ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXXXV
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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 way that it IS “the word of God” that IS the authority in the spiritual lives of men and NOT the doctrines of men which ARE but the creations of men. Most ALL doctrines take the Truth, “the word of God“, and manipulate whatsoever ideas DO NOT meet with their own desires to be men and to be able to live ‘justified’ as men in this world. For the Christian and the Jew this manipulation of the Truth IS the subject of much of Jesus’ teachings 2000 years ago but the lesson was NOT learned by the Jews’ religious leader who saw himself as the authority based upon his own office, his own spiritual rank among men. Note that we say here his rank among men; this IS important as the Master shows us in such sayings as “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever* will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:42-44). While Jesus IS showing His disciples this Way of Truth, it should be understood to apply to ALL that would be His disciples, to ALL that seek to Truly follow the Lord. The Jews could NOT accept this as they could NOT discern the Truth about the man who had come among them, the man in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians2:9). Neither His great works nor His cutting words had any effect on the carnal thinking of the Jews’ religious leaders and we should understand that this refusal was predicted by the prophets centuries before the Master’s advent. The greater point here IS that the Christian DID NOT learn the lessons that the Master showed us either; the early church took the same fateful tact as did the Jews as they erected doctrinal precepts that DID NOT and DO NOT see the Truth; precepts that allowed for the building of a authoritarian religious order which, over time, has expanded to thousands of denominations and sects. We often point out that the Jews’ manipulations of the Truth had for their basis the ancillary ‘legal’ precepts set forth by Moses. It IS upon these that the Jews relied as they moved away from “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23) and concentrated their efforts upon the more mundane; those that were the easier to perform and which gave them a sense of ‘salvation‘ through the perceived atonement that they received in their sacrificial ceremonies. We should remember that these ARE ceremonial practices that the prophets spoke against and that the Master amplified with such sayings to the Jew’s leaders as “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). Jesus’ amplification of the prophets words, words that ARE KNOWN to the religious leaders but ignored, should show us the same dynamic that IS at play in Christianity yet today. The prophets words ARE clear saying “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6) but this DID NOT fit into the Jews’ doctrinal approach that chose sacrifice and “burnt offerings” over the ideas of agape that ARE reflected in a deeper understanding of the idea of mercy and the Greek word from which it IS rendered, eleos.
While the Jews seemingly had the ancillary parts of the law on their side allowing for their use as they considered these equal to the deeper ideas regarding the relationships between man and God and between man and his fellowman, the Christian DOES NOT have this same ‘benefit’ if we can call it that. Based on Jesus’ teaching the ancillary parts of the law ARE moot and while there ARE some lingering questions regarding the idea of the sabbath, because this IS a part of the original Ten Commandments, Jesus DOES render this moot as well. The Jews have maintained most ALL of the law and still today seem to emphasize the ancillary parts over those centered on “judgment, mercy, and faith” as they keep the rites and the rituals, the holy days and much of their interpretations of the literal text. It would be interesting to see how the rituals of sacrifice would be practiced today if these were still allowed under common law but they ARE NOT and save for some who practice Kapparot, most ALL have substituted prayer. We should try to see that in the barbarous and superstitious times when Moses invoked the law, there was NO other legal remedy; Moses filled this void with a combination of the law of God and the ancillary laws that he added. Our point here IS that the Jews had a foundation for their interpretations of the law and the way that they DID NOT differentiate between the True laws of Right Human Relations and men’s relationship to the Lord and the ancillary laws added by Moses which ARE what the Master rails against. With these ancillary parts of the law being made moot by Jesus’ teaching, the Christian has NO alternatives to following the Truth as did the Jews. In Moses words, speaking as the Lord, saying that “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2) the whole of the law IS intended. However, as the Jews history in Kings and Chronicles clearly shows us, the Jews DID NOT follow the law most of the time and, when they seemed to be DOING so they ONLY followed in those ancillary ideas. This IS evidenced in Jesus’ words calling out the Jews’ errors and listing their deviations in His list of woes. Then, while the Jews had a foundation of law to fall back upon as their alternative to following the True law, the Christian DOES NOT; the Christian IS left ONLY with the Truths that ARE summarized for us in the Great Commandments and in our trifecta where the singular point IS that we should keep His words. Repeating our trifecta we read Jesus’ words 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).
