Love Was Jesus' Only Message

Consider Jesus’ parables. When you really think about their practical implications, you realize Jesus’ only message was offering us practical hints on how to love one another.  According to Jesus, successfully doing this places us in God’s presence. That’s it. All the ideas like Mary being a virgin mother, Jesus rising from the dead, his resurrection representing atonement for original sin, and the importance of the trinity represent human theology developed, debated, and modified years, decades, and centuries after Jesus taught only love.

Conservative Christian theology has its purpose. It provides a basis for church organization, discipline, and materialistic growth.  It asserts that the Bible is “God’s word” and therefore “perfect, complete, and infallible.” From these common basic and untenable assumptions, each fundamentalist Christian institution then interprets the Bible however it wishes and behaves as if its interpretation is the only true version of “God’s word.”  Statements of Christian dogma then propose to answer human questions like, “What is the purpose of life?” and “What happens to me after I die?”

Many have been so totally immersed in conservative theology for so much of their lives there is little chance they could ever evaluate what they say they believe from a rational viewpoint.  I would suggest those individuals stay right where they are if that is where they feel comfortable. My only caution is that whatever they are taught they should do to "save" those they define as "non-believers", does not come from the teachings of Jesus.

All the New Testament authors were different. Paul did not say the same things as Mark, Luke, Matthew, or John. Later on, scribes altered Bible passages to fit the Christian theology of their day. Then the whole Christian movement was thoroughly shaken up and modified to suit the religious whims of Constantine, the 4^th Century emperor of Rome. The Christian sect he supported ended up defining orthodoxy. All the other Christian organizations, and there were many, were outlawed, attacked, and eliminated.

There are practically as many theological viewpoints in the Bible as there are authors. But the teaching voice of Jesus, somehow slips around and through all the verbal battles about doctrine letting his singular message of love survive.

I would like to suggest that each of us knows exactly how to demonstrate unconditional love and compassion in every situation we face in life. We know it, but we can't (won't) do it. We “sin” constantly because we convince ourselves it is  important to exclude from our unconditional love those people we don't like or actually hate. We want our family, our tribe, our personal cultural and our religious views to be better than all others.  Self-centeredness is the primary motivation behind most human acts of evil.

           We make exceptions to Jesus' example of unconditional love so we can blame our personal feelings of unworthiness, temptation, fear, anger, hate, jealousy, envy, greed, and regret on others.  Jesus taught that we should replace these self-centered emotions with an understanding of God that allows love to dominate. It works in simple, practical ways every time we seek loving solutions. Of course, we are also free to ignore his teachings.

It is so strange that Christian dogma which originally derived from the teachings of love, has devolved into fearing, rejecting, and shunning fellow humans  because they are different. Jesus never met a person he could not accept. We all understand this and agree that this is a true reflection of Jesus’ view of life, but immediately we tend to turn around and reject those who don't look, talk, act, or believe as we do.

When you accept the dogma of a human religious institution then you, yourself, are accepted by those already in that institution and you are made to feel welcomed. You become a respected member of the "club." You learn the words, the phrases, the nods and the winks that link you together. This does provide a community in which to experience and celebrate life. 

          But if your church membership pulls you away from what you know is the loving spiritual message taught by Jesus, you  have a decision to make. Which outcome is most important to you? Is a successful spiritual life attained by building barriers around God's love, to protect it from the unworthy? Or is it more important to remove barriers so all are seen as God's children?  That is a personal decision each of us must make on our own.

My rational mind and the spiritual experiences I have had during my lifetime tell me that personally seeking out the practical results of Jesus' teachings of love is the right direction to go. This leads an individual to a personal confirmation of the laws of love and frees him/her from the dictates of dogma. Dogma chains you to law, intolerance, and the status quo. Love frees you to discover, learn, and grow. 

          Jesus taught love.

Christmas Is More Important Than Irrational Religious Fantasy

      Are babies really as cute as “buttons” or some people as mean as “dogs?” Are there really doctors or ministers or holy men who are “miracle workers” and are there times we are all as happy as “larks?” There is hardly a human sentence uttered that is not somehow embellished by imagination and fantasy. In almost every sentence we appeal to fantasy to express that which we would have to otherwise struggle to say directly.

