Thursday, May 25, 2017

"Agree with thine adversary quickly" - Islam and the Kingdom of God



In the National Diet (Parliament) Building, Tokyo

Islam and the Kingdom of God

One of big differences between Christianity and Islam is the scope of governance by the religion.

In Christianity, the separation between the worldly power and the Heavenly power is assumed.  Emperors and kings of European countries govern politically their nations, but the Vatican or Christian churches govern spiritually peoples.  But in Islam, the words of the Koran and the teachings of God revealed in the Koran govern politically and spiritually all the Muslims in any Islamic nations.

However, in Christianity, the Kingdom of God should be governed politically and spiritually by words of God and teachings by God.  But, of course, no Christians would admit that Islamic society is a kind of the Kingdom of God.

In the modern times, the Christian countries and especially Western nations have almost completely separated the domain of science and technology from the domain of religion and faith based on the traditional concept of profane and sacred.  Science and technology have become great sources of modern material wealth.  And as development of science can be pursued without limit, material wealth can be pursued without limit.  Therefore Western commercialism, a framework for  pursuance of wealth, is expanding even over religious barriers.  Commercialism is arousing lust in people in a boundless manner.  Accordingly, the domain of religion and faith has dwindled.

On the other hand, Islamic societies have strong restriction in development of science and technology and pursuance of material wealth.  Economy and trade must be subject to the Koran.  So, there is always force to check the way of development of science and technology linked to lustful commercialism.

But if Muslims see economic success of the Christian world or the Western world, they must feel frustrated.  But they cannot blame God only because Islamic societies have fallen behind the Western world in terms of success of expansion of material wealth.  So, some Muslims might blame the Western world, because Westerners are pursuing material wealth while neglecting restriction set by God or the Koran.  It may look a kind of envy to the eyes of the Westerners, but those provoked Muslims have a religious background.

So, in the worst case, this situation would result in the so-called Islamic terror on the Western world.  And the situation has deep roots.

To address this problem, Christians have to review their separation between sacred and profane, since Christ Jesus never formulated such a rule but He encouraged acceptance of the Kingdom of God.



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Mat 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

"Thy sins be forgiven thee" - Critical Ascension to Heaven of Christ Jesus


Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

Critical Ascension to Heaven of Christ Jesus

If Christ Jesus had not come back to life in the tomb, nobody believed that He was the Son of God or God Himself.  Accordingly there should not have been the religion Christianity.

If Christ Jesus had not appeared to the Apostles and other followers after the Resurrection, nobody believed that He was the Son of God or God Himself.  Accordingly there should not have been the religion Christianity.

But more importantly, if Christ Jesus had not ascended to Heaven but just disappeared somewhere around Palestine after making appearance to the Apostles and other followers following His Resurrection, nobody believed that He was the Son of God or God Himself.  Accordingly there should not have been the religion Christianity.

However, as Christ Jesus was born of a human mother, it is more natural to think that He died as a man.  So, a spirit given to Christ Jesus by God might have ascended to Heaven, but Christ Jesus as a man must have gone somewhere and lived to die a natural death.

It means that Christ Jesus had been holy while He had the holy spirit given by God, but after the Resurrection, God took back the spirit from revived Christ Jesus, and accordingly Christ Jesus left the Apostles and other followers.  But after the Apostles and other followers believed that they had seen Christ Jesus or the spirit ascending to Heaven, they did not search for living Christ Jesus on the earth any more.  They look like having believed truly that Christ Jesus had come back to Heaven.

If they had really seen Christ Jesus coming back to life from the tomb and appearing before them, they should have followed Him like before the Crucifixion.  And, if Judaist priests and Roman soldiers had arrested Christ Jesus and crucified Him again, Christ Jesus could have come back to life over and over again.  Then, all the Israelites and Roman soldiers should have admitted that Christ Jesus was the Son of God.  

However, as if trying to avoid another crucifixion, Christ Jesus ascended to Heaven after the Resurrection.  So, a mystery has remained as to what did really happen to Christ Jesus and His followers after the Resurrection.

Can modern Christians living in the world with advanced science and technology believe that Christ Jesus came back to life after the crucifixion but soon ascended to Heaven while the Apostles were watching Him?

The ascension of Christ Jesus to Heaven is a critical episode for the establishment of Christianity, but we cannot explain how it happened in a scientific or reasonable manner.


