the opposite. They have opened their own schools and universities to perpetuate in young minds fundamentalist dogma unfettered by Biblical, historical, or scientific truth. 

 

Evangelicals can teach whatever they wish to each other in their homes and institutions. However, because they are attempting to inject our national political system with their untenable theology, it is important that more of us express our metaphysical (non-literal) Christian faith, to balance the public discussion. It is also important we respect and maintain our country's traditional separation of church and state.

God Is All That Is!

The ancient name for God is “I-am-that-I-am.” For me, that means God is whatever is and not anything more nor less.  All of us recognize the reality of the universe, of the elements that make up all that exits, of life itself, of consciousness, thoughts, feelings, hopes, and last, but not least, time.  We are in awe of reality because we see magnificent order from the tiniest sub-atomic particle to the largest object in the universe, but we are at a loss to explain, or even understand, most of it. Everything that is or that can be is God because God is the “I am” of everything.

From this understanding, we come to realize that God is not a person, nor a separate personality, and does not exist as an entity outside of anything.  God is the perfect cosmic pattern, the intelligence, and source of power creating all that exists and guiding the functioning and evolution of everything in our universe.  Mankind is a spiritual partner in this cosmic expression because we are made in the image and likeness of God’s creative power and potential. Jesus invited all to follow his example of living in God’s reality. Every thought can begin a process of creating a miraculous new reality.  As more of us allow our souls to be guided by the highest consciousness of love and justice towards one another, the Kingdom of God grows and expands, just as Jesus stated. This is neither a secret, nor difficult to do. All it takes is a personal, spiritual commitment to use our own knowledge and skills to help those who come into our lives and who need the assistance we can provide.

Expecting miracles from within our experiences of natural life is so much more important than expecting miracles of supernatural magic, that religious fundamentalism needs to be gently, but completely, set aside. 

    There is no sin greater than believing that humans are hopelessly sinful. Please be aware that the idea that Jesus had to die in order to forgive all of us of our sins had its beginnings in the writings of Paul, decades after Jesus' crucifixion, when he compared Jesus' execution to the sacrifice of the paschal lamb during Jewish Passover celebrations. It was further expanded by Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, who wrote a treatise about it in the year 1097.  From the second millennium on, substitutionary atonement became an increasingly significant element of conservative Christian dogma. 

      In contrast to that, Jesus taught that bringing God’s Kingdom to earth could only be done by joining together with him in peacefully confronting rulers of human empires until they yield to the absolute power of God's rule of unconditional love and justice towards all. He was the leader of a non-violent resistance movement. Just as Jesus was, we too must be so dedicated to living our lives in God’s spirit of love and justice that we willingly and peacefully face whatever resistance or sacrifice comes our way because of our discipleship.  

      Human concepts of power, wealth, or exclusivity are usually the motives behind what is described as sinful behavior. However, unconditional love and universal justice, independent of our personal circumstances, is the only way to create a life on earth of happiness, peace, and achievement. It is the sole human pathway to righteousness, the Kingdom of God, and the experience of heaven. It is the way of the spirit of Christ.

Within every moment of eternity that I experience, I dedicate myself to the only power there is and ever has been, God, the good.

Moses Did Not Write the "Five Books of Moses"

As listed by renowned Bible scholar, 

Richard Elliott Friedman, in his book

The Bible With Sources Revealed, HarperOne, New York, NY, 2003

the actual writers of the “Five Books of Moses” were:

J – “For two centuries (from 922 to 722 BCE) the biblical promised-land was divided into two kingdoms: the kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south. A text known as J was composed during this period. It is called J because, from its very first sentence, it refers to God by the proper name of YHWH (“Jahwe” in German, which was the language of many of the founding works in this field).  … J was composed by an author living in the southern kingdom of Judah.”

(Friedman, p 3).

E – “A second text, know as E, was composed during this same period.” (from 922 to 722 BCE) “E was composed by a priest living in the northern kingdom of Israel. It is called E because it refers to the deity simply as God, which in the original Hebrew is Elohim, or by the divine name El in its stories until the time of Moses.” “…the E text developed the idea that the proper name of God, YHWH, was not known on earth until God chose to reveal it to Moses.” (Friedman,  p. 4).

