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CHAPTER 8: God does not force us to conform to His ways, to obey His laws, or even to follow His Son. He does not force us; we are free to choose. This freedom of choice is an eternal aspect of God's religion. Of course, it matters a great deal what choices we make in life. For every action we take, there will be consequences. We are told that we are rewarded for choosing the right, and punished for choosing the wrong; but we are free to choose, nonetheless (64:3) At Christ's First Coming, belief or non-belief in Him was left to the individual's choice. It was not easy to recognize Him. If it had been easy, if God, in whatever way He chose, made all people recognize Jesus as the Christ, how would Christ have fulfilled His mission of Teaching people of their own free will to accept and practice His message of Salvation? Were all the people of Christ's time deserving of the great honor of recognizing and following Him without any exertion of will or effort on their part? This does not seem likely, just, or even possible given that God has endowed us with a free will to choose. However, neither was it impossible at the time of Christ to recognize Him. If God had placed insurmountable obstacles between Christ and the people of His time, how could the sincere soul have fulfilled its purpose and destiny? (64:4) For the seeker of Christ, there was a divine balance between these two extremes. For every compelling sign pointing the way to the Christ, there were things to cause doubt: "When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?" .. but .. "when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils" . And for every promise of eternal happiness and joy at accepting the Christ, there was also the threat of pain and suffering: "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven" .. but .. "Then shall they deliver you up, to be afflicted, and shall kill you" (64:5) To believe in Christ was a question of faith, which one had to resolve for oneself. There was no simple formula that one could have followed. Each individual had their own tests of faith that they had to overcome in order to accept Him. For some, their test may have been His suffering and seeming helplessness, for others His call to self-sacrifice, and for still others, fear of persecution. You could not simply have opened up the Scriptures to see if Jesus were the Christ. The answers were there, of course, but were not understood (64:6) Before Christ appeared in the world, the meaning of prophecies referring to Him remained a mystery - a mystery which none could unravel. Not only this, one could not even, at that time, have discerned, in many cases, which verses in the Hebrew scripture were, indeed, prophetic references at all. And this led to a critically difficult situation for the people of His time: Not having complete knowledge of all of the aspects of the Christ's mission, and a natural gravitation to those prophecies reflecting His greatness and dominion, and the exclusion of ones indicating His lowliness, they were ill equipped to receive a suffering Messiah (65:1) Imagine! Prophecies referring to Christ actually had the effect of leading people away from Him; not all people, of course, but some. Certainly, they were not given by God to lead people astray. Why then, did this happen? Of course, we can't find fault with the Creator who revealed them. The fault must lie with God's creatures. The key ingredient, according to my understanding, was lack of humility. It seems the approach that the people of Christ's time used in interpreting the scriptures was quite a simple one: They wanted Him to appear in a certain way, and they then understood the prophecies to predict that He would indeed come in that way. In retrospect, we can now see that the correct approach would have been to first admit that our limited understanding falls far short of claiming to understand fully the word of God, and then to wait for fulfillment in whatever way God's wisdom would decree (65:2) Could this rejection - because of misinterpretation of the scriptures - have been foreseen? Does it say anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures that interpretation of the words contained therein would lead people away from the Holy One of Israel? Did it explain anywhere how to interpret itself? Did it warn people not to put faith in their own interpretations? If it did explain these things, no one heeded its words. In fact, when Christ came, the Jewish people used their holy books, in vain of course, to try to discredit Him (65:3) At the time of His appearance, there was much expectation and much longing that the Christ would come, but not a single soul, however, knew how He would appear (65:4) But then something happened, something that changed all of this, something that will forever mark the entrance of divine knowledge into the heart of humanity: some people believed in Him. To those few souls, whose faith in Him overcame whatever difficulties were before them, Christ imparted the knowledge that enabled them to understand the true meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures. For the first time since their having been written centuries before, the mystery of these scriptures was gone, and their truth revealed (65:5) But not to all. Only to the few elect. To the rest of the world, they remained a mystery (65:6) A WORLD of FAITH- Christ's followers saw with new eyes the prophetic references to Him. Whereas before His Coming, one could only guess at their meaning, now there was