06-10-2007, 07:44 AM
SERMON: REDISCOVERING OUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS
by
REV. DR. ROBERT E. DORRIS
PRESENTATION AT FIRST UU CHURCH OF MIAMI
December 12, 1999 (This was one of the last sermons that I gave as a member of the UUA)
Many of us grew up questioning the teachings of the church and became disenchanted with what we were told to believe. I know I fell into this category.
Questioning the teachings of the church got me into a lot of trouble when I was young. It resulted in my being asked to leave the church because I was a disruptive influence.
I asked what it meant when God said: He appeared to people by the name of God Almighty and by the name of Jehovah, He was not known to them, but He also established his covenant with them. (Ex 6.3-4)
I asked why Jesus said that " I can of mine own self do nothing. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."(St John 5.30-31)
I asked why people had to convert to Christianity when God said: "I will pour out of my Spirit unto all humanity." (The Acts 2.17)
I asked what it meant when Jesus said: "The words ye hear are not mine, but the Father's which sent me." (St John 15.24)
Finally and probably the main reason the minister and the deacons did not want me around was that I asked --"Why do we worship Jesus Christ as God when he strictly charged and commanded Peter and His disciples to tell no man that he was the Christ of God." (St Luke 9.20-21)
Why did he repeatedly tell people not to call Him the Christ?
It was obvious to me that Jesus never considered himself to be God so I wanted to know why the church said he was.
I got upset when no one would answer my questions. More - over I was told to quit asking questions and to keep my opinions and observations to myself.
You could say I became very disenchanted with the church. Although disenchanted, I had a deep belief in God. I did not throw my Bible away, but came to believe that the teachings of organized religion were all wrong and a waste of time. I am also sure that the leaders of that church thought I was a waste of time ---- a totally hopeless cause.
This all happened 35 or 36 years ago....
Times have now changed.... Today even the churches are being forced to question their own doctrines.
For example:
In1996, Professors at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote:
The church needs to begin to think critically, about God, about the world as God's creation, and about one's own self-understanding. Faith in God itself causes us to think and ask incisive questions.
As the critical awareness that characterizes "faith - seeking - understanding" grows; it needs to be suspicious of glib and naive answers. We need to learn what it means to trust the word of God rather than the principalities and the powers that demand blind obedience.
As important and as foundational as the biblical text is for theology, the process of theological formulations necessitates examining an even wider variety of historical and theological documents. These additional sources are not only prerequisite for understanding the churches historical faith but are also indispensable in the continual
development of doctrine.
Asking questions of what it means........... is at the heart of the theological enterprise.
We must realize that there is no single explanatory system or view of reality that can account for all the phenomena associated with believing in God.
Like preaching, Theology interprets the scriptural language of faith, with the goals being its fresh appraisal and acknowledgment, and to find ways for its practical application.
Because of its work, theology must always be kept open to the reflective interest of the inquiring mind.
We must remember that God is not a philosophical problem or a discovered actuality to be spoken about in some general manner. To speak in this way would be to identify God as an object of conceptual certainty, as an objective reference that could be captured by reason alone, and to miss the mystery of God's personal self-disclosures.
A theology cut off from the Living God too easily becomes a rigid, impersonal structure behind which the church barricades itself.
(Biblical Hermeneutics, 1996, Broadman & Holman Publishers)
Are these statements a true indication of the direction that organized religion is taking? Will these views filter down to the individual churches? Will the different congregations embrace them?
I don't know! But, I do know, that in the not to distant past, making these statements would have been considered heresy to the Church.
These statements indicate a complete turn about in the views of the church, from those which I encountered and still encounter.
At this point, we need to ask; "Why the turn about? Why do the seminaries want preachers to consider different views and to teach based on an expanded awareness?"
Maybe it is the discoveries and publication for the general public of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library Scrolls, and the Corpus Hermeticum, and other ancient documents which serve to amplify the Bible, predate it or contradict it.
