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==CHAPTER 23==

==CHAPTER 23==

Jesus continued to teach the twenty-four, saying:  

Jesus continued to teach the twenty-four, saying:  

*"The heathen are not without excuse when they rage at us. Because their outlook is small and narrow, they are able to concentrate their energies enthusiastically. Their goal is near and more or less visible. Wherefore do they strive with valiant and effective execution. You who have professed entrance into the kingdom of heaven are altogether too vacillating and indefinite in your teaching conduct. The heathen strike directly for their objectives. '''You are guilty of too much chronic yearning'''. If you desire to enter the kingdom, why do you not take it by spiritual assault even as the heathen take a city they lay siege to? You are hardly worthy of the kingdom when your service consists so largely in an attitude of regretting the past, whining over the present, and vainly hoping for the future. Why do the heathen rage? Because they know not the truth. '''Why do you languish in futile yearning'''? Because you obey not the truth. Cease your useless yearning and go forth bravely doing that which concerns the establishment of the kingdom.

*"The heathen are not without excuse when they rage at us. Because their outlook is small and narrow, they are able to concentrate their energies enthusiastically. Their goal is near and more or less visible. Wherefore do they strive with valiant and effective execution. <u>You who have professed entrance into the '''kingdom of heaven''' are altogether too vacillating and indefinite in your teaching conduct.</u> The heathen strike directly for their objectives. You are guilty of too much chronic yearning. If you desire to enter the kingdom, why do you not take it by spiritual assault even as the heathen take a city they lay siege to? You are hardly worthy of the kingdom when your service consists so largely in an attitude of regretting the past, whining over the present, and vainly hoping for the future. Why do the heathen rage? Because they know not the truth. <u>Why do you languish in futile '''yearning'''?</u> Because you obey not the truth. Cease your useless yearning and go forth bravely doing that which concerns the establishment of the kingdom.

*"In all that you do, become not one-sided and overspecialized. The Pharisees who seek our destruction verily think they are doing God's service. They have become so narrowed by tradition that they are blinded by prejudice and hardened by fear. Consider the Greeks, who have a science without religion, while the Jews have a religion without science. And when men become thus misled into accepting a narrow and confused disintegration of truth, their only hope of salvation is to become truth-coordinated -- converted.

*"In all that you do, become not one-sided and overspecialized. The Pharisees who seek our destruction verily think they are doing God's service. They have become so narrowed by tradition that they are blinded by prejudice and hardened by fear. Consider the Greeks, who have a science without religion, while the Jews have a religion without science. And when men become thus misled into accepting a narrow and confused disintegration of truth, their only hope of salvation is to become truth-coordinated -- converted.

   

   

   

   

====[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155_-_Fleeing_Through_Northern_Galilee#155:4._ON_THE_WAY_TO_PHOENICIA On the way to Phoenicia]====

====[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155_-_Fleeing_Through_Northern_Galilee#155:4._ON_THE_WAY_TO_PHOENICIA On the way to Phoenicia]====

They paused for lunch under the shadow of an overhanging ledge of rock, near Luz.  

They paused for lunch under the shadow of an overhanging ledge of rock, near Luz.  

But before Jesus had begun to answer Peter's question, Thomas broke in, asking:  

But before Jesus had begun to answer Peter's question, Thomas broke in, asking:  

*"Master, I should really like to know just what is wrong with the religion of our enemies at Jerusalem. What is the real difference between their religion and ours? '''Why is it we are at such diversity of belief when we all profess to serve the same God?'''"  

*"Master, I should really like to know just what is wrong with the religion of our enemies at Jerusalem. What is the real difference between their religion and ours? <u>Why is it we are at such diversity of '''belief''' when we all profess to serve the same God?"</u>

And when Thomas had finished, Jesus said:  

And when Thomas had finished, Jesus said:  

====[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155#155:5._THE_DISCOURSE_ON_TRUE_RELIGION The Discourse on True Religion]====

====[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155#155:5._THE_DISCOURSE_ON_TRUE_RELIGION The Discourse on True Religion]====

Jesus made it clear that the great difference between the '''religion of the mind''' and the '''religion of the spirit''' is that while ecclesiastical authority upholds the former, the latter is wholly based on human experience.  

