MYSTICAL CHRISTIANITY

I found this class the most profound and reflective of my own spiritual journey from all the classes I have taken so far in the seminary program. I decided to express my connection to the information I received weekly to what enabled me to connect to my spiritual self.

I feel the course brought "HUMANITY" to our belief system. I could connect with the Gnostic writers. It seemed that the writings were of simple truth. Today when one reads the gospels they seem so distant in meaning and are locked in a certain time period. The gospel of Mary Magdalene had the truest identity I thought Of who Jesus was and what his teachings could aspire to. It was perfectly natural in reading and I accept this as my belief in the relationship between Jesus and Mary. I feel this should not be viewed as heresy rather as "HUMAN REVELATION." It brought Jesus down from the exception to the example.

During my reading of this course the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" kept coming to my mind. I love this interpretation of the man called Jesus. The part where Mary Magdalene sings "I don't Know How To Love Him" is a pivotal part of my concept of Jesus-Christ. He was a man who had a deep spiritual connection. A Philosopher, Teacher, Lover, Friend and Enemy. He lived and died. His teachings are for me the symbol of his Resurrection.

I felt as I read these words of the Gnostic Gospels a connection to the humanity reflected in Teacher Jesus. Throughout many teachings of Christianity I feel we have lost the simple connection of these simple passionate spiritual people who have shaped the traditions of our modern church, not from themselves but from the power of men who wanted to write the word of God as a fearful law. Somewhere their voice and vision was changed.

The chapters on Mother Mary again reflected my belief on the concept of the profound love of Mother and child. In every culture I feel there is an innate bond between Mother and Child. These lessons I feel were enabling me to connect further with my inner God. As I write this paper I'm listening to the Musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" This again is a strong social statement on what really was happening during the time of Jesus, what would his journey be like if he would come today? Would it be all that different from two thousand years ago? Have we as a species really come far with the development of our human ego?

The Gospels are not stagnant. They are breathing life into our understanding of our spiritual belief. We are creating our own gospels as the bridge between creation and our creative world. What Jesus spoke of still remains as substance to debate. This demonstrates that his life, teaching and spirituality still harness our imagination and will to find our place in the continuation of divine thought.

Rev. Kurt Fondreist

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Four Gospels

Katherine MacDowell, M.Ed.

When considering what topic to focus on after exploring The Unvarnished Gospels and the course study notes, I found myself returning to the Gospel of John’s chapter 15, which demonstrates a fascinating theological linkage between all three prior gospels’ use of the God the sower/farmer, vineyard, and fig tree parables and events. In John, Jesus states:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Each branch of me that bears no fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He cleans so it will bear more fruit….If someone doesn’t remain in me, he’s already thrown out and withered like the branches which are collected and thrown into the fire and burned.

One of the more confusing passages in the gospels occurs in Mark when Jesus comes to the fig tree just outside of Jerusalem and curses it when he finds it has no fruit and he is hungry. The passage acknowledges that it is not fig season, so it makes little sense that Jesus would have been surprised to find the fig tree not bearing fruit given the emphasis on agrarian knowledge of his time and the internal emphasis on agrarian cycles within the gospels themselves. As such this passage must either assume the reader holds prior theological information about the Jesus and his relationship to fruit-bearing trees or later gospel writers sought to elaborate on Jesus’ inconsistent and petulant behavior. Here we can begin our journey in Matthew.

Chapter 24 indicates there is a lesson to be learned of the fig tree, whereby the fig tree is utilized to teach the disciples how to recognize the presence of God and His judgment. Here, God is likened to the cycle of spring and summer, reflecting bounty, nourishment, and harvest. In this capacity, Jesus is assuring his disciples that, not only are they learning the natural signs of God, but that when God does appear in judgment it is a time of abundance and bounty. It is a fruit-bearing time (at least for those who know the signs). If we interpret Mark through Matthew’s fig lesson elaboration, we can suggest that Jerusalem is not in season. It is not a place where God’s presence is ready to flourish and indeed, Jesus curses the tree so that it can never bear fruit. Given the fruit and flourishing reflect the presence of God nourishing those who receive Him, one way of interpreting this passage is as a reflection of God withholding His nourishment from Jerusalem. Given the gospel writers were writing after the final destruction of temple of Jerusalem by Rome, early Christians likely utilized these events as support for their belief in their new covenant with God

