User talk:ArSeLl

Keywords: PureFaith PureReligion PureChristianity RealityChristianity ReasonedChristianity ChristianityForToday EssentialChristianity BasicChristianity CultFreeChristianity

________________________________________________________________________

CHRISTIANITY UNBOUND

Enduring Rigor Christianity has for two thousand years spread its enlightenment to vast numbers of the human race but more recently has become increasingly tethered in an advancing civilization by clinging to extraneous bonds from the past. The prime credential of religion, as with all human endeavor, must be in the quality and depth of reasoning and factual reliance provided; not in the intensity of its rote review and recitation although this seems quite laudable secondarily. Over the wide world, the fulfillment of Christianity today is largely unchanged from that developed centuries earlier even while expanding pervasively. Many variations in method and technique have characterized its practice. Relative emphasis on selected facets has delineated hundreds of denominations and sects. Still, the belief system as an entirety has stayed remarkably fixed while human knowledge and understanding of our world have penetrated to unimaginable reaches. Does the nature of Christianity demand a rigidity that isolates itself from evident and proven truth--truth that we verify repeatedly in countless ways in our modern lives? Does Christianity necessarily contradict the very Nature we universally experience from the moment of our beginning? We know nature to be totally consistent within itself in all its aspects; how can Christianity be incompatible with it in any significant way? The incongruity of the current expression of Christianity--that is, as currently practiced-- with our surrounding reality greatly suppresses its immense further potential impact throughout modern humanity. When thinking people see extensive incompatibility with the lives they know and understand they have little choice but to avoid what seems to be at variance. Attempts at relevance by practicing Christians through interjections of social reform have only minor bearing on current issues unless already supported by and in accord with popular notions. Christianity then has little opportunity for showing the vanguard of humankind the way out of some of its most distressing and persistent problems.

Binding Strands Undue adherence to many of its ancient and cherished ways and beliefs would seem to be an impediment to fully serving the world as Christianity generally aspires to do. Perhaps most of those obstructive tendencies fall into three main strands dating back to the foundation of the antecedent belief system held by Christians but which are not essential to their avowed mission: --An exacting insistence on the mysticism and mythology of its history from the averred creation. --An overly broad conviction of interaction in minutest detail in individual personal lives with the single and supreme deity; --A fixed discipline of behavior as codified in various specifics as applying to all people at all times and in all situations. Such channels of development are perhaps understandable in the context of the primitive stages of social structure extant in an emerging tribal civilization but can hardly be sustained in today’s progressively scientific and objective amorphous society. One additional major cord restraining Christianity from free and open acceptance by many arises from the understanding of the events surrounding its own inception, the Resurrection itself.

Imagination Survived Experience Considering the first binding strand, without firm knowledge and understanding of its own origin, the human spirit en masse sought imaginative explanations as a prelude to reasoning. Thus, endearing legends arose that persisted through the ages of time with a conviction unwarranted by their background. Countless stories can be cited that have little or no substance in agreement with the widespread knowledge of natural processes and activity possessed today. Perhaps foremost in current controversy is the story of creation. This dispute seems to come about from the premise of an all-powerful God determining a physical world—and even physical universe—without consideration of how such was accomplished, it being assumed that it was all accomplished instantaneously or in a matter of “days”.. Such an attitude necessarily assumes some cataclysmic discontinuity from known natural progression taking place in just the recent history of the last few thousand years, not to even consider archeological eons past. Many other stories are related in ways that convey supernatural characteristics although they were perhaps based on merely exceptional yet reasonable events. Studies have sometimes been undertaken to rationally explain happenings such as parting of waters, the occurrence of food falling on the ground, survival in vast floods and when lost at sea, all of which may involve legitimate inquiry. The basic need is to avoid a miraculous explanation for everything that is not immediately obvious but to look deeply into the tale for significance and usefulness for today’s societal life in obedience to the God we know. He gives an abundance of wonder and reality to marvel at without overworked imaginations. Of course, the coloration of poetry, music and prose may still stir our emotions as long as not taken as necessarily expressing literal truth. Whether God actually constructed the physical universe or through His omniscience had a most suitable place in it for His souls to inhabit is not critical to our faith in Him and total love for Him. The unlimited joy we can experience in this earthly environment can only be a convincing sign of His boundless grace toward us. The immense beauty and compatibility that surround us are exemplified by the single warming sun and inspiring moon in our sky. Taking the point a step farther, they both subtend the same angle in that sky so that on rare occasion earth’s occupants are treated to a solar eclipse to quicken their hearts in grand awe.. Devising undue qualities of mysticism in our view of our existence beyond the extremes of experience does not enhance the realistic understanding of the Supreme Being. His genuine omnipotence then tends to be shrouded in the cloak of a magician with some loss of ready acceptance in the realm of truth.

