Four Gospels

DIVORCE and the CHRISTIAN

Prepared by Stanley C. Lawrence

Paper Written for The FOUR GOSPELS Course

“The Unvarnished Gospels” book was interesting and provided many different perspectives of the Four Gospels of the New Testament, however I tended to disagree with a few of the interpretations of some of the Biblical phrases used, such as, “Kingdom of the skies” and “bathing of the Spirit,” as used in the book. I felt that these interpretations just didn't provide the punch that the original Bible interpretations provided.

Basically, I found fault with much of this interpretation of the four Gospels. I would have preferred an Aramaic to English translation, or better to have studied the book, “The Complete Gospels,” Robert J. Miller, Editor. The textbook, however, does bring up some interesting questions.

Having said that, this interpretation did make one think about the words of Jesus and the traditions about him. I thought about and had the most trouble with the subject of divorce, as

it pertains to the Christian today. It seems as though every family has experienced divorce somewhere in their families or someone who is a friend. And I believe this topic to be very

important for the ULC clergy to consider, as most religions will not remarry someone, through the church, after they have been divorced, because most church clergy believe that this

comes from God, and so this should be adhered to if we are to do what the law of God commands.

Divorce is so prevalent in today's society and most individuals know of people personally who have divorced and broken their marriages apart. Of course, the main emphasis of any

marriage that has children, should be that the best interest of the children involved come first and foremost before the interests of the feuding adults. It is so very interesting that the discourse on divorce in Matthew (Matthew 19:3-12) was immediately followed by a discourse on little children, so it is very important to see that Jesus tied the two subjects together.  Problems causing divorce are largely rooted in dysfunctionality of the adult individuals involved, which makes it extremely difficult to reconcile differences. In these cases, I believe that these marriages have not been ordained by God, as the individuals have usually not taken the time for courtship and the engagement of getting to know each other properly. This often is because of the dysfunctionality of the individuals that rush into these slipshod marriages because of sex being such a part of these courtships and quite often pregnancies ensue as a result.

The dysfunctionality can be very varied, but may include: ADHD, various other mental problems and diseases, alcohol or drug addictions, low self-esteem, these things often combined with low income, and many, many times survivors of child abuse.

Jesus said in Matthew 19, as it is said in the textbook: “So what God joined together, let no man divide.” In the Gospel book of John, it tells the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, where Jesus asks her about where her husband is and he tells her she had had five husbands and was then living with a man not married to her. Jesus doesn't really condemn her for all these marriages (and obvious divorces), however he does speak to her of forgiveness and commitment in her life. Strangely though, the book of John was written for believers in Christ, but it does not specifically mention divorce, as the other three Gospels do.

We as clergy, should be concerned about whether or not the two individuals to be married are truly believers in Christ and if salvation is a part of their lives. If both are sincerely Christian and wanting to obey God's commands, the greatest of which is to love God and each other, then we would seek to try and counsel the adult individuals with the hope that their marriage will completely be from God. We as clergy can decry the terrible evils of divorce and then we seek to marry everyone that wants to be married. Therefore, we should not place the center of our attention on divorce, but rather we should emphasize the lifelong commitment that should be a necessary part of Christian marriages today. Marriage should be a source of spiritual and moral strength in life, with the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

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Four Gospels

Rev. Linda Francis

Essay for completion of the class on the four Gospels.

Perhaps the Gospel of John was were my doubts about the "real truth of the Gospels" begin when I was just a girl. I was a writer, an artist and storyteller even at that age and most of all a dreamer and a mystic. There was a new country song out called "Me and Jesus Have Our own Thing Goin'." Jesus became very real to me that year. I wrote poetry and made up songs to him almost daily on my walks in nature alone or in the hay loft of my Grand Father's barn. He became so real to me it was as we were twin souls and could read the mind and feelings of the other. I came to known a man meek, mild and humble yet strong and wise beyond words. I knew my fundamental parents and church had the man they believed in, picture in their minds and hearts all wrong. As I read the Gospel of John that summer I love the style of the poetic writer and his storytelling ability but I felt he did not know the "real man" I knew and was telling the story wrong. I recall communicating in my own special way that summer with my new friend I had discovered that summer and feeling "his" silent voice telling me, "Yes, Linda, you are right, I would never boast about myself to others as the author has me do. The write loves me as much as you have came to love me this summer but he just heard about me and created the person he wanted me to be, but he never took the time to really know me as you have this summer."

I feel as if there too are perhaps two people involved in authorship of this story. Perhaps a left brained centered person still much in the control of the ego that wants black and white questions and answers, and wanted to convince others he was right to strength the cause of the new church and perhaps a creative storyteller who took his story and told it as it was presented to him, but in a poetic and dramatic fashion. Creative thinkers, like poets and storytellers, in general are not back and white thinkers and want open ended questions and not closed answers as often appear in this gospel.

It was a good to find many years later in my others too who also had the wisdom and knowledge in their research to know and show this story had a purpose of it's own that was more to the author's personal views than the real nature and history of the man called Jesus.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Four Gospels

The study of the Four Gospel Course was a spiritual journey for me. It allowed me to enter the spiritual world of, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.I was able to allow myself to question the Gospels. For the first time, I allowed myself to question the word, to evaluate, and, to ask myself is this what Jesus said and did. I was able to consider the word,without feeling I would go to hell for questioning. I realized that the bible is the inspired word of God, and God spoke to the spirit of each writer. Even when God speaks to my spirit there is a humanness involved in the interpretation, and so it is with the writers of the Four Gospels.

My favorite chapter was the book of John. Although some may find that it has a poetic flavor, I can really sense the human part of our divine Christ. I am able to journey through the human emotions of Christ. I can understand his frustrations, his sorrow, and his pain. I felt as thou I had gone on a spiritual journey with Jesus. It encouraged me to explore the human side of Jesus.In the book of John I got a real sense of a wide range of the human emotions Christ experienced.Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, this showed his compassion and willingness to serve.The chapters leading to his death on the cross, are further examples of the emotions experienced by Jesus. The pleading to take this cup away, and finally the acceptance of his fate are all examples that, as humans we can relate to. It reminded me of the stages people experience when they are dying. The anger, denial, bargaining, and finally acceptance. , I believe these are the same stages we go through as we reach different levels of spiritual maturity.We die to our lower selfish natures, as we grow into higher stages of spiritual development.

In Matthew, I am impressed with the authority of Jesus, over circumstances, diseases and even death. In Mark's gospel I experience the ministry of Christ as he presents Christ as the servant of God. The book of Luke I sense the compassion of the Son of Man as he cares for those in need. Finally, in the book of John, I sense John saying Come see, and experience Christ. In the first section of John he is the miracle worker, in the second I experience the teacher, and in the last section of John I experienced the Victor.

I really enjoyed this course. I also enjoyed the emails, and looked forward to receiving the interchange of ideas.

Rev. Linda K. Muhammad

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar