The entities that fall under that descriptor are those that have already through their free will choice severed their connection to God. Eternal damnation was never meant for the masses just because they were deceived and didn’t follow every single letter of the Law. That conflation is a deception manifested by the dark world. Projection of the ultimate fate of those entities that took the steps to sever their connection with God, Love, and Creation.
It is why they need us to survive. They sacrificed eternity for temporal power.
"Eternal damnation was never meant for the masses just because they were deceived and didn’t follow every single letter of the Law."
The church certainly did make it sound like it was for the masses.
You have an interesting take on things. Are your views personal or are they the teachings of a church or denomination?
I am much more partial to the lesser conceptual framework of Zen, Buddhism, Tao, Tantra etc.
The churches have been compromised for a long time. They teach a version of Christianity that is vastly manipulated and now almost completely removed from the mysticism that was deeply ingrained in early Christianity. The funny thing is that manipulation is easily undone if you ignore the churches and actually just read the New Testament. At the very least the Gospel of John is a good starting point.
Overall this is from the study of ancient history and of every major faith for several decades. My understanding of Christianity comes with the background of knowing that the world wasn't compartmentalized in the ancient days like they try to tell us. Between the Silk and Incense roads, and by their very nature the curiosity of those that seek God there was direct exchanges of spiritual traditions and ideas from all over the world as pilgrims would travel with the caravans and seek out their spiritual counterparts as they traveled.
If you read the New Testament and couple that with the Apocrypha the picture becomes clearer, but essentially the universal bird's eye view of it all is that every major faith is telling the same story. Jesus was very aware of the spiritual traditions of the Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, etc and if you read his teachings with that knowledge in mind you see him addressing several concepts that are key components of the major faiths from those areas.
There is also evidence that in the so called "lost years" of Jesus's life he made a pilgrimage to India as well to learn from the Vedic priests and Buddhist monks.
Dude, you have a view of the Bible that is heavily influenced by mysticism and is not elitist, (saying it is the only true religion) and benefiting from and acknowledging the teachings of other great masters and cultures.
You also acknowledge that the deeper meaning has been lost, or manipulated in many things that Jesus said. I completely concur with you and I am surprised by your take on Christianity and the Bible. It is not that it is new to me, it's that I did not expect it based on the blocks of scripture you were regurgitating and the closed minds I have encountered by many who push Jesus on here.
My problem with Christianity is that the things that Jesus said make more sense if viewed from the perspective of eastern mysticism. Seeing scripture brings with it a whole cavalcade of previous experience with pushy "Church heads" and the individuals own misconceptions about what a person may mean when quoting it.
It is admittedly hard to avoid in metaphysical discussions and even the term God means different things to different people so a conversation may be sabotaged before it even begins.
After my epiphany (11) years ago I noticed a distinctly different meaning to Jesus' words when I encountered them so I know what you say has validity and that you are you are pointing towards the truth.
Respect ! You are a seeker with a sharp, open mind.
Nice post actually :- I agree with everything in your first two paragraphs but I disagree that it does not remove mans divinity from him.
You have provided some nice quotes from Mathew, John and Romans but there would be many contradictory indications elsewhere.
The whole notion of eternal damnation is separation of you from God. How can God be with you if you are damned and undergoing eternal suffering?
Nice to agree with you about the other though, sex and real love expressed through that is sacred and transformative.
The entities that fall under that descriptor are those that have already through their free will choice severed their connection to God. Eternal damnation was never meant for the masses just because they were deceived and didn’t follow every single letter of the Law. That conflation is a deception manifested by the dark world. Projection of the ultimate fate of those entities that took the steps to sever their connection with God, Love, and Creation.
It is why they need us to survive. They sacrificed eternity for temporal power.
"Eternal damnation was never meant for the masses just because they were deceived and didn’t follow every single letter of the Law."
The church certainly did make it sound like it was for the masses. You have an interesting take on things. Are your views personal or are they the teachings of a church or denomination?
I am much more partial to the lesser conceptual framework of Zen, Buddhism, Tao, Tantra etc.
The churches have been compromised for a long time. They teach a version of Christianity that is vastly manipulated and now almost completely removed from the mysticism that was deeply ingrained in early Christianity. The funny thing is that manipulation is easily undone if you ignore the churches and actually just read the New Testament. At the very least the Gospel of John is a good starting point.
Overall this is from the study of ancient history and of every major faith for several decades. My understanding of Christianity comes with the background of knowing that the world wasn't compartmentalized in the ancient days like they try to tell us. Between the Silk and Incense roads, and by their very nature the curiosity of those that seek God there was direct exchanges of spiritual traditions and ideas from all over the world as pilgrims would travel with the caravans and seek out their spiritual counterparts as they traveled.
If you read the New Testament and couple that with the Apocrypha the picture becomes clearer, but essentially the universal bird's eye view of it all is that every major faith is telling the same story. Jesus was very aware of the spiritual traditions of the Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, etc and if you read his teachings with that knowledge in mind you see him addressing several concepts that are key components of the major faiths from those areas.
There is also evidence that in the so called "lost years" of Jesus's life he made a pilgrimage to India as well to learn from the Vedic priests and Buddhist monks.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/uljc/index.htm
https://www.devorss.com/product/life-and-teaching-of-the-masters-of-the-far-east-box-set-volume-1-to-6/
https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/
Dude, you have a view of the Bible that is heavily influenced by mysticism and is not elitist, (saying it is the only true religion) and benefiting from and acknowledging the teachings of other great masters and cultures.
You also acknowledge that the deeper meaning has been lost, or manipulated in many things that Jesus said. I completely concur with you and I am surprised by your take on Christianity and the Bible. It is not that it is new to me, it's that I did not expect it based on the blocks of scripture you were regurgitating and the closed minds I have encountered by many who push Jesus on here.
My problem with Christianity is that the things that Jesus said make more sense if viewed from the perspective of eastern mysticism. Seeing scripture brings with it a whole cavalcade of previous experience with pushy "Church heads" and the individuals own misconceptions about what a person may mean when quoting it.
It is admittedly hard to avoid in metaphysical discussions and even the term God means different things to different people so a conversation may be sabotaged before it even begins.
After my epiphany (11) years ago I noticed a distinctly different meaning to Jesus' words when I encountered them so I know what you say has validity and that you are you are pointing towards the truth.
Respect ! You are a seeker with a sharp, open mind.