ON LOVE; PART MCCCXXVII
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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 the Apostle Paul’s words to the Colossians regarding “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations“. This mystery IS mostly misunderstood by the doctrinal Christian who sees it in regard to God’s ‘allowing’ the gentile world to be included in His covenant with the Jews and this IS because of the way that the ideas behind the Greek word ethnos have been distorted into the doctrinal ideas of what a gentile IS. While there ARE some occasions where the classical doctrinal idea of the gentile as a NOT Jew ARE appropriate, the majority of the uses of this word ARE NOT seen clearly. Strong’s tells us that ethnos IS: probably from G1486; a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; specially, a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually, by implication, pagan) and they show the translated ideas as: Gentile, heathen, nation, people 9a. The Greek word for G1486 IS etho which IS referenced as the: Pluperfect form of etho (a defective verb) 2a which IS understood in terms of custom and habit and this gives us little help in understanding the reality of ethnos. If we can see ethnos as Strong’s idea of nation and people, the reality of the mystery can be better understood along with the universality of these ideas; this of course IS contrary to the doctrinal ideas that the mystery IS NOT available universally but ONLY to the gentile who becomes a Christian. As Paul continues he tells us that this mystery that has been hidden “now is made manifest to his saints” which brings us to another misunderstood and misused Greek word and one that IS equally misunderstood in its translations asholy and saint. We covered this word in the last post and on several occasions in the past. This word, hagios, IS restricted to such ideas as: sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint 9a by Strong’s but in common usage it IS applied to most everyone who professes to be a Christian. Here we should consider again Paul’s words to Titus regarding such professions; the apostle says that “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). In this we should be able to understand that the nature of the saint IS NOT in its common usage but should be understood as limited by Paul to be those that DO NOT “deny him” and this NOT in words but in the reality of “every good work“. Paul draws a distinction, as DOES the Master, between those who profess themselves as hagios and those that ARE become by measure “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). We should understand that the measure of a man’s actual spiritual involvement, his degree of focus upon the things of God, ARE measurable in “every good work” which idea can remain rather invisible to the outside world but which IS understood in the Life of the man whose works ARE according to Jesus’ teaching that IS the second 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, . 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).
Jesus continues his distinction between those who call Him “Lord, Lord” and those that “do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46) saying that “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:22-23). In these words we should see Paul’s words on those that “profess that they know God“; the only distinction between these sayings IS found in the way that the ideas ARE phrased. Both show us those that “call upon the name of the Lord” (Romans 10:13) in words and carnal ideas but who at the same time “do not the things which I say” or, as Matthew frames this, DOES NOT “doeth the will of my Father“. It IS DOING this Will that results in Paul’s reality of “every good work” which ARE but the expression of agape here in this world. One’s expression IS based, by measure, on the degree by which one IS Truly “led by the Spirit of God“, an idea that IS ofttimes NOT readily seen by others who CAN NOT see into another’s heart. We should understand here that the further one goes into being “led by the Spirit of God” the more personal the experience becomes and while this seems contrary to the evangelical ideas of the church, we should understand that this man’s expression IS now through a heart that KNOWS the reality of those mysteries. Mysteries that ARE difficult to express to those that ARE yet blinded by a secular Life or, worse, by their doctrines. We should understand that the expression of these mysteries IS the expression of Truth and Love that ARE the most basic reward of keeping His words by which we can come to full realization of the Truth that the Master promises in our trifecta. He tells us that we “shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“, that we can have entrance into the Kingdom of God which we should understand as here and now and that we can have His Presence through the KNOWING realization of that Presence of the Spirit which IS our own portion of the Whole that IS our God. This IS the “unction from the Holy One” by which we “know all things” (1 John 2:20). Through the mystery we come to understand that ALL men, everyman, has this unction and that for the vast majority of humanity it goes unrealized because of the focus of men upon the mundane and the carnal, the things of the self and the self in this world. It IS the mundane and the carnal that ARE focus of most ALL men; it IS these that ARE our “bondage of corruption” upon which we focus because of the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected. While doctrines separate men into religious cubbies the mystery revealed through the one’s realization of the Truth expresses a universal reality of Oneness which Jesus shows us as He tells through His prayer “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me“. We should take special note of our inclusion in this phenomenon and understand that we must overcome the doctrinal misunderstanding of the idea of “believing on” as the Master tells us “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:21, 20).
