ON LOVE; PART MCCCXXXI
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
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We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the relationship between the Apostle Paul’s caution against the idea of mythos which IS rendered as fables in his letters to both Timothy and Titus. While his words ARE seemingly directed at the use of Jewish fables, or, better, men’s belief that such ARE True, the apostle DOES NOT tell us just what such fables may be. From the perspective of the new religion, Christianity, being introduced, we can presume that his direction IS against those teachings that ARE based in the traditions of men. If however we can see the way that some parts of these teachings ARE in regard to the fantastical Old Testament stories that push forward the barbaric and superstitious ways of the Jews from Abraham’s time to the reign of the kings and understand how this barbarism and superstition ARE laid at the feet of the Lord, perhaps we can understand that the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob IS NOT that barbarous being who directs the slaughter of entire groups of people. These however ARE NOT the ONLY fantastical ideas presented, there ARE also the seemingly impossible miracles which ARE condensed into a few words, miracles that show forth the Power of God in ways that may have been plausible to the barbarous and superstitious people of the day but which, at the same time, ARE NOT so plausible to the thinking man of today save for those that can accept such ideas based in their nebulous Christian or Jewish sense of faith. To the thinking man the exodus of the Jews from Egypt presents several logistical problems both related to the sheer number of people that ARE involved and the ideas presented as fact regarding the Egyptian’ pursuit. Can we imagine a column of just one million persons crossing the sea and the time that it would take and measure this against the story of the Egyptian’s pursuit? After the exodus the stories become ever more fantastical to the thinking man and involve the way of the Jews, millions of them, for forty years in the desert being fed by ‘manna’ falling from the sky; the logistical problems here range from food and water to the latrines which according to Deuteronomy were to be outside the camp. In this scenario those located at the center of the camp would have to travel more than a mile, some calculate this as two and a half miles, to use the bathroom. An interesting view of the exodus can be found at https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-interpretation/how-many-came-out-of-the-exodus-of-egypt.htm in an article from The Ancient Hebrew Research Center. Again such stories can easily seen in terms of the mythos that Paul presents and while we DO NOT KNOW that this IS his reference, it IS easy to see how that such ideas must be accepted on faith while, in reality, they make little difference to the Christian walk according to the teachings of the Master. There ARE more fantastical stories beginning with the Tower of Babel and moving through such ideas as Gideon’s war and to perhaps the most fantastical story of ALL from the Book of Joshua where we read that “the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13). Add to this the words of the Prophet Isaiah regarding a similar idea as he speaks for the Lord saying “this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down” (Isaiah 38:7-8).
While such stories may be the basis of Paul’s caution against “Jewish fables“, his deeper meaning should be understood in terms of a caution against allowing such mythos to permeate the new religion that IS based in the teachings and the example of the Master. Paul writes to Timothy that he should “refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7) which should be understood as to refuse any carnal, self-indulging ideas and to give himself to focus upon the Truth and this same idea IS offered earlier as Paul says “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do” (1 Timothy 1:4). Through this latter reference to “endless genealogies” we should be able to see how that the text of the Jews’ history IS the likely subject, a history that IS filled with such “endless genealogies” which ARE also become a part of the writings of two of the synoptic writers of the New Testament. We should see here that the genealogies presented by Matthew and Luke DO indeed “minister questions” as they differ in perspective and content. These genealogies ARE likely intended for the Jew whose view of lineage IS an important part of understanding the relationship of Jesus to the patriarchs of their religion; and, while this has been made an important part of some Christian doctrine, the reality IS that such genealogies ARE meaningless in regard to the Soul. This IS much like today’s interest in ancestry which can ONLY tell us of the complex relationships of our bodies to men and women that lived before us; this may make one proud to be a descendant of some famous figure but, save for DNA traits and perhaps some level of satisfaction, this knowledge IS meaningless. Saying this we should add that we DO NOT KNOW what parts of the New Testament ARE also fables or embellishments by the writers of the gospels and the epistles but what we can say with some certainty IS that the doctrinal view of many ideas from the New Testament ARE a part of what Paul cautions against. Among these doctrinal views ARE the very ideas that we write against, the doctrinal ideas of rites and rituals, of affirmations and confessions of faith and of the fantastical ideas gleaned from the many interpretations of some of Jesus words regarding what IS understood as His return and the writings of His apostles that ARE deemed to be about the end times. Such fixation upon such ideas as eschatology ARE indeed among those that DO “minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith“; here the common idea of edifying IS NOT the intent which Vincent shows us saying: the correct reading is οἰκονομίαν ordering or dispensation: the scheme or order of salvation devised and administered by God 4. We should note here that Vincent’s idea of an order of salvation devised and administered by God IS likely according to his own doctrinal bent which itself may be fostered in Christian fables and doctrinal ‘certainties’ which ARE NOT founded in Jesus’ words of Truth and Love.
