Thursday, March 22, 2012

DANIEL’S NOT-SO-NEW-AGE DECONSTRUCTION AND REINTERPRETATION OF THE NICENE CREED


I fully understand that my Evangelical friends from college most probably think I have truly been deluded by Satan and his minions and my more rational atheist and/or agnostic friends think I’m just plain ole’ delusional but because of being heavily informed and influenced by the Edgar Cayce Readings, A Course in Miracles, Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, a study of the World’s Religions and to lesser extent Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch and his Conversations with God and having a rather profound Past Life Regression and Near Death Experience, I have come to accept and believe the refutations of Orthodox Belief cited below. What I find interesting and odd, is that juxtaposed against the fact, that all those years ago, when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior and made a vocal and public exclamation of faith in a Literal Interpretation of the Bible and the Orthodox Church’s Fundamentals of Faith, professing an understanding and acceptance of the rationale behind the “Roman Road to Salvation” and/or “Vicarious Propitionary Atonement,” then participating in baptism as a further proclamation of my faith in this One and Only Way to Salvation, I now find it very lacking and incomplete. So what gives? Can one un-know “The Truth?” At the time, I believe, I fully understood what I was being told and feel I had a genuine Spiritual/Religious Experience. Either Truth is Progressive in nature, Conservatively Concrete, or Relative therefore Irrelative. I betcha you can tell what kind of “truth” I’m presently a believer in. As for Scientific Materialism, Quantum Mechanics along with specific common threads found in the Profound Religious and Spiritual Experiences of many sages, yogis, gurus, and saints of various cultures and religions throughout history, cast a long and dark shadow across any strictly Empirical Truth claim. In tandem with what I’m stating here, there is a great blog entry by Nancy B. Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div. at Pathway to Ascension titled: An Analysis of the Nicene Creed in Comparison with Jesus’ Teaching
One last thing before getting into the meat of the subject at hand. Although these personal statements of belief and faith are really nothing “New,” I would like to state that I don’t see myself as a Gnostic Christian; Neo or Trans Gnostic, possibly so but not Gnostic in the traditional sense. We believe in one God,  
I believe in a Panentheistic Monotheism, 


For an argument on and for a biblical basis for Panentheism see: http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godinall.php# and/or The Wild Things of God
the Father, the Almighty, Father/Mother, Ground of Being, Gaia/Kosmos, that is Awe-some,


For an argument on a biblical basis for the feminine face of God see: 
Developing a Biblical Sophia Christology by Reverend Rebecca



maker of heaven and earth,
whose Spirit shines through all creation


See above link on Panentheism for a Biblical basis for this statement 


of all that is, seen and unseen. where form is formlessness and formlessness is form.


This is a Buddhist statement of Truth found in the Heart Sutra. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, I believe in the Christ Consciousness that resides within each and every individual,


For a Biblical basis for Christ Consciousness see: A Bible Study in God Consciousness  


and/or: 
  • John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?
  • Psalm 82:6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
  • 2 Peter 1:4 says that God enables Christians to be "partakers of the divine nature."
  • John 17:21 records Jesus' prayer for his followers during the last supper: "You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; [I pray] that they also may be one in Us."
  • In Galatians 2:20, Paul says "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."
  • In Ephesians 4:6, Paul writes "[There is] one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all.
  • 1 John 4:16: "He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."
  • 1 Corinthians 6:19: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"
  • 2 Timothy 1:14: "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."
the only Son of God, for we are ALL Sons and Daughters of God.


