Christian Studies

The Four Gospels Course  I was most comforted by the acts of faith. The most wonderful part of those acts was that each individual was made whole in some way. There was the ruler who believed that his daughter…who had just died…would live again if Jesus were to intervene. Jesus went to see the "dead" girl, took her hand, and she got up. (Mt. 9:18-25) Then there was the woman with a bleeding disorder. She believed that she would be healed if she could just touch Jesus' cloak. She managed to get close enough to Jesus so that she could touch his clothing. The woman was instantly healed of a medical condition that had plagued her for twelve long years. (Mt. 9:20-22) Jesus said, "…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Mt. 17: 20) As you know, Jesus spoke in parables or religious stories. He was not teaching us that we can literally move mountains. He was telling us that through faith we can move the obstacles that block our path. Without faith, we will not be able to see our way out of our trials and tribulations. We cannot move our mountains without faith. It doesn't require a lot. You simply need faith the size of a mustard seed. He was teaching us that faith is essential in our Christian life. When you have a moment, go online and look up the words "mustard seed." You will be amazed at their minuscule size. You will then fully understand what Jesus requires of you. There is also another aspect to the exercise of faith, and the subsequent healings that took place. In both cases, an effort was made to seek out Jesus. Each individual had the requisite faith; however, neither sat back and waited for a miracle! The ruler sought out Jesus in the crowd, and the woman fought the crowd to reach Him. Had the ruler stayed at home, his little girl would have been dead and buried. Had the woman stayed at home, she would have continued to bleed. What does this mean for us? The bible teaches us that you must make an effort when you want something to happen in your life. When I was a little girl sitting in church I always heard, the Saints say, "You make one step and He'll make two. " Get up! Go and get what you need. Use your faith, pray, and ask God for what you need, and then claim it as yours! "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Mt. 7:7) In summary, these are the steps you must take: (1) Pray and ask God to give you what you need; (2) Exercise your faith and claim that what you have asked for is yours; (3) Receive your blessings! Just say this to yourself when life becomes difficult, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (Php. 4:13) May God bless each and every one of you in all of your endeavors. -- Rev. D. Borum, J.D., D.D. ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church.

Gospel of Thomas

Gospel of Thomas Final Essay Dennis W. Zerull I must say that I am thrilled that the ULC Seminary has offered courses on Gnosticism and in this specific case the Gospel of Thomas. It is clear the author of this course Rev. Raymond Thompson is well read on the subject of the Gospel of Thomas and wrote this course with a great deal of passion. I greatly enjoyed his insightful humor when dealing with what can be a somewhat dry subject to those who are not as well read on this particular gospel. I very much looked forward to his discourse each week. This particular work, the Gospel of Thomas, is significant for the study of church history even though these writings are not included in the canon. It gives a sample of the ideas, convictions and serves as a point of comparison with the writings contained in the canon of the New Testament. When we study what some religious scholars call "the Apocrypha" in which the Gospel of Thomas falls under, the term "apokruphos" of course derived from the Greek translation simply means, "hidden things". It is believed that the writers of the apocryphal or Gnostic writings attempted to correct what they viewed as deficiencies in the canonical accounts and to fill the gaps they believed existed. These Gnostic Gospels were later considered heretical by the "Church", but became acceptable by a widespread and diverse religious movement with the roots of Greek philosophy and folk religion. However one can not ignore that the Gospel of Thomas according to some scholars is countered in advance by the canonical epistle of 1John, which emphasizes the gospel of Jesus Christ as the message of life, available for every person to experience. No doubt that some of the Gnostic writings were believed to be produced in an attempt to gain authority for their own particular views. No one knows for sure however, so I submit it is left up to the individual who studies the gospels to draw their own conclusions. This is best done with an open mind as to avoid egocentric debate. I do have one comment on this course and it concerns discourse # 16 ; saying # 82. Jesus said, If you are near me you are near fire. If you are far from me you are cut from the kingdom." Rev. Thompson describes the last supper in which John, "the one that Jesus loved is seated on the couch with Jesus with his head resting on Jesus' breast". Rev. Thompson gives his opinion as " do you have to be hit over the head with a club to see these two men were lovers ? That Jesus not only excepted same sex love, but actively participated in it? ". I am assuming by Rev. Thompson's description that his opinion is one in which the men had intimate sexual relations.  It is my humble opinion this is not only a broad assumption but one that is made without any merit what so ever. My argument is simply this. If Jesus was truly the Son of God and was the divine it would seem completely illogical for him to give himself up to indulgence in sensual pleasure because of his right action and lack of ego. Further more if Jesus was learned and knows the teachings of God, he would understand what is worthy of consideration and what is not worthy. It further would contradict his teaching in the 87 saying " Miserable is the body that depends upon a body". Assuming that Jesus was clearly conscious in his going and coming and clearly conscious of all the physical aspects of his earthly being and clearly conscious that he is divine source between God and mankind, the only conclusion that I can draw through logic and reasoning is that Jesus casted away lust and dwells with a heart free from lust; from lust he cleanses his heart. Therefore His heart becomes free from sensual passion, craving, detachment and eventually extinction. In this state He further is free from the vain thought of man and He reaches cessation of ignorance which is a misunderstanding of reality and achieves highest, holiest wisdom. No more fear and no more desires. I hope that those who decide to take this course in the future will draw upon their own conclusions and share them with us. And like Jesus who taught openly to everyone, there is a difference in how people respond or understood his teachings. But as a  humble sentient being, I emphasize that everyone is called equally to holiness and can attain it if they wish. In each individuals life there are stages of spiritual evolution starting from the state of an ordinary being and moving toward a full enlightenment, whereas in the case of Jesus, we are referring to someone who is unique, who is the Son of God. So the process of stages does not apply. His consciousness is both beginning less and endless in the terms of its continuity.  So if we closely examine the teachings of Jesus, it is reasonable to ascertain that everything in the cosmos came from God, is an emanation of God, and will return to God. Perhaps a transformation of matter back into its original source. What or who God is, is something that each of us must determine for ourselves through reason and analysis. The important point is that in the context of one's own spiritual practice, faith derived from written or spoken form must be grounded in reason and understanding no matter who the author is. ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church.