While we CAN NOT consider ALL New Testament ideas that ARE NOT soundly based in the teaching of the Master as fables, we can consider His words as Truth. It IS the interpretations of men, their ofttimes erroneous interpretations of those things that ARE presented as mysteries, that ARE become the fables of Christianity and we should note here that what one denomination may consider as Truth another will consider as false or, in Paul’s terms, as fables. We should consider here as well that the fables of both the New and the Old Testaments ARE most ALL based in some Truthful story or event that has been misconstrued into a doctrinal idea and precept, We should also try to see and understand that such mythos ARE founded in the carnal minds of men and then taught as fact in a religious scenario where those who DO NOT believe have their faith questioned. The first fable of note that IS more believed by the Christian than by the Jew IS the creation story that IS read into doctrine from those few words in the Book of Genesis. Most ALL Christian doctrine has taken these few words literally and many ascribe the timeline discerned from the “endless genealogies” as the reality of the age of the Earth and its civilizations; and this in stark contrast to the theories and facts of science. There ARE many, some scientists included, who spend their time efforting to define the age of the Earth and the Universe in terms of the Genesis narrative creating a counter-science that involves theories regarding Noah’s flood, the general nature of the Earth’s geologic formations and ALL that has to DO with Darwin’s theories of evolution. Here we should try to see the ultimate reality of the caution offered by Paul regarding “fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions” and understand that from a Truly Christian perspective NONE of this should really matter. Such fables have become so real for some denominations and sects that the Creation Science view IS taught in many Christian schools and many ARE pushing for this pseudo-science to be taught at secular schools as well, often under the guise of ‘intelligent design’. Much of the Christian problem IS based in the Christian belief that the bible IS the inerrant, infallible Word of God and therefore CAN NOT be wrong. This view however fails to consider the intent with which the creation story of Genesis IS written and fails to see that the Christian view fails to recognize that the doctrines of men contain but interpretations of that intent. We often quote Alexander Maclaren when discussing the creation story. Mr. Maclaren was an English non-conformist minister whose more than 1500 expository sermons include an analysis of the creation story; he writes that: We are not to look to Genesis for a scientific cosmogony, and are not to be disturbed by physicists’ criticisms on it as such. Its purpose is quite another, and far more important; namely, to imprint deep and ineffaceable the conviction that the one God created all things. Nor must it be forgotten that this vision of creation was given to people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry 12.
If we can understand that the creation story IS first, as Mr. Maclaren tells us, to show forth the reality that the one God created all things and second IS written for men whose level of understanding needed to be fed in simplistic terms at a time when there was NO scientific theory, perhaps we can then see as well that NONE of this matters in the reality of the Christian religion. Other religions, the Buddhist and Hindu for example, have an entirely different approach to the cosmogenesis of the Universe which IS measured in a series of Kalpas which term itself means ‘a relatively long period of time’. In the end we DO NOT KNOW the age of the Universe or of the Earth but there ARE some esoteric pointers which, while themselves ARE perhaps fables based in some measure of Truth, can show us that what we can see in this Earth IS NOT the whole story. Such ancient civilizations as Atlantis, Lemuria and Rama ARE relegated to legends and myths but the Truth IS that we DO NOT KNOW where Truth and fable begin and end any more than we can accurately explain the way the the pyramids at Gaza were constructed. But millions upon millions of Christians ARE taught to believe in the literal Genesis story which IS ever in contradiction to scientific theory and there ARE many who will question the faith of those who DO NOT believe that they have descended from Adam and Eve through Noah and his family and that their lives here on Earth, lives that ARE born in vanity, in the illusions and glamours of Life, ARE separated from God because the first couple ate from the ‘forbidden’ tree. These millions upon millions DO NOT see the idea of mythos, of the fables and myths, which cloud their minds and pose as the Truth; these DO NOT see that it IS simply the vanity, the separation of the mind and emotions from the reality that IS the True Life of the Soul in form. Paul tells Titus later in his epistle that “being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject” (Titus 3:7-10). The doctrines of men however have distorted this idea of heretic and have made it pertain to the doctrines of men rather than the Truth by which men will “be careful to maintain good works“. The church today IS filled with “foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law” and this both inter and intra-denominational. There IS but One Truth and it IS this that the Master presents and His apostles amplify and clarify and confirm in their words which have been hijacked to the profit of men who see their ‘salvation‘ in their doctrines; doctrines about which the Master would say “in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). While the church ever sees themselves on the right side of the Jesus words and the words of His apostles, they fail to understand that such words as above ARE NOT meant ONLY for the Jew but for ALL as Paul shows us in these words which ARE also to Titus; the apostle says that he should teach such things that ARE “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Titus 1:14). While these words ARE written against a particular group of people at the time, we should try to see the relationship to the church over the centuries and yet today where self-serving doctrines which “shut up the kingdom of heaven against men” ofttimes prevail (Matthew 23:13). While it IS NOT possible to discern just what the apostle means as he speaks about Jewish fables, it IS rather certain that the doctrinal ideas of the church, ideas of ‘salvation‘ and righteousness and the Presence of God in some form in one’s Life (Jesus, the Holy Spirit, etc.) without following the criteria clearly shown us by the Master DO “turn from the truth” and ARE the same as those “commandments of men” about with Jesus and Paul speak.