knowledge of their meaning. Previously, in many cases, the literal meaning was assumed, but now their symbolic meaning became clear. And whereas before, a suffering Messiah could not have been imagined, now God's word seemed to proclaim loudly that this had been His Plan since the beginning of time; a plan that until then, was known only to Him (66:1) This new world, entered into through their belief in Christ, allowed the early Christians not only to understand prophetic references to Him, but also understand the true meaning and purpose of their Scripture as a whole. Thus, everything had new meaning, and it all seemed to revolve around Christ. Christ's ministry represented more than merely three and a half years of time. It signified the consummation of a holy and historical process. All things were looked at in the light of His life: the Passover, the temple, the ten commandments, even creation; all these had new meaning. And not only did Christ fill the believer's world with meaning, but no aspect of history or of one's individual life had meaning without His life and words. No event, no matter how remote, no matter how seemingly insignificant in the life of the individual, was outside of the influence of Christ's divine knowledge and power. To the followers of Christ, He had become their beginning and their end: for they would "live", "move", and have their "being" in Him. All things proclaimed Him. He had become the source of life and its goal (66:2) At Christ's Coming, a world had opened up. Those who had entered it saw clearly the signs of its greatness and power, and looked forward to the blessings it was sure to bestow upon all peoples. This world was as real, nay more real, that what they had previously regarded as the substance of their lives. Their love for Him and their fellowship with one another sustained them through all things. Their world was filled with divine purpose and promise (66:3) What a world it was; and what a world with which it had to contend. Though the world of Faith brought by Christ was clearly a reality to the believer, what those outside this world saw was quite different. From the story presented in the New Testament, it seems that those in the outside world, in fact, simply could not see it. It was, in a sense, invisible to them. The Jewish people had no way of comprehending what was going on in the minds and hearts of the followers of Christ - no way of judging the merits of their new pattern of religious practice, no way of seeing what His followers saw with undoubted clarity: the future rise and triumph of His Faith (66:4) The Jews, who disputed in vain, to invalidate the truth of the appearance of the Christ, remained oblivious of this world of faith. Without the acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the door was closed to understanding either His words or the significance of events in His life. Without such an understanding, the meaning of the scriptures remained a mystery. And, not understanding the meaning of the Hebrew scriptures, the world and life itself was a mystery to them. At the Coming of the Holy One of Israel, far from responding to the spirit of the world of faith offered to them, the Jewish people viewed as insignificant and troublesome the small band of Christ's followers (66:5) In contrast, Christ's followers could fully comprehend the Jewish people and the rest of the outside world. They understood the doctrine, customs, and laws, as well as the actions and motives of those who had not recognized the Christ. To Christ's followers, all was clear - nothing was a mystery (67:1) NEW TEACHINGS- Where did this new "testament" come from? No one was expecting it. None were aware of prophecies pointing to such a "New Testament". Certainly, the existing scripture seemed complete with all the laws and guidance, the recorded history, and the promises of the future that God had given His chosen people. If they had needed more than this, God would have given it to them. To the Jewish people, the scripture was complete (67:3) To Christ's followers, however, the fact that this new scripture was not expected or predicted was irrelevant. The New testament was seen as a blessing from God: the eternal voice of the Almighty speaking to His children. It was God's fulfillment of the sacred scriptures, and God did not need permission to reveal it. It was the very spirit of the believers' lives, and the food of their souls. No matter that it was not expected or predicted, or that no one could have imagined what a new body of scripture was to say, or why it would have been needed. For the Christians, it was enough that after it had come, its utter indispensability to the children of men was completely obvious. Obvious, that is, to those who believed in it (67:4) And to those who didn't believe? To some it was foolishness; to others, blasphemy (67:5) Both the world of the believers, and the world of those who did not believe, "made sense". Those who had not accepted Jesus as the Christ could explain the folly, the unfortunate errors in judgement that had caused some to accept Him. And, those who had accepted Jesus could explain why the world had rejected Him. People in both worlds felt that they were correct, and each could produce their own set of proofs to substantiate their claims (67:6) Truth, however, depends not on who or how many believe in it. It was, of course, the view of the believers in Christ, that was, in fact, the correct - the only way - to view the world. It was reality (67:7) Those who perceive reality see things that only they can know. And