        Religions in particular depend upon fantasy because the purpose of religion is to provide answers to questions that cannot be answered directly, like “What is God?” or “What happens to me after I die?” Even though human intelligence is remarkable, it is limited and we are not capable of understanding reality beyond our limit. We are, however, capable of fantasizing answers to those questions, as were our ancestors, since the first of them became self-aware.

        As a result, all religious dogma, all professions of faith and all systems of theology are firmly founded on fantasy. However, some flights of fantasy can be evaluated and confirmed through our human and world experiences to be true or false.  Einstein essentially fantasized his theory of relativity because it was not derived directly from accepted theories of his day. His concepts seemed to come straight out of nowhere….fantasy. However, tests of his theory showed it to be true, for the most part, and it will gradually be improved and restructured as more is learned.

        The same is true for the fantasy behind most religious beliefs. It can be studied and confirmed as true or false, if those holding those beliefs would allow such scrutiny. The fact is, most do not, so the validation of religious beliefs lags the scientific community by hundreds, if not thousands of years. This leads to bizarre religious beliefs in fantasies such as virgin births and bodily resurrections of the dead which all of us understand are not confirmed or validated by anything we experience in our daily lives.

        This means the role of religious doctrine is not to express truth that can be confirmed by 21st century thinking, but to hold to irrational fantasies created by 1st century thinking before secular validation was possible.

        For me, such fundamentalism diminishes the meaning of Christian teachings to the point they have little practical value except to justify idol worship of  Jesus, God, the Bible, and all things considered holy for fear of retribution. For me, the deepest sense of human faith comes from realizing and accepting the fact there is only one reality and any separation of the spiritual from the scientific is an illusion. Rationality is the truth that sets you free to experience God, the foundation of life, in every moment.

      The fact is, however,  that invalid and irrational religious fantasy remains important to millions of people, of many religions, around the world. It appears to represent a stage of human spiritual evolution through which humanity must pass, but apparently, not quickly.

        It has been my experience that those individuals who are open to personal spiritual inquiry are able to look beyond the religious traditions of their family (tribe) without fear.  They tend to become more universal in their outlook and also tend to find themselves in close agreement with each other when by chance they meet. This seems true even when their religious beliefs as youngsters would have created serious conflicts among them.

        Personal spiritual inquiry appears to be how we as individuals move beyond institutional religion, particularly fundamentalism, and become responsible for our own sense of spirituality and faith. So, until religious organizations and family traditions change to support this growth of spirituality from within, the familiar traditions of religious fantasy and unyielding obedience to dogma will fill that void. In general, this is neither good nor bad, it is just where fundamentalists are in their thinking.

          It becomes negative and harmful, however, when fundamentalists and evangelicals become dogmatically political in order to force everyone else to live in accord with the institutional dogma they have accepted. If you look carefully at the political actions of socially conservative politicians it is clear that their collective goal is to force everyone else to look and act "Christian" (as they define it) by creating civil laws that abolish the most basic of individual freedoms; the freedom to control one's own body and mind. It's as if their mission is to create a repressive and punitive "Christian" police state, totally lacking compassion or love.

        Jesus did not teach dogma and did not want to be worshiped as a holy object. He invited us to follow his example and live as love expressed; the exact opposite of a theocracy that demands civil obedience to religious dogma. Worshiping Jesus as an idol shows we understand that his teachings were special, but it misses the core of his mission which was for us to gain personal wisdom far higher than icon worship. He invited us to seek, find, understand, and use our own Christ potential..."Seek first the Kingdom of God." I have always felt that the birth of the Christ spirit into human consciousness and within our hearts as individuals is the true mission of Christianity and the true meaning of Christmas.

      Having faith is something more important than joining popular religious bandwagons or pledging yourself to publicly express "Christian" talking points. It is withdrawing from the world and being touched by the peace and love of God in the solitude of your own heart and mind, then sharing your insights through living a God-filled life. That is what Jesus did. Life itself is the only miracle we have to experience and loving others is the only spiritual skill we need to master.

