CommuniChristi.

Proof of the creator God.

The first spoken words of the God off the Bible are, ~Let there be light~  One school of modern physics posit all matter was formed out of compressed light.  (Supporting the Biblical position, the universe was created ~ex nilhus~ from nothing)  Another theory of modern physics is the temperature of the big bang had to be pre-set to one billion, billion trillionth of one degree to form a universe on which life could exist.  Any variance of this temperature would still have produced a universe, but not one on which life could exist.  Thus attesting Christ (life) was the purpose of the universe from the beginnings. As our understanding of physics varies with time & discovery, we cannot tie the question of God to any level of current knowledge.  Yet our current knowledge certainly makes a case for intelligent design & an intentional creator.

Alternatively, we can also assume the Bible as manmade; the highest aspirations of the best of men.   The Bible is the earliest source of the great conceptual discoveries essential for civilization: equality before the law, sanctity of life, dignity of the individual, individual & communal responsibility, peace as an ideal, love as the foundation of justice.  

We can neither prove nor disprove that God exists.  The question of God is beyond proof.  We can prove the great conceptual discoveries of civilization are a light unto the world; one that saves humanity by raising it out off the mire into which we otherwise too readily sink. Yet even if we prove the existence of a creator God, & we can prove the great conceptual discoveries as a light; this does not prove that the Bible was received directly or literally from him.

What can we prove?

In evolution it appears we just happened as an accident of multiple random selections.  Evolution posits us at the mercy of forces beyond our control, so in essence, reducing humanity to an over whelming insignificance.  Man prefers to understand his place in the greater scheme of things & then to self organize, to self determine in harmony with the forces that seem to govern us & seeks optimal opportunity within them.  Our Gods comprise the framework for these endeavors.  It is in God that we have our being, for without him we are nothing more than a collection of random accidents looking for somewhere to happen.  

Our Gods form our understandings of ourselves & our world.   Thus we are not governed by what we do & do not want, nor by what education & resources might allow us to have; but rather, are governed by what our Gods equip us to have.

Our first Gods were essentially animist.  Inevitable given, whilst he had many latent abilities, the first intelligent ape was more animal than human.  The next set of God’s were essentially Pagan.  These reflected a developing human, now the animal & the human fought it out with each other for the margin of sovereignty.  The next set of God’s were definitely human.  The human had won the margin of sovereignty & was consolidating his hold on it.  The Gods of Egypt, Greece & Asia all developed sets of ethical codes which successfully incorporated mans newfound capacities in agriculture, industry & knowledge.  They presided over the formation of more sophisticated political, judicial & economic organization.  They did not give much thought to  humanities.  Humanities were deemed to occur naturally, as did the supply of things like air & water.  Humanities were not felt to fall under the domain of ethics or higher development.  On the whole these ethical orders were humanities indifferent, & often systemically cruel.

It was the Patriarch’s & prophets off the Bible who posited that every human advance in industry or other material development, had to be matched by a corresponding increase or advance in humanities.  They were not unique in advancing this ideal, as many other thinkers also advanced similar concepts.  They are unique in the extent they succeeded, where similar aspirants did not succeed to the same extent.   The Bible is unique in successfully bringing forth the concept off, humanities within the ethical structure of the Torah, God within God, or Christ within the Father.

If the great conceptual discoveries of man are near universally aspired to; (I have never met a human of any ethnic, racial, religious or cultural persuasion who did not want these things.) then we need not judge any system by its desire for them, but by its capacity to achieve them.

The west is forever hopeful of installing rule of law & democracy in Islam.  Yet one verse in the Quran states… ~Men plot & scheme but Allah is the best of schemers~  Over 1,400 years, every western attempt to graft rule of law to the condition ~amoral~ has proven Allah is indeed the best of schemers.  The converse is also true, Islam has singularly failed to graft rule of Sharia edicts to the Biblical condition ~moral~   The west needs stop reinvesting in serial failure.   We cannot install rule of law in Islam.   Islam is impervious to it.  We instead need to look to WHOLE family of Abraham solutions; ones that respect the prescriptions given by our respective Gods.  

We also needs attest why Christianity succeeds where non-Christian others do not produce the same outcomes.

                  Ken Maynard         e-mail…    communichristi@gmail.com   

                   Link to home-page…  http://www.communichristi.org.nz

Many modern historians feel deeply uncomfortable with the rhetoric of civilization which was the driving ethos off the colonial era.  While some colonials were blatantly exploitative, & others just along for the ride (as you do) many people in the colonial era were motivated by a profound sense of duty to humanity as a whole.   As the recent industrial era formed a bridge of transition from agrarian based eternal life assurance reserve to knowledge based eternal life assurance reserve; they may have succeeded to a greater extent than modern critics give them credit for.

