Religion the opiate of the masses! A man made patriarchal concept where they slaughtered people, burned women, and all for indoctrination into control. Religion for control is the real evil in this world.
It's also revealing that the moment you are critical of Christianity, people dredge up the stuff Christ said that's actually good. But when you leave them to their own devices, they're deporting immigrants and indulging in hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community.
It didn't take me 50 years to get here, but it did take decades to deconstruct from Christianity and I'm still not an atheist, but I no longer presume to know the mind of "God".
And thank god for that. I was insufferable just like the evangelicals and Bible scholars that are causing us so much harm today.
They haven't changed their tactics at all. It's still the same "I speak for God" bs that gives them a path to the power and control they lust for.
That's exactly it. The people who use "god" as a shield that allows them to make terrible grabs for power. That's the issue we have to talk about. Authoritarianism in any form must be denounced. I think this is the key to forging a more humane world.
Thank you very much! If you have conversations that are inspired by this article, please share them with me. We have to forge a better world and questioning the teaching of Christ is part of that journey.
If he's right, nobody should object to our questioning him.
To me, there is absolutely an equivalence between strict religious fundamentalism and the same kind political philosophy. They are both extreme in their dedication to dominance, oppression, intolerance, and destruction of any who oppose their narrow definitions.
Walter you are spot on describing American Christian nationalism.
But not all believers in God are ACN, in fact believers need to reject that teaching, I do. I know and believe in God, I never stopped believing my faith is my foundation in everything. ACN has never regained footing since COVID. People just didn’t go back to church, I didn’t. But my relationship with God didn’t change in fact I believe it has only gotten better. I also believe churches should be taxed on the income the church receives (in the name of God 😳) if it isn’t used for helping people. They claim to be not for profit but come on. If you have a private jet at your disposal you are not entitled to a tax cut.
My position is the idea of the divine in human form is corrupting. I don’t feel it matters if it’s Christian nationalism. I think it ends in bad results no matter who embraces it. I think it’s important that we have courteous discussions on the merits of this idea. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
I agree, there was only One that was divine in human form and walked the earth sinless and the current president is none of that.
I get it that not everyone believes as I do but just to have a conversation without being rude is almost nonexistent these days on social media platform. It is good to have place where you feel safe expressing yourself.
As for me, I don't think anyone was divine, and I think we are all sinless.
The problem is that when we pretend there is a thing called "sin" it's used to "other" people. That's how we got racism and white supremacy. So I feel it's important to challenge these ideas. Thanks for your courteous comments!
Authoritarians, whether kings, oligarchs, and fascists, have known that to ensure obedience from the people, they must be the allies of the dominant religion. Political science 101, straight out of Machiavelli. Without organized religious support, it would be difficult to stay in power.
I spent most of my childhood in a country ruled by oligarchs. The rules did not apply to them. If they overstepped with the other privileged, they could pay the bribes to ensure their evil deeds could continue with impunity. They owned the government. It was capitalism and greed in all its glory.
The church “helped” the poorest by keeping starvation at bay, while aligning themselves with the powerful rich. Occasionally, some church mavericks, primarily nuns and an exceptional bishop, spoke up for change and were murdered. People dreamed of migrating to better places. I was lucky. I got out.
there are so many good points here. I hate to quarrel with the few with which I don't agree . And indeed the horrific usage of Christ as a kind of model for fascism goes wayyy back to ancient Rome, except in some quarters of America today it is may even be worse. Hindus believe Krishna was the divine in human form, and there are varieties of Hinduism (mainly confined to India) which are very authoritarian. (Whatever else you think of America's Hare Krishna crowd, they are not especially authoritarian.)
However, sometimes Jewish rabbis are much better interpreters of Jesus than Christians.
