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Thread ID: 18593 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2005-06-09
2005-06-09 08:04 | User Profile
This is required for serious discussion in order to clarify where people who call themselves ââ¬ÅChristianââ¬Â are coming from. They may be people who were abused as children trying to do politics.
Metaphysics of Christology
[B] The Question: What, exactly, does ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â predicate of ââ¬ÅJesusââ¬Â in ââ¬ÅJesus is the Christââ¬Â? [/B]
Proposed herein is a new way to appropriate the events associated with the name ââ¬ÅJesus Christââ¬Â as related in the New Testament. The aim is to address The Question systematically.
It is conceded by all that the two words signify different things. Use of ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â carries a belief-commitment. Someone could ââ¬Åbelieve in Jesusââ¬Â, as a man who once existed, without ââ¬Åbelieving he was Christââ¬Â. Indeed, since use of the word ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â aligns the user with the historical group for whom that is a token of their metaphysical bond, as a group, those suspicious of or antagonistic to such affiliation will want to avoid being included. ââ¬ÂChristââ¬Â, in most contexts, is a sacral term, reserved for use in a confessional community by its communicants.
Moreover, while Christians casually run the two together, predicating on ââ¬ÅJesus Christââ¬Â as one thing (ââ¬ÅThe Son of Man and The Son of Godââ¬Â), a reluctant confessor cannot go along with that so that easily, for the same reason persons who take extreme dislike to the individual occupying the place of national distinction (George W. Bush in the White House) cannot bring themselves to call him ââ¬ÅPresidentââ¬Â. How the word makes them feel simply cannot be reconciled with how the object makes them feel, or vice versa, so the person cannot bring themselves to copulate them. They are felt as not belonging together. It is by a certain kind of grace than an object consent to wear predicates devised by persons, anyway; there is always a bit of luck involved when there turns out to be that exact, precise, snug fit. To be actually conjoined with reality through a system of knowledge, with subjectively determined rational forms matching objectively determined rational forms would comprise a metaphysical completion of inner by outer, in regard to space and time, and vice versa. In form, conjoining two triads (3 of space, 3 of time) as a tesseract, a solid projected from two dimensional space (the tablet) by numbers, letters and geometry, is the form of TokenSpace as completed totality. This much needs to be in place to satisfy the philosophical apperception before discussing the metaphysics of Christology.
These two things -- that use of ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â as a predicate for Jesus illustrates the sacral and material conjoined; and that powerful psychological forces from the instinctual depths may well resist such conjunction, -- provides the context for addressing the question. In the broader course, what is under investigation is defining the inner bond of members of the true Christian Church; or, more precisely, to define what members assume that bond to be, which is what it is, communicated to them.
Approach becomes all-important at this point. Method becomes metaphysics.
THE 7 METAPHYSICAL TOUCH-POINTS ââ¬Â¦.of signs used in communication to ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â
[B] 1. CHRIST THE TOKEN[/B]
First in order, as unchallenged reality, comes recognition of distribution of the token ââ¬â the very sound, word-sign, or icon (e.g., halo) ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â ââ¬â distributed throughout innumerable individual consciousnesses (assumed waking, functioning normally with associative memory, etc.). Etymologists will point out it associates with ââ¬ÅKristnaââ¬Â, and other ââ¬Åkr..sh/stââ¬Â terms throughout Mesopotamia and India. They tend to have a common ââ¬Ëspiritualââ¬â¢ connotation, or sense. H.P. Blavatsky provides these essential comparative uses in the ancient metaphysical terms (Isis Unveiled II, ch. III). ââ¬ÅIn the ideas of the Christians, Christ is but another name for Jesus. The philosophy of the Gnostics, the initiates, and hierophants understood it otherwise. The word Christos, Χριστοσ, like all Greek words, must be sought in its philological origin--the Sanscrit. In this latter language Kris means sacred, * and the Hindu deity was named Chris-na (the pure or the sacred) from that. On the other hand, the Greek Christos bears several meanings, as anointed (pure oil, chrism) and others. In all languages, though the synonym of the word means pure or sacred essence, it is the first emanation of the invisible Godhead, manifesting itself tangibly in spirit. The Greek Logos, the Hebrew Messiah, the p. 159 Latin Verbum, and the Hindu Viradj (the son) are identically the same; they represent an idea of collective entities--of flames detached from the one eternal centre of light.ââ¬Â
These associations are latent in historical memory feed-back loop reverberations across the globe, tending to return to consciousness from the distant and remote past the more the ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â content is elaborated. A genuine Return of the Repressed. This would be partly to counteract its elaboration. The ââ¬Ëedgeââ¬â¢ of Christianity arouses a counter-position in the unconscious ââ¬â a ââ¬Åcounter-Christââ¬Â, in fantasy (.e., ââ¬ÅDeep Throatââ¬Â; not: anti-Christ, which is something entirely different).
