PDBROYLES@OWUCOMCN (The Golden Rule: He who has all the Gold makes the rules.) (02/08/90)
> Point of confusion. The "incarnation of the Christ", and "The Christ > may make itself apparent in any form that it will" causes some confusion on > my part. This would indicate to me that "the Christ" is only some type of > force or something. God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all "persons", > and though they are a force, they are by no means "it". > > All of God's prophets were given His Holy Spirit, and the Bible makes > it quite evident that God was the driving force. Where does this "the > Christ" force come from? God never mentions it(as such). I think you misunderstand Peter and if not Peter, then let me explain how *I* understand it. It's not necessarily the "Christ Force" but rather the Christ concsiousness. Jesus was human, it was his "Christ consciousness" that made Him special. It was the Christlike attributes which made Him the Son of God. Jesus was A perfect example of how Humans should be, but in my opinion not the only one. Jesus adopted the messianic attitude that made him who he was. When we are told to follow his example to accept Christ, I understand it to mean that we are to follow the example of JC's life. I understand it to mean that we are to sacrafice ourselves and love one another, not to say "I follow Christ therefore I am right." To be a Christian is an inner quality, an inner acceptance of the example established by JC, not an outer proclaimation saying "I am a Christian." > Also, if under the anointing of "the Christ" Jesus says, "I am the way, > the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me." I ask you, is he talking about his physical being or the example that he has shown us? He has shown us the way, it is our responsibility to follow it! He has shown us to put others first and God above all. He has shown us that Love is the most perfect way. He has shown us to forgive others and not to hold a grudge. He has shown us not to judge, and a million other things, it is the example that will lead us to salvation, not by holding up his name saying I accept Christ! I am almost positive that people will respond to this, but think about the truth behind it. Even if you believe that you have to say "JC IS the Only Begotten..." you cannot deny that the example established by JC is the true way! > Then > wouldn't anyone else under the "Christ" anointing say they were the way, > truth and life, and they would get you to the Father? First, on the question of semantics, "the Father" is a very exclusive Christian term. Let's use salvation or Heaven instead. Second, one cannot simply say that they have that "Christ consciousness" that will lead to salvation!!! That's an inner quality. Jesus was an example of this "Christ Consciousness" that will lead to salvation, but I have no doubt that one could say that Jesus was also the perfect example of the "Buddha Consciousness" or The Buddha is a perfect example of the "Christ Consciousness." Third, I have no doubt in my mind that a few people, like Gandhi, have had this "Christ/Krisna/Buddha COnsciousness" guiding them. I also have no doubt that Gandhi is in Nirvana/Heaven/released from Samsara right now! PDB PS. If questioned, I would say that I AM a Christian, but I would also say that I am a Buddhist and to a minimal degree a Hindu. We all worship the same God, but we perceive Him/It differently... (My personal beliefs are a conglomeration of Christianity/Buddhism/and a little Hinduism.)
UK3W@DKAUNI2 (Matt Will) (02/09/90)
Just a quick reply to your post scriptum: I have no idea how you can
be a little bit of each (Hindu, Muslim, Christian...), because one
of the points in which Christianity differs from other beliefs is that
our God is a personal God, and it is far from being just a principle,
just an ideal we should strive for. This was just an idea I had while
reading your note, and I am sorry that I don't have more time to explain
the differences in a more detailed way. I still believe that Jesus is
the only answer to our questions...
May God bless you,
Matt