Translating the Hebrew word chata" (חָטָא), as "sin" is really dreadful. The word really means the ordinary garden variety screw-ups that everybody does, but do NOT involve an interior corruption of character. It is derived from an archery term to miss the target. By contrast, the Hebrew word Râshâ‛ (רָשָׁע) implies an interior corruption of character in a way that "chata" does not. This word is usually translated as "wicked". In Hebrew, the difference between chata and Rasha is enormous. In English the difference between sin and wickedness is not so great.
Ah did she? I gave her a chance but then she started to get unhinged. I have to spare my readers from that kind of abusive language. It's comical that she went to your profile to complain.
My parents were pagan Walter. They advised their children to go outdoors if we wanted to experience the divine. I've found that to be true my entire life. Nature is an excellent teacher of what works and what doesn't.
Humans continue with their blinders and refuse to recognize climate change. Their false belief doesn't mean their house won't burn in a wildfire or God will descend and mysteriously save them. I've experienced spiritual immersions and initiations. None of them had anything to do with religion. They were all sourced through light and sound.
I understand our human need for deeper connections. It's challenging to find it in any religion due to human distortions. I agree that religion has been used through the ages to manipulate and control the masses. For that very reason I've consistently sought my own counsel. It's saved me from a lot of shame and blame. Excellent article!
Jesus overturned the table of the money changers in the Temple. Some would call that an aggressive and angry action, but it was an act of being offended by materialism of those people and of those who perverted the truths he knew and taught about God. It comes naturally to defend what is so good and right! What you perceive as anger is no different than the people protesting against this terrible presidency today. Thousands of angry aggressive people are storming into their government centers now demanding their rights and freedoms. Contradictory, are the passive Russians allow that monster Putin who invaded his peaceful neighbors killing tjem by the thousands. Some battles are righteous and necessary. We had to stop Hitler in another act of aggression with self righteous anger. That is a Christian act to have, when laying down our swords and turning them into plowshares is not agreed to by those who would kill. I have no doubt Jesus could do that and that would be our goal, but to let evil run rough shod over us is not Christian.
War and killing evil people is not a Christain act. War and killing is never righteous.
Jesus died rather than kill.
Christians were pacifists in the beginning.
What you are saying is the same hatred and vengeance attitude that fueled the crusades and the murder of hundreds of millions on non-catholic people during the Dark Ages.
Only a person with evil in their heart can believe that Jesus could sanction war and killing.
And this tells me all I need to know about you.
50 years of daily learning and this is what that produced?
God murdered the entire planet that "He" called "good".
How can God do something so childish and trumplike?
God commanded the Israelites to murder everyone in many different villages and cities except for the virgins and told the men to keep them.
How is that "God" a righteous God?
Can you even explain that after all these tens of thousands of days of study that you just couldn't resist bragging about?
A good writer knows their subject, yet you are just spouting the same old blind beliefs in these outrageously violent stories as if they were describing perfectly rational behaviors.
They are not.
There is nothing rational or scientific about God losing his patience and killing every single baby and innocent animal on the planet.
Until you can answer how a loving God is incapable of keeping his emotional responses under control and not committing murder, then you have nothing to offer the conversation at all. No matter how important you think your study is or how much you living this religious life has helped so many people.
Until you can explain to us how an all-powerful loving God can allow the eternal burning-alive torture of the majority of his children, then you have absolutely nothing to offer anyone, except fear and torment.
And don't try to tell us that same tired excuse that God doesn't put anyone in hell, we're not buying that lie.
He's either all-powerful and doesn't care to fix it all the way, or he's not powerful enough to fix it.
And no, Jesus dying and being resurrected is not a real cure for sin if it's a transactional offer and not a done deal for everyone, so miss us with all that too.
And before you start typing out how I'm an atheist too, I'll save you the trouble and let you know that I've been a Christian for over forty years.
The difference between me and you, Jill, is that I don't believe that God flooded the earth, and I don't believe that God needs defending from perfectly reasonable ideas like the ones Walter shares in his writing.
I don't believe in a weak male deity that may or may not smite you for being gay, eating lobster or wearing mixed-fabric clothing.
