6. A. Western Religions
6. A. I. Christianity
The man who introduced me to the meditation I practiced was a Jew who became a Christian. Originally my concern was just following the light from the meditation, and getting my head on straight. Christianity was not an immediate concern. Later, when traveling in my camper, everyone was out to convert me into being a Christian. As such, eventually I had to eye it directly and deal with it. I learned by trying and at some point, perhaps self deceived, perhaps not, I had a vision of Christ before me and I walked straight into him. I had the ability to put myself into various places just like a chameleon who fits into various niches of the universe. Some stuck and others didn't. This didn't.
6. A. I. a. Metaphysics of Christianity
(Please note the following views don't reflect my own.)
Timelessness is infinite, everlasting, eternal. Time, a lower dimension, has a beginning and an end. Time marches on and there is no way to stop it, no way to survive it. Subsequently man inhabits time and is trapped by it. In the Torah Adam listens to Eve who listened to the snake and disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. He fell from Paradise, or timelessness, into time where things end and life ends. He had lost his innocence so to speak and became self conscious.
In metaphysical terms timelessness is one vibration, or oneness. In psychological terms there is one will, one ego, wholeness. Mathematically timelessness equals one. This number one is complete in its entirety. By going against God's will, Adam embraced knowledge, knew right from wrong, lost his innocence and created a duality. He was no longer one with God. Two wills existed, that of God and that of Adam. Since God is timeless, Adam was separated into time. There was division. Mathematically one became two. One dimension became two dimensions. Adam fell from the first into the second. When he had children one became two and then three and on and on.
The question for Adam and his descendants is how do they get back to timelessness. This time they choose to be one with God, not because they are innocent, but because they want to be with him and live in eternity. How do they do this if there is division and they are in separate dimensions?
My mom used to tell me there is a price on everything. For some things I think this doesn't apply, as in the giving unconditionally of a parent to a child. Or when someone risks their life for someone else. In the world, in the market place, and in physics the law seems to hold. Motion needs a force to propel it. Change requires heat. A void has to be filled. To do or accomplish anything takes energy and energy is costly. To have energy people have to eat and earn the money for food which provides the fuel and someone had to gather the food . Everything does cost in some way, either with energy or time or both.
If Adam's error created a division, a separation, how can that be repaired. He erred and time was introduced along with death. The word sin is used to describe error. If Adam is guilty and has to do time on earth as a prisoner does time in prison, how can this be reconciled or turned around. There are circumstances in life where a person who is innocent pays the price for someone who is guilty. I'm sure there have been incidents where an innocent friend does time for their guilty partner. Or more universally, friends or lovers sacrifice their lives for one another all the time. In battle or in life sacrifice has its place such as working for a future goal or taking care of a child. In Christianity, Jesus Christ, who was innocent of error or sin pays the ultimate price for man's error with his life and in this way the debt of wrongdoing is voided. Since all men/women are descendants of Adam, they inherit his sin. The evidence is they live in time and will die. Since humans are sinful, they can't pay the price to extract themselves. It takes a sinless or timeless entity to do so and Christ is that. Innocence for guilt and the guilty are free to live forever.
In Christianity all that's required to regain a timeless state and have one's debt paid is acknowledgment
of the sacrifice Christ committed. He, an innocent, paid the price to free the guilty. This makes sense. It is natural to expect a thanks from someone whose life you saved. This is Christianity in a nutshell, the mechanics of its essence, which is one act, one occurrence. In Christianity there is almost no other place to go. The rest of time until Christ returns is almost not important.
6. A. I. b. Physics of Christianity
Returning to the metaphysics of Christianity, we can observe that in the physical dimension of energy and matter lighter masses rise to the top. Air is above water, and helium rises in air. Ice, a dense mass, when heated turns to water, a less dense mass, and then to a vapor, the least dense mass which rises. Man's internal error created gave him a mass that can't raise himself. In the physical world without technology he can't fly. Gravity keeps him in place.
In the dense mass of the universe what was needed was a lighter substance to be introduced that can raise itself. A balloon in water rises and if its big enough all one has to do is hold on and believe it will take you too the top. Christ's timelessness is lighter than time, for it has no density. Hanging onto him in the form of belief can lift one towards timelessness or eternity. I see this as the nuts and bolts of Christianity.
6. A. I. c. Critique of Christian metaphysics
According to some schools of thought Christianity had a strong Greek vein. Plato's ideal form as opposed to lower forms is a concept that affected Paul's thinking, as he was educated as a Greek before as a Jew. Many religions of the day including Eastern religions have an ideal concept in mind. The concept of a virgin birth was not unique to Jesus.