Maybe it is the gaining popularity of Pagan religions, eastern teachings; Yoga, Hinduism, and Buddhism, all of which predate Christianity. Maybe it is the growing influence of Islam.
Maybe it is the growing number of individuals who want to discover the Truth, wherever it can be found and reject the limited restrictive views offered by many of the churches.
These and many other influences are having a profound effect on what the Churches can get people to believe. Churches can no longer expect people to blindly follow what they are told.
On top of all this: Compared with the most accurate translations of scriptural scrolls now known, they have discovered that even the best English translation of the Bible has 1,450 known errors in the New Testament alone. Some translations have 11,500 places of variations or errors. Because of this, the seminary now recommends that a minister consult at least 6 different translations of the Bible, plus a Concordance, a Bible Dictionary, and related texts from other faiths when trying to learn the meaning of any scriptural passage.
This being so, Churches cannot ignore the abundance of new information that is now available to the general public. Churches can no longer ignore the questions and divergent beliefs of the members of their community.
Churches need to promote and accentuate the similarities found in the diverse faiths and belief systems, not the differences.
Unitarian-Universalism has known this for many years and has incorporated, tolerated, or embraced a divergence of beliefs. This is not always an easy thing to do, but it is a very real necessity for the real spiritual growth of the individual members and for the growth of the church itself.
It the past and even today, disenchantment with existing doctrines leads to many different sects and religions being formed. On a smaller scale, disenchantment leads to divisions within church congregations and to lack of tolerance in the practices of others. It has also led to many individuals leaving the churches altogether.
New understandings and advancements in all types of knowledge have led to questions which many churches will not or can not answer. For the most part, UU Churches meet this opportunity head-on and do not try to suppress divergent views. We must recognize that no - one has all the answers, but still we need to ask the questions.
The churches as well as we as individuals are at a cross-roads looking for answers.
We are all looking for a better way; a way to incorporate a spiritual understanding into our modern life-style; a way to make the world a better place; and a way to make our lives more meaningful and fulfilling.
Where do we begin?
The very oldest teachings, which can be applied to both individuals and groups, say to "Know thyself" is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.
This was the first step in the old mystery schools and it should be the first step for us.
Without knowing ourselves we can not proceed on the path. It sounds simple but in reality to be bluntly honest with ourselves -- in learning all our personal traits -- both good and bad -- is a difficult assessment for many to make.
Once we learn about ourselves as an individual or as a group, we learn to accentuate our positives and work on overcoming or improving upon our negative traits.
However, in doing this we still remain at step one.
Before leaving step one, we need to learn our place in the community, the world, the universe, and in the eyes of God.
Only after doing all this -- do we get past the first step.
Since the beginning of humanity, many systems, teachings and techniques have been developed and taught to aid individuals in overcoming and graduating so to speak for Step One.
Because of our lack of understanding or ignorance, we have turned these systems and techniques into religions which have become rigid structures of beliefs instead of stepping stones or training devises in our spiritual development.
We have tried to freeze for all eternity the words of the teachers and prophets, the words of God or the teachings of God into fixed systems as if God no longer discloses Himself to us or talks to us or walks with Humanity.
In the past 50 years -- maybe in just the past 10 to 20 years, we have been given a wake up call ----- Information that was kept secret has been released to the general public, thanks to modern technology.
In the Nag Hammadi Library scrolls, we are given a different version of creation without the Supreme God being the creator of this world, but permitting it to be created and then putting life meaning His essence or spirit into each created being to be discovered on an individual basis. These scrolls lead into the book of Genesis as we know it but, if accepted, would change the total interpretation of the Christian faith system.
Many of the scrolls in the Nag Hammadi Library contain teachings attributed to Jesus which are not contained in the Bible.
I have put together a few verses from several of the scrolls to give you a brief introduction to these teachings of Jesus.