And, I don't think God is concerned whether or not everyone or anyone believes in them.
I don't believe in Hell, and I don't believe it matters what we believe because we are all ignorant of 99.999999999% of everything about ourselves and our universe, and we sure do not understand a being who could create universes.
And, I don't care if someone is an atheist, because it does not matter.
It doesn't matter to me, so why would God care?
Is God more insecure than I am?
It's all so pointless to argue when we know nothing at all.
And I certainly do not give credit to the sheepherders, politicians and religious leaders who wrote the Torah because they didn't even understand where the sun went at night.
Their thoughts were inspired by the same thoughts that inspire all of us, some great, most ridiculous.
You though are a Facebook arguer. You are an arguer here when you could have just simply disagreed and moved on.
But all your decades of study have taught you nothing about grace and letting things be.
All you want to do is argue and that is always a sign of a person who is not convinced of their beliefs.
You talk like you know all about it, but the fact that you can't walk away proves the real truth.
And that is, you really don't believe that God loves the world.
You don't believe that God is all-powerful because you feel the need to champion what you THINK is what God wants or said, all based on words of man.
That's delusional thinking and you are in error. Just like the evangelicals that are in power today.
God if a principle and mental source omnipresent but not a finite mind. The New Testament goes beyond the God of vengeance. While establishes laws of morality, its interpretation is flawed. God as a principle or mind is a perfect source and cannot even know or originate evil. All evil is a lack of knowing God. Jesus was a man but as a chosen individual man he understood man’s oneness with God. He used Father often saying I and my Father are one. One in quality but not in quantity. Gid is the infinite good and there can be but one infinite.
Unfortunately, Walter, it has always been that way. Christianity was institutionalized by the Romans in the early 300s as the Roman Catholic Church. From that point on it was not about helping anyone other than those in power and the wealthy. Check out the history of the Roman Empire from 300 to 330 - and the work of Constantine and Sylvester. The ugliness has 1,700 years of history behind it. All of institutionalized Christianity has its true roots in the Roman Empire’s plan to dominate the common people.
I haven't seen anyone discuss the idea that the model of the divine in human form is corrupting. I think it's useful for us to have that discussion.
There will initially be a lot of resistance to even thinking the idea, but if we persist, people will start to discuss it rationally.
But it doesn't help us to say things like "it's always been that way." What I'm discussing is something new. Help me gain momentum for engaging with Christianity this way. Thanks!
Jesus was the most scientific man the world knew. He set aside physics to walk on water, to move instantaneously to the other side of the Galilean Sea. He healed thousands of people which is documented in many local traditions not just by his disciples. He rose from swaggering and moved a boulder from his grave-cave after three days of death. He appeared for a month at random times to his disciples before rising above their perception. There was no body to bury. He was teaching us that there is no death; but continuing life beyond the perception of the senses. To say he was God is inaccurate theology. God I’d spirit and truth and love.l - essentially perfect mind. We ate creations of this God or divine mind. We ate each individual manifestations or displays of this mind. There are infinite ways God is displayed, but each of us is of the same qualities. We need the perfect understanding for us to grow. Jesus knew. What he knew made him our wayshower. This is a role model for life - morally, spiritually and on every human level. But the foundation of Christianity was Judaism. Abraham gave us one God, Moses gave us moral law and the Torah or Old Testament gave us laws for life. Jesus simply lead us further. All that I felt lead to comment on was the denigration of these teachings . There is no need to criticize one another for our individual faults nor need to point out how some have carried on evil crusades and white supremacy in their usurpations on these teachings. This goes on with every religion. I am just defending what I hold so deeply true and know there are millions like me who share this message, that leading a life of Christian learning can heal and bless and enlighten and I say that this has been my experience for over 50 years. Yes, I’m imperfect, but there are many people whose lives are blessed by my own life lived in this way.