Yet this passage becomes even more complex as we explore the parables of the vineyards within Luke and Matthew. In both of these texts, Jesus likens God as the owner of a vineyard. The Vineyard is leased to the Jewish people (it cannot be interpreted as humanity at large as there is a distinct relationship of a contract or bond between the Vineyard owner and the tenants) who become unruly and unfaithful tenants, failing to live up to the contract or more accurately the covenant, becoming consumed with the need to possess all the wealth of the vineyard for themselves (a criticism that Jesus lays at the feet of the Pharisees). The servants are sent (likely contemporary prophets of Jesus such as John the Baptist) are beaten and killed. The vineyard owner then chooses to send his beloved son in the hopes that they will respect the heir, but they murder. In this capacity, the fig tree (a creation of God) of Jerusalem withholds its fruit from Jesus, denying him his rightful place as the farmer’s son. As such, Jesus, in his more sword-wielding role described in the texts when referring to the rapture, condemns the fig to wither and die (where its use becomes that of fire wood—recalling the themes of being cast into Gehenna). Thus we may also look at the Fig Tree incident as Jesus being revealed as the sword of God, the one who comes to deliver wrath (here I cannot help but be reminded of Steinback’s Grapes of Wrath). Thus we see Jesus theologically revealed not only as the passive sacrificial lamb, the final lamb of Passover to be sacrificed to God to reestablish the new covenant, but we see him as the lion that the Book of Revelations will eventually focus on. Jesus is both passive and submitting to God’s will; but when it comes to the will of man, Jesus is not submissive. Thus as John states, Jesus takes away the non-fruit–bearing tree of Jerusalem as God’s stand-in: the son who returns to the vineyard to check the progress of the tenants.

In considering this type of interpretation, it strikes me that it says more about the gospel writers’ relationship to the Jewish community and their growing need to appease Roman rulers (thus Pilate, whom we know historically was one of the more cruel governors, becomes a sympathetic figure, while the Jewish leaders become more and more demonized the later the gospels are written and gospels themselves, including several Gnostic texts become increasingly anti-Semitic). As such, I find it hard to believe that Jesus would overtly preach an ethic that condemns the Jews, since all gospels centrally agree that he retained and valued the Mosaic Law and felt, not that Judaism was evil, but rather that it needed to be revitalized and stripped down to its non-materialistic or cultural artifacts. Further, more statements from Jesus suggest he felt that if you were not accepted by any group, dust it off and move on—thus the wrathful vision of Jesus does not seem to be well supported, but may be an important image for early Christians facing significant bodily and social harm (hence the vineyard parable whereby God’s servants are harmed).

In this capacity, I think there is some value as to why when many of us read the Fig tree event it seems incongruent—overly harsh and judgmental. Yet as it is elaborated upon within the four gospels, it does illustrate what I do think is a beneficial conception of God as a farmer (interestingly echoing a new interpretation of the Book of Genesis, whereby Adam and Eve are viewed as the farmers of the world and God more distant), whereby God is diligent and ensures that His crops flourish and have all the nutrients they need to thrive and generate. In this capacity, we see it theologically revealed that God is close to us; hence John says that if we keep Jesus within us, we become like the vines of the vineyard and through this we directly benefit from an even more intimate relationship with God, the farmer.

by Katherine MacDowell, M.Ed.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Four Gospels

The thing that I was most touched by and reminded of is that of forgiveness and the Golden Rule in the Book of Matthew. I think I don’t forgive people enough forgiveness. A lot of people that I work with cause me a lot of frustration and anger for things that they do. I need to learn to forgive them for these things because I know deep down that these people are doing the best they can at their jobs. I think this also deals with judging other people too which is definitely mentioned by Jesus in the Book of Matthew. I have always had a part of me that judges people, mostly in a negative way. This is one of my things that I am trying to work on right now is judging people and forgiving them. Most of the people that I work with, I don’t know too well since I have been at my current job less then a year. 

A lot of the people I work with are great people, but it is the few that I really judge harshly and have the most difficult time forgive. This is where the Golden Rule comes into play for me. One of the guys in the bakery I had also thought of as a jerk and I always tried to avoid dealing with him at any cost. One day, I decided I would start saying hi to him and ask him how he was doing. Well, in a short time after starting to do this, he says hi back to me and asks me how I am doing and I don’t think he is a jerk anymore. His personality is just that way where if you don’t talk to him, he can come off as a jerk. By being nice to him, he is returning the favor to me. This has also worked with a lot of the customers that I deal with too. While I have been instructed by my employer to be nice, I had to fake it at first. But when I had been there awhile, I started to get to know some of the customers and started being friendly to them and they became friendly with me and I am starting to learn their names and what they are doing in their lives.

