Christianity
THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY
The word "Christianity" is commonly used to mean a religion which professes the divinity of Jesus Christ, and promotes that belief as a means of saving one's soul to a future kingdom of Heaven. To quibble over the use of this word may seem rather useless, but I contend that the common usage of this word effectively preempts any proper understanding of that which Jesus intended to teach. He didn't teach a "religion" at all, but something quite different. Christianity should not be considered a religion because that misguides God's children. Rather, Christianity is a circumstance, a state of being. It is a special, subjective, experience of one's existence. This experience is possible for only those people whom Jesus referred to as His sheep, namely the genetic descendants of their ancestor, Israel. Further, this experience is only possible for an individual whose Spiritual Nature is awakening. While other races possess the Physical Nature, the Emotional Nature, and some have the Intellectual Nature, only the Christ-race of Israel possesses the Spiritual Nature/Mind which is the indwelling Spirit of God. This Kingdom of World does not acknowledge or even recognize a Spiritual Nature, so it is up to each Israelite to awaken and develop his own. Religion is incompatible with that process.
The Christ-race of God's own family is comprised of Spirit Beings, formed before the world was created, who are the Father's offspring, His Son, the Adam/Christ race of Men: Israelites. We descendants of Israel are that special family; we are born from above, meaning that we are Spirit Beings born into flesh bodies; God has breathed His Spirit into us, thereby giving us a Nature different from all other creatures and races. The world doesn't recognize Spirit Beings, and we are taught as babies to conform to world limitations and ignorance, so as adults we are blind to our own Spiritual Natures. True Christianity is the experience of awakening one's Spiritual Nature so that he realizes his true existence. Christianity is the circumstance of that special existence.
Christianity should never have become a religion. Jesus did not suggest such a thing. He sent His followers out to inform their fellow Israelite family members that their breach of contract had been repaired, so they were restored to God's Grace. He suggested a sample prayer. And He ate and drank with friends, a true communion of kindred Spirits. But He never suggested the formation of any religion. His only command regarding churches was that the Temple should be destroyed; He didn't suggest replacing it with another. Jesus' interest was the awakening of the Spiritual Natures of His family members and encouraging them to realize their true identities, a process which He called the Kingdom of Heaven, comparing that process to a seed which grows into a large tree or to a yeast which leavens a whole loaf.. From His example, we can understand why the early church practiced a simple gathering-together for a meal and drink during which they would discuss things which Jesus had said and done. As believers did begin to gather into groups, elders were appointed to maintain the function and order, but those elders were not authorities over the interpretation of scriptures and discussion. They were awakening their individual Spiritual Natures, and they did not assign that task to any priest or other authority outside themselves because Jesus had taught that the Holy Spirit would be their Teacher. And the Holy Spirit is not out-there-somewhere but is indwelling. Modern preachers are not merely usurping the function of the Holy Spirit, but they are effectively persuading their audience that religious practices such as rituals, tithing, emotional testimony, and belief in Jesus' name are enough. They are blocking the process of individual spiritual realization by offering shallow rituals in which the people are mostly just observors. Of course, the new flood of prosperity-gospel preachers are doing even worse by promising material wealth instead of that opposite command of Jesus to reject this material world and its enticements. Whether mainstream denominations, prosperity-gospel, new-age occultism, emotionalism, rapture escapism, Elmer Gantry wowism, or show-biz gospel, religion is not a tool of Jesus but of His counterpart. Religion is incompatible with Christianity.
In the early church, Christianity was an individual's task, for which many took personal responsibility to the point of death. It wasn't long, though, before some men attempted to organize the new movement into a church with priests and bishops. The church then wrote formal doctrines of exactly what one should believe, ostracizing any who thought differently. The church took the meal away from the people and made it a sacrament under control of priests. The individual was relieved of responsibility for his own spiritual awakening, to settle instead for mere rituals as directed by so-called priests. Christianity has never recovered from that perversion, except for occasional rare individuals whose rebellious minds would not succumb to the childhood dumbing-down. Most such individuals, through history, have been condemned as heretics, persecuted, and killed by the organized church which would not tolerate them.