Jesus understanding of substance as mental is only now being matched by quantum physics . Read Donald Hoffman today as an explanation of the next level beyond even quantum mechanics. Jesus had this knowledge instinctively two thousand years ago. His demonstrations were manifold.
What would you need for proof? They didn’t have social media and Substack in those days. There are local traditions to support his demonstration and the writings of Bible scholars reveal these things. But the science of his teachings of God have always been with us. No differently than any science. The understanding was present before it was known. A scientist doesn’t invent, he uncovers. There was always gravity. This is no different.
I am totally with you Walter. I hope we can do exactly what you have in mind. I am just saying that this is not something new and will require an historical perspective to formulate an argument against our current situation. Otherwise we are tilting at windmills. They are too entrenched.
Yes, the problem is not new, but my argument is. Everybody always says, "go back to the teachings of christ" or "the evildoers are not real christians."
I propose that we go beyond that argument and urge people to question the validity of Christ's teachings. That's new. Nobody does that. Try it and let me know what kind of results you get.
I actually try to promote a humanist alternative that does not rely on the “Devine” - a great number of us live by the following commitments to one another:
Religion the opiate of the masses! A man made patriarchal concept where they slaughtered people, burned women, and all for indoctrination into control. Religion for control is the real evil in this world.
Absolutely. Christianity also happens to be the origin of white supremacy. https://walterrhein.substack.com/p/ask-yourself-why-you-were-never-taught
Thank you 🙏 this is all so true! All from a man that held bible upside down and failed to put hand on bible when being sworn in. This is a beast!
I agree.
How do we the people get rid of organized crime?
Vote for progressives. Give a seat of power to Jasmine Crockett. She wouldn't put up with any of the bullshit that's going on today.
We need more Jasmines but there are 2 races in FL Apr 1 that might help
90% of Christians in this country have no idea of his teachings." Love the Lord thy God, love thy neighbor as thyself."
All else is window dressing and fuel for corruption
It's also revealing that the moment you are critical of Christianity, people dredge up the stuff Christ said that's actually good. But when you leave them to their own devices, they're deporting immigrants and indulging in hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community.
Well written as always Walter.
It didn't take me 50 years to get here, but it did take decades to deconstruct from Christianity and I'm still not an atheist, but I no longer presume to know the mind of "God".
And thank god for that. I was insufferable just like the evangelicals and Bible scholars that are causing us so much harm today.
They haven't changed their tactics at all. It's still the same "I speak for God" bs that gives them a path to the power and control they lust for.
That's exactly it. The people who use "god" as a shield that allows them to make terrible grabs for power. That's the issue we have to talk about. Authoritarianism in any form must be denounced. I think this is the key to forging a more humane world.
Brilliant
This is one of the best articles I’ve read concerning the Christian faith (really all of them). I’m a former Catholic. This one’s a keeper!
Thank you very much! If you have conversations that are inspired by this article, please share them with me. We have to forge a better world and questioning the teaching of Christ is part of that journey.
If he's right, nobody should object to our questioning him.
To me, there is absolutely an equivalence between strict religious fundamentalism and the same kind political philosophy. They are both extreme in their dedication to dominance, oppression, intolerance, and destruction of any who oppose their narrow definitions.
I agree with that too. Christianity is the model for fascism, and we won't defeat fascism until we defeat Christianity.
nicely writen. This cult is a danger to humanity, like all cults.
Walter you are spot on describing American Christian nationalism.
But not all believers in God are ACN, in fact believers need to reject that teaching, I do. I know and believe in God, I never stopped believing my faith is my foundation in everything. ACN has never regained footing since COVID. People just didn’t go back to church, I didn’t. But my relationship with God didn’t change in fact I believe it has only gotten better. I also believe churches should be taxed on the income the church receives (in the name of God 😳) if it isn’t used for helping people. They claim to be not for profit but come on. If you have a private jet at your disposal you are not entitled to a tax cut.
