tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31051169323882153822024-03-13T11:15:57.303-07:00A Voice in the WildernessMusings on the Truth of Human ExistenceJohn Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-3493016267262768992021-06-25T18:05:00.003-07:002021-06-25T18:09:47.056-07:00An Agnostic Analysis of Spirituality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BE4Q3YUpw0/YNZ9F2ecooI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/_8Ig8KYfvpoOWfAmTdkibygPZ3jRWgOPACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/5197v9c4F9L.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BE4Q3YUpw0/YNZ9F2ecooI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/_8Ig8KYfvpoOWfAmTdkibygPZ3jRWgOPACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5197v9c4F9L.jpg" /></a></div> Friends, I like to introduce to you a book I am currently reading. It has a fancy title -- I'll put 3 chips on God, in case there is one, and its subtitle gives a better idea of the content of the book -- An agnostic analysis of spirituality.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This 300 pages book is written by Preeti Gupta. She lives in NewJersey, USA and she works there as an accountant. Her parents are from India and she keeps connection with India. I believe she is around 40 years old now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> As she grew up, Preeti asked the basic questions of existence such as why we live here and what is the meaning of our life. With an open mind, and with a willingness to learn, she listened to whoever claimed to have answers to these questions. She read people like Dalai Lama and Deepak Chopra, and she kept herself open to all religions and their teachers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> She does not claim to have found any answers to those questions, but she continues her quest with an open mind. She presents her current understanding in this book. She shares in this book with the readers some important information she happened to gather. Endowed with a very clear mind she has managed to synthesise the information and has come up with an excellent hypothesis of how we may approach spirituality as rationally as possible. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> Preeti respects all religions and all the religious teachers, and she is willing to learn from them all, but she prefers to call herself a human being. She does not want to remain a believer of any religious dogmas or doctrines. She describes herself as an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who is willing to admit his or her ignorance rather than hold beliefs about unknown things. A theist believes that God exists, and an atheist opposes the theists for holding such beliefs. An agnostic does not simply believe in things nor does he oppose the believers, but merely admits his ignorance of the unknown. Such an honest approach is, I think, necessary for any quest for truth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Let me try to summarise here her primary hypothesis.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Energy is defined as a fundamental force of nature that is transferred between parts of a system resulting in some physical change to the system and usually regarded as the capacity for doing work. Energy can take a wide variety of forms. Human body uses energy. Mainly we use chemical energy, which is generated from the food, water, and oxygen we ingest. These substances combine with others in our body to form certain chemicals or reactions that cause our blood to flow, our cells to metabolize glucose, and other such biological occurrences.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Some people think that there is another kind of energy in our body. A science person may call it life force, a Hindu may call it atman, or prana, a Chinese may call it Ki, but Preeti prefers to call it soul energy. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Until a few decades ago, we did not know much about many common forms of energy, such as kinetic or sound or light. All types of energy already exist in the world, because according to science, “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.” But we first have to discover a new form of energy before we know it exists.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What if there IS such a form of energy as Soul Energy, but we haven't discovered it yet? Just because we don't know about it now, doesn't mean we won't be able to prove it exists in the future. It's possible, we are discovering new forms of energy all the time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How do we discover a new form of energy? There are two criteria that must be met in order to establish the existence of energy:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">1) Show a force that works to cause a change in a physical system.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">2) Show that the force can be converted to and from other forms of energy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> A microwave needs electricity first, and then it converts it to heat energy to boil water. Some electricity is also converted to light energy to lighten the oven.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the same way, perhaps our DNA (our microchip) is coded to convert incoming energy chemical energy into other types of energy to perform various tasks. Sometimes our DNA may take chemical energy and convert it to kinetic, sound, or wind energy, which allows the body to perform work such as moving, talking, or breathing. Other times the DNA may instruct the body to convert chemical energy to Soul Energy, which allows the Mind to perform work such as thinking and feeling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Like the recent discovery of nuclear energy in the 1930s, or solar energy in the 1830s, we may one day “discover” what has been in front of our noses all along. We may finally crack the entire code on our microchip, our DNA, and discover the secret to Soul Energy. Or maybe we never will, because it's not meant for us Humans to discover.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This books further explores some implications of soul energy in human life. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Conclusion</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> This agnostic approach to spirituality broke open by Preeti Gupta can serve to bridge the widening gap between science and spirituality. If Science can discover the Soul Energy as a new form of energy, it will be a great breakthrough. It can serve to cast fresh light on so many age-old puzzles regarding miracles, faith-healing, spirits, ghosts, near-death experiences, and many more similar topics.</div><div><br /></div><div>Visit for more info: https://3chipsongod.com/</div></div>John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-68394833149254405542020-11-22T07:11:00.003-08:002020-11-22T07:24:32.468-08:00Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism
<p><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Kartika; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Kartika; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgMvtJTIgTI/X7qBJUeZUSI/AAAAAAAAGbw/KVnCojB05SYIct5kYgL_Y0uyRYnX-jUVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Being%2Bdifferent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="188" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgMvtJTIgTI/X7qBJUeZUSI/AAAAAAAAGbw/KVnCojB05SYIct5kYgL_Y0uyRYnX-jUVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Being%2Bdifferent.jpg" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Kartika; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This book, one of the most
insightful one I have ever read, is authored by </span><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Malhotra" title="Rajiv Malhotra"><span style="color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rajiv Malhotra</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #202122;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, an Indian-American author, philanthropist and
public speaker. It was published by HarperCollins</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> in 2011<span style="background: white; color: #202122;">. The book looks at the
West from a </span>an Eastern point of view, repositioning India from being the
observed to the observer.</span></span><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-language: ML;"></span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; margin: 6pt 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Malhotra gives a critique of western culture, by
comparing it with Indian culture, as seen from a 'Dharmic point of view.' He postulates
a set of characteristics of western culture, and a set of characteristics of
Indian culture and religion, characterised as "Dharmic." </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The term 'Dharma' is used to indicate a
family of spiritual traditions that include Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and
Sikhism. He contrasts the family of Dharmic traditions with Abrahamic
religions. His intention is not to replace the West-centric view with a
Dharma-centric view, but to have a dialogue in which the world civilizations
are not seen from the viewpoint of the West alone, but the west is also seen
from a non-western, 'dharmic' point of view. In such a dialogue, there must be
mutual respect instead of tolerance. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do we know?</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The author argues that the East and West
approach the question of how we attain knowledge differently. For the west,
knowledge that we need has already been revealed through past events and
people, and has been recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. All that we need to do
is to believe whatever has been revealed. However, in the East, we don’t depend
on the past events for knowledge. We make our own enquiry in the present. We
don’t need to believe in anything. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Imagine a country which has all the media
channels controlled by the government. People can watch only what the government
wants them to watch. They hear only whatever the government wants them to hear.
People don’t have freedom there to seek and find the truth. They just have to believe
whatever their government tells them. This is how the west is. The Abrahamic
religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-- do not give freedom to the people
to find the truth for themselves. They just have to believe whatever they are
told to believe. Compare this situation with a country in which their government
does not control the media, and people are free to watch whichever channels
they want. The Dharmic religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism – are
like this. People have freedom to discover the truth for themselves. They can
believe whatever they want to believe or remain without believing. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because the Abrahamic religions claim
custody of truth, they cannot respect the beliefs of others. Even within these
religions, there are numerous sub-sects, and they cannot agree with one
another. They are missionary religions, who try to convert people of other
beliefs to their own belief system. None of the Abrahamic religions or their
subsects can live peacefully in the modern pluralistic societies. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Dharmic religions, on the other hand,
do not claim custody of any knowledge or beliefs, and so they respect all
people regardless of what they believe. They are willing to accept all people
regardless of what they believe. They can live peacefully in a pluralistic society
without any problem at all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do we know?</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Regarding the question of what we know,
East and West have contradictory answers according to the author. According to
the East, the world is really a unity though it appears to be multiple on the
surface. According to the West, the world is really a multiplicity, and it
needs to evolve to a unity. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the East, the Dharmic view, there is
unity in diversity—real unity at the base, and it appears diverse. Thus unity
and diversity co-exist. Chaos and cosmos co-exist. All we need to attain is to
realize the underlying unity. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the West, the Abrahamic view, there is really
chaos, and we need to achieve unity. The Abrahamic religions help people to
bridge the gaps and create unity so that we can have a peaceful life. There are
gaps everywhere – between man and God, between man and man, and between man and
nature. All these gaps need to be bridged. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The author further observes that during the
age of enlightenment, people like Hegel created a very negative view of Asia
and Africa. According to Hegel, Europeans were superior to Asian and Africans,
and Germans were the most superior among them. This view of looking down on
Asians and Africans still prevails in the world, and it needs to change. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LRNvOop6CJk/X7qChUVHmsI/AAAAAAAAGb8/qE8GlQX5BL4aXHi0igFN6iR4gqphz8V2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/rajiv%2Bmalhotra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="300" height="205" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LRNvOop6CJk/X7qChUVHmsI/AAAAAAAAGb8/qE8GlQX5BL4aXHi0igFN6iR4gqphz8V2QCLcBGAsYHQ/w212-h205/rajiv%2Bmalhotra.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />Rajiv Malhotra argues that in the last few
centuries, when the west dominated the world, they developed a west-centric
worldview, and we have blindly followed it. Although the British left us half a
century ago, we slavishly continue their worldview. We need to look at the
world from our own eyes rather than through their eyes. The author presents
Mahatma Gandhi as our role model in this. His life and ideals is an
illustration of how we may view our life and the world, and live a meaningful
life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conclusion</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: ML; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think Rajiv Malhotra is presenting an
important point in this book. It helps us to reexamine our view of ourselves.
Are we still looking at the world through the eyes of the Europeans, or are we
using our own eyes? Do we claim custody of truth, or are we open? Can we live
peacefully in the modern pluralistic society? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-91885084339894105082020-08-09T04:37:00.007-07:002020-08-24T08:31:40.427-07:00 The What and How of Reconciliation<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy6OW1B7uvg/Xy_fzMZoFyI/AAAAAAAAGV8/Zdll1lYBNlsmAH_QOjzkN0P0anbKVjQhACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/jacob-esausmall.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="300" height="157" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy6OW1B7uvg/Xy_fzMZoFyI/AAAAAAAAGV8/Zdll1lYBNlsmAH_QOjzkN0P0anbKVjQhACLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h157/jacob-esausmall.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Let us imagine two people who were friends. Somehow they lost their friendship, and they got estranged and have become enemies to each other. Now, how can they reconcile, or become friends again?<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let us try to answer this question with the help of a few stories.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; text-indent: 21pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Let us imagine Jacob and Esau. They are brothers. Jacob cheats Esau. Esau gets so angry that he wants to kill Jacob, and Jacob runs away. After 20 years, Jacob, feeling sorry for what he had done, returns to his brother, kneels down before him, and begs for forgiveness. Esau readily forgives him, and they embrace each other and get reconciled. Now they have a stronger bond with each other.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">In short, reconciliation happens between two parties who are enemies when the one who does the mistake sincerely apologizes, and the other one forgives. Jacob apologized, and Esau forgave. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Enmity happens between two parties out of a misunderstanding too. Saul, the king, and David, the shepherd, were good friends. Eventually Saul grew suspicious of David, and as a result, he tried to kill David. In such a situation, reconciliation happens when the suspicion is cleared. David tried his best to convince Saul that he had no enmity at all toward Saul. When Saul realized it, their enmity was cleared. Then Saul apologized for suspecting David needlessly, and David readily forgave Saul.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Let us try to understand the story of Adam and Eve. They were friendly with God, the landlord. Slowly they grew suspicious of God, their landlord. Of course a snake<span style="font-family: inherit;">’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s influence was instrumental for this. They suspected that the landlord was not seeking their well-being, and that he was lying to them purposefully. This suspicion made them break their agreement with the landlord, and their friendship broke down. They had the option to apologize for their mistake, but they didn</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">t. They only justified themselves. So their enmity stayed, and there was no reconciliation.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Let us also see another great story of reconciliation-- between the prodigal son and his father. He got his share of wealth from his father, and left home. Eventually, he wasted everything. When he had no other way to survive he returns to his father, apologizes for his misdeed, and begs to accept him as a servant. The father forgives him right away, and accepts him as his own son. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">With the help of these stories, let us try to understand our own relationship with God. We humans have become enemies to God. Why? Has God done anything wrong to us? Not at all. We have grown suspicious of God. We misunderstand God. We suspect that God does not love us, God does not care for us. We mistake the natural calamities to be the expression of God<span style="font-family: inherit;">’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s anger toward us. As a result, we treat God as our enemy. In spite of our enmity toward God, God does not feel enmity toward us. So how do we get reconciled to God? Here the enmity is a one-way enmity, and it is caused by our misunderstanding. Reconciliation happens when the misunderstanding is cleared. Our misunderstanding that God hates us needs to be cleared. Once we realize the truth that God really loves us, we apologize to God for the misunderstanding, and God forgives us.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; text-indent: 21pt;">That God loves us unconditionally was the good news that Jesus proclaimed. Once we realize that God loves unconditionally, we love God back, and we also love each other. Once all people in the world realize this simple truth that God has no enmity toward us, we will not have enmity toward God or toward one another. Thus our world which has become like hell can become like heaven.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; text-indent: 21pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-char-indent-count: 0.0000; text-indent: 21.0000pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Unfortunately, most of the Christian churches believe that God has enmity toward us, and so God needs to be reconciled to us. But our common sense and a careful reading of the Bible makes it clear to us that God, like the father of the prodigal son, does not need to repent or reconcile. We the human beings, like the prodigal son, are the ones who need to repent and reconcile to God. As soon as we realize that God loves us unconditionally, and we admit our mistake of misunderstanding God's love for us, we are forgiven right away.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-3238024741374887032020-08-08T09:43:00.004-07:002020-08-09T10:19:43.111-07:00 The Capadocians’ Focus on the Oneness of God<p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TKmmuQ8IYnA/Xy-6a6ImVgI/AAAAAAAAGVw/CHiRhT7EyrQKIAFNwpjvR-lWPc5wtFhBACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/one%2Bgod.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="192" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TKmmuQ8IYnA/Xy-6a6ImVgI/AAAAAAAAGVw/CHiRhT7EyrQKIAFNwpjvR-lWPc5wtFhBACLcBGAsYHQ/w192-h192/one%2Bgod.jpg" width="192" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Christianity developed the understanding that God is trinity, which affirms the simultaneous multiplicity and unity of God. Both Judaism and Islam firmly assert the unity of God, and they both accuse Christianity for its belief in the multiplicity of God. Even within Christianity the concept of Trinity has not been understood clearly, and so a lot of confusion exists regarding its meaning and relevance. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Here this writer is making an attempt to clear the confusion to some extent. I was born and raised in the Orthodox church in India. However, I do not claim that mine is the official stand of the church regarding this topic. Here I am taking the stand of an independent observer and seeker.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Faith in God has naturally evolved in human race in their attempt to understand themselves and the world around. When they realized the limitation of their knowledge of the world, they assumed the presence of someone who knows everything about the world. This unknown one not only knows everything, but also is all-powerful. Each tribe developed their own specialized beliefs about this unknown one, and they transmitted their assumptions to the succeeding generations with their specific languages.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Later when tribes merged to form larger entities such as kingdoms and empires, each tribe was forced to modify their understanding of the unknown one to accommodate the understanding of the other tribes. Slowly there emerged national gods, and imperial gods, and eventually they developed the understanding of one God for the whole world. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Is God really one? The truth is that we know nothing of God. No factual, objective knowledge of God is available, as God is not accessible to our senses. God, transcending the time-space limits of the world, cannot be limited in our thoughts. So whatever we positively say about God cannot be factually true of God. Here we are talking not about the real oneness of God, but about human beliefs regarding God’s oneness. For the humanity to stay united, it is important for all humanity to believe in God’s oneness. Thus Eloh/Yahweh of Judaism is the same as Allah of Islam. The God is the same, only the names are different. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The Hebrew civilization before Christ also developed such an understanding of the unknown one. Out of the river of the Hebrew civilization emerged two branches -- Judaism and Christianity, which flowed in slightly different ways. Christianity flowed together with another major river -- Hellenic civilization, incorporating its worldview. Thus while Judaism remained with its traditional Hebrew worldview of a flat earth with an invisible heaven above, Christianity adopted a Geocentric worldview. As their world grew larger and more sophisticated, their view of the unknown also became more sophisticated. We may see this shift reflected in the New Testament books. While the synoptic gospels and the Book of Revelation follow the traditional Hebrew worldview, John’s gospel shifts to the Geocentric view.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">While Hebrew remained the official language of Judaism, Greek became the official language of Christianity by the end of the first century. Christianity, being more adaptable to the surrounding views of life, eventually became the official religion of the Roman empire.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">By the fourth century, Christianity had diverse views of the unknown. Some people thought of the unknown one as staying outside the world, and being its source. Some people thought of the unknown one as staying within the world as its driving force. Some others thought of the unknown one as having incarnated as Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The Cappadocian fathers-- Basil, Gregory of Nazians, and Gregory of Nyssa-- realizing the danger of people developing mutually diverse views of the unknown one, presented an integrated view. They argued that there is only one God in spite of all the diversities in our views. Father, the tanscendent one, Christ, the incarnate one, and the Holy Spirit, the immanent one-- are together one God. In spite of all the multiplicity we see, God is really one-- that is what they asserted. Their focus was on the unity of God rather than on the multiplicity. For a people to stay united, the primary requirement is for them to have a single God rather than many. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">With this focus on the oneness of God, Christianity hadn’t deviated from Judaism in its understanding. And Islam had no reason to correct Christianity for its view of God. All these three Semitic religions assert the oneness of God.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Unfortunately, the Cappadocians were misunderstood. Trinity began to be interpreted with the opposite focus. Later some churches began to focus more on the multiplicity of God-- although God appears to be one, God is really three. No, this is not what the Cappadocians taught. Judaism and Islam have been blaming Christianity for this wrong focus.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">If the Cappadocians were alive in our world today, they would teach us that there is only one God for the whole of humanity in spite of the multiplicity of the ways in which God is called and understood. The same unknown one is addressed in various ways -- God, Yahweh, Iswar, Bhagwan, Allah, Eloh, Christ …… </span></p>John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-62619625081939440542020-06-23T09:36:00.005-07:002020-08-08T09:51:29.328-07:00What Exactly is “THE TRUE FAITH”?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Each religious group claims to have the true faith, and they spend their time and energy to prove their faith to be true and the faith of others to be false. The members of each church give so much value to holding on to the true faith, that they are expected to sacrifice their lives for it. They point out the example of the ancient fathers who died as martyrs to uphold their faith.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As long as we are within a community as its part, we blindly believe whatever our community asks you to believe. But if we happen to step outside our community, we take an objective perspective, and we ask the basic question of what exactly is faith, and why it differs from one community to another. Most of those who stay within a community have never had a chance to take such a stance, and those who do are looked upon with suspicion. They are blamed to have left the true faith! Here, taking the risk of being called a heretic, I am stepping outside my faith community and looking at faith with an objective perspective. What exactly is faith? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Is faith the same as belief? Often faith is seen as a synonym of belief, and the people within a community are called believers. So let us first see what belief is. It is an assertion without any evidences. A fact, however, is an assertion supported by evidences. A belief exists supported by the people who hold the belief, but a fact exists even if no one holds it. Why does a belief exist? Because the truth of it remains unknown. So, can we claim a belief to be true? Not at all. A belief can neither be proved true nor false. It has no evidences either way. Once a belief is proved true with the support of evidences, it get promoted to a fact. So if someone claims that his belief is true, how would we respond? It simply means that he believes his belief to be true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If a certain belief is believed widely by an entire community, it gets elevated to the status of a fact for the members of that community. For example, the catholic church members all over the world believe that as soon as people die they go to a place called purgatory to get purified. For them it is a fact, but for the outsiders, it is a mere belief without any evidences. Such a belief about afterlife exists because no facts are available about afterlife. We are ignorant about what happens to us after death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Living in this world as a part of it, we cannot have an objective knowledge of the world. We can never go outside the world and observe it objectively. Also we are limited by the limited number of senses with their limited powers. We can expand the power of our eyes using a microscope or a telescope, and it opens before us a whole new world. Thus we can be certain that the world we know is only a part of the real world. We have facts about the known part of the world, but we have only beliefs about the unknown part of the world. We know our past, but the future remains unknown. So we have facts about our past, but only beliefs about our future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The world exists within time-space limits, and it keeps changing according to time and space. We imagine that the world exists so depending on something that exists beyond these limits because we can understand something that changes only in relation to something that does not change. Anything that moves has to be related to something that does not move. The world and everything in it change according to time and space. So we assume that the world depends on a changeless reality that exists beyond these limits of time and space. Although we assume its presence we honestly admit that we know nothing about this reality. As we exist within time-space, we can neither understand nor imagine anything beyond these limits. About this changeless reality also, we have only beliefs. Although we have given names such as God to this changeless reality, we honestly admit that we have no facts about this reality, which is why we don’t treat Theology as a branch of science. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Although we know nothing about this changeless reality, we make certain positive assumptions about it. We make these assumptions about the changeless reality relating it to the changing world. The following are such assumptions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>1. <!--[endif]-->It knows everything about everything. But we, existing within time, gain more knowledge as time goes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>2. <!--[endif]-->It does everything right, for it knows everything. But we, with our limitations, are prone to errors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>3. <!--[endif]-->It has all abilities. But we have only limited number of abilities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>4. <!--[endif]-->It has no beginning, and no end. But we begin and end. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">About how the world is related to this changeless reality, we have certain assumptions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>1. <!--[endif]-->The changeless reality, existing beyond space-time limits, cannot be limited by anything. So the changing reality exists within the changeless reality as its part. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>2. <!--[endif]-->Although the changeless reality appears different from the world to us, looking from the perspective of the changeless reality, the world is one with the changeless reality, and not a separate entity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These assumptions about the changeless reality are not blind beliefs; they are assumptions derived from the observed facts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These assumptions help us to live our life overcoming the limitations imposed on us by the world. Without the presence of the changeless reality, we are driven by fear--we are afraid of the unknown, of death, of committing errors. But by acknowledging the presence of the changeless reality, and by trusting on it, we are no longer driven by fear, but by confidence. Although our knowledge is limited, we are within the changeless reality, that knows everything. Although we commit errors, we are within the changeless reality that does no errors. Although we are beings with death, we are within the reality that is deathless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This trust in the changeless reality that helps us to live a life of confidence is the TRUE FAITH. This is not a mere belief that varies from one community to another. Out of this grows a meaningful life of confidence and love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This true faith is asserted in the traditional worship of the religions when they repeatedly affirm that God is omniscient, holy, almighty and immortal. The changeless reality is referred to as God, Alla, Yahweh, Brahma and other similar names. Being omniscient, God knows everything about everything, which makes God Holy, that is free from committing any errors. Also God is almighty, that is having all the possible abilities. God, being beyond space-time limit, is also immortal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whereas the true faith unites people, their religious and other beliefs divide them. Faith evolves out of in-depth understanding, but beliefs are superficial. It does not need any effort to hold a belief, but it takes committed search to discover faith and a meaningful and successful life based on it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Conclusion</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The words faith and belief have often been used as synonyms, which is why Faith has been mistaken to be a mere belief. A belief exists about anything unknown to us, and it is foolish to live or die for our beliefs. By the term TRUE FAITH we mean our trust in the changeless reality on which our changing world exists, and by which we are able to live a life of confidence. We don't live for our faith, but once we discover it, it serves as a strong foundation on which we can build up our life. This reminds us the parable of the two houses-- one built on sand and the other built on rock. Most of the people build their lives on the sand of superficial beliefs, and their lives collapse when they face storms. The wise ones dig down to discover the rock of faith, and build their lives on it.</span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-65614792180926649912020-03-30T23:02:00.000-07:002020-03-30T23:02:40.835-07:00Let us take a look at our own life!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">We think of life when there is a possibility to lose it. We are close to such a possibility. All over the world, we are in the valley of the shadow of death. Death is looming large in cities like New York, London, Rome and Paris, which make us think about the meaning of our life. Usually we don’t care much about the meaning of our life; we just live our life. Now as we are close to death, we ask the basic questions of our existence such as what we are, why we exist, where we are, and how we may exist. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Actually people of all times and places have asked these questions. Young people are much more interested in these questions than adults because as they begin their journey of their life, they need an orientation to the life they are going to live. When I was younger, in my twenties and thirties, I seriously asked these questions, and I tried to formulate my questions and answers in the form of a book. It is presented in the form of a conversation of some young people who meet weekly with an elderly wise person. The conversation is set two thousand years ago in the middle east. They ask him questions that are important for them, and the wise man tries to answer them with the help of the scriptures which they inherited from their ancestors who lived about two thousand years before them. Without giving his own answers, the wise man tells them how their ancestors might have answered these questions. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">This approach gives us not only an orientation to our life, but also an orientation to how we may approach these questions. There are question we can answer, and those we can never answer. What do we do when we have to deal with the unknown? </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I have given the entire book on the web. Please take some time during these days to read it. Please add your thoughts in the comments section. Also please forward the link to your friends and encourage them to read. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Please read the book at this link: <a href="http://orientationtolife.blogspot.com/">Orientationtolife.blogspot.com</a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-17810984170943536412019-10-19T08:27:00.000-07:002019-10-19T18:16:13.855-07:00Are we Slaves to our Beliefs?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Recently I wrote an article reflecting on how the concept of Trinity might have originated, and a reader responded saying that it is a mystery which our church fathers have presented to us, and all that we need to do is to accept it as such blindly without even thinking about it. This reader thought that my attempt to understand the concept of Trinity was similar to reinventing the wheel. It has already been explored and explained well enough by the fathers, and so we don’t need to waste our time and energy to do so. This reader believes that the beliefs we have inherited from our fathers need to be blindly believed, and any thinking on them is not only futile but also harmful, for there is a possibility that we arrive at different discoveries and conclusions, which is a disservice to the fathers. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The general understanding among Christians is that a Christian is someone who holds certain beliefs, which are believed to be true facts. However, the various Christian churches cannot agree on which are those beliefs. That is why we have hundreds of divisions within Christianity. What some Christians believe as true beliefs are not so for others. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Beliefs are jealously protected by the priestly class in each community. If you cannot blindly believe a certain belief of your community, and you openly express your disagreement, then you will be excommunicated. Sins like murder and rape are pardonable, but a deviation from the established beliefs is unpardonable. Beliefs, elevated to unchanging doctrines and dogmas, are believed to be inherited from the very apostles of Christ, and questioning a belief is the worst crime someone can commit. If beliefs are to be blindly accepted, there should not be any thinking at all, and so thinking is discouraged and even prohibited in the Christian communities. I have yet to find a Christian church that is an exception to this. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This situation seems to be as old as Christianity although we don’t see it in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not teach to hold on to a set of beliefs, but soon after his time, there slowly developed a set of beliefs which were transferred from generation to generation. In the fourth century, Constantine made Christianity the imperial religion, but soon the emperor had a headache facing the fights within Christianity on which was the right belief about Trinity and about the divinity of Jesus. Fearing that the empire may not stay united because of this fight, he called a meeting of bishops to decide upon which was the true belief. Of the two separate beliefs, one belief was declared right, and those who held the other belief were excommunicated. As this was not the right solution to the fight of beliefs, the fights continued creating headache to the successors of Constantine. This fight of beliefs continue to this day all over the world, and Christianity continue to split into hundreds and thousands of pieces, each piece claiming to have the right belief on various matters. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We human beings are supposed to be free, but in Christianity, we have allowed some beliefs to rule over us. We have made ourselves the slaves of some beliefs. We die and kill for our beliefs. During Jesus’ time the members of his community had made themselves the slaves of certain rules such as Sabbath and purification, and Jesus asked people to get out of such slavery. He declared that Sabbath is for Man, and not Man for Sabbath. If Jesus lived among us today, he would declare that Beliefs are for Man, not Man for Beliefs. