The Law of Love

Tag: jesus

  • There’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

    “We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough, and we’ll be more content when they are.
    After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our partner gets his or her act together when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice holiday, when we retire.
    The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
    Your life will always be filled with challenges.
    It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
    A quote comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said,
    “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
    This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
    So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time…and remember that time waits for no one.
    So, stop waiting until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until winter, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink…. there is no better time than right now to be happy.
    Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
    Work like you don’t need money,
    Love like you’ve never been hurt,
    And dance like no one’s watching.”

    1. NDE Philosophy: Living in the Eternal Now

    People who have NDEs often return with a deeply transformed view of time and purpose. They frequently report that:

    • Time as we know it feels illusory in the spiritual realm. The present is all that truly exists.
    • Unconditional love, joy, and meaning are accessible now, not delayed until future milestones.
    • Life’s purpose is not about achieving but about being: being loving, present, awake.

    This aligns directly with:

    “The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?”

    Many NDErs realize that the frantic striving we engage in—waiting for the “right” time to live or be joyful—is an illusion. Real life is happening now, and soul-growth occurs not in ideal conditions, but through our response to imperfection and challenge.

    They come back knowing:

    “These obstacles were my life.”
    The journey, with its hardship, is the sacred process.

    2. Christian Spirituality: Joy in the Present, Trust in God’s Providence

    Christian spirituality teaches a similar theme: God is present here, now—not just in some idealized future.

    Biblical Verses That Echo These Themes:

    • Ecclesiastes 3:1, 12-13 “There is a time for everything… I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”
      ➤ Life’s beauty is not in waiting, but in embracing each season with gratitude.
    • Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
      ➤ Jesus calls us to be present, not paralyzed by an imagined future.
    • Philippians 4:11-13 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances… I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
      ➤ True joy and contentment are found in Christ, not conditions.
    • Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
      ➤ Not tomorrow—this day is holy.

    3. The False Promise of “When…” and the Spiritual Illusion of Arrival

    “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin… then it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

    Both NDEs and Christian spirituality expose the lie that happiness or spiritual peace will “start” after we reach a milestone. This is a form of spiritual consumerism—treating peace and joy as a product to be earned, rather than a gift to be received.

    In NDE accounts, souls often learn that how we live—our intentions, love, compassion—is more important than what we achieve. This echoes the teaching of Jesus:

    • Luke 17:21 “The kingdom of God is within you.”
      ➤ The joy, peace, and divine connection we seek isn’t “out there”—it’s already available in the heart, right now.

    4. Embracing the Moment with Love and Courage

    “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

    This line encapsulates Christian and NDE truth. Both affirm that:

    • The present is the only real opportunity we have to love.
    • Love is a verb—an action, a dance, a gift—not a future state.

    In fact, the most common message reported by people after NDEs is this:

    “What matters most is how we love each other. Love is the reason for everything.”

    So the exhortation to:

    “Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like no one’s watching…”

    …reflects kingdom living. Jesus’ entire ministry modeled joy in suffering, love in betrayal, and presence with the least and the lost.

    Final Synthesis:

    This is a profoundly spiritual wake-up call. It resonates with:

    • NDE insights: The sacredness of the moment, the call to live and love now, not later.
    • Christian wisdom: Contentment in God’s presence, trust amid trials, and love as the highest calling.
    • Biblical truth: Repeated emphasis that the “now” is holy ground.

    Encouragement for the Soul:

    So today—don’t wait for life to be perfect.
    Let love flow now. Let joy dance now.
    Let Christ be born in you today—not after the bills are paid or the kids behave.

    “Choose life so that you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

    And to borrow the words of Jesus:

    “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

    That life begins not in some future ideal, but in the surrendered, radiant now.

  • The idea of developing “Christian spirituality” is essential to the inner lives of Christians – and shouldn’t be seen as “New agey” and taboo

    Spirituality that includes psychology like forming healthy relationships by avoiding toxic behaviors and setting boundaries and transcending the ego isn’t often talked about by Christianity but those forms of Spirituality are essential to develop when it comes to healthy christian relationships and christian spirituality in general. In fact the idea of christian spirituality is often seen as taboo by more fundamentalist and overly religious Christians

    This is touching on a deep and necessary critique that many thoughtful Christians—especially those engaged in psychology, pastoral care, or spiritual direction—are starting to voice more clearly.

