Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART VI
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
In the last post we made some additional comments on the role of doctrine as it relates to death and made the point that the diversion between doctrine and what we see as the Truth of the words of the Master and His apostles is spread across most all doctrinal teachings. We then came upon the idea of discussing some of the doctrinal sources for various religions and we listed the Articles of Confession according to the Methodist tradition and the Articles of Faith according to the Mormon Church. The purpose in providing these and those that we sill post today is to show in more acute terms what we have been saying in this Blog as regards the multiplicity of ways that man can see the Christ and His teachings thereby defining what any individual believes. For many the belief system that they adhere to is the one that they are born into or their family becomes involved in afterward and in this we should see that there is no real choice in most circumstances but rather a following of tradition. Many do pull themselves away from this scenario and for a variety of reasons ranging from a lack of interest in things religious or spiritual to one’s dissatisfaction with the teachings as he progresses spiritually himself. It is of course to the latter that we write as those with no interest and those who are thoroughly indoctrinated into a particular expression of religion as it is presented by the multiplicity of denominations will have no interest in our words nor will they be likely to understand nor agree with them.
Remembering our basic premise of the way that the problems of unproven assumptions, religious teachings and even superstitions have infected the teachings of the churches and their individual doctrines, we continue here with some additional published facts regarding some; we should remember that these are offered without prejudice.
- The Catholic Church is the oldest of the expressions of Christianity and we take this from the Catholic Encyclopedia regarding Articles of Faith followed by the actual Apostles Creed which is the Articles themselves:
Articles of Faith (Greek, arthron; Latin, articulus, joint).
Certain revealed supernatural truths such as those contained in the symbol of the Apostles. The terms were not used by the Fathers or by ecclesiastical writers in the early Middle Ages. St. Bernard and Richard of St. Victor employed them, the latter applying them to truths having God for their object and so explicitly stated as to compel assent. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the article of faith is any revealed supernatural truth which is distinct in itself from other such truths but which unites with them to form the organic whole of Christian teaching. Thus the articles of the Creed announce truths which are in themselves distinct from one another but parts of a complete summary of the truths which have been revealed to help us to gain our last end. They are for Christian theology what fundamental principles are for a science. Not every revealed truth is an article of faith, nor are theologians agreed on what constitutes any truth an article of faith. Some would limit these articles to the contents of the Apostles’ Creed. Others say that every truth defined by the Church, or in any other manner explicitly proposed for our belief, is an article of faith. De Lugo describes them as the principal or primary truths which are the basis of other revealed truths or principles. In the Catechism of the Council of Trent (p. 1, c. 1, q. 4), the truths of the Apostles’ Creed are called “articles” by a sort of simile frequently used by our forefathers; for as the members of the body are divided by joints (articuli) so also in the profession of faith whatever is to be believed by us distinctly and separately from anything else we properly and appositely call an article”13.
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
10. the forgiveness of sins,
11. the resurrection of the body,
12. and life everlasting13.
- I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made Man; He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father: and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: and His kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified: Who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come13.
As with the two Articles of Faith or Confession that we posted yesterday, these types of creeds or articles are what the adherents to a given denomination agree to follow; that the majority does or does not follow is not our purpose here today.
Can we see in these the basic problem in that none of these address the reality of the teachings of the Master? They are specific in what a man may believe but they are not specific in what the Master emphasized which is how a man should act toward his brothers and toward God. In the Methodist Articles there is some affirmation that these ideas do exist and allusion to them but the reality is that these and other ‘confessions’ tend to take away from the actions of man in favor of the faith that one has in Jesus Christ.
Can we see here also how the church teachings and doctrines have remained unchanged through the centuries? Even with the assumption that they were constructed for the emotional leaning person in that day that perhaps had not the mental capacity to understand the Truth and the mysteries, we note that there is little change in doctrine or method and it is perhaps the result of this that people are falling away from the churches in most all Western Countries. Can we see that the ideas in our posts may have come of age for these later generations of thinking men who cannot accept the faith argument any longer. Can we see that many just cannot see what is being taught as a viable way of living?