I had always been brought up to forgive people, not to judge people, and to live by the Golden Rule that was discussed in the 4 Gospel course. Somewhere along the way, I had gone astray and not too many people wanted to help me or forgive me for what I had done. Reading the Book of Matthew again had me thinking about the way I had been living for some years. As I am actively working on forgiving people, not judging people, and living by the Golden Rule, my life has been getting better. More people have been willing to help me and have been willing to extend their hands when I really need the help, especially when I am having a mental health crisis. So the impacts of “If you forgive people for stepping out of line, your heavenly Father will forgive you too. But if you don’t forgive other people, your Father also won’t forgive you for stepping out of line” has taken a new meaning to me now since I know that my heavenly Father might be the only one to forgive me for stepping out of line.

The other passages that I am referring to in the above essay are “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged; you will be sentenced to the same sentence that you sentence others…” has meaning to me that just occurred to me as I was rereading it. I have a tendency to be harsh to other people when I judge them and want to sentence them.

The last passage that I was referring to is “So everything you want people to do for you, you do the same for them, because that’s the law and the prophets.” I used to not want to do things for people, especially at work, but would expect them to do the same for me. Now, I am doing a lot more for people, both inside and outside of work, and I do get help from the people I have helped which is very nice to see nowadays.

By Michael Barth

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

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Science of Religion

I have to admit I was not looking forward to this lesson. I do not like philosophy. To me it is just people who are not afraid to speak their opinion and want to get recognized.

I was impressed with what I learned and did get some answers to questions I had and learned some things about myself.

Let me explain this way. I have always been a person that believes totally in God but have a real bad taste in my mouth for churches. When we were young and living in a house with a father who was an alcoholic, my mom taught us her way of believing and what was best for us. We had a cabin that we built as a family growing up. We did not go to church much, but were members of a church. I remember one time our minister came to the house and accused my mom of not raising us right because we were not in church. My little 5 ft mom kicked him right out the door, saying we believe in God, but the things that keeps us together is being up north. 

During the week my dad spent all his time in the bar after work, spending money we did not have and never being around when we needed him My mom not having a license had to depend on others to get groceries, hospital emergencies and most things, however when we were up north with no electricity or plumbing we were a family. We played family games, rode snowmobiles, fished, spent time with friends. It was a great way to grow up. The cabin was our house of God. That is were we were a family and felt God keeping us together.

When I met my husband and we decided to get married we went to his church, were his family was very active in the church. We wanted to get married in the yard on his family farm, but the Minister said he would not tip toe through the tulips. The minister said it was not a house of God. How much closer to God can you get than under the sky above.

When we had our children I believed it was right to have them in Sunday school and be confirmed so they could make their own choices. During that time I did teach Sunday school. My son never had much to do with the church, my daughter loved it until she got older and was totally turned off by the same Minister that would not tip toe through the tulips.

I really had a hard time with a minister who did not even acknowledge your presents when you went to church and when he sees you on the street he does not know you are there.

Getting back to the coarse, it taught me why some ministers are the way they are and I can forgive them for it. The to are a product of greed, at least some of them. It still amazes me though how people are because of one philosopher. But then I see it every day in the way people listen to the news with politics, (because it is on the news it is true). I believe in 1% of the news, especially when it come to politics. Words or a lack of them can be a very dangerous thing.

I am an Municipal Judge here in Glenwood City. The law is so much like religion. If you have a good attorney that can take one word in the law and change its meaning, he can get you off. It all has to do with interpretation.

This coarse has also taught me to get my ego in check. I had thought I was doing pretty good in that area, but have since learned I have a long way to go. Trying to build my business of Holistic Pet Pampering. Healing Energy, and all Natural Products has been hard. I have groomed for 15 years and working with the animals and the love I have for them is easy. However building this business with finances and wanting to be financially stable is getting in the way of why I started to begin with. It made me realize I have to just focus on helping as many animals and people as possible and try not to dwell on the finances. It will come. My ego also gets in the way of how I look at some people and being jealous of others successes.