    ### 1. **Neglect of the Inner Life in Some Christian Circles

    **Many forms of contemporary Christianity, particularly in more fundamentalist or dogmatic expressions, focus heavily on *beliefs, behaviors, and boundaries*—what to think, how to act, and what to avoid. While doctrine and moral guidance have their place, this framework often neglects:

    * **Emotional maturity***

    **Healthy relational patterns***

    **The role of trauma, attachment, or personality formation***

    **The transformation of the ego (not just its repression)

    **As a result, spiritual growth can become performative or stunted. People “act saved” but remain emotionally immature, reactive, codependent, or enmeshed in toxic relational patterns—something the early Church Fathers would have found deeply problematic.—

    ### 2. **The Need for Integration: Psychology + Christian Spirituality **Healthy Christian spirituality *should* include:

    * **Setting boundaries** (Jesus did this repeatedly—leaving crowds, rebuking Peter, confronting religious leaders)

    * **Recognizing and healing toxic behaviors** (especially those masked as “holiness”)*

    **Understanding ego** (the false self vs. true self—echoed in figures like St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, and Richard Rohr)*

    **Fostering secure, loving relationships** (as fruits of the Spirit and signs of sanctification)

    These are *not* secular distractions from faith; they are often *precisely* how grace works in real life.—

    ### 3. **Resistance from Fundamentalism**

    In many fundamentalist groups, this kind of talk is rejected or seen as:

    * “New Agey”

    * “Psychologizing the Gospel”

    * “Too focused on the self”

    But ironically, Jesus himself emphasized *heart transformation*, not just outward obedience. And Paul frequently wrote about renewing the mind, dying to the flesh (false ego), and growing into maturity in Christ.—

    ### 4. **The Taboo Around ‘Spirituality’**You’re also right that even the term **”Christian spirituality”** can feel taboo. It’s often associated with mysticism or contemplative traditions that more rigid churches find suspicious. But Christian spirituality is simply: *A lived relationship with God that integrates the whole person—heart, mind, body, and soul—into the likeness of Christ.*—

    ### 5. **A Better Vision: Wholeness and Holiness Together**You’re proposing a much-needed vision of **holistic discipleship**—where psychological health, emotional intelligence, and ego-transcendence are *not in conflict with* faith but part of how the Spirit transforms us. In other words:

    * Good boundaries ≠ selfishness

    * Inner healing ≠ naval-gazing

    * Emotional honesty ≠ spiritual weakness

    This is a kind of Christianity deeply rooted in love, truth, and actual transformation—not just belief statements or rule-following.

    —–

    ### **Reflection: The Spiritual Necessity of Emotional Maturity**

    For much of my life, I understood Christian spirituality in terms of beliefs, obedience, and outward morality. I thought being “spiritual” meant praying more, reading more Scripture, and avoiding sin. But something was missing. I noticed that many devout Christians—myself included—still struggled with broken relationships, defensiveness, manipulation, or burnout. There was faith, but little transformation.What I’ve come to see is that spirituality divorced from psychology is often shallow. Faith without emotional health creates people who might say the right things about God, but live out distorted versions of love—codependent, controlling, avoidant, or repressed. Jesus didn’t just come to correct our theology. He came to heal the heart, to make us whole. He modeled boundaries when he walked away from crowds or confronted manipulation. He saw through false piety. He invited people into an inner revolution—a death of the false self, and a resurrection into something more spacious, humble, and free.

    Yet, in many corners of Christianity, the language of boundaries, ego transcendence, or emotional health is treated with suspicion—as if it dilutes the Gospel. But the truth is, we can’t love our neighbor well if we don’t know where we end and they begin. We can’t embody grace if we’re controlled by fear, resentment, or unresolved wounds. We can’t be vessels of Christ’s peace if we’ve never learned to make peace with ourselves.

    I now believe that spiritual maturity *requires* emotional maturity. To grow in Christ is to become more grounded, more truthful, more able to both give and receive love without distortion. It means recognizing the ego’s games, the masks we wear, and the subtle ways we try to earn love or control others.

    This is not self-help. It’s self-surrender—offering not just our sins to God, but our wounds, patterns, and false selves.

    So now, when I speak of Christian spirituality, I no longer mean just theology or ritual. I mean the slow, Spirit-led journey toward wholeness. A life where faith and psychology meet. Where love is not just a command, but a capacity we develop with grace. Where holiness includes honesty. And where we remember that God desires not just our compliance—but our transformation.—

  • beyond ‘donating to charity’:

    The main thing is being a physical material presence to those in need and a witness to God. Donating money is just a tool

    ### 🔑 1. **Presence Over Material Aid**

    This points to a **relational, incarnational ethic**: what people most need is **you**—your attention, compassion, presence, love—not merely your money.

