INTELLIGENT DESIGN, UNINTELLIGENT CHRISTIANITY
Where is the intelligence in the minds of the leaders of institutionalized, or "corporate" Christianity who insist upon fusing "Intelligent Design" with Science?
Never having been raised in any religion, my lifelong studies of the Bible are not colored by Catholic, Protestant or any religious dogma. The Bible's Message reveals God as the Creator of the Universe, and that He is the Invisible Mind and Spirit of Selfless Love. God, who is the Creative Power and Source of the Universe, has Mind and Spirit and, thus, Intelligence.
The "design" of all physicality and life, born of God's Mind and Spirit, is "Intelligent Design" indeed. But because there is no scientific, empirical proof of God, the religious or spiritual subject of Intelligent Design has no placement in a Science class.
Christians who refuse the evident fact that there is no empirical proof of God have forgotten the equally evident fact that believing in God is about faith. If there was empirical proof of God, then none of us would argue over God or have the need for "faith."
Many of America's high-profile preachers are complaining that it is unfair that Intelligent Design is not offered in Science classes to counterpoint evolution. Christianity's push to get Intelligent Design into the Science cirriculum is nothing but a 'smoke and mirrors' tactic to introduce the religious construct of Creationism as "scientific theory."
Christians who readily "buy in" to Creationism are blindly following unenlightened leaders with unenlightened explanations of scripture.
Christianity's most widely accepted interpretation of the 6 days of Creation is that each day symbolizes 1,000 years, making the Universe 6,000 years old. Why? Because of their literal interpretation of Second Peter 3:8, which reveals that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years."
Many Christian "Creationists" have chosen to use one Biblical verse to deduce that the 6 days of Creation equal 6,000 years. But isn't this absurd? After all, Psalms 90:4 reveals that "a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." If we understand that 1,000 years is to God as "yesterday when it is past," then 1,000 years by God's perception is instantaneous. Using Psalms 90:4, we deduce that the 6 days of Creation was relatively instantaneous. After all, it's right there in the Bible!
Those who seek to understand scripture by the Letter of the Law will always fail. The Spirit of the Law is where the answer lives.
The 6 "days" of Creation must be understood by the Spirit of the Law, in this case, the Spirit of the word "day." By the Letter of the Law, you can reason that a "day" is a 24-hour period, a 1,000-year period (Second Peter 3:8), or instantaneous (Psalms 90:4). But the Spirit of the Law is about understanding the "meat" of the message.
By the Spirit of the Law, the word "day" simply refers to a relative cycle of time. Let us all agree that the 6 days of Creation represent 6 relative periods of time. Science now shows that our Universe is over 13 billion years old. This does not contradict the 6 days of Creation if you understand that the "6 days" are 6 eras of time.
It is obvious that scriptures offer deeper understandings than just what literal interpretations offer. Even Jesus Himself tells us that His Message requires eyes that "see" and ears that "hear." He is instructing us to look beyond the "surface of the message" (literal understandings; the Letter of the Law) into the "depth of the message" (spiritual understandings; the Spirit of the Law).
Heck... anyone, even a child, can understand words, phrases, and sentences literally. It is only natural to understand the literal meaning before the spiritual meaning. That is how the mind works. How can a mind understand the spiritual nature of a word if it has no idea what the word means?
Today's fundamentalists, particularly, are "stuck" in the Letter of the Law. They often speak of the Bible as "the inerrant word of God," and yet favor one Biblical verse over another regarding the 6 days of Creation. How can one verse supersede another if scriptures are "innerant?"
We humans are "creatures of the mind." Our minds are the ultimate "builders" of who we are and what we will make of ourselves in life. Be not deceived by "mystery," and do not allow others to teach your mind to deny Spirit for "mystery." The Spirit knows no mystery for those who "see" the revelations of the Spirit.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
For simplicity's sake, the following commentary is not interrupted by scriptural references. All the revelations given are proven true, with exhaustive scriptural references, in my newest and award-winning book, The Christian Right... or Wrong?
