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Some Errors of Pedantic and Dogmatic Religion

  Page Five

Following the 'doctrines of devils'?

In the same vein as the 'shining angel' and 'different gospel' dogmas conceived and offered from the mind of the literal religionist, comes the 'doctrines of devils' objection. Here, the dogmatist utterly condemns - sometimes with indignant exasperation - the one who has listened, discerned and learned from a Messenger of Christ who brings Christ's Message to humanity by the sacred gift of Spirit Communion. The Literalist claims that one who listens to a spiritual being dispatched by Christ must be 'following the doctrines of devils' designed to mislead the children of God away from salvation, 'because the Bible says so'.

However, while it is true that there are very many fallen spirits who have nothing but hate and evil within their make-up, who do like to mislead and cause the children of God to fall, the Literalist's inability to discern spiritual Truth beyond the limited sphere which his dogma has enclosed him in, is the reason why he quips such a quote to the open-minded followers of Christ. The Dogmatist has imprisoned himself in the mental prison of his own belief.

Perhaps this is best explained in sensible, real terms, by an incident which happened but last week as I write. A women known to us at the Greater World, but not firmly established in the spiritual Truth given through the channel of the Greater World, came to us in a very distressed state of mind. She was suffering from anxiety and had been having nightmares. The cause of all this mental trauma was a friend of this good woman, who had recently joined a local evangelical church, after years of non-church-going.

The zealous friend of the distressed woman has been 'preaching' to her, and had told her that she must 'be saved' or she would be going to 'Hell'. This was the cause of the poor woman's traumatic state. It should be obvious to all open-minded people, without any further explanation, the point for relating this little episode. Who is following the doctrine of devils? Who is upsetting God's children and causing them pain? Who is destroying the peace of God-loving people? Who is literally, mentally assaulting and insulting good people? Is it not a follower of a devil's doctrine perhaps?

Now, I am certainly not saying that all people who attend 'evangelical' churches can be so abusive towards those who think differently from themselves, but what is apparent is that within the teaching given out to people by the literal religionists (not just those of the overzealous 'evangelical' or 'Pentecostal type'), is the clearly wicked inference that one who accepts such teaching has authority to bring distress to the other children of God.

Such 'preachers' tell decent and good people that unless they possess within their minds what amounts to little more than a divisive metaphysical concept of a man-made dogma inherited from human minds saturated with superstition, then such good people - no matter how good they are - are going to 'eternal condemnation'. It would seem obvious that somewhere along the lines, someone giving out such teachings has been listening to fallen and mischievous souls, and has indeed incorporated within their attitude and belief a measure of the 'doctrine of devils'.

Another aspect to be considered is those 'narrow-minded' Literalists who believe that God has revealed Himself to them alone, pass out of this earth-life with that firm conviction deeply embedded within their consciousness, and therefore close out all other children of God when they arrive in another world. They are therefore at a much lesser point of spiritual evolution than God their Father wishes for them to be at, for they still refuse to accept that others with beliefs different to their own can reside in a heavenly Sphere, and they therefore cannot see those who are brighter and in more progressed spheres. Such souls have much to learn. They have indeed been deceived by so-called 'doctrines of devils'.

Also, something else which must be considered in its very practical sense, is the bigotry and divisive attitudes which man-made dogmas clearly produce. Someone who believes that only that portion of souls who think like themselves are to receive spiritual salvation, is by definition, excluding any other spiritual pathway. Such people therefore become intolerant to others, and friction is caused, and once again Christ is misrepresented. Such attitudes inhibit peace and unity amongst the brotherhood of man. This type of teaching would certainly, both superficially and profoundly, seem to exhibit qualities which have come from anti-Christian spheres; indeed, they have clearly incorporated into their teachings, the doctrines of devils.

"I am the way the truth, and the life"
(John.14:6)

In order to defend what is nothing other than an elitist and divisive path, the pedantic Fundamentalist will often be heard saying: "But Jesus said 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me', and therefore all other ways must be wrong!". The Literalist and sometimes fanatical element of Christendom may be satisfied with a literalist interpretation of Christ's saying, but those who seek spirituality in Truth will know what He meant. The Literalist's view fails to consider a number of spiritual issues.

One such point that they fail to realise is the enormity of the redemptive power of the Christ, and they seek to limit it to nothing more than acceptance of a dogma. They do not seem to come even close to truly comprehending the all-encompassing Nature of the Redeemer-side of God. Indeed, the fact that Christ is the Redeemer in God and that the Christ of God is the Redeemer and that the Saviour is God as His own Christ, His Son, is limited so much by the Fundamentalists that it is almost offensive and hurtful to one who sees a much more expansive and loving Redeemer.