    * Emphasizes the **infinite value of the human person** and our call to be **gift** to one another.

    * Giving money without giving yourself can become **detached charity**. But being present to someone communicates **dignity**, **solidarity**, and **divine love** in a way money cannot.

    This mirrors what Mother Teresa used to say:

    > “The greatest poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.”

    ### ✝️ 2. **Embodied Witness to God**

    In Christianity, especially in Catholic and Orthodox theology, **God became flesh**—*Incarnation*—so salvation is not just spiritual or transactional. It’s **relational**, **physical**, **sacrificial**, and **personal**.

    * John Paul II saw Christians as **icons of Christ**, especially when we stand with the poor, sick, marginalized, or dying.

    * Your **presence becomes a sacrament of God’s love**, a visible sign of invisible grace.

    So being **with** someone in their suffering is not just a nice thing to do—it’s a **holy calling** and an act of profound **evangelization**.

    ### 💰 3. **Money Is Just a Tool**

    In that context, money is not evil—but it is **secondary**. It’s just a **means**, not an end.

    * You use money to feed, clothe, or support someone—but if you don’t also **see** them, **listen** to them, **be with** them, you risk missing the real encounter.

    * For John Paul II, **human relationship and witness always come first**. Tools serve people—never the other way around.

    ### 🧠 Related Concepts from His Theology

    * **Solidarity**: We are all one human family, and we are responsible for each other.

    * **Personalism**: Every person is unique, unrepeatable, and should never be treated as an object.

    * **Theology of the Body**: Even our bodies are sacred, because they’re part of how we love, give, and witness to truth.

    In a world of digital giving, automation, and abstract aid, John Paul II’s reminder is prophetic:

    > *Never outsource love.*

    > *Don’t confuse charity with presence.*

    > *Be the hands and face of Christ to the person in front of you.*

  • some examples of purported miraculous healings

    The Congregation for the Causes of Saints (now part of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints) investigates and approves miracles used in the canonization (sainthood) process in the Catholic Church. These miracles are typically medically inexplicable healings attributed to the intercession of a candidate for sainthood.

    Here are some notable examples of miracles approved by the Congregation:

    🩺 1. Healing of Marie Simon-Pierre (Pope John Paul II’s cause)

    Year: 2005

    Condition: Advanced Parkinson’s disease

    Miracle: After praying for Pope John Paul II’s intercession shortly after his death, her symptoms disappeared overnight. Neurological tests confirmed the disease had inexplicably vanished.

    Significance: This healing was used for John Paul II’s beatification in 2011.

    🩺 2. Healing of Floribeth Mora Diaz (John Paul II’s canonization)

    Year: 2011

    Condition: Inoperable brain aneurysm

    Miracle: From Costa Rica, she prayed for John Paul II’s intercession on the day of his beatification. Her aneurysm disappeared without surgery.

    Significance: Approved as the miracle for John Paul II’s canonization in 2014.

    🩺 3. Healing of a newborn (Mother Teresa’s cause)

    Case: A tribal woman in India gave birth to a child with multiple brain abnormalities.

    Miracle: The child recovered suddenly after the family prayed to St. Teresa of Calcutta.

    Significance: Used for her canonization in 2016.

    🩺 4. Healing of a Brazilian man (Fulton Sheen’s cause)

    Year: 2010

    Condition: Stillborn baby, no heartbeat for 61 minutes

    Miracle: After prayers for the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the baby revived suddenly without brain damage.

    Significance: Approved miracle for Sheen’s beatification (though it has since been delayed).

    🩺 5. Healing of a woman with tuberculosis (St. André Bessette)

    Year: Early 20th century

    Condition: Tuberculosis of the spine (Pott’s disease)

    Miracle: The woman claimed to have been healed instantly after praying to Brother André and touching a relic.

    Significance: One of the miracles used for his canonization in 2010.