In the end it IS up to every individual to believe whatsoever he will and we should understand that what one Truly believes DOES NOT necessarily show forth in his outward expression. And it IS this that the Truth gained in keeping His words allows: that one’s outer expression becomes one’s Truth, centered in agape and expressed equally to ALL in understanding that the state of everyman IS the same as himself. This understanding IS based in the Truth that “shall make you free“; this understanding KNOWS the reality of the Kingdom of God, that it IS here and now and, as the Master tells us saying that “the kingdom of God is within you“. This understanding KNOWS that the ONLY way to Truly have realization of the God Within, the Christ Within, and the activity of the Holy Spirit in one’s Life IS framed for us in Jesus words from our trifecta where it IS clear that such comes to the man who DOES Truly Love God and the Christ and that the way that this Love IS NOT just a feigned Love IS in keeping His words. Men DO NOT realize that their professions of Love ARE but a pretense and while such feigned Love may NOT be intentional it IS nonetheless a deception; the same self-deception of which James tells us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Jesus tells us “If ye love me, keep my commandments” and in the context that He uses these words we should see that He IS telling us that this IS the Way to having the Presence of the Comforter. His context IS clear as He says “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:14-17). We should note here that the Master’s words lean toward saying that while these disciples already have the Holy Spirit, that “he dwelleth with you“, they, through keeping His words, will have that realization that He “shall be in you” which IS rendered by some as “is in you“. The alternative here IS that the Holy Spirit is in the area if you will and “shall be in you” but this makes as little sense as understanding Jesus’ words saying “the kingdom of God is within you” as that the Kingdom IS among you as many doctrinal authorities insist. These ideas ARE put into force by the doctrinal interpretations of men, interpretations that are better suited to their pre-conceived doctrinal assertions which ARE but the ‘fables‘ of religion. Jesus makes this clear in His following words that form the third part of our trifecta where he tells us, using the same word idea from meno and its derivative mone, which ARE best understood in terms of abiding. If we can see His intent as saying that “he dwelleth abideth with you“, we can see how that His words show that these disciples already have the Holy Spirit but may NOT have such realization. We should understand here as well that this IS a new approach to the Presence of God and one that, through their questions, we can see that they DO NOT understand. Jesus goes on to show them the Universal idea of God, of the Godhead if you will, as he interjects Himself into this idea of the Holy Spirit saying “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” and here, despite the doctrinal assertions, the Master IS telling us that He and the Holy Spirit ARE One, NOT as Jesus per se but as the Christ, the anointed of God. We should see this in Jesus’ continuing words where we read that “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:18, 20) and understand this in two ways; first that the day IS explained in the previous verse as when He leaves them as a man in this Earth and second as the expressed Universality of the Godhead which combined with “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” shows us that the Trinity IS One. Jesus goes on then to further explain what we read in the third part of our trifecta which we repeat saying:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him . He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
We should note here the continued lack of understanding as His disciples continue to ask questions regarding this newly revealed Universal idea of God, an idea that He continues to expound in His words that follow; including those on the Vine and the branches, His further teaching on the Holy Spirit and His relationship to the Father who we must understand as Jesus shows us saying “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). Doctrines however DO NOT agree with these ideas as they ARE contrary to their conception of the Trinity as ‘three distinct individuals – God the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit’. There IS NO scriptural basis for this doctrinal view which likely begins as an effort by men to understand such spiritual ideas through a carnal mind and ends with centuries of Christian teachings through which this view has become an accepted Truth for most. Again, we should try to see the idea that Paul presents to Timothy and Titus, the idea of fables, continuing into the Christian era and taking root as Truth and fact based on the assumed authority of those who led and lead the church. In our trifecta, in the third part specifically, we see the combined idea of the Father and the Son becoming the Presence of God in the Life of everyman who will keep His words and while