For us the reality of our spiritual walk is in the right understanding of the teachings of the Master and the words of His apostles and we find little if anything in the convoluted wranglings of the various doctrines and on the idea of what is the Way, works or faith; even the very definition of faith is lost in the shuffle of doctrine. When the Master tells us as men in form that “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20) we should understand by the very context that he is not referring to the simple emotional believing but in the realization of the Love and the Power of the Christ Within through the personality and the form. This pinnacle of faith is the act of KNOWING and we have likened the Master’s words on the mustard seed to see that it, the seed, KNOWS that it will be a tree, there is NO doubt. This idea is given us by the Master in this similar saying according to Mark’s Gospel were we read that: “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass ; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23) and in another place in Matthew’s Gospel saying: “If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:21). Here we have the inexorable link between having faith and having NO doubt in one’s heart or, as we understand this, in one’s consciousness.
This is the only context into which we can logically put the Master’s words regarding faith, NO doubt and moving mountains because if this ability to move the mountain or, as Luke’s Gospel tells us, to order the sycamine tree’s destruction, were as easy as is understood in the emotional faith or belief that the church teaches, there would be many, both good and evil, that could likely accomplish these things. In Luke we read that the Master says “If ye had faith as a grainof mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6). We should well understand that the Plan of God does not allow for these things except in the fullness of the Love and the Power of the Christ Within for it is in this state only that this power can be assumed by any. This we have discussed before in regard to the Apostles Peter and Paul and it may be True in the lives of others as well although there is no written record. It is only in this exalted state of discipleship that a man can be capable of doing these things and in this state it is likely that the man would not choose to do so.
As we close for today let us try to understand the relationship between having faith and believing, that both are from related Greek words. In this we should try to understand the reality of faith as we have seen the reality of believing in or believing on the Master and from there try to work out for ourselves how faith can work the same way, the way of keeping His words and following Him. When we understand that the idea of following Him and following the promptings of the Christ Within are much the same, we will have gained much insight into both faith and belief.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
We leave our quote of the day for another day as in it we find some of the realities of what is man as Spirit, Soul and the Life within the form.
Today’s Quote of the Day is called the Affirmation of the Disciple and is spoken from the perspective of the Soul and not from that of the man in form. It is the Soul that we are in this life on Earth, housed in this ‘temple’ of flesh and it is the Light of the Soul that must flow through this ‘temple’ in order that we may say with the Christ “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) which is our goal and our destiny. Speaking then as the Soul we affirm our reality and true existence in God and in His Three Aspects of Light and Love and His Will. As this Light and Love and Will flow through our conscious personalities and forms we, as disciples, take on the nature of the second stanza being able to offer to the world a better way through our service and our Love for all, encouragement to righteousness through our strength of purpose, and the Light which shines in accordance with the Master’s instructions to “Let your light so shine before men” (Matthew 5:16) and illuminates the Path. Finally we realize that we are standing in this world and walking as men but, as conscious Souls in form, we know the way and the ways of God and are able to say with the Christ that “I am not of this world” (John 8:23).
I am a point of light within a greater Light. I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine. I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focused within the fiery Will of God. And thus I stand I am a way by which men may achieve. I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand. I am a beam of light, shining upon their way. And thus I stand. And standing thus, revolve And tread this way the ways of men, And know the ways of God. And thus I stand.
Looking at Life as we depict it above in relation to this affirmation we can see the idea presented that we are a part of God and that this is true on multiple levels, the levels that we call the Trinity. Relating these first three lines to the chart above can offer some clarity as to the nature of God and of man. For more on the ideas in this Affirmation of the Disciple please refer to the Quote of the Day from In the Words of Jesus parts 179-181.
- 13 The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