The difficulty with an ideal form or goal is that it can never be reached. Having a pure idea and ideal can be helpful in any endeavor, but the reality of life can't be undermined. Life itself is earthy and purity of concept can keep one striving for a goal, but in its extreme can undermine all of life. Life is compromise and we have to do our best within its flaws and parameters. Life is also an interaction between natural laws, nature and people and there has to be a give and take. Having an ideal to strive for is good but if taken too far denies what the world really is, that being somewhat polluted.
Judaism concerns itself with everyday life. It strives to make this world better and the individual better through their actions to become closer to God. Simply put, there is a God and somehow we are separated and are required here to do the best we can and improve ourselves and our world and forgive ourselves and others for making mistakes. It is not a one sacrifice save all system. It is a process, a cultivation, almost an art.
6. A. I. d. Christian assumptions reexamined
6. A. I. d. 1. One equals one
For instance math is a pure form of logic and thinking. However, it is an abstraction from life. In pure math, one equals one. In life no one object exactly equals another. Each has a unique identity One accepts equality out of convenience and agreed consensus, but it is not reality. It is based on faith in an ideal concept.
The difficulty is that this can lead us reject the interrelationships life demands and the gives and takes of life for a pure way that is unattainable. While it is good to have an ideal way of handling things in our minds, it can also be crippling. It can also be arrogant to claim with finality what is perfection. Some wiggle room is needed. It is best to accept life on its own terms and be humble to the overall creator. Occasionally, in a craft or some pursuit perfection can be sought, but it has to be kept in check within the larger picture. Ideal concepts can lead to rejection of this world which is not for us to do. Instincts, our inner knowing, intuition, wonder, all can be sacrificed or trivialized in service of this ideal notion.
6. A. I. d. 2. Christian romanticism
The flip side of idealism in Christianity, where one sacrifice saves all, is romanticism. However, while this ideal does not seek logic or pure form or concept, it rather extends the emotions, feelings and yearnings to an unhealthy level. Love becomes too attached to a personhood or their story or their charismatic personality or being and doesn't want to let go. We see them in a 'romantic' light. We romance our notions and enlarge the tragedies and develop an unhealthily attachment to them. We can love another but always behind that there has to be a bigger love for the bigger picture. The image of the person should not encompass all our love. We can love them and through them love God. Christians seem to fall in love with Christ almost romantically as a love object, instead of loving the principles of the maker.
6. A. I. d. 3. David's plea for mercy
Over and over in David's Psalms he states he is overwhelmed and needs help from God. He often fell short of handling a situation and failed. So he petitioned God's help and mercy and received it. This was 1000 years before the advent of Christ. So obviously God was able to administer to people before a one time sacrifice. To help a person who was in a pickle due to their bad fortune or misdeeds I'm sure God was quite capable of doing. He was capable of altering the metaphysics of a situation. One grand romantic gesture was not needed. Administration and care and attentiveness was. God was curing and helping the effects of sin since the beginning of time. At the very least his mere existence helped us to do so and survive various situations.
6. A. I. d. 4. God was a friend
In ancient days God spoke to Abraham personally and they related on different levels, ie., as creator to created, father to son, partner to partner and friend to friend. As a friend, a good friend, I'm sure God would help Abraham if he needed to be helped. That's what friends do, they help and give a hand. They sacrifice for one another. God was God from the beginning and one overall display to dramatize 'sacrifice' was not required. That was drama, a romantic gesture. God was a friend and common sense prevailed and he helped when needed. The only requirement was that Abraham had to meet God halfway and recognize he was God and reach out to him. Makes sense.
6. A. I. e. Common Christian concepts
6. A. I. e. 1. Grace versus works
Not all denominations of Christianity stress this but some do, many of whom I ran across in America while on the road. The evangelical movement, which is about 200 plus years old, hold true to this concept. It states that the Jews were legalistic and thought they could achieve salvation by following exactly all the rules. Accordingly, salvation was a merit system.
In contrast these evangelicals saw Christ's sacrifice as having satisfied all the requirements for salvation and therefore man was not held to a rigid set of standards to live by and instead received grace and mercy.
This shows little understanding of what made Judaism tick. Originally, as I stated earlier, the rules came from common sense and were orally passed down. Such guidance in diet, in law, in general behavior were just good practices to have in life. Because men strayed sometimes rules helped out as we all know. Our inner directional signals don't always work and one man/woman can learn just so much.
The deeper meaning (in our consciousness) to having these laws is that unlike the Platonic concept of pure ideal form, God was brought to earth and his presence lived in all our actions, no matter how mundane. We were aware of him. Eating, sleeping, marrying, having sex, going to the bathroom, going to bed were all activities in this life that could have God near you. Why not? Such a great concept. Instead of one grandiose martyrdom and living in guilt forever because of our inherited sin, we could value this life and what we make of it if God is always with us. The prayer and honoring him served not just practically but kept us company. It was a way to make us less lonely. In Zen one is enlightened when one draws water as much as when one meditates. This honors life, not the perfect situation, but the nuts and bolts within in what often seems an environment of confusion and complexity.
