In the last post we came upon the idea of judgment while observing attitude of the current times in America and we alluded to the fact that in our political and social discourse we are\u00a0judgmental insofar as our pronouncements alienate large segments of our ONE society which should be ideally seen, especially by those who purport to be spiritual or religious, as ALL children of the ONE GOD. If He makes the Sun rise on all and the rain to fall all, should we not do the same things. And, let us not think that by the framing of His saying the Master is specifically relating to the wicked and the unjust when He says to us that: “for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust<\/em>“; we should see this as a proclamation of ALL. We should see this also as the culmination of a saying that implores us to be as He is in relation to our fellow man and as part of His entire dissertation regarding this relationship from the Sermon on the Mount.<\/p>\n Judgment\u00a0and its affiliated words judge and judged are a complex grouping of words with many meanings and this is true of their usage in scripture as well as they are used in many contexts in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The lexicon gives us a very broad look at the understanding of this, much of which is based on Christian doctrine and understanding; the lexicon tells us that the Greek word krino,<\/em> translated in our Quote of the Day as condemn<\/em> and properly rendered as judge4<\/sup>\u00a0means:\u00a0to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose;\u00a0to approve, esteem, to prefer;\u00a0to be of opinion, deem, think, to be of opinion;\u00a0to determine, resolve, decree; to judge, to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong, to be judged, i.e. summoned to trial that one’s case may be examined and judgment passed upon it; to pronounce judgment, to subject to censure; of those who act the part of judges or arbiters in matters of common life, or pass judgment on the deeds and words of others, to rule, govern, to preside over with the power of giving judicial decisions, because it was the prerogative of kings and rulers to pass judgment; to contend together, of warriors and combatants; to dispute; in a forensic sense, to go to law, have suit at law<\/em>2<\/sup>. We can see here a rather lengthy list of ideas regarding judge and we can a few more when we look at this as judgment\u00a0which is from the Greek word krisis<\/em> and of which the lexicon tells us:\u00a0a separating, sundering, separation;\u00a0a trial, contest; selection; judgment; opinion or decision given concerning anything, esp. concerning justice and injustice, right or wrong; sentence of condemnation, damnatory judgment, condemnation and punishment; the college of judges (a tribunal of seven men in the several cities of Palestine; as distinguished from the Sanhedrin, which had its seat at Jerusalem); right, justice<\/em>2<\/sup>. We should remember that these ideas are on the Greek words only and that there is an additional array of meaning that comes into play when viewing these words in their English usage.\u00a0Strong’s gives us a bit easier way on this telling us of krisis<\/em> that it is\u00a0judgment (human or divine), justice, the concept of determining the correctness of a matter; negatively, punishment, condemnation3<\/sup><\/em>. For the allied word krino<\/em> Strong’s tells us that it means to decide, consider, as preferring one thing over another or\u00a0determining\u00a0the correctness of a matter; by extension: to judge, pass judgment on, condemn in a legal sense<\/em>3<\/sup>.<\/p>\n We will not go further with this as between these two reference texts we should have a rather good idea of what is meant by these words in a biblical sense and have enough to carry this over into a rational understanding of the intent of the Master and the apostles. We will add to this however an understanding of another word that is ever helpful in conducting one’s life in accordance with the precepts of the Master on judgment and that word is opinion<\/em>. There is no New Testament usage of a Greek word that is translated to be opinion except in some of the newer versions that are paraphrase or thought centered and it is likely that this word and the allied idea of judgment may be related in the definitions we have above on krino<\/em> and krisis. <\/em>Remember that we are here speaking of the intent of the Master in using these words and not in the overall theme which includes punishment or condemnation. Webster’s paints this picture for us of opinion<\/em>:\u00a0That which is opined; a notion or conviction founded on probable evidence; belief stronger than impression, less strong than positive knowledge; settled judgment in regard to any point of knowledge or action.\u00a0The judgment or sentiment which the mind forms of persons or things; estimation.\u00a0Favorable estimation; hence, consideration; reputation; fame; public sentiment or esteem. <\/em>[Obs.]\u00a0<\/mark>Obstinacy in holding to one’s belief or impression; opiniativeness; conceitedness.\u00a0(Law.)The formal decision, or expression of views, of a judge, an umpire, a counselor, or other party officially called upon to consider and decide upon a matter or point submitted. To be of opinion, to think; to judge<\/em>1<\/sup>.