Jesus made it clear that the great difference between the '''religion of the mind''' and the '''religion of the spirit''' is that while ecclesiastical authority upholds the former, the latter is wholly based on human experience.  

Then the Master, in his hour of teaching, went on to make clear these truths:

Then the Master, in his hour of teaching, went on to make clear these truths:

*“Until the races become highly intelligent and more fully civilized, there will persist many of those childlike and superstitious ceremonies that are so characteristic of the evolutionary religious practices of primitive and backward peoples. Until the human race progresses to the level of a higher and more general recognition of the realities of '''spiritual experience''', large numbers of men and women will continue to show a personal preference for those '''religions of authority''' that require only intellectual assent, in contrast to the '''religion of the spirit''', that entails active participation of mind and soul in the faith adventure of grappling with the rigorous realities of progressive human experience.

*“Until the races become highly intelligent and more fully civilized, there will persist many of those childlike and superstitious ceremonies that are so characteristic of the evolutionary religious practices of primitive and backward peoples. Until the human race progresses to the level of a higher and more general recognition of the realities of spiritual experience, large numbers of men and women will continue to show a personal preference for those religions of authority that require only intellectual assent, in contrast to the religion of the spirit, that entails active participation of mind and soul in the faith adventure of grappling with the rigorous realities of progressive human experience.

*“The acceptance of the traditional '''religions of authority''' presents the easy way out for man's urge to seek satisfaction for the longings of his spiritual nature. The settled, crystallized, and established '''religions of authority''' afford a ready refuge to which the distracted and distraught soul of man may flee when harassed by fear and tormented by uncertainty. Such a religion requires of its devotees, as the price to be paid for its satisfactions and assurances, only a passive and purely intellectual assent.

*“The acceptance of the traditional religions of authority presents the easy way out for man's urge to seek satisfaction for the longings of his spiritual nature. The settled, crystallized, and established religions of authority afford a ready refuge to which the distracted and distraught soul of man may flee when harassed by fear and tormented by uncertainty. Such a religion requires of its devotees, as the price to be paid for its satisfactions and assurances, only a passive and purely intellectual assent.

*“And for a long time there will live on earth those timid, fearful, and hesitant individuals who will prefer thus to secure their religious consolations, even though, in so casting their lot with the '''religions of authority''', they compromise the '''sovereignty of personality''', debase the '''dignity of self-respect''', and utterly surrender the right to participate in that most thrilling and inspiring of all possible human experiences: the '''personal quest for truth''', the exhilaration of facing the '''perils of intellectual discovery''', the determination to explore the realities of '''personal religious experience''', the supreme satisfaction of experiencing the personal triumph of the actual realization of the victory of '''spiritual faith''' over '''intellectual doubt''' as it is honestly won in the supreme adventure of all human existence -- '''man seeking God, for himself and as himself, and finding him'''.

*“And for a long time there will live on earth those timid, fearful, and hesitant individuals who will prefer thus to secure their religious consolations, even though, in so casting their lot with the religions of authority, they compromise the sovereignty of personality, debase the dignity of self-respect, and utterly surrender the right to participate in that most thrilling and inspiring of all possible human experiences: the personal quest for truth, the exhilaration of facing the perils of intellectual discovery, the determination to explore the realities of personal religious experience, the supreme satisfaction of experiencing the personal triumph of the actual realization of the victory of spiritual faith over intellectual doubt as it is honestly won in the supreme adventure of all human existence -- man seeking God, for himself and as himself, and finding him.

*“The '''religion of the spirit''' means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress. The '''religion of the mind''' -- the theology of authority -- requires little or none of these exertions from its formal believers. Tradition is a safe refuge and an easy path for those fearful and halfhearted souls who instinctively shun the spirit struggles and mental uncertainties associated with those faith voyages of daring adventure out upon the high seas of unexplored truth in search for the farther shores of spiritual realities as they may be discovered by the progressive human mind and experienced by the evolving human soul.”

*“The religion of the spirit means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress. The religion of the mind -- the theology of authority -- requires little or none of these exertions from its formal believers. Tradition is a safe refuge and an easy path for those fearful and halfhearted souls who instinctively shun the spirit struggles and mental uncertainties associated with those faith voyages of daring adventure out upon the high seas of unexplored truth in search for the farther shores of spiritual realities as they may be discovered by the progressive human mind and experienced by the evolving human soul.”

*"At Jerusalem the religious leaders have formulated the various doctrines of their traditional teachers and the prophets of other days into an established system of intellectual beliefs, a '''religion of authority'''. The appeal of all such religions is largely to the mind. And now are we about to enter upon a deadly conflict with such a religion since we will so shortly begin the bold proclamation of a '''new religion''' -- a religion which is not a religion in the present-day meaning of that word, a religion that makes its chief appeal to the '''divine spirit''' of my Father that resides in the mind of man. '''A religion that shall derive its authority from the fruits of its acceptance''' that will so certainly appear in the personal experience of all who really and truly become believers in the truths of this '''higher spiritual communion'''."

*"At Jerusalem the religious leaders have formulated the various doctrines of their traditional teachers and the prophets of other days into an established system of intellectual beliefs, a religion of authority. The appeal of all such religions is largely to the mind. And now are we about to enter upon a deadly conflict with such a religion since we will so shortly begin the bold proclamation of a new religion -- a religion which is not a religion in the present-day meaning of that word, a religion that makes its chief appeal to the divine spirit of my Father that resides in the mind of man. A religion that shall derive its authority from the fruits of its acceptance that will so certainly appear in the personal experience of all who really and truly become believers in the truths of this higher spiritual communion."

====Question====

====Continued====

Jesus continued:

Jesus continued:

*"And now, which one of you would prefer to take this easy path of conformity to an established and fossilized religion, as defended by the Pharisees at Jerusalem, rather than to suffer the difficulties and persecutions attendant upon the mission of proclaiming a better way of salvation to men while you realize the satisfaction of discovering for yourselves the beauties of the realities of a living and personal experience in the eternal truths and supreme grandeurs of the kingdom of heaven? Are you fearful, soft, and ease seeking? Are you afraid to '''trust''' your future in the hands of the God of truth, whose sons you are? Are you distrustful of the Father, whose children you are? Will you go back to the easy path of the certainty and intellectual settledness of the '''religion of traditional authority''', or will you gird yourselves to go forward with me into that uncertain and troublous future of proclaiming the new truths of the '''religion of the spirit''', the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men?"

*"<u>And now, which one of you would prefer to take this easy path of '''conformity''' to an established and fossilized religion, as defended by the Pharisees</u> at Jerusalem, rather than to suffer the difficulties and persecutions attendant upon the mission of proclaiming a better way of salvation to men while you realize the satisfaction of discovering for yourselves the beauties of the realities of a living and personal experience in the eternal truth and supreme grandeurs of the kingdom of heaven? Are you fearful, soft, and ease seeking? Are you afraid to trust your future in the hands of the God of truth, whose sons you are? Are you distrustful of the Father, whose children you are? Will you go back to the easy path of the certainty and intellectual settledness of the religion of traditional authority, or will you gird yourselves to go forward with me into that uncertain and troublous future of proclaiming the new truths of the religion of the spirit, the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men?"

All twenty-four of his hearers rose to their feet, but he raised his hand and stopped them, saying:

All twenty-four of his hearers rose to their feet, but he raised his hand and stopped them, saying:

====[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155#155:6._THE_SECOND_DISCOURSE_ON_RELIGION The Second Discourse on Religion]====

====[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_155#155:6._THE_SECOND_DISCOURSE_ON_RELIGION The Second Discourse on Religion]====

   

   

After continuing their journey, they paused in the shade of the hillside, and Jesus continued to teach them regarding the religion of the spirit, in substance saying:

After continuing their journey, they paused in the shade of the hillside, and Jesus continued to teach them regarding the religion of the spirit, in substance saying:

*“Shame on those false religious teachers who would drag hungry souls back into the dim and distant past and there leave them! And so are these unfortunate persons doomed to become frightened by every new discovery, while they are discomfited by every new revelation of truth. The prophet who said, "He will be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God," was not a mere intellectual believer in authoritative theology. This truth-knowing human had discovered God. He was not merely talking about God.

*“Shame on those false religious teachers who would drag hungry souls back into the dim and distant past and there leave them! And so are these unfortunate persons doomed to become frightened by every new discovery, while they are discomfited by every new revelation of truth. The prophet who said, "He will be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God," was not a mere intellectual believer in authoritative theology. This truth-knowing human had discovered God. He was not merely talking about God.