Now there are 613 rules, not really clearly given, in the written Torah. Some are do's and some are don't s. The complimentary Talmud and other writings expound on these laws. Again the object is to actually love the particulars of life, even say, a court setting where one has to make an unpleasant ruling. We all want spirituality to be a man sitting on a rug, but it also can be present in the here and now amidst the life of the everyday. Can the observers become too rigid with the rules? Of course, but that can happen anywhere such as school, in the military, working for a boss and so on. I'm sure there were those who were too loose and said 'eh' to everything written. Leeway existed too. God was lenient.
In the Kabbalah mystical tradition of Judaism it is said the world will rise with thousands of lights, so each good deed, or Mitzvah performed, bring the world close to God because by bringing small lights into the world we enlighten it. So that is why the rules are particular. They attempt to bring light into the world. Makes sense.
The Pharisees, who in the gospels Christ openly criticized, actually had their pluses. How is this so? They wanted to democratize Judaism and bring it to the average working man and have it less of an elite heritage and more of a merit system. Sometimes merits systems can become overzealous too as we know from going to competitive schools. Could they have been a bunch of taskmasters around that time? Perhaps? But as with many things, originally their purpose was for liberation and freedom. Rigidity is a flaw of living in time and all rules become rigid if too far removed from inspiration.
In Judaism the seven Noahide laws are simple guidelines for living. They are natural laws that apply for non Jews too. Later, with Moses came the ten commandments, appearing after people were going astray. They are simple too. For those who want to reach God in an intimate way through the Torah, as stated there are the many rules one can follow. For a certain number following the traditions from the past, the rituals and ceremonies become a life unto themselves and serve a certain purpose in this world. It becomes a complete system. Can it be misused? Certainly. Can it have value if done with a good heart? Certainly.
6. A. I. e. 2. A second covenant
In the Jewish Torah, or Christian Old Testament, God draws a covenant with the Jews, stating if they recognize him as their God he will recognize them as his people and that they should roughly follow the guidelines to live that he imparts to them.
God also mentions he will establish a new covenant with them at some point. Implied is this occurs when the Messiah comes or God himself comes at the end of the era.
“The laws will be written in their hearts and minds” is a scripture that applies to this time, when men won't be so mechanical or forgetful or just stubborn and will also desire to please God. I believe this is true on different levels during all times.
Christians see the first covenant as a merit system of trying to please and gain favor with God by trying to follow all the rules, as if in school trying to get good grades. They see Christ as bringing in the second covenant which freed men from this having to get all the rules right because they were saved by recognizing him and who he was.
We've discussed how the essence of the laws was to make God close and intimate, not a drill sergeant. From the start man always had to be helped and receive a break from God. This happened before and after Christianity was introduced. A new covenant was not needed for that. Perhaps a teacher did exist that told people not to be too rigid, and to feel in their hearts what to do. Sometimes dynamics have to be balanced. However, a whole new covenant was not required. Men essentially had not changed. They tried to be better and fell short and then tried again and appealed to God for help to hear his voice.
Again, this is evidenced in the psalms of David.
At the time of Christ the world was the same. Men's hearts had not eternally been altered and there was not overall peace. Men/women might improve and better the world, but some rules and laws still were and are needed as guidelines.
6. A. I. e. 3. Pharisees and Sadducees
Alluded to earlier, the Pharisees actually were trying to make Judaism a less centralized hierarchical system and bring learning to a more democratic and local level.
Sadducees believed in a lineage of leadership and central control and inheritance of leadership. This is not an inherently bad trait. It can depend upon who rules and how they rule. More democratic versions of authority also can be abusive. Different visions work in different times.
6. A. I. e. 4. An eye for an eye
Christians and others often treat this as a brutal law, but actually in its time it was progressive. Jewish law between people made an attempt to be fair. Where it was brutal the Talmud softened the severity to a large degree. In this case when an ancient tribe was violated by an individual or group, say robbed or raped, they would retaliate and enlarge the punishment. If someone was robbed, it was not right to wipe out their entire family. Rather payment for the amount taken was all that was required. Fairness would take the place of feuds of revenge.
6. A. I. e. 5. Barabbas
The Gospels present Barabbas as a common thief. If we take the gospels as portraying real events, the 'Barabbas' portrayed was a zealot opposed to Roman rule. The Romans wanted the Jews to worship along with their God the Caesar, and the Jews wouldn't do that. Barabbas was being crucified for being one of the protesters. This is hardly a common thief.
6. A. I. e. 6. Enlarged role
Perhaps there was a teacher called Jesus Christ, although if Christ means savior, I'm not sure how many parents would have given their child that name. The Etionites were his original followers and they observed the laws. Perhaps they enjoyed his bringing more life to the scriptures.