THE NEW COVENANT
Christianity has not yet been understood, down through the centuries. Some of its most important and basic elements are ignored or contradicted by theologians and preachers. For example, let's start with perhaps the most important element upon which Christianity should be founded, namely the New Covenant. The New Testament is named after the New Covenant, but most preachers don't know what the New Covenant really is or where it is found. Nor do they understand what happened to the Old Covenant. Let's begin with this singlemost important foundation stone of Christianity.
Our God relates to His offspring according to a Contract, also called Covenant. That Contract is the most important element to one's individual faith; it is the foundation of one's relationship with his Father. Without it, one has no relationship. Without it one has no claim to the inheritance prepared for him. We original offspring of God rejected our right of primogeniture (right of inheritance to the firstborn) when we turned away from our Father (Adam & Eve Fall) in order to seek godships for ourselves in the World. After estranging ourselves from him, we had no possible means of correcting our mistake. Our Father had to reach out and reclaim us (Grace), attracting us homeward again. Now, even though we feel some yearning in Spirit to relate to our Father, we still cling to the pig-pen and refuse to go home as provided in our Contract. Amazingly, this Contract under which we now live is not taught in theological seminaries nor is it preached from pulpits. Why is this? Probably because acknowledgement of the New Covenant would radically change the Christian religion which is in serious conflict with it. Religion has a natural animosity toward Truth, just as worldly people feel natural animosity toward individuals who seek and find God for themselves. Let's look at the Contract.
The New Covenant is in Hebrews 8: 8-13. The King James Version reads as follows:
8:8 "...Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a
New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
8:9 "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land
of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I
regarded them not, saith the Lord.
8:10 "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord;
"I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts:
and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall
know Me, from the least to the greatest.
8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
8:13 "In that He saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."
The author of Hebrews is here repeating the covenant which was first stated in the book of Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jesus made reference to this covenant at His last supper (Mat 26:28), saying: "Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the New Covenant being shed for the forgiveness of sins." Compare also these other passages which speak of the blood of a covenant: Mark 14:24 & I Cor 11:25 & Heb 9:20, 10:29. While the Bible so clearly teaches that it is a Covenant secured by Jesus' blood, Christian teachers oversimplify what Jesus did as just forgiveness of sins.
Romans 11:26 says: "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My Covenant with them, When I take away their sins.'" Forgiveness of sins is not simply bought with Jesus' death. Jesus' death paid the penalty for breach of the Old Covenant, and by means of that same death secured a New Covenant in which God assures His forgiveness. Our sins are forgiven/forgotten by God because of a new Contract. That Contract is the foundation of our relationship with Almighty God. It is this New Covenant which is all important! We must appreciate that Jesus died to secure it, but it is the Contract which assures our forgiveness! It is the Contract which is most relevant between a person and his God.
Sure, preachers shout about forgiveness of sins, even though usually qualifying it in some way. They don't understand why we have forgiveness today because they don't understand or appreciate the Contract which assures it. Let's mention a few issues in this new Contract which Christian preachers don't like.
OBJECTIONS TO THE NEW COVENANT BY CHRISTIAN RELIGIONISTS
As I examine the text of the Covenant, I speculate that Christian religionists probably object to the following clauses.
First objection is to the very clear statement of the party with whom God is making the contract, namely the houses of Israel and Judah, a genetic lineage of people, a race! Evangelists have adopted as a primary tenet of their religion that Jesus came for all races and redeemed all the people of the world who will believe in Him. It matters not that Jesus said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Mat 15:24) Religion over-rides Jesus' words. Nor do preachers question who those lost sheep might be in our world today, nor do they follow the migrations of Israelites from their captivity into Britain and northern Europe where their tribal emblems are still in use today. Preachers must adhere to political correctness, teaching universal equality, or they will lose their jobs.