Instead of holding a single dogmatic belief as salvation in itself, these people would realise more Truth if they could try to see that the Spiritual Christ is a reality, that Christ actually is that God who enters and expands throughout Creation to redeem - a Spiritual Christ which leads to the Perfection of those awful Realms of utter Purity which is the Godhead. The Christ is all-pervasive, and therefore no one is able to pass through any stage of spiritual development towards the Godhead without going "through" the Spiritual Christ, ever drawing closer to the Perfection of the God Who is Love and Purity.

Another point on the same subject that has been omitted by the Dogmatists due to the way certain sentences in the Holy Writ have been strung together, is that we are meant to follow the Way that Jesus the Christ laid down for us to follow for our own benefit and the spiritual development of our souls. Jesus set the perfect Example for humans to follow with the intention of giving them the means whereby the soul can gain the essential spiritual development to progress through the Spiritual Spheres of ever-increasing purity, towards that ultimate goal of perfection. In answer to the question from Thomas: "...how can we know the way?", Jesus answered in the same terms: "I am the way..."; in other words Jesus Himself had laid down the Way, and set Himself as an Example. That Way was laid down by Truth Incarnate, and that Way was laid down by the Source of Life made Incarnate. The Source of Life, out of pure love for the life He created, also became Incarnate to show the Way, the Way of spiritual progression; the Way which leads a fallen child of God out of dense and disorientating darkness, and on upwards towards the everlasting and unimaginable power of Pure Love which is perfect and awesome Purity.

Indeed, Jesus Himself places the emphasis of this teaching on movement by initially prompting the question from Thomas by saying: "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know". The Teacher had made a statement implying a directional process of spiritual evolution, which He knew would cause an inquisitive response from His pupils. He did this to show that spiritual progress is a pathway; to show that soul-development is a progressive process - the Way is a way of movement as opposed to the 'instant salvation' propagated by Fundamentalists based upon the notion that by accepting a man-made metaphysical concept, one receives this salvation, and not accepting the notion automatically 'qualifies' one for an everlasting punishment in the hells.

So, these two main points taken together - the example set by Christ Jesus, and the existence of the all-pervasive Spiritual Christ of God the Saviour - explain the error of the limited outlook given by the Literalists: that the majority are not "saved" unless they follow the Literalists' own man-made dogma. While the Christ was clearly keen to remind mankind of the gathering of consequences for violating spiritual laws - the Law of Love, no less - the Fundamental Literalist has virtually disguised and twisted the beauty of the Christ Way by almost removing the spirituality from Christ's words entirely, with the creation of man-made ideas of salvation. Indeed, this sad view steals from true Christianity; this erroneous teaching twists and attacks the love, hope and charity taught by an endlessly generous and benevolent Christ. This also explains why so much of Christ and His Way is transparently evident in other paths which engender true spirituality.

False prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing

A quote from the New Testament which is often used by the Literalist to try to prevent people from knowing about God's Greater World (and the further truth about God's Love which comes with it's knowledge) is from Matthew 7:15-24. Here, in order to bolster a narrow and limited view of God, the Literalist will try to explain that his or her interpretation of the Bible is the only true one, whereas any other interpretation is from 'false prophets'.

The Literalist claims that this passage condemns a Christian Spiritualist to (his or her conception of) Hell. This is because the Fundamentalist's literalism has prevented him or her from understanding the spiritual gift of Spirit Communion ('the discerning of spirits' - 1Cor. 12:10) and he or she ironically claims it to be a 'vile' practice which (his or her conception of) God abhors - a prime example of how persecution arises from misunderstanding and ignorance! But the Literalist really has taken things so out of context! If he or she looks hard enough at this chapter, it can be seen that the thrust of this message is concerning that great commandment: Do to others as you would have done to yourself (v.12). This chapter is aimed at the spiritual progression and evolution of the soul through the rigid application of freewill against the temptations offered to the baser self by the world, and it is not about following or adhering solely to the Literalist's chosen dogmatic criteria and belief system.