        This year may your Christmas experience be all that love is.

Love… The Only Fundamental Required To Be A Christian

Since the dawn of humanity we have struggled to define the spiritual meaning of our existence. Now, in the 21^st Century we are aware of several things:

1.    We do exist and live in a wonderful and complex earth in a solar system that is part of a universe filled with uncountable numbers of galaxies.

2.   We are self-aware. We have memory and are capable of rational thought, recall, and foresight. 

3.   Despite our capabilities everything we understand still seems to us to be related to something even higher than ourselves. We feel this because here we are, aware that we exist in a universe of spectacular structure, function, and life, somehow created, but not by us.  The name Christians give to the prime creator of all reality is  “God.”

The human mind rejects uncertainty, so there has been no lack of effort by humans to define God and God’s purpose for mankind despite our inherent inability to do precisely that. Religion is a creation of the human mind as our effort to eliminate uncertainty about life and God. Religious dogma, however, appears to reveal more about human anxiety than it does about God. Still, religion can and does help many of us discover our personal awareness of God, but the final truth is that God resides above and beyond religion.

Interestingly enough, if we bring to each moment unconditional love toward all who are with us in that moment, God is present, and any need to define God further, disappears. Positive solutions emerge and life improves. This is the practical truth  Jesus  taught about how God touches and influences human life.

Other concepts of God are presented in the Bible.  It is filled with many different human imaginings of God. Consider the following:

God As A Human Being: Genesis 3:8-9 “And they heard the sound of Lord God walking in the garden in the wind of the day, and the human and his woman hid from Lord God among the garden’s trees. And Lord God called the human and said to him, “Where are you?”   

In this case God “walks” around Eden and then doesn’t know where Adam and Eve are when they hide and God must call out. This is a portrayal of God as a human being, and clearly not omniscient.

God Speaking Through Angels In Dreams: Genesis 31:11 “And an angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘I’m here.’       Matthew 2:20 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying…”    

Dreams can be so vivid and real, it is understandable that dreams would be one of the means by which Gospel writers expressed spiritual communication from God to humans. They’re probably right.

God As A Voice From Heaven:  Mark 1:10-11 “…he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’ ”   

In the 1^st Century, it was believed that the universe consisted of three tiers, the underworld, the earth surface with all its features and inhabitants, and heaven or the realm of God (or gods) in the sky just above a dome that covered all the earth. Some even believed that stars were really windows in that dome through which the gods looked down on earth to keep watch on humans.

The author of Mark was suggesting that the baptism of Jesus symbolically tore apart this wall that separated heaven from earth.  This was an effective way of expressing the idea that Jesus lived in conscious oneness with God during his life on earth. By following Jesus’ teachings and example we can  tear down the barrier separating us from God. This is a powerful spiritual lesson and its meaning is lost if the text is interpreted as merely a record of a historical event.

There Is A True God…but for the most part we humans cannot begin to understand the boundaries of God’s reality. However, thanks to the Age of Enlightenment (1600’s-1800’s) and all the scientific discoveries since then, we understand our universe, our world, our bodies, our lives, and our environment so much better than did the ancient writers of scripture. 

Science and Spirituality Are The Same Truth:  It is popular to suggest that spiritual truth and scientific truth are different and that spiritual truth has dominion over the scientific. However, there is only one reality and science and spirituality are two aspects of this singular truth.  

           It does seem, however, that spirituality provides the inspiration for all possibilities (real and unreal) and that science provides objective confirmation of which of all possibilities are real. Inwardly we live in a personal reality constructed by the thoughts we choose. Outwardly, as a society, we live in a reality confirmed by experience and experimentation. 


           The less conflict there is between your inner thoughts and what your outer experiences confirm, the less you experience fear and the stronger is your sense of  faith.

There can be only one ultimate truth and we all basically understand that. Insights into significant scientific theories have come from experiences that were highly spiritual.