(The Treatise on the Resurrection)
Jesus said: "If there is one who does not believe, he does not have the capacity to be persuaded. For it is the domain of faith."
"Nothing redeems us from this world, but the 'All' which we are. We received salvation from end to end. Let us think in this way! Let us comprehend in this way! It is fitting for each one to practice in a number of ways, so that he shall be released from this Element; that he may not fall into error; but shall himself receive again what at first was."
(The Apocryphon of James)
"Verily I say unto you, no one will enter the kingdom of heaven at my bidding, but only because you yourselves are full (of the spirit)."
"Become better than I: Make yourselves like the children of the Holy Spirit."
"Become earnest about the word! For as to the word, its first part is Faith; the second, Love; the third, Works; for from these come Life."
"Harken to the word; understand knowledge, love life and no one will persecute you, nor will anyone oppress you, other than you yourselves."
"You are the beloved; you are they who will be the cause of life in many. Invoke the Father, implore God often, and He will give to you."
"Verily I say unto you, he who will receive life and believe in the kingdom will never leave it, not even if the Father wishes to banish him."
(The Gospel of Truth)
....."Ignorance of the Father brought about anguish and terror......... For this reason error became powerful; it worked on its own matter not having known the truth......"
"Since the deficiency came into being because the Father was not known, therefore when the Father is known, from that moment on the deficiency will no longer exist. As in the case of the ignorance of a person, when he comes to have knowledge, his ignorance vanishes of itself, as the darkness vanishes when light appears."
(The Gospel of Thomas)
"The kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known and you will realize that it is you who are the children of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
"What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it."
"Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die, and seek to see Him and be unable to do so."
"The Angels and the Prophets will come to you and give to you those things which you already have".
....... "The kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
(The Book of Thomas the Contender)
"The darkness rose for you like the light, for you surrendered your freedom for servitude. You have darkened your hearts and surrendered your thoughts to folly, and you filled your thoughts with the smoke of the fire that is within you......... You baptized your souls in the water of darkness. You walk by your own whims..."
(Authoritative Teaching)
"Death and Life are set before everyone. Whichever of these two they wish, then, they will choose for themselves."
(The Concept of Our Great Power)
"Now concerning God's words, which He uttered. He spoke in all of them, in seventy-two tongues. And He opened the gates of heaven with His words..... But........ Men will go about; they will write down His words according to their desire."
(The Apocalypse of Peter)
"Some who do not understand mystery, speak of things which they do not understand, but they will boast that the mystery of the Truth is theirs alone."
"Many who oppose the Truth and are the messengers of error, will set up their error and their law against these pure thoughts of mine........ They do business in my name. And they will propagate a harsh fate."
(The Testimony of Truth)
...... "They do not know the power of God nor do they understand the interpretation of the scriptures on account of their double-mindedness."
"When they come to know themselves, as to who they are, or rather, where they are now, and what is the place in which they will rest from their senselessness, arriving at knowledge.......... This is the perfect life, that man know himself by means of the All."
(The Gospel of Truth)
Jesus, a Christ, enlightened those who were in darkness through ignorance. He enlightened them; He show them a way; and The Way is the Truth which He taught them.
This is only a small sample of the information and teachings contained in the scrolls. These scrolls contain both Christian and non Christian teachings from different areas of the known world. We are even shown an example of how different teachings were christianized.
Let's now turn for a moment to the Corpus Hermeticum.
The Corpus Hermeticum is the pagan Bible recognized by the Muslim faith as a revealed scripture to the Sabeans, or the pagans of Harran in Northern Mesopotamia. It gives us even more additional knowledge. This scripture is attributed to Hermes or Thoth of the Egyptians and is one of the oldest known written scriptures.
Many Arab scholars identify Hermes with Enoch, and his teacher Agathos Diamon with Seth, the son of Adam.
Patrizzi petitioned Pope Gregory XIV to have the Corpus Hermeticum taught everywhere, and to recognize it as a part of the Canon of the Christian faith. He regarded the Hermetica as one of the most effective instruments that could bring about the restoration of the True Religion.