[B]2. CHRIST OF THE ABUSED -- punished for our sins and crucified[/B]
Warrior against Satanic Forces and Demons on earth (see also ââ¬ÅBLOOD JESUSââ¬Â and ââ¬ÅTRUTH JESUSââ¬Â)
The CHRIST OF THE ABUSED replays the earliest metaphysics of good and evil on the face of the earth. undifferentiated from the battle between the Children of Light against the Children of Dark, hence passive and resigned to unending torment. The Jesus Who suffers and dies as in Mel Gibsonââ¬â¢s movie is a regression to almost pure non-metaphysical stage,. ââ¬ÅBeliefââ¬Â in Jesus is watching him suffer with identification; the alter-ego of every child abused by parents gaining ââ¬Åinner strengthââ¬Â and ââ¬Årebirthââ¬Â by enduring, thus re-inforcing the Fatherââ¬â¢s for those whose grasp can go no further than the trauma element.
[B]3. CHRIST THE SOUL STRIVES FOR[/B]
-to be redeemed from sin-darkened state of soul, led to the light, as allegorical alchemical transformation.
There is such a thing in the human condition as the striving of manââ¬â¢s soul for deliverance from the body, which reaches out to, and is met by, the energy the name of ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â is used for. The metaphysics of this is complementary: Christ is the complementary condition needed for completion of the soul*, and higher self, which becomes a conscious content. (cf. Jungââ¬â¢s alchemical analysis of the ââ¬ÅBlack Shulamithââ¬Â, yearning to be free of sexuality and ugliness and for Adam Kadmon.)
[B]4. CHRIST, THE TRUTH
IN THE WORLD [/B] (not: in the planet, but in the minds of corrupted men), [B]THROUGH WORD (LOGOS) [/B] [B]AS A TWO-EDGED SWORD ââ¬Â¦Ã¢â¬Â¦..[/B] The Origin of the war between good and evil .
[B]FROM THE TRUTH [/B] (objective tesseract knowledge manifest in Old Egypt) AS EXISTING (: the monumental era, set in stone in the Ghiza complex). ââ¬Â¦.[B]TO THE THOTH [/B] ââ¬â the means of which truth-as-existing is recognized. ââ¬Â¦Presents the intellect that formed the shape, design, astral orientation, function, maintainance, priesthood and Pharaonic line of administration was under Eye of Horus, which was the defining transpersonal, Archetypal complex of Old (esoteric) Egypt. Horus was the ââ¬ÅChildââ¬Â, or ââ¬ÅSonââ¬Â of OSIRIS through ISIS, with THOTHââ¬â¢s help. This help was necessary because he, uniquely among the earliest Sumerians and Egyptians, had the secret knowledge of how to restore life; and how to heal. ââ¬Â¦ IS A METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION MADE IN CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH SIGN-USE
[B]..TO THE CHRIST[/B]
Since the New Testament credits Jesus with the same unique powers, and there cannot be two or three or x-number of correct approaches to life/death, health/sickness, the power credited to the THOTH (definite article de-personalizes the entity) is the power manifested in Jesus as CHRIST, for those who believe.
Now, the single most used iconic glyph in extant Egyptian pyramid texts is the EYE OF HORUS. That is presumably what has been added to the pyramid on the dolar bill. That makes it a token of THOTH, taken as name of the actual connection once established between the Sun (THE BULL, Taurus, whose return to equinox point (aries point?) signaled the flooding of the Nile), Sirius (the brilliant star appearing on the horizon whose heliacal rising was the first sign of the Sunââ¬â¢s crossing its mid-point, and whose 72 year cycle coded to the secret number of YHWH), and planetary administrative responsibilities for maintaining the population. They, The ââ¬Åkhemââ¬Â -- evolutionary humans on whom THOTH bestowed the earliest upper Nile civilization ââ¬â lived, thrived, marvelous artistic attainments flourshed, for many centuries, millennia, moons and suns. The yearly repetition of sacral events threaded through the tokens of daily communication provided a permanently enduring stage on which The Unconscious of mankind, in Carl Jungââ¬â¢s sense, was poured out into the heavenly bodies ââ¬â planets and stars (Thoth is said to have been ââ¬Åfromââ¬Â Rigel, companion of Betelguese in Orion, two of the brightest in the night sky in the most prominent Winter constellation). Receiving, in return, if the Hermetic tradition is correct in texting its own origin, the THOTH ââ¬â the gift of TRUTH to whoever was able to receive and use it.