<\/p>\n How do we then discern between these ideas of judgment<\/em> and opinion<\/em> and how do we align this with the thoughts of the Master which we looked as yesterday albeit regarding a different subject? Let us look first at the words of the Master:<\/p>\n It is to these words of the Master that we need to reconcile our understanding of the idea of Judgement and we can begin with an understanding, from our perspective, of when a judgment is an opinion. Let us take the position that an opinion is a thought or a feeling, expressed or not expressed, regarding a certain thing. Unexpressed we may believe that it does no harm nor good and expressed we can see that we have put it out into the world and can be the cause of harm or good. Let us take the position also that a judgment is an opinion that is acted upon and this need not be a purely physical action but can be just in the form of an expressed opinion. Let us also take the position that the idea of judge and judgement intended by the words\u00a0krino<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0krisis <\/em>as used by the Master in our sayings above all constitute what we have said here which in short is that:<\/p>\n Can we sense the greyness of this all and can we see how so many of our thoughts and actions can become judgments? Can we see also that the Master tells us that it is better not to judge or to form opinions for or against anything as His words are clear saying “judge not<\/em>“? At the same time however there is a contrary thought given to us in the two sayings from John’s Gospel and this is likely in accordance with the reality that judgments will and must be made in Life as opinion and judgment are the source for most all decisions. These are of course not contrary sayings, this is my opinion and judgment, but are rather sayings from a different perspective. The former, from Matthew and Luke are a part of the Sermon on the Mount and are directed at the people as instruction about one’s interrelationships with others. It this case He is clear, we should not judge others nor their motives and reasons as we are not in their shoes and do not see the world as they may see it. The latter ideas from John on the other hand are more general sayings regarding judgment in general and in this we can see that there is also inclusiveness of the former points from the other gospels.<\/p>\n We should see from the Master’s words in John that we are first being told how it is that the Master judges and hereby we can see that, done rightly, it is not a forbidden thing. Second we should see that the Master is telling us how judgment is rightly done. The idea here is that the Master is telling us that “and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me<\/em>“; that is that His judgment is not based on personality reactions or feelings or even thought for that matter but on the impulse and understanding that one has as a Soul expressing through form. This is the source of what he later calls “righteous judgment<\/em>” and which, based on the two sayings, we can see as the God kind of judgment which is based solely on the Truth and in Love as the Master has defined it. Needless to say, this type of judgment is only possible when some degree of Soul Light is pouring into the personality and when one is attending to the ideas and emanations coming from the Christ Within. In this saying we can find also some additional understanding of the two presentations of the matter. To the people living as people, “judge not<\/em>” and to those striving to enter or following the Maste<\/em>r and keeping His words<\/em>, that they should only judge based on the higher spiritual understanding of a thing…..”judge righteous judgment<\/em>“<\/p>\n We will continue with our thoughts on this in the next post.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Since we have not been addressing this saying with any consistency due to the complexity of the main essay, we should review where it is that we are as regards this most important saying which, as we have discussed, is a record of a saying by the Master or of a saying by the Apostle John; this thought is sufficiently covered in prior posts beginning at part XVII \u00a0of this series titled ON GOD. The first verse here, verse 15 of the chapter is attributed to the Master, it is the balance, verses 16-21, that are in doubt; our comments are based on the dual authorship but we do acknowledge that in reality there should be no difference in our understanding. Additionally, we noted the following points regarding the text:<\/p>\n We should see in this last point the relationship to what we know are the words of the Master saying: “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world<\/em>” (John 12:47); the same alternate understanding from above should be applied here.<\/p>\n We will continue with our observations in the next Post.<\/p>\n That whosoever\u00a0believeth\u00a0in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever\u00a0believeth\u00a0in him should not perish , but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that\u00a0believeth\u00a0on him is not condemned: but he that\u00a0believeth\u00a0not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that\u00a0doeth\u00a0evil\u00a0hateth\u00a0the light, neither\u00a0cometh\u00a0to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.\u00a0But he that\u00a0doeth\u00a0truth\u00a0cometh\u00a0to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest , that they are wrought in God (John 3:15-21).<\/strong><\/p>\n Today’s Quote of the Day contains several points that we have covered in our essays and contains some of the more difficult sayings of the Master as\u00a0regards\u00a0our perspective on spiritual Life. John 3:16 is much spoken of in the Christian Church and upon it much of church doctrines are established and built. Over the next several days we will continue to post this as our Quote and we will take in parts daily as to try to ascertain the Truth of the Master’s teaching. We should remember that this is spoken to Nicodemus as part of the Masters\u00a0dissertation\u00a0on being\u00a0born again.<\/em><\/p>\n Love is the Fulfilling of the Law ON GOD; Part\u00a0XXVII In the last post we came upon the idea of judgment while observing attitude of the current times in America and we alluded to the fact that in our political … Continue reading \n
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Note on the Quote of the Day<\/h2>\n
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