While doctrines paint ALL ‘Christians’ as “believing on” Him, they miss the reality of the words pistis and pisteuo which ARE much more than the nebulous doctrinal beliefs that have been shown us for centuries. Here we should add that the idea of the doctrines of men being “their word” IS a warped idea that IS based solely in Christian glamour. This makes doctrinal interpretations of “their word” a greater Truth through which they will ever fail to see the One Truth that IS that universal agape which IS revealed through the mysteries. This brings us again to the idea of just what “believing on” the Master should mean. In simple terms, the idea that “their word” IS the words of the myriad of church representatives that preach their doctrinal approach to the Lord IS contrary to the reality that IS presented in the gospels. This reality IS framed for us by Jesus, who tells us in the form of a rhetorical question, the most basic gospel Truth of keeping His words as He asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Here the real simplicity IS that if one IS Truly calling upon the Master as their Lord and DOES NOT keep His words, hypocrisy abounds; this IS True in the Life of everyman who DOES NOT admit this this reality. To believe that He IS Lord is an empty claim whensoever one ignores His tenets in favor of a doctrinal approach created by men. Jesus shows us this in many ways; in His rhetorical question and in the expanded view of this from the Apostle Matthew above we should see that the ONLY reality of salvation IS in keeping His words. It IS in the carnal ideas, black and white ideas to be sure, that one IS saved or NOT that men have created their doctrinal approaches to God; approaches which disregard His words and allow for carnal living under the guise of religion based on the misapplied and misconstrued words of His apostles. Jesus addresses this to the Jews saying “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7) and perhaps the greatest Christian failure over the last 2000 years IS that the same idea of “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” has never resonated in the hearts and minds of those who formulate and teach such doctrines. ALL have failed to see that these words from Jesus ARE NOT ONLY directed to the Jews but ARE a universal caution against men’s reliance upon doctrines formulated by men over the simple and direct words of the Master and the prophets and teachers before Him. Much of this failure IS based in the misunderstanding of such words as pistis and pisteuo which ARE defined in nebulous terms; these words, when related to KNOWING as the Master DOES paint their meaning, ARE the ‘reward‘ to those who will “continue in my word” as Jesus shows us in our trifecta. Vincent shows us that to “believe in” and to “believe on” the Master IS a much deeper reality than the nebulous ideas of doctrines; he tells us that: to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. Can we see the answer to His rhetorical question in Vincent’s words? Can we see that to acknowledge Jesus as Lord while NOT DOING as He says IS a hypocritical approach to spiritual Life? And can we see how that the Christian churches views of prophesying, healing and DOING ‘good works‘ ARE but carnal works in the Life of everyman who DOES NOT at least strive to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“?
Vincent’s words here ARE aligned with the Master’s intent and we should try to understand that to to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge and to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation IS NOT the same as the doctrinal teachings on such acceptance and resting. Most ALL doctrinal teachings DO NOT show us the need to to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life but emphasize the doctrinal views of sacraments through rites and rituals and the confessions and affirmations that presume one’s being “born again“. While many who adhere to such ideas may regard them as the reality behind the mysteries, they fail to see the depth of Truth that IS painted by Paul who shows us the mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory“. They fail as well to understand that the concept of “Christ in you” IS perforce tied to Jesus’ own words on His Presence in the Life of those who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. It IS to this man that the Master says “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” and NOT to the man who claims such Presence based in sacraments and other doctrinal professions. The common evangelical claim that Jesus comes to live in the doctrinal believer IS in direct opposition to the Master’s words whensoever that believer IS NOT among those that “will keep my words” and He tells us this in very clear language. We should here try to see that while the idea of evangelizing should be part of a religious Life through which a man becomes responsible for spreading the gospel according to Jesus own words saying “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20), most ALL DO in fact teach ONLY their doctrinal view over the idea of “whatsoever I have commanded you“.
