Buddhism

Post Reply New Topic

techstep, I was thinking of beliefs like the Stoics, or in some ways Buddhism. Paul points out the big difference which is Christ and Him crucified. Paul was in touch with first hand witnesses, although I haven't checked the date he wrote that. I note you mention other beliefs with stories of death and resurrection. Yet it is Jesus Christ who make the Christian belief unique. I am just facing up to the difficult questions concerning my faith.

Christianity took it further, I'd fully agree, and I'd also consider that there's no other solar deity that you could swap Jesus out for - story per story. The hardest thing with Christianity is the historical facts. It seems like the ground-level events and the Synoptic Gospels vs. the Gospel of John and the Paulian Epistles form very different camps, and then you have James the Just who would have never considered Jesus being neoplatonized for the gentiles. Somewhere between a Jewish messianic figure and a solar logos the whole story blurs and what we're left with doesn't seem to converge well.

With my former Catholicism I tend to look at the statements of "I am the true vine", being born-again of the spirit, Paul saying that we're all member's of Christ's body, as things that strongly point to him as archetypal man, ie. Adam Kadmon taking on incarnation. I could be fudging that in favor of the new testament and that I grew up with it but that's what I'm somewhat forced to do with the figure of Jesus in my own inner life. Similarly with my own Tree of Life with the YHVH spheres of Chokmah, Binah, Tiphareth, and Malkuth, I place Christ Logos (opening of John) in Chokmah, Isis/Sophia in Binah, Jesus in Tiphareth, and incarnate Mary in Malkuth. the Y and V are deemed masculine, the H's feminine, and it seems like the most plausible extrapolation for my own beliefs. One thing of course that challenges that as the only place for Mary is going to certain churches where I see the three Mary's crowded around the base of the cross where - from the artist's rendering - its nigh impossible not to see their illustration of the three Mary's as representing the three phases of the moon or Diana-Selene-Hecate, also known as the triple-Hecate. Needless to say this stuff gets deep and slushy, and Christianity particularly Catholicism is loaded with it in the most oblique places.

I cannot comment on the Catholic faith, except as everywhere they do seem to be a mixed bunch. I don't know how much the theology refers to reality.

My fundie friends were always real about spiritual things. That changed with the Toronto Blessing, all that power when the people just seemed to want a bit of fun. I suppose fun is OK to acertain point, but I look to ther Holy Spirit to do something in my life more than my falling about laughing.

The fundies look upon Luke as a good historian, whilst John is all about doctrine. I don't feel able to argue. The death and resurrection is taken as a figure for our own lives. The old man of the flesh dies and the new man in Adam takes his place. That does depend on being filled with The Holy Spirit and then submission to The Spirit in daily life. Dancing around laughing can be a very superfical experience, but can also be good.

You mention Hecate and I just thought of Shakespeare's three witches. Maybe King James in the audience would have understood the point. My fundie friends will agree about the Catholics taking the ancient teligions onboard, from the other side of the fence. Have you see the Ingres portait of Napoleon? His robes are interesting. Do they go back to ancient Babylon, before Rome?

The fundies try to go back to the original Bible and forget the traditions. We could argure about that, but for me the issue is does doctrine enable us to love God and if God necessarily our fellow man. Without that we have lost our way completely.

Thanks Slave. I have a faith which workks at a practical level. It is not a fairy story. However, there were always questions which would never go away. Thinking about them, let alone asking questions was not acceptable. The questions increased as I got deeper into my Bible study. I feel secure in that I desire truth and that can come independently. That is the way things have been over the years.

In a way it is looking for more, with new depth.