Mutuality with Deity Secondly, all major religions, including particularly Christianity, have as the fundamental starting point some bearing of a deity or supernatural power on each individual in a generally personal way. Such supposed connection or even contact can readily be ascribed to the unique aspect of the conscious soul. However, the further universal tendency is to expand whatever juncture truly exists into a most involved and elaborate network of communication and interaction between the person and the supreme power. The previously discussed legends of antiquity then are used to intensify and justify a thoroughly dependent and exacting status in the most intimate association with a divine being. The relationship with the deity (or in some religions one or more of several) becomes so intensified that the latter is assumed to act as a personal mentor and is in effect thought to have the purpose of delivering physical services as needed or even favors to suit human comforts and pleasures. Many are even prompted to assert that God makes promises to them though it is wholly unsettled as to how such contracts were negotiated especially between parties of such uneven status. God has revealed Himself to a great extent but He is certainly never obliged to do our bidding. All manner of behavior modification and exhortation are used in expectation of assuaging the deity’s displeasure and persuading beneficial responses. Such excesses distort a more realistic status of a mortal as principally a spiritual being who has no concept of how he came into existence and can only attribute his identity to a Supreme Power infinitely beyond all earthly experience. With supposed supernatural elaboration, the inherent subjectivity of the human mind contrived various interpersonal relationships, dependencies and favoritism with its recognized deity. Unfortunately, these attitudes were the product of generations of custom rather than being grounded in proven fact and reasoning. The infinite range of experience was then interpreted as reflecting good or bad influences from the deity but was actually based on emotional impulses rather than evaluation according to methodical approaches. Most of the supposed responses experienced in daily life were taken to result from good or bad thoughts and actions on the part of the individual by imposition of divine righteousness. Ultimately, the imagined potential of godly power at one’s beck and call is so overdrawn it can only lead to total disappointment and discouragement with frequent resulting loss of faith and denial of a concerned creator. This collapse of belief is accentuated by comparison to stories of powerful responses to the pleadings of desperate persons in the scriptures as well as present day witnessing of miraculous results in trying circumstances. The common reaction is, “If the desired help came to them, then why not to me; and if not to me then there must be no one there to respond after all.” Thus, sound and valid belief structures are undercut and abandoned leaving an inspirational void. The supposed strand of absolute interaction with a supernatural power can only betray the basic support all can derive from the true conviction of their actual place in their creator’s purpose. Humans must be content to effuse heartfelt prayer, silent, spoken or in groups, in the real expectation that the God of all will respond in His own way to our greatest benefit by instilling in all of us impulses to guide our conscious souls.

