Luke346 wrote:The more i read your thoughts, the more respect i have for you...i believe you are on the right path, it just seems you have matured your "glory" in a literature world only, not in a hands on street type education...my only worry is that your mentality may get to the point where you phase God out from the truth...maybe what you know is not completely in your heart yet because i don't think you have experienced what is to be experienced when one overcomes.. Something about a tree...do you know what it feels like...?
I have experienced my own "baptism by fire"; at least, that is the closest I can come to in continuing to use the words of "religion" to describe my "journey". Christ never taught religion. However, He did use the words of religion to teach His message. It was the only way He could get the people to even begin to listen to His words, because THAT is where they were....they were coming from the perspective of their religious beliefs. Those stuck inside of religion will unavoidably look at His words THROUGH the eyes of their religious paradigm.
There are many things which Christians believe Christ taught; but by studying His words, we can see that what He said is in major conflict with what Christians think Christ was teaching.
Here are two major discrepancies:
Christianity teaches that Christ finished His work upon the cross. They take His words, "it is finished" and force them to fit into the belief system which misses the mark of what He taught here:
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.Unless Christ was lying when He said He already finished the work the Father had sent Him to do BEFORE He was taken by the guards, then He MUST have meant something different when He spoke the words, "it is finished" while He hung on the cross.
Here is another:
Christianity teaches us that Christ has already redeemed us. However, THIS is what Christ had to say about our redemption:
Luke 21:21 Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25 ¶And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.In other words, even though Christianity teaches that Christ has already redeemed us, Christ just said that EVEN AFTER HE RETURNS IN A CLOUD WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY, that our redemption ONLY "DRAWETH NIGH"!!!!! Obviously, if redemption is only drawing nigh, then redemption has NOT yet taken place!!! This, then, also would cause us to ponder what exactly Christ meant as "redemption" versus what Christianity teaches us is "redemption"!!
"Christianity" has no idea who Christ is, or what He was trying to teach us. As such, because they don't know Him, they won't be able to receive the message of who He was trying to tell them about who the Father is. Unless they can believe Him and His message, they will continue to be unable to accept who the Father is.
That said, there is no "right" or "wrong" thing to believe. Christ taught in accordance with already established "religious" beliefs. He didn't interfere with their desires to believe whatever they wanted to believe. He did the work of the Father in that He taught us the words the Father wanted Him to teach. He didn't force anyone to "see and hear"; though He did describe how it would ONLY be those who were able to "see and hear" who would be the ones who would understand Him.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?In other words, Christ just explained how it is that if we know Christ, then we will also know the Father. That is because we have all seen the Father; but until we know/believe/understand what Christ was teaching, we won't be able to realize who the Father is. Anyone who comes along and tries to explain who the Father is will also not be believed. It is NOT about religion!! Christ was trying to teach the real truth. The real truth is plain and simple; but man, in his vanity, would rather cling to their religions and other vain imaginations.
Christianity would have us believe that only those who accept Christ as their savior will be the ones who get "saved". Yet Christ, through His example---living the example of His teachings even up to the point of His physical death---forgave those who were causing His death. Those people who caused His death had never accepted Christ, nor His words, nor had they even asked for forgiveness. This is just another example of Christians teaching something which does not agree with what Christ taught or did.