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So let us make an attempt to understand beliefs. What exactly are they? Once we understand the truth of beliefs, we can make use of them rather than be slaves to them.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">What are Beliefs?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We understand the world around us with our mind and with the senses. As we get to know little by little, the area we know advances, and the unknown area recedes. In spite of how much we advance, there will always be the distinction of known area and unknown area. We can speak of what we know using facts, but about the unknown area we use our beliefs or opinions. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> A piece of information can be either a fact or a belief. A fact is supported by evidences, but a belief is supported by the people who believe it. A belief does not exist if there is no one to believe it. A belief is expressed by an opinion. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This does not mean that a fact is true, and a belief is false. A belief is also believed to be true although it lacks evidences. A lot of information come to us in the form of beliefs or opinions. Later, when they are supported by evidences, they get promoted to facts. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let us see some examples from the well known story of Jesus healing a blind man. The Pharisees questioned him about the healing. (John 9 : 24-25) They said about Jesus: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Give glory to God, we know that he is a sinner! </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The one who was blind replied: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I do not know whether he is a sinner! One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The one who was blind honestly makes a clear distinction between what he knows and what he does not know. Such a distinction comes out of honesty, and any honest person will make such a distinction. “I was blind, but now I see” is what he knows for sure. But he honestly admits his ignorance of whether Jesus was a sinner or not. He had no way of knowing that. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Pharisees are not honest though. They claim “We know that he is a sinner”. Do they really know? If they were honest, they would have said “We think that he is a sinner”. They thought Jesus was a sinner because Jesus healed sick people on Sabbath. According to them, Sabbath was to be observed by total rest, and so any activity on Sabbath was a sin. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Whatever we know for sure can be expressed as a fact, but whatever we are not sure can be expressed only as a belief or opinion. There are always areas more unknown than known to us. So we always make use of beliefs and opinions than facts. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although we speak a lot about God, we must honestly admit that no facts are available about God. So we always use our beliefs. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Also when we speak of the unknown, we speak of it relating it to what is known to us. Although we know that God is unlike anything in the world, we speak of God relating to things in the world just because we have no other way. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Beliefs vary from person to person, and also from time to time. I had certain beliefs of God in childhood. As I grew older, my beliefs kept changing. I do not think anyone else shares the exact same beliefs as mine. Although we all use the word God, we all mean different things by that word. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Before going further, let me summarize what I have said so far. Always we have known and unknown areas before us. We use facts to speak of known areas, but beliefs to speak of unknown areas. Beliefs vary from person to person and from time to time. To speak of God, purpose of our life, etc. mostly we use beliefs because facts are not available. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">What is Faith?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Jesus advised his disciples to have faith at least as little as mustard seed. St. Paul included faith in the three things that last, the others being hope and love. He also claimed that we live not by sight but by faith. He devoted an entire chapter to talk about people who lived their life by faith (Heb 11). Now the question we ask here is this: What exactly is faith? Is it the same as belief? </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Faith seems to be a wider view of life, for it takes into consideration what the inner eye sees as well. With the outer eye, we don’t see God, we don’t see how we are related, and we tend to live in fear, anxiety, and depression. But with the inner eye, our vision gets wider and deeper. We see God, we see how we are related to one another, and the purpose of our life, which helps us to live a meaningful life.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Paul claimed that we get saved not by good works to please God, but by faith. By this he probably meant what Jesus meant in his story of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying. According to the Pharisee’s evaluation, he deserved to be rewarded and the tax collector deserved to be punished by God, for he lived following the moral code of his community. But Jesus asserted that in God’s sight, the tax collector was to be rewarded, and not the Pharisee. God used a different standard to evaluate them. God saw their understanding that lay deep down within their hearts. The Pharisee believed that there were two kinds of people in the world -- righteous and unrighteous, but the tax collector believed that God alone was righteous, and all human beings belong to the same category-- unrighteous. This understanding of the tax collector helped him to come to God’s presence with repentance, and also to live in peace with his fellow beings. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Thus faith is the understanding that lies deep down within us, and it is a set of beliefs which provides a foundation for our life. Faith exists at the very foundation of our life, and our life depends very much upon it. Jesus advised people to have a life with a firm rock-like foundation, not a sand-like one. It is very important to have a very good understanding of our life as the basis upon which we can build up a fruitful life. If our faith is firm and positive, our life also will be so. Jesus advised people to critically evaluate what kind of beliefs they had as the foundation of their life. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">The quality of our faith will be exhibited in our deeds, words, and attitude, just as a tree will be identified by its fruit. One doesn’t have to verbalize what he/she believes. This is what Jesus taught. But, later, faith couldn’t be exhibited in their deeds and words. James deals with this problem in his epistle. He went to the extent of saying that faith without corresponding deeds is dead. When faith couldn’t be seen in deeds, they started verbalizing what they believed. That is when all the fights based on beliefs started in Christianity, which still continues. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So what should be our attitude toward beliefs? Imagine that you are like a gatekeeper letting in people identifying them. Facts and beliefs approach you. Facts are on their own, and you cannot stop them. How about beliefs? Beliefs are of three kinds: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Beneficial</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Destructive</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Neither beneficial not destructive</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">4.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Not sure which of the above group they belong to</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So what will you do with them? Accept the beneficial ones, reject the destructive ones, and ignore the ones that are neither beneficial nor destructive. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We need to be extra careful with the fourth category. Most of the beliefs we inherit from our parent-generation may belong to this group. We just have to patiently make an effort to understand them. We are not supposed to discard them even if we do not understand them. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Many of the beliefs spread by the Pharisees were destructive, and so Jesus advised to reject them. Pharisees believed that Sabbath should be observed by doing nothing, and this rule was a burden for the common people. Jesus substituted it by a beneficial belief -- Sabbath should be observed by doing good deeds. Pharisees held the destructive belief that God favors good people, but Jesus substituted it with the beneficial belief that God loves all people in the same way. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I think we need to follow the example of Jesus, and weigh and measure every belief we come across. If Constantine had known this in the fourth century, the history of Christianity would have been different. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> We </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">defined faith as a set of beliefs that exist at the foundation of our life. We have inherited faith from our parents and from the community we belong to. As children, we blindly accept them, but as we grow older, we need to critically evaluate our faith to see if they consist of beneficial beliefs, destructive beliefs, or beliefs we can ignore.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> I think we should not allow our difference in beliefs affect our relationship. A belief that disrupts our relationships is destructive. In spite of whatever we believe, still we are brothers and sisters. We are all children of the same heavenly father. Constantine couldn’t think in this way. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That God alone is omniscient is common knowledge. No human being has all knowledge. Whatever we know, still our knowledge has limit. Whatever we think right can be proved wrong later. If all people can agree on this one point, we will not fight and divide based on our knowledge and beliefs. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I think we need to feel sorry for all the divisions we caused by placing too much stress on our beliefs. If our heavenly father loves all people in the world as children, we should be able to treat all people as our brothers and sisters regardless of whatever they believe.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">We examined the role of beliefs in our life, especially in the history of Christianity. We allowed beliefs to enslave us, and as a result, we get divided into hundreds of pieces based on our beliefs. It is high-time we realize our foolishness and examine our beliefs critically instead of blindly accepting them all. Let us all realize that God alone is omniscient, and humbly admit our ignorance. Let us not sacrifice our precious relationships for keeping our beliefs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">John D. Kunnathu</span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-29088466780509896242019-10-16T01:51:00.000-07:002019-10-19T08:30:25.754-07:00The Popular Assumptions about God-- An Evaluation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">People of all times and places, regardless of their religious affiliations, seem to have certain common assumptions of God, which is a part of their view of life. Other than such assumptions, we don’t have any objective knowledge of God. All our knowledge enters through our senses, and no human being has ever experienced God with any of the five senses. Let us see these assumptions under three headings:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Based on our awareness of our limitations</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Based on our awareness of the limitations of the world </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Based on our suffering in facing the challenges of our everyday life </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now let us see them one by one. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our limitations</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Growing up as children, we realize that we lack so much essential knowledge, and we depend upon the adults for such knowledge. Soon we realize that the adults also have a limit to their knowledge. This reminds me of the beautiful poem by Kumaran Asan in Malayalam with the title “Mother and Child”. In this short poem a mother and child are having a conversation over the butterflies. The child mistakes them to be flying flowers, but the mother corrects the child. As their conversation progresses, the child asks why she can’t fly like the butterfly, and why the various living beings are endowed with varying abilities? At this question, the mother admits her limit of knowledge, and claims that God alone has an answer to that question. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I think this is the most primary awareness of all people about God. We become aware of our limitation in knowledge, and then we assume that someone must have all knowledge. That we have only limited knowledge is a fact, from which we derive an assumption that someone knows everything-- omniscient. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Whenever someone asks a question which we can’t answer, we instinctively say “God knows”. For example, if someone asks how many stars are there in the sky, immediately we answer, God knows. This answer simply means that nobody knows the answer to that question. “Nobody knows” is a negative statement, but “God knows” is a positive statement with the same meaning. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is like a mathematical problem that deals with an unknown element in an equation using a place-filler like X. For example, 8 + X = 10. In this equation, X stands for an unknown number, and we can find its value with the other numbers. We use the word God like this X, as a place-filler. We know it is there, but we don’t know its value. We attempt to understand its value from the other known elements. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Next to our limitation of knowledge, we become aware of our limitation of abilities. Growing up as babies, we assume that our parents can do everything, but soon we realize that their abilities also have a limit. This leads us to assume the presence of someone who has all the possible abilities-- omnipotent. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Imagine someone asks a question such as who can jump across the Red Sea. Instinctively you answer, only God can, which is the same as nobody can. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Next to our our awareness of our limitation of knowledge and abilities, we become aware of our limitation of being and doing right all the time. Growing up as children we assume that the adults are always right. But soon we realize that it is human to err. Because our knowledge is limited, whatever we do can be wrong. From this we derive the assumption that God alone is always right, always good, always just and always holy-- these adjectives are ascribed more or less the same meaning. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We also become aware of our limited lifespan, and we assume that God has no such limit -- has neither birth nor death. We call God immortal to speak about this. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As we realize that we can be present only in one place at a time, we assume that God can be everywhere at the same time -- omnipresent</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Limitations of the World</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We become aware of two of the primary limitations of the world -- of time and space. The entire world exists within space, and it changes according to time. From this we assume that God is beyond these limits. Instead of the world existing within time and space, we assume that the world, time and space exist within God. Hence we use adjectives like eternal, infinite, transcendent, and unchanging to speak of God. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our Suffering</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Other than such limitation-derived assumptions, we have another kind of assumption about God. Living our life is a challenge. It is a risky adventure. Anything can happen any time. When we suffer, we assume God’s role in our suffering in various ways. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">A.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God makes us suffer justly or unjustly. God punishes us for our wrong deeds like a king/judge/parent</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">B.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Even if God does not make us suffer, God is aware of our suffering. God either helps us or does not help us to get out of suffering. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So what is God’s attitude to us. We have various assumptions: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">A.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God does not care for us. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">B.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God hates us for some unknown reason. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">C.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God likes us if we obey God, but dislikes us if we disobey God</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><b>Destructive Assumptions about God </b></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">These assumptions about God’s attitude toward us makes our life even more miserable. Let us say we assume that God hates us for some reason and makes us suffer, or that God is like a king who imposes rules on us. Then we will devote a lot of our time and energy to change the attitude of God toward us. We will try to please God by saying nice things, by giving good gifts, by trying to live a life according to God’s will etc. However, none of these work, and we get even more frustrated. Moreover, whatever we assume about God, our character slowly becomes like that. If I assume that God is like an authoritarian parent or ruler, I will also become authoritarian. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Religions are often based on such destructive assumptions. People spend their time and energy to please God, which over time gets translated to large establishments that include property, buildings, people, rituals, literature, doctrines etc. Such establishments depend upon the destructive assumptions of God, and so the people who make a living out of such establishments keep feeding such destructive assumptions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><b>Solution</b></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So what is the solution? One of the following two solutions has been tried: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Denying God’s existence</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Affirming that God loves us unconditionally </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Denying the existence of an authoritarian God can be a temporary solution to get out of our misery and out of the clutches of a destructive religion. However, it can’t be permanent. If we deny the existence of the one who knows everything, the one who is all powerful, the one who does everything right, then how do we deal with our own limitations? How do we conceptualize the ever-changing world in the absence of a never-changing God? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On the other hand, if we choose the other solution, that would be a lasting one. If we assume that God loves us unconditionally, we will not waste our time and energy to change God’s attitude. But we will turn our attention to changing our own life and attitude. Also with such a role model, we will also learn to love unconditionally. We can make our life more meaningful and more productive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">John D. Kunnathu</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-79664756650995454832019-10-11T21:22:00.001-07:002019-10-11T21:22:33.558-07:00The Story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector-- A Fresh Look<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iNRL0-LAc6U/XaFTs80RvuI/AAAAAAAAFxI/MfHA-_aAp9YBd-cww3sdaqFVk8-IaGVvACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/pharisee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iNRL0-LAc6U/XaFTs80RvuI/AAAAAAAAFxI/MfHA-_aAp9YBd-cww3sdaqFVk8-IaGVvACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/pharisee.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">An essay competition was given to a group of students in a school, and the essays were evaluated by two different evaluators. Their task was to find the best essay. However they couldn’t agree on the best one; each of them picked a different essay as the best. The one who organized the competition wanted to know why they couldn’t agree, so she talked to them separately, and found out that the evaluators used different criteria to evaluate the essay. One focused on the form of the essay, but the other one focused on the content of the essay. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I mentioned this story to talk about the well-known story of the Pharisee and Tax Collector praying. It is presented as a test. Two people appeared there for a test. They will either pass or fail in the test. Two different people evaluate with two different results. According to one evaluator, the Pharisee passed, but according to the other one, the tax collector passed. Why? They used two different criteria. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The subject matter of the test was how they live their life. Who was living his life in the right way? One was right, and the other one was wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The first evaluator used the criteria of doing good deeds that are widely accepted in that society to define the right way of life- such as pray, give tithe, and give charity. The Pharisee scored very high, and the Tax Collector scored very poor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The other evaluator used a radically different criteria -- their understanding of life, the foundation upon which they build up their lives. The two examinees had two different understandings of life. The Tax Collector scored high, but the Pharisee scored very poor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So how was their understanding of life different? </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">According to the Pharisee, there are two kinds of people in the world- righteous and unrighteous. The righteous do everything right, but the unrighteous do everything wrong. That is why he compares himself with the tax collector and proves that he is righteous, whereas the tax collector is unrighteous. The job of God is to find out who is right and who is not-- be a good judge. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">According to the tax collector, God alone is righteous, and all people in the world are unrighteous. That is why he prays, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” He does not compare himself with others, for all people belong to the same category. God does not have the role of a judge here, for all people belong to the same group. God merely forgives and accepts those who approach Him seeking forgiveness-- God is gracious. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God alone is righteous because God alone knows everything. With our limited knowledge, whatever we do could be wrong. What we see as right could be really wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">With this understanding of life, the tax collector can forgive others and seek forgiveness for his errors. He can keep growing in righteousness. As this understanding spreads, our earth can slowly become more heaven-like. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">However, the understanding of the Pharisee keeps him self-righteous, unable and unwilling to forgive or seek forgiveness. If this understanding persists, our earth continues to become more hell-like. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In the first view, the evaluator was the same as an examinee, and so he was scored favorably. So it was a case of self-righteousness. In the second, the evaluator is none other than God. Jesus, the storyteller, and the tax collector within the story share the same views. So we may name the first one self-righteousness, and the second one God’s righteousness. The first view claims “I am right”, but the second one claims “God alone is right”. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Romans 3</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After Jesus, I think it was St. Paul who understood the importance of this distinction for the first time, and expounded it in detail in the letter to the Romans. What Jesus said as a story was explained by Paul in the form of an essay. In chapter 3 he speaks about the two different criteria -- following the law, and faith, which is nothing but our understanding of life. He argues that God alone is righteous, and all people are unrighteous- the same thing the tax collector understood. He also speaks about the grace of God, which was revealed through Jesus who willingly chose the cross. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Romans 3 is a very difficult passage to understand. A satisfactory translation is yet to be made. Because of the complexity of this passage, it has been interpreted in diverse ways. During the Reformation, Martin Luther developed his theory of “salvation by faith alone, not by works” from this. He argued that we gain salvation not by doing good works (as the Pharisee claims in the parable), but by faith. But what exactly is “faith”? Luther interpreted it as trusting God. Later others interpreted it to mean believing certain things, such a Christ died for us. According to one interpretation that became widespread in the evangelical world, God declared death-sentence to humanity, and the Son, Jesus, took upon himself this death-sentence and appeased the anger of God to save humanity. Such crude theories have made Christianity a laughing stock to the rest of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I have tried to understand this chapter relating it to Jesus’ teachings in the parables. Hence I understand the term faith as our understanding of life. I understand grace as the same attitude of the prodigal son’s father toward him. While the older son wants a judging father, the father was really gracious toward the younger one. Jesus’ death on the cross was not to satisfy the judgment of God but it reveals the grace of God. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This was at the heart of Jesus’ teaching, but unfortunately it was eventually misunderstood. If this understanding can be regained, it has the power to transform Christianity as well as the world. </span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-11323615949422169452019-09-30T21:03:00.001-07:002019-10-02T07:54:04.613-07:00A Fresh Look at the Concept of Trinity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I belong to the Eastern Christian Tradition, and Trinity is a basic faith affirmation in this tradition. An attempt is made here to understand how the concept might have evolved, and how we may explain its meaning. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We don’t see Trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures, nor do we see much in the synoptic gospels. Trinity is presented first in John’s Gospel, which was probably written around 100 CE. John’s Gospel talks about the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We see long monologues explaining the relationship among the three. Reading it today from a different context, we fail to understand what exactly the author meant. It probably originated in a place like Alexandria, where the Christian community was very well aware of the thought of Philo, the great Jewish Philosopher. They were familiar with the terms like logos, light, darkness,life, death etc in their specialized senses in which John uses them. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea was explored further in other cities too like Antioch, and by fourth century, the church fathers, trying to explain the Christian faith in the context of the neoplatonist philosophers, further explained the concept. The Cappadocian fathers-- Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa-- affirmed it and explained the concept, and it became the primary affirmation in the Nicene Creed. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In spite of the great work of the Cappadocian fathers, the concept was soon misunderstood. When the concept was carried from the Greek East to the Latin West, they understood it differently, and they altered the creed. They affirmed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the father and the son, but in the original creed, the procession was only from the the father. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Later when Islam evolved, Trinity became the primary bone of contention between Christianity and Islam. The oneness of God is the primary affirmation of Islam, and they deny the idea of the threeness in trinity. One can see in the online groups of Christian-Islam dialogues how they laugh at the idea of Trinity, and Christians fail miserably to give a satisfactory explanation.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When Christianity evolved from Judaism as a different religion, the primary difference was on the status of Jesus. Christians claimed that Jesus was Christ, but Jews refused such a claim about Jesus. Later, Trinity also evolved as a major point of difference between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism affirms the oneness of God, and they cannot go with the idea of Trinity. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although Trinity is a part of the faith of my community, it has always remained a mystery to me. I don’t know how this concept of God is more beneficial to us. The saints and prophets before Christ had no concept of Trinity, but they led a saintly life. Although I do not understand it, I wouldn’t dare to deny it or claim that it is false. All I admit is that I do not understand exactly how it was understood by the author of John’s Gospel or by the Cappadocian fathers. I believe that admitting one’s ignorance is the first step in seeking knowledge. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I have been reading Christian theological literature for over forty years, and I haven’t seen a satisfactory explanation of the concept of Trinity. It was a living faith for the author of John’s gospel and for the Cappadocian fathers, but later it became a dead dogma. We don’t know what it means to us. We don’t know how this concept helps us to lead a saintly life. In fact, a dead dogma does more harm than good. Being the primary bone of contention among the Semitic religions, it keeps the humanity split. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jews and Muslims keep telling us that the idea of Trinity is an offence to the oneness of God, and they keep attacking Christianity everywhere for this one issue. Christianity cannot ignore their challenge. We have to take the responsibility of providing a satisfactory explanation to the Jews and Muslims. There are also Christians who refuse to believe in Trinity, such as Unitarians. They also raise the same challenge. I think Christians all over the world need to accept this challenge from Jews, Muslims, and from the Unitarians, and make attempts to revive the concept of Trinity. Instead of allowing it to remain a dead dogma, we need to propose our theories of how we can relate it to our life, and make it meaningful. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the context in which I am making this humble attempt at presenting a theory of what Trinity might mean. This is just a theory-- just something to think, so that we can put our heads together, and evolve far better theories. I am presenting a very short and rough sketch, and we might be able to develop it further. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A few years ago I presented <a href="https://johnkunnathu.blogspot.com/2011/06/world-is-like-moving-electric-train.html">a simplified form of this theory</a>, which was published in my book --Gregorian Vision. I compared the world to an electric train. I argued that for a train to run, there must be two things that do not run-- one, the rails, and two, a constant supply of energy. Similarly, for the world to keep running, it needs the laws that govern its existence, and also a constant supply of energy. The laws and energy exist beyond time-space limits, for they do not run along with the world. The laws and energy come from an unknown super-source. The laws (logos) were established once for all at the very beginning, but the energy keeps flowing from the super-source. In the Christian concept of Trinity, the father is the super-source, the son is the logos (sum total of all the laws that govern the world), and the Holy Spirit is the never-ending supply of energy that makes the world run. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Well, at this point one may ask why Jesus was called Logos in John’s Gospel? Let me offer a simple answer that makes sense to me. Jesus was presented by Paul as the second Adam, the one who obeyed God fully and completely in contrast to the first Adam. As Jesus fully obeyed God, Jesus was seen as a manifestation of the will (laws or logos) of God. This is just this writer’s assumption at this time,which might change as more information is acquired. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now, after about ten years since I wrote the above paper, I think I have gained more clarity of the concept. I think in the fourth century, the primary question the concept of Trinity was addressing was how the world is related to God. There seems to be three different popular answers to this question at that time:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God exists beyond the world, beyond time-space limits. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The world is one with God, or in other words, the world is a visible manifestation of God.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God exists within the world, managing it and directing it. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As there were very serious discussions in the intellectual circles by both Christian and non-Christian thinkers, they probably formed separate groups arguing against each other. In such a context, the Christian fathers might have intervened with a solution. They probably argued like this: Although God appears in these varied ways to us as we look from different perspectives, there is only one God, not three. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The focus of the fathers was not on the threeness of God but on the oneness. Their goal was not to provide an objective description of how God is really like, for God remains incomprehensible. Their goal was simply to provide a synthesis to the contradictory theories of God so that people may stay united in spite of their differences of understanding. </span><br />
L<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">et us see how Trinity is affirmed in our liturgy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Priest:- Holy mysteries, for the holy and the undefiled. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">People:- None is holy, save the One holy Father, the One holy Son, and the One Holy Spirit, Amen. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Priest:- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the living Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">People:- Amen.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Priest:- With us is the One Holy Father............ </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">People.- Amen. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Priest:- With us is the One Holy Son.............. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">People:- Amen. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Priest:- With us is the One living Holy Spirit..... </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">People:- Amen.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the most important and clearest affirmation of the traditional Christian church found in the liturgy. It makes the following affirmations of God: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In spite of God being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God alone is holy</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God is only one</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God is with us on our side</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The focus here is not on the threeness of God but on the oneness. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I think this explanation can satisfy the Jews and Muslims and the Unitarians. I think Christians all over the world may take initiative to understand this concept and offer an explanation to them. Once they understand the concept, it will pave the way for all of us to unite and explore the concept further to evolve an even better understanding, which will pave the way for a more meaningful human existence and a more peaceful world. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-3038378384870682282019-07-15T20:33:00.001-07:002019-07-15T20:33:20.645-07:00Thinking Highly of God<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">(The summary of a class I presented in a youth meeting in St.Gregorios church, Houston, Texas.)</span>
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A few days ago I asked a young man of 15 to name someone he looked up to, and right away he told me the name a basketball player. He enjoyed playing basketball, and so he thought highly of a good basketball player. It is natural for young people to have such role models based on their interests and values. If you value music, you look up to a musician. If you value wealth, you look up to a wealthy person. If you value power, you look up to a powerful person. When I was young, I valued knowledge very much,and so I looked up to knowledgeable people.</div>
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You meet a lot of people around you, but only a few of them you look up to. When you look up to someone, you greatly admire that person by giving him a very high position in your mind. You dream to become like him/her, and you strive to achieve your dream. You speak highly of that person. You praise him.</div>
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Let us imagine that you enjoy playing basketball. One day you get to know that someone in your community you have always known is a good basketball player. Immediately this person rises to a very high position in your mind. You begin to admire him, and begin to enjoy his company. </div>
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Let me site an example from a familiar parable of Jesus -- of the prodigal son. He had always known his father, but when he had a chance to be away from him and to work under a master feeding his pigs, he gained a new understanding of his father. He realized what a great man his father was compared to his master. His father suddenly rose to a very high position in his mind. He was in a hurry to meet his father and apologize to him. The new understanding of his father radically changed his life.</div>
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This leads us to our topic today. We have always known God, our heavenly father. What if you gain a new understanding of God today? God will suddenly rise to a higher position in your mind. You will begin admiring God, and you would want to apologize to God for having a misunderstanding earlier. </div>
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If I ask you why we come to church, most of us will say, we come here to pray to God. But a better response would be that we come here to worship God -- to praise God. What do we praise God for?</div>
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The prodigal son praised his father for being kind to his servants. What do we praise God for? We praise God for being holy. We started praising God holy about 700 years before Christ. Let me tell you the story of how it happened.</div>