Again, while Moses law was a combination of spiritual and the mundane articles, the Christian IS left with ONLY such ideas as we have above along with the Great Commandments which tell us very clearly that “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” (Mark 12:30-31). Like Moses’ words the Master’s ARE clearly elucidated and completely understandable but unlike Moses’ words there IS NO built in alternative to emphasizing those parts of the law by which they could live as men and NO role of sacrifice to atone for their failures. The result of lacking an alternative IS that men created their own; first by declaring ALL of the New Testament the infallible word of God and then by cherry-picking ideas from Paul’s writings that would allow them too to live as men in this world. The result IS of course the doctrines of men; doctrines that have been carefully formed to allow for men to live as men while denying the deeper Truths that ARE the “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23). The ideas put forth here ARE worthy of our deeper understanding. Regarding the idea of “weightier matters” we should see more than ideas of weight and heaviness; we should see the idea of burdensome 9a as Strong’s shows us in defining the Greek word barys. Using this idea we can see how that the Jews chose out the easier way rather that the deeper Truths, the way of rites, rituals and observances rather that Love. We should note that while the idea of Love in Hebrew IS covered by the word ahab which itself covers most ALL aspects of Love, spiritual and carnal combined, the Greek word agape stands apart from such combinations and takes on the very nature of God. We should try to see that while ahab IS a multifaceted word, its defining quality of Love relies solely on its context and the Jew DOES KNOW the meaning in scriptural texts. Seeing the idea of barys in terms of being burdensome, we should also see the burden IS upon the carnal way of Life, losing it if you will. Spiritually, following the Way of the Lord IS NOT a burden as Jesus tells us saying that “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30); carnally however the ideas ARE burdensome. While others render barys in terms of importance, the idea of the Truth being burdensome IS of more value in understanding the Master intent. We should try to see here that while Jesus IS defining the Ways of Truth as burdensome, He IS speaking of the Jews’ practice where they ignored what they thought were the burdensome parts of the law in favor of the mundane and the easy; His point IS that they should have been DOING both. The next word IS judgment which should be understood according to its context which can refer to either carnal or spiritual ideas. Spiritually we should see krisis in terms of discernment and apply to this Jesus saying that we should “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment“. The effect here IS that a man should NOT act as the Jews who relied upon the actions of men and judged them but that a man should discern the Truth of what IS happening and apply that discernment righteously. This IS clear from the situation and the Master’s words that precede his statement above; we read this as “If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?” (John 7:24, 23). The Jews judged Jesus actions in healing the man on “the sabbath day” rather than discerning the Master’s most holy intent.
The next word, mercy, IS wholly misunderstood through the doctrines of men and while we have discussed this before, we should try here to better understand the concept spiritually rather than according to the ideas of men in this world. While the common understanding of mercy, while virtuous, IS mostly carnal, the spiritual idea IS intimately tied to agape. Today’s definitions of mercy seem centered around the ‘forgiving compassion‘ toward ‘offenders‘; the primary defining idea from the Random House dictionary tells us that mercy IS: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence* and the idea of pity plays into most ALL such defining ideas. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary offers much more as their primary defining idea with a Christian religious twist as Webster was generally prone to use. Webster’s tells us that mercy IS: That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy. That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. Mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being 1. While lengthy, this definition DOES help us traverse from the carnal ideas of mercy to a more spiritual one as they equate the idea to grace and then define mercy as a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being. Webster’s goes on to show us what have become the more common ideas attached to mercy defining it in terms of pity, clemency and charity and, while mercy can be ALL these things, the Master’s intent IS greater. For us this greater intent IS that mercy IS the expression of agape here in this world; it IS this that was expected from the Pharisee and other religious leaders of the Jews. We should note here that the Master’s words to the scribes and Pharisees telling them of “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” that “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23) ARE NO different that the charge of the Prophet Hosea nor Jesus’ repeating of the prophets words. Hosea tells the Jews clearly what other prophets told them in more parabolic ideas regarding their failures in keeping the commandments; the prophet says as the Lord “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). When we count Jesus’ words above along with His repeating of the prophet’s idea twice as He tells the Jews to “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” and then telling them “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7), we should be able to see the importance that Matthew places on this failure of the Jews. It IS clear that the Pharisees DID NOT practice mercy but chose instead to practice the rites and rituals of the law and we should understand that the doctrinal Christian church IS NO different as their idea of mercy fails against the deeper idea that mercy IS the expression of agape as the Master teaches us this most spiritual aspect of His Truth. The common ideas of mercy, like the common ideas of Love, ARE carnal approaches to spiritual Truths and the definitions provided by the lexicon ARE NO different; these tell us that eleos IS: mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them 2a. This leads us into the final word from Jesus saying “”the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith“.