Still today, however, few people realize that these scriptures exists. But, Much of St John is based on these works. Many of the teachings of the ancient Vedas and Upanishads of Hinduism could be based on or been inspired by these texts. Many of the teachings of Jesus are taken almost word for word out of these texts. Even the teachings of Buddha can be related to the text.
The point here is that no world religion or no world philosophy originated in a vacuum. The people of the ancient world did know and assimilate teachings and beliefs from all over the earth. They took what they found; saw what they could learn from it; incorporated the good parts into their system and discarded or set aside those parts which did not seem plausible to their world view.
Religion then was fluid and as conditions changed, and new knowledge was gained, the religions modified and grew to incorporate that new condition or new knowledge.
We need to do this same thing today to make ours a living faith.
Ancient religions were not the static systems that we know today. We need to realize that Religion was never intended to be a static structure.
Where does this leave us?
We can spend all our lives reviewing ancient manuscripts, searching for answers in the deep past and then reassembling the Truth teachings from all over the world or we can realize that the basis we are looking for lies within us.
We are told in many teachings, the Bible included, that the true teachings of God; the scriptures written without the hand of man are written in our hearts by the hand of God. Other scriptures tell us that our hearts connect us to the Light, which is the Mind of God. Several tell us that these teachings or the teachings we need to know as individuals are revealed to us on an individual basis through our dreams and our intuition.
When we listen --- God will speak to us; aid us, and furnish us with the appropriate information, at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. But we have to listen; We have to be open to the information; We have to really want to learn and then to use what we have learned.
As we use what we have and know; Applying it in the way we live on a daily basis, then and only then will we be given more.
This is the teaching.
What are the alternatives? There are only two that I have found. Learn and grow or close the mind to learning and stagnate in ignorance. To learn and grow is to become enlightened and to remain in ignorance is to stay in suffering and to continually repeat the same mistakes over and over again until we learn and grow.
Now, the last but the toughest question.
How can we know we are on the right spiritual path?
A short answer, but one that many find unbelievable is that all paths are the right path because all are in God and lead to God. The only question is when we will begin to follow a path.
To some of us, a more acceptable answer might be: To love God and love our fellow man and then to do good works leads us on the right path.
Some of us might say -- To do no harm to another, either physically, mentally, or spiritually is the right path.
Some of us will say to follow a middle way, a way of balance is the right path.
Some will say the way of peace, contentment, tolerance, love and virtuous living is the right path.
To me, any path that leads a person to a better life and understanding and leads a person to be closer to God is the right path.
I cannot tell you what the right path is for you.
I can only ask that you begin where you are, with your own set of beliefs and ideals and in your own way to follow the path that you see before you. As you take the first step and then the next -- your personal pathway will open before you. We are all on a journey and learning in our own ways, but it is up to each of us as individuals to proceed or to stop; to follow our own path or to be used as part of someone elses path. It is your journey but you must take the initiative to begin.
There are many here who will help and guide you but you must begin where you are, when you are ready and in your own way.
May your way be smooth, your life more loving and may God be with you. So Be It.
Benediction
(The Last Words of Kohath)
(4Q542 - The Dead Sea Scrolls)
May you receive the blessing of the greatest of all gods forever, and may He shine his light upon you, and tell you His great name, so that you may truly know Him. For He is the God of the Ages, and Lord of everything that is done, and Ruler of all people.
May He give you happiness, and to your descendants joy, in the generations of truth forever.
Be Holy and pure, holding firm to the Truth, walking in integrity and not with a divided heart, but with a pure heart, and with an honest and good spirit.
Then you will have a good reputation and happiness will come, along with joy and praise because you have kept and passed on the inheritance that your ancestors left you: Truth, Good deeds, Honesty, Perfection, Holiness, and the Knowledge that you are children of the Holy Spirit, the Living Father.