For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity was not a rational extension of the scientific knowledge of his time.  He came up with something  new and unexpected. He described his insights as occurring during moments of “reverie.”  They occurred when he was apart from the work-a-day world, thinking and meditating.

When you are exploring the limits of human knowledge, it frequently leads to spiritual insights. Science and religious faith are not mutually exclusive. They are related expressions of the same reality…life.

Once hypotheses (explanations of events) are proposed, the role of the scientific method is to help determine which one of all the proposed hypotheses best explains the events under observation. That’s it, and that’s true for rocket science, too.  Rigorous science reveals truth (what we accept as theories) because it is human bias free. That is why it is so powerful and useful.  

It is also possible to scientifically study the results of one’s faith or spiritual beliefs. It is already known that prayer and meditation lower stress in humans which leads to healthier, happier lives.

Changes in disease states can, also, be monitored before and after spiritual treatments and their effectiveness verified. Of course it is difficult to set up such studies because most religious groups are not interested in the scientific analysis of matters of faith, but, the fact remains, it can be done.

If human knowledge and life events are not consistent with predictions based on one’s religious faith, then it is the faith system that is in error, not life.

The Bible Did Not Exist Until The 5th Century CE:  We must remember that all the manuscripts that ended up being in the Bible were written for reasons that had nothing to do with specifically creating the Bible.   In fact, there were many additional early gospels and documents written, which, for various reasons of theology, didn’t make the final cut.

The books to become the Bible were known as a collection by the 3rd century, but they were not canonized by church leaders until the 5th century of the Common Era (CE). They held a conference, had contentious debates and voted on which ancient writings were to be sacred and which were not. Human minds created the concept of "the sacred Bible." Even then, many decades of bitter political debate followed, as Christian assemblies considered heretical were attacked. and scattered. The books that won the "orthodox" label were the favorites of the men with the most power at the time.  

The Book Of Revelation Was Not Popular: Not all the writings included in the Bible were considered equal in value. Many early church leaders considered the book of Revelation unworthy of the status of sacred scripture. Its ultimate inclusion was probably more a result of compromise than of wide spread respect.

It is an odd book in the New Testament. It is a sample of carefully encrypted apocalyptic literature, but the specific community and situations and characters to which its symbols apply are unknown, making precisely accurate interpretation impossible.  Suggesting that passages from the book of Revelation contain predictions of modern historical events is beyond meaningless; it is bizarre. 

The Bible Is The Word Of Men: The ideas that the Bible is without error and was dictated by God are not supported by anything we know or experience, except hearsay, when we are told what we must believe. Many do act as if the Bible were the word of God and combine passages of scripture from here and there to bolster their own feelings of fear, hate, or prejudice. In this way they pretend to avoid responsibility for their own actions.

Such pious, self-centered behavior is the very attitude exhibited by the priests and Pharisees of Jesus’ time. It is precisely what Jesus taught against (see Matthew 23:22-24) and his opposition resulted in his crucifixion.

There was no Christianity during Jesus’ lifetime; he and his disciples were devout Jews. But, after his death, his followers found strength in the memory of his loving example and dedicated themselves to living as Jesus had demonstrated as members of the Jewish sect known as The Way.

So, rejecting legalistic conformity to Jewish law and living with unconditional love in their hearts and actions towards anyone and everyone was the goal of the proto-Christian assemblies (followers of The Way) emerging a few decades after Jesus died.

In contrast to that, present day Christian fundamentalists are devoted to strict conformity to church doctrine that does not conform to the actual teachings of Jesus. Fundamentalist dogma arises from the teachings of religious institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church and from individuals such as John Nelson Darby, a 19th century proponent of  "dispensational premillennialism." 

Darby's teachings were reinforced by the pseudo-scholarly Scofield Reference Bible completely based on premillennialism to the exclusion of any references to the findings of prominent Biblical scholars.  There is nothing in life that supports the validity of dispensational premillennialism beyond personal opinion. It is an idea with no demonstrated substance.