Prescribed Behavior Thirdly, binding most religious adherents is an intricate framework of laws constricting the activities of every day. These laws have been codified and endlessly extended from the earliest social organization of history to current interpretation of good and bad behavior to control our personal decisions and even influence new legislation. Of course, a secure network of law is essential to a civilization of masses of people from all types and degrees of theism in a myriad of complex situations. However, for individuals to accept and adopt countless rules constraining their attitudes causes them to impose undue judgment about others who don’t conform to the chosen code. The harsh responses generate resentment if conveyed to others and scorn if not expressed, both attitudes undermining the harmony of the community. Behavioral laws can provide an instantaneous guide for action to one who is not capable at the moment of resolving some perplexing situation. However, often such laws are used to offer an easy course of action that precludes full consideration of the circumstances and available alternatives, thereby missing worthwhile opportunities. It is then evident that while regulations, rules and statutes have offered a foundation for simplified and agreeable human interaction from the origins of cooperation among people, total reliance on various forms of systematic responses obviates full application of conscience and judgment. Romans 13:10 states, “Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” No law can be conceived to supplant so infallible a proposition.

Impact 0f Major Bonds These three principal bonds have burdened the acceptance of Christianity by later generations who were no longer able to receive the assurance of literally perfected meaning. Obscured by the screen woven of enforced belief is the pure and real fabric of wisdom through great lessons and teaching, eloquent poetry and prose and the firm sinews of history that is contained in scripture. Gleaning truth from a maelstrom of legendary expressions is a daunting chore not easily undertaken by any individual. Consequently, the simple and easy course is often to dismiss the whole as probably invalid. Where images from ancient scripture are taken to represent reality in conflict with current day rational thought and scientific method, there is little chance for resolution except by unfortunate total rejection of opposing positions by both believers and unbelievers.

Hurdles to Faith How, then, can the doubting modern mind, whether it be thoughtful or cynical, or simply unaware, be brought to realization of the validity of Christianity? Professed believers take the Bible as the ultimate ground of all religious expression and attempt to satisfy all questions by use of selected references subject as they are to varied interpretation and even apparent contradiction. Nonbelievers do not have an ingrained reliance on the Bible or any other source as a starting point on which to construct a system of religious tenets. Using a common Biblical expression as a definition, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Faith cannot then also be the substance of things known through experience or derived through reason—education representing the accumulated experience and reason of all mankind. Yet the summation of all knowledge is still incapable of answering the most essential questions of our existence which answers can then only be supplied through faith.

Realizing the Soul “Where did I come from?” is subordinate to the question, “Who--or what--am I?” Then, of course, remains the ultimate query, “Where am I going?”  Always, “I” refers to the incipient core being, not to the physical body, nor the named legal entity, nor any aspect recognized by others. “I” is the most essential characterization given to one’s self. It is perhaps what Edgar Allen Poe meant by referring to the “personal identity” and most people indicate as the soul.

It seems impossible to contemplate the soul as having any inherent evolvement from the physical body although it is obviously totally involved as the central controlling base of the person throughout his or her lifetime. The most minute molecular structure of human cells, the DNA, is exactly the same between identical twins as far as science has determined to date. Yet the personalities show every evidence of deriving from separate souls, even in the case of conjoined twins. Medical advances of recent decades have shown that transplants of the heart and other vital organs have no bearing on the self-awareness of an individual. Radical surgery on the brain itself causes no change in how a person considers himself (although we can’t be so certain with respect to schizophrenics). Apparently, the soul is unique and distinct from the material being even though it is imbedded within for one’s lifetime. Recent advances in understanding the locations of functions within the human brain have determined an area supposed to fix the notion of “self”. Someday, science may even pinpoint the precise nerve fiber in which the soul resides even as magnetism is integral with an electric current. Still, we will be unable to say the soul has been discovered and analyzed because no one can ever say how a soul gained the identity it has for itself. That identity is always unique and would seem to have a history and a future as does everything else known in the universe. Since the person himself knows nothing about a prior existence, possibly each soul was only contemplated in the mind of God, our spirit source. Can anyone ever claim that one’s self-identity spontaneously appeared at birth without any prior relationship to the universe? Such earlier background, whatever it might be, is infinitely far from earthly understanding although it is forever subject to the musing of mankind. Likewise, rational projections of a life to come are surely just as foolhardy, but we all have the promises of Christ for an eternal life. No other substance for hope for the future can be compared to His authority.