if we had lived at the time of Christ, and been blessed with faith in Him, we would have witnessed a truly strange and wonderful thing: (68:1) A chosen people await their Promised One. He appears in the world, but not in the way they expect Him to appear. His mission is far greater than what they could have conceived. At His appearance, all their assumptions about His Coming become their downfall - for they cling to their own expectations, and reject Him. They are utterly unaware of what they have done. They label the divine, satanic, and the satanic, divine. As if nothing has happened, they go on with their lives. They vainly imagine to be beloved of God above all the peoples of the world, and to hold the keys to spiritual authority. That authority, however, unbeknownst to them, has passed from their hands. While denouncing anyone who would arise against their Promised One, they themselves fulfill the prophecies referring to His enemies (68:2) The Promised One chooses a few, humble souls to follow Him. To them He imparts the knowledge of His Mission, and patiently prepares them for theirs. He has come not for the triumph of the chosen people, but for the salvation of the whole world. His message will be delivered by His followers. Though looked down upon as the lowliest of people, they have been exalted above kings. Though outwardly powerless, they withstand everyone. Though esteemed as misguided and ignorant, these souls understand everything (68:3) Such is God's way: the first are last; and the last, first (68:4) Being "first" in the eyes of God, and "first" in the eyes of man are very different things. And the same, of course, goes for being "last". Those who recognized Christ, in a sense, were able to see with "God's eyes". For they did indeed see correctly who was first, and who last (68:5) I have often wondered how it could be that a Jewish and Christian person, could have two so radically different views regarding the return of the Messiah, yet both seem to base themselves on the same evidence. Take, for example, the instance of a Jew and a Christian considering the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). The Christian generally sees hundreds of references to the Christ as having been fulfilled, while the Jewish person generally sees none. It seems that it is either all, or nothing at all. Essentially, there seems to be no reconciling the interpretation of the Jewish person who has not accepted Jesus as the Christ, with the interpretation of the Christian who has. The domain of meaning which these two individuals perceive from the scriptures does not seem to allow for an exchange of thought that would bridge the gap between them. (68:6) The fact that these two seemingly contradictory views of the world could coexist - and even today, can coexist - I have always found fascinating, and at times puzzling. Having thought deeply regarding this phenomenon, I have found that there is a physical analogy, however, that we can use to demonstrate the relationship between these two viewpoints. This analogy helps us solve, to a certain extent, the puzzle. Of course, it is only an analogy and as such, has limited value. However, since it seems to be appropriate to demonstrate certain aspects of the relationship between these viewpoints, I would like to share it. The analogy is that of wakefulness and sleep (68:7) AN ANALOGY- If a sound, say, thunder, for example, reaches the ears of one who is asleep, he may incorporate this into a dream and make sense of it. He may understand the noise as a felled tree crashing to the ground, for example. The person who is awake, however, hears the thunder, and understands what it really is. To both people, the sound makes sense (69:2) The believer is like the person who is awake - he is conscious. He has been "awakened" through his belief in Christ, and therefore is able to understand things as they really are. He has attained a new spiritual condition - a condition we call "faith". Those who have not been "awakened" by faith are as one who sleeps. They may sense things, and make sense of them, and think they understand them, but because of their condition, they are unable to truly do so. They are spiritually "asleep" (69:3) The conscious person can comprehend the condition of the one who sleeps. Moreover, he is aware of the fact that he has the power to comprehend that condition. But the one who sleeps is in no way capable of understanding the condition of the one who is conscious. And, of course, he is unaware of his own lack of ability to understand. In the same way, the Christian person at the time of Christ could understand the condition of the Jewish person, but the Jew could not understand the condition of the Christian. Just as the conscious person has knowledge that the sleeping person does not, the person who has attained faith, has knowledge, of which a person without faith is deprived (69:4) This is not to say that the person with faith is inherently superior to the person without faith, or that any group of people are inherently superior to any others because of their faith. Here our analogy provides further help in our understanding of this. However much their conditions might differ, the one who is awake is not inherently superior to the one who sleeps. Absolutely not. Sleep is not a permanent condition of the body, and the conscious person realizes this. In the same way, lack of faith is not a permanent condition of the soul. One with faith should not feel in the least superior to those who have not yet attained it; neither can one with