So Be It.
Amen.
by
REV. DR. ROBERT E. DORRIS
PRESENTATION AT FIRST UU CHURCH OF MIAMI
December 12, 1999 (This was one of the last sermons that I gave as a member of the UUA)
Many of us grew up questioning the teachings of the church and became disenchanted with what we were told to believe. I know I fell into this category.
Questioning the teachings of the church got me into a lot of trouble when I was young. It resulted in my being asked to leave the church because I was a disruptive influence.
I asked what it meant when God said: He appeared to people by the name of God Almighty and by the name of Jehovah, He was not known to them, but He also established his covenant with them. (Ex 6.3-4)
I asked why Jesus said that " I can of mine own self do nothing. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."(St John 5.30-31)
I asked why people had to convert to Christianity when God said: "I will pour out of my Spirit unto all humanity." (The Acts 2.17)
I asked what it meant when Jesus said: "The words ye hear are not mine, but the Father's which sent me." (St John 15.24)
Finally and probably the main reason the minister and the deacons did not want me around was that I asked --"Why do we worship Jesus Christ as God when he strictly charged and commanded Peter and His disciples to tell no man that he was the Christ of God." (St Luke 9.20-21)
Why did he repeatedly tell people not to call Him the Christ?
It was obvious to me that Jesus never considered himself to be God so I wanted to know why the church said he was.
I got upset when no one would answer my questions. More - over I was told to quit asking questions and to keep my opinions and observations to myself.
You could say I became very disenchanted with the church. Although disenchanted, I had a deep belief in God. I did not throw my Bible away, but came to believe that the teachings of organized religion were all wrong and a waste of time. I am also sure that the leaders of that church thought I was a waste of time ---- a totally hopeless cause.
This all happened 35 or 36 years ago....
Times have now changed.... Today even the churches are being forced to question their own doctrines.
For example:
In1996, Professors at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote:
The church needs to begin to think critically, about God, about the world as God's creation, and about one's own self-understanding. Faith in God itself causes us to think and ask incisive questions.
As the critical awareness that characterizes "faith - seeking - understanding" grows; it needs to be suspicious of glib and naive answers. We need to learn what it means to trust the word of God rather than the principalities and the powers that demand blind obedience.
As important and as foundational as the biblical text is for theology, the process of theological formulations necessitates examining an even wider variety of historical and theological documents. These additional sources are not only prerequisite for understanding the churches historical faith but are also indispensable in the continual
development of doctrine.
Asking questions of what it means........... is at the heart of the theological enterprise.
We must realize that there is no single explanatory system or view of reality that can account for all the phenomena associated with believing in God.
Like preaching, Theology interprets the scriptural language of faith, with the goals being its fresh appraisal and acknowledgment, and to find ways for its practical application.
Because of its work, theology must always be kept open to the reflective interest of the inquiring mind.
We must remember that God is not a philosophical problem or a discovered actuality to be spoken about in some general manner. To speak in this way would be to identify God as an object of conceptual certainty, as an objective reference that could be captured by reason alone, and to miss the mystery of God's personal self-disclosures.
A theology cut off from the Living God too easily becomes a rigid, impersonal structure behind which the church barricades itself.
(Biblical Hermeneutics, 1996, Broadman & Holman Publishers)
Are these statements a true indication of the direction that organized religion is taking? Will these views filter down to the individual churches? Will the different congregations embrace them?
I don't know! But, I do know, that in the not to distant past, making these statements would have been considered heresy to the Church.
These statements indicate a complete turn about in the views of the church, from those which I encountered and still encounter.
At this point, we need to ask; "Why the turn about? Why do the seminaries want preachers to consider different views and to teach based on an expanded awareness?"
Maybe it is the discoveries and publication for the general public of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library Scrolls, and the Corpus Hermeticum, and other ancient documents which serve to amplify the Bible, predate it or contradict it.