My position is the idea of the divine in human form is corrupting. I don’t feel it matters if it’s Christian nationalism. I think it ends in bad results no matter who embraces it. I think it’s important that we have courteous discussions on the merits of this idea. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
I agree, there was only One that was divine in human form and walked the earth sinless and the current president is none of that.
I get it that not everyone believes as I do but just to have a conversation without being rude is almost nonexistent these days on social media platform. It is good to have place where you feel safe expressing yourself.
Thanks for the courteous discussion.
As for me, I don't think anyone was divine, and I think we are all sinless.
The problem is that when we pretend there is a thing called "sin" it's used to "other" people. That's how we got racism and white supremacy. So I feel it's important to challenge these ideas. Thanks for your courteous comments!
Agreed!
Authoritarians, whether kings, oligarchs, and fascists, have known that to ensure obedience from the people, they must be the allies of the dominant religion. Political science 101, straight out of Machiavelli. Without organized religious support, it would be difficult to stay in power.
therefore… religion is fascism
I spent most of my childhood in a country ruled by oligarchs. The rules did not apply to them. If they overstepped with the other privileged, they could pay the bribes to ensure their evil deeds could continue with impunity. They owned the government. It was capitalism and greed in all its glory.
The church “helped” the poorest by keeping starvation at bay, while aligning themselves with the powerful rich. Occasionally, some church mavericks, primarily nuns and an exceptional bishop, spoke up for change and were murdered. People dreamed of migrating to better places. I was lucky. I got out.
Now I see the USA turning into that country.
there are so many good points here. I hate to quarrel with the few with which I don't agree . And indeed the horrific usage of Christ as a kind of model for fascism goes wayyy back to ancient Rome, except in some quarters of America today it is may even be worse. Hindus believe Krishna was the divine in human form, and there are varieties of Hinduism (mainly confined to India) which are very authoritarian. (Whatever else you think of America's Hare Krishna crowd, they are not especially authoritarian.)
However, sometimes Jewish rabbis are much better interpreters of Jesus than Christians.
Translating the Hebrew word chata" (חָטָא), as "sin" is really dreadful. The word really means the ordinary garden variety screw-ups that everybody does, but do NOT involve an interior corruption of character. It is derived from an archery term to miss the target. By contrast, the Hebrew word Râshâ‛ (רָשָׁע) implies an interior corruption of character in a way that "chata" does not. This word is usually translated as "wicked". In Hebrew, the difference between chata and Rasha is enormous. In English the difference between sin and wickedness is not so great.
She came over and started her BS on my post too. Whining about not being able to 'defend Christianity'. Now she's blocked by two people.
Don't stop now Jill, there's plenty more people you can argue with. #PersistentIgnorance
Ah did she? I gave her a chance but then she started to get unhinged. I have to spare my readers from that kind of abusive language. It's comical that she went to your profile to complain.
My parents were pagan Walter. They advised their children to go outdoors if we wanted to experience the divine. I've found that to be true my entire life. Nature is an excellent teacher of what works and what doesn't.
Humans continue with their blinders and refuse to recognize climate change. Their false belief doesn't mean their house won't burn in a wildfire or God will descend and mysteriously save them. I've experienced spiritual immersions and initiations. None of them had anything to do with religion. They were all sourced through light and sound.
I understand our human need for deeper connections. It's challenging to find it in any religion due to human distortions. I agree that religion has been used through the ages to manipulate and control the masses. For that very reason I've consistently sought my own counsel. It's saved me from a lot of shame and blame. Excellent article!
Jesus overturned the table of the money changers in the Temple. Some would call that an aggressive and angry action, but it was an act of being offended by materialism of those people and of those who perverted the truths he knew and taught about God. It comes naturally to defend what is so good and right! What you perceive as anger is no different than the people protesting against this terrible presidency today. Thousands of angry aggressive people are storming into their government centers now demanding their rights and freedoms. Contradictory, are the passive Russians allow that monster Putin who invaded his peaceful neighbors killing tjem by the thousands. Some battles are righteous and necessary. We had to stop Hitler in another act of aggression with self righteous anger. That is a Christian act to have, when laying down our swords and turning them into plowshares is not agreed to by those who would kill. I have no doubt Jesus could do that and that would be our goal, but to let evil run rough shod over us is not Christian.
