Monday, May 5, 2025
ONE WORLD/ONE FAMILY - Part 2
Examples of a HOLISTIC Jesus:
Call it what you will, but I consider a notion that all are worthy because an Infinite God must be in them to be a “holistic” notion of life – as opposed to a traditional “sinful” notion of life; and I believe that Jesus probably taught a holistic approach to life – not what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of the BIBLE claimed he taught. That message resounded with a notion that all need saved due to being lost in sin and that Jesus was “The Son of God” descended from on high to rescue us from that sin.
But then Along Came Thomas and Along Came Mary Magdalene – and the gospels thereof – that offer that Jesus was not some special son of God, but rather only one who saw things in a special way – as compared to the Jews of the day. Again, I won’t go into details about THE GOSPELS OF THOMAS & MARY here and will leave that to my book of mention about the matter, but in the 3rd verse (of 114) of THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS,
Jesus said: If those who lead you say to you:
“See, the Kingdom is in heaven”, then the birds
of the heaven will precede you. If they say
to you: “It is in the sea,” then the fish will
precede you. But the Kingdom is within you
and it is without you. If you (will) know
yourselves, then you will be known and you will
know that you are the sons of the Living Father.
But if you do not know yourselves,
then you are in poverty and you are poverty.
How can “the Kingdom” of God be within you if you are full of sin? Tell me that. To better explain what Jesus may have meant by the use of “kingdom,” let us look at another verse in THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS. In Verse 22,
Jesus saw children who were being suckled.
He said to his disciples: These children who are
being suckled are like those who enter the
Kingdom. They said to Him: Shall we then,
being children, enter the Kingdom? Jesus said
to them: When you make the two one, and when
you make the inner as the outer, and the outer
as the inner, and the above as the below, and
when you make the male and the female into a
single one, so that the male will not be male and
the female (not) be female, when you make eyes
in the place of an eye, and the hand in the place
of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, (and)
an image in the place of an image,
then shall you enter the Kingdom.
Now, is that a “holistic” view of life or not? Where is the “sin” in that? Where is the “lacking” in that? Making all equal is what this verse is all about – and that completely shatters any notion that one of us can be “better” than another of us. How could anyone who believes such be considered to be a “messiah” of a race or religion that did not? And yet, all of the writers of the gospels chosen for the BIBLE chose to make Jesus a lord who is above all others and not equal to all others. That is quite a contradiction. Isn’t it?
To continue with the notion that Jesus may have taught that all are worthy, consider verse 70 of THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS.
Jesus said: If you bring forth that within
yourselves, that which you have will save you.
If you do not have that within yourselves, that
which you do not have within you will kill you.
What do you think? Would a morality teacher such as I believe Jesus was teach that I have to go within me to find worth if that which is within is sinful – as the writers of the gospels chosen for the BIBLE would have us believe?
I could go on with verses of THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, but let me proceed with some “evidence” from THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE that illustrates Jesus did not believe we are all sinful and need saved by some extra saving grace. In the first verse of THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE, it is written:
Peter said to him, “You have explained
everything to us. Tell us also, what is the sin
of the world?” The savior replied, “There is
no such thing as sin, but you create sin when
you mingle as in adultery, and this is called sin.
. . . He continued, “That is why you become
sick and die, for [you love] what [deceives you].
Whoever has a mind should understand.
Indeed, “whoever has a mind should understand,” but it seems we have lived almost forever not understanding. Haven’t we? We have been told that Jesus believed we all need saved by virtue of some outside grace. We have been told that we all need to “believe in Jesus as Lord” to be saved – and from what? From a sin we do not have in terms of having inherited it by simply being born – according to the verse just cited from THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE. If this verse is correct, Jesus believed that we “create sin” by what we do, not by what we are.
And how do we “uncreate sin” that we have “created”? I am reminded of a joke that has a fellow with a hurt arm going to his doctor and proclaiming, while stretching his arm, Doctor, it hurts when I do this. The doctor replies: Then don’t do that. And that for me is how we deal with sin – that we create. The wise person simply stops doing what hurts – once he or she realizes that his or her action is hurting either him or herself or others; and that, in brief, is how we should deal with sin. Don’t depend on another to resolve it. Just stop doing it! Right?
To finish my argument that Jesus probably taught that life itself is worthy in and of itself, let me cite the conclusion of the first verse of THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE.
When the blessed one said this, he greeted
all of them and said, “Peace be with you. Receive
my peace. Be careful that no one leads you astray
by saying, ‘Look here’ or ‘Look there.’ The child
of humanity is within you. Follow that.
Those who seek it will find it. Go and preach
the good news of the kingdom. Do not lay down
any rules other than what I have given you,
and do not establish law, as the lawgiver did,
or you will be bound by it.”
When he said this, he left them.
Go and preach the good news of the kingdom, he said – the child of humanity is within you. Follow that! And I do believe it is that simple too – perhaps mostly because I have tried to live the message – and the message has worked for me. It is so simple to live a good life if you are not always looking around for sin – or for some excuse to deny embracing life as a gift – and a wonder and a miracle because God is in it. Look for the child of humanity within you and follow that, Jesus said. That is to say that humanity as a whole is holy and worthy – and not of sin.
Those who seek it will find it, he said; but, of course, you have to seek it to find it. You cannot find it in some set of laws or legal regimen. If you look for salvation through law, and “establish law, as the lawgiver did, . . . you will be bound by it.” And that is the way it works too. If I think I am obliged to some set of laws, even if the lawgiver of that set of laws does not have his or her claimed authority, I am bound by that set of laws. Why? Because I think & believe they are legitimate.