Maybe it is the gaining popularity of Pagan religions, eastern teachings; Yoga, Hinduism, and Buddhism, all of which predate Christianity. Maybe it is the growing influence of Islam.
Maybe it is the growing number of individuals who want to discover the Truth, wherever it can be found and reject the limited restrictive views offered by many of the churches.
These and many other influences are having a profound effect on what the Churches can get people to believe. Churches can no longer expect people to blindly follow what they are told.
On top of all this: Compared with the most accurate translations of scriptural scrolls now known, they have discovered that even the best English translation of the Bible has 1,450 known errors in the New Testament alone. Some translations have 11,500 places of variations or errors. Because of this, the seminary now recommends that a minister consult at least 6 different translations of the Bible, plus a Concordance, a Bible Dictionary, and related texts from other faiths when trying to learn the meaning of any scriptural passage.
This being so, Churches cannot ignore the abundance of new information that is now available to the general public. Churches can no longer ignore the questions and divergent beliefs of the members of their community.
Churches need to promote and accentuate the similarities found in the diverse faiths and belief systems, not the differences.
Unitarian-Universalism has known this for many years and has incorporated, tolerated, or embraced a divergence of beliefs. This is not always an easy thing to do, but it is a very real necessity for the real spiritual growth of the individual members and for the growth of the church itself.
It the past and even today, disenchantment with existing doctrines leads to many different sects and religions being formed. On a smaller scale, disenchantment leads to divisions within church congregations and to lack of tolerance in the practices of others. It has also led to many individuals leaving the churches altogether.
New understandings and advancements in all types of knowledge have led to questions which many churches will not or can not answer. For the most part, UU Churches meet this opportunity head-on and do not try to suppress divergent views. We must recognize that no - one has all the answers, but still we need to ask the questions.
The churches as well as we as individuals are at a cross-roads looking for answers.
We are all looking for a better way; a way to incorporate a spiritual understanding into our modern life-style; a way to make the world a better place; and a way to make our lives more meaningful and fulfilling.
Where do we begin?
The very oldest teachings, which can be applied to both individuals and groups, say to "Know thyself" is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.
This was the first step in the old mystery schools and it should be the first step for us.
Without knowing ourselves we can not proceed on the path. It sounds simple but in reality to be bluntly honest with ourselves -- in learning all our personal traits -- both good and bad -- is a difficult assessment for many to make.
Once we learn about ourselves as an individual or as a group, we learn to accentuate our positives and work on overcoming or improving upon our negative traits.
However, in doing this we still remain at step one.
Before leaving step one, we need to learn our place in the community, the world, the universe, and in the eyes of God.
Only after doing all this -- do we get past the first step.
Since the beginning of humanity, many systems, teachings and techniques have been developed and taught to aid individuals in overcoming and graduating so to speak for Step One.
Because of our lack of understanding or ignorance, we have turned these systems and techniques into religions which have become rigid structures of beliefs instead of stepping stones or training devises in our spiritual development.
We have tried to freeze for all eternity the words of the teachers and prophets, the words of God or the teachings of God into fixed systems as if God no longer discloses Himself to us or talks to us or walks with Humanity.
In the past 50 years -- maybe in just the past 10 to 20 years, we have been given a wake up call ----- Information that was kept secret has been released to the general public, thanks to modern technology.
In the Nag Hammadi Library scrolls, we are given a different version of creation without the Supreme God being the creator of this world, but permitting it to be created and then putting life meaning His essence or spirit into each created being to be discovered on an individual basis. These scrolls lead into the book of Genesis as we know it but, if accepted, would change the total interpretation of the Christian faith system.
Many of the scrolls in the Nag Hammadi Library contain teachings attributed to Jesus which are not contained in the Bible.
I have put together a few verses from several of the scrolls to give you a brief introduction to these teachings of Jesus.
(The Treatise on the Resurrection)
Jesus said: "If there is one who does not believe, he does not have the capacity to be persuaded. For it is the domain of faith."
