"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.
Yeah once you said all that I realized that's generally what you encounter here and wasn't keeping that in mind.
I was not raised in a Christian household at all so I had the fortune of not having the satanic manipulations of the modern churches tainting my view when I finally came around to truly studying Christ's teachings.
My interactions with modern "Christians" had for a long time left a similar bad taste in my mouth about the faith even though I too saw the great wisdom in Jesus's words.
Ultimately we are all operating under various levels of deception and knowing what I do about the infiltration and subversion of the churches I try not to fault them too much over it anymore unless it's clear they are twisting the Word deliberately. That's not to say I won't speak out at all, but really many of them are unfortunately terribly deceived and clearly have not actually read much of the New Testament which really does undo a lot of those deceptions.
If you look into Christian mysticism you will see that despite the manipulations of the infiltrators many have found their way over the centuries, but it takes ignoring those that sit in the pulpits and actually just reading the Word and seeking God on your own. No middlemen or special buildings. Just you seeking within your heart.
I would highly recommend the Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and the Gospel of Thomas at the very least if you haven't read them, and of course keep in mind your understanding of the various Eastern faiths when reading these things.
(3) Jesus said: If those who lead you say unto you: Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of the heaven will be before you. If they say unto you: It is in the sea, then the fish will be before you. But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then shall you be known, and you shall know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if ye do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
"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.
Yeah once you said all that I realized that's generally what you encounter here and wasn't keeping that in mind.
I was not raised in a Christian household at all so I had the fortune of not having the satanic manipulations of the modern churches tainting my view when I finally came around to truly studying Christ's teachings.
My interactions with modern "Christians" had for a long time left a similar bad taste in my mouth about the faith even though I too saw the great wisdom in Jesus's words.
Ultimately we are all operating under various levels of deception and knowing what I do about the infiltration and subversion of the churches I try not to fault them too much over it anymore unless it's clear they are twisting the Word deliberately. That's not to say I won't speak out at all, but really many of them are unfortunately terribly deceived and clearly have not actually read much of the New Testament which really does undo a lot of those deceptions.
If you look into Christian mysticism you will see that despite the manipulations of the infiltrators many have found their way over the centuries, but it takes ignoring those that sit in the pulpits and actually just reading the Word and seeking God on your own. No middlemen or special buildings. Just you seeking within your heart.
I would highly recommend the Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and the Gospel of Thomas at the very least if you haven't read them, and of course keep in mind your understanding of the various Eastern faiths when reading these things.
Much respect and love to you as well. 🙏
https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/thomas-anon.html
(3) Jesus said: If those who lead you say unto you: Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of the heaven will be before you. If they say unto you: It is in the sea, then the fish will be before you. But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then shall you be known, and you shall know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if ye do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=KJV
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.