Here the Greek word IS pistis which IS among the most misunderstood words from the Greek New Testament; pistis IS most always rendered as faith and IS applied to Life as that nebulous doctrinal idea; along with this IS the kindred word pisteuo which IS rendered into the equally nebulous idea of believing. Nearly the whole basis of ‘salvation‘ in many parts of Christianity ARE reliant upon these nebulous doctrinal ideas which ARE interpreted more as hope and acceptance than upon the deeper realities of KNOWING which the Master Himself interprets these words to reveal. While these ideas of pistis and pisteuo may have a deeper effect on some, this should be evidenced through one’s actions in this Life as the True KNOWER IS ‘bound’ by the Master’s words. In the words of the writer of the Book of Hebrews we find a KEY idea regarding faith, an idea that we should extend to believing as well. We read that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1); while being little understood, this too has become a Christian mantra in many parts of the church. Taken literally according to the way this IS rendered we have that relationship between faith and hope but, should we see elpizo as expectation, we can move closer to the True meaning which IS that one KNOWS. Elpizo IS a derivative of elpis which IS most always rendered as hope while elpizo IS mostly rendered as trust; we should understand here that neither these shows us that sense of KNOWING. While one may convince himself that his hope IS real, that he will go to heaven when he dies, one DOES NOT have any substantive proof against the reality that NO one Truly KNOWS what happens when people die. Despite this many bible translations render the next word, elegchos, in terms of proof rather than the King James rendering as evidence. In these ideas we have the extent of the doctrinal idea of faith which IS but a hope for an outcome for which there IS NO proof nor evidence. Others render this as conviction but as with proof and evidence there IS NO basis for such a belief that what one hopes for IS Truth. Both ideas, KNOWING as that which would convince us in our carnal minds, and evidence which would show us that there IS in fact a heaven and that this IS our True destination, must rely upon a more solid foundation and that foundation IS found in the Master’s words but IS ignored in favor of doctrinal ideas. Jesus says in our trifecta that “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“; this IS the True KEY to pistis and here in place of our nebulous hopes we have the foundation of KNOWING.
What then can we KNOW through keeping His words or, as the Master frames this, “If ye continue in my word“? The Apostle Paul gives us the answer albeit in NOT so clear language; his words ARE however clear enough to glimpse, as carnal men, the ‘glory‘ of Repentance and Transformation to which we can apply Paul’s words saying “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“. We should understand that the suffering IS our existance here as carnal men subjected to the vanity and trapped in our own individual “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:18, 20, 21). We should understand as well that this sense of suffering IS NOT understood except by the man who Truly strives toward the Truth of the Kingdom; it IS in such striving that one can get a glimpse of the ultimate Truth which the apostle shows us saying “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:25-27). The revelation of these mysteries IS the reality of that ‘glory‘ but we should remember here that there IS a cost, a cost to the carnal man and thus his sense of suffering. Paul could have made this clearer in his writing but perhaps he DID NOT DO so intentionally so that we could find for ourselves the Path to ‘glory‘. While it IS unfortunate that the ‘average’ Christian applies the apostle’s sense of ‘glory‘ to himself based in his doctrines, the reality of the apostle’s words DOES expose him to a realty that he must connect for himself. Few however DO so as few ARE willing to “mortify the deeds of the body” and to live the spiritual Life….to forgo one’s established carnal existance. This IS the criteria placed upon the man who Truly desires spiritual advancement: that he must forget his heretofore carnal existance and “Strive to enter in at the strait gate“. We should understand that this gate IS agape and it IS a gate that few seek for, let alone “Strive to enter“; this IS largely the fault of the church for the last 2000 years. Agape IS ill understood in most ALL of the church despite the way that the idea IS covered by the Master and His apostles. Most ALL of their words ARE considered ONLY against the common understanding of Love which, while changing over the centuries, IS ever the same idea of men’s mental and emotional attraction and attachment to others and to things. When we can understand agape in the Master’s terms which ARE a further elucidation of the more simple idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, we can then progress upon the Path to that Truth which Jesus promises us 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“. While the doctrinal thinker believes that he has this Truth based in his doctrinal approach, the reality IS found here in Jesus’ words and ALL that men can say to justify their doctrinal belief IS but evidence of their failure. Jesus teaches us much about the quality of agape and many of His words give us the message of agape without using the word; agape IS intimately wound into most every topic in the New Testament. Paul on the other hand shows us the more practical side of agape and we should be careful to try to discern his subject as we read his words; we need to be able to separate the carnally oriented ideas for the correction of men from his words of spiritual Truth concerning Love, words such as our selection which we repeat saying:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charityagape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have notcharityagape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have notcharityagape, it profiteth me nothing.CharityAgape suffereth long, and is kind;charityagape envieth not;charityagape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.CharityAgape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).