For more about this work, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
The Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints) claims to be the True Church of Jesus Christ. Well, so does the Catholic Church, which calls itself the "Mother Church" and claims that its Pope is the infallible representative of Jesus Christ on Earth. The Jews believe they're the "Chosen Ones" and the Muslims claim that Muhammad is the way to Paradise.
All of these religions hold themselves as "intermediaries" between your eternal soul and God Himself. In so doing, they are all false religions. Each is built upon separatism, which is fundamentally unfair. Each thinks itself "holier" than the other, denying the Bible's central revelation that the One Spirit of God is the One Way to His Kingdom. Global "corporate" religions refuse to teach that a soul's ascension into Heaven or Paradise is ultimately an individual process built upon personal reponsibility that has absolutely nothing to do with separatist religions and their idolatrous dogma.
These exclusionary religions are, by definition, "cults" that exist to enslave souls to their "holier-than-thou" group-mentalities. The True Religion of God is not about being a Mormon or Catholic or Jew, but about being a person who "walks" The Way of God's Spirit, exemplifying Selfless Love.
Would you rather live in a community filled with all types of people from all walks of life who are committed to living lives of Selfless Love or would you rather live in a community filled with Christ-believing, churchgoing Christians? There IS a difference!
The True Church of Jesus Christ is not some exclusionary religious group or a global system of religion. The "Temple of God," or "True Church of Jesus Christ" is your soul filled with God's Spirit. It doesn't matter what religion you say you are, because your "religion" is who you are. You are the Temple of the Living God when you are a living conduit of God's Selfless Spirit. It's that simple. No mystery involved. Just common sense... the common sense of the Spirit of the Law.
For more about this work, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
The Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints) claims to be the True Church of Jesus Christ. Well, so does the Catholic Church, which calls itself the "Mother Church" and claims that its Pope is the infallible representative of Jesus Christ on Earth. The Jews believe they're the "Chosen Ones" and the Muslims claim that Muhammad is the way to Paradise.
All of these religions hold themselves as "intermediaries" between your eternal soul and God Himself. In so doing, they are all false religions. Each is built upon separatism, which is fundamentally unfair. Each thinks itself "holier" than the other, denying the Bible's central revelation that the One Spirit of God is the One Way to His Kingdom. Global "corporate" religions refuse to teach that a soul's ascension into Heaven or Paradise is ultimately an individual process built upon personal reponsibility that has absolutely nothing to do with separatist religions and their idolatrous dogma.
These exclusionary religions are, by definition, "cults" that exist to enslave souls to their "holier-than-thou" group-mentalities. The True Religion of God is not about being a Mormon or Catholic or Jew, but about being a person who "walks" The Way of God's Spirit, exemplifying Selfless Love.
Would you rather live in a community filled with all types of people from all walks of life who are committed to living lives of Selfless Love or would you rather live in a community filled with Christ-believing, churchgoing Christians? There IS a difference!
The True Church of Jesus Christ is not some exclusionary religious group or a global system of religion. The "Temple of God," or "True Church of Jesus Christ" is your soul filled with God's Spirit. It doesn't matter what religion you say you are, because your "religion" is who you are. You are the Temple of the Living God when you are a living conduit of God's Selfless Spirit. It's that simple. No mystery involved. Just common sense... the common sense of the Spirit of the Law.
THE BIBLE: NOT A "MYSTERY," JUST COMMON SENSE
My recent award-winning book, The Christian Right... or Wrong?, presents a thorough and evenhanded exposition of the false teachings of instutionalized, or "corporate" Christianity. All the revelations of the Bible's Message of the Spirit are exhaustively proven through Scripture. For the sake of simplicity, the following commentary offers the "meat" of the Bible's Message without the scriptural references.
For more about the book, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
THE BIBLE: NOT A "MYSTERY," JUST COMMON SENSE
The only "leap of faith" you need to make concerning the Bible is that God exists. It is not as easy as it sounds. "Believing" in God is not some mental construct that is made more "real" through candles or prayers or preachers or churches. God is the Invisible Spirit of Selfless Love that lives within the hearts, minds and souls of those who live to personify His Spirit.
