"John seeth Jesus coming unto him" - The Condition to be Called Christian

 

Around Tokyo

The Condition to be Called Christian

Christ Jesus talked about a story to make poor people understand how much they were loved by the God, which shows the condition to be called Christians.

(Luke 16)
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

This is the most assuring story suggesting that the God loves the poor unconditionally and hates the rich unconditionally.

Indeed, like Lazarus in the story, even today poor men expect to get any remnants from wealth taken and enjoyed by the super-rich and the rich.  But, after death in this world, poor men are accepted in Heaven to get happiness and eternal life while rich men fall in the hells to suffer.  This is simple enough for any body to understand even if he cannot understand various complicated doctrines of theology such as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.    

Furthermore, this story suggests that if rich men get knowledge of the afterlife, they cannot become poor and good, abandoning wealth in this world and pursuing happiness and eternal life in the afterlife.  The desire for material wealth in this human world is so strong that they will not want anything other than material wealth and happiness.  As a result, rich men try to continue to be rich, neglecting other suffering poor men.  Therefore, for this sin, rich men should suffer in the hells after physical death.

Human souls in the minds are satisfied and fulfilled only in Heaven.  But, to enter into Heaven, men have to be poor in this world.  The souls of rich men cannot bear bright light of love in Heaven, so that they spontaneously go to and hide in he hells to avoid the Heavenly light.  And, Satan will occupy them in the hells, forcing obedience on them.  Swedenborg saw, in the spirit world, respectable rich men who showed good manners and enjoyed social reputation in the human world exposing their internal greed, despise to the poor, and heinous nature against the God and holy sanctity and looking so ugly and vulgar.  In the spirit world or the afterlife, there are no restrictions that suppress exposure of their mean nature in the human world.  Rich and evil men freely and fully behave heinously according to their hidden evil nature.

Philosophers would say that nothing whose existence cannot be proved rationally should not be immediately believed in.  Heaven and the hells or the spirit world can be only believed in when one dies and sees the afterlife.  However, significance of love to the poor has more weight than rationality.  In this context, the story of Lazarus emphasizes the relationship between poor and rich and Heaven and the hells.  Love to the poor is part of Heavenly light.  Even in the human world, one should feel Heavenly love in love to the poor.  Above worldly rationality, there is sacred intuition.                       

Those who love this story of "Lazarus and a rich man in the afterlife" should be called Christians.

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John 1, King James Version
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

"And immediately his fame spread abroad" - Christ Jesus Testified that He was the Son of the God to Unbelievers

 

Mt. Fuji from around Tokyo

Christ Jesus Testified that He was the Son of the God to Unbelievers

It is said that none could continue live if he sees the God.  However, many people saw Christ Jesus and could continue to live in Palestine 2,000 years ago.  Yet, Christians today believe that Christ Jesus is the God through the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

According to the Gospels, Christ Jesus never said that He was the God.  

(Mark 14)

60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

Christ Jesus said that He was to the question whether He was the Christ, the Son of the God.  However, this answer does not deny the possibility that Christ Jesus was the God.

In the question, the high priest used the word the Blessed to mean the God, while Christ Jesus used the word power to mean the God in His answer.  Therefore, the God can be expressed as the Blessed or power.  But, the word the God is different from the word the Blessed and the word power in the literal sense of these words.  

So, the question whether the Christ Jesus is the God or not is not a easy one from an intellectual point of view.  We may only say that Christ Jesus can be the God although He did not declare that He was.

To think somebody who is not the God as the God is a kind of blasphemy.  But, to think somebody whose true identity is the God as someone different from the God is a blasphemy even if that person is the Son of the God.

The key to this question is that the God is almighty.  He can be Christ Jesus who is the Son of the God while hiding His true identity.  Or He can send His Son Christ Jesus whose true identity is not the God to the human world.  So, we cannot judge which Christ Jesus is: the God or the Son of the God who is different from the God.

And, when a stupid man ask somebody whose true identity is the God whether he is the God or not, it is unthinkable that the person who is the God would answer the question respectably.    

So, we have to refer to the history of the past 2,000 years during which many people who have believed that Christ Jesus is the God have not been punished by the God due to blasphemy.  

It is known that 0.999... (the infinite series of 9) is equal to 1 like 0.333... is equal to 1/3.  If the range of the numbers in this world is between 0 to 1 and 1 is regraded as the infinite, this infinite series of 0.999... is the infinite.  But, we can access 1 by increasing 0.999... that is an finite number at any moment of increasing.

Christ Jesus is an entity with the feature of finiteness as a man.  But the God is an entity with the feature of infinity, since He is almighty.  We have to remember that the infinity God can be a finite entity while preserving His true identity, since He is almighty.  However, His true identity should be able to be seen with spiritual eyes.           