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Luk 5:23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
Luk 5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

"one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus"- The Symbol of Christianity

National Diet Building, Tokyo, Japan


The Symbol of Christianity

If only the tomb of Christ Jesus had become empty after the Crucifixion and He had never appeared to His Apostles, they should not have preached teaching of Christ Jesus.

So, the Resurrection where Christ Jesus appeared as a living man before the Apostles is the key to foundation of Christianity.

And then Christ Jesus ascended to Heaven from a mountain in Galilee while His disciples were watching.  Afterwards, no followers of Christ Jesus saw Him.  But as Christ Jesus said to them to preach the gospel to the world, Peter and some others ventured into preaching a mission.

In this context, the symbol of Christianity must be Christ Jesus on His resurrection but not an image of Christ Jesus on the cross.




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Mar 5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
Mar 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

"the Son quickeneth whom he will" - Saying Jesus is God is Too Easy?

Tokyo Bay

Saying Jesus is God is Too Easy?

How did Roman citizens living about 1900 years ago come to believe in Christianity?

As the Gospels were written in Greek, many of them could read copies of them.  Or, some Christian leaders and priests must have introduced words of Christ Jesus in assemblies.  But it is unlikely that Roman citizens easily believed that Christ Jesus was God.  Because even the Apostles and disciples of Christ Jesus felt deity of Christ Jesus only when they directly heard His words, saw His miracles, and felt His passion, but they did not recognize that Christ Jesus was God.

Probably if Roman citizens heard or read the story of the life of Christ Jesus as depicted in the Gospels, they could not easily or surely believe that Christ Jesus was God.

But when they heard and read words of Christ Jesus and later they thought about them, they must have come to believe that Christ Jesus had been sent by God, since none without direct support or linkage with God could deliver those words with full confidence.

So, what we need to do is to hear words of Christ Jesus and live in the light of His words, but not to assert or even think that Christ Jesus is God.

Indeed, which is easier for us to say that we believe that Christ Jesus is God or  to live in the light of His words or live in accordance with God's teaching?


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Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

"the Father loveth the Son" - What the Churches Request of People


Around Tokyo

What the Churches Request of People

If God had come to this world as a human being named Jesus, He should have appeared in Galilee out of nowhere.

He must not have had the parents, brothers, and sisters.   He must have just come to appear before Israelites, calling Himself God, preaching His teaching, healing every sick, reviving every dead, driving out every priest, and defeating Roman soldiers to make Israelites get independent again.  And then He might disappear to nowhere.  All the Israelites must have acknowledged that God had just come to save them from every evil.  They would have all the more believed in God.

However, Christ Jesus was born from a human mother.  His life till He started His mission at an age of 30 years or more was unknown.  Christ Jesus lived like a normal man and was arrested and executed like a normal man.  And He vanished from the tomb like a mysterious man.  When He disappeared completely from people, some people claimed that He ascended to Heaven.  And, 300 years later believers decided a creed that Christ Jesus was God.

So, it is natural to think that God sent part of His spirit to Jesus of Nazareth who then acted as God wished.

When Christ Jesus was acting being guided by God's spirit, He must have been acting as God, which however does not mean Christ Jesus was God.

From the beginning, nobody had seen God before the appearance of Christ Jesus.  So, why could they identify Christ Jesus as God?  Could they make any distinction between God and some human being to whom God gave part of His spirit?  It is said that even Satan could perform miracles.

Christ Jesus did not claim that He was God.  He even forbade arguing about who He was.  Because His mission was to teach the words of God but not to be revered as God.  He must have a concern that People might call Christ Jesus God to show their superficial faith in God but might not follow God's teaching, if they thought that to admit Jesus' being God was more important than anything He preached.

In Christian churches, what they request of people is to admit that Christ Jesus is God.  If you do, you can be recognized  as Christians no matter how little you follow the words of Christ Jesus and the teaching of God.   If you don't admit that Christ Jesus is God, Christian churches do not admit that you are Christians no matter how much you follow the words of Christ Jesus and the teaching of God.  It is because the Vatican and other churches were established on the creed that Christ Jesus was God.

It is absurd and does not meet God's intention of having sent His Son to the world.  To avoid this stupidity, Christ Jesus did not call Himself God, even if He should be God, since God is almighty or anything is possible for God.

So, to be a true follower of Christ Jesus, you should not call Him God, in my view.


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Joh 5:20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.