Homo Sapiens has existed as a distinct physical species for 50,000 years.  (More or less)   Only once before, the axial age which made the transition from stone age hunter gatherer to early agrarian industrial civilization had man changed the whole human condition by act of self determination alone.  During the recent great western material transition, the colonial era was well aware of the immensity of what it was doing (How often do you get to do something this big?)  Little wonder they were full of themselves & held themselves Gods greatest gift to humanity.  Good reason to be full off themselves or not, pride cometh before a fall.  WW!, a clash of inflated ego’s, was one of the greatest moral failures of the Christian world.

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The ethos of gifting a higher civilization has its roots in the Christian religion.

The lords prayer requires… ~Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven~  Christ came to save humanity.   Humanity is a physical condition that lives on this earth.  While its roots are in the highest mysteries, Christianity is a reality religion charged with saving humanity in the highest, by the gifting of the most high to all mankind in this life on this earth.  See ~heaven & hell – two eternals~ under Christianity tab on this Webb-site.

The God of the Old Testament is a God of the highest developed abstracts.  Jesus Christ his Son is a God of the highest humanities.  The Holy Spirit, which emanates from both, is thus the spirit of the most high.  While these three fulfill separate functions, they are held a common community within the common body of the most high, making each of the same origin, substance & essence as each other.  Thus, the gifting of the most high to all off humankind is an essentially Christian drive.

In theology, the Trinity is held to be God within God, Christ within the Father, or higher humanities within the higher ethical structure of the Torah; making the union between Father & Son a union between the

most high & the most high.   The Holy Spirit the means of communication for both.

Down here on earth, where we all have to justify our existence in some practical manner, the Triune Constitutions are a power sharing agreement between the body judicial, the body religious, & the body politic.  The body judicial attends to the ethical structure of the society, the body religious attends to humanities, the body politic attends to the practicalities.  In sum… the Triune Constitutions are a complete team set; one rooted in the Triune ethos of the gifting off the most high..

Put 100 people in a room, ask who is their highest authority; 33 will tell you the law & the courts, 33 will say God & the church, 33 will say the political process.  In sum, each specialty of Trinity is underwritten by its own dedicated minority which is constantly there. (Christianity talks about the constancy of Trinity)  As each minority is reliable & constant, each is held sovereign over its own dominions, which permits independent & autonomous development in each of the three specialties.  As 33% is not a mandate to govern, none can form a stand alone government, but must reach Constitutional power sharing agreements with each other, within the common body of the one society.

Three independently sanctified Godheads are important.  To deal with just one, rule of law; the body judicial is very secure when standing on its own independently sanctified rock.  From this security it administers the law even-handedly.  In non Triune societies the body judicial seems to stand on quick sand rather than rock.  (Judges are an honorable & respected office.  They have no liking for sinking in quicksand particularly if there is an open sewer at the bottom of the pit)  Lacking an independently sanctified rock to stand on, there is no foundation for judicial independence.  In consequence, the courts security depends on its political patron & the courts too readily become little more than a contract gang enforcer for the current political incumbent.  An insecure judicial system cannot uphold the law even handedly, so fluctuates back & forth between over-indulgence (corruption) to over reaction (despotism)  Within such totalitarian systems the other two bodies can be equally insecure.

Trinity is a power, in human hands all power corrupts.  Those who say Triune administrations have never been perfect & have committed many wrongs are correct.  Yet because power is shared between three Godheads, Triune systems place limits on corruption.  In consequence, Triune administrations are always part corrupted but can never be absolutely corrupted.   Compare this with the single authority of a traditional feudal ethos or Islam’s oneness of God.  By concentrating all power into the hands of a single earthly authority, these can be, & often are absolutely corrupted.  Thus when we talk about the gifting of the most high, we cannot use an unattainable human perfection to measure success or failure; but rather, use a relativities measure of comparison to the other systems available which are even more imperfect.  Even if our choice is only between two evils, at least take the lesser off the two evils.   Modern academics who are uncomfortable with the old fashioned ethos of the gifting of civilization, needs consider that.    

Lastly… Trinity lends itself to different configurations.

The Catholic Constitutions exist to give the gift of a higher faith to humankind.