Gospel of Thomas

Jesus Christ According to the Gospel of Thomas By Michael Barth             The Gospel of Thomas presents Jesus Christ in a totally different manner than what is in the Christian Bible.  Some of the sayings I recognized as being in the Christian Bible, but most are not.  These new sayings put Jesus in a new light for me.             The biggest thing had to deal with homosexuality and bisexuality.  This was totally new to me when it came to Jesus.  According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus Christ might have practiced both homosexuality and bisexuality.  According to these sayings, this could have been very well true of Jesus.  This would give a new meaning to the word "beloved" in the Christian Bible.  I also did not know that older men would help younger men and teenage boys learn to have sex.             Also, the fact that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene was new.  He could have also have possibly fathered children with her during his lifetime.  According to the one of the sayings, Peter wanted Jesus to get rid of Mary but refused to do saying.  In fact, Jesus might have loved Mary and the rest of the women more than his male disciples.             The first lesson was also very fascinating.  I love history and lesson 1 gave a background on how the Nag Hammadi Library was discovered.  I had heard of the Nag Hammadi Library but did not realize that it was a more recent discovery.  A couple of men went to harvest some fertilizer outside of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. While harvesting the fertilizer, one of their shovels hit this clay jar.  This must have been guided by God.  For having these men hit this clay jar in the middle of the Egyptian desert is probably nil.             I also found interesting in why the Gospel of Thomas was hidden.  There used to be a Coptic Monastery there.  The monks tried to hide the Nag Hammadi Library expecting to retrieve them later one but did not since these monks probably were persecuted by the early church.  We are all fortunate that these documents were preserved so well since they were hidden probably in the 2nd or 3rd century and stayed there until their discovery in 1945.             This course was well written and very well presented.  The author/teacher definitely knew this subject well.  This course did present Jesus in a new light, something that was not known for a long time.  The information was presented in a straight forward manner.  The author did a really good job in interpreting the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas.  I would recommend this course to anyone, especially if you would like to see Jesus Christ in a new way or are interested in Gnosticism. ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church.

Life of St. Paul

Life of St. Paul
One can hardly imagine the fate of the Christian religion without the acts of Paul and Peter.  The unselfish, relentless, drive of Christian evangelism Paul dedicated himself to truly is an accomplishment worthy of sainthood.  He performed duties and miracles and his oratory and letters became the fundamental foundations of the structure of developing Christianity.   If a 'congregation' went on an errant heading he applied the course correction. He was a preacher's preacher and evangelist's evangelist, a disciples apostle and above all a motivational speaker and in that context a leader of men. 