You're not Jesus.
Okay, this is devolving into childishness.
War and killing evil people is not a Christain act. War and killing is never righteous.
Jesus died rather than kill.
Christians were pacifists in the beginning.
What you are saying is the same hatred and vengeance attitude that fueled the crusades and the murder of hundreds of millions on non-catholic people during the Dark Ages.
Only a person with evil in their heart can believe that Jesus could sanction war and killing.
And this tells me all I need to know about you.
50 years of daily learning and this is what that produced?
Yikes
God murdered the entire planet that "He" called "good".
How can God do something so childish and trumplike?
God commanded the Israelites to murder everyone in many different villages and cities except for the virgins and told the men to keep them.
How is that "God" a righteous God?
Can you even explain that after all these tens of thousands of days of study that you just couldn't resist bragging about?
A good writer knows their subject, yet you are just spouting the same old blind beliefs in these outrageously violent stories as if they were describing perfectly rational behaviors.
They are not.
There is nothing rational or scientific about God losing his patience and killing every single baby and innocent animal on the planet.
Until you can answer how a loving God is incapable of keeping his emotional responses under control and not committing murder, then you have nothing to offer the conversation at all. No matter how important you think your study is or how much you living this religious life has helped so many people.
Until you can explain to us how an all-powerful loving God can allow the eternal burning-alive torture of the majority of his children, then you have absolutely nothing to offer anyone, except fear and torment.
And don't try to tell us that same tired excuse that God doesn't put anyone in hell, we're not buying that lie.
He's either all-powerful and doesn't care to fix it all the way, or he's not powerful enough to fix it.
And no, Jesus dying and being resurrected is not a real cure for sin if it's a transactional offer and not a done deal for everyone, so miss us with all that too.
And before you start typing out how I'm an atheist too, I'll save you the trouble and let you know that I've been a Christian for over forty years.
The difference between me and you, Jill, is that I don't believe that God flooded the earth, and I don't believe that God needs defending from perfectly reasonable ideas like the ones Walter shares in his writing.
I don't believe in a weak male deity that may or may not smite you for being gay, eating lobster or wearing mixed-fabric clothing.
And, I don't think God is concerned whether or not everyone or anyone believes in them.
I don't believe in Hell, and I don't believe it matters what we believe because we are all ignorant of 99.999999999% of everything about ourselves and our universe, and we sure do not understand a being who could create universes.
And, I don't care if someone is an atheist, because it does not matter.
It doesn't matter to me, so why would God care?
Is God more insecure than I am?
It's all so pointless to argue when we know nothing at all.
And I certainly do not give credit to the sheepherders, politicians and religious leaders who wrote the Torah because they didn't even understand where the sun went at night.
Their thoughts were inspired by the same thoughts that inspire all of us, some great, most ridiculous.
You though are a Facebook arguer. You are an arguer here when you could have just simply disagreed and moved on.
But all your decades of study have taught you nothing about grace and letting things be.
All you want to do is argue and that is always a sign of a person who is not convinced of their beliefs.
You talk like you know all about it, but the fact that you can't walk away proves the real truth.
And that is, you really don't believe that God loves the world.
You don't believe that God is all-powerful because you feel the need to champion what you THINK is what God wants or said, all based on words of man.
That's delusional thinking and you are in error. Just like the evangelicals that are in power today.
You are unfortunately on that team.
And that makes my heart heavy.