What contemporary logicians call ââ¬Åtruthââ¬Â, today, is a morsel of the old tesseract broken down into table-crumb (ââ¬Åtrue-or-falseââ¬Â) sentences (=subject, predicate, copula). The analogue metaphysical breakdown is of the completed tesseract unity of consciousness and reality through objective knowledge, so that grasp of the whole tends to dissolve into a sum of parts that donââ¬â¢t add up. This is the ultra-atomized spin-off from the bond heaven-earth established also by the ancient Sumerians. The ENDURANKI precincts of the great God NINURTA in Kish, where kingship was bestowed to man, was the site for determining earth-events through astrological observations in that region. Rule, or lordship, over men had been previously reserved for those who were suitable to perform the administrative functions on time, accurately, perpetually ââ¬â the priests devoted to maintaining the cultus of their particular GODNAMED domain.
The important connection between NINURTA, ââ¬ÅEnlilââ¬â¢s Foremost Sonââ¬Â, and THOTH is the still extant Ziggagut of Gudea. One of its functions, according the inscriptions he dictated, was to house Nnurtaââ¬â¢s ââ¬Åawesome weaponsââ¬Â; the same ones which, according to Sitchinââ¬â¢s view, were used to blast the top off the pyramid to unhouse Marduk. THOTH drove the stakes laying out its plan, orienting it exactly on polar lines. The connection is, there were unique weapons of mass destruction possessed by the men of men of renown in the olden days. This would undoubtedly lent vivacity, depth, power, by arousing and using the impulse to defend against ancient darkness that could be used against ââ¬Åusââ¬Â to the idea that Supreme Leader Saddam Hussein was hiding ââ¬Åweapons of mass destructionââ¬Â somewhere in Iraq. n that area, if repetitions over eons of time encode historical memory associations.
But channels to even deeper, older --pre-Biblical, it goes without saying; talking about the sources of Genesis) historical memory precincts open up,however, as soon as the question is raised regarding the origin of THOTH. If he is allowed to speak for himself, according to the text assembled in Alexandria long before the Bible was canonized, this calls up the Emerald Tablet. The reason he colonized the Upper Nile and built the Great Pyramid was to save knowledge of the civilization of Atlantis, after it sank. This is where the battle between good and evil on the face of earth had its origin. In fact, according the Book V, it was the act of opening the gateway to the regions below its surface called THE HALLS OF AMENTI, regions improper for humanity to be exposed to. Release of Dark, anti-light forces from below, unsuitable for human to witness or know about, is by corrupted intelligences, to gain the power such force gives them. Ultimately, the disruption of spirit-sky/earth consciousness contact that this rebellious act brought about required the DWELLER ââ¬â Atlantisââ¬â¢ sleeping GOD-SPIRIT- SOUL-CONSCIOUSNESS -- to adjust the cycles:
[I]ââ¬ÅDeep into Earth's heart I followed the pathway, learning the secrets, below as above; learning the pathway to the HALLS of AMENTI; learning the LAW that balances the world. To Earth's hidden chambers pierced I by my wisdom, deep through the Earth's crust, into the pathway, hidden for ages from the children of men. Unveiled before me, ever more wisdom until I reached a new knowledge: found that all is part of an ALL, great and yet greater than all that we know. Searched I Infinity's heart through all the ages. Deep and yet deeper, more mysteries I found. Now, as I look back through the ages, know I that wisdom is boundless, ever grown greater throughout the ages, One with Infinity's greater than all. Light there was in ancient ATLANTIS. Yet, darkness, too, was hidden in all. Fell from the Light into the darkness, some who had risen to heights among men. Proud they became because of their knowledge, proud were they of their place among men. Deep delved they into the forbidden, opened the gateway that led to below. Sought they to gain ever more knowledge but seeking to bring it up from below. He who descends below must have balance, else he is bound by lack of our Light. Opened, they then, by their knowledge, pathways forbidden to man. But, in His Temple, all-seeing, the DWELLER, lay in his AGWANTI, while through Atlantis, His soul roamed free. Saw HE the Atlanteans, by their magic, opening the gateway that would bring to Earth a great woe. Fast fled His soul then, back to His body. Up HE arose from His AGWANTI. Called HE the Three mighty messengers. Gave the commands that shattered the world. Deep 'neath Earth's crust to the HALLS of AMENTI, swiftly descended the DWELLER. Called HE then on the powers the Seven Lords wielded; changed the Earth's balance. Down sank Atlantis beneath the dark waves. Shattered the gateway that had been opened; shattered the doorway that led down below. All of the islands were shattered except UNAL, and part of the island of the sons of the DWELLER.