Today one can only assume the obstacles and difficulties one had to overcome to prevail in teaching and broadcasting the works of Jesus Christ.  First, as the course points out is the omnipresent pagan environment. Be whatever god, idol or personality supported by pagan rites, if not the sword, it was the only 'religion' the vast majority of the populations of the area knew.  Conversion certainly was no easy task to encourage and no simple decision of the pagans to make. 

Jewish factions were no friends of Christ and Paul as well. The course properly identifies that initially Christianity was a subset of the Jewish religion. First one was an 'ancient' Jew and then a Christian until Paul made the statement that the gentiles could join in the praise and following of the truth, way, the righteous path of Jesus Christ without first being Jewish.

Then there was the power of the sword wielded by the fearful Romans that regarded Christians as undermining the authority, allegiance to and the wealth due the empire. They dealt with Christians as they had successfully with others – death and death by barbaric means to dissuade others not to follow.

Paul is the accepted author of Romans.  His act of gathering contributions for the poor of Jerusalem was to be a demonstration that gentiles could join the 'church' of Christ in harmony with the devote Jewish. He delayed his return to Jerusalem to write an epistle, a book, of guidance and instructions to those in Rome and thus set into motion a chain of events that would take almost three centuries to run its course. The word of Paul, the works and words of the Lord in time overcame all obstacles of paganism, treachery and brutality.  Never in my view was there ever in the course of human events any comparable historical record the triumph of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance, of faith over sacrificial ritual – to the extent one might call the era of 50 AD to 325 AD the Era of the Epistles of Paul the Evangelist.

A philosophy triumphed over all barriers.  Pagan gods fell, tyrants fell, an empire began conversion, the church came from underground to above ground worshiping in the light of creation, Genesis 1:4; the light of good, Psalms 4:6; the light of salvation, Psalms 27:1; the light of Jesus, John 8:1 – "I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the everlasting light of life."  

That path to everlasting light St. Paul walked three times. 

 Rev. Kurt Fondreist

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As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site 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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Master of Religion

Master of Religion From Reverend Arthur Strafuss Last Assignment, Lesson 20. For the most part I found the course meaningful and appropriate for the path that I am on.  I enjoyed the course and found most of the subject matter worthwhile. The most interesting course for me was Lesson 4 "The Lost Scriptures" Looking into and reading the scriptures gave me a better understanding of Christianity as it developed.  This was important to me as that I am a reader of the Gospel of Saint Tomas, Mary, and Judas.  I use the Gospel of St Thomas as a guide in my study of the new testament as that the copy I have has a cross-reference to the Apostolic Bibles, or four main Gospels. One of the most important parts for me was the section on forgiveness in the 3rd Lesson.  This is the most important area of Jesus' teaching and from my comparison between non-denominational and main-line churches, it is not cover enough.  Why, because: 1.    This gift maybe the greatness of all gifts given by Jesus.  2.   To have a greater relationship with God to forgive our sins.   From is I have formed my basic message whenever I write a sermon, or a one-to-one counsel with someone who needs forgiveness. I love the use of the different Christian Bibles showing that there isn't much difference between the different churches.  But I used the Torah, (which out of respect for my Jewish brothers and sisters I cover my head), the Qur'an (which I read facing east out of respect for my Muslim brothers and sisters.  The lesson on Religious Titles was a little slow but I did remember the addressing of Roman Catholic Bishops which I forgot.  As for myself I will stay with the title of Reverend. Three lesions on St Paul were too much, in that I am more interested in the Church since Paul, and not in history that I had since grade school Sunday School. I would have to have had contact with the instructor during the course.  I am speaking as an Instructional Designer, I would have liked to have the course more interactive and have feedback.  The use of the forum was great, talking to other students and discussing topics' was helpful.    For me, I will continue my studies and use this course in my Ministry.  I am continuing my study into non- denominational churches, and compare them to main-line churches as that I think they have the "IT" that so many churches have lost.   Thanks and blessing from:   Reverend Arthur Strafuss I plan on taking more courses, but not right away. ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site 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 since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