The sad part about all of this, God loves us all unconditionally, but it is the interpretation of his love that causes wars and hate among others. There is some definitely wrong with this.

My sister says I should talk about God more in my teachings of Reiki and healing energy. I refer to the Higher Power. I try to explain that even though my Higher Power is God, It is not everyone’s. I have to keep religion out of it. She has a hard time separating the two. I do tell people I am a Minister and proud to be able to say that, but I specify that I am a Minister of the Body, Mind and Spirit, and the Higher Power. not a Minister of Religion. This coarse helped me to figure that out and explain the difference of the two.

Rev. Kimberly Moe

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception

The Four Gospels

The Sermon on the Mount has always been one of my favorite parts of scripture. In the words that Christ uses He explains the benefits of walking with Him. There is so much hope for the believer and His words give so many reasons to follow Him. For example:

“The poor in Spirit are in luck, the kingdom of the skies is theirs”. How many more poor people are there (financially strapped) then there are wealthy? To know that there is a hope that all they have to do is believe in something outside what they see. They can see and feel poverty but because Jesus has given them such an amazing hope, that motivates their faith to continue on. These words were a great help during many a time when we were without because we were actually wealthier then most because we had a hope.

How many of us suffer daily with just the circumstances of life and then we are given a reason to go on because of the words Jesus uses here. We are given a reason for doing what is good and right. There is a reward for all of this and it may not be here on earth but we will receive it and the way I see it is that “The kingdom of the skies” is in fact heaven. Christians have been persecuted in one form or another for believing because you can’t always see things with physical eyes. However; when the eyes of your spirit are opened it’s much easier to see the benefits of being that follower of these words. “You are in luck”. I have personal experience with seeing things with my spiritual eyes and I am grateful for each and every experience. These times are like glue that bonds my faith to the continuance of my walk, a reward here on earth.

Christ gives so much encouragement to the masses. “You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world”, I wish my earthly father would have been able to give me such an encouragement! To know that I can do the same things that Jesus did, that I can love, to be capable of forgiveness, then I am like Him. I can do, I will do, and our Father in heaven recognizes each and every act of kindness, each and every move we make is recognized by God and our treasures are stored in heaven waiting for us as a reward for following these words. Encouragement will always make someone want to do what’s right.

Then, He lets us all know that there are rules we need to follow. We can’t be like those that do evil. We are to set and example of being “Christ like” and that should be our goal in life: to hunger for justice, to be merciful, to see goodness in others and to be those peacemakers. If we were to post these words on our walls and read them over and over everyday would it make it easier to apply them to our daily walk. Maybe we will but if we write them on our hearts and commit ourselves to follow them, then we will see our hope, we will receive our rewards. Yes, it’s a journey but what a journey it is!

Rev. Renee Cormalis

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Four Gospels

This paper is written about a story from Luke Chapter 18. ( Pharisee and tax-collector )

There was once a pharisee and a tax-collector who went to the temple at the same time to pray. This pharisee prayed to God, thanking Him that he was glad to be so much better then the tax-collector who was behind him. Mr. Holier Than Thou Pharisee was telling God how great of a man he was and all the good things he did for the community and his church. While basking in his own glory, he was trashing this guy behind him. In fact, he was probably listing every single reason why he didn't like him and how awful he thought he was ( I've done that before).

In the mean time, this so-called sinner was too ashamed of himself to even come to the front of the sanctuary at the alter to pray (at alone look at God if he could see Him). Yet he was brave enough to go to God's house and pray. This sinner admitted to God all the things he had done wrong and expressed his own remorse for his actions. In turn God forgave him, because He saw that this man was truly repenting of his bad conduct. (REPENT means to "turn away from")

Most Christians who are "TRADITIONAL" in their faith are no different from the pharisees back in Jesus's days on earth. Traditional Christians believe or at least think that if you go to church three or four times a week in your best suit, dump a lot of money in the offering plate each time it passes by you, listen to nothing but "CHRISTIAN MUSIC", send your kids to "CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS", and talk about Jesus ALL DAY LONG in every conversation from the minute they wake up til you go to bed, you're on the way to the beautiful pearly gates of heaven.