This is where THOTH is summoned and commissioned ââ¬â ending our loop through Atlantean origins in historical memory ââ¬â fantasy or not. (See BLOOD BELIEF)
Called HE then, I THOTH, before him, gave me commands for all I should do, saying; "Take thou, O THOTH, all of your wisdom. Take all your records, Take all your magic. Go thou forth as a teacher of men. Go thou forth reserving the records until in time LIGHT grows among men. LIGHT shalt thou be all through the ages, hidden yet found by enlightened men. Over all Earth, give WE ye power, free thou to give or take it away. Gather thou now the sons of Atlantis. Take them and flee to the people of the rock caves. Fly to the land of the Children of KHEM." Then gathered I the sons of Atlantis. Into the spaceship I brought all my records, brought the records of sunken Atlantis. Gathered I all of my powers, instruments many of mighty magic. Up then we rose on wings of the morning. High we arose above the Temple, leaving behind the Three and DWELLER, deep in the HALLS 'neath the Temple, closing the pathway to the LORDS of the Cycles. Yet ever to him who has knowing, open shall be the path to AMENTI. Fast fled we then on the wings of the morning, fled to the land of the children of KHEM. There by my power, I conquered and ruled them. ****/ Finally: It would not be proper to omit the last stanzas: Raised I to LIGHT, the children of KHEM. Deep 'neath the rocks, I buried my spaceship, waiting the time when man might be free. Over the spaceship, erected a marker in the form of a lion yet like unto man. There 'neath the image rests yet my spaceship, forth to be brought when need shall arise. Know ye, O man, that far in the future, invaders shall come from out of the deep. Then awake, ye who have wisdom. Bring forth my ship and conquer with ease. Deep 'neath the image lies my secret. Search and find in the pyramid I built. Each to the other is the Keystone; each the gateway that leads into LIFE. Follow the KEY I leave behind me. Seek and the doorway to LIFE shall be thine. Seek thou in my pyramid, deep in the passage that ends in a wall. Use thou the KEY of the SEVEN, and open to thee the pathway will fall. Now unto thee I have given my wisdom. Now unto thee I have given my way. Follow the pathway. Solve thou my secrets. Unto thee I have shown the way.
***/[/I]
It is the PROMISE in this to be always available, and to return, that connects metaphysically to the Son by the Promise to Saria, by Abraham, and then to Christ as Son of the Covenent of Promise (Galatians 4.22-26). If Truth is One, then what is present in all of its parts is One; and, as the argument here is showing, the place from which i8t is consciously perceived as truth is One, also. This is the metaphysics of Jesus as Christ through The Word.
****/ Note to 4. CHRIST AS TRUTH -- supplement
[U]Logical necessity [/U] - the form of that which cannot be denied without self contradiction in sign-use. Condition of all deductive reasoning.
[I]Destiny [/I] (Orbits, Cycles, Thought) These correspond to the number 7: 7 Cycles of Planetary influence (5 plus 2: Planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn; and the Sun and Moon); stages of evolution of life; stages in esoteric development of humans into Adam Kadmon -- Kabalastic ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â; not: THOTH.). ââ¬ÅTRUTHââ¬Â would include the relation of man to these entities
[U]Gnossis [/U] Types. [U]Metaphysical [/U] ââ¬â secret knowledge of Old Egypt ââ¬â ââ¬Ånot the Egypt men knowââ¬Â This is the kind of Gnossis manifest in Jesusââ¬â¢ self-awareness as Christ.
[U]Esoteric --[/U] Recovery of fragments of lost knowledge, most often elaborating on the theme of manââ¬â¢s spirit-matter duality, which would have been that eraââ¬â¢s way of communicating inner content, known to be such; what was going on inside them. told in stories, legends, and myths. Initiatic orders sprang up whose members are pledged to secrecy. (Essenes, Templars, Freemasons) Coming to terms with what it is to have a dual metaphysical nature, as a task, or Being-Duty imposed by being, itself.
[U]Orgiastic[/U] ââ¬â secrets of transformations through sexual intercourse; called ââ¬Åvulgar Gnosticismââ¬Â by some. THE FEMALE ORGASM ITSELF WAS SECRET KNOWLEDGE IN TIMES NOT SO LONG AGO.