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There lived a man called Isaiah in Israel, and he was known as a prophet. One day when he was meditating inside the temple, he had a vision of God, and he came out with a new understanding of God which radically altered his life. In his vision, he saw the angels praising God Holy repeatedly. In order to understand its significance, we need to know the background of this vision. It happened right after Uzia, the king of Judea, caught leprosy and died. Uzia ruled Judea for half a century, and the land prospered under this rule. As he was a good king, people admired him greatly. It was believed in those days that leprosy was a punishment from God, and priests in the temple claimed that the king was punished by God for using censor in the temple. As a result, we may rightly assume that the people in general were very upset and angry at God for punishing such a good king for such a silly reason. Isaiah must also have blamed God. He must have been meditating in the temple seeking a solution. That is when he had the vision of angels praising God. He realized that although the people of the land were blaming God, the angels were not blaming. They were asserting that God is holy.</div>
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Isaiah probably thought about it and realized that God, who knows everything, cannot do anything wrong. The king’s illness might not have been a punishment from God. He along with the people of the land had been too foolish to blame God. As soon as he realized his mistake, he openly apologized, and he was forgiven right away. Isaiah came out of the temple and told everyone that God is holy, and that they were foolish to blame God.</div>
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The praise of the angels provided a model for our worship. When we gather in the house of God, we stand before God and praise God holy along with the angels. Our forefathers developed an order of worship expanding upon the angels’ worship.</div>
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Jesus made the same assertion about God. One day someone addressed Jesus good Lord, and he responded that God alone is good. Paul meant the same thing when he said God alone is righteous. John wrote that God is light, and there is no darkness in God. Speaking about God, holy, good and righteous seem to be synonyms.</div>
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The statement that God alone is holy means that we are not holy. Knowing everything, God doesn’t do anything wrong, but with our partial knowledge, whatever we think, speak and act could be wrong. This realization that it is human to err makes it easy to admit our mistakes and forgive others for their mistakes. </div>
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The angels in Isaiah’s vision praised God primarily for being holy.</div>
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Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!</div>
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They made two other assertions too.</div>
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God is the lord of the world -- a lord is the owner of land.</div>
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God is almighty -- with all the possible abilities.</div>
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The angels also claimed that the whole world is filled with the praises of God.</div>
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Later our forefathers expanded the praise of the angels further as follows:</div>
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Holy are you, O God!</div>
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Holy are you, O Almighty! </div>
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Holy are you, O Immortal!</div>
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A third assertion is added here, that God is immortal. Unlike the world and everything in it that exist within time limit, God is beyond time limit, for God is the creator of time too.</div>
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After the crucifixion of Christ, the following assertion was added:</div>
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Crucified for us!</div>
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In Christ, we received a great revelation of God’s unconditional love. Unlike the popular understanding that God is a judge who punishes us for our wrong deeds, Christ taught us and showed us that God is really our father who gets crucified by us. The father of the prodigal son does not judge his sons, but he gets judged by his sons.</div>
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Jesus Christ taught us mainly two things about God: God alone is holy/good, God loves us unconditionally. This was the good news about God that Jesus proclaimed. This good news has the power to transform anyone who understands this good news.</div>
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Our order of worship was created by our fathers with the purpose of helping us understand this good news about God thoroughly well, so that we may live a life of love, joy and peace. </div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-12713443106081392702019-06-24T11:33:00.002-07:002021-10-09T09:20:49.201-07:00Jesus’ Good News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">(A summary of the sermon given at St.Paul &St.Peter’s church, Houston on June 23, 2019)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">Today we heard from Matthew’s Gospel the story of Jesus sending his disciples with the good news -- the Kingdom of God is at hand. I have always wanted to know the meaning of the good news proclaimed by Jesus, and recently I have got a very clear understanding of what it means. This is what I am going to share with you now. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">In order to understand Jesus’ good news, we need to live in the time and place of Jesus. Although we are far removed from Jesus’ time, we may imagine that we are living at that time and place. Let us imagine that we live in the fist century Israel, and we are among the people who listened to Jesus’ good news. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">People had an extremely miserable life there. That place was occupied by the Romans, and under their rule, the Jews had no freedom to live a normal life as they wanted. Their economic situation was very bad, as they had to pay taxes to the Romans in addition to the temple tax. Many of them sold themselves into slavery. There were robbers everywhere, and life was not safe. Contagious diseases spread, and there were lepers everywhere. There were also mentally ill people everywhere, who were thought demon-possessed. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">The people believed that they were in such a miserable situation because the world had been ruled by Satan. They had a story that originally Satan was a good angel, who turned evil by rebelling against God. They hoped and prayed that God would soon appoint a new ruler in place of Satan, whom they called the messiah, the anointed. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">It is in this context that Jesus proclaimed the good news that God was already ruling the world. People were excited to hear the news. They approached Jesus for more details. They wanted to know if the messiah would come in the clouds, if he would do a judgment, and who would be on the right side of the messiah at the judgment. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">Jesus made it clear to them that God was already ruling the world. If the people were under the rule of Satan, God was not to blame for it. They were free to remain under Satan’s rule or to escape from there and be under God’s rule. Jesus made his idea clear with the story of the prodigal son. He left his father and worked under a cruel master. When he realized his mistake, he left this master and ran toward his father. He was not kept in bondage by his master. He was free to leave. God, our heavenly father, is like his father, and Satan is like his cruel master. We are always free to leave Satan and go to our heavenly father, who is always willing to accept us. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">In order to turn to his father, he needed to have two primary realizations of his father. He needed to realize that his father was right and he was wrong, and also that his father loved him unconditionally. We need these two realizations of God for us to turn to God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1. </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">We need to realize that God loves us, and God has nothing against us. God is willing to forgive us the worst crimes. God is always there with stretched arms to receive us. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2. </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">We also need to realize that God is the only one who is always right, good and holy, for God is the only one who knows everything. We, with our limited knowledge, do mistakes. If we realize this we will be willing to admit our mistakes and seek forgiveness. We will also be willing to forgive others. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">The prodigal son was willing to admit his mistakes, justifying his father, but his older brother justified his mistakes placing the blame on his father. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they had the option to say sorry. But instead they justified themselves and put the blame on others. God, you are wrong, and I am right! That is how Adam said. The prodigal son said in the other way: father, you are right, and I am wrong. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">In our Kauma, we say Holy art thou O God, and then we say, Lord have mercy on us sinners. Like the prodigal son we also admit that God is right (holy) and we are sinners (wrong). </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">The realization that God alone is holy helps us to seek forgiveness and also forgive others. When we admit our mistakes, and forgive others, the world will transform to heaven-- a place of love, joy and peace. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";">May God bless us to transform our families, our communities, our workplaces, and our world into heaven! </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-24912046640162191152019-04-20T08:59:00.000-07:002019-04-21T05:49:56.700-07:00My Eureka Discovery of the Meaning of Worship<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Why do we worship? I have been exploring this question for a few decades now, and finally I have found an answer that is very satisfying to me. I have found that worship has a certain meaning in the Semitic religions that has the power to transform our earth to heaven. However, unfortunately, this meaning has been lost, and worship has degenerated into a meaningless ritual in the Semitic religions. Hence, instead of transforming our earth to heaven, it has transformed our earth to hell. Here I am making a plea to the members of all the Semitic religions to regain the lost meaning of worship, so that our earth can become heaven. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When I think of my quest, I often think of Archimedes’ quest. When he finally found an answer, he ran along the street naked shouting Eureka. He was so excited that he didn’t even realize that he had no clothes on. He was very much excited at his finding because it was the result of a very long and tedious quest, and an answer dawned on him like a revelation unexpectedly when he had almost lost hope about finding an answer. This is true about my quest too. I made this quest regarding the meaning of worship almost all my life, and I almost lost hope of finding an answer, and unexpectedly an answer dawned on me like a revelation. I also felt like running along the streets shouting Eureka. Those who saw Archimedes running along the street mistook him to have lost his mind. Even if Archimedes had stopped and explained his discovery to them, they wouldn’t have appreciated his discovery because neither did they make the quest nor did they understand the significance of the discovery. This is true about my discovery too. Almost all people I have shared my excitement of this discovery have failed to understand its significance, for they have never asked the question ‘Why we worship’. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If you have read this far, you belong to the few people who hunger and thirst after truth. I earnestly request you to continue reading and find out what I have discovered from a lifetime of search. I am going to explain in the simplest possible language the meaning of worship that has the power to transform our world. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Background of my Quest</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let me begin explaining the background of my quest. I was born and raised in a family that follows the Eastern Orthodox Christian practice of worship. Our parents were very strict about having family prayer twice a day -- morning and evening. We assembled in the front room, sang a hymn, read a couple of chapters from the Bible, stood up facing the east, and recited prayers from a prayer book. On Sundays, we went to church, had special morning prayers, followed by Holy Eucharist. I also had Sunday school where I learned about our religious beliefs and practices. As I grew older, I happened to come in contact with Christians from other traditions, and I noticed that they vary in their beliefs and practices. For example, some of them followed an order of worship as given in a book, while some others had an informal way of worship. I noticed that we use several expressions in Syriac and Greek in our worship,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">whereas </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Christians from some other traditions do not use such expressions in their worship. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When I noticed diverse ways of worship, I wanted to know which one of them is the right way? I was asking “how” about the various aspects of worship in the various traditions. Slowly I realized that my how-questions can be satisfactorily answered only if I can answer the why-questions about worship. Thus I turned from the how- questions to the why-questions about worship. Finally I arrived at the most fundamental question about Christian worship -- why do we worship at all? How did worship originate, and and what purpose does it serve in our life? </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Worship in Semitic Religions </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I noticed that all religions have worship. However, I decided to limit myself to the Semitic religions for the time being primarily because I don't have sufficient background knowledge to study about the worship practices of other religions. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Semitic religions have daily and weekly worship as well as yearly worship days. The Jews worship two to seven times, Muslims worship five times, and traditional Christians worship seven times a day. The daily worship consists of singing hymns, reading from scriptures, and reciting specially made prayers in specific format. A day in a week is devoted for worship in the Semitic religions -- Friday in Islam, Saturday in Judaism, and Sunday in Christianity. The weekly prayer is an elaborate form of daily worship with hymns, scripture readings, and reciting of prayers. They gather in their holy place -- synagogue, church, mosque, and they have communal worship led by a leader -- Rabbi, priest/pastor, imam. All the three religions observe several yearly holy days with elaborate worship. Thus these three religions have more similarities than differences in their worship practices. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Worship in Ancient Judaism</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We may safely conclude that Judaism, Islam, and Christianity inherited their worship practices from the ancient Judaism. By ancient Judaism, here I mean the Judaism until their temple was destroyed in AD 70. If so, how did worship evolve in ancient Judaism? Why did the ancient Jews worship? What meaning did they ascribe to worship? </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We can see that the ancient Judaism had worship practices similar to all other ancient peoples. They did various kinds of sacrifices, and such worship continued in their temple of Jerusalem even at the time of Jesus. The sacrifice-centered worship was led by priests. One of the twelve tribes was a priestly tribe-- the tribe of Levi. They had an elaborate system of doing sacrifices, which is described in the Book of Levi in the Bible. The question of how the practice of doing sacrifices originated is worth exploring; however, it is beyond the scope of this paper. Anthropologists have come up with various explanations of the origin and meaning of sacrifices, but evidences are lacking to make any conclusions. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The ancient Judaism also developed the practice of getting together once in a week. They probably inherited this practice from Mesopotamians. They probably sang hymns in their meetings praising God/gods. One of the ten commandments was to observe Sabbath, the weekly holiday. The hymn of creation given in the first chapter of Genesis presents God as observing Sabbath, and the hymn was probably sung on Saturdays when they got together to worship God.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Whenever the priesthood corrupted, there evolved another kind of leadership called prophets, who revolted against priests and corrected them as needed. They asserted that God is not pleased by the sacrifices, but by following the will of God. When the Jews were taken abroad in slavery by Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians, they lost the opportunity to follow their traditional worship practices, which encouraged them to evolve a non-temple and non-sacrifice based way of worship consisting of singing hymns, reading scriptures, reciting prayers. Later when they returned to their homeland, they brought back their new way of worship. Thus along with their temple worship, they also had their weekly synagogue worship, in addition to their daily worship at their homes. We read in the Bible about Jews worshiping both in their temple and in their synagogues. Once their temple was destroyed in AD 70, their sacrifice-based worship came to an end, and modern Judaism has only their Synagogue worship on Saturdays, and their daily worship in their homes. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The hymns they used to sing during worship in their homes and synagogues were put together to become the Book of Psalms. They also had their scripture readings. They read primarily from the Books of Moses. They also read from the Books of prophets. Scribes were a group of people specialized in the skills of reading and copying the Scriptures in scrolls. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">During worship, the congregation faced toward Jerusalem. They stood, bowed, knelt or prostrated as if a group of people approach a king. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Later as Christianity evolved from Judaism, they inherited the synagogue worship practices. They erected their places of worship (church) like the synagogues. The congregation faced east as if they stand before the throne of God. They stand, bow, kneel, or prostrate. Their worship consists of the same elements as in Jewish worship- hymns, scripture readings, and prayers. They combined the sacrifice-based worship and the synagogue worship in the Eucharist. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Later Islam evolved in a cultural background where there were Judaism and Christianity, and it evolved a worship pattern very similar to the synagogue worship. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Whatever I have said so far is common knowledge about worship, and I have only put the information together as a background. But what I am going to say next is not common knowledge. I must say that this is my discovery because I haven’t read this anywhere, nor have I heard it from anyone. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Why do we Worship? </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In order to answer the question why we worship, I haven’t considered the sacrifice-based worship at all, but I have considered the synagogue worship of praising God. God has been praised for some greatness of God. I examined the content of hymns and prayers in worship in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to find out what greatness God has been praised for. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The first thing people might have noticed about God is that God is all-powerful. God has the power to control the natural forces such as rain, wind, and lightening. Eventually they might also have praised God for knowing everything. They also realized that God lives forever. People praised God for omnipotence, omniscience, and for immortality. It was not an objective knowledge at all, but a derived knowledge. We humans have limited abilities, limited knowledge, and we live for a short time. From this we assume that God, the creator of the world, has all abilities, all knowledge and live forever. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Eventually something very important was found about God, that God is holy, which means that unlike we human beings or angels, God doesn’t do anything wrong or bad or evil. God does only what is good and right. We may ask why God alone is holy. We may think of a very simple reason. We do errors out of our ignorance, but God, who has all knowledge, won’t commit any errors at all! </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I noticed that in all the Semitic religions, God is praised primarily for one greatness -- being Holy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As I mentioned earlier, I belong to the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, and the liturgy we use has been translated from Syriac, which is another form of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. These prayers were in use in the early Christianity, and they must have come from the Jewish liturgy. The simplest order of worship we use is called a <i>kauma</i>, and it is recited all the time we pray. Each of the seven times of prayer begins and ends with a <i>kauma</i>. This Syriac word means stand, which must have been an instruction to stand while reciting this. The <i>kauma</i> has as its central part the Trisagion, which is praising God holy three times as the angels do in the vision of Isaiah. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Heaven and Earth are filled with the praises of God!</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God is praised for being Holy. It is repeated three times to give emphasis. This is further expanded in the kauma as follows:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Holy art thou, O God!</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Holy art thou, Almighty!</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Holy art thou, Immortal! </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God’s holiness is mentioned meaningfully for the first time in the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah, a prophet of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">8th century BC, had a vision of angels praising God for being holy. It was immediately after king Uziah died of leprosy. It is possible that the people of that place must have been blaming God for the death of the king, for he was a great king who administered the land successfully for about half a century, and the land prospered during his time. It was believed in those days that leprosy was a punishment from God for sins. Uziah being a very good king, the people couldn’t find any justification on the part of God for punishing him. In the vision, Isaiah saw that the angels were not blaming God, but they were praising God for being holy. It must have been a misunderstanding on the part of the people to assume that Uziah was punished by God with leprosy. Isaiah realized that God alone is holy, for God, knowing everything, does everything right, but we, out of our ignorance, err in our thoughts, words and deeds. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Syriac statement, </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">kaadeesh aat aloho</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">, may be translated in English as Holy is God! This statement asserts beyond doubt that God alone is holy. This knowledge is derived from the understanding that no human being or angel is holy. Thus the statement ‘God alone is holy’ is synonymous with the statement ‘none of us is holy’ or ‘it is human to err’. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The knowledge that God alone is holy has an important practical implication. Once we realize that it is human to err, it becomes easy for us to forgive each other and to seek forgiveness from each other. Thus praising God holy becomes the basis of a peaceful existence for us. Isaiah understood this. As he had this vision of angels praising God, he became aware of his own unclean tongue. He had also blamed God along with the other people for punishing Uziah. When he admitted his tongue was unclean, immediately he was forgiven. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Coming down in history, we do not know who else has had a clear understanding of this other than Jesus. Jesus repeatedly asserted that God alone is good and perfect. If so, people cannot be classified into righteous and unrighteous, for all people are of the same category before God. We all err, and realizing this, we will be willing to seek forgiveness and forgive others. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It seems that Christianity was built upon this revolutionary understanding, which must have been the yeast that had the power to transform an entire civilization. Jesus rightly named it the Kingdom of Heaven, for when people forgive each other and seek forgiveness from each other, our earth can be transformed into heaven!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Meaning of Worship Hidden</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">However, within a short time, this understanding was hidden under a pile of beliefs, doctrines, superstitions, and meaningless rituals. The statement “Holy is God” lost its meaning. It began to be uttered in worship to mean God is holy. Holiness was seen as one of the attributes of God. The word “Holy” has been used to describe many other things such as Holy day, Holy Bible, Holy church, and Holy people, and God became just one of the Holy ones. Christianity, instead of transforming our earth to heaven, degenerated into a religion that offered salvation in the other world after death. Its worship degenerated into a meaningless one, and it developed elaborate systems of rituals under the leadership of a hierarchy of priests. Down through history, there have been several attempts to uncover the lost understanding, but no attempt has been fully successful. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Islam may be seen as such an attempt to regain the lost understanding. Although it could partially recover certain aspects of the original, it could not regain the lost understanding fully. Muslims place so much stress on living a life according to the will of God. But they have gone to the other extreme of believing that we were created to worship God. Thus worship is presented as an obligation. This is a deviation from what we see in Isaiah’s vision, in which the angels praised God not out of obligation, but out of their wonder. When we see the greatness of God, the praise comes from the innermost soul by itself. Moreover, Muslims, stressing a life of surrender to God, believe that we are nothing but God’s servants. In the original understanding as explained by Jesus, although we surrender ourselves at the feet of God as servants, God never treats us as servants but as children. The prodigal son surrenders himself at his father’s feet as a servant, but the father accepts him as his son. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Reformation in Europe under the leadership of Martin Luther and others was another attempt to regain the lost understanding. Although it was successful in overthrowing the enslaving dominance of the Roman Catholic church, it was unsuccessful in regaining the original understanding. The infallibility of the pope was replaced by the infallibility of the Scriptures. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The enlightenment in the following centuries was another attempt. Although it elevated human dignity by regaining our freedom to think, it went to the other extreme of overthrowing God, which has been suicidal for humankind. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The socialist movement, a child of enlightenment, was another attempt to regain the lost understanding and bring heaven on earth. However, that too has proved a failure, for it believes in forceful and violent conversion of earth to heaven. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The western liberalism, another child of enlightenment, through its system of education, is trying to educate the people, and bring about heaven on earth. However, with its Godless view of the world, it is destined to fail as well. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Almost half of our world’s population belong to the corrupt Semitic religions, with its piles of superstitions and rituals, that offer salvation in the other world after death. Of the remaining, a quarter of the population belong to the reform movements, such as socialism and liberalism, that try to overcome the corruption of these religions. The remaining quarter belong to the eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. The eastern religions have often served to point out the corruption in the Semitic religions, but they have not been very successful, for they have often been influenced in turn by the Semitic religions. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Regaining the Original Meaning </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Isaiah’s vision, in which God is praised for being holy, seems to be the beginning of a revolutionary understanding of worship. Hence the trisagion, praising God holy three times, became the focus of Jewish worship, which later became the focus of Christian worship as well. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The hope for a peaceful world lies in regaining the lost understanding of worship in Semitic religions. We need to regain the vision of Isaiah and affirm along with the angels that God alone is holy, for God alone is all-knowing, which implies that we with our limited knowledge err in our thoughts, words and deeds. With this understanding, we will be quick to seek forgiveness</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> from</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> each other and will be quick to forgive each other. Thus we can convert our earth to heaven (sorry for the repetition, for this is the primary point I am making here). Jesus tried to regain the vision of Isaiah for his generation proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of heaven, but soon after his time, the religion that formed in his name got corrupted making our world even worse than before. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I am making a plea to the Christians all over the world to regain the vision of Isaiah as explained by Jesus. Once Christians regain this understanding of worship, Jews and Muslims also can regain this understanding, and we can together make our earth a heaven. I started examining the liturgy of eastern Orthodox Christianity, the one in which I was born and raised. Later I found that my findings can be relevant to all the Christian traditions. As I continued my quest, I realized that my findings can be relevant to all the Semitic religions. As this is about the peaceful coexistence of all humanity on the face of the earth, non-Semitic religions wouldn’t have anything against these findings, and will be willing to accept it wholeheartedly. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dear reader, if you have read this far, I owe you my sincere gratitude, for you have spent some of your time to find out a discovery which is, I think, of great importance. I like to hear from you. Your input will help me tremendously to make this presentation even clearer and sharper. If you like to explore this topic further along with me, I suggest you do the following: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Read this article again and also read my other articles in my blog, <a href="http://johnkunnathu.blogspot.com/">johnkunnathu.blogspot.com</a> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Listen to my talks in my youtube channel at <a href="http://youtube.com/johnkunnathu">youtube.com/johnkunnathu</a>. I have 20 short talks there in English and Malayalam under the topic “Worship Made Meaningful”. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Join me in spreading this idea by talking to your friends, and by writing about it in print and in digital media. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let us join hands in bringing heaven on earth! </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br /></div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-40139415677037798862019-03-29T16:30:00.001-07:002019-03-30T21:57:56.268-07:00Walls Must Fall!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-ctbtn="2" data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwieq5XBwKjhAhVH6XMBHWrNC1YQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zazzle.com%2Fkids_for_world_peace_poster-228961335387064182&psig=AOvVaw24sejFD5SzDKQdvfxQCurs&ust=1553988482119694" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwieq5XBwKjhAhVH6XMBHWrNC1YQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwieq5XBwKjhAhVH6XMBHWrNC1YQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zazzle.com%2Fkids_for_world_peace_poster-228961335387064182&psig=AOvVaw24sejFD5SzDKQdvfxQCurs&ust=1553988482119694" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;focus:irc.rl" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); clear: left; color: #1a0dab; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" data-iml="1553902125429" height="320" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/kids_for_world_peace_poster-r1c6023101fc44e2aa75a23f852c56483_ajycc_8byvr_540.jpg" style="background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); box-shadow: 0px 5px 35px rgba(0,0,0,0.65); margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It is imperative that we stand together as one humanity and face the calamities that pose a threat to our very existence. Problems like global warming, pollution of our environment, and shortage of water loom large before us threatening the very existence of human race or even of all living beings on our planet. When we have such problems of global magnitude, we can’t afford to stand separated any more as nations or as religions or as races. Either we stand united and win or we stay divided and fail. We have to choose between life and death. Here I am making a humble plea to overcome our divisions and get united as one humanity. Also I am making a few suggestions of how we may overcome our divisions. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When we were children, the walls that separate humanity were invisible to us. But as we grew older, the walls became visible</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> and w</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">e realized that we are divided based on our color, race, class, nation, religion, and gender, and that the walls that separate us are too strong for us to demolish, and we had no choice but to pledge allegiance to our own group and fight with the others. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although we live almost the same kind of life, our understanding of our life varies. We breathe, drink, eat, sleep, work, dress, mate, speak, play, sing, learn and travel almost in the same way. We buy groceries from the same stores, eat food from the same restaurants, use the same means of communication and transport, live in the same kind of buildings, go to the same kind of hospitals, send our children to the same schools and colleges, and watch the same kind of movies in the same theaters. Although our life is the same, our view of life is slightly different. Our beliefs and our religious practices vary. We go to different places of worship.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Gender</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We human beings exist as male and female, and they mate to procreate, without which our race cannot continue. As the male and female members live together in families and in other bigger communities, should they have equal status, or should one of the genders dominate the other? The male members, with their physical strength, have dominated and controlled the female members throughout human history holding the belief that the first human being was a male, and a female</span><u><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"> was </span></u><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">created as a support and help for the male. They also hold the belief that God is male. Even today most of the people can’t even conceive God as female. If the male members continue to dominate and control the female members, there can’t be peace, love or joy in our families, and in our bigger communities. People of all places need to be taught that male and female have equal rights, and there should not be any domination based on gender difference. The followers of all religions need to actively propagate the idea that God must be beyond any gender differences, and the first mythological human being must have been a combination of both male and female elements. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Class</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We human beings exist in several layers of classes based on the amount of wealth we own. In an ideal society, all members will have enough wealth to satisfy their basic necessities, and all people will have equal opportunities to create wealth. Although our societies strive toward the ideal, we are far from the ideal. Not only do we differ in the quantity of wealth we own, but we also conceive that the status and worth of human beings depend on the wealth they own. As a result, those with less wealth are dominated and controlled by those with more wealth. Traditionally, wealth is believed to be a mark of God’s blessing, and poverty is believed to be a mark of God’s curse. The followers of all religions need to spread the idea that God is actually on the side of the poor, helping to create an ideal society. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Race/Caste</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We human beings exist in races/castes. Our physical and mental features may slightly vary according to racial differences. This is a natural development in human history. However, the belief that the racial difference was originally set by God, and that the status and worth of human beings depend on the race/caste they belong to has no basis. All human beings must have the same rights to exist regardless of their racial origin. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Nation</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Most of the people in the world are citizens of one or other nation, and some are refugees. This is a temporary arrangement in the present development of the humanity. Eventually, let us hope that all human beings will be treated as the citizens of the world-nation, and the world will be free of refugees. All human beings must have the same status and worth regardless of their national allegiance. Those who belong to a certain nation must not be treated as having higher status than others, and refugees must not be treated inferior to the others. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Religion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Most of the people claim to belong to one or other belief system/religion. Even those who claim to reject all religions have their own beliefs. The beliefs are about the ultimate questions of existence such as what we are and why we are here. These are questions about which verifiable facts are not available. All we can do is to hold on to beliefs and try those beliefs in our life. We experiment with our beliefs in the great laboratory of the world. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Cooperation of Religion and Science</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Science usually limits itself to questions regarding what we can perceive with our senses. It likes to deal mostly with facts, and not beliefs. However, religion cannot afford to limit itself to facts, for it takes upon itself the responsibility of offering a meaningful existence to humanity. Religion deals with all the questions that deal with human existence. Religion is as old as humanity, and its goal is to ensure the continued existence of humanity. It helps humanity to face the challenges of existence in whatever way possible. Science is much younger compared to religion. Its goal is to gain knowledge as much as possible, and to save humanity from the corruption of religion. In its infancy, science was seen as opposed to religion, but today, as science has grown mature, we realize that we need both science and religion for the well being of humanity. The primary focus of religion is the very existence of humanity, but the primary focus of science is gaining knowledge. Humanity cannot exist without knowledge and humanity cannot gain knowledge without existing. So humanity needs both religion and science. Science and religion need to stop being enemies and become friends.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Cooperation of Religions</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> Religions also need to stop being enemies and become friends. The various religions have developed over thousands of years in various parts of the world. They vary from each other like the human languages. Although all languages serve the same purpose of communication, there are thousands of languages upon the face of the earth. Each language consists of a set of symbols and specific grammatical rules, which the people need to know to use this language. Religions are like languages. They all serve the same purpose -- ensure the well being of humanity by addressing the basic issues of human existence. However, there are as many religions on the face of the earth as languages. Each religion uses a set of symbols only its followers understand. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Just as there are language families, there are religion families. Just as we speak of Dravidian family of languages, we speak of Semitic religions. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Once we realize this similarity between religions and languages, we learn to respect all of them, and stop worrying of which is right and which is wrong. Just as all languages are good for those who use them, all religions are good for their followers. Just as you have a mother tongue, you have a mother religion, the one you were born into. Just as no second language can take the place of your mother tongue, no second religion can take the place of your mother religion. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">All religions have their beliefs about the basic questions of human existence. These are beliefs, for they don’t have evidences. The questions religions deal with cannot be answered with facts, but can only be experimented with our life in the great laboratory of this world. Religions may compete with each other in evolving better models and patterns of human existence. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Religions may also be related to the various medical systems such as Allopathy, Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, acupuncture, etc. They all have the same goal-- heal the sick people. But they have varying perspectives in the diagnosis of sickness, and also in treating sick people. If the practitioners of these diverse medical systems can cooperate, they all can learn from one another, and brand new ways of healing can be evolved. Similarly, if the followers of various religious traditions can cooperate, they can help humanity gain greater strength and stability. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We began this essay talking about the walls that separate us. The good news is that these walls exist only within our minds, and once we identify them as walls, they lose their power, and they crumple. If I can see all human beings as human beings without discriminating them based on race, caste, color, nation, language, class or gender, I don’t have the walls within my mind. Let us ask this question to ourselves! Are there walls within my mind? </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