Faith look down on others because of their lack of it. In the true spirit of Christ's teachings, the Christian is concerned for the spiritual welfare of all people, and does not judge them because of their condition at the time (69:5) Viewed in this way, it is seen that the world of faith is available to all, at any time. All people possess the capacity for faith. To attain faith, one merely needs to "wake up" spiritually. As we awake from physical sleep, we go from mere illusion to reality. How many times have we dreamed of things, which seemed perfectly normal in the dream state, but which upon waking, we find them to be totally senseless? The same occurs when one attains faith. A Jew, for example, brought up believing the interpretations of his contemporaries regarding the Coming of Christ - interpretations that seemed founded upon reality - would have, after accepting Christ, regarded those same interpretations as mere fantasy. To illustrate, consider that the thinking that the Christ was to be an earthly king, would seem meaningless, compared to the reality of His heavenly, His eternal and everlasting sovereignty. As we awake, we become aware of reality (69:6) HOW do we WAKE UP?- But for some, the light is not enough. They remain asleep despite the light. Some people's nature is to sleep on until something disturbs them. Therefore, in His mercy, God "disturbs" the spiritual sleep of those without faith, in order to awaken them. At Christ's Coming, the people were disturbed by the events that came to pass. The Jewish people, who witnessed with horror the birth of the Christian Faith, experienced distress that was conducive to their spiritual awakening, and some were, indeed, awakened to faith in Christ. For most of them, however, even this failed to rouse them from their slumber. The Faith of their Saviour moved primarily from them to other peoples. But God does not want them to sleep forever. In His mercy, He continues to watch over His beloved and chosen people. He has not forgotten them and has continued to give them heaven-sent trials that they may awaken. Although their history has been one filled with sadness, they are assured that ultimately they will come to a glorious and joyous age (70:2) At the time Christ came, the followers of the Hebrew Scriptures had fallen into a deep sleep. They imagined that they were following God's Faith, but it was mere illusion. In actuality, they had drifted so far from the true teachings of their Faith that when the Christ came, He did not proclaim their victory, as they had fondly expected. Instead, He denounced them (70:3) The Chosen People were denounced. Of course, they were not denounced in their inmost nature, or forever, but for their behavior and wayward attitude toward Christ. From the Old Testament, however, it is clear that they were not always worthy of reproach. In the early days of their Faith, the Jews did follow the spirit of their sacred teachings, and for this they received manifold blessings from God. But by the time their Messiah had come, all was changed. Although seekers after the Christ, they themselves persecuted Him (70:4) The persecution of Christ by the Jewish people, and its effect on His Church, can also be understood by our analogy. The Jewish people, being out of touch with reality, imagined that persecution could crush the Faith of Jesus of Nazareth. But just as a mere dream has no power over reality, mere persecution has no power over the Faith of God. A conscious person is aware of this. The Christians were aware of this. This explains why the smallness of their numbers in the face of a hostile world did not dampen their vision or cause them to turn away from the task their Lord had given them. They knew that His Faith would grow and fulfill its mission despite whatever opposition the world could produce (70:5) Further with this analogy, we see that just as a person who is awake realizes that sleep is not a permanent condition, he also realizes that neither is being awake. In the same way, one who has attained unto faith, and is spiritually awake, realizes that it is possible for he, himself, to lose his faith. The realization that it is possible to fall asleep, spiritually, humbles the believer. No one knows, with absolute certainty, what his own end will be. There are those who have been faithful for a time, yet, when some great test or temptation came, they turned away. And there have been those who have been heedless all their lives, but who have in the end attained to the light of Faith. Yes, we may know with certainty that Jesus is the Christ, but we cannot guarantee that we ourselves will remain faithful to Him. Although we pray to remain faithful, the gift of faith is not a permanent condition. It depends upon God's Will and our daily striving to live in conformity with God's teachings (71:1) Although it is possible to lose one's faith, we know, however, that at Christ's coming, and in the following years, the vast majority of believers remained faithful to the end of their earthly lives and, thereby, gained life everlasting. Just as, generally, when the physical sun is up, people are awake, so too the light of Christ, like a great spiritual sun, sustained the belief of his followers who remained spiritually awake. For the most part, they did not fall back asleep (71:2) As stated above, if one is asleep physically, he may, in a dream, believe himself to be awake. This, to me, is the most fascinating and primary relevance of this analogy: Both the one who is awake, and the one who is asleep, can think that they are awake. God