Biblical basis for this statement: 
  • Psalm 82:6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
  • Romans 8:16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.
  • Romans 9:26 And, "Then, at the place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.'"
  • 2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
  • Revelation 21:7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
All will (eventually) be "Victorious!"  
For two excellent blog posts that provide a Biblical basis for Universalism and against a belief in a literal hell (as in the diametric opposite of heaven) please see:
the above mentioned blog post - 
AN ANALYSIS OF THE NICENE CREED IN COMPARISON WITH JESUS’ TEACHINGS
and/or
Jesus' Teaching on Hell


eternally begotten of the Father,
All are eternally begotten of the Mother/Father, 


See above for Biblical basis for this statement


God from God, Light from Light, Divine Intelligent Light,
  • 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
  • Psalm 139:12 And the darkness will not darken from you, and the night will shine like the day.
  • 1 Timothy 6:16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no mortal has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (Notice, this verse does not say that a mortal/seen cannot merge with The Immortal/Unseen to become the ALL Seeing Eye of God/That Which Sees All).
true God from true God,
that which is Good, True and Beautiful 
begotten, not made, Eternal Spirit,
  • Psalm 90:2 Before the Earth would have been brought forth or ever the world would have been acquired, from eternity unto eternity you are God.
  • Isaiah 40:28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The eternal God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach.
of one Being with the Father;
Being of one essence with the Divine Father/Mother;
  • John 10:30 “I and my Father, We are One.” 
  • John 17:23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
through him all things were made.
Co-creators with the Mind of the Mother/Father.


"For ye are a corpuscle in the body of God; thus a co-creator with Him, in what ye think, in what ye do." Edgar Cayce Reading 2794-3
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
For us and for our salvation For Jesus, a son of man, was and is the Wayshower, the Elder Brother,
he came down from heaven, who fully transcended his ego consciousness allowing his Christ Consciousness to shine through his whole being - Body, Soul/Mind, and Spirit. was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary He most probably, was physically born from the womb of a young girl named Mary, and became truly human. born truly human (just like ALL the rest of us). For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; In order to show us the power of Mind and Spirit over suffering and death he was crucified under the reign of Pontius Pilate, Herod, and Caiphus. he suffered death and was buried. (Most probably), Jesus the man, died on a cross and was buried. On the third day he rose again According to Biblical accounts, he rose from the dead after three days, although in accordance with the Scriptures; according to rational thought and scientific method this is highly improbable if not impossible. he ascended into heaven Having escaped the karmic wheel of Samsara and completing his mission as a Bodhisattva, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. needing never again to reincarnate, his ego consciousness fully merged with Spirit. (Yes, I fully realize this also does not jibe with traditional rational thought or scientific method). He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, We each (our Higher Self), as Sons and Daughters of the Divine, are our own Judge and Jury after each incarnation, and his kingdom will have no end. until the time in which we Fully Awaken to our Eternal Christed Nature. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, I believe in the Spirit (who is typically understood to exhibit feminine qualities in the manifest realm), from whom, the emptiness of her womb, the entirety of the Kosmos is forever born. who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Therefore, the Physical/Kosmos/Children proceed(s) from Spirit the Life and Mind the Maker. who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, I believe these three to be a Divine Mystery, who has spoken through the prophets. whom impress upon sages throughout the ages to encourage acts of Compassion, Empathy and Justice. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I believe and take refuge in Jesus Christ, the Community of Saints, and the Truth. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I believe in the strength and viability of Divine Forgiveness, Grace and Patience as tools for Reconciliation and Integration We look for the resurrection of the dead, played out over eons of karmic reincarnation


Reincarnation and the Bible
and the life of the world to come. Amen until we awaken to our True Nature in the Godhead.. Amen


In closing, I must say, that I find it irrelevant whether or not Jesus actually historically existed in the way the Bible claims he existed. In my estimation, the Myth and Story are grounded in a Spiritual Truth that transcends Historical Truth.

4 comments:

  1. Daniel,

    I strongly recommend the documentary, "The God Who Wasn't There," which is available on Netflix, streaming. I watched it yesterday. I know you would enjoy it.

    Love,
    David

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  2. I BELIEVE LOVE IS GODS WAY I LOVE PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE I DON'T GET MAD ABOUT THE BIBLE I LISTEN TO PEOPLE THEY SAY ONE THING THEN SOME ONE SAY SOMETHING ELSE WHICH MAKES IT CONFUSE

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    Replies
    1. I WROTE THAT THIS MORNING

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  3. Linda your absolutely right, "God is Love." That's all that really needs to be said.

    ReplyDelete