    How the Vatican verifies miracles:

    Strict medical review by independent doctors

    No natural explanation must be possible

    Instant, complete, and lasting healing required

    Must be linked specifically to prayer for the intercession of the candidate

  • can god create a rock so big that he cannot lift it? he can do one or the other but not at the same time

    Can an Omnipotent God create a rock he cannot lift? it is said that If one answers yes to the question, then God is therefore not omnipotent because he cannot lift the rock, but if one answers no to the question, God is no longer omnipotent because he cannot create the rock.my position is that he can do one or the other, at different times, but he can’t do both at the same time. and, that he can’t do both at the same time doesn’t disprove God as omnipotent.

    to answer this, we need to ask another question. what happens when an immovable rock meets the unstoppable force of God?the issue– the paradox arises because it rests on two premises- that there exist such things as immovable rocks and unstoppable forces – which cannot both be true at once. If there exists an unstoppable force, it follows logically that there cannot be any such thing as an immovable rock, and vice versa.so the key then is “at once”. to ask if God can create both scenarios at once is a logical impossibility. God cannot do the logically impossible.if God creates the immovable rock, he cannot be an unstoppable force. and if God acts as the unstoppable force, he cannot create an immovable rock. he must choose which scenario exists at any given time. and, in fact, the fact that he would be able to choose the scenario, highlights the underlying omnipotence of God to begin with.to highlight the time element. if God made a rock that could not be lifted for a week, then for a week he could not lift it. when we merely say God can make the rock, but then he can lift it, we are assuming that the time has elapsed such that God is able to then ‘switch gears’ and lift it. when we add a time element such as “a week” it highlights that there are in fact restrictions if God makes that rock.we have to suppose that God knows what he’s doing when he makes decisions like that to prevent lifting it for a week. and, this is a matter of consistency…. it is like dropping a ball or not. i can say i won’t drop a ball, and if i am consistent as i would imagine God is, then i won’t drop the ball. if he creates the rock, whether or not he can lift it, he probably won’t lift it for as long as he says he won’t. not that he couldn’t.

    i think at the end of the day you can say God can both make the rock and lift it, if your premise is right that God can be illogical. but that’s another debate. i’m assuming God must be logical. 

    it’s sort of like asking. “can the unlimited limit itself? if you answer yes, then it’s not truly unlimited, though if you answer no it’s still not unlimited”. i call that the ‘unlimited paradox’

  • penal substitution theory based on the bible is probably rooted in paganism

    penal substitution says that God needed an infinite method of having his wrath placated. the only method that is possible, the theory goes, is Jesus dying. his death means you don’t have to die as your sins are “covered”. 

    the problem with this idea is that it didn’t originate until a thousand years after Jesus and has little basis in the bible. during the early church, the language christians used is called “christus victor”. Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross, is the essence of the idea. i like to say love conquers death. anyone belonging to the brotherhood is also saved from death. so, penal substitution isn’t orthodox. 

    what about old testament sacrifices, were they to appease God’s wrath? nope. they were a means of saying “i dedicate what i have to you, and turn myself over to you”. here is a good quote that shows the true basis for old testament sacrifices and how it ties to Jesus’ sacrifice. 

    “In all of the sacrifices, the central theme is not appeasement, but representational consecration. That is, symbolically through the offering the worshiper says “this offering represents my giving to you my life”, or as you might hear in a love song “God I belong to you, here is my heart”. It is not a statement of placation (as if God needed to be bribed into loving us), but an act of devotion, entrusting oneself to God, giving your life into God’s hands. In the case of the thanksgiving and first fruits offerings it means that all that we have comes from God and so with these first fruits we acknowledge that it all belongs to God. The passover offering was about the birth of the people of Israel and marked the time of the exodus of God’s people out of bondage, so the passover offering was about committing and aligning oneself on God’s side against oppression. Finally along with all the other sacrifices the sacrifice of atonement for sin was saying “Here is my life, I want to live it for you Lord. I die to the sinful in me and give my life to you”.

    In the same way blood was sprinkled to dedicate the temple, and dedicate the law to God. This was the case with the Passover sacrifice which originated as the people marked their house door showing their allegiance with God, consecrating their house as belonging to the Lord. Thus Jesus when he connects his death with the Passover speaks of a “Covenant” being established by his blood “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Lk22:20). It was the sealing of a promise, like signing a contract in blood. We can see here that whether a sin offering, or a thanks offering, or a dedication that in every case there is the common theme of consecration – dedicating to God. This sense of consecration is conveyed in the Latin root of the word “sacrifice” which means “to make sacred” or “to consecrate”. We give ourselves, our lives, our need, our thanks, our allegiance to God vicariously through the ritual of sacrifice.