True "belief" in God is living as a conduit of Selfless Love, especially in times of troubles. You can say you "believe" in God till your tongue falls out, but your "belief" shall mean nothing if have not lived to exemplify God's Spirit. Talk is cheap!
Jesus reveals that "all the law and the prophets" boils down to the First Commandment, which instructs us to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. In order to love God (the Spirit of Selfless Love), we must live by Selfless Love instead of our own selfishness (jealousy, vengeance, intolerance, self-exaltation, blaming, etc.). We are repeatedly instructed to "overcome evil with good," or overcome our selfishness (self) with Selfless Love (God).
One of the few things that the world's Bible-believing Jews, Christians and Muslims all agree upon is "belief" in the Ten Commandments. If they all just followed the First Commandment, peace would reign among them, naturally. Those who follow the First will not break the rest.
Christians who claim that only "faith in Jesus Christ" leads to Heaven have missed the point. "Faith in Christ" is about personifying Selfless Love before all else. "Faith in Christ" is not about being a Christ-believing Christian who has membership somewhere in the worldly system of corporate Christianity.
"Faith in Christ" is a circumcision of the heart that is justified only by treading The Way of God's Spirit. Faith in Christ will never be justified through such worldly things as religious membership, formulaic prayers or idolatrous rituals. Faith in Christ is justified by our devotion to His Father's Spirit, no matter our religiosity (or lack of).
Christians who idolatrously worship Jesus Christ revere one particular Biblcal revelation, where we are told that Jesus Christ is the Savior for all who believe in Him. Christianity upholds this one revelation as the Bible's central truth, but they are deliberately short-sighted. It must be deliberate! After all, Jesus clearly reveals that some will confess belief in Him, but He will not know them, because they have denied God's Spirit. He also tells us that those who speak against Him shall not suffer the consequences of their sins and blasphemies if they remain true to God's Spirit.
Indeed, Salvation comes to those who "believe" in Jesus Christ. When interpreted by the Letter of the Law, "faith in Jesus" simply means being a Christ-believering Christian. Christian leaders are often heard referring to the world's Christians as "God's Children" and the "Kingdom of God" on Earth, and that only God's Children are "saved," or Heavenbound. By this monumentally selfish, incorrect reasoning, the world's non-Christians are all hellbound and collectively represent the "Kingdom of Satan" on Earth. When will this insanity stop?
When you understand Jesus Christ by the Spirit of the Law, you understand that He was the Mind and Spirit of God alive in the flesh, and is the Mind and Spirit of God alive in your flesh when you "believe" in Him, which is not about becoming a Christian and confessing, "I believe in Jesus as my personal Savior," but about personifying Selfless Love.
If the entirety of the Bible boils down to having "faith" in Christ, as many Christian leaders teach, then why does Jesus Himself tell us that it boils down to loving God (the Spirit of Selfless Love) with all your heart, soul and mind?
If being a Christ-believing Christian is the end-all to your Salvation, then why does Jesus Himself tell us that He'd rather we be heretics who exemplify God's Spirit (like the Good Samaritan) rather than "holy" religionists who deny God's Spirit (like many of history's popes and preachers)?
The Message is clear: God and Christ do not care about your worldly, dogmatic religiosity, but that you "walk" The Way of the Selfless, Good Spirit, living as a conduit of the very Power and Substance of God and Christ.
You can "choose" Christ all you want, but it is Christ who does the choosing in the end, and shall choose only those who have chosen His Father's Way of Selfless Love. God doesn't care if you call yourself a "Christ-believer" or define yourself as Catholic or Jew or Mormon or Muslim or whatever, because He knows you by your devotion to His Spirit.
It is extremely easy for people to speak of their love for God, but not live by God's Spirit. As far as Billy Graham is concerned, if you have "faith in Christ" you are already "saved," no matter your past, present or future sins. This commonly accepted, "central truth" of all Christianity is its biggest lie. It is a fundamental denial of scripture to teach that "faith in Christ" supersedes the personal responsibility of LIVING in the Spirit of God. This fundamental lie at the very heart of corporate Christianity makes for fundamentally-unfair religion.