"Nothing redeems us from this world, but the 'All' which we are. We received salvation from end to end. Let us think in this way! Let us comprehend in this way! It is fitting for each one to practice in a number of ways, so that he shall be released from this Element; that he may not fall into error; but shall himself receive again what at first was."
(The Apocryphon of James)
"Verily I say unto you, no one will enter the kingdom of heaven at my bidding, but only because you yourselves are full (of the spirit)."
"Become better than I: Make yourselves like the children of the Holy Spirit."
"Become earnest about the word! For as to the word, its first part is Faith; the second, Love; the third, Works; for from these come Life."
"Harken to the word; understand knowledge, love life and no one will persecute you, nor will anyone oppress you, other than you yourselves."
"You are the beloved; you are they who will be the cause of life in many. Invoke the Father, implore God often, and He will give to you."
"Verily I say unto you, he who will receive life and believe in the kingdom will never leave it, not even if the Father wishes to banish him."
(The Gospel of Truth)
....."Ignorance of the Father brought about anguish and terror......... For this reason error became powerful; it worked on its own matter not having known the truth......"
"Since the deficiency came into being because the Father was not known, therefore when the Father is known, from that moment on the deficiency will no longer exist. As in the case of the ignorance of a person, when he comes to have knowledge, his ignorance vanishes of itself, as the darkness vanishes when light appears."
(The Gospel of Thomas)
"The kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known and you will realize that it is you who are the children of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
"What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it."
"Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die, and seek to see Him and be unable to do so."
"The Angels and the Prophets will come to you and give to you those things which you already have".
....... "The kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
(The Book of Thomas the Contender)
"The darkness rose for you like the light, for you surrendered your freedom for servitude. You have darkened your hearts and surrendered your thoughts to folly, and you filled your thoughts with the smoke of the fire that is within you......... You baptized your souls in the water of darkness. You walk by your own whims..."
(Authoritative Teaching)
"Death and Life are set before everyone. Whichever of these two they wish, then, they will choose for themselves."
(The Concept of Our Great Power)
"Now concerning God's words, which He uttered. He spoke in all of them, in seventy-two tongues. And He opened the gates of heaven with His words..... But........ Men will go about; they will write down His words according to their desire."
(The Apocalypse of Peter)
"Some who do not understand mystery, speak of things which they do not understand, but they will boast that the mystery of the Truth is theirs alone."
"Many who oppose the Truth and are the messengers of error, will set up their error and their law against these pure thoughts of mine........ They do business in my name. And they will propagate a harsh fate."
(The Testimony of Truth)
...... "They do not know the power of God nor do they understand the interpretation of the scriptures on account of their double-mindedness."
"When they come to know themselves, as to who they are, or rather, where they are now, and what is the place in which they will rest from their senselessness, arriving at knowledge.......... This is the perfect life, that man know himself by means of the All."
(The Gospel of Truth)
Jesus, a Christ, enlightened those who were in darkness through ignorance. He enlightened them; He show them a way; and The Way is the Truth which He taught them.
This is only a small sample of the information and teachings contained in the scrolls. These scrolls contain both Christian and non Christian teachings from different areas of the known world. We are even shown an example of how different teachings were christianized.
Let's now turn for a moment to the Corpus Hermeticum.
The Corpus Hermeticum is the pagan Bible recognized by the Muslim faith as a revealed scripture to the Sabeans, or the pagans of Harran in Northern Mesopotamia. It gives us even more additional knowledge. This scripture is attributed to Hermes or Thoth of the Egyptians and is one of the oldest known written scriptures.
Many Arab scholars identify Hermes with Enoch, and his teacher Agathos Diamon with Seth, the son of Adam.
Patrizzi petitioned Pope Gregory XIV to have the Corpus Hermeticum taught everywhere, and to recognize it as a part of the Canon of the Christian faith. He regarded the Hermetica as one of the most effective instruments that could bring about the restoration of the True Religion.