         Still, the certainty that fundamentalism asserts resonates with many rural populations made anxious by the rapid growth of scientific knowledge and changes in urban culture.    As a result, Christianity, as defined by fundamentalists and evangelicals from late in the 19th Century, represents a radical departure from what was considered traditional Christian spirituality prior to the 19th Century.

Sacred Teachings: The Bible is a human document, created, manipulated, changed, and canonized by political and religious leaders. However, this does not diminish its role as a book of significant spiritual importance over the millennia.

Can anyone read the Great Commandment and the parable of The Good Samaritan, which Jesus used to interpret its universal meaning (Luke 10: 25-37), and not realize the Bible contains important instructions for human living and spiritual completeness?

No miracles are required by anyone to understand Jesus’ parables and sayings. They strike us as fundamentally true. Jesus’ teachings are remarkable for their simplicity and profundity. Love was his only message…with no exceptions.

The Purpose Of Life: As Jesus taught it, learning to live with unconditional love in your heart toward everyone, just as he demonstrated, is all that is required for one to enter the Kingdom of God. Doing so creates a perfect balance of God, mind, and action. It is as easy to say as it is difficult to do, but that is our goal as children of God. This is the only fundamental belief required of anyone professing to be a Christian, or, for that matter, a spiritually enlightened member of any religious tradition.

Life Is About Learning To Love

I was fortunate to have been exposed to a progressive Christian environment when I was a child. When I asked questions such as “Did Jesus really walk on water?” or “Did Jesus really die, then come back to life after three days?” the usual response I heard was “What do you think?” Then I would talk with my parents or Sunday school teachers about what I thought. I am so grateful for these conversations, because by doing that they were teaching me how to love.

Love, for me, is accepting others completely as they are, just as I was accepted, with no judgment based on what I believed. I even learned that I could be truthful to people who lied to me, generous to those who stole from me, and faithful to those who betrayed me without my sense of God changing one bit.  These are the kinds of lessons you learn by applying the teachings of Jesus to the life situations you experience. Time and again I was surprised to discover how accurate the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings really is.

I still remember the moment I realized that applying the Golden Rule to help resolve life’s problems, works whether or not you believe Jesus walked on water, or  whether or not you believed he physically came back to life after being crucified. When you understand the spiritual truths to which Biblical metaphors point, then the question of whether or not Bible stories represent actual historical events is no longer relevant. I also realized that spiritual understanding and faith cannot come from merely believing in history anyway. Faith develops as you notice changes in your own life events that result directly from relying on higher, more universal truths.

When this understanding occurred, it was an “Aha” moment for me and it happened when I was a teenager standing  in the hallway of the old wooden Sunday school building of our Methodist Church in Annandale, Virginia. At that moment it was clear to me that whatever is spiritual and true is between an individual and his/her experience of God. I look back at that moment as the beginning of my personal search for a spiritual experience with God. It was a feeling of putting away “childish things”; what I had been told I could believe by others (including my parents, siblings, ministers, and Sunday school teachers) and taking responsibility for the evolution of my own spiritual awareness.

This search has led me to the understanding that God is love and love is a spiritual reality you can bring to awareness each moment of your life. Love does not require any specific set of acts, but rather simply appears when your conscious awareness of each moment includes God’s presence. I am no longer interested in being for or against others because they are Americans or foreigners, straight or homosexual, wed or unwed mothers, Republicans or Democrats, liberal or conservative. None of that matters in the presence of love.

Jesus was a radical teacher of the power of love.  He worked to fill his followers with the awareness of God’s presence and free them from the human sense of futility they experienced from the political-religious domination system of their day.  As Jesus demonstrated, we must be willing to dine with anyone, and still be true to ourselves and  God.  Only then might we be able to move with others toward the freedom and happiness we all seek, independent of circumstances.

Each of us wants to live a meaningful life, which requires we acknowledge and respect traditions or relationships that are meaningful to others. Love requires respect even when you don't personally understand others or cannot accept their standards in living your own life. Still, we have all evolved from the same source of life. We are all expressions of God’s truth and have the option to become one with it.  