The point here IS that in the idea of True Oneness goes in two directions; first there IS the Presence of God as a revelation and a realization by the man who DOES as the Master tells us; it IS the man who will keep His words that will by measure have this realization of His Presence. The Master tells us this saying that “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“. In these words we should see the realization of what Paul shows us as “Christ in you, the hope of glory“, the revelation of themystery of True spiritual Life through realization of His Presence. We should try to see here how that striving to keep His words IS the reality of the idea of works that Paul’s writes about to Titus as he identifies the hypocrisy of those who “profess that they know God; but in works they deny him“. Here we should try to understand how that so much of the church that believes that they ARE saved by their professions DO deny Him as they lift their doctrinal ideas above the Truth of His words and the need for men to keep them. They deny the reality that brings men the Presence of God while professing that they have that Presence through their doctrines; we should see in this a seemingly unbreachable barrier to a fuller realization of the Truth. Today’s religious barriers to Truth ARE largely the same as they were in Jesus’ day; today we have a myriad of doctrinal philosophies that ARE justified by those in authority as the Way to God and perhaps the ONLY unifying theme aside from the sacraments, the rites and the rituals, and the confessions (professions) and affirmations IS the steadfast objection to ALL things, ALL ideas of Truth, that ARE outside of their doctrinal views. This they cover through Paul’s words saying “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8) without ever realizing that it IS their own doctrinal philosophies that ARE “after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ“. We should understand here that while their doctrinal teachings ARE steeped in hypocrisy, there IS most often NO ‘evil’ intent; there IS rather just the ways of men being men in this world, men whose thoughts and attitudes ARE yet under the control of the vanity into which ALL ARE born, a vanity that IS the singular source of the illusion and the glamour that surrounds us ALL. In our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans we read about this vanity but in words that ARE NOT understood by the doctrinal approach to the Lord; an approach that takes that vanity and amplifies it through the nurturing and indoctrination which most everyman endures and which ARE continued through adult Life, especially in the arena of religion. Paul tells us:
“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).
In the midst of the apostle’s appeal to those who Truly desire God to “mortify the deeds of the body” and come to a realization of “the Spirit of Christ” so that the “Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you“, Paul shows us that the basic root cause in the Life of the man IS that he continues to “live after the flesh“. Paul tells us that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” and while most ALL Christians will profess that they ARE sons and that they ARE “led by the Spirit of God“, most ALL DO yet “live after the flesh“. They DO NOT have that experience, that True experience of revelation and realization, by which “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit” an experience that will perforce produce a Life where “our spirit” IS in full accord with “The Spirit” as the expression of the man becomes agape and the Universal application of it in this world. This IS everyman’s True fruit which IS shown us in the deeper understanding of the words that ARE Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22); we should see here that this man who expresses such fruit will also possess what James shows us as “wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17); here again, we need to see the deeper understanding of the Greek words used. This fruit IS the result of men’s works which ARE NOT the carnal ideas applied by doctrines that reflect Paul’s aversion to the carnal ways of the Jews; this fruit IS the flow of Truth and Love from the Soul, the spiritual man, and becomes one’s expression to the world. It IS with this expression of Truth and Love that they who “profess that they know God” can be understood to actually KNOW and this in accord with the Master’s words saying that “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). These fruits and this Wisdom ARE NOT carnal in any way but ARE the spiritually based Power of KNOWING that comes as the reward if you will for one’s engaging in the work of True Repentance, the changing of one’s focus off of the self and the things of the self and onto the things of God. We should understand that these things of God ARE those fruits and that Wisdom. Paul shows us these fruits, these expressions of Love and Wisdom, saying that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law“. He tells us also that for one to have such fruit IS to be at One with the Lord as he shows us that such a man must have freed himself from his “bondage of corruption“; Paul says “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25). We should remember that the Way to this freedom IS shown us by the Master who says “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). Paul IS also offering us a caution against merely professing to “live in the Spirit“; he tells us that we must also express what we come to KNOW through the Spirit, through the unction by which we “know all things“. This expression IS the Life to the man who DOES “also walk in the Spirit” and it IS this that becomes his works. James offers us his own view of this expression which he calls Wisdom; the apostle tells us that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). If we should compare the deeper meanings of the Greek words used, we can most easily see a sense of unanimity in these lists which, to a large degree, can also be seen even in the rendered English words.