    There is here the aspect of identification with the animal – you bring a part of yourself to the altar, in many cases laying a hand on the animal’s head before it is slaughtered. Specifically in the case of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement we can see also an aspect of transference as the scapegoat was sent off bearing the sin away (Lv 16:21-22). And as previously mentioned there is here a clear aspect of vicarious atonement specifically with the sin offerings – that animal that died was you. The consecration here meant that the sinner brought their broken life to the altar Yet in all of this the writers of the Old Testament are emphatic that the main object of sacrifice is not about a mechanical transaction detached from relationship, but the outward ritual effecting inner change, devotion, and repentance. As David says

    “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean wash me, and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a pure heart, O God…” (Ps 51:7,10)

    David’s prayer here is that the outward cleansing of the hyssop would go down and cleanse his inmost being. God, David says, is not interested in outward actions, but in the state of his heart. This is a relational exchange not a legal one.

    “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps 51:16-17).”

  • salvation seems to be both an event and a process

    protestants like to say they are saved, end of discussion. catholics say you have to work out your eventual salvation… but if you look closer, they are willing to say salvation is both an event and a process. i dont think it’s very standard for a protestant to say salvation can be a process? 

    i think the way to look at this is simply by looking at the question of ‘being forgiven’. when we pray the our father, we ask as christians to be forgiven. we dont say ‘thank you for forgiving me’. it’s a very basic idea of repentance that’s foundational… for that foundation to be off would be a wild accusation. 

    it’s also worth noting, that the bible often talks about falling away and such. like the parable of the seeds and how jesus said some start to grow only to later wilt due to worldly concern. only some seeds grow to maturity. 

    it’s also worth tying the ‘assurance of salvation’ and ‘once saved always saved’ ideas to the idea of salvation.

    -the bible says you can know you are saved, but given all the other examples where it says you can fall away, i would say that knowing one is saved is a special gift for a special person. jesus did say ‘not everyone who says to me lord lord will inherit the kingdom, but only those who do the will of the father’. it’s a lot to read into this that you can’t know you are saved, but we have to at least remember that acknowleding jesus as lord is not enough. i think we can all agree that just thinking you are saved isn’t enough? it does get into murky territory but there’s always a hypothetical mass murderer who is pathologically propensed to think he is saved.

    -also, i think free will is such that a person can always loose their salvation for practical purposes, but for practical purposes some people can know they are saved, and always will be saved, practically.

    to tie into this near death experience philosophy, a person can be loved unconditionally, and in that sense they are always saved, but a person still must face the consequences of their actions. like a mother unconditionally loves her children, she also must let them face their own consequences and actions. it’s like near death philosophy says, we go to where our vibration permits. if we have a low vibration, out soul can be saved by becoming a genuine christian. that’s all that’s necessary. because you will grow into higher vibrations and god has your back. if your words are empty, you wont grow into higher vibrarations. there’s a question about whether hell is eternal given near death philosphy, and most of those guys like to say hell is a prison. i think we can all agree that an eternal hell is possible given our free will, but we have to wonder the open question of if hell is eternal for practical purposes. it very well could be, or maybe not. it is central that hell does exist though. only one percent of NDEs are hellish, and they usually just consider that it was a learning experience. a wake up call. 

    it’s interesting that ‘once saved always saved’, ties into salvation like that. just like how it’s intersesting that ‘atonement’ ties into the ‘justification’ and salvation ideas. and lately i’ve been incorporating NDE philsophy as well. 

  • is it necessary for christians to forgive the unrepentant

    one of the foundational aspects of forgiveness is repentence. or that someone ask for it to receive it. some traditional christians like some catholics say it’s not necessary to forgive everyone, or those who are unrepentent, cause God doesn’t either. if we look at the eastern concept of forgiveness, it also implies reconciliation. you can only forgive those you are reconciled with. it’s about establishing communion, and we can’t commune with someone closed off to us. 

    but Jesus does say ‘the measure you use will be measured to you’. which might indicate that the standard we use to forgive might be the standard God uses with us. at the end of John, he says ‘whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’. catholics like to say this creates the idea of their confession, but protestants like to say this just means we have the power to save people through our preaching. neither of these ideas really fit that well, but both are compelling. we might say that if we dont forgive, they aren’t forgiven, their sin is retained. between the two of you. but we have to remember that our measure will be measured to us. 

    to incorporate NDE philsophy, everyone can acheive salvation. maybe of legal matters, we are all forgiven. but when it comes to the eastern concept of reconciliation, it is impossible to forgive someone we can’t commune with. 

    so, maybe in the sense that is most meaningful, we cant forgive if we can’t reconcile…. but we can always be open to reconcilation if they repent, or if it’s a matter of looking past brusised egos and letting bygones be bygones… or as saint paul said, ‘just let it slide’.

    but when it comes to legality, but we can forgive but maybe it is up to each person how they want to treat that. but i would think if we use legality against others, it could be used against us. ultimately i think it’s wisest to forgive everyone, not just cause that’s what we want when we are unrepentant, but because it’s the godliest thing to do. 