God if a principle and mental source omnipresent but not a finite mind. The New Testament goes beyond the God of vengeance. While establishes laws of morality, its interpretation is flawed. God as a principle or mind is a perfect source and cannot even know or originate evil. All evil is a lack of knowing God. Jesus was a man but as a chosen individual man he understood man’s oneness with God. He used Father often saying I and my Father are one. One in quality but not in quantity. Gid is the infinite good and there can be but one infinite.
Unfortunately, Walter, it has always been that way. Christianity was institutionalized by the Romans in the early 300s as the Roman Catholic Church. From that point on it was not about helping anyone other than those in power and the wealthy. Check out the history of the Roman Empire from 300 to 330 - and the work of Constantine and Sylvester. The ugliness has 1,700 years of history behind it. All of institutionalized Christianity has its true roots in the Roman Empire’s plan to dominate the common people.
I haven't seen anyone discuss the idea that the model of the divine in human form is corrupting. I think it's useful for us to have that discussion.
There will initially be a lot of resistance to even thinking the idea, but if we persist, people will start to discuss it rationally.
But it doesn't help us to say things like "it's always been that way." What I'm discussing is something new. Help me gain momentum for engaging with Christianity this way. Thanks!
Jesus was the most scientific man the world knew. He set aside physics to walk on water, to move instantaneously to the other side of the Galilean Sea. He healed thousands of people which is documented in many local traditions not just by his disciples. He rose from swaggering and moved a boulder from his grave-cave after three days of death. He appeared for a month at random times to his disciples before rising above their perception. There was no body to bury. He was teaching us that there is no death; but continuing life beyond the perception of the senses. To say he was God is inaccurate theology. God I’d spirit and truth and love.l - essentially perfect mind. We ate creations of this God or divine mind. We ate each individual manifestations or displays of this mind. There are infinite ways God is displayed, but each of us is of the same qualities. We need the perfect understanding for us to grow. Jesus knew. What he knew made him our wayshower. This is a role model for life - morally, spiritually and on every human level. But the foundation of Christianity was Judaism. Abraham gave us one God, Moses gave us moral law and the Torah or Old Testament gave us laws for life. Jesus simply lead us further. All that I felt lead to comment on was the denigration of these teachings . There is no need to criticize one another for our individual faults nor need to point out how some have carried on evil crusades and white supremacy in their usurpations on these teachings. This goes on with every religion. I am just defending what I hold so deeply true and know there are millions like me who share this message, that leading a life of Christian learning can heal and bless and enlighten and I say that this has been my experience for over 50 years. Yes, I’m imperfect, but there are many people whose lives are blessed by my own life lived in this way.
Nope, your first sentence is simply not true.
Jesus understanding of substance as mental is only now being matched by quantum physics . Read Donald Hoffman today as an explanation of the next level beyond even quantum mechanics. Jesus had this knowledge instinctively two thousand years ago. His demonstrations were manifold.
There's no proof Jesus understood that.
What would you need for proof? They didn’t have social media and Substack in those days. There are local traditions to support his demonstration and the writings of Bible scholars reveal these things. But the science of his teachings of God have always been with us. No differently than any science. The understanding was present before it was known. A scientist doesn’t invent, he uncovers. There was always gravity. This is no different.
Sorry I didn’t proof read. I’m tapping this out on my tiny phone and it’s hard on my eyes.
I am totally with you Walter. I hope we can do exactly what you have in mind. I am just saying that this is not something new and will require an historical perspective to formulate an argument against our current situation. Otherwise we are tilting at windmills. They are too entrenched.
Yes, the problem is not new, but my argument is. Everybody always says, "go back to the teachings of christ" or "the evildoers are not real christians."
I propose that we go beyond that argument and urge people to question the validity of Christ's teachings. That's new. Nobody does that. Try it and let me know what kind of results you get.
Here's a good starting point for your argument: https://walterrhein.substack.com/p/people-without-sin-wouldnt-have-wanted
I actually try to promote a humanist alternative that does not rely on the “Devine” - a great number of us live by the following commitments to one another:
https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/ten-commitments/