Second objection is that God's Israelite family (white race European Christians) is provided a special instinct which makes us different from other races: God's laws are put into our minds and our hearts so that we instinctively understand His Will for us. It is only our race which reveals our Father through just laws which apply to all who live in our land. It is only our race which reaches out to all the world with compassion, benevolence, generosity, and God's love. That is our real history, in spite of the enemy race of Edomite Jews who work injustice through their control of politics, banking, and military might. Preachers dare not speak this truth.
Third objection is that part of the Contract which prohibits teachers from admonishing others to know the Lord. That would stop cold the religion of evangelism. While other races can benefit greatly by acknowledging the true God, and living according to His laws, it is only the Israelite family who can truly "KNOW" Him, simply because it is only this family who possesses God's Spirit within us. We KNOW Him intimately and uniquely while others can only know about Him from a distance. It is also true that the only method by which we can realize this "knowingness" is to look within our own hearts and minds where He dwells. This is not something which can be taught. We don't need teachers; we need to seek Him, each for oneself. Preachers make their income from a practice which violates our Contract with God. Besides, they are trying to teach something they don't know anyway.
Fourth objection is that God remembers our sins no more! What would religion be without the threat of God's punishment for sins? Religionists simply do not understand what Jesus did, and that is because they don't understand the Old Sinai Contract. It was about 4,000 years after Adam that God gave His family a Contract of Laws, through Moses at Sinai. Exodus, chapters 19 & 20 present the Contract between God and the family of Israel. Note that God makes it explicitly with the family of Israel, with no inclusion of any other people. In Exodus 19:5 & 6, God says to Moses: "And now if you will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a special people above all races; for the whole earth is mine. And you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy race: these words shalt thou speak to the children of Israel." God is making them a Royal Priesthood and His Holy Race if they will keep the Covenant. Alas, they broke the contract; they needed a repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12). It is important to know that only the family of Israel was guilty of breaching its contract, thus only that one family needed redemption from its death penalty. No other people on earth can be charged with violating a contract to which they were not party. Any child can understand that! So, when Jesus said He came only for the lost sheep of Israel, He was stating a simple fact well understood by His Israelite family, the only people who needed a Redeemer. Again, we see how religion trumps truth, as religionists preach that all people of the world need a Redeemer because they have broken God's commandments. Okay, Jesus repaired the broken contract by paying its penalty, and then that old contract was completed, dissolved, or as the book of Hebrews says, "annulled." As a result, God's conditional clause "if you will keep my covenant," was resolved and the Israel family is again, legitimately, a special people above all races, and a royal priesthood and a holy race. You should read those words again because they identify you! We read also in the first letter of Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends, as he writes to the "elect sojourners of the Diaspora," in verse 2:9: "you are a selected race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people." We, God's elect racial family, are restored to that high status because of what Jesus did, and sin is no longer a factor AT ALL! Sin is not a factor in our relationship to our Father because "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." There it is, simply stated and guaranteed in God's Contract with His family, contradicting what is perhaps the singlemost powerful threat (condemnation because of sin) which gives preachers power over the ignorant people whom they exploit so mercilessly. How dare they make sin a primary element of their religion? Answer: because their religion trumps even God's Covenant with His own family. I am reminded of Zechariah 13:7, "Awake, O sword, against my shepherds."
You might find it interesting to note that during the 7,500 years (LXX dating) since Adam appeared, it was only a 1,500 year period that God subjected His family to a Contract of Laws. The threat of death penalty did not succeed, so it was discontinued, and we were given a New Contract which comfortingly assures us that sin is no longer a factor between us and our Father. You might argue that if sin is no longer a factor, then everyone is "saved" automatically. Ah, but Jesus said there are other things one must do to be "saved," such as seeking the Truth and dying to this world; He said one cannot serve both mammon and God, so it is a requirement that one makes a choice and acts upon it. All members of our family are freed from the death penalty and are then called to follow Jesus' directions; but the acts of following Him, seeking Truth, obeying His commands, rejecting the world, and releasing the great lie are all active efforts a follower must undertake. Mere belief in Jesus' name is not enough; even Satan does that!