At some point, perhaps with John or Paul, Christ became more than a man. He enlarged more and more till finally he became God himself. Paul was educated as a Greek and Plato's philosophy of the ideal was always his base. Having an ideal man who was God himself fit into this division between the flawed lower earth and ideal form quite easily.
With it becoming obvious the Romans were still in charge and Christ had not brought in a new world.
John also enlarges Christ's role from savior from the oppressors to spiritual master to God himself. Man would have to transcend his earthly desires to change things and just 'put up' with the world as it was and be “in it but not of it.” No real practical change would take place. Instead, almost an Eastern concept prevailed where man became detached and karma ruled and what happened was meant to happen and people should not be too attached to this life.
The Jewish tradition, however, was centered more on fighting for religious and economic freedom in a hands on way. This was not the world to come, but for the here and now. They were supposed to make this one better, and even had to fight for it if meant to be.
6. A. I. e. 7. God or son
As alluded to before, Christ's godhead appeared later, influenced by Paul's Greek background and surrounding cultures' mythologies. I'm pretty sure the Ettionites, Christ's first followers, viewed him as a man. In those days all the Jewish people were considered God's children, and men were his sons.
In the New Testament he is often referred to as the son of God. Singling Jesus out as a special son would not have been done by the Jews. The same was true for the term Lord. Almost everyone in a higher position than you could be called Lord. It was like 'sir.'
Back to the question of whether Jesus was God himself or his son, someone pointed out to me in the NT it is mentioned eighty-four times that Jesus is the son of God. In the Christian interpretation, he still has a special anointing in this role, but he is the son, not the father. When he says 'Why callest me thou good, it is the father within me that is good,' he exemplifies his sonship.
If I chose to be a Christian, I would see him as as the son of God. At least God is separate and in charge. The point of view that God came here to suffer as a man and go through a human experience seems romantic to me. He is God and doesn't need to go through an experience to know how man feels or to show us his sacrifice. That is what we are here for. To struggle with a dual nature and try to better ourselves. Christianity, influenced by Greeks, puts everything in its purest form, and this abstracts it from real life. Real life is the soul relating and interacting with the material world and lines are not clear cut.
In addition Judaism, or just life, is about the particulars of life. It's not all jumbled together. Laws for cooking are different than laws for sex or work. Each has its own uniqueness. We all have our own names and identities. God is God and everything else isn't. God is not his son. That makes no sense. We have a piece of his spirit within us, but we are not God. The entire vision of Abraham was to identify and relate to God's uniqueness.
The trinity of God, God the father, God the son, and God the holy ghost blurs all distinctions and insists on a oneness that is not truthful. I am not my father Milton although we share genes and background. Neither is God the one and same thing as his creation. Certain difficult concepts take time and sophistication to wrap your head around but eventually come to you. This is not meant be be understood and doesn't ring true because it violates how we are designed to understand things.
6. A. I. e. 8. The virgin birth
As I become older I get a sense of what is possible in this life and what is not. Of course this doesn't apply to everything but time does give one a sense of the real versus the nonsense. Two thousand years ago is not that much time. If a generation is thirty years that is about sixty-six generations. In my life I've known roughly five generations. It is hard to conceive of man/woman as that different not that long ago. It is hard to think of the metaphysics and physics of the earth as that different also. There also is a sense we are to learn from our lives what is possible and what is not.
This being said, it seems to be very doubtful or impossible that just two thousand years ago a woman conceived of a child without a real father. It doesn't feel real or make sense. I am not being a literalist. I believe miracles can happen. This does not seem one of them. It would make all our lives of observations and experience meaningless. It is too farfetched.
Perhaps in very ancient times the atmosphere was different, less bacteria, lives were longer because in certain ways people were closer to the heavens. If so this had to be in another epoch, many millenniums ago. A virgin birth two thousand years ago seems made up and mythological. I can't prove that it didn't happen, but all my intuition and knowing leads me in that direction.
In early BC and before the mythologies had the gods interacting with humans often. They had many character flaws and sometimes walked the earth. Since they were in the heavens but also tied to the earth a human birth could have a god for a father. The lines were not so clear. A god born in the skies could easily reside on the earth and then rise again. Anytime a god had relations with an earthly woman and a child was born it could be considered a virgin birth. In reality I doubt the lines between the physical world and non-physical world were able to be crossed in these ways. It rings untrue.
6. A. I. f. Summary
These are some of the conceptions and misconceptions I was confronted with and had to come up with answers for. The answers aren't' necessarily schooled, but independently realized or recognized. Hopefully most are aligned with what is real. I share them because my conclusion is simple, but it might be interesting to see how I arrived at them and once I did what else became clear. It might be helpful.