John D. Kunnathu</div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-57105798871441175462019-03-07T16:51:00.001-08:002019-03-07T17:14:15.593-08:00Jesus’ View of God<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">An Introduction to the Idea of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We heard about God while we were children. We imagined that the world is similar to a huge kingdom, and God rules the world like a king. As we grow older, we realize that it is a metaphor, and we look for a more satisfactory metaphor of God. We also realize that we use the word God like the X in Mathematics</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">to mean the unknown</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">. Usually we name something we know, but in this case we give a name to something unknown. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We realize that we always have limited knowledge of ourselves and of the world, so we imagine someone to have all knowledge of everything. We also realize that we have limited abilities, so we imagine someone to have all abilities. Also we realize that we live only for a short period of time, so we imagine someone who lives forever. Thus whatever we imagine about this unknown one (God) is the opposite of what we know about ourselves and about our world. Our limitations and weaknesses lead us to assume the presence of someone without such limitations and weaknesses. Other than such assumptions, we don’t have any verifiable facts about God. As we always think and speak of God in relation to ourselves and to our world, we use metaphors to speak of God. In fact nothing can be spoken of God without metaphors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">God in relation to the world</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God is unknown, so we view God in relation to what we know. We partially know the world, and we think and speak of God relating to the world. It is possible to use the following formulas regarding the relation between God and the world. Let us use X for God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">X is a subset of the world.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">- theism</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">2.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The world is a subset of X.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">- panentheism</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">3.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Only X exists; world does not exist.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">- pantheism</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">4.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Only the world exists; X does not exist.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">- atheism</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">5.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">X and the world exist side by side. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">- Deism</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Of these six, theism has more followers than all the others combined. It is based on a metaphor comparing the world to a kingdom and God to its king. A variation of it sees the world as a living being, and God as its soul. In spite of its popularity, it sees God as a part of the world, which is illogical. The fifth one, Deism, corrects this error placing God outside the world. But a world outside imposes a limit on God, which is also illogical, for if God is infinite, nothing can stay outside God. The fourth view, atheism, being based on naive realism, a blind belief that our five senses can perceive all that exits, is also illogical. However, atheism seems to be the most powerful one today, for it controls many of the governments and educational institutions. The second and third ones see God as greater than the world unlimited by it, for the world exists within God. There is a slight difference between the second and the third ones in perspective. Seen from God’s perspective, only God exists (pantheism), but seen from the perspective of the world, it exists, but within God (panentheism). In short, theism and atheism dominate in our world, and the conflict between them is probably the primary problem of humanity today. We will have a more peaceful world if we move toward panentheism. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Popular View of God at Jesus’ Time</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">By Jesus, we mean the historical Jesus who lived 2000 years ago in Palestine, not the Jesus of faith who has been believed and worshiped by Christians all over the world. By Jesus’ view of God, we mean how his understanding of God differed from the popular view of his time. So we need to begin with an understanding of the popular view of God at Jesus’ time. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">At Jesus’ time, God was believed to be the king of the world. It was a world of kings and kingdoms, so it was easy for people to imagine the entire world to be a kingdom, and God to be its king, with a huge military force consisting of angels. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although this view helped the people to live their life meaningfully, it could not answer all of their questions satisfactorily. If God rules the world, why is there so much suffering, sickness, poverty, and evil deeds in the world? It was not easy to find a satisfactory answer to this question. However, they managed to come up with an answer that satisfied most of them for generations. Although God is the ruler of the world, God’s rule is limited to heaven. Earth is ruled by Satan, the angel who rebelled against God. God has to solve the problem by removing this rebelled angel, and appoint a new ruler. A ruler was appointed in those days by anointing oil, so the new ruler was called messiah, the anointed. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">They believed that God, being the ruler of the world, will judge the world justly. The messiah would do God’s judgment as soon as he assumed power. He would have Satan and all the angels and all the people who sided Satan cast into fire. Thus messiah would eliminate all evil from the world, and would have a world fully good. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The arrival of messiah was meant to be good, for it would end the rule of Satan, and would begin a new world order. Although it sounded good, it created a lot of anxiety in the common people, for there was a high possibility for them to be on the left side of the messiah on the judgment day. Therefore, the one question that rose from everyone was this: How can I be sure that I will be on the right side of the messiah, and will inherit the kingdom of God? </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Pharisees taught that all people of Israel who strictly follow the ritualistic rules of Sabbath, ritual washing, etc would be on the right side of the messiah. They classified people into righteous and unrighteous (sinners) based on this criterion. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the context in which John the Baptist comes to the scene with a radically new view of who will be on the right side of the messiah. He claimed that rituals are of no value at all. What matters is how we treat our fellow beings. Whoever cares for their fellow beings will be on the right side of the messiah, and whoever does not care will be on the left side. He challenged people to get immersed in Jordan and renew their commitment as a new Israel. He brought about a radical shift of focus from meaningless rituals to improving human relationships. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Jesus’ View of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is when Jesus enters the scene. He sided with John the Baptist in rejecting the view of the Pharisees, for they were being hypocritical, and they were focusing on the ritual rules ignoring the moral rules. They were also making most of the people feel bad about themselves and lose hope. However, soon Jesus realized that John’s view was not powerful enough to overthrow the Pharisees’ views. Using John’s view as a stepping stone, he climbed much higher with a radically new view of God. He taught that although God remains a king to the world, God is a father to humanity. Although this idea of God had been in existence, Jesus made it the central category that determines God-man relation. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It was also known that God is all-knowing, holy, and all-powerful. Jesus clarified these concepts and presented them clearly and relevantly. If God is all-knowing, nothing happens in the world without God’s knowledge. It also means that we have only limited knowledge. Even if we can’t explain everything in the world, we can feel safe knowing that God knows everything about everything that happens in the world. Such trust/faith in God helps us to live our life in this world with confidence. Because God is all-knowing, God is holy/righteous/good, which means that God does only what is right. This implies that we, with our limited knowledge, do errors in our everyday-life. This understanding helps us to forgive others and to apologize for our mistakes. Being all-powerful, God alone has all the abilities. We, with our varied abilities, are supposed to support/help each other with our abilities. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">To go back to the central aspect of Jesus’ idea of God, Jesus made it clear that God is a father who loves all people unconditionally. Jesus claimed that God raises the Sun to give sunlight to all people, both the righteous and the unrighteous. God also gives rain to all people regardless of what kind of people they are. Jesus also made this idea of God clear in parables like the prodigal son. The father of the prodigal son remains loving his children unconditionally. The older son is righteous and obedient, and the younger one is unrighteous and disobedient, but the father loves them both in the same way. When the younger son returns, the father accepts him. The older son had a different expectation of how his father should have behaved. He wanted the father to be a just judge who rewards the older one and condemns the younger one. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The older son in the story represents the Pharisees of the day. They wanted God to be a just judge who rewards righteous people and condemns the sinners. But in Jesus’ story, God does not act as a judge at all. It is the older son who judges. He judges his father and his brother. Through this story Jesus presented God as a father who does not judge at all. It is the self-righteous people who judge God and their fellow beings. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This idea of God was reflected in Jesus’ understanding of the messiah as well. It was believed in Jesus’ time that the messiah would make a judgment as soon as he arrived. Jesus had a different idea of how the messiah would behave. If God wouldn’t judge, God’s messiah wouldn’t judge either. This explains why Jesus didn’t try to escape when he was caught, judged as a convict, and crucified. Jesus could easily with his supernatural powers escape from the soldiers, and destroy them. He could also judge Pilate and the high-priests instead of being judged by them. But true to his understanding of God, he chose to be crucified rather than crucify others. He chose to remain a convict rather than a judge. Thus in the crucified Christ, we see the crucified God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God. It was believed that Satan was ruling the world, and people earnestly looked forward to the day when God would replace Satan with the messiah, who would rule the world on behalf of God. Jesus’ proclamation meant that God’s kingdom was already there, and people need to make it a reality in their lives by replacing Satan by God/messiah in their life. God, being our father, has given us the freedom to accept or reject God’s love. God wouldn’t force His rule upon anyone. It was believed that God had to make the next move by removing Satan and appointing the messiah. But Jesus made it clear that the next move is ours, for though we are already living in God’s rule, we have alienated ourselves from God, and subjected ourselves to the rule of Satan. Jesus made this idea clear with the parable of the prodigal son. He left his father, and became a laborer under a master. Now it was up to him to leave that master and return to his father. It was a good news (information) about his father that made a change in him. He realized what a good man his father was, and this realization made a radical change in him. Thus the good news of the Kingdom of God was really the good news of the love of God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">People were more scared of the judgement of God than about the rule of Satan. The rule of Satan had been familiar to them, and so they were not so scared of it. However, they were really scared of the coming of the messiah and messiah’s judgment, for they knew that God being just and holy would not put up with sin at all, and so all sinners would be cast to fire. The gospel of Jesus put an end to this fear. He talked about a God and messiah who would not judge us but love us unconditionally. Thus, that God loves us unconditionally was the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Initial Transmission of Jesus’ View of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This idea of God was so radical at that time, that not many people grasped it clearly. Jesus himself didn’t write anything for the posterity. Paul came to the scene a few decades after Jesus’ time, and he hadn’t had the privilege of any first-hand information about Jesus’ teachings. However, he managed to understand the teachings of Jesus with great effort. However, what we see in his letters is a mixture of how he understood Jesus’ teachings and his own beliefs of what Christianity is. The gospels were also produced several decades later, and are also mixtures of Jesus’ teachings and the stories and beliefs about him. This makes it very difficult for us today to understand what exactly Jesus taught. We can be sure that the parables such as the prodigal son and Good Samaritan have come directly from Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer and the sayings have come from Jesus. Most of teachings found in the sermon on the mount and other sermons seem to have come directly from Jesus. John’s first epistle and James’ epistle seem to be very close to Jesus’ teachings. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Peter warns that Paul’s letters are not easy to understand. This is true about the entire Bible. Everything needs to be placed in its original context. In order to understand Jesus, we need to live with him in his time and place, and we need to look through his eyes, and hear through his ears. We need to see him through the eyes of his disciples, his friends, and his enemies. In order to understand the Bible, we also need to learn to distinguish between facts and beliefs, and also between literal and metaphorical. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The unconditional love of God was expressed by Jesus when he chose to be crucified rather than crucify. Later for the apostles, the subject of gospel became the cross of Christ or the blood of Christ, for it represented the unconditional love of God. Jesus’ death was seen as a sacrifice-- a self-sacrifice. Apostles proclaimed that this self-giving of Jesus was the true sacrifice pleasing to God, and not the animal sacrifices that had been done in the history of Israel. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Later Corruption in the Christian View of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Unfortunately, this metaphor of relating Jesus’ death to a sacrifice was later over-extended. It was believed by many people that Jesus’ sacrifice was essential for God to forgive our sins. Jesus’ death was seen as a new sacrifice that inaugurated a new covenant with God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The very mistaken concepts of God that Jesus tried to overthrow returned and occupied the central stage of Christianity. Thus Christianity’s God became once again the judge-God whom Jesus tried to overthrow. The Judge-God and his final judgment once again became the primary problem of humanity. Jesus was believed to save people from the judge-God by satisfying His justice and the resulting wrath by becoming a sacrifice. Moreover, as Jesus was elevated to become the second person of the Trinity, the dogma of salvation became so ludicrous-- God became a human being to become a sacrifice to save mankind from God himself! As a result Christianity became a laughing stock, and it continues so. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Unless and until Christianity regains the original gospel of Jesus Christ, Christianity will continue to be a laughing stock. Instead of converting our world to heaven, it will continue to convert our world into a hell. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
John D. Kunnathu<br />
March 8, 2019</div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-65465283827899833112019-01-16T16:19:00.001-08:002019-01-17T17:26:30.539-08:00The Wheat-Gospel and the Weed-Gospel <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-ctbtn="0" data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjtwpTYxPPfAhVITn0KHZDKAjkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYsHoDixjLnU&psig=AOvVaw3j3Kq8PEXiTvu1tvedfYc6&ust=1547770144856051" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwjtwpTYxPPfAhVITn0KHZDKAjkQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjtwpTYxPPfAhVITn0KHZDKAjkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYsHoDixjLnU&psig=AOvVaw3j3Kq8PEXiTvu1tvedfYc6&ust=1547770144856051" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;focus:irc.rl" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); clear: left; color: #1a0dab; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" height="240" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YsHoDixjLnU/hqdefault.jpg" style="background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); box-shadow: 0px 5px 35px rgba(0,0,0,0.65); margin-top: 25px;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus proclaimed a good news of salvation that evoked great joy, but later a perverted form of it evolved and spread along with it. It was actually a threat of terror that evoked great fear. No more did it give joy, love and peace, but it spread anxiety, fear, anger, and enmity. Instead of bringing heaven on earth, it brought hell on earth. Let us see how it happened. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Jesus</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">’ Gospel</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It was about our world becoming the kingdom of God. Right now it is the kingdom of Satan, and if we choose to reject Satan</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’s rule, and accept God’s rule, our world will become God’s Kingdom. Jesus asserted that God alone is holy/good/just, which helps us to be convinced that it is human to err. With this conviction, it becomes easy for us to admit our mistakes and seek forgiveness and also to forgive others. Jesus also taught us that God is like a father to us, and He loves us unconditionally. Such awareness of God’s love helps us to return such love to God and also to love one another. With such convictions about God about ourselves, our world gets transformed into the kingdom of God. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> This is a great news that can be applied in the life of individuals and societies and in the life of the entire world. It is up to us to convert our world into a heaven-like one filled with love, joy and peace. Our world can become a great big family united by love. All we need to make it happen is to repent -- have a different mindset. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus, out of which evolved the early Christianity, which was a very powerful civilizing movement. Out of all the books in the New Testament, the first epistle of John presents the gospel of Jesus most clearly (1:5-10). The sermon on the mount (Mt 5-7) also presents Jesus’ gospel. The Lord’s prayer, taught by Jesus gives us a very clear picture of Jesus’ gospel. The kauma, the earliest liturgy in the Syriac tradition, also presents Jesus’ gospel clearly. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Gospel gets perverted</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea of God’s Kingdom was further elaborated with more details. It was believed that God would send a new king to replace Satan. The new king was referred to as the Messiah or Christos. It was believed that as soon as the messiah came, there would be a judgment, and Satan and all those who supported Satan would be burned in hellfire, and a brand new world would be inaugurated. This belief, which was literally understood, created a lot of anxiety and fear in people, for there was a possibility for anyone to be classified along with Satan as sinners. This made them fearful of the imminent judgment and the judge himself. They earnestly wished and prayed to spare them on the judgment day. Thus with this belief, God became their enemy instead of Satan. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When Jesus travelled around with the good news of the Kingdom of God, the primary concern of people was whether they would enter the kingdom. Some of them approached Jesus with such a question: what do I do to enter the kingdom of God? Or, what do I do to gain eternal life? Whether they would have a place in the imminent kingdom was the primary concern of most of the people of that time. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In the Lord’s prayer, which Jesus taught, the primary request is to deliver from the evil one, Satan. Satan is ruling the world, which is the cause of all of our problems. So what we need is to be delivered from the rule of Satan, and to be placed in God’s rule. But with the above-mentioned belief about the imminent judgment, God became the enemy, and our need was to be delivered from the judgment of God. God is sitting there ready to cast us to the hellfire, with a long list of all the sins we have ever committed. Thus God as the loving father gave way to God as a wrathful judge. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So the salvation we need is not from Satan, but from the wrath of God. Jesus was presented as the savior who saves us from the wrath of God. Jesus takes upon himself the capital punishment of death so that we can be spared from God’s wrath. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus himself never proclaimed this perverted gospel. He only presented God as our loving father with unconditional love, and asked us to turn away from the rule of Satan and accept the rule of God. He taught that such a conscious choice would make a radical shift in our life, which was exemplified in the story of the prodigal son. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Original Gospel</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Perverted Gospel</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What is salvation</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our well-being with right relationship with God and fellow beings</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Escape God’s judgment and get to heaven after death</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Who gives salvation?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus Christ’s sacrifice</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Who needs salvation?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We, the children of God</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We, the children of Satan, sinners by birth</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">From what?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Satan’s rule</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God’s wrath</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Role of Jesus</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Replace Satan as ruler</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Protect us from God’s wrath</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What do we need to do?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Reject Satan and accept God</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Hide behind Jesus</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Believe Jesus’ sacrifice </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Judge and Judgment</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Old Testament asserts that God is the judge, and the judgment belongs to God, which means that God alone can do the right judgment, for God alone has sufficient knowledge to do so. Our knowledge is partial, so we cannot make the correct judgment. It was based on this understanding that Jesus advised us not to judge others. In the story of the prodigal son, the older son expects his father to make a judgment about which son was right and which one was wrong. However, when he sees that the father does not judge, he himself makes the judgment. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea of a final judgment occurs in the Zoroastrian religion, which probably comes to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We may assume that this idea was originally employed as a scare tactic. Whoever used this idea hoped that people can be scared to behave well. In the pages of the New Testament, we see the Pharisees believing in the final judgment. They believed that the messiah would have the Jews on the right side, and gentiles on the left. Some Pharisees affirmed that only those Jews who strictly follow the rules would be safe on the judgment day. We see John the Baptist also using this tactic. He says that just as a farmer would burn the fruitless trees in his garden, God would get rid of all the evil doers from the world. He hoped that people would start bearing fruits in their life fearing the final judgment. He asserted that only those people who do good in their daily life would be safe. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus is also presented as having similar belief about the final judgment. However, Jesus never presented it as the primary problem. The primary problem for him was the rule of Satan, and his primary activity was to overthrow that rule. It is possible that it was a part of Jesus’ teaching at the beginning, but later his focus might have shifted. It is also possible that what we read in the gospels is the view of the writers regarding Jesus, and not of Jesus himself. Jesus tries to explain in John’s Gospel that it is not God who judges, but it is we human beings who judge God. Also he clearly states that he came to the world not to judge the world but to save it (John 3:16-21) </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It is unlikely that Jesus or John the Baptist or the Pharisees believed in a literal judgment. It was merely a belief about what might happen in the future, and they probably might have used this belief as a scare tactic. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let me illustrate this with an example from our everyday life. Let us imagine an intersection where vehicles frequently collide with each other, and casualties occur. People plead the police to evolve a solution. To solve this problem, the police fix some stop signs and implement very strict traffic rules. Whoever breaks the rules are heavily fined. Now people begin obeying the traffic rules fearing the fines, and the casualties lower. But the police officers are now seen as their enemies, and not as friends any more. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is an illustration of what has happened in Christianity. The original problem was/is that people surrender themselves to Satan, and lead an evil way of life. To bring them back, their leaders used scare tactics informing them that God would punish them if they continued in their evil ways. This has made them scared of God. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Once people get scared of God, naturally, they move away from God. They hide themselves from God’s eyes just as Adam and Eve did. Although they mechanically do the religious rituals, they hearts stay away from God like the prodigal son’s brother. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although Christianity started as a religion of love, it has become a religion of hypocrisy and hatred. Its God is no more the father who loves unconditionally, but a God who is getting ready to cast all the sinners into hellfire. The traditional liturgy of Christianity is filled with prayers requesting God to spare us and our departed ones from the final judgment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Jesus’ Parable</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">One wonders if Jesus had this in mind when he said the famous parable of the wheat and weeds growing together in the same field (Mt. 13: 24-30). The owner of the field sowed only good seeds in his field, but at night his enemy sowed the seeds of weeds there, and both grew together. The servants wonder how the weeds appeared there, and ask permission to clean the field of the weeds, but the owner prevents them saying that if weeds are uprooted, wheat also will be uprooted along with them. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Weeds have been in existence since the time of Jesus. Today after 2000 years, when we take a close look at the field of Christianity, what we see is not a pleasing sight. In the traditional churches-- orthodox, catholic, and protestant, weeds replaced the wheat early on, and people have either deserted the field or remained inactive. In the evangelical churches, weeds are thriving, with very little room for the wheat. Overall, there is very little wheat remaining in the field of Christianity. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The best sample of the weed Christianity is the one in Nigeria, where they try to appease the wrath of God. Bringing heaven to earth is not their concern, but they are waiting to escape to heaven when Christ comes. As a result, Nigeria has become the crime capital of the world. It has become a hell. Compare it with Almolonga, a city in Guatemala. Most of the population there believe in the father-God that Jesus proclaimed, and their goal is to bring heaven on earth. As a result, Almolonga keeps on getting closer to heaven. They don’t have jails there, and no more drunkards there. The city has become very prosperous, and it is producing all the vegetables Guatemala needs. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We need the kind of Christianity that brings heaven down to earth, not the kind that helps people to escape from this miserable world to the heaven above after death. We need the kind of Christianity that presents God as father who loves all people unconditionally, not the kind that presents God as a judge getting ready to burn all the sinners in hellfire. We need the kind of Christianity that helps us live in this world with love, joy and peace, not the kind that makes us live here with fear, anxiety, and hatred. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The servants in the parable could differentiate between the wheat and weeds, but for the last 2000 years the weed-gospel has been mistaken to be the wheat-gospel throughout the Christian world. Our inner eyes have been blind. If we can regain our eyesight and distinguish between the true and perverted gospels, Christianity can once again become a civilizing movement in our world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">John D. Kunnathu</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jan 17, 2019</span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-31215239219724356812018-12-21T21:13:00.000-08:002019-04-21T23:35:48.102-07:00The Evolution of the Christian Gospel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Context</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus lived in a world of pain and suffering. Sunday school classes have given us the picture of a Jesus who toured in a peaceful countryside preaching and healing. However, this picture is far from the truth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The people of Jesus</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">' world</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> were under foreign dominion, and they were oppressed in every possible way. They did not have freedom of religion. Their high priests were appointed by the Romans. Many patriotic people were made outlaws and were forced to live by highway robbery. We read about the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices (Lk.13: 1). How cruel it was on the part of that foreign governor to slaughter the Galileans while they were doing a religious ritual in their temple! Jesus sent out the twelve with a warning that they might be arrested or killed (Mt.10: 17-30). The government authorities were always in fear of mass riots (Mt.26: 5). There were spies among the people, which is the reason why Jesus talked to the people in parables but in plain language to his disciples (Mt.13: 9-13). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In the absence of political freedom, the land’s economy deteriorated day after day. The gap between the rich and the poor was getting wider. We read in a parable of Jesus that t</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">here was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day, and at his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table (Lk.16: 19). </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In another parable we see a man who could not pay his dues liable to be sold into slavery along with his wife and children to clear the debt (Mt.18: 23 -34). What a frightening situation! In another parable Jesus speaks about </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">(Lk.18: 2)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">. From the story of Good Samaritan we assume that burglary must have been very common (Lk.10: 30). Jesus advised not to store up treasures on earth, where thieves break in and steal (Mt. 6: 19). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Due to the political oppression and economic deterioration, the people were suffering from starvation, sickness, and mental illness. We read about a pool in Jerusalem where a great number of disabled people used to lie --the blind, the lame, the paralyzed waiting for a movement in the water for them to jump and to be healed (John 5: 2). We also read about mentally ill people living in tombs (Mk. 5:2). How hopeless they were!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In such a miserable situation, the religion of the land had the responsibility to rise and take the leadership and lead and guide the people like a good shepherd. However, the religion had gone blind. How could it lead the blind people? Rather than assisting the people with their life, the religion imposed even more burdens upon them. The people were like sheep without a shepherd. Many shepherds approached them claiming to show them the right way. But instead of showing them the right way to green pastures and streams, they led them to deserts and wolves. Often religious leaders proved to be wolves disguised as shepherds. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In this miserable condition, one prayer rose from the depths of their hearts: God, save us! That is all they could do! </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">A Diagnosis of the Problem</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The civilization that gave birth to Christianity functioned within </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">a powerful mythological </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">framework. In a world of kingdoms and empires, the best minds of the day equated the entire cosmos into a mighty kingdom. They managed to answer the basic questions of existence within this framework. They analyzed the existential problems, ma</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">d</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">e a diagnosis of the problems, and also proposed solutions using this framework. Here is the myth in a nutshell:</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> It was believed widely that the world is an empire, and God is its emperor. The earth, a province of this empire, has been mismanaged at the time because of the irresponsibility of the governor appointed by God to manage the earth. This governor was a responsible angel to begin with. T</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">he earth was a part of the mighty Kingdom of Heaven. In those days earth was a place of love, joy, and peace. All the inhabitants of the earth lived like a family caring for one another. Poverty and sickness were unheard of. The earth was a blessed place of plenty and prosperity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> However, later when the angel turned irresponsible, a</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> huge wall of enmity rose between heaven and earth. Also there arose among the earthlings the walls of prejudice and hatred in the names of race, color, caste, gender, and class. Thus the earth, which was once a part of Heaven, became a hell.