does not make one's condition clear to the individual when he is asleep. It is only made clear to the one who is awake. In the same way, at the time of Christ, both the Christian and the Jew may have thought that they were faithful to God, but only the Christians knew with certainty that they had attained unto Faith. God did not make it clear to the Jew that he had not attained unto faith, though the Jew himself, of course, thought that he had (71:3) The SEEKER and the BELIEVER- Some believed, and some didn't; and the two had to meet. Their meeting, in fact, was a requirement of God's plan. For it was only through these meetings that the light residing in the believers would be shed abroad to all nations (71:5) Although the Christians went forth to eventually teach peoples of all nations, I would like to focus on the meeting of the Christian person and the Jewish person at around the time of Christ. It was to the Jewish people that He had appeared, and it was their prophecies that he had fulfilled. Although He had come to save the whole world, He held a special place in their scriptures. God had foretold His coming, and they were expecting Him (72:1) A MEETING- Let us imagine a Christian and a Jewish person meeting with one another as if they were in present time, right before us. What are their realities? (72:3) The primary reality of the Christian is that he believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Of course, in his desire to please His Lord, he will exert every effort to conform to the glorious teachings Christ Himself exemplified during His life. However, as all fall short of the glory of God, the believer will have difficulty living up to the lofty standard implied in being a Christian. He may or may not be any more learned than the Jew, may or may not possess a fuller understanding of the details of the Jewish scripture, may or may not even possess those "Christian" qualities - such as charity, compassion, humility - to a greater extent than his Jewish friend, but he has been blessed by God with a wondrous gift - Faith. By his faith - invisible, intangible, utterly mysterious - he can overcome every deficiency in his life. He has been chosen of God, he knows His plan, understands the part he has to play in it, and is assured of everlasting life. He regards His faith as a treasure that he would not exchange for all the riches on earth. The relationship of the Christian to Christ, namely that of belief in Him, being the most important quality he possesses, is the reason that at times I refer to him simply as "believer" (72:4) The primary reality of the Jewish person, on the other hand, is that he does not yet believe that the Christ has come. Whatever the circumstances in his life, whatever his talents, accomplishments, even his knowledge of scripture - yet he is deprived of Faith. In a sense, he is powerless, and nothing he possesses - be it wealth or knowledge, or determination - can compensate for his lack of faith. Until accepting Christ, he does not know God's purpose for his day, and cannot therefore lend his assistance to it. The Faith of God has been renewed, and is beginning to blossom, but he is unaware, because he has not yet found the Christ, although he, himself may possess many "Christian" qualities. The relationship of the Jewish person to Christ, namely that he is seeking, but has not yet found Him, being the most important aspect of his life, is the reason that at times I refer to him simply as "seeker". I use the word "seeker" rather than "unbeliever" for two reasons: First of all, the Jews at the time of Christ certainly did have beliefs, and were sincerely following what they felt was the will of God. Secondly, whether seeking to find the Christ consciously or not, they should have been, because He had been promised them in their sacred scripture (72:5) In a meeting between a Christian person and a Jewish person, the Christian person will, of course, out of love, want to share his faith with the Jewish person. And the Jewish person, also, may want to share his faith with the Christian person, thinking that the Christian person has been led astray. Each may sincerely want to help the other to attain to true faith and may pray on the other's behalf for God to open their eyes to His truth (73:1) However, we know that to this meeting, the Christian person will come with knowledge of reality - belief in Christ and the record of His life and teachings: the New Testament. Through all their discussions, faith and the New Testament will inform the believer's words with divine authority. The Jewish person, however, will be unaware of this reality. Of course, he will realize that the believer is using the words and stories of Jesus of Nazareth, but the Jewish person will not regard them as the Word of God. He will see them, in fact as not only a departure from the Word of God, written by mere men, but actually a trespass against the divine authority of the sacred scriptures (73:2) The believer and the seeker, although looking at the same reality, will see different things. Whatever the seeker sees will be "tinted" by his view of the world, whereas the believer will see plainly. The Jewish person will, of course, object to many, possibly all, aspects of the doctrine and thinking of the Christian, and is of course free to do so - one cannot be forced to believe, and the Christian person will allow this. These objections, as viewed from the world of the seeker, are not only perfectly valid, but represent evidence of his sacred obligation to defend his Faith. However, in the