"some fell among thorns" - The Good News for the Poor while the Books of Curse for the Rich

The Tokyo Tower

The Good News for the Poor while the Books of Curse for the Rich

The Christianity is based on the notion that there is the afterlife or the life after death, so that everybody should not be afraid of death in this world.  

However, the core of the teaching of Christ Jesus is not only this notion but also His declaration that everybody should go to either Heaven or the hell from the afterlife.  And the good and faithful are allowed to enter into Heaven while the evil are destined to go to the hell.   Furthermore, the poor are regarded as the good while the rich are regarded as the evil.  Therefore, Christ Jesus said to the poor to rejoice because they will be accepted in Heaven.

It is a revolutionary teaching that the poor in this world will surely enter into the Heaven while the rich in this world cannot.  It is also extended to the notion that the unhappy in this world will enter into the Heaven while the happy in this world cannot.  The lower classes in this world will enter into the Heaven while the elite in this world cannot.  The value system in this world is denied in the afterlife, and the value system is turned over in the afterlife.

That is why Christ Jesus lived as a kind of homeless preacher, so that He will be king in the spirit world.  That is why the God especially loves the poor, unhappy, and unsuccessful people in this world while Satan tries to capture souls of people by promising them to make them rich, happy, and successful.

In other words, tears the poor have in this world would turn to gold in Heaven while gold the rich have in this world would turn to trash in the hell.        

In this context, the Gospels are good news for the poor, the unhappy, and the unsuccessful in this world while they are books of course for the rich, the happy, and the successful in this world.

++++ ++++ ++++
Luke 8, King James Version
5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

"walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" - A Spirit in the Form of a Soul within the Mind that Controls the Flesh

Around Tokyo

A Spirit in the Form of a Soul within the Mind that Controls the Flesh

According to the Gospels, this world and the human beings are made of material or flesh and the spirit.  Even a man is made of the flesh or the physical body and the mind consisting of the internal soul, the intelligence, emotion, sensation, etc.

However, this whole material universe was originally generated from non-material energy called the vacuum energy as a result of the quantum physics effect.  So, it can be inferred that this material universe was generated from the spirit energy.  Therefore, it is no wonder that work of the human mind is based on the spirit energy.

Some scientists think that the human world is made of the world of the mind, the physical world, and the Platonic world, so that the human mind can assume the presence of ideal concepts while living in the complicated and concrete world.  Indeed, it is a kind of mystery that men can think of the God who is complete and perfect.

According to those who have near-death-experiences, the spirit world is more realistic that this material world.  What they saw in the spirit world in the sate of near-death was clearer and more vivid than phenomena in this world.  Even in the spirit world, there is no restriction of time and space.  It can be thought that it supports the supremacy of the spirit world over the material world.

The human body is started to be built from a single cell called a fertile ovum.  Eventually, a human body consists of scores of trillion human cells.  However, each cell is made of molecules, atoms, and elementary particles where the quantum physics effect works.  So it seems natural that some scientists focus on the quantum physics effect in their study on consciousness or work of the mind.

In this context, it should be noted that Christ Jesus made it clear that the spirit world, spirit entities, the holy spirits, and the God, who is also Spirit, are above the human world or the world of flesh. 

It is thought that a man's spirit is put inside its body in the form of a soul to make its mind work.  But when he dies, the soul is released from the body and mind to become a spirit so that it can enter into the spirt world that is closer to the God than the material world.  Therefore, spiritual entities living in the spirit world must have purer features than human beings in the material world.  And the ideal concepts must be realized in the spirit world. 

Especially, holy spirits must have special power and ability, since they directly come from the God.  On the other hand, material entities or men as flesh cannot easily understand reality, conditions, and states in the spirit world.  They are apt to purchase material interest like men have material desires.  Therefore, Christ Jesus blamed men for their misunderstanding of or nonconformity to holy teachings.

Anyway, everyone can understand that the God is not a material entity.  And, Christ Jesus said that the God is Spirit.  We have to admit that the God is at the most distant extension of our mind which includes a spirit in the form of a soul within the mind that controls the flesh.        

++++ ++++ ++++
Romans 8, King James Version
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

"the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman" - For our Salvation in the Afterlife

Around Tokyo

For our Salvation in the Afterlife

According to surveys conducted between 2017 and 2020, the ratios of people in major countries who believe in the existence of the afterlife or the life after death are as follows:

Turkey: 91.8%

Egypt: 88.1%

USA: 68.2% 

Chili: 61.8%

Taiwan: 57.2%

Thailand: 57.1%

Switzerland: 50.4% 

Italy: 49.4%

UK: 41.7%

France: 41.2%

Russia: 40.3%

Germany: 39.9%

Sweden: 37.8%

JAPAN: 32.2%

China: 11.5%

In Islamic countries, it is unlikely that ordinary people would rather express a view against their state religion Islam teaching the existence of the paradise and the God or the Allah.  So, it is no surprise that high percentages were shown in Turkey and Egypt.  

However, it is a little surprise that most of major European countries show less than 50% for those who believe in the afterlife despite existence of the Vatican in Europe.  In this context, the fact that more than two thirds of Americans believe in the afterlife is worth attentions.    

