"the voice of the Lord came unto him" - Christianity: a Religion based on Immortality

 

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Christianity: a Religion based on Immortality

One of the most mysterious episodes described in the Gospels is the part on transfiguration of Christ Jesus in a mountain:  

Matthew 17, King James Version
17 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

As it is unthinkable that the Gospels include lies about Christ Jesus, since if there are any lies, Christianity itself should be doubted, any episodes should be interpreted as true actually, virtually, psychologically or subjectively for the followers of Christ Jesus, or otherwise miraculously.  The above episode should be true from a point of spiritual view.

Peter, James, and John must have opened their spiritual eyes to see the spirits of Moses and Elias that talked with Christ Jesus who had the spiritual ability to make communications with spiritual entities.  Christ Jesus must have evoked the spirits of Moses and Elias, and He also gave the spiritual ability to Peter, James, and John. so that they could see those spirits.

Because there were no others than Peter, James, and John at that time, this episode must be told to Gospel authors by one of them.  Therefore, they must have been confident that Christ Jesus could continue to live as a spirit in the spirit world like Moses and Elias even if He had been died or killed.            

In this context, it is no wonder that early Christians in the Roman Empire were not afraid of their death, since they must have known that they could live in the spirit world even if they had been killed.  This confidence gave extraordinary strength to them, and other people in the Empire must have been impressed with their strength in belief, so that many of them came to believe in Christianity.   

In other words, Christianity is a teaching or a religion based on immortality of human souls and spirits. 

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Acts 7, King James Version

29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

"no man laid hands on him" - The Simple Teaching to Poor People

 

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The Simple Teaching to Poor People

What did Christ Jesus actually tell to Jewish people in Palestine 2000 years ago to save them?  He did not tell any difficult theories of Judaism or on theology such as the Holy Trinity.  He should teach very basic truth to poor people who could not read and write.

Christ Jesus knew that poor people were desperate since there was no hope for them to become rich or get saved from pains and troubles in this world.  So, He told them that they could be saved in Heaven after death in this world.  As those poor people were assured that they would be welcomed and blessed by the God to be happy in Heaven, they should be glad to hear His words, so that the teachings of Christ Jesus were accepted and spread among poor people.  

Put simply, Christ Jesus told poor people in Palestine 2000 years ago that the God loved the poor instead of the rich so that He would accept them in Heaven.  As poor people found authority given by the God in Christ Jesus through miracles and other deeds Christ Jesus had performed, they trusted in those words of Christ Jesus.

Poor people who had no hope at all to be rich in this world would gladly accept the words of Christ Jesus that they would be happy in Heaven.  With belief in the words of Christ Jesus, they would never be desperately sad and sorry for their miserable lives in this world now that they were confident that they would be happy in Heaven after death in this world.

In other words, Christ Jesus taught simple truth to poor people:

1. Their souls continue to live in Heaven after death in this world.

2. They are loved by the God who would give them eternal life.

3. Rich men who have made them suffer in this world cannot enter into Heaven.      

As a result, poor men who heard and believed in the words of Christ Jesus stopped listening to Satan who told them to do any bad or evil things to be rich.  By saving poor people, Christ Jesus suppressed Satan, so that Satan all the more hated Christ Jesus and his believers.  In this sense, the fight between followers of Christ Jesus and those of Satan has continued for 2000 years up to date.

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John 7, King James Version

28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.
30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

"being baptized with the baptism of John" - Revolutionary even Today among the Whole Mankind

 

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Revolutionary even Today among the Whole Mankind

For a man to have life after death is not so important as the issue of whether he is faithful or evil in this world. 

If the God tells men simply that their souls continue to live in the spirit world after their physical death in this world, they will not drastically change their ways of living.  Rich and evil men would try to be rich in an after life by any means.  Poor men should worry about a possibility that their poverty continues in an afterlife.

But, Christ Jesus not only gave assurance of existence of the afterlife but also made it clear that evil and bad men could not enter into Heaven but faithful and righteous men could, since there are Heaven and the hell in the spirit world called the afterlife.  And He also presented the measure to judge whether men were evil or righteous: being rich was taken as being evil while being poor was regraded as being righteous.

Therefore, Christ Jesus virtually proclaimed that rich men could not enter into heaven to get eternal life but fell into the hell to be permanently destroyed by the God, while poor men would be allowed to enter into Heaven to be given blessings and eternal life.  Put simply, materially happy men in this world cannot be accepted in Heaven, but materially unhappy men in this world can be welcomed in Heaven.

This teaching of Christ Jesus must have rejoiced poor people in Palestine and the Roman Empire 2000 years ago, so that the books about Christ Jesus activities are called the Good News (to poor men).  As there were many poor people in the ancient Roman Empire like in any other places and at any time, His teachings prevailed and the new religion Christianity was established, since Judaism had not presented such assurance about blessings to poor men in Heaven.

However, the focus in Christ's teachings is not only in that there is an after life but in that only the poor can be accepted in Heaven to become happy.  In other words, being faithful and righteous is more important than having an afterlife; being good is more important than life after death.         

Indeed, if evil men know that there is an afterlife, they will continue their evil ways to be rich in this world, since they think that their being rich in this world will not hinder them from getting rich again in an afterlife.  So, it can be understood that Christian churches have not emphasized Christ's assurance of existence of the afterlife.  

But, as Christ Jesus told that being poor was the condition to enter into Heaven, rich men, including rich priests and even the Popes, neglected the truth of His teachings or tried to hide the true meaning of His teachings, while poor believers found salvation in His teachings.  Anyway, Christ Jesus assured existence of the afterlife and, at the same time, made it clear that rich and happy men could not enter Heaven.  

