I am of the opinion that the priests and preachers and religous
leaders of the day today are just the same as the scribes and
pharisees of Jesus day. Human's being what they are, full of
ego and a lust for power, still do what they have to do to get
to the point of leadership. I think there are legitimate preachers,
who think of themselves as servants, but none of them are in
any of the megachurches. The ones I've met, that I felt were
sincere, are in smaller neighborhood churches of no particular
denomination. (Just my personal experience). But I've only
met one that was able to shake off the theology he belongs to
in a quest for truth, and he had a church with maybe 10
members. He had a radio broadcast, and whatever he talked
about, the preacher who followed his broadcast would address
his subject the next week. He put up with me for a summer
when my first wife left me, and I was at the time heavily
indoctrinated in Baptist beliefs. I imagine I was a pretty
miserable person to be around.
But I digress.
Anyway, I had to move 12 hours away from my home to find
someone like that. That's where God led me. Perhaps it was
to be just far enough away from home that I had to be alone
with Him too. That was the start of my growth. Fortunately,
my current wife (of almost 30 years) won't let me get stunted.
Getting back to the subject at hand, it's the nature of the beast.
The more followers they have, the more stature they have. It
doesn't matter if that's what they're after, it affects them, and
they can't do anything that would hurt it. By the time they are
there, theology is set. The Bible isn't read in the eyes of a
searcher, but in the eyes of a teacher. And accepting that
there could be other scripture, well, that would be out of the
question. Never mind that God's message could be in it, for
so many the Bible is God's only and last word. Psht.
All it takes is a little history lesson to determine the absurdity
of that. The organization that put it together was already
corrupt, with their own agenda. God protects his word, is
the rationale. But then here's a bunch of power hungry
men telling us what that word is. No thanks. I've found
that when you live with God, His word is revealed in all
kinds of people's writings. Because God still lives in people,
and people still write about their view of him, which is what
the writers of the Bible did. But until you get to know him,
I guess it's safe to stick to just the Bible. Just not the Bible
as taught today.
YOU can learn directly from God.
If you're religion is confusing to you, there's a reason. Get a red letter Bible, and read the words of Jesus to the priests and preachers of His day. Then understand this: There's no difference between them and the priests and preachers of our day. Why would there be? Just as there was in His day, there are some with good intent, but even they are learning from a corrupted system. Want the truth? Throw out everything you've learned from them, pick up the Bible, and read it for yourself. Not by chapter and verse as you were taught. Particularly in the New Testament, read the way they were written, as letters. And unless you're well versed in Old English, get a modern translation. One you can read and understand. Stick to the New Testament at first, so as not to be overwhelmed. And know this, it isn't the word of God the way you were taught. It's the word of God as understood by those who wrote it. Try to understand it from the point of view of those it was written to...we were taught to read it as if it was written to us!
The problem with that is, those the New Testament was written to were going through the transition from one Covenant to another. They were awaiting an event in their time. To learn about that event, one needs to consult historians, such as Josephus and his account of it in "Wars of the Jews."
The problem with that is, those the New Testament was written to were going through the transition from one Covenant to another. They were awaiting an event in their time. To learn about that event, one needs to consult historians, such as Josephus and his account of it in "Wars of the Jews."
Questioning the established theologies. The church teaches the law, just as it did when Jesus railed against it in His day. A discussion on the freedoms He gave us, and why true followers might want to operate on the outside. The truth is out there, but where?
Monday, May 18, 2009
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