view of the believer, these objections have been overruled by higher Authority - the Will of God (73:3) The believer will approach this meeting with full understanding of the objections that the seeker will raise. In most cases these objections do not even need to be pointed out by a seeker; the believer, from his knowledge of the quite unexpected manner of Christ's Coming, is fully aware of how time-honored assumptions and long-held visions of the Coming have been shattered, causing indignation and opposition, and how these assumptions and visions are not easily let go of (73:4) Although Christ's Coming seems to have occurred in a manner that was certainly not predicted, the attitude of the believer is simply "God has divine authority. We, who are only his children, cannot question or oppose it. We must accept it. And once accepting it, and having had it explained through the life of Christ, it makes perfect sense." The attitude of the seeker, on the other hand, may be "We who are chosen of God, will not so easily be deceived. We must stand firm in our faith and await the true Messiah." (73:5) The Christian person understands that these two views seem irreconcilable. At the same time he desires to share his faith. How can he do this? How can he awaken the seeker? (73:6) It was earlier pointed out that for a few souls, the light which Christ, who referred to Himself as the "Light of the World" , radiated, was enough to awaken them from slumber and to bestow upon them the gift of faith. That light, the source of everything good and holy, was the eternal joy and the very life of those who perceived it. Who among us would not desire to have humbly knelt - even for a moment - in His wondrous presence and to have bathed in that eternal light? (73:7) A world without light is darkness, and in darkness, we sleep. Christ desired that the world should not be without His light; therefore, He commanded His followers to let their "light" "shine before men" so that, after His ascension, His light would remain in the world to attract the hearts of the seekers, and to guide the believers (74:1) A Christian person who is trying to share his faith with a Jewish person, would, no doubt, do all in his power to manifest that light as exhorted by His Lord. Through living a true Christian life, he would not only be assured of the rewards promised him by Christ, but would also hope to awaken others to the light of faith. Through his love of God, and love of his fellow man, the Christian person would hope to touch the heart of the Jewish person with Christ's message (74:2) The love that the Christians manifested and the other wonderful qualities of their lives were no doubt a major source of attraction and confirmation for those souls who were eventually led to believe that Jesus was the Christ. However, although this light awakened some, most as we have seen, despite the light, remained asleep. Indeed, there were many who stood in the very presence of Christ Himself, and still rejected him. We know also, that despite the kindness and charity of the Christians, they were disregarded and cruelly persecuted for hundreds of years. For some people, something more is required to awaken them (74:3) It is a universal quality of the human being that when life is comfortable, when all our needs are met, and when we seem in control of our environment, we more easily forget God. The Bible demonstrates this truth with many stories. The moment, however, that crisis, danger, or tragedy strikes, our hearts instinctively and immediately turn to that Higher Power, that Great Spirit who we know, deep in our souls to be the One Who is truly in control not only of our very lives, but of the universe itself (74:4) In turning to God, it is as if a channel of His love is opened up, and we immediately receive His blessings: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." For some, to be awakened to the world of faith, they require some trouble in order to turn them to God - some pain or suffering - which will enable them to awaken spiritually. Surely, many there were who turned to God, and were then awakened to the world of faith through such pain or suffering (74:5) Of course, God alone possesses the wisdom to know what pain or suffering an individual requires in order that they may turn to Him. He alone has the authority to bestow hardship or sorrow. Although this is a way by which many attain unto faith, it is not a way by which the believer in Christ can lead others to Him. The Christian is not at liberty to cause the least pain or suffering to his fellow man, even if such pain and suffering is inflicted upon him. The Christian's part is rather to show mercy to his fellow man, not to be the cause of grief (74:6) So does this mean that the believer is left to teach by compassion and love only? Must he show only by the way in which he lives his life that the Christ has come? No. There is another means for those who sleep to be awakened. Christ Himself and his disciples after Him employed this means. I am speaking here of reason. From the New Testament, we see that reason held great importance in the plan of God. Christ Himself used the Scriptures to bestow faith. Along with the love he bore for all people, and the many wonders He performed through His divine power, He also explained - by means of His own words as well as by the words of the Hebrew scriptures - the validity of His claim to be the Promised Messiah. Using proofs from the scriptures, He appealed to people's ability to think and understand (75:1) The ROLE of REASON- It appears