For Christians

If you have come to this page it is probably because you have faith in Jesus, and I do not wish to turn you against your faith. You might feel lost without it, and it is probably for the good that you maintain it. I would just like you to consider a few things, all of which are based on the teachings of your Lord.

First, Christ's commandments:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all of the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:36-40).

By saying these are his commandment he is saying that these are the heart of his message--the most important thing he has to say. He says all the law and the prophets depends upon this; it is their foundation. These are the TRUE fundamentals of Christ's teaching.

Note: he does not say believe in my name, my virgin birth, my miracles, my resurrection, the infallibility of scripture, or any of a great number of things that "fundamentalists" and many other Christians insist are essential. In fact nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus proclaim the importance of any of those basic tenets of "fundamentalism". Only in John are the importance of any of these things proclaimed and then it is by the author and not Jesus himself.

The second point is the original meaning of the parable of the "Good Samaritan" which shows what is meant by loving ones neighbor, and which I'm sure you are familiar with. What you may not realize is just what a Samaritan was. The term "Good Samaritan" is so commonly heard nowadays that one hearing this parable now would probably not be at all surprised that the Samaritan in Jesus' parable was good. But what did the word mean to the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking?

Samaritan is a variation of the word Samarian and the Samarians where a heretical sect of Jews who had intermarried with Babylonians during the captivity. In the minds of the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking they were half breeds, heretics, blasphemers, and anything but good.

So, the real meaning of the parable was this: It matters not of what race one belongs, nor what faith one professes; what matters is the Love which one has in one's heart and that one expresses it by helping others.

If Jesus had been teaching this parable to modern day fundamentalist Christian it might have been the parable of the good Jew, good Catholic, good Moslem,  good Buddhist,  good homosexual, or perhaps even the good atheist.

In conclusion, this is all I want to say to you: Please continue to believe in Jesus, but realize that it is not by calling Lord, Lord that you will be saved. It is not by believing on his name, but rather it is by following the way that he has prepared for you. And finally, "judge not that ye be not judged." God is Love.

Thank you for being opened minded enough to read this, and God bless you.

 

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