God, Source of Our Souls Looking to God as the spirit source of all of us, it can only be assumed that we are a manifestation of at least a part of His nature. No logical purpose can be imagined other than that placement of our multitude of identities on earth is an expression of His will. It can then reasonably be claimed that we are made in His image even though seeing ourselves as physical copies of His being must be an outlandish notion since he has no need of the material functions of an earthly life. Any extension of His purpose would require a measure of revelation to us as comprehending beings at some point in our development when and if we have the facility to understand an increment of such knowledge. At the same time, our capacity for free will and self-determination of how we live is a reflection of His absolute dominion and decisiveness. He must be acknowledged to have attributes of infinite knowledge and power for the entire spiritual realm because we in an earthly domain have no basis for believing we can ever span the gulf to Him on our own. What course might a concerned God use to show the desired degree of His truth to attentive and ready souls on this planet? Though his options might be well beyond what we could fathom, one which greatly disrupted the proven stability and constancy of nature as we know it would seem detrimental. The entire life of every person and all recorded history have so established the consistency of all physical phenomena that whenever a strange and unexpected event occurs we immediately ask, “What caused that effect?” to ascertain some explanation. Enlightened humanity has a conviction that God does not and is not going to willfully interfere with the many natural forces in motion around us. Vast numbers of us, however, feel certain that God impresses our spirits through the consciousness of our minds, and thus we “know” God to be spiritual by experience.

Jesus, Alter-ego of God The most effective way for God to reach humanity then was the way He actually used: to infuse His Spirit into a mortal person appearing very much like each of us, as the one Jesus Christ. As a human individual, Jesus could be acceptable and approachable in the appearance of an all-wise teacher until finally revealing godly identity with the Father God. Through Him, God unveiled the essential goodness of His own character and the course by which mankind could attain presence with Him. Jesus was the way God provided to draw all souls to Himself in satisfaction of the love He had for them. It would seem self-evident that God would have purpose in instilling souls into earthly bodies and not to leave them forever isolated from Him and without knowledge of or communication with Him. As an example from their own relationshjps, people themselves want friends and children (and even pet animals) to respond to them rather than be treated as objects or toys to be manipulated in one-directional activity. Although such association had been His passion from the beginning, earlier generations were unable to more fully grasp the essence of His desire even while making progress in seeking Him. If God had chosen a direct, authoritative means of commanding obeisance, all of humanity would have been compelled to serve His will, precluding the exercise of their free will and choice. The status and dignity of self-determined souls would have been lost with the crowning advancement of reasoning man amounting to less than a sheep rambling with its flock. In the person of Jesus, God at once supplied a fuller illumination of His being as a loving creator and the means by which we might ultimately achieve a closeness with His eternal presence to culminate our existence.

Love Replaces Barriers to Understanding This simple elemental truth is then confounded and obscured by arbitrarily over-emphasized and literal expressions from the past. The bondage of sanctified legends, exacting inter-determination of our lives by God and ritualistic adherence to specified practices and rules constitute barriers to many who are instilled with the knowledge and methods of reasoning of the modern era. All of the aspects of binding restraint contain insightful lessons for today’s behavior and belief but are not rigorously controlling for all people. Every individual must accept for himself how every morsel of truth applies to him, in conscientious objectivity and without rationalization or biased attitude. Love may be considered as the natural spiritual affinity between souls just as it is innate in their relationship with God. Love is revealed in the vast spectrum of human activity from the mere acknowledgment of another’s presence by a wave or greeting, through daily dealings in fairness and consideration, to the extremes of motherly and marital love. There can hardly be more conclusive evidence of abiding and ingrained love within the human spirit than the ubiquity of families throughout the universe of mankind. Intense feelings of affection are even communicated in response to performers through music, drama and oration only by the capacity for sensing another’s soul. The single commandment that would seem universally compelling is the one requiring the expression of consuming love for God and then for fellow beings. All other interpretation, understanding and action must be derived from this underlying essence.