It should be clear that this chapter is once again aimed at the hypocrite, the type who is given to profess God's Law outwardly and yet who follows the desires of the lesser self inwardly. Christ goes to great length in Biblical records to explain this type of hypocrite. It is the kind who wears the outward signs of holiness and makes a performance of it, yet within there is another voice that speaks of self-glory; the kind of hypocrisy which makes an outward presentation of giving and doing in God's Name and calls this the narrow road with a straight gate, but all along the lesser self seeks the things which bring a materialistic lifestyle of possessions and earthly power c.-à-d. a hypocritical priest or lawyer from the Biblical Record, or a false Christian in today's sense, who cannot give up all that he or she has and follow the path of simplicity in material things and the purity of heart as demonstrated by Christ Jesus.

The Literalist who condemns other good people to 'Hell' with their preaching by quoting Matthew 7:15-24 would do well to start at the beginning of this chapter and readjust their vision, holding first and foremost in the mind's eye the meaning of false prophets in relation to religious hypocrisy. They should start with verse 1, concerning judging others, then go on to verse 2 concerning hypocritically righting another even while ones own vision suffers spiritual astigmatism through not understanding spiritual laws and how they work on in spite of man's euphemistic approach to materialism and all it entails. Then perhaps the meaning of a corrupt tree and the type of fruit which it brings forth may become a little clearer.

There is no advancement through the Spheres of the Spiritual World at a certain point until all notions of elitism have been expelled. People reach a certain Sphere and there they stay until they realise the truth about God's children - that He loves them all and that it is what is within their hearts towards others which allows their own progression. As long as their is any sanctimonious attitude towards others of different beliefs, then there is no further progression into God's Eternal Home of spiritual wonder. Many who have named themselves Christians have found themselves in this situation when they have passed over.

Also to be considered is this: That there is no thought of God which does not reach Him. How wonderful for His children when they find that He has made something from every thought of love and sympathy they have had, and that He has kept it and preserved it for them, and that they can now use the power which has been created from that love for helping their brothers and sisters who have not been able to overcome their temptations yet.

Similarly, there is no one who has arisen out of the ranks and who has called out to people with an insistent voice to ignore the way of worldy desire and, instead, to follow a spiritual path - even a teaching which contains an error here and there - who is not blessed over and over again by God. Their teaching may have been faulty, but every one they have helped to turn away from the earthly desires of the lesser self and seek the things which are Divine and eternal, has indeed benefitted from such teaching. This should give us all food for thought when we are quick to condemn others because they do not think in the same manner that we do. Naturally, discernment and common sense always play a part, but those who were true to the spirit within were doing God's work; such 'prophets' may have made some mistakes but how God must love them for what they wished to achieve for His children and how much closer His children have been brought to Him because of these people.

"God loves us so gives us everything of the world!"

"But God means us to have all the things which make us happy and so He gives us all the world has to offer because we have accepted that He has saved us through His Son!" is a variation of a cry often heard from the Literalist who may also be swamped in a materialistic attitude. Yes, God means us to be happy and that is why He came as Man to demonstrate the short, hard, narrow road with a straight gate - the steep hill to God - the Way to avoid having to go back on ones tracks when this little earth-life is over (as far as the physical body is concerned) and having to make aright what was omitted or committed because the voice of the world came first. Indeed, the love of worldly ease, of earthly fame and the adulation of the masses, of material power and of 'beautiful' but transient possessions, has had the effect of bringing heart-rending unhappiness, not happiness.

And this Way does not include taking unnecessary comforts for oneself and therefore depriving others of basic necessity. So easy it is to dismiss the hardships of others who seem far away and claim that our little indulgences do not affect them! But not if a person really chooses the path of obscurity and hardship, of humble work and simple love, of not being drawn into the powerful sway of the material 'luxuries' of the world but instead picking up daily burdens as crosses to bear and cheerfully marching on, forward along the narrow way. Simple is the Christ Way - not easy in the worldly sense but easy in the spiritual sense.

If only the voice of the world did not cry so loud for this type of materialistic Literalist, they would see that their limited acceptance of a belief is really their path to unhappiness when this life is over. Their belief tells them they are 'saved' but really this is wishful thinking based on superstition, and they have really been listening to the shadows and the materialistic teachings of the 'false prophets'. If they could see just a little of the Spiritual World around them, they would know that among the bright spirits who come back to help and guide those in the flesh, there are also those who listened to the voice of the world when alive in a physical body but who now must seek to stop others from falling into the same temptation by trying to influence them to overcome their trials - and this is harder when the flesh is no more. Also, there are those who went by the name of a Christian who, now out of the fleshly body, have not even awoken to the fact that they need to learn their lessons in this way, and time goes on for them because they are so convinced that they are the only ones who know God's Truth, and even in the Spiritual World the guides and helpers await for their spiritual awakening.