From the start there can be confusion regarding his intent as the apostle speaks of “spiritual gifts” at length leaving the impression that these ARE the desirable things for men to have. This impression crosses the carnal ideas with the spiritual; Paul DOES NOT show us that these gifts ARE carnal in the absence of agape until after he IS finished discussing them. For many their ideas regarding “spiritual gifts” are held separate from Paul’s later focus on agape and most ignore his words that link the two themes, “spiritual gifts” and agape, and the two ‘chapters’ that discuss them as he tells us that we should “covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way“….which IS the Way of agape. Many, perhaps especially in the Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations, see their gifts as spiritual while they apply them carnally and we should understand that there IS a primary rule regarding the interaction, the lack of one to be more accurate, of the carnal and the spiritual. Again most ALL miss the idea that without our expression of Love as agape, any presumed “spiritual gifts” are but carnal replicas of spiritual phenomenon and in our selection above we should be able to easily see that they ARE spiritually worthless. We should try to see that without understanding agape and accepting its concepts, we CAN NOT better understand Paul’s words despite their clarity. It IS ONLY in according to oneself the expression of Love that a man can believe that his own gifts ARE spiritual and, because the church as a whole DOES NOT teach the reality of the concepts of agape spiritually, most ALL will go on believing that what they ARE expressing IS that spiritual concept of Love. In previous essays we have broken down Paul’s words from our selection as they relate to the expression of agape, how that without such expression ALL that the Christian may believe that he has in the way of such gifts IS but an illusion. an illusion that IS NO better than what they themselves see as occult in the secular world and in some of their own denominations and sects….concepts that they despise in the secular world. Some denominations and sects even offer training in these gifts without realizing that they ARE teaching carnal concepts. Through the absence of any teaching on the deep Truths of agape and how that it IS this concept of Love that results in the reality of such gifts which, in their spiritual form, DO NOT even resemble the carnal ideas that men have applied to them, we have a great failure of the church. It IS agape that IS the great equalizer between the carnal and the spiritual as it IS agape that IS the flow of Truth from the Soul into the Repentant and Transforming mind. We should remember that while the church has professed man’s inability to keep the law and the commandments of the Master that ARE His renewal of the law, the alternative path, if we can call it this, IS laid out for them to follow. Paul’s simple saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) IS his showing us the KEY to our spiritual reality through agape. He IS showing us how that we can overcome the need to follow the precepts of the law through our simple expression of agape. The church and its doctrines however have also rendered this as an inability of men insofar as their thoughts, attitudes and actions in this world and they have DONE so without understanding the True meaning of this concept of Love.
As we have discussed in previous essays, the secular world has taken up some parts of the reality of agape in their own thoughts, attitudes and actions and it IS much of this, and the carnal implications that it provides, that the conservative church rails against for a variety of reasons. Some see this secular movement toward Love ONLY in its carnal implications which perhaps began a half century ago in the ideas of ‘free Love’. Most fail to see that this trend, which continues yet today, IS but a carnal response to the influx of the energies of agape that ARE ALL around us and which ARE being accepted by many in the secular world as an addition to the carnal responses. Many millions ARE embracing the One World realities and here we should understand that we ARE One World with one purpose and with one goal. Why so many fight against One World ideas seems a mystery but the reality IS that those who fight this progressive perspective of a simple Truth ARE but those that CAN NOT see the purpose of such change while basking in the changes that have already taken place in their own Lifetimes. An example here ARE the pros and cons regarding the scientific reality of climate change; while the pros want World action against this phenomenon, the cons seek to DO little or nothing regardless of the potential worldwide effects. Here we should note what side of the worldwide political equation each group IS affiliated with. Where the churches stand, when seen through a political prism, can also show us much. Aligned with these One World ideas IS the reality that we ARE One Humanity and while we may NOT appear as One based upon the appearances of men, we ARE essentially ALL the same; we ARE Souls, a spiritual Unity, expressing Life through forms in this world. The effects of our acceptance of being One Humanity ARE reflected in the lessening of the prejudices and the hatreds that have ever existed on this Earth and we can see this in the multi-racial trend in most ALL aspects of Life. Interracial marriage IS NO longer an anomaly as movies, television programs and their commercials reflect a staunch effort to portray multi-racial tones. We ARE fast coming to a point where such multi-racial trends become unnoticeable which IS the preferred outcome to be sure. Finally we should try to see the effects of the reality of One God through a recognition that the separative attitudes of some religious movements have begun to wane and to reflect the reality of such an approach to the singular Truth. The Christian religions, perhaps the most vocal of world religions as regards their separative attitudes by which they proclaim to be the ONLY Way to our One God, ARE steadily losing their grip on Western societies, a recent article shows that the percentage of people aligning themselves with Christianity IS continually dropping and that less than 50% of Americans regularly participate, matching what has been happening in other Western societies for several decades. While the church sees such things as eroding the idea of God in peoples’ lives, the reality IS that such deterioration of participation IS a positive sign which leads us closer to a Universal acceptance of the singular basic reality of One World, One Humanity, One God.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 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
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