Fifth objection to the freedom offered in the New Covenant is that preachers love to shout God's Laws to their marks, therefore they will not acknowledge that God's Law is no longer the stern taskmaster over their marks' lives. Certainly, God's Law is immutable; it is absolute and forever! But, the penalty for violating it has been removed. God does not remember our violations, so does not punish us for them. We might note that serious consequences usually result from violating His commandments, but those are natural consequences, not God's punishment. Since God's Law is universal and eternal, it applies naturally to all people, Israelite family and all others, so the natural consequences of violations apply to everyone of all races. The New Covenant would force preachers to address the annulment of that Old Covenant of Laws, thus freeing God's children from a fierce God of punishing wrath. Consider that if the people knew the Truth, they might not sponsor the business of religion. Ironically, many Law-based Christians, who sternly claim the Law over themselves, then pray to Him for miraculous interventions to relieve them of the natural consequences of their violations of it. They want the condemning Law while also wanting to violate it without consequences!
Of course, without sin, condemnation, and God's wrath, upon what then should Jesus' sheep focus their attention and concern? My answer to that question is that we should seek the Truth about ourselves, our Father, and our relationship to Him, following our Lord who showed us the Way out of this world bondage.
REALIZING THE ONENESS
Christianity has not yet been understood. Above, I addressed the fact that religionists scorn the New Covenant which should be the very foundation of our relationship with our Father. I suggest that we should ponder, question, and seek wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of who we really are, why we exist and for what purpose, the Design of God, and His great plan for us. One should learn his own existential circumstance. Are we mere puppets or animals? Of course we know, because the Bible clearly states it, that we are special, elect, royal, holy, and priests. We are not the miserable sinners which the Christian religion teaches. We are God's special family and we have special responsibilities. We have a destiny different from other people. We know that "in Him we live and move and have our being." Clearly, we are not separate from Him, our Father, our Source. In John 17, Jesus prays that we will be One with Him like He is One with the Father. Do you even dare to contemplate that? God's offspring Son is the Christ. The Christ is an anointed race of Men whom we call the "body of Christ." It is through this Christ-body/Son that God lives and acts and expresses Himself. Are you an open, clear channel for your Father, or are you focused on worldly concerns, desires, and fears?
Jesus is our Head and we the members. We genetic descendants of Jacob make up the body of Christ, the anointed offspring of our Father. We Spirit Beings were formed before the world appeared. We are not separate from our Father as His sons, but it is through us individuals that God presents Himself. We are One with God; we err if we think God is separate from us. Jesus is not the endpoint of our adoration, but He reveals to us our Father who is the endpoint of our love and our worshipful focus. It is this RELATIONSHIP of an individual with his Father which is his assignment to realize. Jesus serves as a Teacher who points the Way. It is to the Father that a prodigal must return; the Truth being that the prodigal was never really separate; he had just determined to separate himself, so he acted as one estranged.
VEHICLES OF HIS EXPRESSION
Christianity has not yet been understood. Our so-called teachers don't know the most simple thing which our Father wants of us. While Jesus hinted at some truths, their realization is left to those capable of spiritual discernment. Let me just say this in my own words: God wants us to be willing, enthusiastic vehicles of His expression. HE is the Light which is to shine through us individuals. If He is the Word, then we are the sound of His voice. He doesn't want us prostrate before Him, nor to be monks in seclusion, but rather we are active performers of His Spiritual expression. The forces behind this expression, acting from His throne, are His Seven Spirits: Wisdom, Will, Knowledge, Power, Understanding, Fear, and Godliness. For more discussion of these, see http://divinepageant.com/seven_spirits.htm . These Spirits empower and direct our own spiritual minds, but we seldom acknowledge their presence in our lives as we focus on worldly attainments. It is through spiritual enlightenment that we can realize the Truth, express it in our own lives, and finally celebrate our graduation from this school of hard lessons.
