Theological Issues
Specific Doctrines
Awareness Level of "God"
Calvinism
Origin of Soul Terms
Destiny of Man
Determinism & Foreknowledge
The Question of Blame
Understanding Forgiveness
Punishment of God
Personal Relationship with God
The Case for Unity
The Gift of Miracles
The Issue of Brotherhood
The Judgment of God
What about Death?
Who WAS Jesus?
Why God not More Involved?
Sin and Evil
Meaning of Word Sin
The Problem of Evil
The Devil and Satan
The Unpardonable Sin
Resurrection
Credibility of the Resurrection
Proposed Resurrection Scenario
The Issue of Physicality
Second Coming
Traditional Advent
Waiting for Godot
Why God Waits
Belief
Contrast of Believers
The Issues of Belief
Guilty of What?
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"United we stand, divided we fall" - Aesop
The Case for Unity
Updated:
06/08/2021
We are divided:
- Divided by race or ethnicity
- Divided by gender.
- Divided by religion.
- Divided by political
affiliation.
- Divided by class.
Note that we can't do much about the first two except to
make the first a non-issue, and to celebrate the second. Concerning the last
three items we CAN do something significant. And shouldn't we?
I have been talking with a Christian who denies that Yeshua
gave us instructions to come into unity. If we think in terms of ABC
instructions, this may be true. But Yeshua didn't come to
talk to spiritual morons who cannot think to integrate and see the big
picture, nor did he come to treat us as meat stick automatons who need to be programmed with
instructions for dummies. He came to give us a vision of becoming real
humans, gods equal to the rest of the citizens of the universe, including
himself.
Here is the case laid out in the Gospels for understanding that unity
on the truth is paramount:
-
Foremost is his prayer in
John 17 where he used his culture's ultimate emphasis technique to say what he
most ardently desired. His will was that his people become unified, as
in, "That they may be one even as we are one." He said this three
times, and turned around and said it a fourth way thusly, "That they
may have perfect unity." This is the prayer that WE should be
answering.
-
Secondly, we have the
accounts of the disciples where, after having been empowered to do
miracles, they lost this empowerment, obviously through competing, arguing and
increasing the disunity amongst themselves.
-
Thirdly, we have various
verses in the Gospels: Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are those causing unity,
for they shall be called the children of God." John 11:30 "I
and my father are unified." John 14:11 "Believe me that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me."
-
Mark 3:25 as "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot
stand".
-
Matthew 12:25 "And Yeshua knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand"
-
Luke 11:17 "But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against
a house will fall."
Including these in the Gospel of Thomas:
Verse 23. Yeshua said, "I shall
select you, one out of a thousand,
and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single <united> one
<entity>."
Verse 30. Yeshua said, "Where there are three
gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him."
Verse 48. Yeshua said, "If two make peace <unity> with each other in
this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move away,' and it
will move away."
Verse 49. Yeshua said, "Blessed are the
unified and elect, for you will find the kingship. For you are from
it, and to it you will return."
Verse 61. Yeshua said to her, “I am he who exists from the undivided. I was
given some of the things of my father."
Verse 75. Yeshua said, "Many are standing at the door, but it is
the unified who will enter the bridal chamber."
Finally, we have the
promise made in Matthew 18: 20 "If any two of you on earth agree on
everything that matters, whatsoever you ask, it shall be done."
Salvation through unity
The message of Yeshua is of no value if it does not engender effective unity
so that there can be love and respect to the maximum. At the end of the day,
effective unity of purpose, values and paradigm is essential for a close
community and for peace and goodwill to flourish in human affairs and to
engender great societies. And this IS what God is calling for! After
all, there IS one truth, and reasonable men of good will SHOULD be able
to agree on everything that matters! Living happily and
flourishing forever in eternity is impossible without this level of unity.
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger
and Courage.
Anger at the way things are, and Courage to
see that they do not remain as they are.
- Saint Augustine
The conclusion has to be that in one way or another, Man's salvation comes from being in unity;
not from any further dramatic involvement from the agency that we call God,
outside of this unity.
Ultimate salvation–from both the more immediate and tangible effects of
evil, and even the awareness of its current role–for the entire universe
entails unity on everything that matters for the wellbeing of everyone.
Faith statement
In the meantime, based on the principle that in order to be called a God
worthy of the term, that agency MUST offer to us the complete IFISEEKUS
package. AND based on the demonstration, the explicit words, and the overall
message of the J-person, that small number of us that are in unity on all of
the salient issues explicated on this site, and reaching out to others to
share these insights, believe and accept that we are exempt from being at
risk for any serious interfering debilitation, and more especially death. |