****/ 5. [B]CHRIST AS SPIRIT[/B] Ecstatic; Initiatic (work); Transportative; Drug Enhanced
This becomes an esoteric exposition from this point on, calling for disposition of use of the Third Person of the Trinity. Its use is theologically self-incrIminating, if false; self-certifying, if true. It is not the role of the user to say which. There are as many CHRISTS OF THE SPIRIT as there are readings and self-understandings of ââ¬ÅSpiritââ¬Â. The following are examples.
Main type: Neo-Platonic Marcionism Anti-Semitism (Jewish) required
Blavatsky commenting on Marcionism (Isis Unveiled, Second Book, chapter 3): [url]http://www.originaldissent.com/forums/showthread.php?p=115873#post115873[/url]
[I][[Vol. 2, Page]] 163 JESUS IGNORES JEHOVAH. ââ¬ÅGod" of the Jews in his (Marcion;s) eyes, the Creator (Demiurgos), was totally different and distinct from the Deity who sent Jesus to reveal the divine truth and preach the glad tidings, to bring reconciliation and salvation to all. The mission of Jesus -- according to Marcion -- was to abrogate the Jewish "Lord," who "was opposed to the God and Father of Jesus Christ as matter is to spirit, impurity to purity." Was Marcion so far wrong? Was it blasphemy, or was it intuition, divine inspiration in him to express that which every honest heart yearning for truth, more or less feels and acknowledges? If in his sincere desire to establish a purely spiritual religion, a universal faith based on unadulterated truth, he found it necessary to make of Christianity an entirely new and separate system from that of Judaism, did not Marcion have the very words of Christ for his authority? "No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment . . . for the rent is made worse. . . . Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish; but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." In what particular does the jealous, wrathful, revengeful God of Israel resemble the unknown deity, the God of mercy preached by Jesus; -- his Father who is in Heaven, and the Father of all humanity? This Father alone is the God of spirit and purity, and, to compare Him with the subordinate and capricious Sinaitic Deity is an error. Did Jesus ever pronounce the name of Jehovah? Did he ever place his Father in contrast with this severe and cruel Judge; his God of mercy, love, and justice, with the Jewish genius of retaliation? Never! From that memorable day when he preached his Sermon on the Mount, an immeasurable void opened between his God and that other deity who fulminated his commands from that other mount -- Sinai. The language of Jesus is unequivocal; it implies not only rebellion but defiance of the Mosaic "Lord God." "Ye have heard," he tells us, "that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Ye have heard that it hath been said [by the same "Lord God" on Sinai]: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you; Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew v.). [/I]
****/ And she is certainly right. Who, among those calling themselves by Christââ¬â¢s name today, will say they affirm and practice this? It takes more than the Jewish-Catholic blood-sacrifice God recognizes. They are metaphysically distinct, categorically different ways of describing reality as the complete objective container of the totality of actual human experience. The Marcionite metaphysics asserts that this totality includes the experience of one particular man, who declared himself to be ââ¬ÅOneââ¬Â with that which He called ââ¬ÅFatherââ¬Â. Those who recognize the canonicity of Paulââ¬â¢s writings affirm that he, too, on the road to Damascus, experienced an individually transformative phenomenon belonging to the same order of spiritual metaphysics. The Christ also had magical healing power, far beyond others which, if he is 100% human, as the Niocene assembly affirmed, could only have come from an inner (Consciousness +) state-difference. The experience testified by those healed, ââ¬Ësavedââ¬â¢, transformed in the way explained to Nicodemus as ââ¬Åborn againââ¬Â are documents supporting emanationist metaphysics. Jesus would represent the 6th in the 7 cycles of consciousness (ââ¬Åman number sixââ¬Â in Gurdjiefââ¬â¢s system), which, according to Blavatsky, are also seven stages of planetary and human evolution.
[B]Alternate type: CONCRETISM -- Peter, James, blood linked. [/B] The other major position takes ââ¬ÅJesusââ¬Â to be a Jewish reformer. It combines his blood-line continuity with the Old Testament Kings ââ¬â out of the stock of Jesse, and David ââ¬â with the prophesies of a future suffering servant messiah re-establishing the Temple of The Lord built by Solomon. It was precisely expectation of ââ¬ÅThe Lordââ¬Â of this Temple returning that Jesus life was dedicated to replacing. As long as the ââ¬ÅLordââ¬Â of that ââ¬Åmessiahââ¬Â reins, so long the kingdom of heaven the Lord Jesus spoke of is denied. This, is the Christology tended toward by Peter and James, Jesusââ¬â¢ half-brother, although not entirely consistently.
