LITERAL BELIEVERS OF MYTHICAL SCRIPTURE

A response to a recent post:

This is, and has always been, a difficult topic. Most of us have been raised from birth by a belief system that our parents followed as we were growing up. I was raised Greek Orthodox, attended Catholic School, and attended non-denominational Bible based churches as I grew older. Since I have always had many unanswered questions, I have also done extensive study, research, and meditative prayer. After nearly 20 years of deep study, I have found much Truth. Truth that existed long before the Bible was ever conceived or even published.

In fact, for nearly 1500 years, the early christians had no Bible. Until the invention of the printing press, all they had was word of mouth, inner guidance, and a priest, pastor, or minister leading a congregation. The Bible itself says that God is not a man, therefore God cannot write a Bible. Only man can write a Bible and even then it can only be based on what those men felt was divine inspiration.

There are three ways to interpret scripture. Historical (literal), allegorical, and both. And by the way I have read and studied the entire Bible many times and for many years. There are the outer mysteries, and the inner mysteries. Bible interpretation today has been strictly as historical events. The real Truth in the stories are in their meaning. Not the letter of the law, but the SPIRIT. SO the real question we must ask ourselves, is not "did it happen?", but "does it happen?" Can the words of Jesus be applied today and still have the same spiritual impact that they did if we were standing in the hills of the Galilee back then. If the answer to the 2nd question is "yes" ... then we find Truth.

Personally, I believe the Bible is one of the greatest book ever written concerning esoteric Truth and spiritual guidance ... but not as literal history ... as apocalyptic revelation. The meanings of the stories are hidden for those who have eyes to see and those who have ears to hear. Bottom line is love your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself, and on these hang all the commandments and the Prophets.

The WORD of God is the LOGOS. This is the mind and the Law and desire of goodness for mankind. It is the manifestation of God through the holy spirit experiencing life through us, with us, as us. Sin is an old Greek term for "missing the mark." The mark is Truth. When we miss the mark, we have to improve our aim. The kingdom of heaven lies within you. Jesus said to the Pharisees when quoting the scriptures in Psalm 82 "'Gods ye are, And sons of the Most High -- all of you" ... WE ARE THE BIBLE. The Bible is the story of us and our sojourn in the world.

What will we learn from the lessons? How will we treat our fellow man? Have we learn from our errors in judgement? As for the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension ... I wasn't there. But I do know that everyday people crucify their ego, resurrect in christ, and ascend to a higher state of awareness of god. I do not believe in a place of eternal torment in hell fire ... people are living in hell here and now in many ways, I do not believe we are born sinners ... I believe we are born innocent and then we are led by ego rather than Spirit and we create ill will and errors by doing so.

According to church dogma and doctrine, because of my beliefs I will spend an eternity in hell fire. I do not believe it to be so. I DO believe that we are ALL children of GOD, and that we do not need to accept a set of doctrines and beliefs as the only way to return to our eternal home with the Father. I leave you with 1 Timothy 2:3 "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." The name Jesus Christ means GOD THE SAVIOUR. It is the meaning of the words. It means YHVH SAVES.

Yeshua (Aramaic), Joshua (Hebrew), Jesus (Greek) ... is more than a name. It literally means I AM THAT I AM SAVES. It is the knowledge and faith in God the Father as the absulte of everything that EXISTS that stands as the the way, the Truth, and the life. God is all there is, and all that I AM is God. Be blessed.

Just a thought ...

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.