RJE – “In the year 722 BCE, the Assyrian empire destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. J and E were then no longer separated by a border. These two versions of the people’s history now existed side by side in the kingdom of Judah. In the years that followed, someone assembled a history that used both J and E as sources. The editor/historian who combine J and E into a single work is known as the Redactor of JE or RJE, for short.” (Friedman, p. 4)

P – “The third main source is known as P because one of its central concerns is the priesthood.”   It is most likely  “…that P was composed not long after J and E were combined—specifically, that it was produced by the Jerusalem priesthood as an alternative to the history told in JE. (Friedman, p. 4)

Dtn – “The final main source is known as D because it takes up most of the book of Deuteronomy. More specifically, Deuteronomy comprises: (1) a law code that takes up chapters 12-26 known as Dtn. (Friedman, p. 5)

Dtr1 – The original, Josianic edition of the Deuteronomistic history is called,  Dtr1. (Friedman, p. 5)

Dtr2 – The second, exilic edition of the Deuteronomistic history is called Dtr2. (Friedman, p. 5)

R – All original sources and modifying editions were put together by an editor into the final five-book work. This final editor is known as the Redactor, or for short: R. (Friedman, p. 5)

Other – e.g. Other independent texts, e.g. Book of records used by R (Friedman, p. 32)

Christian Dogma Versus Metaphysics

1a. Dogma: God is an all-powerful being and He orchestrates all the circumstances of life then judges each human’s motives and actions.

1b. Metaphysics: God is a personification of the universal power and unknown source of being through which each human co-creates the life to which he or she aspires.

2a. Dogma: God condemns sinners to Hell for all eternity.

2b. Metaphysics: When I choose to reject my ability to express unconditional love toward others, then that can create hellish human circumstances within those moments of eternity that I live.

3a. Dogma: Jesus died for our sins.

3b. Metaphysics: Forgiveness is an inspired change of mind, heart, and life that occurs within individuals whenever, and however they open themselves up to the experience and guidance of God, the ultimate Truth and highest Consciousness of being.

4a. Dogma: Jesus and God perform miracles.

4b. Metaphysics: Experiencing the reality of knowledge and wisdom beyond the human capacity to understand will certainly appear miraculous, but that which is real, forever exists in potential and is always available for expression.

5a. Dogma: Only Christians are saved and will go to heaven.

5b. Metaphysics: Spiritual awakening is an inner, personal evolution into the understanding and demonstration of divine, immutable Truth, and is not a competition among religions.

A Trilogy Of Spiritual Thoughts

Faith

Faith is not a willingness to believe what others tell you is the truth. That is shallowness, which has no roots. Faith is the understanding of truth, personally experienced and affirmed by the observable results of what you think and do. Try resolving conflict with love, compassion, and forgiveness toward others and see what happens. Experience it. If the conflict diminishes, have faith in the process and the results. If the immediate conflict does not diminish, pray, persist, and still keep your actions centered on love and forgiveness, because ALL that you offer will ultimately determine what happens and what is returned to you. Develop faith based on what is revealed to you when acting from your highest and best intentions.

                                                                    

Truth

Truth is that which is and that which happens. The only things obscuring truth are our efforts to interpret what is and what happens in ways that force events to mean what we want them to mean rather than learning more from what they actually are. A willingness to always accept truth, just as it presents itself, is the foundation for freedom, growth, knowledge, fulfillment, justice, and happiness. As you learn truth, you grow. As you grow, you change. As you change, so does the world, because you are a part of what the world is.

Love

      The secret of life is that there is no secret. Everything is just exactly as it expresses itself. Still, how everything seems depends on how you decide to interpret life and the universe, because you will tend to draw into your experience that which you expect and deny the reality of everything contrary to your desires. However, changing your attitude to one of unconditional objectivity and love, shifts everything. Thoughts are things and they are most beneficial to you when lovingly, honestly, and rationally formed. So, when you change your mind so that love guides you to accept life just as it occurs in all its variations, you will discover that faith, truth, and love all become the same experience within every moment. Let love live through you.