Inspired does not necessarily mean perfect

Pedantic religionists call their literal theories the "inspired" word of God (and yet they have little or no understanding as to Divine inspiration or how it comes in its various forms and "diverse manners", as they have not studied the mechanics of mediumship, ironically, because their own dogma prohibits this - and therefore nothing that is written in the Holy Book can possibly be wrong "because God inspired it"). If it is suggested that the Bible, although inspired by God, can have fault, the pedants assume that one is saying that the Bible is not inspired by God. They think one is saying that the Bible did not come from God, but really what one is saying is that the Bible came from God but the mind of man got in the way in a number of places.

Literalists may claim: "You just want an easy way. The word of God speaks the Truth and you do not like some of it so you say its wrong." Well, there could be nothing easier in the world than not having to utilise the thinking and reasoning powers or the emotions of sympathy and compassion or finding the desire to ask, knock and seek until the answer is given where the door is opened and the next stage of the quest is reached. It is easier not to have to do all of that, and just accept anything that is given and call it perfect because it is "God's word", even if it holds errors such as the immorality of a God who can only save a small number of souls from a torture which is everlasting. It is the Literalists who are taking the easy way out.

"It's not what I want. If it's in the Bible then God said it"?

If it is pointed out to the pedants that the influence of man has had an effect on the purity of the Bible, or if it is suggested to the pedants that souls can actually be redeemed from the hells through suffering and the operation of ministering spirits, then the statement may come from them: "we wish it was so, because we find the idea of an everlasting punishment horrific, but it is God's word, and therefore it is so; it is not what we want, but it is what God wants!" However, it is what they want.

What these Literalist religionists are doing here is merely stating what they want. They want to believe that the Bible was not influenced by the lesser mind of man through traditional thought, or in any way at all, when the words were written. They want to believe that there is nothing that could possibly effect God's word in the Bible which was not His intention. They want to believe that every single word written in the Bible is the direct thought of God and that these Divine thoughts have not been degraded in any way by the thoughts of the physical mind of man. They want to believe that the inspired word in the Bible is without error at all and spiritually perfect. They want to believe that the scribes responsible for writing the original scripts found it impossible to let their own human thoughts (which might not have been the perfect thoughts of God) to affect what was written.

Where there is a parable in the Bible and they have chosen to treat it in a literal way, it is because they want to believe that it is a literal teaching and not a figurative one; and conversely, where there is a clear reference to a commonly acknowledged attribute (such as compassion, forgiveness, etc.) they want to alter it to something else, so that to compassion is added vengeance; and the inability to forgive is added forgiveness (with regard to God's love), and so on. Also, when there is a figurative and spiritual signification insinuated in a sentence, they choose to take such a teaching as to be literal.

When the Literalist says "I do not want anyone to go into everlasting punishment but that is the choice of the person", what the Literalist really means is that he or she wants to believe that their concept of God is capable of sending people He has knowingly created into everlasting punishment, and therefore they cannot accept that Christ sends His celestial messengers today to tell us that He is a loving God and that a child of His only suffers by opposing those evolutionary laws He brought into being for bringing His children into perfect perfection. The Literalist has the choice to believe in the God who sends His children into everlasting punishment, or he has the choice to believe in the God Who is able to redeem His children from the dark realms into which they have put themselves as a result of abusing of freewill But the Literalist wants to believe that he has no choice in the matter.

But just because that is what the Literalist wants to believe, it does not make what he believes so. The Bible is a Sacred Record, and it is God's inspired word, but when man in the flesh is the instrument for the reception of Divine inspiration, then sometimes the mind of man comes through and the message of the Spirit is affected accordingly. And the same is true of interpretation c.-à-d. if something is meant to be taken figuratively by God, the human mind comes through and interprets it literally.

"Don't you think God could get the Bible right"?

In attempting to justify the awful characteristics and extremely limited concept of redemption which the Fundamentalist holds to be true with regard to God, he, the pedantic religionist, often poses the question: 'If God meant man to have a Bible, then don't you think that He would make sure that it was perfect?' However, the questioner errs because he does not perceive the correct functioning or working of the Divine and universal laws which govern man and creation.

