Christian Philosophy

Go on, refuse to read it, wallow in your ignorance.

Now that I have a greater understanding of Worldself, I know that God cannot solely be a causal being. Life, by nature, is causal, but the universe we live in is born from non-cause or chaos and needs said chaos to continue as a stable entity.

Like I have said before, without that first push on the universe, our world would be static. This argument is first explained by Saint Thomas Aquinas‘ Quinquae Viae. Not all of Aquinas’ arguments make perfect sense, but the arguments of the “unmoved mover” and the “first cause” I think are structurally sound, as long as we define God as the sum of everything in existence that is beyond our causally perceptive grasp.

Some people wish to refute this theory, claiming that Aquinas is too hasty in claiming that this first mover must be God. I wish to say to these people that nevertheless, the universe is born out of a non-cause, that empirical studies such as quantum theory reveal that the sub atomic particles like to blip in and out of existence, that something cannot come from nothing and yet does, and that if they logically describe themselves as one being, then by the same train of thought, they must understand the universe as one being. Does God have a sentient and causal brain? I would see that as impossible, but when we look deeper in and see all of God’s faces, we can then see the ways in which there is some awareness that we can communicate with. That is something you will have to find out on your own though.

It is important at this point to remember and understand that there are two planes of existence, 1) the causal world we live in, and 2) the chaos world that we will never causally perceive. Both are real, and both planes communicate with each other so that the integrity of our causal universe remains.

For too long, I have figured that this chaos world will forever be beyond me, that it is not within my abilities to experience it. Presently, however, I think that is an incorrect assumption. However, I need to make yet another assumption in order to believe in the contrary. Now, I am forced to make an assumption in whichever direction I take. However, I know in this world, logic, perception, and science is my reality, but in the other world, these rules no longer apply. In the other world, things such as faith and freedom will have a home. Either assumption I make in regards to my experience of the world beyond will be an action based on faith. The first assumption means that when I die, I am dead, causation is my only reality. However, if I have faith that when I die, my soul will live on and experience the non-causal reality, then I can see it possible that just may be the case. You can read more about this philosophy in William James’ The Will to Believe.

However, I have just claimed that the soul exists, that something can transcend both the body and the mind, an argument that I seemed to have claimed as untrue in earlier chapters. This is what I now think: The soul is only awareness. Like what I said before, I can never be in your mind because our mind consists of what we perceive. However, we are both aware of our relationships with these objects from our particular vantage points. Our awareness cannot act, it cannot motivate, it cannot have a contributing place in our causal reality, but it certainly can watch the world move much like how we will sometimes find ourselves watch television or a movie. We are immersed in it, but we are not players in the show itself. We are merely aware of it.

I have the faith to assume that there is inequality in this, in relation to individuals. I have more awareness than a dog. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a few dogs out there who have more awareness than some of the idiot humans that I have seen in my days. There also must be individuals who have more awareness than me, and I think the best candidate of this would be none other than Jesus Christ himself.

Speaking of Jesus Christ, who better than to be the one who acts as the bridge between causal life and the world beyond? The New Testament preaches that he is the Messiah, the one who brings peace to humankind, the one who can do miracles, the one who is crucified and is then resurrected to save our souls. As a sinful and miserable individual, a continued existence into the world beyond would bring me certain terror much like a really bad nightmare. How could I possibly exist in a universe if I only understood myself a damned causal being? I would either not exist in it or bring such tortures to myself that I would not have the strength to take myself out of my own prison in that afterlife. Ironically, it would be hell.

But if I put my trust in Jesus, the human incarnate of God, I just might be able to be one with him in heaven, oops I mean the chaos in the non-causal world beyond, where all Christians’ common beliefs and values will give us the oomph to exist in that world and not go plum raving mad.

I have the faith to believe that any religious doctrine that attests to something of this world (Islam and Hinduism come to mind), will have equal footing in existing in this world. I also believe that those who we deem ill of heart who still act with absolute conviction and belief in heaven will also experience this world. Controversial or no, I believe that a suicide bomber who is convinced that he is going to go to heaven to sleep with forty virgins just might be on to something. However, I am curious to what influence Jesus Christ has in that world, as well as what shared influence the rest of mankind has. There really isn’t a way of me knowing, but I know enough to say that every reasonable religion has its right to exist and be true.