6. A. I. Christianity
The man who introduced me to the meditation I practiced was a Jew who became a Christian. Originally my concern was just following the light from the meditation, and getting my head on straight. Christianity was not an immediate concern. Later, when traveling in my camper, everyone was out to convert me into being a Christian. As such, eventually I had to eye it directly and deal with it. I learned by trying and at some point, perhaps self deceived, perhaps not, I had a vision of Christ before me and I walked straight into him. I had the ability to put myself into various places just like a chameleon who fits into various niches of the universe. Some stuck and others didn't. This didn't.
6. A. I. a. Metaphysics of Christianity
(Please note the following views don't reflect my own.)
Timelessness is infinite, everlasting, eternal. Time, a lower dimension, has a beginning and an end. Time marches on and there is no way to stop it, no way to survive it. Subsequently man inhabits time and is trapped by it. In the Torah Adam listens to Eve who listened to the snake and disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. He fell from Paradise, or timelessness, into time where things end and life ends. He had lost his innocence so to speak and became self conscious.
In metaphysical terms timelessness is one vibration, or oneness. In psychological terms there is one will, one ego, wholeness. Mathematically timelessness equals one. This number one is complete in its entirety. By going against God's will, Adam embraced knowledge, knew right from wrong, lost his innocence and created a duality. He was no longer one with God. Two wills existed, that of God and that of Adam. Since God is timeless, Adam was separated into time. There was division. Mathematically one became two. One dimension became two dimensions. Adam fell from the first into the second. When he had children one became two and then three and on and on.
The question for Adam and his descendants is how do they get back to timelessness. This time they choose to be one with God, not because they are innocent, but because they want to be with him and live in eternity. How do they do this if there is division and they are in separate dimensions?
My mom used to tell me there is a price on everything. For some things I think this doesn't apply, as in the giving unconditionally of a parent to a child. Or when someone risks their life for someone else. In the world, in the market place, and in physics the law seems to hold. Motion needs a force to propel it. Change requires heat. A void has to be filled. To do or accomplish anything takes energy and energy is costly. To have energy people have to eat and earn the money for food which provides the fuel and someone had to gather the food . Everything does cost in some way, either with energy or time or both.
If Adam's error created a division, a separation, how can that be repaired. He erred and time was introduced along with death. The word sin is used to describe error. If Adam is guilty and has to do time on earth as a prisoner does time in prison, how can this be reconciled or turned around. There are circumstances in life where a person who is innocent pays the price for someone who is guilty. I'm sure there have been incidents where an innocent friend does time for their guilty partner. Or more universally, friends or lovers sacrifice their lives for one another all the time. In battle or in life sacrifice has its place such as working for a future goal or taking care of a child. In Christianity, Jesus Christ, who was innocent of error or sin pays the ultimate price for man's error with his life and in this way the debt of wrongdoing is voided. Since all men/women are descendants of Adam, they inherit his sin. The evidence is they live in time and will die. Since humans are sinful, they can't pay the price to extract themselves. It takes a sinless or timeless entity to do so and Christ is that. Innocence for guilt and the guilty are free to live forever.
In Christianity all that's required to regain a timeless state and have one's debt paid is acknowledgment
of the sacrifice Christ committed. He, an innocent, paid the price to free the guilty. This makes sense. It is natural to expect a thanks from someone whose life you saved. This is Christianity in a nutshell, the mechanics of its essence, which is one act, one occurrence. In Christianity there is almost no other place to go. The rest of time until Christ returns is almost not important.
6. A. I. b. Physics of Christianity
Returning to the metaphysics of Christianity, we can observe that in the physical dimension of energy and matter lighter masses rise to the top. Air is above water, and helium rises in air. Ice, a dense mass, when heated turns to water, a less dense mass, and then to a vapor, the least dense mass which rises. Man's internal error created gave him a mass that can't raise himself. In the physical world without technology he can't fly. Gravity keeps him in place.
In the dense mass of the universe what was needed was a lighter substance to be introduced that can raise itself. A balloon in water rises and if its big enough all one has to do is hold on and believe it will take you too the top. Christ's timelessness is lighter than time, for it has no density. Hanging onto him in the form of belief can lift one towards timelessness or eternity. I see this as the nuts and bolts of Christianity.
6. A. I. c. Critique of Christian metaphysics
According to some schools of thought Christianity had a strong Greek vein. Plato's ideal form as opposed to lower forms is a concept that affected Paul's thinking, as he was educated as a Greek before as a Jew. Many religions of the day including Eastern religions have an ideal concept in mind. The concept of a virgin birth was not unique to Jesus.
