Religious Bigotry And The Larger Truths About God And The Greater World Of Spirit

Literalists often overlook the fact that the Bible cannot provide the actual experience of being in the Spiritual World (free from the casket of flesh), nor is it necessary to have read the Bible to have an experience of the Spiritual World.

It is a fact that some people naming themselves Christians have acquired such a blinkered literalism, that their conditioning inhibits understanding of the fact that, in this life, the Bible does not furnish the existent participation of being in spiritual realms where there are "untaught and unpublished words which it is not within ones power to utter" (intended meaning of 2 Cor.12:4 [1]). This is in direct contrast to the person who experiences spirit-travel and who is directly acquainted with the World of Spirit beyond the material.

People who have released something of the Spirit within, know that when Christ told His closest followers: "I have yet many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now" (John 16:12) prior to betrayal, He meant that they could only "bear" those "many things" when in the next world (the Spiritual World) where He would "no more speak unto you (disciples) in proverbs" (John 16:25). Once prepared in those bright conditions, He could then show them "plainly of the Father" (John 16:25). Jesus showed the Way into that life.

The extreme Literalists claim that it is failing to believe their belief that they are saved by a one-time acceptance of an aspect of their doctrine, which otherwise condemns one to "everlasting punishment" (according to their concept of God), and that it is not dependent upon how a life is lived and conducted which saves a soul from an "eternal torture in Hell" but rather simply making a one-time affirmation of faith.

Considerate people, however, who are able to think free from the mind of another, find such a concept pitiless and callous. Expounders of the doctrine of everlasting punishment can (and very often do) offend others, preventing unity between humanity. This is also true of the equally thoughtless "doctrine of spiritual annihilation", which ironically and erroneously states that a God Who is Love and All-Power can create life out of pure love, and then quite coldly torture that life personally and then destroy it totally and completely - all this for failure to accept a hideously gross doctrine which is based on such a twisted and contrary principle, i.e. that an all-powerful and all-loving Being is not only capable of vindictiveness and torture of His own creations, but also does not have the foresight or power to save and protect that life.

Sometimes, it would appear to thoughtful people perhaps, that the professors of the doctrines of "everlasting punishment" and "spiritual annihilation" are working for the powers of darkness themselves because of the division and ill-feelings they cause. It would appear perhaps that they have been tricked into thinking they are working for God.

Many less pedantic Christians have a larger hope in a more loving and merciful God capable of saving more than a limited exclusive few of His own creations (John 12:32 [2]); in a patient Father who waits aeons of time for the return of a prodigal child; and in a redeeming Christ who would really search after a lost sheep "until he finds it" (Luke 15:4 [3]) i.e. remedial redemption in the darker regions of the spiritual world after a selfish finite life on earth.

Literalism aside, true Christianity easily accepts other beliefs engendering peace and harmony. Certain Christians should stop being Pharisaical lawyers and magistrates, and develop a real Christian spirit with charitable understanding. Each individual's next state of being will be shared with others according to the similarity of the spiritual health of their souls regardless of what they believe; the inner person remains unchanged at death and the spiritual health of the soul has been fashioned according to the thoughts, motives, ethicality and works of the individual before the transition (Rev.22:11,12 [4]).

[1] In the King James Version of the Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:4 is given by the Translators as: "How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Note: The words "Third Heaven" (v.2) were commonly used to denote an actual place such as Paradise or a particular place in Heaven. The meaning, here, in connection with actually visiting such a place in his spirit-body seems to be what Paul wants us to grasp by the reiteration of the term "caught up", emphasizing movement synonymous with the movement of spirit-travelling. When a person's spirit travels, it is always accompanied by bright guides but more often than not they do not manifest themselves, although sometimes they do, as in the case, for instance, of Christ's disciple, John (Rev.17:3, 21:10).

It should also be noted that Paul was saying that the "words" heard in Paradise were not able to be "uttered"; this has been translated and interpreted by Traditionalists to mean words which were not "permitted" to be spoken by a human. However, with an explanation of the Spiritual World, it seems clear that Paul was saying that the words that he "heard" (within himself - probably similar to words heard clairaudiently) were not human words spoken with a human tongue, therefore those words were beyond ones physical limitations to speak. The intended meaning due to Paul's very real spiritual experiences was that he was transported to the Third Heaven where he: "...heard unspeakable words which it is not within ones power to utter".

[2] John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth (on the Cross), will draw all men unto me" (eventually by Divine Love). Note: Christ Jesus was the human personification of Divinity, manifesting with the purpose of revealing Divine Love, both on Earth and in the darker planes.

[3] Luke 15:4 "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

[4] Rev.22:11,12 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be"

Tony Bisson