I would like to now give Jews an answer into how I can possibly deem Jesus Christ the Messiah when there is no real evidence that he is a descendent of David, he has not restored full political sovereignty for Israel, the temple of Solomon is not again reconstructed, and the world is not in political peace. Here are my arguments:

1) Jews may be claiming that the Tanakh is something that should be taken literally. If they want to continue under this logic, then they can assume that the planet Earth is this flat little piece of land that resides on top of water and that the sky is also under water and that when Noah was on his Ark, the blue skies literally tore open with water and the entire planet was immersed in it. That, and there were never cavemen or dinosaurs. Ummmmm…. Need I say more there?

2) We must read the bible through our metaphorical/spiritual lens, I will go into further detail about how to do that later, but for now we must accept that God speaks through humans in metaphor so as to maintain our causal integrity. When we see things through metaphor, we can infer much more.

3) I think at minimum, we can claim that Jesus Christ is the descendant of King David in that Jesus is fully aware of David’s teachings and that David’s influence lives on in Jesus.

4) You want the Temple of Solomon rebuilt? Then build it yourself, do you really believe that it should just magically appear, or do you just not want to admit that Jesus may be the Messiah?

5) The Jews do not have political sovereignty in Israel. So how can Jesus possibly be the Jewish Messiah?

I think the Jews are empowered to do something about this. What they could do, is break down their walls and allow for Palestinian States. Sure, the Palestinians will have say in what goes in Israel, but a Jew should still be able to walk freely through this state without worry of persecution, able to govern his or herself. Truly, this is all that matters when it comes to political authority in one’s country.

 

6) The Messiah is supposed to bring world peace on Earth, it is a communal and political thing, not just a personal thing.

To answer this properly, we need to understand the true nature of Jesus as God incarnate, not just Jesus the man. If we see Jesus as God incarnate, then we understand that it is possible for humankind to perceive that all beliefs, all realities, can be true when put into relation of the non-causal universe beyond. Jesus is our bridge into this free universe. If we all take Jesus or at least this important message of Jesus into our hearts, we can then act upon it, accept that others are free to believe and do whatever they want. If some Islamic Jihad suicide attacks us or a North Korean nuclear bomb blows us up then so what? We all need the courage to take a stand and allow the world to take us, much like Jesus’ decision to allow himself to be crucified, in order to truly be at peace. We must stop making weapons, despite the fact that could mean we are defenseless against those who disagree with us. We need to appeal to human compassion, with the theme of repentance, our acceptance that we are far from perfect, in the faint hope that the world can be more than this, that we can all work together and understand each other to never have to worry about evil again. As long as the Jews continue to make weapons and fight for Israel, they will never experience true peace. Never. And that is there loss (that and they will never experience heaven, being so attached to the causal world).

I now have one last thing to write. The only way to see God in our universe is to look for God. If you don’t want to believe, then God will never be within your sight. That is your choice. But if you make the choice to have faith in something more and look, then what you will see is astonishing. One thing that super impresses me is that the Holy Spirit seems to enjoy talking in metaphors. It is such a great way to maintain the integrity of the causal universe, but then communicate a higher meaning in a seamless and beautiful way. When I truly open myself and look for the metaphor and God, God speaks back, every time, it doesn’t ever have to stop, it doesn’t ever have to change. God is just behind that veil of causality, that metaphorical protection, trying to speak with you, trying to connect, in any way possible.

Reviews

[Sabine]

interesting, thought provoking essay. Sabine

[Mr. Lopez]

Dude ! Where does this come from? You proudly stand on your soap box and shout out to the world for all to hear . and for this I must give you mad props. I was so empowered by you spiritual conviction that I had to take a step back to absorb it all. Please don't misinterpret my words as they are meant to be words of praise. Thank you for your brazen stand with disregard to the opinions of unbelievers who will one day find out the hard way what " hotter then hell" really means first hand. Great stuff for my library.
Mr.Lopez