this IS clearly stated, doctrines accept neither the idea of the Oneness of the Father and the Son nor the reality that the Way to this Presence IS found in keeping His words. Here we have perhaps the most important fable: the doctrinal idea that IS the accepted Truth of most ALL of the Protestant division of the church, that it IS by confessions and affirmations of Christ as one’s personal savior that this Presence comes and this regardless of Jesus’ own words that show us the True Way. Can we see the point here? And can we see how that the rites and rituals obsessed about by other divisions of the Christ ARE also but men’s formulated ideas of ‘salvation‘, ideas that fall far short of the singular idea of keeping His words which IS ever tied to agape by Jesus and His apostles? Much of the doctrinal problem IS in the failure, from the beginnings of the church, to distinguish between the man Jesus and the reality of His anointing which IS the Christ. Paul tells us that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); here the apostle IS speaking of Jesus the man in whom dwelleth or abideth that fullness which IS the Christ. This we should see through Jesus’ words saying to His disciples that “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:11) and, again, we should see how that they DO NOT understand His words as they continue to ask Him questions regarding such things. We should see the relationship of this Oneness also in His earlier words saying that “I and my Father are one” at which words “the Jews took up stones again to stone him”
(John 10:30-31). While we see these as clear indicators of the Oneness of the Father and the Son, the church sees them differently as evidenced by John Gill’s commentary on this saying of Oneness; Mr. Gill says that this IS: Not in person, for the Father must be a distinct person from the Son, and the Son a distinct person from the Father . Again we have carnal principals trying to explain spiritual ideas. While Jesus and His apostles continue to show us a Truth that doctrines DO NOT support, they also show us how it IS that we can become as Jesus, as a man in this world in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” or how, as we strive toward this glory, we find some measure of the Truth and the realization of His Presence. In our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans we have such direction to Christhood through the subjection of the mortal body to the Will of the Soul, the Christ and the God Within; we read again:
“they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope, Becauseexpectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:5:23).
Can we see the point here as Paul instructs us on Christhood and at the same time tries to show us how that it IS the vanity, the illusions and the glamours of Life that keep us from the Truth which IS further hidden from view by those who have been “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). As we have said throughout our posts; while the church DOES keep the focus of many somewhat on the idea of God, they DO as the same time keep many from the Truths that they refuse to see or even entertain as alternatives to their own fabricated ideas that pose as Truth; ideas that vary greatly between denominations and sects, between the divisions of the One Christ. Paul’s instructions here ARE rather clear but they ARE overlooked by doctrines that teach that in the rites and the rituals, in the affirmations and confessions, such ideas as “ye have received the Spirit of adoption” ARE declared imputed into the Life of the doctrinal believer. But IS this NOT yet another fable created by men for their own comfort in much the same way as the Jews contorted Moses words to their own comfort where through sacrifice, keeping the sabbath and other Jewish rites atonement was imputed as righteousness was imputed to Abraham. Moses gave the Jews the laws of God but intermixed these with laws of men and while the intent of the latter was to control a barbarous and superstitious nation, both the laws of God and the laws of men became one mitzvah which has evolved into the Judaism of today. What part of ALL this IS specifically referenced by Paul in his writing on fables IS difficult to Truly discern and impossible to see when one IS bound by the resulting doctrines. In the end we should lean on the positive aspects in order to discern the Truth. Paul tells us “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do” (1 Timothy 1:4) yet we still do the former while our relying upon such things that lead to “godly edifying which is in faith” ARE ofttimes ignored. Should we practice what Paul preaches here we would ignore so much of what has become important to the church. Similarly Paul’s words to Titus saying “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Titus 1:14) should show us how that ALL such fables and ALL such “commandments of men” DO “turn from the truth” yet such ARE become the mainstay of Christian doctrinal teachings which keep men bound to their vanity which IS their “bondage of corruption” from which keeping His words will set themfree.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