The difficulty with an ideal form or goal is that it can never be reached. Having a pure idea and ideal can be helpful in any endeavor, but the reality of life can't be undermined. Life itself is earthy and purity of concept can keep one striving for a goal, but in its extreme can undermine all of life. Life is compromise and we have to do our best within its flaws and parameters. Life is also an interaction between natural laws, nature and people and there has to be a give and take. Having an ideal to strive for is good but if taken too far denies what the world really is, that being somewhat polluted.
Judaism concerns itself with everyday life. It strives to make this world better and the individual better through their actions to become closer to God. Simply put, there is a God and somehow we are separated and are required here to do the best we can and improve ourselves and our world and forgive ourselves and others for making mistakes. It is not a one sacrifice save all system. It is a process, a cultivation, almost an art.
6. A. I. d. Christian assumptions reexamined
6. A. I. d. 1. One equals one
For instance math is a pure form of logic and thinking. However, it is an abstraction from life. In pure math, one equals one. In life no one object exactly equals another. Each has a unique identity One accepts equality out of convenience and agreed consensus, but it is not reality. It is based on faith in an ideal concept.
The difficulty is that this can lead us reject the interrelationships life demands and the gives and takes of life for a pure way that is unattainable. While it is good to have an ideal way of handling things in our minds, it can also be crippling. It can also be arrogant to claim with finality what is perfection. Some wiggle room is needed. It is best to accept life on its own terms and be humble to the overall creator. Occasionally, in a craft or some pursuit perfection can be sought, but it has to be kept in check within the larger picture. Ideal concepts can lead to rejection of this world which is not for us to do. Instincts, our inner knowing, intuition, wonder, all can be sacrificed or trivialized in service of this ideal notion.
6. A. I. d. 2. Christian romanticism
The flip side of idealism in Christianity, where one sacrifice saves all, is romanticism. However, while this ideal does not seek logic or pure form or concept, it rather extends the emotions, feelings and yearnings to an unhealthy level. Love becomes too attached to a personhood or their story or their charismatic personality or being and doesn't want to let go. We see them in a 'romantic' light. We romance our notions and enlarge the tragedies and develop an unhealthily attachment to them. We can love another but always behind that there has to be a bigger love for the bigger picture. The image of the person should not encompass all our love. We can love them and through them love God. Christians seem to fall in love with Christ almost romantically as a love object, instead of loving the principles of the maker.
6. A. I. d. 3. David's plea for mercy
Over and over in David's Psalms he states he is overwhelmed and needs help from God. He often fell short of handling a situation and failed. So he petitioned God's help and mercy and received it. This was 1000 years before the advent of Christ. So obviously God was able to administer to people before a one time sacrifice. To help a person who was in a pickle due to their bad fortune or misdeeds I'm sure God was quite capable of doing. He was capable of altering the metaphysics of a situation. One grand romantic gesture was not needed. Administration and care and attentiveness was. God was curing and helping the effects of sin since the beginning of time. At the very least his mere existence helped us to do so and survive various situations.
6. A. I. d. 4. God was a friend
In ancient days God spoke to Abraham personally and they related on different levels, ie., as creator to created, father to son, partner to partner and friend to friend. As a friend, a good friend, I'm sure God would help Abraham if he needed to be helped. That's what friends do, they help and give a hand. They sacrifice for one another. God was God from the beginning and one overall display to dramatize 'sacrifice' was not required. That was drama, a romantic gesture. God was a friend and common sense prevailed and he helped when needed. The only requirement was that Abraham had to meet God halfway and recognize he was God and reach out to him. Makes sense.
6. A. I. e. Common Christian concepts
6. A. I. e. 1. Grace versus works
Not all denominations of Christianity stress this but some do, many of whom I ran across in America while on the road. The evangelical movement, which is about 200 plus years old, hold true to this concept. It states that the Jews were legalistic and thought they could achieve salvation by following exactly all the rules. Accordingly, salvation was a merit system.
In contrast these evangelicals saw Christ's sacrifice as having satisfied all the requirements for salvation and therefore man was not held to a rigid set of standards to live by and instead received grace and mercy.
This shows little understanding of what made Judaism tick. Originally, as I stated earlier, the rules came from common sense and were orally passed down. Such guidance in diet, in law, in general behavior were just good practices to have in life. Because men strayed sometimes rules helped out as we all know. Our inner directional signals don't always work and one man/woman can learn just so much.
The deeper meaning (in our consciousness) to having these laws is that unlike the Platonic concept of pure ideal form, God was brought to earth and his presence lived in all our actions, no matter how mundane. We were aware of him. Eating, sleeping, marrying, having sex, going to the bathroom, going to bed were all activities in this life that could have God near you. Why not? Such a great concept. Instead of one grandiose martyrdom and living in guilt forever because of our inherited sin, we could value this life and what we make of it if God is always with us. The prayer and honoring him served not just practically but kept us company. It was a way to make us less lonely. In Zen one is enlightened when one draws water as much as when one meditates. This honors life, not the perfect situation, but the nuts and bolts within in what often seems an environment of confusion and complexity.