So, if those who have spiritual eyes find that Christ Jesus is not the God, we have to believe that Christ Jesus is not the God.  Yet, in the long history of the past 2,000 years, those with the ability to see men and things with spiritual eyes have never declared that Christ Jesus is not the God.     

Finally, we should stop being stupid while discussing whether the Chits Jesus the Son of the God is the God or not.  But, we have to learn, obey, and perform the teachings of Christ Jesus as the teaching of the God.  We respect those who obey the teachings of Christ Jesus, even if they do not think that Christ Jesus is the God, more than those who do not obey His teachings for the reason that they do not think that Christ Jesus is the God.

I do not think that the God will punish those who obey the teachings of Christ Jesus even if Christ Jesus and the God are two different entities with each unique identity so that some poor men think that the God is different from Christ Jesus.

But, Satan will encourage us not to obey the teachings of Christ Jesus because it is dubious that Christ Jesus is the God.  And, it is suggested by Christ Jesus that the God will destroy Satan with other evil spirits in the hells in the end. 

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Mark 1, King James Version

25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

"if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" - A Japanese Boy who Saw the Spirit World in Japan 200 Years Ago

 

A Shinto Shrine around Tokyo

A Japanese Boy who Saw the Spirit World in Japan 200 Years Ago

In 1820 when Tokyo was still called Edo under a samurai regime, there appeared a boy who claimed that he had been took by a mysterious mountain hermit to a kind of spirit world and guided there for several years since he had been 7 years old.  A notable samurai scholar of the Shintoism religion called Hirata Atsutane showed strong interest in the boy and made a long interview with him over a year to publish a book on the record about the interview.  Accordingly, the 15 years old boy Torakichi became popular in Edo.  The book is still on sale in Japan as those interested in spiritualism pay strong attention to Torakichi.

Swedenborg is famous for his books on his experiences in the spirit world he claimed to have while living in Sweden in the 18th century.  But, Torakichi claimed that he had seen the spirit world of the Japanese version, since Japan was not yet westernized and modernized but was in the feudalistic samurai society where Christianity was officially banned.  Therefore, the spirit world described by him is a kind of reflection of the Japanese society at the time with various deities of Shinto rather than Buddhism.  The boy described how shinto rituals were performed in the spirit world.  He also wrote strange letters used there.  The boy also said that he travelled sky with the mountain hermit who became his master to various holy mountains in Japan and China and even to the moon and other stars which he found to be masses of gasses.  

Torakichi was asked about the spirit world not only by Hirata but also by other intellectual grownups.  So, the teenager boy must be under strong pressure, but he boldly talked about his experiences and opinions on the spirit world for months.  His talks were consistent and detailed. 

Swedenborg wrote that there were evil spirits as well as good spirits in the spirit world.  Torakichi also said about existence of evil spirits and the Devildom as well as sacred deities.  He showed strong sense of good and evil.

According to Torakichi, those who read well and learn much in the academic field become so proud of their knowledge that they become narrow-minded and despise others; they will go into the Devildom.  Rich men will also go into the Devildom because their greed makes the poor poorer.  And no matter how much money they have earnt, they cannot bring money into the spirit world after their death in this world.  In the interview, Torakichi criticized the Japanese society at the time where peace had been enjoyed for more than 200 years under the Tokugawa samurai regime but the atmosphere of moral corruption and deterioration was expanded.  He showed especially strong hatred to Buddhist monks protected and treated preferentially by the samurai regime.  It is generally said that Buddhist monks degraded themselves in that era while enjoying peculiar privilege given by the samurai regime.                 

Hirata Atsutane was later expelled from Edo to his home region by the samurai regime for his criticizing the calendar system of the samurai regime, although his study on Shinto is highly appraised by some people even today.  However, his book on Torakichi criticizing Buddhist monks might be the reason for his bad luck.  But, Hirata all the more believed in the existence of the afterlife through talks with Torakichi, which strengthened his sense of enthusiasm for the Shinto religion. 

Torakichi later left Edo and lived in a village around Edo to live as a medical doctor based on the super-natural power acquired in the spirit world, but he did not write books on his spiritual experience.  Without Hirata, Torakichi could not have become so popular as a boy with spiritual experience, which is very unique in the Japanese history.     

Finally, we should note that the issue of good and evil is important even in the afterlife as well as in this world, which is also emphasized by Swedenborg.

Note: Buddhism and Shinto as well as Confucianism are major spiritual or religious backbones of the Japanese people even today.  The Japanese mythology is based on Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, since Buddhism and Confucianism were imported from or through China.  

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John 1, King James Version
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.