Can we ever know just how many "Christians" have used God for political gain, financial gain and control over others? How many are sitting in prisons right now for terrible crimes? It stands to reason that somewhere around 82% of America's prison population is Christian, as America is reportedly around 82% Christian. Even criminals of most-heinous crimes have no need for such things as guilt, repentance or a Good Consicence, because big-business Christianity promises that they are all "saved" due to their "faith in Jesus."
If you truly "believe" in God, the Bible's revelations are just plain common sense. Life is about overcoming your selfishness with God's Selfless, Good Spirit. "As you sow, so shall you reap," which means that what we "build" in life shall be our "reward" in death. If you "build" Spirit, the Light of the Spirit shall be builded (magnified; glorified) within you, moving your soul towards Oneness with God, or Eternal Light. If you "build" selfishness (anti-Spirit; darkness), the darkness of the anti-Spirit shall "consume" your soul's Light, further separating your soul from God, towards Eternal Darkness.
God has already Judged. He has Judged by His Grace, which is His Righteous Justice ("as you sow, so shall you reap"). Without the Grace of God's Righteous Justice, there would be no way back to His Kingdom. A repentant, selfless life would account for nothing. God has already Judged, by His Righteous Justice. The rest is up to you.
The Bible's Message of the Spirit, or Spirit of the Law, is an instruction that can be summed up in three words: Be Unselfishly Good.
For more about the book, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
THE BIBLE: NOT A "MYSTERY," JUST COMMON SENSE
The only "leap of faith" you need to make concerning the Bible is that God exists. It is not as easy as it sounds. "Believing" in God is not some mental construct that is made more "real" through candles or prayers or preachers or churches. God is the Invisible Spirit of Selfless Love that lives within the hearts, minds and souls of those who live to personify His Spirit.
True "belief" in God is living as a conduit of Selfless Love, especially in times of troubles. You can say you "believe" in God till your tongue falls out, but your "belief" shall mean nothing if have not lived to exemplify God's Spirit. Talk is cheap!
Jesus reveals that "all the law and the prophets" boils down to the First Commandment, which instructs us to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. In order to love God (the Spirit of Selfless Love), we must live by Selfless Love instead of our own selfishness (jealousy, vengeance, intolerance, self-exaltation, blaming, etc.). We are repeatedly instructed to "overcome evil with good," or overcome our selfishness (self) with Selfless Love (God).
One of the few things that the world's Bible-believing Jews, Christians and Muslims all agree upon is "belief" in the Ten Commandments. If they all just followed the First Commandment, peace would reign among them, naturally. Those who follow the First will not break the rest.
Christians who claim that only "faith in Jesus Christ" leads to Heaven have missed the point. "Faith in Christ" is about personifying Selfless Love before all else. "Faith in Christ" is not about being a Christ-believing Christian who has membership somewhere in the worldly system of corporate Christianity.
"Faith in Christ" is a circumcision of the heart that is justified only by treading The Way of God's Spirit. Faith in Christ will never be justified through such worldly things as religious membership, formulaic prayers or idolatrous rituals. Faith in Christ is justified by our devotion to His Father's Spirit, no matter our religiosity (or lack of).
Christians who idolatrously worship Jesus Christ revere one particular Biblcal revelation, where we are told that Jesus Christ is the Savior for all who believe in Him. Christianity upholds this one revelation as the Bible's central truth, but they are deliberately short-sighted. It must be deliberate! After all, Jesus clearly reveals that some will confess belief in Him, but He will not know them, because they have denied God's Spirit. He also tells us that those who speak against Him shall not suffer the consequences of their sins and blasphemies if they remain true to God's Spirit.