Still today, however, few people realize that these scriptures exists. But, Much of St John is based on these works. Many of the teachings of the ancient Vedas and Upanishads of Hinduism could be based on or been inspired by these texts. Many of the teachings of Jesus are taken almost word for word out of these texts. Even the teachings of Buddha can be related to the text.
The point here is that no world religion or no world philosophy originated in a vacuum. The people of the ancient world did know and assimilate teachings and beliefs from all over the earth. They took what they found; saw what they could learn from it; incorporated the good parts into their system and discarded or set aside those parts which did not seem plausible to their world view.
Religion then was fluid and as conditions changed, and new knowledge was gained, the religions modified and grew to incorporate that new condition or new knowledge.
We need to do this same thing today to make ours a living faith.
Ancient religions were not the static systems that we know today. We need to realize that Religion was never intended to be a static structure.
Where does this leave us?
We can spend all our lives reviewing ancient manuscripts, searching for answers in the deep past and then reassembling the Truth teachings from all over the world or we can realize that the basis we are looking for lies within us.
We are told in many teachings, the Bible included, that the true teachings of God; the scriptures written without the hand of man are written in our hearts by the hand of God. Other scriptures tell us that our hearts connect us to the Light, which is the Mind of God. Several tell us that these teachings or the teachings we need to know as individuals are revealed to us on an individual basis through our dreams and our intuition.
When we listen --- God will speak to us; aid us, and furnish us with the appropriate information, at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. But we have to listen; We have to be open to the information; We have to really want to learn and then to use what we have learned.
As we use what we have and know; Applying it in the way we live on a daily basis, then and only then will we be given more.
This is the teaching.
What are the alternatives? There are only two that I have found. Learn and grow or close the mind to learning and stagnate in ignorance. To learn and grow is to become enlightened and to remain in ignorance is to stay in suffering and to continually repeat the same mistakes over and over again until we learn and grow.
Now, the last but the toughest question.
How can we know we are on the right spiritual path?
A short answer, but one that many find unbelievable is that all paths are the right path because all are in God and lead to God. The only question is when we will begin to follow a path.
To some of us, a more acceptable answer might be: To love God and love our fellow man and then to do good works leads us on the right path.
Some of us might say -- To do no harm to another, either physically, mentally, or spiritually is the right path.
Some of us will say to follow a middle way, a way of balance is the right path.
Some will say the way of peace, contentment, tolerance, love and virtuous living is the right path.
To me, any path that leads a person to a better life and understanding and leads a person to be closer to God is the right path.
I cannot tell you what the right path is for you.
I can only ask that you begin where you are, with your own set of beliefs and ideals and in your own way to follow the path that you see before you. As you take the first step and then the next -- your personal pathway will open before you. We are all on a journey and learning in our own ways, but it is up to each of us as individuals to proceed or to stop; to follow our own path or to be used as part of someone elses path. It is your journey but you must take the initiative to begin.
There are many here who will help and guide you but you must begin where you are, when you are ready and in your own way.
May your way be smooth, your life more loving and may God be with you. So Be It.
Benediction
(The Last Words of Kohath)
(4Q542 - The Dead Sea Scrolls)
May you receive the blessing of the greatest of all gods forever, and may He shine his light upon you, and tell you His great name, so that you may truly know Him. For He is the God of the Ages, and Lord of everything that is done, and Ruler of all people.
May He give you happiness, and to your descendants joy, in the generations of truth forever.
Be Holy and pure, holding firm to the Truth, walking in integrity and not with a divided heart, but with a pure heart, and with an honest and good spirit.
Then you will have a good reputation and happiness will come, along with joy and praise because you have kept and passed on the inheritance that your ancestors left you: Truth, Good deeds, Honesty, Perfection, Holiness, and the Knowledge that you are children of the Holy Spirit, the Living Father.
So Be It.
Amen.