The Literalist does not realize the true meaning of the abuse of freewill and how over the long aeons God does not interfere with that freewill which He has bestowed upon His children for ever. The very reason the innocent suffer along with the guilty is because man has abused the laws of Life from the beginning, and man is here at this stage on the earth to gain experience through the priceless lessons which the earth-life has to offer the aspiring soul. God did not force man to oppose His laws, and yet He redeems His fallen children. Thus His children must participate in their own redemption on their long journey back to God. And so it is that His Will is passed down through the conditions by His many spiritual servants, and it is man on earth who must make the effort to understand those Divine laws and utilize them. Man is responsible for his own progression. And although God's Will is perfect, man has been responsible for the transcription of those many spiritual facts, lessons, opinions and events which are found in the Holy Book known as the Bible.

Man has played his part, and, moreover, man must play his part. The pedant does not realize that it is part of God's Scheme for the redemption of His fallen children, that they are to play an active part in their own spiritual evolution - they must 'work it in' themselves by and through the grace of God. It is not the case that because God wanted a Holy Book written then it must be infallible, no, but rather it is the case that God works through the hands and minds of men at the earth stage in order to guide, comfort and enlighten man. Thus, if the lesser self of man has materialised at some points in the Bible, then it is man's doing and not God's. Man's freewill is not interfered with by the One Lord God Almighty Who is the Bestower of spiritual gifts. God uses man for His purpose, and although Christ is ever with each one of His creation urging them on, if man falls short of the ideal then there shall be man's imperfect imprint upon life; and this principle applies to the words chronicled in the Sacred Record.

The Holy Spirit shall provide the answers to those who ask, knock and seek

The pedants exclaim: "But how can you know what is right and what is not right? The Bible is the way to know what is right, not man!". But these people forget the limitations that man - out of his weakness - imposes upon the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, which they are so quick to remind, cannot err. But when man gets in the way with the mind of his body, perfection becomes tainted to a greater or lesser degree. That is why the Holy Spirit has better results when there is a direct voice or when there is physical control of the vocal chords, rather than in areas which are simply the inspired opinion of man when his mind has been impressed by Spirit.

Certainly, much of what is written in the Bible is a direct recording of Spirit-Voice, such as those words which came through the prophets, and where this is genuinely the case, then those words, although in the limited language of the earth, are unaltered by the mind of man. But, where men have discussed and assumed, the human mind has come out over the Mind of the Spirit. The "Christ Mission", as given through Spirit-Agency, is also given by the Holy Spirit and is the Will of God given for humanity's understanding, comfort and blessing.

The Sacred Book is a collection of mainly authentic events, practical and symbolical teachings, opinions of earnest people whose minds were impinged upon by Spirit, and spiritual messages received by people (and those named the prophets) - by trance, manifestation and visions both within and without; and by Spirit-travel - to be transmitted in earthly tongue to people in the flesh. But where the words do not live up to the highest standard of love, then the mind of man has played the greater part in those words. That is the test. If the person has enough faith in God and enough faith in His guidance, they will know that they can trust their instinct to be able to judge according to the highest standard of love.

The best way to know what is the Truth in this matter, is to make an in-depth study of the Christ Mission, because part of that Mission, is to explain the Bible as it was meant to be before the physical mind of man got hold of the pure thought of the Spirit.

Even if those with astigmatised views are blessed if sincere

The Bible must be read with the spiritual mind to be understood properly. But if someone who tries to follow a path which has an astigmatised viewpoint with sincerity, and who tries not to oppose God's laws but to work in harmony with them, is greatly blessed, and that is much less that the soul will have to work out when the physical body is no more. But he who has a path and ignores how he walks, shall find that he has thrown away treasure which cannot be replaced without much pain and anguish. If any one can help to bring on the evolution of another soul, then they are bringing joy to the Father Heart, who yearns over the wayward child and whose love follows the bound and fettered, the prisoners of self. His blessing is upon them. But woe to the one who misleads others into the pit of self.

Man is not simply a physical being going through spiritual experiences, but he is a spiritual being going through physical experiences

Man was made in the Image of God. God is Spirit and man was originally made of that Spirit, in God's own Image. What is eternal cannot end. The Spirit within the individual has no end, but can be blocked out by the abuse of the freewill and the barriers so erected impossible to penetrate except by the Love of God. Genesis is a parable which describes in spiritual terms the beginning of life, but man with his physical mind has misinterpreted this. The individual soul has within a miniature fragment of Divinity which God in His generosity has given to all of His children alike, and He loves each one equally, although the Spirit may be more released in one than another.