The power of Peterââ¬â¢s testimony in his Epistles is as rock-solid as Catholicism portrays. [I] ââ¬ÅI.i.22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through [/I] the word of God which lives and abides forever.ââ¬Â
Whether one equates Peterââ¬â¢s use of ââ¬ÅWordââ¬Â with Johnââ¬â¢s ââ¬ÅLogosââ¬Â (which is neoPlatonic) or not, much is made of it, specifically:
[I]ââ¬ÅAll flesh is as grass
And all the glory of man as the
Flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And its flowers fall away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.ââ¬Â
***/
It is as if the man, himself, the disciple of Jesus Christ, has engraved a teaching from himself in these lines not only for early Christians but for all mankind, through them. With what Love, it seems unfathomable. This was uttered on his authority as the ââ¬Åstoneââ¬Â designated by The Teacher on which His church is built. (Leave aside the redaction problem in use of ââ¬ÅChurchââ¬Â). It is passed on to believers as the ââ¬ÅCornerstoneââ¬Â,
I.2.4 ââ¬ÅComing to him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen byGod and precious, .5 you also, as living stones, are beign built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is contained in ther Scripture,
ââ¬ÅBehold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect,
Precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.ââ¬Â[/I]
This shows Old Zionism broken on the Rock, while keeping the issue of Jesusââ¬â¢ Jewish blood in the background. Emphasis on that tends to reduce the event to a reform movement of ancient Judaism.
This comes out strongly in Jamesââ¬â¢ Epistle. He said works must certify faith. This tends to minimize his brotherââ¬â¢s claim to a new metaphysics of consciousness. ââ¬ÅFor if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.ââ¬Â (1,23,24) ââ¬ÅWhat does it profit, brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them ââ¬Ådepart in peace; be ye warmed and filled,ââ¬Â but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?ââ¬Â (2.14-16) Surely solid new teaching. Emphasizing the work-connection as transformative to the world. This is by no means antithetical to the neo-Platonic metaphysical dynamic, which would be expected to spill over into a new plane of historical action by ingression of the higher cosmic cycles in more highly evolved human consciousness. But to the gaze of those viewing the phenomena from the outside, the inner transformative ââ¬Ëfaithââ¬â¢ the new gospel demands tends to get lost, and the Word reduces to another type of moral commandment. The impression is that James lacked an overpowering sense God Incarnate in his half-brother. This slight crack inaugurates a radical metaphysical departure later.
[B]6. BLOOD CHRIST [/B]
Relationship through blood is the most metaphysically definite, certifiable, psychologically powerful and universally understood conduit of belief.
Metaphysically, it stands at the opposite end of the scale to Marcionism, affirming that what makes Jesus Christ is through his bloodline. The lineage of Mary and Joseph is scrupulously traced in Jewish history back through the Babylonian captivity, to David the King, to Abraham, by Matthew (1.1-17) Those who believe in Jesus as the ââ¬Å ââ¬Åmessiah, fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and of Godââ¬â¢s plan for dealing with mankind told through the history of the Jews, surely believe the ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â has something to do with this particular bloodline. The ââ¬ÅOne Godââ¬Â Israelites are represented as worshipping in mainstream Christianity is a ââ¬ÅCreatorââ¬Â (Gnosticism assigns YHWH the status of ââ¬ÅDemi-urgosââ¬Â, spirit-in-matter, demonic), an ââ¬ÅIntelligenceââ¬Â (ââ¬ÅLogosââ¬Â), and a ââ¬ÅProvidenceââ¬Â: the history of mankind on earth unfolds a single plan of salvation present from the time of creation.
For the Children of Israel, as a tribe, this line of Christology is both good news and bad news. The good news is that blood-Christ believers do count them, by their genes, as Godââ¬â¢s chosen people, as foretold to their forefathers and vouchsafed by their prophets. God sets a special place for them. At least, so Pope John Paul II averred.
The bad news is, the One from among them God sent as cornerstone of the New Temple was rejected. Historical appendages they become. Dead tribes wandering. Some might say ââ¬ÅHow ironic, given that the very Bible Christians swear on is the sacred book their people preserved.ââ¬Â But ITââ¬â¢S NOT IRONY. THEY REJECTED THEIR OWN MESSIAH WHEN HE CAME, CRUCIFIED HIM FOR BEING WHAT HE WAS -- A JUDGE UNTO THEIR WAY OF BEING BY THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS OWN AS FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE MADE TO THEM. That, at least, is the reply from the blood-Jesus standpoint.