Resulting Intermeshing of Humanity Using the foregoing fundamental and the realization that all persons are inherently spiritual as well as biological, most of society’s problems can be resolved in accord with the teachings of Christ. It is immediately obvious that morality is at its core the avoidance of doing harm in any way to anyone else whenever possible. Then the grace of beneficial action is facilitated to the overall good in love for another. Of course, situations arise where the interests of several are in conflict with each other and it becomes necessary to choose the greater righteousness to the possible detriment of some. Basic morality thus entails no other proscription on the fulfillment of natural beings as living creatures. God impressed our spirits with functional needs and the wants and desires of physical persons which can be compatible with morality in large degree. Life on earth integrates one’s spiritual and biological aspects in a single individual. Both aspects must be fulfilled to some substantial and balanced degree to attain a harmonious wholeness. No function or activity should be considered distasteful or objectionable at the urging of some social element without specific proven and valid indication of harmful effect against themselves or certain others. To inculcate less than a generally broad acceptance of others and their particular ways in those under our influence is to create a distortion to burden their lives and the entire community. However, it is incumbent on us all to preserve the structure of a civilized society in service to fellow man so that a progressive development might be sustained. With broad acknowledgment of the limited restraint of real morality much of the cross-criticism between persons will disappear and more total understanding will arise. The primary prerequisite is the avoidance of long held and preconceived biases and notions that corrupt a just and gracious approach. Legal statutes are still required because all entities do not yet accept these same standards of simple Christian behavior but might indeed act harshly in conflict with them. Also, the very complexity of modern activity still requires resolution of misunderstanding between even those of dedicated intention. Personal habits and attitudes are then individual idiosyncracies as long as not harmful to others in any way, including innocent spouses and children, regardless of whether they conform to someone else’s particular preferences. God has embedded our souls in bodies which are capable of immense pleasures, sometimes in concert with others, which to arbitrarily deny would be a needless torment unlike a loving Father. Hedonism can only be the approach to a dissipated life. On the other hand, asceticism is an abstraction requiring endless frustration impossible for nearly all people to endure.

Why would earthly beings be required to totally forego available pleasures in the present while being offered the greatest imaginable joy through eternity? The answer would appear to be that they are obliged to exercise restraint when those occasions cause intrusion and hardships on one’s own well-being or on others or even society-at-large. Foremost of all, individuals must never act or think in a way that detracts from total commitment and obedience to our creator God.