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> People were hoping that someday God would replace this governor by a responsible one. The present irresponsible governor was called Satan (rebel), and the new one was called the messiah (the appointee). </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Thus Jesus<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">world was eagerly looking for the </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">who was going to descend upon the earth and put an end to the terror of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Satan.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> Some of them believed that the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">was going to arrive directly from heaven accompanied by the angels of heaven, but some others believed that </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">he</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> was going to enter the earth as a human child. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">According to this view there was nothing much the people could do; God had to intervene, and change the governor. But why does God take so long to act? Is there anything people can do to encourage God to act? Anxiety was mounting!</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Their leaders, mainly, Pharisees, answered the questions as follows: The Kingdom of God would be established when the Jews start observing Sabbath diligently.<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They supported their answer with the following reasoning: God made a covenant (agreement) with Jews, His chosen people, that God would protect them if they remain His people by obeying His commands, especially, the command to observe Sabbath.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They were under Satan's dominion because they had not been keeping Sabbath as they should.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When they all observe Sabbath diligently, God would liberate them.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Pharisees prescribed a large number of silly rules of how to observe Sabbath, such as how many feet one may walk, and how many pounds one may lift on that day.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They also classified people into righteous and sinners according to how seriously they observed these rules.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The majority of the common people, who couldn't follow the intricacy of the rules, were branded sinners by the Pharisees.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the context in which John the Baptist comes to the scene. Let us say it probably happened in around AD 25. He proclaimed the good news that God was going to remove Satan, and appoint the messiah soon. He differed from the religious leaders in one major aspect. He ignored the ritualistic rules and emphasized the moral rules. He encouraged people to treat one another with respect and mercy and love. He encouraged people to come to him in River Jordan and take a ritual bath representing their decision to reject Satan and accept Messiah in their personal lives. They were asked to leave behind evil deeds and start doing good deeds. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> prophet in the line of the prophets like Hosea and Amos, who raised their voice for social justice</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> John asked people to be good and do good in their day-to-day life. Unlike the Pharisees, he didn't tell the people anything about observing Sabbath. He believed along with Hosea that God pleases not in sacrifices but in merciful deeds. If you have two shirts, give one to someone who doesn't have any, he told people.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In order to help the people understand his ideas better, he used the metaphor of a farmer and farm. God is like a farmer, and the world is like His farm. People are like trees and plants, and the good deeds are like fruits. God, the farmer, expects all people to be fruitful. Those people without good deeds have no place in God's farm. They will be cut down and used as firewood. The Kingdom of God as John understood consisted of only those people who do good deeds. One doesn't have to be a Jew or has to follow the rules of Sabbath to be in God's Kingdom according to John. One has to turn from evil and do good deeds. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus, a younger relative of John, was excited at this. He took the ritual bath from John in River Jordan. Thus we may assume that Jesus accepted the leadership of John, and joined his movement. Before long John was arrested and beheaded. Jesus then continued the mission left behind by John. He proclaimed the same good news that God was going to remove Satan from power, and establish God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s kingdom on earth. It seems that he and his disciples continued to give the ritual bath in Jordan as John did. But soon Jesus</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">movement developed independently of John</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s movement as it gained further clarity. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">John had asked people to do good deeds in order for them to escape from messiah<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s judgment. It was believed that when Messiah comes, he would separate all people on his left and right, cast all on the left to the fire, and let the ones on the right to be in his kingdom. Thus God, for John, was primarily a king, who was an impartial judge, and we are like God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s subjects in his kingdom. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus realized that people cannot be forced to do good deeds. Unless people do good deeds willingly, they are merely pretending to do good deeds. No one can do good deeds just out of fear of punishment. Jesus presented a radically different view of God, and of how we may do good deeds willingly. Although God is the king of the world, God is our father, and we are God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s children. God loves us unconditionally giving rain and sunlight to all people irrespective of whether we do good or evil. God is the one who can exist without doing anything wrong, for he knows everything. We do errors in our daily life, for our knowledge is limited. Once we realize that God loves us unconditionally as our father, and that God alone is good, it makes a radical transformation in us. We love God in return. We begin to admit our mistakes and forgive our fellow beings who do mistakes. Our world gets transformed to a family in which we live together with love, joy and peace. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Thus instead of passively waiting indefinitely for God to establish His kingdom on earth, we have to actively create it in our lives. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Seeing himself as a prophet in the tradition of the great prophets like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea, Jesus communicated with the people around him very effectively. He saw the fundamental problem of human existence as blindness of the inner eye <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">of both the common people and of the leaders. He was aware that most of the things he talked about most of the time didn</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t reach the minds of most of the people. Most of them didn</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t have the ability to distinguish between literal and metaphorical, and they couldn</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant. He lamented like Isaiah, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These people do not see even if they have eyes</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The leaders of his time thought that the huge wall of separation between heaven and earth existed because of the heavenly king<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s displeasure at the earthlings. The solution, as they saw, was for the people to make an attempt to please the heavenly king by being righteous and doing the right acts as prescribed by their religion and culture. However, Jesus believed that the huge wall of separation between heaven and earth existed because of man</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s displeasure at the heavenly king. The king of heaven had never had any enmity at earthlings</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> People had enmity toward the king of heaven because of their misunderstanding that the king had had enmity toward them. This enmity toward the king of heaven also resulted in their enmity toward each other.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The solution was simple. People would have to get rid of this misunderstanding about the king of heaven. They would need to understand that the king of heaven is like a father to them, and that He loves all His children unconditionally. The king of heaven loves them even if they hate Him. Once they have this understanding firm in their mind, they would begin to love the king of heaven and their fellow beings unconditionally. Thus the wall that separates the earth and heaven would fall down, and the earth would once again become a part of heaven. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Kingdom of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The popular view of the Kingdom of God was the imminent Jewish empire that was going to be established by a new king (messiah) specially appointed by God. This was exciting to all, but they were concerned about who would be qualified to be in the Kingdom. Most of the religious leaders popularized the view that only those who diligently followed the religious rules and rituals such as Sabbath would be in the Kingdom. Jesus, however, claimed that meaningless observance of rules and rituals wouldn<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t assure entrance to the Kingdom; what is needed is a meaningful observance of the essence of the law, which he stated as Love your God and love your neighbor. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What is law? And why is love the essence of law? God is the king of all that exists -- heaven and earth (the world). The whole world runs according to the laws of God. However, humankind is not automatically placed under God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule. Being God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s children, we have the right and freedom to choose to be under God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule or to deny God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule over us. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If we c</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">hoos</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">e</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> to deny God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">t</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">he whole world will have to suffer its consequences. We do so out of our ignorance and immaturity. All people in the world are born as children<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ignorant and immature</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">, and we gain knowledge as we grow older and get mature. S</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">o, it is human to err. Therefore, God doesn<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t see us as His enemies though we suffer the consequences of our sin. Although God has no enmity to us, some of us misunderstand God and see God as our enemy. This is like mistaking a piece of rope to a deadly snake in dim light. We will either try to flee from God or try to befriend God. We try to make God change His enmity by acting good and extra-decent. But how can we befriend someone who is already a friend? All attempts to befriend God are absolutely futile. This is what those religious leaders of Jesus</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">time were encouraging people to do. The only sensible solution is to realize the truth that God has no enmity to us, which will help us approach God, and honestly admit that we have denied God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule. As we become mature and know the truth, we repent instead of trying to make God repent. When we see God loves us, we will be able to love God as well us our neighbor. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the gist of what Jesus preached as this writer understands it. Jesus explained it in his sermons and parables. The parables of the prodigal son and the Pharisee and tax collector make this idea crystal clear. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Righteousness of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Those people who see God as their enemy try to please God and change His mind by following the religious rules and by doing all sorts of good deeds. But they cannot be right in God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. Their good deeds are in vain because they are done for the wrong purpose-- to make God repent. They appear righteous in their own eyes (self-righteous), but they are really not righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. But those people who approach God without any pretension, like the prodigal son or the tax-collector, will appear righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. The tax-collector does not think God has enmity to him, nor does he have any enmity to God either. God justifies him, which means that he appears righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. The Pharisee, who justifies himself, is not justified by God; he does not appear righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus said, </span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">“<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Seek ye first God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s kingdom and his righteousness</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">” </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(Mat. 6:33</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> Those who seek God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s Kingdom will seek God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s righteousness because they are one and the same. Those who are willing to submit themselves to God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s rule would be willing to know what is right in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. They do not seek their own kingdom nor do they seek their own righteousness. This</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> distinction between God</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’<span style="font-family: "calibri";">s righteousness and self-righteousness </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">was stated clearly by Paul as follows: <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“</span></span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">” </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Rom 10:3</span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Paul expands this idea in his epistles to Romans and Galatians. In order to be in God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s kingdom, one has to be righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes. One can be righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes by faith; not by good works or by following all the religious laws and rituals. We have to believe that God is friendly to us, and approach God, willing to submit to God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s will. We have to get reconciled with God, and become friends with God. We won</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t get reconciled with God if we see God as our enemy. </span></span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">…</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith unto fait</span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">h</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">(</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Rom 1:16-17</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">). </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">We also need to realize that God alone is righteous, in the sense that God never does anything wrong. God is the only one who knows everything, so God alone can remain fully righteous. Once when someone addressed Jesus, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">“<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Good Lord</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, Jesus took it as an opportunity to teach the great lesson that God alone is good. This is the sense in which the angels in Isaiah</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s vision sing Holy! Holy! Holy! About God. If God alone is righteous, we admit that we humans err, due to our limited knowledge. If we admit so, we will be willing to seek forgiveness and forgive others. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Original Christian Movement</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The truth, as represented by Jesus, clashed with blindness. The religious leadership joined forces with the political leadership and managed to shut the mouth of Jesus by crucifying him along with some political criminals. Blindness had a temporary victory, but the truth couldn<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t be buried for long. Truth continues to resurrect whenever there is someone who is willing to stand for it, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">though</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> the forces of blindness join forces to shut his/her mouth</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> again</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Born and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">raised </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">in his cultural milieu, Jesus made use of th</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">e</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> myth</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">ological framework of the messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> to communicate with the people. Although m</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">any</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> of his listeners took it literally, Jesus took it as it really was <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">–</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">metaphorically. Many of them even thought that Jesus was the </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">they were looking for, and some of them encouraged Jesus to assume such a role, and save the nation from the rule of the Romans. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It seems that Jesus actualized in his person and life the mythical figure of the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">. The </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> was, for him, a prince of peace who would establish lasting peace through non-violent means. He would rather be killed than kill others. He kept it a secret at the beginning lest he should be treated as a threat by Roman Empire. Later he revealed himself as the actualization of the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> in Jerusalem, and he was immediately crucified. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We have an account of what happened after the time of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles. After a period of fear, confusion and anxiety, the disciples and friends of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem, and they prayed together for guidance and strength. They gained unusual courage and also the abilities to speak in other languages and to heal the sick, which they claimed to be the gifts of the spirit of God. Peter took over the leadership. They told people that Jesus was really the messiah, sent by God to save them from the rule of Satan, but their leaders crucified him, and rejected the salvation offered by God. However, God raised him to life, and has appointed him as the messiah. He is sitting at the right hand side of God ruling the world. He will come back to make the final judgment. There is time until his return to join his side or to reject him. Their courage and the miracles they did served as the proofs of their claim. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A lot of people believed them and joined their side. They travelled far and wide with the mission of proclaiming this news everywhere, so that people will have a chance to repent and join the side of the messiah. There were Jewish people living in most of the cities of the Roman empire and also in many places in the Persian empire. The synoptic gospels, written several decades after Jesus, were written primarily to prove that Jesus was none other than the messiah.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In spite of the courage and the good will of the leaders of the original Christian movement, it looks like they spread and watered a very simplistic belief as the cornerstone of Christianity. As a result, the religion that grew up in the name of Jesus didn<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">t have much to do with what Jesus taught. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It was more like what John the Baptist taught than what Jesus taught. I</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">t looks like they failed to understand initially the sense in which Jesus thought of himself as the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">. That is probably why they believed and proclaimed that Jesus was going to come again as king from heaven. As a result, the movement that grew up in the name of Jesus was not firmly grounded in the teachings of Jesus. Thus arose the gap between believing in the Christhood of Jesus and living a meaningful and fruitful life<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the gap between faith and doing good works. This is perhaps the context in which James, the brother of Jesus, asked this rhetorical question: </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">James 2:14) He further says: </span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> (2:26) </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This disparity between faith and life is probably a major challenge the early Christian movement faced. Another challenge was the widespread and severe disappointment at the failure of Jesus<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">return as the </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> as they all expected. A third challenge was an identity crisis as the growing community of Christians asked themselves who they were. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Paul, a very educated Pharisee born out of Palestine, joined their movement. He travelled throughout the Roman empire with the Christian good news. He made an effort to understand what Jesus taught and explain it to his generation. He provided effective leadership to the Christian church in its challenges. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">New Israel</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Slowly there emerged among them a new metaphor as a solution to these problems. Relating themselves to Israel, they called themselves the new Israel. They claimed that the old Israel proved irresponsible to God, so God replaced it with the Christian church, the new Israel. Jesus was a new Moses, saving people from the captivity of Satan. Thus the Christian community saw itself as the New Israel, traveling to the Promised Land, and this became the official faith of the Christian church. The church believed that it was living in a world of sin and death. Under the leadership of Jesus, the new Moses, the church has claimed freedom from sin and death. However, as long as they are in the world, they are like the Israelites who were in the desert on their way to the land of Canaan. Their salvation began when they joined the church, they are being saved while traveling as a part of the church, and they will be fully saved when they reach the heavenly Canaan. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Message of the Cross</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">However, Paul<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s message did not stop there. It continued to evolve further. A covenant (agreement) was made between God and Israel at Mount Sinai with the mediation of Moses. If the people obey the laws of God, they will be righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes-- that was the covenant. The contract was signed in blood by sprinkling the blood of the sacrificed oxen on the altar and on the people, which implies that neither party would break the terms of the agreement even if they had to shed their own blood (Ex. 19-24). Israel originated with this historic event. Paul relates this to the origin of the Christian Church, the new Israel. A new covenant was signed between God and the people with Jesus as the mediator. Jesus was not only the mediator but also the sacrificial lamb. Thus the new covenant was signed and the new Israel was born at Jesus</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">crucifixion. If people have faith in God, they will be righteous in God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s eyes</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">that is the new covenant. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." I Cor 11:25</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">—</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Heb 9:15</span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The two covenants were really not contradictory although they appeared to be. The old one asked people to obey God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s laws, but the new one asked to have faith in God. Faith is a friendly trust. The tax-collector has faith, but not the Pharisee; the prodigal son has faith, but not his older brother. Faith leads someone to surrender one</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s will just as the prodigal son does. Although he is a son, he surrenders himself to his father willing to be a slave. </span></span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">…… </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Rom 3:21-22. </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The new covenant does not negate the old one; it is merely a means to that end. As Paul says: </span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Rom 3:31</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">With such a meaning attached to Jesus<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’ </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">crucifixion, it slowly occupied the central position of the Christian message displacing the original message. </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">For the message of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">…</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. I Cor 1:18, 23</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The New Creation</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Paul related Jesus to Adam, the first human being, who was unwilling to submit to the will of God. Unlike Adam, Jesus, the new Adam, did surrender himself to the will of God. Thus, as a new creation, Jesus opens up a new possibility before humanity. </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">If anyone is in Christ, he is a </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">new creation</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I Cor 15: 47-49</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Message of the Incarnated Son of God</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Paul placed his gospel within the prevalent myth of the messiah </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">as we see in the hymn in Phil 2: 5-11</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">5</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">6</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Who, being in very nature of God, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">7</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">but made himself nothing, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">taking the very nature of a servant, </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">being made in human likeness. </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">8</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">And being found in appearance as a man, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">he humbled himself </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">and became obedient to death</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">— </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">even death on a cross! </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">9</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Therefore God exalted him to the highest place </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">and gave him the name that is above every name, </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">10</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">in heaven and on earth and under the earth, </span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><b><i><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; vertical-align: super;">11</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">to the glory of God the Father.</span></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">According to this hymn, the world, consisting of heaven and earth, is ruled by God from heaven. The </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">messiah</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> descends to the earth as a human being, and fulfills the will of God unto the point of giving up his life. Because he lowered himself so, God exalted him to the highest place in His kingdom. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">According to the popular view, Messiah (Christ) was a God-sent king who would liberate Jews from the Romans, and establish a Jewish empire. The Christian church adapted this myth with significant modifications. They claimed that Jesus was the messiah. Initially many of them (including Paul) hoped that Jesus would return in the clouds to establish a kingdom, but soon </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">it seems that </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">most of them abandoned this claim. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written within the framework of this myth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The myth of messiah served as a beautiful literary framework that appealed to the imagination of that generation. However, the succeeding generations mistook the colorful outer cover for the true content, and lost sight of the content. The myth began to be understood literally, which thus became a doctrine, and it came down to us as the true faith of Christianity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">John<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s gospel was written several decades after the Synoptics, probably by 80 or 90 or 100 AD. It was probably revised and edited several times before it attained the present shape. It presents the gospel of Jesus slightly differently. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Here the kingdom of God/Heaven is mentioned only a few times. It is replaced by Life/ Eternal Life. It is probably because the kingdom terminology was very much misunderstood as a political one. Eternal life is the heavenly life Adam and Eve had in Garden of Eden, represented by the tree of life as opposed to the tree of death. Jesus asked to choose the path life over the highway of destruction. It is the ideal life with perfect relationship between God and man, and among human beings. However, soon life and death began to be interpreted literally. Death became the natural death, and eternal life became endless (deathless) life. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It is repentance that gives entry to the kingdom of God in Synoptics. In John, it is a new birth that gives that entry. Repentance effects a radical change, and it is almost like a new birth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It discusses in detail the role of the spirit of God (Holy Spirit) that would lead and guide us in our life. We also see the status of Jesus rising from being a prophet, to the messiah, to the Logos, and finally to the very throne of God. Such understanding later led to the concept of God as trinity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Trinity and Incarnation</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although the idea of Trinity has been in existence since the beginning of Christianity, there has never been a consensus on what it really means. Its presence has led to major divisions among religions and also within Christianity. The primary bone of contention between Christianity and Islam is the idea of Trinity. Between Christianity and Judaism also it has been a major issue. The first ecumenical synod of Nicea was called to discuss Arianism, which is the question of trinity and incarnation. The council of Constantinople also discussed the issue, but failed to resolve the issue satisfactorily. The Latin western Christianity and the Greek eastern Christianity divided on the issue of the procession of the Holy Spirit, another issue of the trinity. Modern Christian churches like Jehovah<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s witnesses and several Pentecostal churches openly deny Trinity. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A few observations may be made as follows. As God is beyond our sense perception and rational power, nothing can be observed or stated or conceived about God. Whatever we conceive or state about God can be only a belief. A belief exists only as long as there are people to believe it. A belief does not have the support of any evidences at all. A belief may be supported if it is beneficial for our well-being and growth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There have been attempts to explain how the belief of Trinity can be beneficial to humanity. Some people see the Trinity as a model of a perfect community in which thee separate individuals unite as one with love. But it is doubtful if the early fathers developed the idea of trinity with such a view in mind. Moreover, such a view does not explain the need of incarnation. Some others see Trinity as a possible explanation of the relationship between God and world. Accordingly, the world as a whole is seen as the incarnation of the second person of the trinity, which was born of the father, and is guided by the spirit of God. This idea explains how we exist as a part of the world as the incarnation of God, which provides meaning to our existence. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea of Trinity can never be an explanation of God as He is, but only an explanation of how God is seen by us in relation to our world. If we cannot show how this idea of God can be beneficial for the growth and well-being of humanity, we should humbly admit it. We need the good will to humbly explore how this idea evolved and how we may use this idea for the well-being of the humanity.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Conclusion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I have traced the bare outline of the development of the essential Christian message within the Biblical period. It can be followed through the succeeding centuries until our own time, and it can also be expanded with more details. It is my hope that this brief attempt of mine will encourage others to further study this compelling topic. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">References </span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">1.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Bultmann, R. (1951). Theology of the New Testament. NY: Charles Scribner<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s Sons. P.189</span></span><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-55209331346536213902018-11-20T18:57:00.000-08:002019-04-21T07:06:57.086-07:00Christianity Needs a U-Turn<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Christianity started about 2000 years ago as a mighty civilizing movement. In a matter of three centuries, it grew to become the official religion of the largest empire of the then world. But then, running down in history through various cultures, languages, and places, it is no more a civilizing force. This short study makes an analysis of the situation, and makes a plea for Christianity to make a U-turn so that it can become a civilizing movement once again. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Role of Religion</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Religion may be defined as the department of our individual and social life which takes upon itself the responsibility of maintaining a healthy view of life, so that a healthy way of life can be developed and maintained. Our view of life, expressed through rituals and practices, becomes the foundation of our way of life. The view of life varies according to time, place, and people</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">, and t</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">he diverse views keep on influencing one another. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although we, human beings, live our life on earth almost in the same way, breathing the same air, drinking the same water, eating similar food, and having similar houses and clothing, our view of life has been diverse. That is why we have so many different religions. Like languages, they keep changing as they flow, and they branch out into tributaries. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Like languages, there is nothing wrong in having diverse views</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> of life</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">, for having diverse views is always better than having only one view of life. We can cooperate with one another and have a healthy competition with one another to develop the best view of life, so that we can enjoy the best way of life. We are often tempted to believe that ours is the only true religion, and our view of life and the way of life are the only authentic ones. However, as we get mature, we realize that all people have the right to hold on to their own views of life as long as they respect others</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’ right to have their own views of life. Until such maturity happens, we act in a childish way claiming superiority for our own view of life. With a mature and open mind, we can learn from one another and enrich our life. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Here we are making a close look at the Semitic religions, especially Christianity, with its primary branches. We will see how the members of these religions, which form about two-third of the world’s population, may understand their religious views better, and live together in peace as friends. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"> The Hebrew View of Life</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The ancient Hebrews developed a view of life, and a way of life based on it. From the time of Jesus, it branched out into Christianity and Judaism, with slight changes between them. In a few centuries, another branch developed from the same cultural background-- Islam. Together they are called Semitic religions or Abrahamic religions. Although they exist in today</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’s world as separate religions, dividing people into separate camps, it is possible to see that they all share the same essential view of life. We will see how the gaps that have apparently developed over time can be bridged. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Moses, who delivered them from the slavery in Egypt about a millennium and a half before Jesus, was considered to be their founder. They believed that the world was originally created good and beautiful by the good God, and that man was entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of the world. However, soon man proved irresponsible, and as a result, we have this world in its present ugly condition. This view is illustrated in the story of the Garden of Eden. They hoped that God would restore the world to its original condition one day. They made a temple to represent the world in its original condition. A temple is a place where God is honored and obeyed, and they hoped that the entire world would become a temple of God when God restores the world to its original condition.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> As they came in contact with the Persians, they were influenced by their worldview with a heaven above the earth. Heaven was seen as an ideal world-- where God rules, and God</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’s rules are obeyed. They hoped that one day our earth would become heaven. Thus heaven provided them with another yardstick to measure the present condition of the world, in addition to the Garden of Eden, a sample of the world in its original condition. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">At the time of Jesus, this uplifting view of life was hidden under a pile of rituals and meaningless practices. He tried to recover the original Hebrew view of life, and proclaimed the good news that the world can become like heaven or like the Garden of Eden. God, in his view, was like a loving father, and all people in the world were like the children of God. He taught that God alone knows everything, so God alone is good. With our limited knowledge, our thoughts, words, and deeds can go wrong. This awareness helps us to forgive and seek forgiveness. Thus the mere awareness that God alone is good can bring heaven on earth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This idea was a part of the Hebrew liturgy, though its meaning was either forgotten or remained unrecognized. It seems that the Hebrew liturgy originated from the vision of Isaiah, a great prophet who lived about 700 years before Jesus. He saw angels praising God Holy, Holy, Holy! The angels admitted that God alone is holy, which clearly implies that even angels are not holy. This awareness lets them forgive each other and seek forgiveness from each other, which lets them live in peace and harmony. People began to follow this example of the angels, standing before God in the temple praising God! Later they expanded this praise adding more details. Later, Christianity adopted the trisagion (thrice Holy) in its liturgy, which is seen in the <i>kauma</i>, the primary prayer in the Syriac tradition. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The three religions that grew out of the Hebrew view of life-- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, initially held the Hebrew view of life, but eventually they grew apart focusing more upon the differences than upon the commonalities that unite them. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Early Judaism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When the Hebrew civilization came to an end with the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, two separate movements sprang out from its ashes: Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism. The Rabbi called Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, was probably the one who laid the foundation of Rabbinical Judaism. It is possible that they were also influenced by the teachings of Jesus. They saw themselves as the continuation of the Hebrew religion, except that they were without their temple worship. Synagogues became their centers of worship. They put together their Holy Scriptures, which later became the first part of the scriptures of Christians. The primary difference between them and early Christians was that they refused to see Jesus as their promised messiah. They continued their initiation ceremony of circumcision, but Christianity abandoned it. They continued their Sabbath observance, but Christianity abandoned it and met on Sundays. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Islam</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Islam grew, in the seventh century, in the Hebrew cultural background which was then represented by Jews and Christians. Mohammed showed the people a modified way of life correcting what he thought were errors in the beliefs and practices of Jews and Christians. The goal of life according to Islam was to live in submission to God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The view of life of Islam is very similar to that of Judaism. It believes in one God, in prophets, in leading a life of submission to God, and in the final judgement. Islam does not call its God Jehovah, but Allah, as its base language is Arabic. Islam does not accept the Hebrew Bible as their scriptures, though they accept most of its contents. Both Jews and Muslims do circumcision. Saturday is the weekly holy day for the Jews, but Friday is the one for Muslims. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Islam accepts Jesus as their prophet. But they do not accept the supernatural claims of Christians regarding Jesus such as his incarnation and resurrection. Also they can</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’t agree with the Christian view of Trinity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Early Christianity</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Early Christianity, born out of the life and teachings of Jesus, was a reform movement in the Hebrew way of life. He dusted it thoroughly and brought out its real essence. The rule of God on earth was the ideal for which Jesus stood. But rules cannot be forced on people; they need to accept the rules willingly. Jesus further clarified that although God is the ruler of the world, God is like a father to the human beings. As we realize that God loves us unconditionally, we will return such love to God, and also we will love one another as we love ourselves. Jesus also taught that God alone is good, the realization of which helps us to forgive and seek forgiveness with one another. This idea is repeated by Paul when he affirms that God alone is righteous. John repeats this idea when he affirms that God is light. The same idea is repeated in the liturgy in the affirmation God is holy. Thus Jesus presented heaven on earth as our ideal, and also showed a way to make this ideal a reality. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The early Christianity does not differ much from the Rabbinical Judaism or from the early Islam. They all believe in one God, and in living a life according to the will of God in peace forgiving one another. The gap increased later on as they grew separately in diverse cultural backgrounds with different languages. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Similarly each of these religious traditions further branched out as they flowed down to various cultures with separate languages. Let us see how Christianity branched out. By the fourth century, there were three major languages in Europe and western Asia-- Syriac, Greek, and Latin, and based on these languages, there were three branches of Christianity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Syriac Christianity</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Syriac was the evolution of the same language that Jesus spoke, Aramaic. So it may be argued that this tradition in the Syriac-speaking places remained faithful to the early Christianity. However, it is undeniable that this tradition was influenced by the other traditions as it evolved, and so its focus shifted considerably from that of the early Christianity. Its view of life is preserved for us in the Syriac liturgy that has come down to us. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Christ was seen as the new Adam who regained the lost Garden of Eden by overcoming the death that Adam and Eve died there. We follow the path of Christ overcoming death, staying in the Garden of Eden, and eating from the tree of life. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Greek Christianity</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Greek Christianity presented the goal of human life as theosis, which is growing up to the nature of God in order to become one with God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Greek Christianity had the burden of relating Christianity to the current Greek Philosophical thought, and as a result they developed a way of thinking similar to the Neoplatonic view of life. The ideas of Trinity and Incarnation as presented in the Nicene Creed resulted from such philosophical thinking. Although the thought categories developed by the Greek Christianity made perfect sense for them in their cultural background, they were never easy for others. Although the Latin and Syriac branches adopted the Greek thought, supported and sanctioned by the emperors and the synods, they could never understand those categories in the same sense as the Greeks understood them.The ideas of trinity and incarnation couldn</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’t be sufficiently explained and brought down to the level at which they could provide a relevant and meaningful foundation to human life.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea of Trinity was misunderstood in the Latin branch, as evidenced by their changing the filioque clause in the Nicene creed. Although the Cappadocian fathers and other such eminent theologians presented their understanding of Trinity eloquently, coming down to the common people, the trinity consists of three gods, denying monotheism, the foundation on which all the Semitic religions stand. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The idea of incarnation could neither</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> be understood nor explained uniformly in the Christian world. If Jesus was God’s incarnation, did he cease to be human? Was he half God and half human? Was he born so or did the divinity descend on him after his birth? The emperors called meetings of bishops (synods) to decide upon these questions, but there could never be universally agreeable answers on such questions, and Christianity split. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Islam developed in the seventh century revolting against the ideas of Trinity and incarnation. Trinity as it existed among Christians appeared Polytheism to Mohammed. Also the way Christians saw Jesus as God in human form appeared blasphemy to him. Although Judaism also reacted against these ideas, the revolt of Islam has been much louder and more visible. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Latin Christianity</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Latin Christianity saw the goal of life as attaining heaven after death. The sure way to attain heaven was to join the Christian church following its rituals and practices. Thus Christianity became an other-worldly religion in the Latin branch. It focused on going to the heaven above rather than bringing heaven to earth. The church was seen as a group of saved people travelling toward the promised land, heaven. The priests, seen as the visible representatives of Christ, served as the mediators between God and people. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It seems that such thought patterns are to blame for the dark ages of Europe, during which period the entire Europe got submerged in superstitions under the dominion of the priesthood. In the name of faith, people were forced to accept all the superstitions thrust on them. All those who questioned the superstitions were branded as heretics, and were excommunicated. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">One wonders why the Latin Christianity deviated so. It seems that they couldn</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’t understand the metaphorical language used by Jesus or by the early Christianity. They interpreted everything more literally. Remember when Jesus’ disciples couldn’t understand his metaphorical language when he said to beware of the sour dough of the pharisees. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Protestantism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Over a millennium passed before someone was enlightened enough to question such perverted thought patterns. Protestantism, which originated in the 16th </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">century as a reform movement within the Latin branch of Christianity, was primarily a revolt against the authority of the priesthood. However, it continued the view of the Latin Christianity regarding the goal of life, which is attaining heaven after death. It remained other-worldly. It shifted the authority from the priesthood to the Bible. Also it claimed that one can attain salvation not by pleasing God with good works, but by faith in God. By faith Martin Luther meant a trust in the grace of God. Later Protestantism branched out to so many tributaries. Later many evangelical churches took faith to mean a belief that Christ died for our sins. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Latin branch of Christianity along with its protestant subbranch was taken all over the world by the European colonizers. As a result the name of Jesus was dishonored throughout the world. Christianity, which was once a mighty civilizing force, has become a corrupt and powerless laughingstock in the world today. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Returning to the Original View of Life</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I can</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’t speak for Islam or Judaism, but being a member of the Christian community, I must confess that Christianity as it exists today does not serve its original purpose. It is not only a burden to the world, but its existence adversely affects the healthy existence of the humanity. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Unless Christianity is willing to make a choice to regain the original purpose for which it came to existence, it should not exist at all. The world will be better off without today</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">’s Christianity. This may sound harsh, but this is the truth. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If Christianity does choose to regain the original purpose for which it came into existence, I want to suggest how each of its branches may do so. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Syriac Christianity needs to discover its basic and essential view of life from underneath whatever was dumped on it down the centuries. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Greek Christianity has the responsibility to learn and explain to the world the meaning of Trinity and Incarnation as understood by the Greek fathers of the early centuries. If they can’t satisfactorily explain how God is one and three at the same time, they need to honestly admit their failure, saying somewhat like this: “The Greek Christian fathers of the fourth century affirmed that God is one and three at the same time. We are trying our best to understand what exactly they meant by that. However, at present we don’t have a satisfactory explanation.” The Greek Christianity also needs to explain to the world what exactly they mean in saying that Jesus is/was the incarnation of God. If they can’t give a satisfactory explanation of what the fathers meant, thy need to admit so. They need to be honest about what they know and don’t know. With such an honest approach, our gap with Islam and Judaism can be lessened. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Latin Christianity has to make a thorough examination of its views, and return to the original views of Christianity. If they are still offering an other-worldly salvation, they need to correct it immediately because the good news of Jesus was not about going to heaven, but about bringing heaven down to the earth. If the priests are still seen as mediators between God and people, it needs to be corrected immediately because they are merely guides and facilitators. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Protestant churches need to realize that their protest was limited to the authority of the priesthood, and they gained freedom in that aspect. Their pastors do not claim to be mediators between God and people, but they are only guides and facilitators. But the Protestant churches are sill otherworldly like the Latin Christianity; they proclaim a gospel of salvation after death in heaven. Also the Protestant churches replaced the authority of the priesthood with the authority of the Bible. Ascribing infallibility to the Bible by placing it in the seat of God can be treated as idolatry. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Further Exploration </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Once Christianity has a beam in its eye, we can’t point out the speck in the eye of the Muslims or Jews or Hindus or Buddhists or even the atheists. Let us be honest about ourselves first. If there is a beam, we need to see it, admit it, and make a conscious effort to remove it. Then and only then, we can point out how others may make a correction in their views or ways. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In fact all the religions around us have the noble ideal of bringing heaven on earth, whether we call it the kingdom of God or kingdom of Heaven or Garden of Eden or paradise or Sarvodayam or Ramarajyam or Communism. They all show us the way to make it a reality -- by gaining a realization of the truth. As Jesus claimed, it is the truth that set us free. In the Semitic view of life, we are asked to realize that God alone is good, and that God cares for us. In the Indian Vedantic view of life, we are asked to realize that we are one with God. In the Buddhist view too, it is the realization of the truth of life that makes us free. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Thus with a slight change in our attitude, with our mind open and honest, we can have a better and more united and peaceful world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">John D. Kunnathu</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-41955495193415660582017-12-13T07:47:00.000-08:002018-11-22T02:58:22.684-08:00Swargarajyam Bhoomiyil -- Review by George Joseph<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The latest book by Mr. John D</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Kunnath</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">u</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> in Malayalam discusses at reasonable depth the true meaning of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. The book is worked out in quite simple language with readable style of presentation. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Dr.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> D</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Babu Paul IAS has written a preface that sums up the essence of the subject. The </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">subject-matter is presented </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">through </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">well</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">-</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">narrated twenty chapters.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The book begins referring to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">many philosophers, theologians and thinkers of note including Rudolf </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zhnTY10K1K4/WjFK8Y58YiI/AAAAAAAAE4w/x3n24rcnh4sMmewRhGqOBqWAfAIBIoisQCLcBGAs/s1600/swarggaraajyam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="500" height="252" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zhnTY10K1K4/WjFK8Y58YiI/AAAAAAAAE4w/x3n24rcnh4sMmewRhGqOBqWAfAIBIoisQCLcBGAs/s320/swarggaraajyam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Bultmann, Leo Tolstoy, L/L HG Paulose Mar Paulose, <span style="font-family: "calibri";"> and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">L/L HG Dr. Paulose Mar Gregoriose. Through these great thinkers and from his own in</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">-</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">depth thought processes, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the author</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> convincingly concludes that Kingdom of Heaven, more than anything else, can be understood as a new culture that is different from the common worldly culture. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">With </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">an </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">example of an </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">incident in the life of Socrates, he states that </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">admission of one`s ignorance is a precondition for eligibility to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">be in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the Kingdom of Heaven. Mahatma Gandhi spent his life seeking TRUTH. But Adam and Eve fell into the “trap to become equal to God” and fell from Grace. Jesus Christ, during his public ministry, narrated many a metaphor to illustrate what would Kingdom of Heaven be like. When we carry out an introspection on ourselves based on these teachings of Jesus, we come to understand, at least to a certain extent, the failure of Adam and Eve and how worthy were the thinking of Socrates and Mahatma Gandhi. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> comes up with a comparison of today’s worldly order with that of MAHABALI, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">mythological character</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> providing quite a good quantum of learning points. We live in a scenario where one doesn’t care to admit </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">one</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">’s </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">own errors. With this in mind, Jesus Christ made a statement repeatedly that the tax collectors and sinners would experience </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven earlier than those who claim themselves righteous. This pinpoints to the need </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">for </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">one to throw out falsities if he looks forward to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. We must be </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">fully </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">transparent </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">in our life. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Jesus Christ explains the basics of our practical life in his Sermon on the Mount</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, which </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">form the foundations of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. Chapter 13 of the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">G</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ospel </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">St</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Matthew illustrates these aspects through a series of metaphors. We shall have to realize that our present way life is built on not so strong a foundation. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> has very efficiently answered the question, “where is the Kingdom of Heaven</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">?</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">” He has explained pretty well the conceptualization of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven and our universe as also our limited awareness of the same. Perhaps, it would have enriched this text had there been a discussion on the concept of three heavens based on Book of Revelations and St Paul’s epistles. When it comes to chapter 6, the author lifts the readers to a new level of philosophic insights</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> about the idea of God</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. He relies on the great theological scholar of Eastern tradition namely Gregor</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">y</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> of N</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">yssa,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> and free the readers from certain Protestant myths on these issues. To </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">explain how God is related to the world, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">a</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> set of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">equations are</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">used</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> effectively. The texts of L/L HG Dr. Paulose Mar Gregoriose is referred wherever the need arises. It may look strange or pleasant surprise that knowingly or unknowingly, the thoughts of 18</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; vertical-align: super;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> century Swedish philosopher cum theologian Immanuel Swedenborg appears here like a shadow. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the discussion of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">citizenship of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> the author </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">refers to HG Paulos Mar Gregorios, who relates a human being to a magnet </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">with a magnetic field</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. A</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> human being</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> with </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">an energy zone around carries a resemblance with the concept followed in Pranic Therapy. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The expectations of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven can be understood from the life of Job. Each one of us has a task to carry on and that has to be carried on with diligence. Respecting others and being compassionate with others are part</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">s</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> of that pattern of life. Failure of the elder brother of the Prodigal son is a learning point here. Man is responsible to take care of not only other men and women, but also animals and plants or in other words, the entire</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">creation. God created all beings other than man in a manner that they are obeying God unconditionally without a free will, but man is created with a free will that he can move away from God. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author refers to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Fr John Behr, Principal, Vladimir Seminary</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, who explains w</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">hat is expected of man</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, which</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> is beautifully explained in his book “Becoming Human”. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is a system of communication in the Kingdom of Heaven as communication is needed between different entities there. Here, perceiving words, language and actions are crucial. We are aware that in this world, very often, we make wrong perceptions landing in confusion. Many people during the days of public ministry of Jesus didn’t acknowledge him as Messiah because they perceived his words wrongly then. Strangely, such wrong perceptions continue even today about his teachings. One has to distinguish between </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">literal sense of a statement </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">and</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> what is intended by such statement. A classic example of such wrong perception can be seen in Ezekiel 14:14 based on which most Protestants argue that God doesn’t approve </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">intercession of Saints; interestingly, they do not see the same logic with Ezekiel 8:18 by which it has to be inferred that God never listens to any prayers from His people. In short, unless we perceive words and languages and expressions correctly without preconceived notions, we would land in trouble, be in in this world or in Kingdom of Heaven. Even Holy Bible is not to be understood literally.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Creation of this universe by God was in an order which very often, men and women turn into disorder causing all sorts of troubles for creations. This order could be a replica of an order prevailing in Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, it is necessary for us, if we look forward to a dwelling in Kingdom of Heaven, to learn to obey the order prescribed by God here in the first place. For this, the basic requirement is to align with the Laws given by God and follow them sincerely as illustrated by Jesus, knowing that it is a tough exercise. But wherever we fail, acknowledge our fall before God rather than justifying ourselves that we are following Law in letter and spirit. It may be noted that Jesus did not discard Mosaic Laws, but interpreted them in practical sense. Pharisees insisted on following Laws litera</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">l</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ly whereas Jesus advocated to follow them in truth. It is also necessary for us to distinguish between good and evil. Very often, evil comes before us dressed up as good. We shall have to perceive the scenario correctly that we are not going the way of Adam and Eve. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Chapter 11 analyses </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the concept of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">life </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">which</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">is</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> explained quite convincingly. The Manna provided to Israelites during their exodus and the sign of Jesus feeding more than 5,000 with just five loaves are symbolic of the life in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. The analysis of life provided here is quite informative. This leads a reader to that crucial question, how to qualify for the citizenship of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. This is well answered through </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">epistles of St Paul</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">St Peter, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Book of Acts and the Sermon on the Mount. Kingdom of Heaven is governed by a system of justice that is different from what we have on earth. The parable of Pharisee and the tax collector, the approach of Israelites towards righteousness, exhortation of love by St John, epistle of St James and more illustrate the issue of justice. Many new generation fellowships claim that one is saved exclusively by faith. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> disputes this arguing rightly that such claim is senseless because of their misinterpretation of a few verses of St Paul. Faith is meaningful only if it is accompanied by deeds of righteousness. While seeking an entry into </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven, one should understand who is a Christian and what is Christian mission. Converting non-Christians to Christianity cannot be perceived as the sole mission; loving others and taking care of the needy is the true mission. Those who follow this as best as possible can alone be called Christians effectively. Such Christians can look forward to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven provided they live a life as taught by Christ without claiming anything of their own.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is an interesting question: are there any sinners in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven? During his public ministry, Jesus has amply demonstrated that sinners would sit with him in paradise. In other words, there is no ban for sinners in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven; a sinner has to accept that he is a sinner and shall never claim righteousness. He will be blessed with grace and would make Kingdom of Heaven. Always remember to have control over sin so that we can discard sin; never be under the control of sin. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> has stated that the theory of St Augustine that any newly born baby is born in sin and this belief is the most accepted one among Christian believers. But it would have been better for him to explain this aspect a bit elaborately that the reader would have understood Eastern stand on this issue better.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are familiar with the incident of Jesus visiting Jerusalem Temple and driving out all those carrying out business of selling animals or exchanging currencies telling them that his father’s house is not a cave of thieves; once this is done, the temple has become the dwelling place of God again. Once it used to be a cave for thieves, ordinary men and women as well as the blind, the lame or the deaf had no place inside because they were too poor that they had no purchasing power. Now such people having no purchasing power are inside the temple. This would exactly be the scenario of Kingdom of Heaven. Also the economy within the Kingdom of heaven doesn’t distinguish men based on their financial capacity. All are equal. We see our world different from this that the rich nations become richer at the cost of poor nations; wealthy men become wealthier at the cost of poor people as L/L HG Dr. Gheevarghese Mar Osthathios used say very often. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Unlike what we have here, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven has a relationship between those who are there based on what Jesus has taught us about humanity. There is no difference based on gender or background or nationality or language or anything of that sort. But one has to live a life doing good to all, one has to pray for mercy, one has to love others and such should be the way of life. For this we must have a strong faith that God loves us. Jesus has not, perhaps, meant Heavenly Kingdom as a place where one goes after the life of this world, but as a relationship or fellowship with God in all perfection in its wholeness. The Protestant teaching differs here. They have their theory of salvation which is based on certain misconceptions of Biblical truths. How would the Kingdom of Heaven look like? The teachings of Western theology, be it Catholic or Protestant, are different from Eastern theology</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">here. Eastern theology teaches that Church is not symbolic of the body of Christ, but it is indeed the body of Christ that reveals invisible Christ to the world. “Joy of Freedom” by L/L HG Dr. Paulose Mar Gregoriose discusses these at length. Kingdom of Heaven has to be seen with this truth in mind.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The author </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">has taken pain to work out a treatise on a subject of interest, but on which men hold varying concepts. Even his inferences based on teachings of many scholars of repute may not satisfy readers totally, but we have a good piece before us now to understand </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">basic concepts of </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kingdom of Heaven. The author needs to be compl</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">i</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">mented for this work of high quality. As a reader, I expect more such works from him in the days to come. Let me wish all the very best to Mr. John Kunnath</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">u</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: normal;"> George Joseph Enchakkattil</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0000pt;"></span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-28784341682355970322017-12-05T15:45:00.001-08:002017-12-05T15:47:24.610-08:00Good News for Malayalees Abroad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Malayalees abroad want their children to learn Malayalam, but often they do not get enough learning-aids. John Kunnathu and Lissy John have created three books to resolve this issue. They have served as educators in Africa and America for several years.<br />
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1. Malayalam Alphabet : Practice Workbook<br />
2. Learn Basic Malayalam in Six weeks : With Daily Exercises and Answer key<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> 3. Speak Malayalam in Ten Weeks: </span><span class="text_exposed_show">With Exercises & Answer Key</span><br />
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The books can be seen at <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fauthor%2Fjohnkunnathu&h=ATPI62i_DZGMQIB1fixq8d7X2UVwuEQibTCYvNaloVauxBcZsnwrp4DZosUknPotdarri4Orr8hMmTgIURtoIz19on7suoxBBz9wa66IeztVbBCF2d514dlpwxvRP_hU5L9CrMNZxRRnNy9NfZ6SfvFwVl8KQwYbzvurO-tX-JdVXXohKmH4Zu_5XW-KPdaje-OipIg3B7GoWzS_TzDdrwabcsytoQzreQlw1Lsh33A8sOXVadkeS9v-_5n9E5LJB09EWGYR3qGuxXcga-e-V38fKesaojY1kOzsCBk" href="http://amazon.com/author/johnkunnathu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">amazon.com/author/johnkunnathu</a><br />
<br />
Here is what a Spanish and Italian speaker says: <br />
"I was amazed by learning that Malayalam is easier than it might seems,
the authors explain very well the difference between English and
Malayalam languages, giving you the taste that it can be easily learn
and actually that it's easier to learn it than English language (I'm
Spanish and Italian speaker then English is my third language)" <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f-NbkEZJT80/WicvA2-ROkI/AAAAAAAAE3o/pbpXSMJ0ZZEHAM4GwBLVe59vH5TN8TjbwCLcBGAs/s1600/malayalamalphabet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f-NbkEZJT80/WicvA2-ROkI/AAAAAAAAE3o/pbpXSMJ0ZZEHAM4GwBLVe59vH5TN8TjbwCLcBGAs/s200/malayalamalphabet.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Malayalam Alphabet: Practice Workbook</b> is a workbook for those who learn to write Malayalam Alphabet. The
focus is on the shape of the letters, and on how to write them. The
letters are ordered from simple to complex, so that the learners won’t
be intimidated by the few complex ones. The letters are classified into
base forms, short forms, and combined forms. A page is devoted for each
letter. At the top left you see the letter along with the direction as
to how to write it. A star indicates the place to start writing a
letter. At the top right you see a little help as to its sound. Also you
see a few words in which the letter occurs. Then you see in six rows
six sets of the letter in dotted lines in varying sizes. The biggest
ones are at the top, and they become smaller as they go down.<br />
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<h1 class="a-spacing-none" id="title">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCKWu9U-8Cw/Wicu--rj_cI/AAAAAAAAE3k/5wj6-PAiJ9AK2uPg1unklBPpp9jCnuXlgCLcBGAs/s1600/Learn%2BBasicMalayalam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCKWu9U-8Cw/Wicu--rj_cI/AAAAAAAAE3k/5wj6-PAiJ9AK2uPg1unklBPpp9jCnuXlgCLcBGAs/s200/Learn%2BBasicMalayalam.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle"><b>Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks: With Daily Worksheets & Answer Key</b> </span>is a guide to learn Malayalam as a second language for the speakers
of English. Malayalam is the language of Kerala, South India. The
material is presented as 42 lessons with worksheets and answer key. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h1>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7BqIib096k/Wicu8OPHuRI/AAAAAAAAE3g/E5qwnqQLJdgGCiMitVn5gINdvDdn2BQggCLcBGAs/s1600/speak%2BMalayalam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7BqIib096k/Wicu8OPHuRI/AAAAAAAAE3g/E5qwnqQLJdgGCiMitVn5gINdvDdn2BQggCLcBGAs/s200/speak%2BMalayalam.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> <b>Speak Malayalam in Te</b></span><b>n Weeks: With Exercises & Answer Key</b> helps the speakers of English to gain the basic
skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing Malayalam.This book has ten lessons, which are built around te<span class="text_exposed_show">n
children’s songs, which have been sung by Yesudas, the well-known
singer. The songs are based on the traditional popular animal fables.