However, there are other grounds for faulting the idea that his Jewish blood-identity is basis for belief in Jesus as Christ.
If Christianity is to be a universal religion, as Paul projected it, the particular blood-connection must be dropped in favor of one that can be made the basis of a religion for all humanity. Blood strains wonââ¬â¢t do, by definition. Not everyone can be a Jew. For those who have been justified by faith and become ââ¬Åall sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ,ââ¬Â Paul writes to the Galatians (3.24f), ââ¬ÅFor as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.ââ¬Â Whatever the bond of unity ââ¬ÅChristââ¬Â is, positively, one thing it cannot be, by negation, is genetic inheritance, consistent with this
In this same Epistle, Paul addresses the question of circumcision, which looms if emphasis is placed in the blood-origins of Christianity. ââ¬ÅIn Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.ââ¬Â (Gal. 5.6) Some commentators take this as a direct contradiction to followers of those who wanted to tie the gospel closely to the old blood covenant. He states specifically that this is symbolic: ââ¬ÅFor it was written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he if the freewoman through promise (to Sarai, after she was old ââ¬â added.), which things are symbolic. For there are two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar ââ¬â for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children ââ¬â but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.ââ¬Â (Gal. 4.22f.) This seems unequivocal. The Jerusalem below seals the old covenant binding to Semitic people (both branches) according to fleshly lineage. But the promise by which the child of Sarai was conceived made her Son symbolic of the new covenant. The relation of sonship between Abraham and Isaac is on a different plane than Abraham to Ishmael, understood as the difference between son of the flesh vs son of promise. Further relating this symbolic ââ¬Ådoublingââ¬Â of covenants based on contrast between flesh and spirit (as promise), the relation of Father to Son in the New Testament story is the archetypal duplicate of Abraham demonstrating faith by willingness to sacrifice Isaac. ââ¬ÅEloi, Eloi, lama sabachthaniââ¬Â is the cry of young Isaac submitting to his Fatherââ¬â¢s blade, scrolled forward 42 generations. Much evolved, obedient ââ¬ÅSonââ¬Â until the end ââ¬ÅHeââ¬Â is still.
Notes
Actual genetic lineage:
Mainstream tradition has the body of Jesus formed in Maryââ¬â¢s womb, she
Merovingians ââ¬â early kings of Southern France claimed by legend to continue the actual bloodline through child of Mary Magdalen and Jesus.
***/ CHRIST AS BLOOD SACRIFICE
ââ¬ÅWithout the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.ââ¬Â This sense of ââ¬Åsinââ¬Â, as what required blood-sacrifice for ââ¬Åremissionââ¬Â appears to be unique and original with Jews and Christians, although of course there have always been child sacrifice by parents to relieve their guilt for having sex and parenting.
Blood sacrifice can be appropriated as either i. a ââ¬ËMagicalââ¬â¢ event, something external to believer. ii. Internalized through the believerââ¬â¢s confession, repentance, identification with Jesusââ¬â¢ blood sacrifice as substitute for their own, which is thorugh of as owed. Ability to accept forgiveness by belief with identification is a gift of grace.
[B]CHRIST OF ORIGINAL EVENTS. / [/B] historical impact
The impact the original events had on the human experiences of everyone involved in the New Testament stories is the primary empirical phenomenon any objective account of the metaphysics of what happened, historically, must begin with. Not: other records or testimony. The original impact is what ââ¬Ëcomes throughââ¬â¢ them ââ¬â what they ââ¬Åshow forthââ¬Â, as conduits of ââ¬Åthe good news of salvation.ââ¬Â
These events include those in immediate contact with his person, including: those hearing him speak; those healed by touching him ââ¬âin crowds, felt as a drain of energy; those he opposed, e.g., Jewish leaders (scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees), and the permanently lasting transformative effect it had on those called disciples.
Unfortunately for those trying to pin down the metaphysics of Christology, the New Testament authors donââ¬â¢t entirely agree on what the original events were. Different Gospels relate different incidents, and the same incidents differently. A particular instance of great importance was Luke 24.39: ââ¬ÅBehold my Hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.ââ¬Â ââ¬ÅBelievingââ¬Â, for those left behind, is most definitely linked with verifying the living body of Jesus after calvary. The metaphysical implications are anti-Marcion. His body is not a ââ¬Åseemingââ¬Â, or phantasm. Believing in Christ is not believing in a Spirit- entity assuming a human form to enter the dark, material realm. Verses 41-43 make clear that Jesus wanted them to understand his inseparably from anatomical processes. ââ¬ÅBut while they still did not believe and marveled, He said the them ââ¬ÅHave you any food here?ââ¬â¢ ââ¬ÅSo they gave him some broiled fish and some honeycomb and he took it and ate it in their presence.ââ¬Â Marcion helds Christ to be God Manifest. Mainstream Christians hold Christ to be God Incarnate. This illustrates how what ââ¬ÅGodââ¬Â means is tacitly determined by Christology, if ââ¬Åincarnationââ¬Â is to have the meaning of full flesh and blood human being.