Acceptance of Adversity Therefore, resolution of major issues such as abortion of unborn babies demands that the foregoing insight into man’s true nature be precisely clarified to seek total righteousness in harmony with all other souls, including provision for prospective babes not yet conceived. Accepting natural processes as a continuum of development rather than a series of abrupt discontinuities, it is clear that biological life does not occur suddenly at birth but must develop gradually from fertilization through conception to birth. The determination of when that life gains personhood hinges on the infusion of its soul by the Holy Spirit. Since the seat of the soul is lodged in the brain, the control center of the nervous system, it is difficult to attribute personhood significantly before the appearance of the brain stem and nerve fibers. It seems difficult to associate personhood with the unique individuality of a fertilized ovum even after initial cell multiplication. This stage corresponds more with a genetic seed which has not yet been implanted in the uterine surface, just as a kernel of corn must be embedded in suitable soil to properly germinate. Once implantation in the mother tissue is accomplished, a distinctive human being quickly commences. All parental and other observation along with scientific investigation confirms the activity and responses of one new and different person. No matter how premature, a surviving birth manifests the absolute existence of a newly created human individual with all the expression of a self-determining soul. Application of morality, established as the fullest treatment of others of mankind with fairness, consideration and graciousness requires that utmost care be extended to the unborn from the time of conception. Full concern and protection must then be given both mother and unborn infant by close family members, those in contact and even all of society, regardless of circumstances. Moral obligation is ongoing toward both indefinitely beyond birth as it is for all others in a responsible civilization even as it is also an obvious reflection of Christianity. Anything less than full support to both mother and unborn baby, the most tender promise of renewed humanity, undercuts all pretense of morality and justice of the entire legal structure of a society. Furthermore, it deprecates the genuine self-worth of surviving children when they reach the realization that their survival is only an arbitrary chance happening at the expense of others so conveniently sacrificed. Ultimate Reconciliation Although abundant morality in fairness to others and service to them is the manifestation of love for the God to whom we owe our being, it is not required by Christianity. Only a believing acceptance of Jesus is the singular way to attain lasting presence with God. His Resurrection was the complete demonstration of how all might follow Him to reach their final fulfillment. Here becomes evident perhaps the greatest binding cord for many, restraining recognition of the ultimate course prepared for us. The biblical facts relating the terminal event of the resurrection are taken to apply in literal specifics not only to Jesus but to all who follow. That is, we may interpret the demonstration to be the reality and, thus, conclude the resurrection to be a physical or material event rather than spiritual. Such an understanding is instinctively opposite to all earthly experience and presents an overwhelming barrier to many would-be believers,. At least three of the four gospels explicitly state that Christ gave up His spirit while on the cross. Thus, is provided an exacting characteristic of death for Christ as well as all of humankind, .He died by the release of the spirit from the body. Subsequent events over the days which followed may have been, indeed, accomplished by a miraculous revival of His body or by some apparition, but is known only to God. Recall that John 20:19 states that “…with the doors locked…Jesus came and stood among them….” Whatever the means, the phenomenon was simply a display of God’s purpose to draw all souls back to Him after death in perhaps the only way mankind could understand. It is hardly intended to indicate an unnatural physical transport from earth. To include the physical body in a resurrection confounds the acceptance of the spiritual world because the body would not then be subject to all the natural laws of the universe. Such belief might seem also to detract from our recognition of the God we know as the omnipotent spirit because of the inconsistency it would show. Indeed, how few of us would want to be encumbered with our current frail, deficient bodies for eternity no matter how they serve us while alive; much better to gain some spiritual image. The extension of other earthly qualities and relationships beyond death is difficult to support although vast numbers of people gain consolation from the expectation of resuming contact with loved ones. Released from the bonds which countless numbers might find too rigorously constraining for Christianity to be easily, freely and openly compelling to them, it will flow readily among those thoughtful people who search for meaning in their lives consistent with their objective approach to knowledge and reasoning. No physical location, natural shrine or remarkable edifice is needed for the acceptance and practice of Christianity--only personal conviction. Certainly the inhabitants of this country and much of the rest of the world, whatever their beliefs, must realize the great obligation today’s citizens have to the generations of traditionally rigorous Christians for what they have given to modern culture. Likewise, we should all recognize with gratitude and affection the stability and consistency which continues to underlie modern society by the many who sustain ancient rituals, practices and beliefs of Christianity. They provide an intense and pervasive wholesomeness throughout our world in their staunch stand for fairness, justice, tolerance and universal love. To evolve contemporary religious attitudes must never involve contempt for its beginnings. Yet civilization has changed enormously from its elemental provincial characteristics extant until just a hundred years ago. Then people banded for much of their lives in tight little families, clans and communities. Women were generally constrained to serving households and families often from the early teen-age years. Much as nostalgic attitudes might occasionally prefer a return to such circumstances, there is no real reason for nor possibility of doing so. So Christianity with its eternal wisdom and promise must be expanded-untethered-to reach all humanity today. Its essential, free and open doctrine must be available to each individual however it seems most accessible to them.