We should try to see here a twofold reality of works in the Life of a man, a reality that IS missed because of Paul’s seeming fixation on the “works of the law” (Romans 9:32, Galatians 2:16). When we can see and understand that Paul’s aversion to the “works of the law” IS his aversion to the way that the Jews used to law to define their own righteousness rather than the “weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” that Jesus shows us (Matthew 23:23), we can then more clearly see that there IS NO difference between the approach to works and faith in the words of Paul and James. It IS the Truth “that faith without works is dead” (James 2:20) which comes to everyman whose True focus IS on the things of God in that KNOWING that IS pistis. When we KNOW the Truth or some measure of that Truth we must perforce use it in this world as our expression and while it DOES take some DOING to make this Truth our steady expression, we should try to see this DOING as our works that ARE based in the pistis, the KNOWING that IS our faith, a KNOWING that IS based in the Master’s words of Truth. It IS this same KNOWING that allows for men to have that realization of the Presence of the Lord in one’s Life and here again we should try to see that when the Lord IS Truly active in one’s Life, it IS through one’s own Soul that this IS done. It IS in the flow of Truth and Love that the man in this world becomes One with the Truth that IS his own Soul, that unction by which we “know all things“. It IS in this way that we become One with the Lord and this IS the second direction that True Oneness will take; in this we should see that while we have the Presence of the Lord in our Life through keeping His words, we ARE also become One with Him from the perspective of the Union between the Soul and his expression in this Earth. This IS the realization of the Master’s prayer, the realization that “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” through ALL time as we ARE “them also which shall believe on me through their word“. Again, we must look past the common ideas of faith and believing and understand that to “believe in” or “believe on” the Master IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. In short the two directions of this Oneness with the Lord can be summarized in the Universal ideas of God Transcendent and God Immanent; it IS through these that we KNOW the God of Whom we ARE a part, part and parcel to be more exact, and that we KNOW the God that IS within as the “Christ in you, the hope of glory” through realization of His Truth to the “renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). It IS in this idea of Oneness that we should try to understand the deeper Truth of Christianity which Jesus shows us in an idea that can be easily related to faith and works and which James shows us in regard to Abraham saying “by works was faith made perfect” (James 2:22). Jesus tells us that it IS through the ensuing Oneness that “the world may believe that thou hast sent me” and here we should try to see how that this too extends to “them also which shall believe on me through their word“.
The doctrines of men through their corporate illusion and glamour have painted themselves in terms of hagios from the beginning and the church fathers, in assuming their position of authority, have promulgated their creeds as Christian precepts and as Truth. This however IS done in that same sense of vanity that encumbers everyman and while bible dictionaries and commentary show us the Greek word mataiotes in such ideas as: what is devoid of truth and appropriateness; perverseness, depravity; frailty, want of vigour 2a, even these ideas fade into the Genesis story of the ‘fall of man’. These ideas from the lexicon show us a portion of the depth of mataiotes which IS rendered by the King James translators as vanity but fail to show us how that this vanity IS inflicted upon the Soul, the spiritual man, in his relationship with the flesh. It IS this story that IS referenced by Paul’s comments in regard to the flesh in such sayings as “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh“. Paul IS speaking to men who ARE somewhat aware of the Truth, men who by measure ARE those that he references saying “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). Here we must again see the deeper and True reality of hagios and NOT the doctrinal assertions of sainthood for every doctrinal believer nor the posthumous ideas that such can be declared by the Pope; here we must see the totality of the defining ideas of: sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint 9a as Strong’s shows us. Vincent tells us that the idea of Paul’s addressing of the Epistle to the Romans IS better rendered as: saints by way of call and he adds that It is asserted that they are what they are called 4. Combining this idea with the defining ideas of hagios should show us that the doctrinal ideas on being holy and being a saint ARE at best self-serving ideas and here we would add self-serving ideas that ARE the result of that vanity to which ALL are subjected. The apostle tells his readers that in their measure of hagios they ARE NOT “to live after the flesh” which IS death but that they should “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body” which IS Life and here we should note that such Life IS in proportion to one’s ability to “mortify the deeds of the body“.
This change of focus from the desires and lusts of the flesh onto the things of God IS the reality of those works that ARE brought to bear by faith, by KNOWING some measure of the Truth. Here again we should try to understand that Paul’s words saying that “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” (Romans 8:6-7) ARE as picture of the man who IS yet in his “bondage of corruption“, in that vanity to which he IS subjected by his birth into this world. Vincent shows us how that this vanity IS inflicted upon the Soul saying that mataiotes IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 and here we should try to see that as a Soul, as the spiritual man, one CAN NOT be so so separated. The Soul, through birth, nurturing and indoctrination, IS blinded to his reality and exists in this world as a man in the flesh and it IS the thinking and feeling personality of the man that IS separated from the Truth until such time as he can free himself “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. In Paul’s words this freeing IS a predictive end to vanity and while we CAN NOT easily see how that this freedom may work, we should understand that to be made free IS within the purview of the Lord both Transcendent and Immanent as our own Soul. We close today with the Apostle Peter’s words which show us the Immanent idea as it seeks the Transcendent; Peter says “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). This escape IS the work of everyman who has realized his own “measure of faith” (Romans 12:3)
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust
- *** Wikipedia contributors. “Orion (constellation).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Nov. 2019. Web. 25 Nov. 2019
- *** Wikipedia contributors. “Mazzaroth.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Aug. 2018. Web. 25 Nov. 2019.
- *** The Art of Dying Well, © Copyright 2020 St Mary’s University.
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