Now there are 613 rules, not really clearly given, in the written Torah. Some are do's and some are don't s. The complimentary Talmud and other writings expound on these laws. Again the object is to actually love the particulars of life, even say, a court setting where one has to make an unpleasant ruling. We all want spirituality to be a man sitting on a rug, but it also can be present in the here and now amidst the life of the everyday. Can the observers become too rigid with the rules? Of course, but that can happen anywhere such as school, in the military, working for a boss and so on. I'm sure there were those who were too loose and said 'eh' to everything written. Leeway existed too. God was lenient.
In the Kabbalah mystical tradition of Judaism it is said the world will rise with thousands of lights, so each good deed, or Mitzvah performed, bring the world close to God because by bringing small lights into the world we enlighten it. So that is why the rules are particular. They attempt to bring light into the world. Makes sense.
The Pharisees, who in the gospels Christ openly criticized, actually had their pluses. How is this so? They wanted to democratize Judaism and bring it to the average working man and have it less of an elite heritage and more of a merit system. Sometimes merits systems can become overzealous too as we know from going to competitive schools. Could they have been a bunch of taskmasters around that time? Perhaps? But as with many things, originally their purpose was for liberation and freedom. Rigidity is a flaw of living in time and all rules become rigid if too far removed from inspiration.
In Judaism the seven Noahide laws are simple guidelines for living. They are natural laws that apply for non Jews too. Later, with Moses came the ten commandments, appearing after people were going astray. They are simple too. For those who want to reach God in an intimate way through the Torah, as stated there are the many rules one can follow. For a certain number following the traditions from the past, the rituals and ceremonies become a life unto themselves and serve a certain purpose in this world. It becomes a complete system. Can it be misused? Certainly. Can it have value if done with a good heart? Certainly.
6. A. I. e. 2. A second covenant
In the Jewish Torah, or Christian Old Testament, God draws a covenant with the Jews, stating if they recognize him as their God he will recognize them as his people and that they should roughly follow the guidelines to live that he imparts to them.
God also mentions he will establish a new covenant with them at some point. Implied is this occurs when the Messiah comes or God himself comes at the end of the era.
“The laws will be written in their hearts and minds” is a scripture that applies to this time, when men won't be so mechanical or forgetful or just stubborn and will also desire to please God. I believe this is true on different levels during all times.
Christians see the first covenant as a merit system of trying to please and gain favor with God by trying to follow all the rules, as if in school trying to get good grades. They see Christ as bringing in the second covenant which freed men from this having to get all the rules right because they were saved by recognizing him and who he was.
We've discussed how the essence of the laws was to make God close and intimate, not a drill sergeant. From the start man always had to be helped and receive a break from God. This happened before and after Christianity was introduced. A new covenant was not needed for that. Perhaps a teacher did exist that told people not to be too rigid, and to feel in their hearts what to do. Sometimes dynamics have to be balanced. However, a whole new covenant was not required. Men essentially had not changed. They tried to be better and fell short and then tried again and appealed to God for help to hear his voice.
Again, this is evidenced in the psalms of David.
At the time of Christ the world was the same. Men's hearts had not eternally been altered and there was not overall peace. Men/women might improve and better the world, but some rules and laws still were and are needed as guidelines.
6. A. I. e. 3. Pharisees and Sadducees
Alluded to earlier, the Pharisees actually were trying to make Judaism a less centralized hierarchical system and bring learning to a more democratic and local level.
Sadducees believed in a lineage of leadership and central control and inheritance of leadership. This is not an inherently bad trait. It can depend upon who rules and how they rule. More democratic versions of authority also can be abusive. Different visions work in different times.
6. A. I. e. 4. An eye for an eye
Christians and others often treat this as a brutal law, but actually in its time it was progressive. Jewish law between people made an attempt to be fair. Where it was brutal the Talmud softened the severity to a large degree. In this case when an ancient tribe was violated by an individual or group, say robbed or raped, they would retaliate and enlarge the punishment. If someone was robbed, it was not right to wipe out their entire family. Rather payment for the amount taken was all that was required. Fairness would take the place of feuds of revenge.
6. A. I. e. 5. Barabbas
The Gospels present Barabbas as a common thief. If we take the gospels as portraying real events, the 'Barabbas' portrayed was a zealot opposed to Roman rule. The Romans wanted the Jews to worship along with their God the Caesar, and the Jews wouldn't do that. Barabbas was being crucified for being one of the protesters. This is hardly a common thief.
6. A. I. e. 6. Enlarged role
Perhaps there was a teacher called Jesus Christ, although if Christ means savior, I'm not sure how many parents would have given their child that name. The Etionites were his original followers and they observed the laws. Perhaps they enjoyed his bringing more life to the scriptures.
