Whither Christianity?

The Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

It is Easter Friday today, and as I write this, many people have gone by my study window on their way to the church next door. I look out at all those neatly dressed families and children and say: these are good people. I could look at the ugly past of the Church, the suppression of the Gnostic heresy, the joining of church and state, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and how it condoned slavery and the genocide of the native peoples, and how dispensationalistic Christians in America still support Israel no matter what, and the never ending war against the rest of the world.

But it is Easter Friday today, and I look at the Christians going by with love, and ask, whither Christianity?

I think it extraordinary that of all the faiths I have taught and been connected to, and all the people I have met, all my closest followers were born into the Christian faith. Not one Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Pagan. Perhaps it is that even though all others still look for a redeemer, only Christians are ready? Pity.

The fact remains that the hundreds of thousands of pages written in the Vedas, and the Buddhist and Muslim teachings, can't match the simplicity of the story of Jesus. Perhaps the parables and sayings of Jesus have a magic which allowed it to not only spread around the world, but to enable many to reach the God within without the intervention of the priestly class and has transcended all barriers to understanding.

But I bear no ill will to the Church, or any other religion. People have already left, as I wrote in 1974, to seek the church within. And there is a magic in the Word, made flesh.

What did Jesus do? Not that he died on the cross and returned in 3 days, not that he will come to judge the living and the dead, but:

He came not as a king but as a man, he healed the sick and ministered to the poor, he threw the money lenders out of the temple, and he taught his followers to believe in miracles.

And that is the message of Easter.

Easter-The Price of Faith

In recent years there has been a concerted effort to 'prove' that Jesus never existed. That's an argument best left to the theologians and historians. I'd like to tell you the story of Easter, and let you believe, or not. The only miracle that is real is the one inside you.

You'll need to read my earlier posts "Battle for the Soul of the Jewish People" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/battle-for-soul-of-jewish-people-i.html

and "Mary Magdalene and the 12 Miriams"
http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/mary-magdalene-and-12-miriams-this.html
to get the background, but, as I write on this Easter Sunday, here's my message to all of you.

Jesus died on the Cross.
He was resurrected through the efforts of his female disciples, and rose on the third day.
This is a test of faith.

The mystic traditions, first passed in oral form, then into writing, have all been altered through time and divided into a hundred different segments.

But the greatest truths of all are that
God incarnates in human form to teach humanity,
and takes on human suffering out of infinite compassion,
and teaches us how to overcome death.

The human ego is afraid that when it dies it exists no more, loved ones are left behind, and the great nothingness that awaits us is the end with nothing more in sight.

If I showed that death can be overcome, and miracles take place every day, all it takes on your part is to have faith.

I tell this to all my students and disciples. There will come a time when your faith is tested, and you will have doubts. Make the Leap of Faith, even when you don't know if your choice is the right one or not.

Easter isn't a 'Christian' thing, but a test for everyone. One that you and your people will have to take, over and over again, till you get it right.