Was Jesus Divine?

Couldn't Jesus's one-ness with God be similar to what Buddhists talk about when they refer to one-ness with the universe? I mean, in a very real sense, I (and all of us) are one with the universe, but only as parts and not the whole universe. Could Jesus have been God in the sense that he was part of God, but not the whole of God? Isn't that what it means for Jesus to say he is "of" the Father? Could the same be said of everyone, and it's just a matter of realizing it? I, for one, believe God is the universe, and I think this is what Jesus was getting at.

 

"That is why the sign of the cross in Catholic practice is so balanced."

Two steps, what do you mean by this? As far as i can tell a crucifix is so balanced so as to fit a man on it so he can hang in the sun and die. A symbol of death and terror in those days.

 

Right but if God is the universe, then that means he is everything. Your computer monitor is part of God, your face is part of God, a rubber band is part of God.

I generally tend to disagree with the God = universe thing, b/c that means that everything is God, so all there is, is God.

 

What's wrong with that?

 

I dunno?

 

Difficulties in interpreting the bible arise due to concrete, societally-conditioned thinking and reactive, imbalanced emotions. There is no need to scrutinize every passage of the bible so intensely. Jesus was a prophet, one of many prophets, who's presence here was intended to uplift the collective consciousness of humanity and illuminate the truths of our beings. Jesus made subtle distinctions between his own existence and the "Father" or god simply because he was acknowledging the fact that he was embodied in a physical form. Ultimately, however, his proclamation that "I and the Father are One" reveals his true divine nature.

Much more important then dwelling on semantics and minutiae of biblical passages, however, is the spirit of Christ -- that which he intended to convey to humanity. One of the most important bible passages (and as a result, conveniently overlooked) is Luke 17:21: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."

With this single passage, one can circumvent the need for ethical codes and reliance on "spiritual authorities" like ministers, priests, or the pope, and begin to directly realize the consciousness that Christ embodied through surrendering to love. One can abandon romanticized ideas about some imagined afterlife -- because there is none. The only heaven available to any of us is that which we choose to create for ourselves.

Here are some little known facts about good ol' JC and the nature of spirituality:

-He never wanted to be worshipped or placed on a pedestal
-He's a representation of the potential within all of us -- we are all children of God
-He would never dismiss other religions as Christians often casually do. He knew that the source of all religion is the same
-Envisioning oneself as subordinate to a being like Jesus is just as spiritually detrimental as arrogance and ego-aggrandizement. They're two sides of the same coin.
-A desire to convert others or defend the Christian faith stems from lack of conviction in one's own beliefs
-The bible itself can be as much a spiritual impediment as any of the seven deadly sins or lack of adherence to the ten commandments. Usually, it's a greater one.
-True Christianity is about overcoming fear: John, 4:18: "Perfect love casts out all fear". If your pursuit of Christian values is fear-based, then you haven't yet realized what it means to be Christian. And when you do realize what it means to be Christian, you'll no longer be one.

Some food for thought -- and if you're lucky, no-thought.

Travis

 

I am a (new) Catholic, and I have some serious reservations wih what you said about the office of Pope. The person of te Pope is no what is holy, or sanctifued, it is his office.

The Popes function is not to mbody the truly holy, but to be a Vicar (representative) of Christ. Sometime she is refered to as the Vicar of the Apostolic See, and at other times, the vicar of St Peter. That being said, Christ is the head of teh church, but because he isn't wandering around Emmaus, we need someone to represent him.

When I say represent, I do not mean that he ALWAYS speaks for Christ, only the infalliable statements are to be taken as the authority.

The cult of the ofice of the pope I can see as a major obstrucion to eccumenical movements (i use cult in th latin sense meaning "adoration").

 

i only say "holy" because he IS infallible. or supposed to be

 

The pope himself isn't infalliable. The doctrine states that by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error[1] when he solemnly declares or promulgates to the Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals as being contained in divine revelation, or at least being intimately connected to divine revelation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility

Not even everything he says is infallable. For example, much has been said by various popes about birth conrol, but never an infallible statement.