from the New Testament that Christ was constantly called upon to answer and to explain. And His purpose, of course, in responding was never to simply display His divine knowledge or to win an argument. His purpose was none other than to bestow the gift of everlasting life: belief in Him. A glimpse of one such moment in His life here on earth can be seen from the following passage from the book of Mark: (75:3) Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, (75:4) Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother (75:5) Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed (75:6) And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise (75:7) And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also (75:8) In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife (75:9) And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? (75:10) For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven (75:11) And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? (75:12) He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err (75:13) And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? (75:14) And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (75:15) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (75:16) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (75:17) And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: (75:18) And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (75:19) And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Mark 12:18-34 (75:20) Here we see a scribe attracted to Christ by the power of His reasoning. We are not told, however, whether this man eventually became a follower of Christ or not. We do know that Christ regarded him as "not far from the kingdom of God", which is a hopeful sign. We would hope for this man, of course, as we would for all people, that he did indeed attain unto everlasting life, but faith must depend upon the person's own choice, and that of none other (76:1) Christ's reasoning attracted many souls, but not all who heard it believed in Him. Although reason may attract, it, alone, cannot bestow the gift of Faith. Faith is essentially a spiritual bond one has with his Lord. If someone were to insist upon his own interpretation of scripture, there is little that can be done to change his mind. Christ Himself could not convince those who did not want to believe. The freedom of choice to believe or not is always there (76:2) In this connection, it is important to note also that neither can suffering and hardships by themselves bestow faith. Not everyone who suffers awakens to belief in Christ. The power of reason, therefore, or life's troubles, while they may increase one's receptiveness to the message of Christ, will yield nothing by themselves. The primary ingredient necessary for one's conversion to Christianity, whatever the previous experience of the seeker might be, is that he must be touched by the love of Christ. Christ's love alone can bestow life everlasting (76:3) But to draw people toward Christ, that they may begin to open their hearts to His love, reason certainly played an important role both at His time, and in the ages that followed. God has given to all people a measure of intellect. And His purpose in bestowing this gift upon us is so that we may use it to discover the truth in all things. Such a wondrous gift, which the Almighty has given to women and men alone, of all creatures, Christ did not neglect, but rather used it to attract people to Him (76:4) As we view the spread of Christ's faith, we see that reason played a further role: it confirmed and strengthened the faith of those who were touched by His love. For His was to be a Faith of conscious knowledge, not blind imitation. The fact that He was indeed the Christ foretold in the Hebrew scriptures made perfect sense, and it could be proved and explained. In fact, to insure that the proofs of His mission would be firmly established in the minds of His disciples, Christ Himself "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. " (77:1) Of course, people cannot be forced to believe; they were, as they are today, free to reject or accept any and all proofs or explanations. But this fact did not cause the power of reason to be neglected in God's plan. After His ascension, Jesus' disciples continually and forcefully reasoned with both seekers and believers that He was indeed the Christ (77:2) Many souls were thus led to Christ and eventually responded to His Divinity through seeking to understand the meaning of scripture. The meaning, of course, had to be explained to these souls by the Christians - those who already believed in Him and had a proper understanding of the Holy Word. Many, who gained the gift of Faith through the scriptures, must have had initial misgivings about this "new faith". It seems that no one following a religion that they felt was the only true religion would take lightly someone essentially telling them: "Your Messiah has come. To understand how He has fulfilled all of the promises that you have been given, you need to believe the words of this new Book from God, for these words explain everything." (77:3) The Bible shows us that rejection is easy; so easy, in fact, that, if the Son of God Himself were to come down to earth and perform a miracle right before your eyes, you would be entirely free to reject Him. It is very easy: if you simply don't want to believe, you don't. And in the days following the ascension of Christ, when He was no longer visible to the eyes of men, how much easier still it was to reject Him! (77:4) In