 

In this sense, Christ Jesus was really revolutionary even in the Jewish society 2000 years ago and is so even today among the whole mankind. 

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Luke 7, King James Version
28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

"the devil is gone out of thy daughter" - Communications with Spiritual Entities

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Communications with Spiritual Entities 

The spiritual works of Christ Jesus are described in the Gospels, which are however often taken as metaphors or parables.  However, it is clear that Christ Jesus had come from the spirit world, although He did not often communicate with spiritual entities or the God who was Spirit.

A Japanese professor of medicine in the University of Tokyo experienced communications with his late mother through a spirit medium who was a woman with psychic ability.  One day, the woman, who happened to be one of his acquaintances, called by phone the professor that his late mother wanted to talk to him as she had some worry about his son.  When she died recently suddenly due to a cardiac disease, she had been living alone in an apartment room near his house since death of her husband.  So, he was sorry that he had not lived with his mother, which made him feel a kind of responsible for her death.  So, he wanted to see the spirit of his late mother if possible at all.  So, he visited the spirit medium to meet the spirit of his late mother.  And, he experienced a spiritual but real event that was shocking to him who was also a medical scientist. 

When he sat and faced the spirit medium, the spirit of his late mother came down, as if falling with a loud thump, into the mind and body of the woman acting as a spirit medium who immediately started to talk and behave like his late mother.  The son and the spirit of his late mother greeted each other and naturally talked as if she had been living.  She even talked about detailed matters none knew except the son and the mother.  For example, he asked why she had not put the wedding ring on her finger when she had been found dead although she had always put it on her finger in the past in his memory.  The spirit of his mother immediately answered that she had stopped putting it on her finger and placed it on a drawer with some past letters in her room since death of her husband or his father, which her son had not realized till this conversation.

After the spirit of his late mother apologized that her sudden death made her son feel so sad and embarrassed but found that he was alright, it said that it would not come back to this world any more to see her son.  It gracefully disappeared from the mind and body of the spirit medium.  And there were no troubles or regrets to the professor and the spirit medium.  But, this event assured the professor that spirits of the dead lived in the spirit world and they could communicate with beloved ones left behind in this world.  Additionally since this event, the professor started to study the relationship between medical science and spiritual matters regardless that modern medical science did not attach weight to spiritual phenomena.  

This spiritual event experienced and reported by the professor can be trusted to be true, since there is no profit or advantage if he told a lie or made up such a story.  He has already enjoyed high social standing and fame as professor of the top university in Japan.             

Not all the people could have such experiences.  But, if the Gospels were read from a view of someone having such spiritual experiences or near-death experiences, it should be clearly understood that most of works and miracles Christ Jesus had made or performed had been related to the spirit world.

There are many spirt mediums and persons with spiritual ability who can communicate with spiritual entities.  But there are evil spirits and Satan in the spirit world.  Therefore, we should only trust spirt mediums and persons with spiritual ability who have faith in the God and Christ Jesus.  There must be critical issues related to spirits of dead men that can be only safely handled by such faithful men.  As there are so many evil, sinful, and dangerous things in this world, there are some risks and traps in communications with spiritual entities.

We should first read the Bible and understand what Christ Jesus wanted to teach us before going into spiritual communications.  Indeed, we can only enter into Heaven through Christ Jesus.       

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Mark 7, King James Version
26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.

"Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed" - O Grave, Where is thy Victory?

 

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O Grave, Where is thy Victory?

The most important issue for the desperately poor and faithful without hope in this world is whether they can live in an afterlife and how much they will be blessed in the afterlife. 

And, Christ Jesus clearly assured them that they could live in an afterlife as spiritual entities and could be allowed to enter into Heaven to have eternal life.  According to the teaching of Christ Jesus, being poor and faithful in this world means that being assured to enter into Heaven.

This teaching was extended and elaborated by Paul and other Disciples in 1 Corinthians 15:
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

These passages mean that when a man dies, he will experience a mystery to be changed into a spiritual entity as indicated in near-death experiences or the like reported by many people.  Specifically, he hears a sound of trumpet while acquiring the incorruptible body for life in the spirit world.  His body and mind will die, but his soul or spirit will continue to live and enter into the spirit world.   Therefore, death in this life will turn to be meaningless.  The poor and faithful should eventually overcome death with help from the God and Christ Jesus.  

This phenomena tells that there are specific structure and relationships among the physical world, the inner psychological world, and the spirit world.  They must be related to the state and conditions of the generation of this physical universe and living things, especially the human beings.

However, the modern science has not reached a level high enough to explain how this universe was generated and how consciousness was emerged in the human brains.  Nonetheless this universe has been deployed in these 13.8 billion years, and men have developed their own minds to create religions and philosophy.  This universe follows certain natural laws, and work of our minds is in the certain framework set by ideal concepts and ideological integrity, or in other words, based on holy rules and orders.        

If this material universe was created through work of the God, who is Spirit according to Christ Jesus, the spirit power of the God must have been the factor that generated the energy enabling the formation of this material world.  Therefore, there is the spirit world under this physical universe and the material world.  So, it is no wonder that a spirt or a soul a man has in his mind can sometimes communicate with the spirit world or spiritual entities there.   

Someday, say in coming 100 or 1000 years, elite scientists might find the true status and relationships among materials, human minds, and ideals.  However, the truth was already described in the Bible based on the words of Christ Jesus delivered 2000 years ago to offer the poor and unhappy in this world a reassurance of salvation of their souls in life after death. 

Consequently, believing that the poor will be blessed by the God in Heaven after death in this world is believing in Christ Jesus.  More specifically, the poor, unhappy and faithful never die so as to live forever in Heaven, but the rich, happy, and evil die the second and final death in the hell, after death in this material world.    

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1 Corinthians 7, King James Version

27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.