          Efforts to describe our purpose in detail greater than this lead to unlimited opportunities for error. Consider the following. Can fish understand the realm of horses? Can horses understand the realm of mankind? Can mankind understand the realm of God? The answer is the same for all. Yes, we can understand the limited ways other realms touch us, but most of what is true outside our own realms is beyond our ability to grasp.

          An attitude of love puts us in the best position to learn all that we can and to accept whatever is beyond our awareness. An attitude of love is the foundation for faith.

The Evolution Of The Virgin Birth Tradition

What does the New Testament actually tell us that would support a literal interpretation of Matthew’s story of Jesus’ virgin birth? The short answer to that question is “nothing.”

What we do see when we look carefully at the first two Synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark, is the emergence of a virgin birth spiritual teaching tradition, not a record of an historic event.

All the ancient authors who wrote the documents that ended up in the Bible, had the daunting task of expressing spiritual insights through highly limiting human language. Still, they did reasonably well when Bible stories and events are interpreted from a metaphysical viewpoint, a perspective that gives the Bible's words universal practical importance.

Let us first look at the gospel of Mark, the first book of the New Testament to be written. It was probably written in the sixth decade of the Common Era (CE), in Rome. This was a few years before the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem then destroyed the Temple in 70 C.E.

The only mention of Mary, by name, is in the following verse:

Mark 6:3  “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Mark indicates nothing special about Mary and by referring to Jesus as “Mary’s son”, this verse suggests that Jesus’ paternity might have been in question. Other New Testament verses also suggest there was somewhat of a scandal relating to the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth. Consistent with this viewpoint, there is no mention of Jesus’ father (being either Joseph or God) anywhere in the Gospel of Mark.

Also, consider the following verses in Mark about when Jesus returned to his hometown, Nazareth, to heal and preach:

Mark 3:21 “And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘he has lost His senses!’”

Mark 3:31-35  And His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, and called Him. And the multitude was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You’

And answering them, He said, ‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’

And looking around about on those who were sitting around Him, He said, ‘Behold! My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.’”

There is no suggestion here that God selected Mary for any special role. She was simply Jesus’ mother who wanted to keep him from making a fool of himself. Did Mark simply overlook something so important? Of course he didn’t. The virgin birth tradition, meant to raise Mary's status in relation to Jesus, had not yet emerged in evolving Christian theology, so the writer of Mark had nothing to say about it.

The idea of a virgin birth was first presented in the Gospel of Matthew. It was not created to report history, but, rather to raise the importance of Jesus’ life to a spiritual level that matched the impact he had, had on those who knew him.

There were no words big enough, clear enough, for this Gospel writer to say what he wanted. He did the only thing he could. He made God directly responsible for creating His own Christ reflection on earth through Jesus. Jesus did not act like anyone from our world, so he was symbolically given a different—a heavenly, origin.

There are additional hints that this is Matthew’s intention. Consider the genealogy at the beginning of Mathew’s Gospel (Matthew 1:1-17). Mentioned in this genealogy are four women, other than Mary. They are Tamar, Rehab, Ruth, and the woman who had been the wife of Uriah (from other references, we know this was Bathsheba). (This genealogy is unique to Matthew and is considerably different from the genealogy presented by Luke. But then, they had different purposes for their separate gospels.)

Tamar had what would have been considered an incestuous relationship with her father-in-law, Judah (Genesis 38). Rehab was a prostitute (Joshua 6:22-25). Ruth seduced Boaz by getting him drunk and climbing into bed with him. (Book of Ruth, Chapters 2-4). Their marriage produced Obed, King David’s grandfather.

Bathsheba was married to Uriah when she had an adulterous relationship with King David (II Samuel 11-12) David transferred Uriah, a soldier, to the front lines of battle so that he might be killed, which he was. David then married Bathsheba and, ultimately, their son, Solomon, was David’s successor.

Such a genealogy places considerable human sin and degradation in Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to David to Mary’s husband, Joseph. Matthew may well have been suggesting that the highest spiritual understanding (the Christ) trumps all human motives, events, and traditions.

The final point in this discussion is the word, virgin, itself. The Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) used the word, "parthenos", in Isaiah 7:14 that can mean either a virgin or a young woman.