The Westminster Constitution exists to give the gift of a higher law to humankind.

Protestant Constitutions (America) to give the gift of a higher practical deliverance to humankind.

We needs note the obvious differences between them, while noting that all three are driven by the same Christian ethos of a higher gifting.

The Torah, the law of the most high God, is the highest ethical base ever received by man.  Christ, Son of the most high God who gave the Torah (& Son off that God specifically) is the highest humanities ever received by man.   While both have been subject to fluctuating fortunes throughout history, Judaism & Christianity have always had their centrality in the gifting of the most high to all humankind.   We needs note both are a set of living principles which adapt to changes in development & circumstance, rather than a set of non-pliable fixed edicts.

                  Ken Maynard         e-mail…    communichristi@gmail.com   

                   Link to home-page…  http://www.communichristi.org.nz

Much of my writing is a list of general ills one can find in any newspaper, interspersed with the usual bleats of one disgruntled old man.  What do I believe is an important question, as I am the writer of this work, it is a question I am obliged to answer.

I believe Judaism & Christianity bring forth their best when in crises.

6,000 years ago, the beginning of the Jewish calendar, stone age hunter gatherer was in transition to early agrarian industrial man.  It needs be noted the most high God made himself known to us, only after we ourselves had first become developed enough to receive him.  He came at a time when man was profoundly challenged, indeed traumatized by the immensity of the huge changes he was undertaking.  The book of Genesis, complete with its covenantal God who has a duty of care for humankind, was bought forth during this period.  These foundational assumptions of a God of higher abstracts, one who suffers for & with his people (A God who cares) as we work our way through the trial & error of higher development, have proven a sound foundation for mans continuing development ever since.

2,000 years ago man had accumulated much painful experience; higher civilization was not as wondrous as first advertised.  The majority at the bottom of the heap had few rights or protections, were often little more than slave labor, items of public sport in mock tests or trials, or cannon fodder in endless wars.   Christ came forth at this time to establish a new paradigm of human rights, dignities & protections.  Whilst the resultant Christianity has never been perfect & sometimes been absurd, it has remained the humanities flag ship ever since, & will continue in this role until the end of time.

Today we have new crises converging together on multiple fronts.  I believe the Christian faith will rise to the occasion by bringing forth a millennium III variant of Christianity which will serve humankind for the duration of the next period.  Further, this will not be a repudiation or rejection of the Christian past, but a continuity & new fulfillment arising out off all that has gone before.

                   Ken Maynard         e-mail…    communichristi@gmail.com   

                   Link to home-page…  http://www.communichristi.org.nz

Islam attests God is a oneness.

I have often contemplated that oneness was OK for God, it is only in human hands that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  

Yet would oneness be OK even for God?

I know the Allah entity forbids Muslims to enquire into himself as he prefers to remain unknown.  While for Christians, attesting the incorruptible omnipotence of God does not prevent us from enquiring into the mechanisms through which he maintains his incorruptibility, or his living omnipotence.  Contemplation suggests a consistency about the laws of the universe.  What corrupts in one place corrupts in another.  What lacks love in one place, lacks love in another.   What purifies, loves & gives life in one place, purifies, loves & gives life in another.

Absolute oneness seems a cold, empty & sterile thing.  It is so whole & complete in itself it has no need or motivation to do anything.  Unless we need or want something, none of us would get out of bed to go to work in the morning.   God would not create a universe & all living things, unless it fulfilled some need or purpose in & for himself

Yet God did create a universe, & one which supports life.  Which implies said universe & the life it hosts fulfills some purpose or need in God.   i.e.   God is a living process not a sterile completeness.

Absolute oneness is the sterility of death, Trinity is the dynamics of life.  If absolute oneness is a state so self-contained & complete it is effectively death; I have to assume the God of life made more intelligent choices for himself, & counsels more intelligent choices for we the created as well.

Christianity attests a Godhead of three divine persons who are in a dance of love around each other, each seeking to fulfill the other, & it is the dynamics of this living dance that causes the universe to be.  It is our privilege to be a part of that divine purpose, no matter how humble our part.  Christians live in joint venture partnership with a God who not only wants, but for some purpose of his own, needs the human experiment to succeed.

I find that reassuring.

I also understand why Muslims find no such reassurance in their arbitrary & uncaring Allah entity.

Its nice to be needed.

It is also reassuring to be needed. 