  • how seriously should christians take the old testament?

    on one of the most fundamental levels, the old testament teaches an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. the new testament teaches turn the other cheek. how can such a fundamental difference be something that a christian must accept both as infallible truth? does truth change? how?

    but it’s more than that core theological difference. the old testament has God killing people over and over again, or commanding them to die. see the story of noah where he killed the whole earth, or the time he turned a woman to stone for questioning where she was headed and looking back to her old lifei understand that it’s plausible that the consequences of sin is death, which even the bible says and is as true a statement as they come. but it seems to again be in stark contrast to the God of the new testament. what’s with this bipolar God of the new testament and the hippie God of the new testament? i realize even Jesus pointed out that the commandment and consequence of disrespecting ones parents is death, but how can such a difference be fundamentally compatible with each other? (i often wonder if jesus was being literal that that’s the way the world is, or if he was saying ‘even by this standard, the pharisees weren’t being consistent with mercy’)

    but it’s more than these broader frictions. the old testament says unclean food is ungodly, yet the new testament says nothing God has made clean is unclean. how should we accept that Jesus’ death change something unclean to something clean? or the old testament says men with deformed penis’ can’t enter into the assembly of the lord, which sounds like they can’t enter heaven. how did jesus’ death make deformed penis’ acceptable? and the context doesn’t indicate this old testament verse was against self mutilation, but that any deformed penis was too much, even from a disability or injury. the best i can surmise, if these old testament verses are true… is that these are ceremonial laws, and ceremonial laws can change with a covenant change, assuming the covenant change was legit to begin with. it’s kinda like how often cultural differences are legit changes in the bible, (why it says women can’t lead or wear hats in church, even in the new testament, but everyone now accept as just cultural norms being changed) and not infallible differences being changed arbitrarily. ceremony and culture are both legit and reasonable ways of differentiating, but the theology for why the rules were the way they were to begin with, or how they can change, can still seem arbitrary and capricious, to use legal jargon.  

    we also have things that dont make sense theologically.

    -the bible looks literal of the story of noah in the old testament, and the new testament treats the story literal too. i dont have time to list all the scientific discrepancies of that story, such as how there’s a constant lineage of cultures everywhere and constant archeological evidence of no flood everywhere, yet supposedly God destroyed it all… and hid or changed the evidence? to me, when God performs a miracle like he does with phsyical healings even in this day and age, he supports the miracle with evidence and truth. (such as the congregation of the causes of the saints with the catholic church) the story of noah isn’t supported by evidence, but contradicts it. maybe it wasn’t meant to be taken literally or was a local event? 

    -i’ll add more examples in the future. 

  • the wisdom of ‘christus victor’ atonement theory over penal substitution

    I think that instead of us having a legal relationship with God to appease God’s wrath, we have a parent child relationship to magnify God’s love. The relationship is like the prodigal son.

    The bible does say that Jesus dying prevented God’s wrath, but the distinction is that that don’t imply appeasing God’s wrath.

    The bible said Jesus nailed any legal requirements to the cross. Literally, instead of saying we have a legal relationship with God then like is said in western Christianity, we no longer have a legal relationship with him.

    There r verses that say Jesus became sin for us, and by his wounds we r healed. But these just mean that Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice. Love wouldn’t let Jesus die, Jesus conquered sin and death with his sacrifice. He could have engaged in the Christian doctrine of self defense, but he chose to offer himself instead. The Bible says the spirit that rose Jesus from the dead lives in us and will raise us from the dead. We are adopted children of God and brothers of Jesus when we believe in Jesus and try to do his will.

    This is basically, christus Victor atonement instead of penal substitution. Christie Victor was the predominate view in the early church, the other was minority view. Penal substitution is also based in paganism, a blood sacrifice on a technicality, instead of a sacrifice of first fruit, an offering of ones gifts in sacrifice. The bible says god takes no pleasure in burnt offerings but prefers gifts of the heart. Of course, they usually talked in terms of ransom, I think, so me saying love conquers death as central might be heretical or not pure doctrine. My love conquers death ideas are present in all forms of atoenment historically, just not the critical part of the theories. it should be the critical part.