Thus the learners have the opportunity to learn Malayalam as presented
through the voice of Yesudas. By the end of the ten lessons, a learner
will be able to listen and understand Malayalam. The learner will also
gain the ability to speak Malayalam. </span></div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-14537911245617900802017-07-10T16:31:00.001-07:002017-07-13T07:55:04.466-07:00God! Help us to Unite!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oWIVSZH9CKs/WWQM4IVM6pI/AAAAAAAAExo/s6BoNcvRyvgSR4q0fm256JetAJn4xwIUQCLcBGAs/s1600/Peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="462" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oWIVSZH9CKs/WWQM4IVM6pI/AAAAAAAAExo/s6BoNcvRyvgSR4q0fm256JetAJn4xwIUQCLcBGAs/s200/Peace.jpg" width="183" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The one primary direction that Christ gave us is to love each other, for that is the means to witness Christ to the world. "When you love each other, the world will know that you are my disciples" Christ said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But unfortunately, the Syrian Christian community in Kerala has been fighting and killing each other, going to courts against each other -- we did everything except what Christ told us to do. We have been doing this for a century now. As a result, the world around us knows that we are not the disciples of Christ. Although we honor Christ with our lips, our actions have nothing to do with it. Just as a plant can be identified with its fruit, the world around us has identified us as anti-Christians -- people who dishonor the name of Christ. We have become wolves in sheep's clothing. Pleople have been laughing at us, and we couldn't walk along the streets with our heads held high. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This evil among us was started by an older generation; we simply inherited it. Let us not hand it over to our next generation. If we let it die with this generation, our future generations will be grateful to us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Christian community has been in existence in India since the time of Christ. For the first sixteen centuries, we were united. We loved one another, and the world around us knew that we are Christ's disciples. The problem started since the arrival of the foreigners for the last four centuries. The Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British people came here. They made us slaves in our own land. The Christian community in India sought the support of the Antiochian Orthodox church in defending the assault of the European colonizers. The Antiochian church helped us to get free from the Europeans, but eventually they tried to enslave us. They claimed that the Indian church has to be under the authority of the Antiochian church. Unfortunately some people in the Indian Community trusted them blindly, which started our present mess. Antiochian church still wants to keep us in slavery, and some of us seems to enjoy this slavery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now the Supreme court of India has clearly stated that we are a free community, and not under Antiochian church's authority. Let us together take this opportunity and love each other, and let this evil die along with us. If we pass this down to our children, and grandchildren, they will never forgive us. We may not be able to convert this world into a heaven for our children; at least we can refrain from converting it into a hell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think this is a crucial time, and if we miss this opportunity, we may never be able end this evil. So the leaders of both sides need to act wisely. They need to realize that a large number of people on both sides eagerly wish for a united church. If they make a blunder and let this chance slip through their fingers, the future generations will never forgive them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> It is time for a meeting of the representatives of both sides. They need to be clear about the goal of the meeting -- unity. They are not meeting to prove who is right and who is wrong. We are a broken family, and what we need is a mending of broken relationship and a reconciliation. They may want to come together around a table and discuss the points they can agree on and those they cannot agree on. They need to see the issues from Christ's perspective. If Jesus were in body among us now, how would he address this issue? As Christ promised, when two or three of us meet, he would be among our midst though not visible to our eyes. So let us make sure that our exchange of feelings and thoughts are pleasing to Christ. Also let us give our future generations a chance to feel proud of us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before going to the legal and logical issues, the emotional issues need to be addressed first. The ego of one side is severely wounded by the court judgment. Their hurt feelings should be acknowledged and accepted and addressed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once the emotional issue is addressed, the primary issue needs to be taken, which is the place of the Patriarch of Antioch in the Malankara church. The very first clause of the 1934 constitution says: "Malankara Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church. The Primate <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch." Although both sides agree to this clause literally, it still needs to be clarified what they both mean by this clause. Ambiguities need to be resolved. The side that favors Antioch may want to make sure that their feelings and beliefs about Antioch are heard by the other side. Once both sides are open to each others' feelings, beliefs and thoughts, a way will be visible for unity.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">God! Help us to unite!</span></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-55294142555905578132017-06-05T06:14:00.001-07:002017-06-08T08:26:13.113-07:00The Indian Orthodox Church in the US<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian Orthodox Church in Raleigh</td></tr>
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My wife and I returned to India in 2012 after being in the US for twenty years. Recently in 2017, which is after a break of five years, we visited the US. <br />
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I noticed that the Malayalee church communities are more vibrant and active in the US than in Kerala. People there are more active in the church activities. The primary reason for this seems to be that they are immigrants in a foreign land. They need to get together to see one another. The other six days they spend time with the general public, which consists of people of all races. On the seventh day, they get together to meet other people like them, to speak their own language, and to satisfy their nostalgia. The people encourage their children to be friends with others like them so that they may find life-partners from within the community itself. <br />
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Although the Malayalee community enjoys a higher living standard in the US than in Kerala, they still have a longing for the native land where they were born and raised. Although they have better food, better roads, and better comforts in the US, still they are aliens where they live, and their hearts long for their homeland. They satisfy this longing to certain extent when they get together on the seventh day in their church.<br />
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The parish I used to go while I was there earlier looked radically different. Being in Texas it gained a lot more people than it used to have. More and more people have been migrating to the south. It used to have the same vicar for over twenty years, and as he was directly involved in the administration of the parish, there were always conflicts between the vicar and some members. The bishop effectively implemented a transfer system for the priests, and this parish got a new vicar who could help the community grow to become a very lively and vibrant one. People enjoy being there. <br />
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The priest who was in charge of this parish has been transferred to another parish, where he is being successful. He is giving leadership to build a new building. This shows beyond doubt that the problem was not with the priest or with the people, but with the system. <br />
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A transfer system is not yet implemented in the North. We had the opportunity to visit a couple of parishes in New York. The ones we visited were managed by very mature priests, who could keep the parish together in spite of the fact that they have been in the same position for a long time. I learned that they did not involve themselves in the church administration very much. They assumed the role of a father-figure, and not that of an administrator. So they could avoid conflicts with the members to a great extent. <br />
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As I understand, a priest has three different roles in his parish:<br />
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1. A Father-- leader of the community life. From this position, he is expected to care for the well-being of the community. Anyone should feel free to approach the priest in times of emotional distress. He is a leader or shepherd who will guide the community. He is also a role model young people can look up to. He should be able to counsel and teach people. From this role, his service should be available not only to the members of the community, but also to all others who seek help and support. If a community does not have a strong father-figure, it can’t have a healthy existence. In order to perform this role, one needs maturity and counseling skills. <br />
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2. A Priest-- leader of worship. A priest leads the community in conducting the worship-- its sacraments, its holy days etc. <br />
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3. A Vicar-- leads the administrative matters. Representing the bishop, he leads the group of people elected for the administration of the church property, its activities and its income and expenses. <br />
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Of these three roles, the first one is undoubtedly the most important one. Lay people in the community, who are mature and have counseling skills, can help and support him in performing this role. Regarding the second role, only a priest can lead the community in liturgical worship. <br />
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Regarding the third one, his role has to be minimal. He may preside over the General body meetings and committee meetings, but his role should not go beyond being a moderator or a facilitator of the meetings. He can even designate a vice president to conduct these meetings. He needs to be like the president of India, without having a direct involvement in the administration. He needs to let the elected lay people directly involve in the administration. If he directly gets involved in the administration, he won’t be able to do his primary role as the father of the community. Wherever a priest gets involved in the administration, he fails as a father. He becomes the leader of one party or group, and fails to keep the entire community united. <br />
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Priests need to heed to Jethro’s advice to Moses, his son-in-law. Jethro saw all people coming to Moses with all sorts of administrative problems all daylong, and Jethro advised him to designate assistants who would take care of administrative matters, so that Moses could devote his time and energy to perform his primary role, as the father/leader of the community. Priests also need to follow the example of the apostles when they handed over the administrative matters to the seven deacons, so that they could focus their attention to prayer and preaching.<br />
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In the seminaries, where the priests are trained, they are trained primarily to perform their second role-- to lead the worship. I think a shift of focus is needed. They need to be trained primarily to perform their primary role -- as a father of the community. They also need to be taught how to be a vicar without directly getting involved in the administration.</div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-84374924992090350872017-06-03T08:50:00.001-07:002017-06-03T08:52:59.571-07:00Good Friday in Raleigh Orthodox Church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My wife and I were in the United States during the passion week. For Good Friday, we had the opportunity to attend the church in Raleigh in North Carolina. Fr. M.K. Thomas is its vicar, and Fr. Tenny Thomas serves as the assistant vicar. Fr. M.K. Thomas, well-known as a very scholarly priest, is unable to perform his priestly duties due to his ill-health. Fr. Tenny Thomas, well-known in the Orthodox church in the US, is a scholar as well as a charismatic leader. I felt happy at some of the innovations I noticed there, which I like to share here. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Raleigh Orthodox Church</td></tr>
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1. Fr. Tenny Thomas, who led the worship, was very people-friendly. Toward the end people were supposed to come to the front to kneel down and kiss the cross. Before that he made an announcement that those who have back pain may wait till the end, when he would hold the cross up so that they can kiss the cross without kneeling down. I was really excited to hear this announcement. <br />
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At the time of the procession, he announced that although it is customary to exit through the south door to begin the procession, as people have their shoes outside the west door, they may exit through the west door and wear their shoes and then come outside the south door. I was excited to hear this announcement as well. <br />
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Once the worship was over, we saw Fr. Tenny Thomas outside the church mingling with people as if he was one among them. Here is a priest who cares for the people. When people realize that the priest cares for them, they will care for the priest in return. <br />
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2. I noticed that Fr. Tenny Thomas was making a conscious effort to make the worship meaningful to the congregation. At the time of the cross celebration, I noticed that he took the freedom to elaborate some of the phrases to make them meaningful. For example, instead of saying “He whom the angels serve” he would say, “Let us also serve the one whom the angels serve”. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Projection</td></tr>
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3. Fr. Thomas helped all people follow the worship by making arrangements to project the entire worship on the walls in the front. All the songs and prayers were projected in two places in the front wall, so that the congregation could conveniently read everything and participate in the worship. This could eliminate the need for using books by the participants. Someone was in charge of doing the projection, and he did an excellent job. <br />
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4.I also noticed that in order to accommodate those young people who can use only English, many of the songs and prayers were in English. As everything was projected on the wall, people could follow everything in spite of the difference in language. Songs and prayers in Malayalam were projected in Malayalam script as well as in its transliteration in English. <br />
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What I saw in the Orthodox church in Raleigh is an example that all priests everywhere may follow. Let the people feel joyful to be in the church! Let them know that they are cared for. Let them experience love and peace there, so that they can carry love and peace with them outside in their daily life! Let the worship be meaningful to the people! Let them experience God in the church!<br />
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-24421212751117328962017-05-27T09:10:00.000-07:002017-05-27T09:10:15.674-07:00Cosmic Man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000;">A Summary of Cosmic Man, the Masterpiece of Paulos Mar Gregorios </span></h4>
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Paulos Mar Gregorios claims that Cosmic Man is his most important work. It was his doctoral dissertation, and it served as a foundation for the thought-world he developed further. <div>
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He introduces the book saying that it seeks to analyze the problem of human existence between its two poles, God and the creation, primarily with the aid of the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century Christian thinker. He presents the thought of Gregory of Nyssa as a valid alternative and corrective to the western theologizing, which oscillates between an other-worldly mysticism that ignores the reality of humanity’s existence in history, and a secular humanism that ignores the ground and source of our being. Gregory’s worldview has the humanity firmly placed between God and the world. <div>
Gregory of Nyssa was a great father and theologian accepted by both the east and the west. However, we should not commit the mistake of slavishly adopting his thought. We need to follow his example and do in our context what he did in his context. As Paulos Gregorios reminds us, our own cosmology has to be much more sophisticated than Gregory’s because we know much more about the structure of the universe, of matter and energy, of cells and life, and of sub-atomic particles. </div>
Intent of the Scripture and the use of outside philosophy<div>
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Gregory of Nysasa is often blamed for uncritical adoption of Platonic thought and for unauthorized use of allegorical method in the interpretation of scriptures. <div>
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Gregory believed that the Holy Scriptures opens our eyes to see the design of God, and thus leads us to God’s mind and purpose. But the meaning of the scriptures is not always self-evident. Certain passages in the scriptures are like the peacock’s feathers-- you need to turn it to see its beauty. But such turning can be done only by someone grounded in the faith of the church. The true intention (skopos) of the scriptures becomes clear to someone who lives in faith. There is no one right method to interpret a passage in the Bible, such as literal, allegorical, and typological. For someone who lives in the faith of the church, the intention of the scriptures becomes clear, and he would know which method to choose. <div>
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In his dialog with his sister, Macrina, he affirms that the intention of the scriptures is the criterion of understanding for a Christian, whereas for a non-Christian, reasoning power alone is the criterion and tool. Gregory did not try to fit his Christian faith to suit the prevailing philosophies, but he used the prevailing philosophies to communicate the Christian understanding. He integrated science and philosophy on the foundation of the Christian tradition. <div>
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For example, Gregory was reluctant to accept the Greek idea that man is a universe in miniature, a microcosmos, because it seems to compete with the Christian understanding that man is the image of God. <div>
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He rejected all pagan affirmations which he found contrary to Christian tradition. However he used the pagan terminology in order to communicate with them. He rejected Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, and Plotinus in his views about the soul, resurrection, nature of man, and about God. <br />
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<strong>Agennesia-- Against Eunomius</strong><div>
Eunomius, a contemporary of Gregory, was a Christian bishop in Capadocia. As a follower of Arius, Eunomius led a form of liberal Christianity, which sought to indigenize Christianity by domesticating it within the current acceptable framework of thought known as Alexandrian philosophy. Eunomius sought to adapt Christianity to secular Philosophy, whereas the Cappadocians sought to adapt secular philosophy to the Christian tradition. </div>
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The foundation of Eunomius’ thought was the unity, simplicity, and uniqueness of the One, whereas the foundation of the Cappadocians’ thought was trinity-incarnation. <div>
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Eunomius claims that there are two ways to do theology: one to study the ousia (essence or the real nature) of God; two, to study the energia (energies or operations) of God. Eunomius chooses the first, but the Cappadocians choose the second. <div>
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The essential nature of God, according to Eunomius, is unbegottenness (agennèsia). He argues that the name agennètos is a revealed name of God, not a human creation. He divides all that exists to unbegotten and begotten (gennèma). He further claims that the Father alone is God, the unbegotten. The son is begotten, and the son creates the Holy Spirit and all creation. <div>
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Eunomius claimes that the ousia of God is knowable through the reveled name of God, agennètos. He further claims that the significance of a name is not in its sound but in its ennoia, the internal mental conception. He claims that the human innate ideas correspond to reality. He further claims that the names are also God’s creations. <div>
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In terms of consistency and coherence, Eunomius’ system shows considerable strength. He is reasonable in his affirmation that since God cannot be caused by someone else, only the Father, the uncaused cause, is truly God. The Christian doctrine that the ousia of God is in three persons is much more difficult. Also the Christian doctrine of incarnation, that God, who is unchangeable, became man, who is changeable, is philosophically difficult. <div>
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Gregory denies that man has an ennoia (innate idea) of the ousia of God, and insists that man can only apprehend the energia of God. The cappadocians claim that God’s ousia is unknowable. Although human mind is God’s creation, the thoughts, feelings, and intuitions of the human mind are Human creation, which may be right or wrong, good or evil. <div>
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Man’s knowing process is epinoia, the capacity to conceive things. All human knowledge, sciences, arts, and inventions have their root in epinoia. Epinoia is the most precious of faculties the creator has given us. Gregory claims that even the name agennètos (unbegotten) is a creation of our epinoia. It is our mental capacity to use this concept. However, it does not say what God is, it only says what God is not. <div>
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Using this capacity of epinoia, we have to follow (akolouthia) the creation in its taxis (orderliness) and find out that the ground of the creation lies beyond it. <br />
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<strong>Akolouthia-- Following the Logos</strong><div>
Akolouthia may be translated as consistency, consequence, following up, or custom. Stoics had used this term to mean living according to the nature in accordance to the Logos that indwells the cosmos. Logical consistency was important for Gregory. He emphasized the importance of understanding things in the proper sequential order, and to state what is understood in the right sequential order. For Philo, akolouthia has to do with the design of the created order in the mind of the creator, which is an ontological reality. The linking of ontology, epistemology, and ethics, which was characteristic of stoic thought, was a central notion in Christian patristic thought. Thus Akolouthia is both following intellectually and as disciple. Knowing and willing and being go together. </div>
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Logical coherence is possible because of ontological coherence, which is possible because of the Logos. Just as the cosmos exists as a body breathing together, the scriptures also has a unity within it according to Gregory. The Christian life is seen by Gregory as a break with the akolouthia of evil and move along the akolouthia of good toward perfection. Thus there is a beginning, an end, and an ordered sequence in between at three levels-- in the cosmos, in the scriptures, and in the life of perfection. In all three we have to follow the order of sequence. <br />
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<strong>God and His Creation 1 : </strong><strong>Diastema -- Discontinuity</strong>In the general sense, Diastema refers to the distance between two points-- in space or in time. This concept became a key notion in the Arian controversy when they argued that there is a time distance between Father and Son. Gregory made it clear that there is no diastema in the creator, that diastema is a characteristic of the creation, and that there is a one-way ontological and epistemological diastema between the creator and the creation from the side of the creation.<div>
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The diastema between creator and creation, the basis of the transcendence of God, is a specific Judeo-Christian concept, and it is a basic category for Gregory. This concept cannot be seen in Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, or in Neo-Platonists. God for Plato belongs to the world of ideas, which can be known. For Aristotle, God is the fist cause of the world. For Stoics, God is the same as the world or the soul of the world. For neoplatonists, the world is an emanation of God. Philo, following the Hebrew scriptures, claims discontinuity for the creator and creation, and Gregory adopts the same view. <div>
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Thus Gregory presents before three aspects of diastema:<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Diastema is absent in the creator, which is why God is transcendent and incomprehensible to us. </li>
<li>Creation has diastema, which is why all created beings have change-- they move from arche to telos. </li>
<li>Between creation and creator, diastema is one-way. From God’s view, there is no diastema, for the creation exists within the creator. But from the view of the creation, there is an unbridgeable diastema between Creator and creation. </li>
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<strong>God and His Creation 2 : </strong><strong>Metousia -Continuity</strong><div>
Gregory makes a distinction between the ousia and energeia of God. Ousia is the is-ness of God, and energeia is what God does. Diastema occurs only between the ousia of God and the creation. But between the energeia of God and creation there exists participation. The creation is dependent on the wisdom, will and power of God, together they are called the energeia of God. </div>
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According to the neoplatonists, the world is an emanation of God, which therefore, participates in the ousia of God. <br />
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<strong>God and Man: </strong><strong>Continuity and Discontinuity</strong><div>
Man being a part of the world, whatever is true for the world must be true for the humanity as well. All creation depends on God’s grace for its existence. It is the capacity to respond to God’s grace that distinguishes man from other beings. Although God’s grace is available to all men, some men choose not to accept the grace. </div>
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God is free in His transcendence, in His immanence, and in His creative power. Man, being God’s image, has to participate in these three aspects. <br />
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<strong>Man Against God : </strong><strong>Man in History</strong><div>
The source of evil is the freedom of man. Eve chose something good, but not good for her at that situation. Eunomius thought that the human body is the source of sin. </div>
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Gregory argues that death that ensued immediately on eating was not the death of the body, but a sentence of death against body and soul. Death of the soul does not mean coming to an end. It is separation from the source of life. Sin also means the same. <div>
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The soul and body live together. The soul does not survive the body. Gregory differs from Origen, who believed in the eternity of the soul. He also differs from neoplatonists who believed in the changelessness of the soul. <div>
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We do not inherit sin from Adam, but we do inherit the death, the consequence of sin, from Adam. <div>
For Augustine, concupiscence (passion) is the root of sin. If so it is a part of human nature. Gregory follows the Asiatic/semitic way of thinking that human freedom is the root of evil. </div>
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Gregory seems to imply that diastema (existence in space-time) is the result of sin. But he asserts that diastema is the nature of creation. This is a contradiction in Gregory’s thought. </div>
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<strong>The Fullness of Man: </strong><strong>Man Beyond History</strong><div>
Gregory uses the term pleroma to mean the full number. Our interest is in his use of the term to mean the the whole of the humanity in all places and times. As a hypothesis, Gregory speaks of two creations: first the entire human race (pleroma), and then the individuals separating them into male and female. It is this pleroma that Christ leavened. As the humanity is integrally related to the rest of the creation, the redemption of humanity is also the redemption of the creation. History is the nursery of mankind. History will give way to a new aeon, where the whole of humanity will be co-present. Man in history is like a seed in the ground, an embryo in the womb. The whole of mankind as a single unit will be redeemed from sin, mortality and individuality. Reunited with Christ, the entire humanity will bear the image of God. Christ is the first born of the new humanity, in whom the human nature has been recreated. Our original coat will be restored to the humanity. </div>
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<strong>Gregory’s Thought, An Evaluation</strong><div>