Indeed, Salvation comes to those who "believe" in Jesus Christ. When interpreted by the Letter of the Law, "faith in Jesus" simply means being a Christ-believering Christian. Christian leaders are often heard referring to the world's Christians as "God's Children" and the "Kingdom of God" on Earth, and that only God's Children are "saved," or Heavenbound. By this monumentally selfish, incorrect reasoning, the world's non-Christians are all hellbound and collectively represent the "Kingdom of Satan" on Earth. When will this insanity stop?
When you understand Jesus Christ by the Spirit of the Law, you understand that He was the Mind and Spirit of God alive in the flesh, and is the Mind and Spirit of God alive in your flesh when you "believe" in Him, which is not about becoming a Christian and confessing, "I believe in Jesus as my personal Savior," but about personifying Selfless Love.
If the entirety of the Bible boils down to having "faith" in Christ, as many Christian leaders teach, then why does Jesus Himself tell us that it boils down to loving God (the Spirit of Selfless Love) with all your heart, soul and mind?
If being a Christ-believing Christian is the end-all to your Salvation, then why does Jesus Himself tell us that He'd rather we be heretics who exemplify God's Spirit (like the Good Samaritan) rather than "holy" religionists who deny God's Spirit (like many of history's popes and preachers)?
The Message is clear: God and Christ do not care about your worldly, dogmatic religiosity, but that you "walk" The Way of the Selfless, Good Spirit, living as a conduit of the very Power and Substance of God and Christ.
You can "choose" Christ all you want, but it is Christ who does the choosing in the end, and shall choose only those who have chosen His Father's Way of Selfless Love. God doesn't care if you call yourself a "Christ-believer" or define yourself as Catholic or Jew or Mormon or Muslim or whatever, because He knows you by your devotion to His Spirit.
It is extremely easy for people to speak of their love for God, but not live by God's Spirit. As far as Billy Graham is concerned, if you have "faith in Christ" you are already "saved," no matter your past, present or future sins. This commonly accepted, "central truth" of all Christianity is its biggest lie. It is a fundamental denial of scripture to teach that "faith in Christ" supersedes the personal responsibility of LIVING in the Spirit of God. This fundamental lie at the very heart of corporate Christianity makes for fundamentally-unfair religion.
Can we ever know just how many "Christians" have used God for political gain, financial gain and control over others? How many are sitting in prisons right now for terrible crimes? It stands to reason that somewhere around 82% of America's prison population is Christian, as America is reportedly around 82% Christian. Even criminals of most-heinous crimes have no need for such things as guilt, repentance or a Good Consicence, because big-business Christianity promises that they are all "saved" due to their "faith in Jesus."
If you truly "believe" in God, the Bible's revelations are just plain common sense. Life is about overcoming your selfishness with God's Selfless, Good Spirit. "As you sow, so shall you reap," which means that what we "build" in life shall be our "reward" in death. If you "build" Spirit, the Light of the Spirit shall be builded (magnified; glorified) within you, moving your soul towards Oneness with God, or Eternal Light. If you "build" selfishness (anti-Spirit; darkness), the darkness of the anti-Spirit shall "consume" your soul's Light, further separating your soul from God, towards Eternal Darkness.
God has already Judged. He has Judged by His Grace, which is His Righteous Justice ("as you sow, so shall you reap"). Without the Grace of God's Righteous Justice, there would be no way back to His Kingdom. A repentant, selfless life would account for nothing. God has already Judged, by His Righteous Justice. The rest is up to you.
The Bible's Message of the Spirit, or Spirit of the Law, is an instruction that can be summed up in three words: Be Unselfishly Good.
HONORED WITH THE 2005 ETHOS AWARD
Thank you to The StoneWall Society for honoring The Christian Right... or Wrong? with their 2005 Ethos Award on October 29th.
For those who have not read The Christian Right... or Wrong?, it is carefully thorough and evenhanded in its exposition of the false teachings of organized, or "corporate" Christianity.
For more about this work, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
For those who have not read The Christian Right... or Wrong?, it is carefully thorough and evenhanded in its exposition of the false teachings of organized, or "corporate" Christianity.
For more about this work, please go to www.TheChristianRightOrWrong.com.
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