 

nothing really.

I too, tend to see God in everying.

But rather than saying to myself, God is the universe, so what I am seeing is God, I simply perceive it as you would see an artist name on a painting.

Simply the creators mark on the art that has been created.

 

in the Catholic faith, all that has been said by the Pope IS infallible. In the universal law, it may not be. But as Catholics, people believe that the Pope DOES have the Divine Word here on earth.

 

Jesus was an asshole.

Choices always were a problem for you.
What you need is someone strong to guide you.
Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow,
What you need is someone strong to use you..
Like me,
Like me.

If you want to get your soul to heaven,
Trust in me .
Dont judge or question.
You are broken now ,
But faith can heal you.
Just do everything I tell you to do.
Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow.
Let me lay my holy hand upon you.

My gods will
Becomes me.
When he speaks out,
He speaks through me.
He has needs
Like I do.
We both want
To rape you.

Jesus christ, why dont you come save my life.
Open my eyes and blind me with your light
And your lies.

The gaping lotus experience

(the hidden track on opiate)

I had a friend once he took some acid
Now he thinks hes a fire hydrant
Its okay until he pisses on your lighter
Kinda smells kinda cool kinda funny anyway

Satan, satan, satan...

I had a friend once he took some ecstasy
Tried to marry me and every one in the room
He was sort of loving kinda caring,
Kinda tried to fuck my lazy boy
It got a bit messy all over the curtains,
Arm chair covers, throw pillows, and carpeting

Satan, satan, satan...

 

First I’d like to ask why in some of the scriptures you quote, the Tetragrammaton has been replaced with HASHEM? As far as I can find Hashem was a Gizonite (1Ch 11:34) and is not generally accepted as a spelling or pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton like Yahweh and Jehovah are.

 

Now I’d like to say much of what you say is true but some is not.

Faced by a bewildering variety of Christian religions and teaching, I said to myself the Bible is the yard stick with which we should measure them and the one most closely following the Bible is the true church. So I defend the Bible not Christianity per say.

Let’s look at Sons of God. The Bible says that Angels are sons of God and that men can be sons of God but it also indicates that Jesus was God’s firstborn son. So much like a man who has seven sons, only one can be his first born. Thus Jesus is called The Son Of God but not The Only Son of God.

As to his divinity that’s a little trickier question because of the nature of the word divinity. To some it means godlike or god like qualities. To others it is used only to describe God. So when someone says Jesus was divine you have to know how they are using the word and what they are talking about.

So if they are saying Jesus is God. They are out of harmony with the Bible for many reasons but mainly because, although Jesus many times called himself the Son of God, never once did he say he was God.

But if they’re saying that Jesus had godlike qualities, then if the Bible is true in what it says about him, then I would have to say that raising someone from the dead among other things would show that he had godlike qualities.

Last, in a way you are saying that Jesus did not respect the Law but Jesus himself said: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill; for truly I say to YOU that sooner would heaven and earth pass away than for one smallest letter or one particle of a letter to pass away from the Law by any means and not all things take place.”

 

A very nice post. Thanx!

 

I see you like poetry! maybe you should post this poem in a Poetry Forum. But here it doesn't add to the discussion.

 

Every single human being is divine.

 

so are we looking to tool now for answers?

 

where have you been? looking for God for the answers? HAHahahah

Quote:
Originally Posted by OlderWaterBrother
I see you like poetry! maybe you should post this poem in a Poetry Forum. But here it doesn't add to the discussion.


wow, is your brain clogged with rat feces or do you not know how to read english? Yeah, that "poem" I contributed did add to the discussion. If you had any sort of potential knowledge floating around in your brain you would've noticed it too

 

You should send this to the National Endowment for the Arts. It's the sort of thing thay like. They might give you some money. Or lock you up.