It may be my cynical nature, but even in God I find a greater surety in self interest than I do in pure altruism.   While I accept the true nature of God is unknowable to man; it seems to me that Trinity, a living process driven by its own internal dynamics & needs; must be closer in spirit & intent.  Trinity seems consistent with the living processes which called the universe into being, & which maintain it.  A continuing process of living dynamics always striving higher & higher, which we can depend on to form some other estate when this universe expires.    

By comparison I do not find the oneness of God to be terribly interesting.  Such a stasis of wholeness & self sufficient completeness would have no reason to have called our current universe into being, no reason to maintain it; nor any need to form another estate when this one expires. 

The Bible holds man can only be saved by (incrementally) corrected behaviors, (The living of Torah & Canons) Islam holds man can only be saved by the corrected rituals which form the five pillars of Islam.   Christianity holds corrected behaviors as moral, Islam holds correct ritual as moral.  Both use the word moral, yet there is no common definition.   It is not proven man can by any means contribute to his own salvation; for myself I can see how corrected behaviors might incrementally accrue to a salvation.  (At the very least, corrected behaviors make a better human & a better society in the life we do have)   While I have as much faith in salvation by corrected ritual as I have in salvation by good luck charm. 

Christianity will always attest behavioral change by means of redemption in Christ’s sacrifice for us, the sole hope of mans salvation; & will always attest our higher natures (Isaac) which developed last, shall be first.   We will always hold Islam is welcome to Ishmael, the first born & so called original God.   For ourselves we have a duty of care to Ishmael, (he is the first born & one of Gods beloved children) yet is not sovereign, the last born Isaac was granted dominion.

I attest the Trinity as truly God.   

As for the oneness of God?  My position is any doctrine which does not work for man, & seems not to work for God either, is in some way seriously flawed.  It could not be received direct from the most high God, which causes me to ask why it might be allowed, & why it has attracted a loyal constituency. 

Is there only one standard of measure by which we can validate a religion?  Or are there two?  We cannot posit Christianity & Islam as the same because they are not.  Yet we can posit a God of intelligent design might allow insurance against failure.  Intelligent design means a God who gave Christianity directly, as the sole means of our salvation in the highest; while allowing the Allah entity to give Islam as the ultimate safety net in case we fail at the former.  Thus we cannot evaluate Christianity & Islam by the same criteria as each other, & neither should we.  

There is no way to address the devoutness of the adherents of two faiths, nor to address the otherness off Islam, other than Islam being a specific for an other purpose.  An other purpose that God would prefer to sub-contract out to another party, in order to differentiate from that which is received directly from him. 

 ….Blessed be the names of the Father, the Son & the Holy Ghost… Reign forever…amen… 

                              Ken Maynard   e-mail…    communichristi@gmail.com   

                             Link to home-page…  http://www.communichristi.org.nz  

Some months ago I spotted about a dozen books grouped together in a public library.  They were all looking for an ancient obelisk that had, reportedly got itself lost, most inconveniently, under sand dunes or under the dead sea.  Once this hidden decoding key was found, all the secrets of the Bible would be revealed & his kingdom come on earth etc, etc.  I was stunned, that a group of educated & intelligent men could devote so much time & effort to this bizarre proposition.

The next day I had a working lunch in a Sydney pub. (as you do)
I pondered the issue… Y-H-W-H is a God bought forth by the Patriarchs.
Who were the Patriarchs… a group of grumpy old men off their times.
Who am I having lunch with today… a group of grumpy old men of my times.

If the Bible is the day to day living guide to mans concerns for all of time, is the hidden key that reveals its secrets; likely to be found in some ancient obelisk that got itself stupidly lost, or more  likely to be found in the day to day concerns of responsible & decent living men in our times.

When I look at Abraham, Isaac & Jacob particularly, I find they were not so much learned men, as worldly men with many worldly responsibilities.  They were not formally learned to a doctoral or professorial standard as is the office of Rabbi or Bishop.  The sum of their worldly experience had led them to believe humanity needed to reform.  They were worldly men who had come to cherish the most high God in their hearts.  The spirit of God had come upon them.  The spirit off the most high God of Israel, specifically.  They were men in positions off influence from which they could initiate changes.  As such they performed the role of Patrons or sponsors, rather than the role of Rabbi’s, Bishops or Professors.

It is we the Patriarchs who first bought forth the most high God, & it is we who maintain oversight until the end of time.

If we have to come out of retirement to put it all back on course from time to time…

                                     that’s what we do.

                           Ken Maynard….  e-mail…  communnichristi@gmail.com 

                     Link to home-page…  http://www.communichristi.org.nz