At some point, perhaps with John or Paul, Christ became more than a man. He enlarged more and more till finally he became God himself. Paul was educated as a Greek and Plato's philosophy of the ideal was always his base. Having an ideal man who was God himself fit into this division between the flawed lower earth and ideal form quite easily.
With it becoming obvious the Romans were still in charge and Christ had not brought in a new world.
John also enlarges Christ's role from savior from the oppressors to spiritual master to God himself. Man would have to transcend his earthly desires to change things and just 'put up' with the world as it was and be “in it but not of it.” No real practical change would take place. Instead, almost an Eastern concept prevailed where man became detached and karma ruled and what happened was meant to happen and people should not be too attached to this life.
The Jewish tradition, however, was centered more on fighting for religious and economic freedom in a hands on way. This was not the world to come, but for the here and now. They were supposed to make this one better, and even had to fight for it if meant to be.
6. A. I. e. 7. God or son
As alluded to before, Christ's godhead appeared later, influenced by Paul's Greek background and surrounding cultures' mythologies. I'm pretty sure the Ettionites, Christ's first followers, viewed him as a man. In those days all the Jewish people were considered God's children, and men were his sons.
In the New Testament he is often referred to as the son of God. Singling Jesus out as a special son would not have been done by the Jews. The same was true for the term Lord. Almost everyone in a higher position than you could be called Lord. It was like 'sir.'
Back to the question of whether Jesus was God himself or his son, someone pointed out to me in the NT it is mentioned eighty-four times that Jesus is the son of God. In the Christian interpretation, he still has a special anointing in this role, but he is the son, not the father. When he says 'Why callest me thou good, it is the father within me that is good,' he exemplifies his sonship.
If I chose to be a Christian, I would see him as as the son of God. At least God is separate and in charge. The point of view that God came here to suffer as a man and go through a human experience seems romantic to me. He is God and doesn't need to go through an experience to know how man feels or to show us his sacrifice. That is what we are here for. To struggle with a dual nature and try to better ourselves. Christianity, influenced by Greeks, puts everything in its purest form, and this abstracts it from real life. Real life is the soul relating and interacting with the material world and lines are not clear cut.
In addition Judaism, or just life, is about the particulars of life. It's not all jumbled together. Laws for cooking are different than laws for sex or work. Each has its own uniqueness. We all have our own names and identities. God is God and everything else isn't. God is not his son. That makes no sense. We have a piece of his spirit within us, but we are not God. The entire vision of Abraham was to identify and relate to God's uniqueness.
The trinity of God, God the father, God the son, and God the holy ghost blurs all distinctions and insists on a oneness that is not truthful. I am not my father Milton although we share genes and background. Neither is God the one and same thing as his creation. Certain difficult concepts take time and sophistication to wrap your head around but eventually come to you. This is not meant be be understood and doesn't ring true because it violates how we are designed to understand things.
6. A. I. e. 8. The virgin birth
As I become older I get a sense of what is possible in this life and what is not. Of course this doesn't apply to everything but time does give one a sense of the real versus the nonsense. Two thousand years ago is not that much time. If a generation is thirty years that is about sixty-six generations. In my life I've known roughly five generations. It is hard to conceive of man/woman as that different not that long ago. It is hard to think of the metaphysics and physics of the earth as that different also. There also is a sense we are to learn from our lives what is possible and what is not.
This being said, it seems to be very doubtful or impossible that just two thousand years ago a woman conceived of a child without a real father. It doesn't feel real or make sense. I am not being a literalist. I believe miracles can happen. This does not seem one of them. It would make all our lives of observations and experience meaningless. It is too farfetched.
Perhaps in very ancient times the atmosphere was different, less bacteria, lives were longer because in certain ways people were closer to the heavens. If so this had to be in another epoch, many millenniums ago. A virgin birth two thousand years ago seems made up and mythological. I can't prove that it didn't happen, but all my intuition and knowing leads me in that direction.
In early BC and before the mythologies had the gods interacting with humans often. They had many character flaws and sometimes walked the earth. Since they were in the heavens but also tied to the earth a human birth could have a god for a father. The lines were not so clear. A god born in the skies could easily reside on the earth and then rise again. Anytime a god had relations with an earthly woman and a child was born it could be considered a virgin birth. In reality I doubt the lines between the physical world and non-physical world were able to be crossed in these ways. It rings untrue.
6. A. I. f. Summary
These are some of the conceptions and misconceptions I was confronted with and had to come up with answers for. The answers aren't' necessarily schooled, but independently realized or recognized. Hopefully most are aligned with what is real. I share them because my conclusion is simple, but it might be interesting to see how I arrived at them and once I did what else became clear. It might be helpful.