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As Paulos Mar Gregorios claims, Gregory has created a mighty thought structure. “It soars into the transcendent without losing sight of the material and the historical.” In spite of his greatness, Paulos Mar Gregorios notices a contradiction in Gregory’s thought when Gregory speaks about diastema. Gregory seems to imply that diastema is the result of sin. But he also asserts that diastema is the nature of creation. It is possible that this must not have been a real contradiction in Gregory’s thought, only it appears to be a contradiction. Gregory makes it clear that the creation is within the limits of space and time; God alone is beyond these limits. This causes a diastema between the creation and the creator. So what happens when we sin, when we consciously deviate from God’s path? Gregory says it causes diastema between God and us. It seems that Gregory is speaking about two kinds of diastemas here. If the first is physical, the second one is mental. The first cannot be bridged, but the second can be bridged. </div>
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However, we notice a lack of clarity when Gregory tells us about sin and death. Gregory argues that the death of Adam and Eve in the garden was not the death of the body, but a sentence of death against body and soul. This conclusion raises a couple of problems before us. God said they would die on the same day, but they continue to live for a few centuries. To make a sentence, God must have been a judge in that situation. But in that situation, God is the owner of the garden and Adam and Eve live and work there. The highest punishment an owner of a garden can give to the workers is to send them away, which is what God does. Gregory further implies that the death they died on the same day was the death of their soul. Paulos Gregorios explains that the death of the soul does not mean coming to an end; it is separation from God, the source of life. He further states that sin also means the same. Zoe and bios represent two kinds of life in Greek. It is possible that Hebrew also had similar distinction. For the two kinds of life, there must be two kinds of death too. It is reasonable to think that the death that Adam and Eve died in the Garden of Eden was the end of their heavenly life (zoe) which they enjoyed there. It was not the end of their bios, the life all living beings live. God had warned that their zoe would end if they disobeyed, but the snake said their bios would not end. In the Great Friday liturgy, we sing that the blessed one by His death killed death. The death Jesus died was that of bios, but the death He killed was that of zoe. </div>
John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105116932388215382.post-34048393362007508772017-03-16T08:20:00.002-07:002017-05-30T02:15:37.242-07:00The Christian Understanding of Sin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<u>Table of Contents</u></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">What is Sin?</span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Why do we Do Sin?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Who do Sins?</span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">What is the Consequence of Sin?</span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">How may we Overcome Sin?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">How may we View Sin?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Conclusion</span></div>
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Evil is an everyday reality. We experience it all around us, and also within us. We, the humanity, has been aware of the issue of evil from the very beginning of our existence, but still we haven’t resolved it. Let us have a look at it from various angles asking several questions-- what, why, who, and how. We limit our inquiry within the Christian tradition, so we will talk about sin rather than evil. </div>
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<strong>What is Sin?</strong></div>
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Seeking the meaning of sin, one often goes to the original languages -- Hebrew and Greek, and derive the meaning as missing the mark, which is deviating from the ideal. The ideal of human existence is set by God as an existence united in love-- among ourselves, with God, and with the nature. This is the heavenly life Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden. It is with such life in mind that Jesus probably said loving God wholeheartedly and loving fellow beings as ourselves is the summary of the entire law. Any deviation from this ideal is sin. Expressions such as good, right and just are used to denote the ideal, and expressions like evil, mistake, misdeed, wrong, and error are used to mean deviating from the ideal. </div>
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Sin is an abstract concept, and metaphors have always been used to help us understand it. The writers of the Holy Scriptures use various metaphors to speak of sin, such as a burden (Ps 38:4, Mt 11:28), a stain (Is 1:18, Ps 51:4, Eph 5:26), a debt (Mt 18:21-35, Col 2:14), and a sickness, especially leprosy, which makes people unclean just as sin does. All these metaphors show sin as a deviation from the ideal. Someone walking straight and free without any burden is the ideal, and so walking with a burden is a deviation from the ideal. A clean cloth is the ideal, so a cloth with stain is a deviation from the ideal. Being healthy is ideal, so being sick is a deviation from the ideal. </div>
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The breaking of ritual laws was considered sin at the time of Jesus in the Jewish community. Breaking of Sabbath and purification rules were sins. But John the Baptist and Jesus taught that moral laws have predominance over ritual laws. Moral rules are meant to keep the healthy relationships among people, between people and God, and between people and nature, and ritual rules exist only to support moral rules. Moral rules are to be strictly kept, and breaking them is sin. Jesus made it clear that if our eyes cause us to do sins, we have to throw away our eyes! (Mark 9:47). </div>
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Jesus also distinguished between visible and invisible sins. The visible acts of sin are often recognized as sins. But behind the visible acts, there are the invisible thoughts and intentions. Jesus explains how even thoughts of anger and lust are the same as murder and adultery (Matthew 5:21-48). </div>
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Jesus saw sin as something in our control. But later Paul understood sin primarily as something that controls us, as an evil power that enslaves humankind. Paul used the metaphor of a slavemaster to speak about sin (Rom 6:6, 5:21). From being something in our control, sin thus changed to something that controls us. We may think of three ways in which this shift might have happened. </div>
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<li>Anything done repeatedly becomes a habit. The first few times an act needs the involvement of the conscious mind. But once it becomes a habit, the subconscious mind takes over, and it becomes automatic. Once your bicycle starts moving, it moves faster with an added force of its own -- its momentum. Similarly, a habit has its own momentum, whether it be good or bad. It was perhaps with this realization that sin was understood as a power that enslaves us. </li>
<li>Someone who does a certain sin associates with others who do the same sin. Thus sin gains more force by peer pressure. </li>
<li>There also exists a cosmic force of evil, which we cannot adequately understand or satisfactorily explain. This is perhaps an aggregation of all the forces of evil. This cosmic evil force has been called variously such as Satan or the devil. The earlier civilizations have had a better awareness and understanding of this cosmic force. </li>
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So, when we start doing a sin, we control it, but once it becomes a habit, and once we associate with others with similar habit, it controls us. When we are in control of our action, we can break it by a mere decision. But once we lose control, and we are controlled, it is not so easy to break it. <br />
At Jesus’ time, Satan was believed to be ruling the world, which is evident from the Lord’s prayer. Those who do sins were believed to be obeying Satan. Jesus was presented in the gospels as a new Moses who delivers humankind from the slavery of Satan, the Pharoah who enslaves the entire humanity. When Paul speaks of sin as a powerful evil force that controls and leads us to death, sin and Satan sound synonyms. In order to counteract this evil force, we need a divine force from God, which was called grace by Paul. If sin leads us to death, grace leads us to eternal life. (Rom 5:21). <br />
Following the lead of Paul, Christianity placed more emphasis upon the sin that controls us, and the sin we can control was ignored. Later it was proposed that all people are born as sinners, within the evil force of sin or Satan. It was related to the slavery of Israelites in Egypt. Each and every human being is born into the grip of this evil power. No one can escape from the power of sin by his/her own efforts. <br />
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<strong>Why do we Do Sin?</strong><br />
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There have been several hypotheses regarding the origin of sin. <div>
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1. An easy hypothesis has been suggested since ancient times by some that the world is made of both matter and spirit, of which matter is the source of evil, and spirit is the source of good. We, human beings, will escape from evil only when we escape from our body made of matter, and fly to the other world of spirit. <div>
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Although this has been a very popular and strong hypothesis, it has been rejected by the argument that the world created by the Good God cannot be evil. The hymn of Genesis chapter one is an expression of this hypothesis. Accordingly, the entire world is good, for being God’s creation. <div>
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2.A second hypothesis was suggested to resolve this problem-- the world was originally created good, but later somehow evil also became a part of it. It was suggested that at the beginning of our history, we fell down to our present state of being evil from our original state of being good. The story of Adam and Eve was suggested as an expression of this hypothesis. <div>
Augustine of Hippo elaborated this theory further, answering various questions about sin. He accepted the story of Adam and Eve as a real historical event. He defined sin as a sexually transmitted disease, which he called original sin. Accordingly, we are born sinners. Just as it is natural for a carnivorous animal to eat meat, it is natural for human beings to do sins. </div>
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This theory seems to be the most popular in the Christian world. In order for this to be true, the story of Adam and Eve must have been a historical event. Also the question of how Adam and Eve chose evil if they were created good has not been satisfactorily answered. </div>
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3. A third hypothesis suggested that although God created us the crown of creation as conscious beings, with the ability to think and act, unlike God, we lack omniscience, which causes us to err. Adam and Eve sinned because they were not God, and their knowledge was limited. This hypothesis makes the most sense. This seems to be the implication in Jesus’ Prayer, “Forgive them, for they do not know… “ (Lk 23:34). People do sins because of their ignorance. God alone is holy-- not doing any sins-- because God knows everything. <div>
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Responding to the rules regarding eating, Jesus told his disciples that defilement doesn’t come from the outside but the inside: ‘Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander’ (Matthew 15:19). Jesus means that behind our actions and thoughts, there is our heart. The word “heart” has been interpreted as the center of our being or personality. A more sensible interpretation would be seeing the heart as our understanding or our underlying awareness, which is the basis or root of our behavior. A house is built upon its foundation, which can be of rock or of sand. Jesus used this parable to advise his disciples to build their lives upon the right understanding of life, and not upon wrong understandings as propagated by the pharisees. The basic understandings upon which we build our lives is the heart of our thoughts and actions. If we have the right understanding, we will have right thoughts and actions. It implies that wrong understanding is the cause of sins. Such lack of understanding or having wrong understanding is similar to blindness. (John 9:39-41). People in darkness need a light to see. (Matthew 4:16).<div>
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The fourth century Cappadocian father, Gregory of Nyssa, has suggested this hypothesis as shown by Metropolitan Paulos Gregorios in his doctoral work, Cosmic Man. Being the image of God, man is free. However, man needs to grow to maturity in order to make use of his freedom wisely. <br />
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<strong>Who do Sins?</strong> <br />
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The Pharisees of Jesus’ time believed that some people do sins, and others are righteous. Some people in the society were called sinners by them, and they called themselves righteous.They had in mind primarily the breaking of the ritual rules regarding Sabbath and purification. They classified people into righteous and unrighteous. <br />
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But John the Baptist and Jesus, who asserted the predominance of moral rules, claimed that all people do sins. Once when someone addressed Jesus, Good Master, Jesus used this opportunity to teach this important lesson. He said, “No one is good except God” (Mark 10:18). Once when the Pharisees brought a woman before Jesus to be killed for adultery, Jesus asked someone without any sin to cast the first stone. The implication was that God alone is without sin, and so no human being has the right to judge another human being. Paul affirms this idea when he says that God alone is just or righteous, and all human beings are unrighteous (Romans 3). All people do sins because it is human to err. <br />
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When the idea of sin as a power spread, accompanied by the belief in original sin, it was believed that Adam and Eve were created without sin, but once they sinned, they were under the power of sin, and became sinners. According to this belief, all people since Adam and Eve are born into the world as sinners, with a few exceptions. Jesus, as the incarnation of God, was born sinless. As Jesus needed a woman to be born into the world, perhaps his mother was also without sin. Most of the traditional Christians claim that baptism delivers people from the power of sin, and so those who are baptised are no more sinners. The protestant Christians who stress the experience of being born again also claim that they are no more sinners after this experience. Thus in effect, Christianity distinguishes between sinners and non-sinners just as the pharisees did in the time of Jesus. <br />
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Today’s Christianity, while retaining its understanding of sin as a power that enslaves us, needs to regain the understanding of Jesus when he said, No one is good except God.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>What is the Consequence of Sin?</strong><br />
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It is generally agreed that sin results in death. Paul speaks metaphorically that the wages of sin is death. Sin is like a master, and death is like the wages it gives. God warns in the Garden of Eden that “You shall die the day you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. <br />
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Although there is general agreement across Christianity that death is the consequence of sin, there is no agreement regarding what is meant by death. Some people ascribe a literal meaning to death, but some others ascribe a metaphorical meaning. <br />
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The story of Adam and Eve is the basis upon which the Christian understanding of the consequence of sin rests. Originally it was understood metaphorically, but later it was understood literally. Metaphorically understood, it is a parable that teaches some important lessons about human life, but literally understood, it is a historical event. <br />
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Metaphorically understood, the parable of Adam and Eve is the story of humanity, and of every individual human being. It tells us how we can live a heavenly life with God, or a hell-like life away from God. The tree of life represents the heavenly life with God. In order to enjoy this heavenly life, all we need to do is to avoid eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If we eat from this latter tree, our heavenly life comes to an end, which is death. This death is not the literal death that ends our life on the earth. Adam and Eve continue to live; they don’t die a literal death. But their heavenly life consisting of love, joy, and peace comes to en end. <br />
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Eating from the tree of good and evil may mean claiming to have the ultimate knowledge of good evil. God alone has ultimate knowledge, and human beings or even human race as a whole can never possess the ultimate knowledge. Claiming to have ultimate knowledge of what is good and what is evil, we also claim to be righteous. That is exactly what Adam and Eve do. They justify themselves and place the blame of God. They had the option to say sorry to God, and mend the broken relationship. Thus this parable gives us an explanation of why we live a hell-like life in our world, and it gives us a pointer as to how we may reverse this situation. <br />
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However, a literal understanding of the story gained popularity down through the centuries. Accordingly, Adam and Eve were believed to be the very first historical human couple from whom the entire human race emerged. The creation of the world was calculated by Bishop Ussher to have taken place exactly in BC 4004. Adam and Eve were created without sin, but when they disobeyed God, they became sinners, and they fell from the original state. God, as a judge, pronounced capital punishment for their crime -- death. Originally they were supposed to live for ever, but because of the sin of the first couple, we became mortal. The entire humanity has inherited mortality from them. <br />
The western fathers like Augustine have held a literal understanding of the story of Adam and Eve, and the western Christendom, including Roman Catholics and Protestant churches, has followed suit. The Eastern Greek fathers also have held a literal understanding, but with certain modifications. They argued that nature, the creation of God, cannot be evil, and so no one is born with an evil nature. Although they did not take the story of Adam and Eve so literally as the western fathers, they also believed that a fall happened to humanity at the beginning of human history. Gregory of Nyssa argued that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was good, for it was a creation of God. But it was not good for Eve to choose to eat it in her situation. It was an act of will to gratify her own selfish desires, which is what sin is. As a result of sin, death happens. Not an immediate death, but a sentence of death. The Eastern Greek fathers also took the meaning of death literally. While the west believes that we have inherited both sin and death from Adam and Eve, the Greek East believes that we have inherited only the death, and not sin. <br />
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It seems that the Syriac Christianity differed from both the Latin West and the Greek East in their understanding of sin and death. The understanding of the Syriac Christianity can be found primarily in the Syriac Liturgy composed by the Syrian fathers like Mor Ephrem and Mor Balai. Syriac Christianity seems to understand the story of Adam and Eve as a parable and not as a historical event. So it understands death metaphorically. It does not believe in original sin. It does not believe in a fall. <br />
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However, unfortunately, the Syriac Christianity is a tiny oasis in the midst of a mighty desert, which holds a literal understanding of what death means, with the implication that originally we were created to live for ever, but because of our sins, we became mortals. This understanding needs correction. We read in the Bible that God alone is immortal (I Tim 6:16), and that God alone is the source of life (John 5:26). So no created being can be as immortal as God. Anything with birth must have death too. Death as a consequence of sin is to be understood metaphorically as the end of a heavenly life, a life of love, joy, and peace. In the passion week prayers and songs, the Syriac fathers affirm that Jesus killed death by his death. The death he died was literal death, but the death he killed was metaphorical death, the same death that Adam and Eve died in the Garden of Eden. <br />
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<strong>How may we Overcome Sin?</strong> <br />
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Overcoming sin and its consequence, death, is called salvation in Christianity. Depending on whether we have a literal or metaphorical understanding, we can have two different understandings of salvation. <br />
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With a metaphorical understanding of death, salvation is regaining heavenly life of love, joy, and peace that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden. We need to realize that we are not God, and so it is natural for us to do sins in our daily life. Living a sinless life cannot be our goal. On the other hand, we need to turn our focus from sins to living a life of love. For that we need to know that God alone is holy, and it is human to err. Absence of this knowledge is the cause of all the issues. If we know that it is human to err, we will forgive others, and also seek forgiveness from others, and thus we can make our earth a heaven. Perhaps this is what Isaiah learned when he had the vision of Seraphim praising God Holy, Holy, Holy. <br />
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Jesus called for repentance, which is a change of heart, a change of the underlying awareness. Once we do a sin, then we have to do everything in our power to mend the broken relationships. We have to apologize for our sin, and also we have to forgive the sins of others. With baptism, a symbolic bath, we will be cleaned from the dirt of sin, and will be placed in the company of similar people, the church. Instead of the power of sin, we will be led by grace, the divine power. <br />
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Although sin becomes a force that controls us, we can’t use it as an excuse to remain under sin. We need to take responsibility to come out of sin’s control, and bring it under our control. If we are forced by a habit, we need to takes steps to break that habit. If we have peer pressure, we need to take steps to dissociate from them. In order to deal with the cosmic force of evil, we need to seek the help and support of the divine force from God, our creator. <br />
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With a literal understanding of death, salvation is regaining immortality. We need to be liberated from the power of sin. Only someone outside the power of sin can save us from the power of sin. God became a sinless man to liberate us from the power of sin. If we request Jesus, he will liberate us from sin, and we will be born again, and our names will be written in the book of life, and we will go to heaven when we die. At the return of Jesus, we will resurrect with an immortal body. Those who do not request Jesus will remain in the power of sin, and they will go to hell when they die. If this is true, what about all the people who lived before Jesus, and all those people who live and die without hearing about Jesus? No satisfactory answer has been given to this question. <br />
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Unfortunately, the majority of the Christian world has a literal understanding of death, and salvation is the same as regaining immortality for them. If Christianity can regain the metaphorical understanding of death, it can understand salvation as regaining heavenly life with love, joy and peace. <br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>How may we View Sin?</strong> <br />
<br />
It is possible to have a positive or negative approach toward sin. Let us try to understand it with a parable: <br />
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There were two teachers teaching language in a school. On the first day they both gave a writing assignment to their first graders-- write a paragraph about your home and family. They wrote, and the teacher collected their work. <br />
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One teacher marked every single mistake on their paper with a red pen, and graded their work according to the number of mistakes. The next day, the teacher returned to each student their work explaining how they performed. The teacher hoped that the next time they would write with fewer mistakes, and eventually they would write with no mistakes at all. <br />
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The second teacher marked each piece of information the students had written, and graded accordingly. The teacher did not care for their mistakes, nor did he count them. <br />
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The first teacher had a negative approach, but the second one had a positive approach. In the first teacher’s class, the focus was on avoiding mistakes, and so the students were always scared of making mistakes. As a result, their writing level did not improve at all. They were always made feel guilty of their mistakes. But in the second teacher’s class the focus was on communicating more and more ideas, and so they were encouraged to write more and more. As a result they improved in their writing level. They slowly learned to avoid the mistakes. <br />
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Although both teachers knew their subject matter well, you would say that the second teacher was a better teacher. <br />
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Now let me explain the meaning of this parable in the context of the topic of this study. Imagine that the world is a classroom, and we are here to learn some lessons. Also imagine that God is our teacher. Like which of the above two teachers would God be? Jesus taught that God is like the second teacher-- with a positive attitude. Like a father, God helps us to grow. God does not care to mark every sins we do in red ink. But later, the popular Christian God became more like the first teacher -- with a negative attitude, marking in red every mistake we do. <br />
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In relation to this we may see the two interpretations of how death happens as a consequence of sin. God said to Adam and Eve, “The day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall die” (Gen 2:17). We have already seen the two interpretations of death-- literal and metaphorical. Those who believe it literally as a historical incident also believe that death was given to humankind as a punishment for their sin. However, if death is seen metaphorically as the end of the heavenly life they enjoyed, it naturally happens as a result of sin. God merely informs them that their bad actions will have bad consequences. It is like the parents warning their son that careless driving might lead to death. <br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
We have made a quick survey of how the idea of sin has evolved in Christianity. Jesus placed emphasis upon the sin we can control. But soon afterward, the emphasis shifted to the sin that controls us, and the sin that we can control was ignored and forgotten. Today we need to bring back the emphasis given by Jesus, and the sin that we can control needs to be the focus of our attention. It does not mean that we need to ignore the sin that controls us. We need to give due importance to that as well. <br />
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We also noticed that we in the modern times lack the ability of our pre-modern ancestors to use and understand metaphorical language. Such an inability characteristic of such learned people like Nicodemus, who couldn’t understand what it meant to be born again, has become the norm of our times. Unless we gain the ability to understand metaphorical language, the story of Adam and Eve won’t make much sense to us, and we will miss the key terms like death and salvation. <br />
We have also seen how badly we need to develop a positive attitude toward sin. We need to realize that it is human to err, and thus gain the willingness to forgive and to seek forgiveness. <br />
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<strong>References</strong><br />
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Gregorios, Paulos. (1980). Cosmic Man. Now Delhi: Sophia Publications</div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Sin a comparison <a href="http://str.typepad.com/weblog/files/worldrelchart.pdf">http://str.typepad.com/weblog/files/worldrelchart.pdf</a><span></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/augustines-literal-adam"><u><span class="15" style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: "yes"; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/augustines-literal-adam</span></u></a></span><span></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm"><u><span class="15" style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: "yes"; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm</span></u></a></span><span></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/originalsin_1.shtml"><u><span class="15" style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: "yes"; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/originalsin_1.shtml</span></u></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: "yes";"><a href="https://theotherjournal.com/2006/04/02/a-sinful-doctrine-sexuality-and-gender-in-augustines-doctrine-of-original-sin-part-1/">https://theotherjournal.com/2006/04/02/a-sinful-doctrine-sexuality-and-gender-in-augustines-doctrine-of-original-sin-part-1/</a></span><!--EndFragment--></div>
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John Kunnathuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253697976799503567noreply@blogger.com3