In other words it is ambiguous and Matthew had to decide which meaning he wanted to use. He used the word that supported the concept of a virgin birth because that is how he wanted to write his story.

The Hebrew version of the Old Testament (the Torah), however, uses the word, "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 which, in Hebrew, only means young woman and it is not at all ambiguous. The Hebrew word for virgin is a completely different word, "betulah". Since "almah" is used in the original Hebrew text, its meaning must be accepted as the intended meaning, which means Matthew's assertion of a virgin birth is an error. Matthew's Christian fervor apparently overruled his skill as an Old Testament scholar.

It is also true that when you read the verses of Isaiah 7 both preceding and following Isaiah 7:14, the whole reading is a complete story about a promise God made to King Ahaz, centuries before Jesus’ life. The birth of the child it mentions was to be a sign to King Ahaz that his kingdom would be protected from his neighboring warring enemies, at that time. Literally, the story in Isaiah 7 cannot be interpreted as having anything to do with Jesus.

It did, however, have to do with the idea that those who seek the guidance of God will always find ways to survive difficult times. This could well have been the spiritual understanding Matthew wanted to present by inserting Isaiah 7:14 into the literary virgin birth myth he created for Jesus.

When remarkable things happen in the world, human writers try to capture the meanings and spiritual impact of such events. The Bible is filled with these kinds of stories.  They are meant to create mental glimpses of spiritual understandings that are not always discernible through the physical senses alone.

The authors of the books of the Bible wrote metaphysically because there was no other way to express what they had to say. As readers of the Bible, the only way for us to better understand its contents is to seek and discern the same metaphysical intents of its many and mostly unknown ancient authors.

The virgin birth tradition was one way used by the writers of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to elevate the meaning of Jesus’ life above that of ordinary human existence. It is the very thing we can do when we see the world from a spiritual perspective instead of a materialistic viewpoint. 

    Perhaps that is the message Matthew and Luke wanted to share. The higher the spiritual viewpoint we seek to follow (the Christ spirit) the better we can deal with the material events in our lives. They just used popular 1^st century metaphors to form and illustrate their stories.

New Testament Teachings About Salvation: Jesus vs. Paul

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Perspective 1: Jesus’ Teaching: The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

 ²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

   ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

 ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”

   ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

 ²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 ³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

   ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

 ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

   Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

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Discussion:  When Jesus was asked directly what is required for a person to “inherit eternal life”,  Jesus responded by asking the “expert in the law” what he believed. The law expert states the Great Commandment, but probes further by asking for clarification about who his “neighbor” might be. Presumably, if Jesus were to include as “neighbors” a class of people not acceptable according to Jewish law and teachings, the “expert” could then claim Jesus was presenting false teachings.

            Interestingly enough, Jesus did exactly that, but in a way the “expert in the law” was compelled to agree with him.  Jesus’ response was to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

            Samaritans were from the territory of the northern Jewish state of Israel but after Assyria conquered it. Most of the Jewish population had been removed and spread throughout the Assyrian Empire. The few Jews left behind intermarried with the pagan Assyrians who moved in and the “ten northern Jewish tribes” disappeared from history. The resulting inhabitants of this vanquished northern Jewish state were considered half-breeds and so defiling to the pure Jews in the south (Judah), that they were viewed with extreme disdain and treated as untouchable.

            However, Jesus uses the actions and motives of the Samaritan to define righteousness in God’s eyes. This must have created a huge conflict in the minds of his Jewish audience. However, it was clear that neither the Jewish priest nor the Levite, a member of the priestly tribe of Levi, acted like a neighbor to the man in need. 


           Within Judaism, at the time, there were strict prohibitions against touching dead bodies and this man appeared dead. However, Jesus taught from a higher perspective than religious law; claiming the needs of our neighbors are of greater importance than the letter of religious law.

            Jesus’ teachings focus on how we should behave with one another (metaphysical or spiritual considerations) and not on detailed theological definitions and explanations (religious dogma). In fact, Jesus was adamently, but peacefully, anti-dogma, anti-establishment. 