*“'''I admonish you to give up the practice of always quoting the prophets of old and praising the heroes of Israel, and instead aspire to become living prophets of the Most High and spiritual heroes of the coming kingdom. To honor the God-knowing leaders of the past may be worthwhile, but why in so doing, should you sacrifice the supreme experience of human existence: finding God for yourselves and knowing him in your own souls?'''

 

 

 

*<u>“I admonish you to give up the practice of always quoting the prophets of old and praising the heroes of Israel, and instead aspire to become living prophets of the Most High and spiritual '''heroes''' of the coming kingdom.</u> <u>To honor the God-knowing leaders of the past may be worthwhile, but why in so doing, should you sacrifice the supreme '''experience''' of human existence: finding God for yourselves and knowing him in your own souls?"</u>

*“Every race of mankind has its own mental outlook upon human existence. Therefore must the religion of the mind ever run true to these various racial viewpoints. Never can the religions of authority come to unification. Human unity and mortal brotherhood can be achieved only by and through the super-endowment of the religion of the spirit. Racial minds may differ, but the same divine and eternal spirit indwells all mankind. The hope of human brotherhood can only be realized when, and as, the divergent mind religions of authority become impregnated with, and overshadowed by, the unifying and ennobling religion of the spirit -- the religion of personal spiritual experience.

*“Every race of mankind has its own mental outlook upon human existence. Therefore must the religion of the mind ever run true to these various racial viewpoints. Never can the religions of authority come to unification. Human unity and mortal brotherhood can be achieved only by and through the super-endowment of the religion of the spirit. Racial minds may differ, but the same divine and eternal spirit indwells all mankind. The hope of human brotherhood can only be realized when, and as, the divergent mind religions of authority become impregnated with, and overshadowed by, the unifying and ennobling religion of the spirit -- the religion of personal spiritual experience.

*“Never forget there is only one adventure that is more satisfying and thrilling than the attempt to discover the will of the living God, and that is the supreme experience of honestly trying to do that divine will. And fail not to remember that the will of God can be done in any earthly occupation. Some callings are not holy and others secular. All things are sacred in the lives of those who are spirit led; that is, subordinated to truth, ennobled by love, dominated by mercy, and restrained by fairness -- justice. The spirit that my Father and I shall send into the world is not only the Spirit of Truth but also the spirit of idealistic beauty.

*“Never forget there is only one adventure that is more satisfying and thrilling than the attempt to discover the will of the living God, and that is the supreme experience of honestly trying to do that divine will. And fail not to remember that the will of God can be done in any earthly occupation. Some callings are not holy and others secular. All things are sacred in the lives of those who are spirit led; that is, subordinated to truth, ennobled by love, dominated by mercy, and restrained by fairness -- justice. The spirit that my Father and I shall send into the world is not only the Spirit of Truth but also the spirit of idealistic beauty.

*“When you once begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men's souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe. '''But what chance does the Father have to appear as a God of supreme loyalties and divine ideals in the souls of men who give little or no time to the thoughtful contemplation of such eternal realities? While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.'''

 

 

 

*“When you once begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men's souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe. But what chance does the Father have to appear as a God of supreme loyalties and divine ideals in the souls of men who give little or no time to the thoughtful contemplation of such eternal realities? While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.

*“But do not make the mistake of trying to prove to other men that you have found God. You cannot consciously produce such valid proof, albeit there are two positive and powerful demonstrations of the fact that you are God-knowing, and they are: First, the fruits of the spirit of God showing forth in your daily routine life. Second, the fact that your entire life plan furnishes positive proof that you have unreservedly risked everything you are and have on the adventure of survival after death in the pursuit of the hope of finding the God of eternity, whose presence you have foretasted in time.

*“But do not make the mistake of trying to prove to other men that you have found God. You cannot consciously produce such valid proof, albeit there are two positive and powerful demonstrations of the fact that you are God-knowing, and they are: First, the fruits of the spirit of God showing forth in your daily routine life. Second, the fact that your entire life plan furnishes positive proof that you have unreservedly risked everything you are and have on the adventure of survival after death in the pursuit of the hope of finding the God of eternity, whose presence you have foretasted in time.