In the eyes of most "TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANS", if you do not do everything "CHRISTIAN", you are going to this most awful place called; "HELL!" I call this NONSENSE; "THE CHRISTIAN GHETTO". The "CHRISTIAN GHETTO" HAS ABSOLUTELY NO REAL MEANING TO IT WHATSOEVER! All it means to "TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANS", is that it's a security blanket. They seem to think that when they get to the judgment bar (where God sits) after they die, they can say to Him;

"LOOK! I sent my kids to CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS and only allowed my kids to play with other CHRISTIAN KIDS! Shouldn't that count for anything on my behalf?!"

WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY IN THE PARAGRAPH BELOW MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME, BUT IT'S HOW I FEEL.

Not only do I think this ideology is retarded, but it's the most RIDICULOUS ideology for someone to have. Not only is it RIDICULOUS, but it tells me that people with this type of thinking are VERY INSECURE ABOUT THEMSELVES!

AGAIN, IF WHAT I SAID IN THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH IS OFFENSIVE TO SOME ONE, I APOLOGIZE. THIS IS HOW I FEEL.

People who claim Christianity, but DO NOT claim the traditional thinking, KNOW that God loves each person unconditionally ( including themselves ). God not only loves us unconditionally, but He also forgives us for every sin we commit. They also KNOW that God is not going to condemn them for electing HILLARY CLINTON for President OF THE UNITED STATES instead of John McCain. God does not care how we dress, how often we attend church, how big of a check we drop in the collection plate, or if our kids marry outside their race.

What God cares about, is these two simple things: "Love thy neighbor as you love thyself" and "Love the Lord your God with all thy heart, soul, and mind". By following the "TEN COMMANDMENTS" we are following these two great commandments listed. Even if we fall short in obeying these commandments, God will give us GRACE. This is because, God KNOW's that sooner or later we're going to break one, two, or more of these commandments. After all, He KNOW's that we're not perfect! This is why He sent His son Jesus Christ to earth as a human being just like us. Except Jesus Christ came in a different time era before you and I did. However, it still applies to US!

Whether we obey His teachings or not, is our choice. If we decide to worship in a one-million dollar church building wearing our best suit on Sunday morning is our choice. If we decide to worship on Friday evening in the forest, wearing cut-off blue jean shorts and a tank top while holding a can of bud-light in our hand ( I prefer Budweiser Select ), that's our choice. What we wear and who we hang out with is our choice.

Following Jesus Christ does not mean that I have to follow all these RIDICULOUS rituals and dogmas. It means that I have a relationship with my creator, and what I do ( as long as it's legal and not breaking "Choose that which is right" ) is between me and Him/Her.

People with "TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN" beliefs make me wonder if they even have an idea of what the true gospel of Jesus Christ teaches.

This concludes my paper on THE FOUR GOSPELS course.

Rev. Troy Graham

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Four Gospels

I've never been very good at writing, but here goes. Before I begin I'd like a few moments for some background. I initially heard about the ULC on some TV show where the host got himself ordained online and performed a wedding ceremony for some of his production staff. I decided to do the same, however the certificate that spat out of my printer looked kind of cheesy and I didn't do much with my new status as Reverend, until recently. I had a chance to perform my first wedding so I ordered a wall credential to show the county. I must be a shallow person because seeing my name on a fancier document suddenly triggered a change in me, the ordination suddenly stopped being a joke and that's when I decided to start taking some seminary courses.

To get some "street cred". I hope to start my own ministry some day, but until I get some more classes under my belt I have no business occupying a pulpit.

As for the course, kudos to who ever chose the text, it was an easy read. It was much like a novel. I didn't get any particular trouble or comfort from the course, instead I got perspective. This was a particularly difficult time to pursue studies. My father-in-law became very ill and succumbed to the illness and passed away. It was difficult for us to watch him suffer and we frequently asked God why? This may seem like a cold response but why not? In John 3:16 it is said that God sent his only begotten Son for our salvation, and roughly 33 years later he died for all of our sins for now and forever. Where does the perspective come in? I've always been confused why if Jesus suffered and died for our sins then why do we centuries later have suffering? My only answer is this, God has a reason for everything he does, perhaps the suffering he allows is as a reminder of what his Son went thru for us. After all any discomfort we "mere mortals" go thru is but a small fraction of the humiliation and suffering that Jesus went thru for our salvation.

I enjoyed the course and can't wait till the next one which will likely be the Comparative Religion Course.

by Rev. Taras Bobiwsky

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.