LEAVE THE PIG-PEN AND GO HOME
Christianity has not yet been understood. We don't hear our so-called teachers telling us that we are Spirit Beings who left our first estate, namely union with our Father, in order to experience the enticements of the kingdom of World. Rather than continuing to perform the Will of our Father in Heaven as we had been doing, we yearned to exercise our own lives apart from Him in order to gratify physical senses, lusts, pleasures, and thrills of risk and death. We have since discovered the pleasures of the senses to be so brief while the agonies of physical-life are so prolonged. We want to go home. One lesson which Jesus teaches is that we must be willing to leave this World if we would return home; we must exit the pig-pen if we want the palace again. The main problem is that we refuse to make that exit. Like the monkey who won't release the cookie in the jar, we won't release our grasp of this material world even after we know it is all a lie and a trap. That door of Liberation, which should allure us above all other temptations, is Death. But we are too insecure in our Faith, so we cling to the tangible material world with which we are comfortable. Jesus showed us the Way out, and beckoned us to follow, but we tremble and turn away from Him, like Peter did. Then, later, Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he felt he didn't deserve to die upright like Jesus. Do you fear death? Of course! As we all do! Yet, I beg you to read of the millions of Christians who willingly, sometimes eagerly, offered up their lives to be tortured to death. They KNEW that they were being Liberated from this hellish life of world, and they had strong Faith in what awaited them afterward. See these articles about Martyrdom at http://divinepageant.com/LIBERATION_articles.htm . Many millions of true Christians have gone through that door before we were born. Oh, how slowly we learn; still today we fear and resist that door which opens into God's Glory.
As I attempted to show the conflict between true Christianity and Religion, I knew that I was stepping on many toes. Religion is a huge business in America, even submitting itself to government direction by taking tax exemptions. It would be my fantasy that Christianity might replace religionism, but it is highly doubtful that the masses will ever give up their opiate in order to achieve spiritual realization. In the article above, I have listed a few points in which religion contradicts Jesus. But, there are many more which could be listed. For any reader who wishes to learn of more disparities and conflicts, I have addressed it more comprehensively in the following article: http://divinepageant.com/religion_vs_jesus.htm . As a young man, I was an idealist, always striving for the impossible dream like Don Quixote. As a theological student in Seminary, I was a true-believer, clinging desperately to orthodox doctrines because I accepted them as absolute truth. After I left the ministry because of its "business," I became more disillusioned with the conflicts between church doctrines and what Jesus actually said. I stayed away from religion for many years, which resulted in a clearing of my mind, and a willingness to consider the clear statements of the Bible. At about 55 years of age, I renewed my study of the Greek language in order to see what the Bible was really saying; that opened a window which showed me how Bible translators had deliberately slanted their English versions to accord with the political agenda of universal equality and a childish level of understanding. At about 59 years of age, I began to write articles and publish a website. Now, I am 70 years old, and I write less often, somewhat dismayed that my insights are recognized by so few. Nevertheless, I am content to cast forth seed, leaving any increase in the hands of my Lord and Teacher. I seek no following nor income nor status nor any other reward for my work, but prefer the solitude of my little place in the hillbilly mountains of Appalachia. Although I write articles, I pray that my work is never construed as "teaching," but rather as something to stimulate your own thinking which should be in harmony with the Holy Spirit. God is your teacher, not me. You are responsible for whatever you choose to believe; I am but a mere catalyst. Always be skeptical of my theses and check them out for yourself; then your convictions belong to you and you need not credit me or any other person for what you believe. My heart is warmed that you have read this far. I pray the Spirit of God might guide you along your own path homeward.
Roger Hathaway, May 31, 2009