their labor of love, the early Christians had their work cut out for them in attempting to demonstrate through the scripture that Jesus was the Christ. Reason can attract and compel the mind to a certain extent, but only if the listener is reasonable (77:5) People at the time of Christ thought that certain particular scriptures referred to the coming Christ, and if their approach was to focus completely on their own interpretation of those scriptures, then any explanations given them by a Christian based on the New Testament might well have had no effect. For example, someone clinging to the vision that the Christ would be an earthly ruler, would have no interest in an explanation of why the Christ should suffer. Thus, in a dialogue between a Jewish person and a Christian person, if the Jewish person were to simply focus on his own knowledge, in the end he would be no closer to accepting Christ then when he started. Indifference to Christ's message, brought about by a self-centered approach to the scriptures, would seem to be quite a natural initial response. The chosen people know who they are, and feel secure regarding the meaning of their holy words. The last thing they would expect or welcome would be someone outside of their Faith claiming to have a new and divine explanation (77:6) Indifference, however, would not seem to be the greatest obstacle facing the sincere believer in his desire to share his faith through a rational dialogue. A still greater obstacle would be from those whose intent was to find fault with the life and teachings of Christ. If it's easy to reject, it is just as easy to find fault (78:1) The mind set of faultfinding is a curious thing. It is employed by those who have no real argument, who cannot reasonably defend their point of view, and therefore revert to belittling in order to maintain some sense of verbal victory. It is, in a sense, a perversion of the gift of reason (78:2) Its utter falsity, however, is evident in the fact that it can be applied to virtually anything. The object of the faultfinding need have nothing wrong with it. If someone's intent is to find fault, not even the Holy One of Israel can escape being wrongfully blamed. The religious leaders of Christ's time took advantage of every instance they could to find fault with Him and His followers. And there were many, no doubt, with whom the early Christians met in the ensuing years, who reverted to this device (78:3) An approach of this nature to the New Testament would lead one to focus on those things whose outer meaning could be construed to have negative connotations. Even this, the repository of God's Holy Word, the record of His Son's First Coming, the source of guidance for the nations, even this could be picked apart and criticized: (78:4) "Jesus was hanged on a tree, and the Hebrew scriptures specifically state that such a one is accursed." (78:5) "He has said that we should hate our father and our mother and our children, but love him." (78:6) "He told his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood." (78:7) "He claimed to be the son of God, but didn't even have a roof over his head." (78:8) "His followers admit that they are fools and prisoners for his sake." (78:9) "He broke and changed religious laws." (78:10) "He said that he came from heaven, yet we know his mother is Mary." (78:11) According to the New Testament, all of the above statements are true. If someone had construed them as evidence that the Christians are imprisoned brainwashed fools who hate their families, who follow a poor beggar who claimed to be God, and who participate in some gruesome ritualistic ceremony in which they eat the flesh and drink the blood of this accursed man whose image they proudly display - if someone wanted to believe this, they were free to. God would not stop them (78:12) All they would have done, however, is to shut themselves out from that eternal heritage which Christ had promised to His followers. No matter what objections anyone would raise regarding Christ and His teachings, they would simply be wrong. The Christians knew the truth, and the truth had set them free. They were free to accept in the proper light, whatever their Lord had revealed through His words or actions (78:13) Their freedom from the misconceptions and prejudices that blinded others allowed them, patiently and with perseverance, to open the hearts and minds of a world in darkness. But conversion of the masses was not entirely up to them. Reason can only go so far, and the seeker also had to play his part (79:1) Fortunately, in the end the truth triumphs. No matter what obstacles the minds of men construct, God's blessings prevail. Those who came to faith through examining the evidence presented to them, either through the New Testament, or through discussions with Christians, must have at some time realized that their previous understanding of the scriptures was not correct, that it represented something less than the fullest meaning of the words contained therein. How they made this leap of faith, what happened in their hearts and minds, and how they eventually surrendered to their Lord, is to me the greatest mystery and blessing of all (79:2) That these people did not let their religious leaders, their own misconceptions, or their pride get in their way is a credit to their humility and faith. Their journey to everlasting life was not an easy one, but in the end they overcame (79:3) They overcame. They changed themselves, and then they changed the world
(79:4)
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