            Today's religious/political conservatives would be accurate if they labeled Jesus as a radical socialist liberal. In today's world, Jesus would likely not fit into the religious or political institutions  of most modern conservatives. In fact, he would work to defeat them. I do not write this to be sarcastic or flip. This is a point that deserves wide public discussion. There is a lesson here concerning universal spiritual priorities versus human tribal priorities.

Perspective 2: Paul’s Teachings on Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

 ¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

 ¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

 ¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

 ¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

 ²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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            Discussion: Paul presents an almost rambling barrage of statements all meant to express the following ideas: 

1. Because Adam sinned, that made all his descendants (i.e. all humans) sinners
2. God’s penalty for sin was death (eternal condemnation)
3. God’s grace (life) was offered to mankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus. 

       Paul saw Jesus’ death as the highest possible sin offering from the viewpoint of the ancient Jewish tradition of making sacrifices to God to win forgiveness or favor. This was Paul’s religious background. Remember, he was originally an ardent and faithful Pharisee. Instead of annually washing sins away with the blood of a goat on Yom Kippur,  Paul saw Jesus’ crucifixion as the ultimate and final human sacrifice whose blood permanently washed away (“justified”) the sins of everyone who believes this was Jesus’ purpose.

Paul’s teachings focus on theology, not on how we should behave with one another to live righteously.

These two scriptures could hardly be more different in their content and perspectives. Jesus’ is spiritual (metaphysical) and practical and Paul’s is a theological in-your-face treatise and not much about living spiritually. Paul made the same error in judgment most of us do. He created a theological position based on his own personal needs and desires, then taught that everyone else should believe it, too, or suffer the consequences of God's condemnation. Paul was not a modest man. He was a self-proclaimed apostle of Jesus; an equal in his own eyes with Jesus' disciples.

The way the author of Luke portrayed Jesus’ style of thinking and teaching is consistent with the messages we read in Jesus' parables. However, Paul's theology is not consistent with Jesus' message. Luke portrays Jesus as approaching every teaching opportunity with an attitude of acceptance, peace, and love.  Paul was more like a bull in a china shop. 

        The apostle Paul was certainly a dedicated and committed teacher for his religious viewpoint, but through his own writings we discover a man struggling to survive tremendous inner turmoil and self-loathing. Any notion that Paul wrote "words of God" must be rejected. What he did write were the words of Paul.

Ending The Battle Of Right Versus Wrong

Humans know lots about electricity, magnetism, gravity, light, societies, medicine, geography etc., but we are almost clueless about how and why these things exist in the first place. In other words, there are a number of “what’s” about our universe we’ve learned and have mastered to a moderate extent, but we know almost no “why’s.” 

Wisdom comes from knowing and accepting this uncomfortable human dilemma. It is uncomfortable because the human mind does not like unanswered questions. We are smart enough to know that there are, ultimately, correct answers for all questions, but we’re so far from being knowledgeable enough, or even smart enough, to know what those answers are, it is disturbing. So, in the meantime, to fill the void, we make up our own answers.

Religions are the result of humans wanting to answer the question, “Why do we exist?” This means that all religions and their holy books are man-made, incomplete, and invariably wrong about some aspects of ultimate truth. At the same time, the common themes of love, compassion, and the imperative to serve others are found in the teachings of virtually every major religion. Such spontaneous spiritual unanimity strongly suggests that religions are right about some aspects of ultimate truth.

The line separating these two realities is blurred by the limitless potential of our own human emotions and imagination to move us, alternately, between fear and love. Only when you are wise enough to know that you just don't know, will you be able to work consistently and harmoniously with those who live and think differently. 

Actually, the same can be said for competing political and social movements. Only when you are wise enough to know that you really don’t, and can't, know everything, will you start proposing meaningful solutions that will actually help you and others.

As Jesus suggested time and again, when we approach each other with love, empathy, and thoughtful consideration, there is no need to battle and there are no enemies. The reasons for being right or deciding others are wrong become meaningless. There is only God, absolute creative reality that supports and guides us in our quest for the highest understanding and expression of life.