Apart from, but affecting, how the distinction between the spiritual and the material is represented, other significant events come in. Chief of these is what happed in the upper room at Pentecost, after Jesusââ¬â¢ ascent (Mark 16.19; Lk 24.51). Acts 2.1-4 ââ¬ÅWhen the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly the came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing ;mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.ââ¬â¢ This links with the words of Jesus in Luke 24.49 ââ¬ÅBehold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.ââ¬Â This connection is one main textual ground in the Bible for the doctrine of the Trinity.
This is the beginning of a necessary critique of what it is to "believe in Christ". For anybody. Nobody can define this for you, you define it for yourself (Calvin).
2005-06-10 04:06 | User Profile
You know what ? You're a fool. I listened to Rev. Gene Scott last night on shortwave. He died in February at 75. He was the guy who ran the church in Los Angeles with the huge Jesus Saves sign that is so familiar. And you know what ? The man was a tremendous intellectual who will be missed. He could throw your claims away with true fact. Your tripe is seen as tripe, understood as tripe, and vomited as tripe. ( no offence to those who like tripe lol ) The Resurrection happenned, my man. Jesus or whatever name you might use for Him, He Rose from the Dead.
I don't even want to furnish your ( gray matter ) with scripts that show thus.
It's just God's Will, and it's up to you. If you need " proof " , you need to " see " , you need dominace. That is not a gift, but an Eternity in Pain. You will get it, and you already are a victim of it's early stages, with your crass doubt, self pride and pigeon-holed version of life.The Great Deception doesn't have to be even great to fool you, oh no. It won't take much more than a video image in the sky. Because you feel nothing in your heart. Because you are a Void, and a vacuum of inhalation. Did you ever think once that you might not be the absolute controller of your own fate ? Eternal fate ? That little boy can't decide whether or not little boy dies forever ? I'm sorry, sir, but there were no Luciferian VCRs or digital cameras 2000 years ago. The moment God shows your senses physically that He ( or It or whatever you choose to name such force ) is the moment that you are judged. Do you want a God like that ? Can you even imagine it ? It will come, and it will lead us Christians unto death, and we will spill our Blood for Christ !!!!! Because the Impostor shall not be Christ !!!!! It just so happens that God chose to become a man, because He loves mankind. And that guarantee is as good as long as the Word is spread. Then after that, the End shall come. You could easily be led into the deception with your mindframe. You need physical evidence, you need a demonstration of force, such as by nature, but you need a demonstration personally in your face to treat you like a maggot and step on you and threaten to destroy you forever. Sounds like you need Satan to me, boss, not God. But God has a limited timeframe, and God could be your slayer, because right now, you've chosen to blaspheme Him, ostracize Him, ridicule Him, and trivialize Him . God shall Not be Mocked. You do some soul searching. Do not respond to me with some offhand jerk reaction and post some kind of tripe garbage you post. Judgement is Mine Saith The Lord.
2005-06-10 04:08 | User Profile
You know what ? You're a fool. I listened to Rev. Gene Scott last night on shortwave. He died in February at 75. He was the guy who ran the church in Los Angeles with the huge Jesus Saves sign that is so familiar. And you know what ? The man was a tremendous intellectual who will be missed. He could throw your claims away with true fact. Your tripe is seen as tripe, understood as tripe, and vomited as tripe. ( no offence to those who like tripe lol ) The Resurrection happenned, my man. Jesus or whatever name you might use for Him, He Rose from the Dead.
I don't even want to furnish your ( gray matter ) with scripts that show thus.
It's up to God, and up to you. If you need video evidence, a God who in this Age rails about the world and demonstrates his " proof " through physical power , you just don't deserve Everlasting Life.
2005-06-10 14:56 | User Profile
I liked that "sir" part.
2005-06-10 15:45 | User Profile
[QUOTE=TexasAnarch]I liked that "sir" part.[/QUOTE]
I think all those years up there in New York's done tangled your mind, TA.
2005-06-10 21:19 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Texas Dissident]I think all those years up there in New York's done tangled your mind, TA.[/QUOTE]
How's that?