jerryb Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 "So the Lord God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden....and placed a flaming sword to guard the entrance." Gen.3:24 Contempory Translation.(The Message Version)...."So God 'threw them out' of the Garden,and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire....guarding the path to the Tree of Life". All of we former fundlementalist cut our teeth on this terrible scene in scripture. And ever since the first humans were 'thrown out by God'...we've been trying to find our way back to Paradise. But....IS THE ORGANIZED CHURCH THE FLAMING SWORD that has kept us out? What do you think? Blessings to all, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soma Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Good question...................... Our original consciousness is pure consciousness, but it is covered with so much waste we can’t see it. Christ with the not easy to find love for everything reopens the gate that was closed, when Adam left the Garden of Eden with the experimental knowledge of good and evil. Adam ate from a tree that divided the mind with moral evil and, which God said not to eat. Jesus tells us in simple language, “He who loves me (Christ consciousness) will be loved by my Father,” which can be summed up in the commandment, “Love your brother as yourself.” Our knowledge and perception are both limited, so how can we understand a pure consciousness that is unlimited? We have to purify our minds so we can become aware of Christ consciousness and to do this, we must love God and one another. Love and unity will set us free and show us the way, not moral condemnation so if a church teaches condemnation and not love it could be the bearer of the sword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb Posted February 23, 2006 Author Share Posted February 23, 2006 Good question...................... Our original consciousness is pure consciousness, but it is covered with so much waste we can’t see it. Christ with the not easy to find love for everything reopens the gate that was closed, when Adam left the Garden of Eden with the experimental knowledge of good and evil. Adam ate from a tree that divided the mind with moral evil and, which God said not to eat. Jesus tells us in simple language, “He who loves me (Christ consciousness) will be loved by my Father,” which can be summed up in the commandment, “Love your brother as yourself.” Our knowledge and perception are both limited, so how can we understand a pure consciousness that is unlimited? We have to purify our minds so we can become aware of Christ consciousness and to do this, we must love God and one another. Love and unity will set us free and show us the way, not moral condemnation so if a church teaches condemnation and not love it could be the bearer of the sword. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Good post Soma, I really have come to believe that, the feeling of separation from God is responsible for so much of the pain caused by the organized church. And I also believe that many times the church 'uses' our since of alienation to bring us 'into the fold' so that the chuch can show us the way back to God. I cringe everytime a fundamentalist says," Let me tell you the TRUTH" Strange how they seem to be the only ones that have that TRUTH...all tied up in a neat little package. Sorry...guess I'm ranting a bit...but I've BEEN THERE! DONE THAT! And got the tee shirt! Blessings to you, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowperson Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 JB Having been there a couple of times myself, although not always involving church matters but rather family matters, I can tell you that the prime directive of evil is to separate those who care about and love each other, no matter what that process may involve or what the cost may be to those involved. This is the reason that "live", which involves loving and caring, is "evil" spelled backwards. It's all as simple to understand as that. flow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystictrek Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 "So the Lord God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden....and placed a flaming sword to guard the entrance." Gen.3:24 Contempory Translation.(The Message Version)...."So God 'threw them out' of the Garden,and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire....guarding the path to the Tree of Life". All of we former fundlementalist cut our teeth on this terrible scene in scripture. And ever since the first humans were 'thrown out by God'...we've been trying to find our way back to Paradise. But....IS THE ORGANIZED CHURCH THE FLAMING SWORD that has kept us out? What do you think? Blessings to all, Jerry <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But ... can't any human institution be the sword which keeps us out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 "So the Lord God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden....and placed a flaming sword to guard the entrance." Gen.3:24 Contempory Translation.(The Message Version)...."So God 'threw them out' of the Garden,and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire....guarding the path to the Tree of Life". All of we former fundlementalist cut our teeth on this terrible scene in scripture. And ever since the first humans were 'thrown out by God'...we've been trying to find our way back to Paradise. But....IS THE ORGANIZED CHURCH THE FLAMING SWORD that has kept us out? What do you think? Blessings to all, Jerry <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But ... can't any human institution be the sword which keeps us out? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mystic, Good point. It's possible that a human institution can keep us out....but probably not with as much'authority' as the organized church. Peace, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloved Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I think that organized or institutionalized religion is obsessed with controlling who gets in and who stays out. It often sets up standards by which control is administered and those standards vary from church to church and religion to religion. For the Galatians, who got in was determined by whether one was circumcised or not. The modern churches all have their own criteria by which they judge who is fit to enter the kingdom -- gender, sexual preference, education, talent, power, etc. I think that our churches would do better as signposts rather than as doors. It's better to point to the kingdom rather than to set ourselves up as bouncers at the door. My 2c. wayfarer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 I think that organized or institutionalized religion is obsessed with controlling who gets in and who stays out. It often sets up standards by which control is administered and those standards vary from church to church and religion to religion. For the Galatians, who got in was determined by whether one was circumcised or not. The modern churches all have their own criteria by which they judge who is fit to enter the kingdom -- gender, sexual preference, education, talent, power, etc. I think that our churches would do better as signposts rather than as doors. It's better to point to the kingdom rather than to set ourselves up as bouncers at the door. My 2c. wayfarer <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Good Point Beloved, I like the term'bouncers at the door'. And that is exactly what some churches are. I wish we could see the 'spiritual arrogance' in that,especaially when Jesus said, "I am the door"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
October's Autumn Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Have you seen the UCC commercial? www.ucc.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berrybug Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I think that organized or institutionalized religion is obsessed with controlling who gets in and who stays out. It often sets up standards by which control is administered and those standards vary from church to church and religion to religion. For the Galatians, who got in was determined by whether one was circumcised or not. The modern churches all have their own criteria by which they judge who is fit to enter the kingdom -- gender, sexual preference, education, talent, power, etc. I think that our churches would do better as signposts rather than as doors. It's better to point to the kingdom rather than to set ourselves up as bouncers at the door. My 2c. wayfarer <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I agree. This has been the case in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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