Generally speaking, in East Asian countries such as Taiwan and Thailand under strong influence of Buddhism, more than a half of each population believe in the existence of the afterlife.  However, in China under the Communist Party, people might not express their views supported by or linked to traditional religions.  And, as Japan is highly Westernized, even in another survey, only 40% of the Japanese believe in the life after death, although most of the Japanese accept Buddhism.     

If a medical doctor by himself observes a spirit of a certain dead man or his relative, like in the case of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Raymond Moody, he would be confident that the afterlife exists.  But, not all the medical scientists experience such spiritual phenomena. 

However, because the Gospels are based on the notion that there is the afterlife and this doctrine of Christianity has been supported by many people, including the Vatican, for 2000 years, this notion should be reliable.  Otherwise, we have to judge that there is no God and Christ Jesus is a liar, which cannot be accepted if we look back to the 2000 year history. 

Nonetheless, it is not easy for a living man to see the afterlife or spiritual entities who usually live in the spirit world except in the near-death-experiences, etc.　reported by Kübler-Ross, Moody, etc.  And, though since Socrates and Plato in ancient Greece the relationship between this world and the spiritual world has been focused on by scholars and scientists, the modern science has not succeeded in clarifying what the spirit world is or our consciousness is.

According to some medical scientists, a human being is made of the material body, sensation, emotion, intelligence, and a soul.  If a man dies in this world, a soul leaves the physical body to become a spirit that lives in the spirit world.  And a spirit will have a spiritual body with memory of life in the material world, according to the Bible.  And, it seems that spirts can communicate with living men in certain situations such as the case when the God allows it. 

Put simply, if the God approves, the mankind will be able to scientifically understand what the afterlife is or whether spiritual entities exist such as spirits of dead men, Angels, evil spirits, Satan, etc.  Till then, we have to read the Gospels and strengthen our faith in the God and Christ Jesus for our salvation in the afterlife.      　　        

++++ ++++ ++++
John 8, King James Version
8 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

"When he was come down from the mountain" - Study Spiritual Matters and Simultaneously Fight against Satan

 

Around Tokyo

Study Spiritual Matters and Simultaneously Fight against Satan

The Gospels present some psychic phenomena as critical events showing power of the God and Christ Jesus in addition to miracles by Christ Jesus.

Sometimes the God's voices were heard by people around Christ Jesus.  Satan challenged Christ Jesus in the wilderness.  The spirits of Moses and Elias appeared in a mountain.  Devils got out of a certain mad man and eve from many swine.  The spirit of Christ Jesus appeared to some followers after His death on the cross and finally ascended to Heaven while His followers were watching.  And, the voice of Christ Jesus fell on St. Paul, which made him repent and convert to Christianity.

From the beginning, Christ Jesus was born by Mary who had become pregnant due to holy spirit.  And, after His death on the cross and ascension to Heaven, Christ Jesus as a spirit guided St. Paul, St. Peter, etc., while holy sprits came down to His followers hiding in Jerusalem so as to make them speak and praise the glory of the God in foreign languages other than Hebrew or Aramaic.

Indeed, without admitting existence of holy spirits, the Gospels cannot be understood.  Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926 - 2004) and Raymond A. Moody, Jr. (1944 -), medical scientists who contributed to the modern study on near-death-experiences and the afterlife, also reported that they had seen and communicated with some spirits of dead men.  Due to their works, the general public has somewhat come to acknowledge the existence of the spirit world and the life after death, which is revolutionary in a sense.

Looking back to the history, Emanuel Swedenborg who reported his communications with spirits in Heaven was born in 1688 when Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) whose major secret interest was study on the Bible was alive and active.  So, the great modern scholar in the spiritual domain and the great modern science pioneer shared the same period of history.  Or immediately before the age of scientific and industrial revolution, the God sent a great spiritual scholar to the human world.

What's more, as Albert Einstein was born in 1879 and died in 1955, Kübler-Ros and Moody shared some period of time with Einstein who had opened a new era of the modern science to override theories of Newton.

Therefore, when the human kind opened a new era with development of science and looked like forgetting sooner or later spiritual matters, the God sent some holy spirts to some scientists such as Swedenborg, Kübler-Ros and Moody, since they seemed to have some faith in the God or Christ Jesus.

Finally, we should remind ourselves that the Western civilization, including the modern science, in these 2000 years has been based on Christianity, which is based on teachings of Christ Jesus, and the Gospels reporting works of Christ Jesus are based on recognition of existence of spirits and the spirit world.

Put simply, this material world is under the spirit world controlled by the God who is said in the Bible to be also Spirit that governs other spiritual entities.  And, when men die, they leave their bodies in this world to enter into the spirit world, although evil men fall into the hell to be finally destroyed by the God.

Therefore, the God has been giving warnings to the mankind being absorbed in material wealth so as for them not to forget the spiritual matters and the spiritual meaning of the Gospels: Men can survive death in this world to live in the spirit world but only poor and faithful men can enter into Heaven.

However, there is one important issue: Satan also lives in the spirit world.  So, only faithful scientists who study spiritual matters and at the same time fight against Satan can be trusted.             

++++ ++++ ++++
Matthew 8, King James Version
8 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.