The Life of St. Paul

Rev. Judith Lichtenberger Final Essay for "The Life of St. Paul" course:                                                                          In an obscure monastic library in Patmos, a research historian comes upon various copies from "Acts of the Apostles" and more interestingly, pages from "Epistles" by St. Paul. These letters copied meticulously from the originals were written in colloquial Greek, the "koine" Greek of the Apostle's time. This was the Greek used by the common man in everyday language.                                                                                                                            Paul's writings were found to be highly readable, a style much more than communicative- a style of simple wonder. When utilized by the "Apostle to the Gentiles", it spoke volumes. To the newly converted Greco-Christians, it was as if one of their own, not a university-educated type, had happened by to tell them good news. Later on, the Eastern Church Fathers of Orthodox faith would "translate" Paul's epistles into a more formal and grammatical writing style but by then, Paul would have accomplished much of his work. His mission had been to convey Christ's message and his own wisdom in order to cement together the loosely fitted communities of early Christendom. These communities were separated not only geographically and by local dialect but by background and belief. Paul put it all together: the bolstering of courage, the creation of new traditions, introducing new creeds of moral conduct and most importantly of all-an all enduring love and patience in all of these things about which Jesus Christ would have been proud. Paul never lost his faith or enthusiasm, attributes which shine forth in the manuscripts and Paul, peculiar in the Biblical personality sense, remained even in his street-wise Greek, as Christ-centered as ever he was after his experience on the road to Damascus.                                                                                                                                  He was an inspired preacher, a stern but compassionate father-figure to those in Christian infancy. None of this was lost in translation albeit a bit of the local color/flavor so endearing to his audience.                                                                                                               It is a clever and intelligent man who can argue convincingly in government court and then enter a poor man's abode and be made welcome. The Gentiles who benefited most by Paul's efforts were often the poor or middle class citizens, former pagans, never having had the benefit of a classical education. Paul, with the help of a Holy-Spirit-inspired ministry brought his beloved Gentiles into a cohesive community. Where is the measure of success? When donations are made from poor Gentile-Christians for the benefit of famine-stricken Judeo-Christians (considering how some of the Jewish converts mistreated their Gentile brethren) then I believe that is genuine success.                             REFERENCES: THE GREEK WORLD edited by Stonehenge Publishers, Oxford, England 1980      ST PAUL,THE APOSTLE:HIS LIFE AND MISSION by Ronald Witherup,  Catholic Updates July, 2008 ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for Free, for Life, right now, use the Free Online Ordination, button -- Click the link! As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  As an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've enjoyed watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Christian History

Final Essay for Masters, Christian History One of the first striking elements of the course, which may or may not have been intended by the author, was the initial framing of the purpose of the course as one that ultimately explores history from a theological–revelatory perspective. Dr. Loy opens his lesson with an exploration of Paul's historical assessment that the Greeks, Romans, and the Jewish people had participated in the historical preparation for the emergence of Christ. While I would argue that this bears no resemblance to the field of history per se, it does illuminate one perspective of how history is interpreted theologically. This is a striking continuance of how the gospels themselves reexamine and reinterpret the Hebrew Scriptures outside their Jewish theological and social contexts and within the Christian frameworks.  In this fashion, what I am ultimately arriving at, is one of the most striking elements I gained from the course was an awareness of and appreciation for the continued tradition of interpreting historical events as the unfolding revelation of God's direct involvement in human lives.  While I am not a Christian, I can appreciate the vitality that such, what might be best termed, a "theohistorical" examination provides in assuring the continued potency of the faith and reinforcing the centrality of the theological belief that Christianity is the final covenant and revelation of God to humankind.  In short, history is preparation for Christians—it is a place of continued discover of God's will. This sense of unfolding revelation and continued vitality was also illustrated in the course through its examination of the theological, how Christians came to think about and understand their faith, development over time.  Dr. Loy does a superb job in exploring the diverse fruiting of thought that emerged after the death of Christ and the rise of monastic orders and the structured Catholic Church.  One thing that I would suggest would be a continued discussion of this unfolding through contemporary times that examines the true diversity of theological strands that have framed the diverse Christian views; in this fashion, truly examining the past and current breadth of the unfolding revelation of God within the Christian faith. I was also struck with the relationship between the unfolding of the Christian faith and Christendom—that is a Christianized political environment.  Dr. Loy discusses at length the growing complexity that such merging led to liturgically; additionally following this it appears the Christian church also underwent significantly greater refining of complex theological issues such as freewill. On the one hand, Pope Gregory asserted that while we inherit sin, we do not inherit "badness"—thus human beings not only engage in redemptive behavior through the baptismal and continued participation in the Eucharist, affirming their relationship to Christ, but are charged with engaging in rigorous self-assessment to ensure they are engaging in right-acting behavior.  What questions I was left with in this lesson (16) was the precise definition of sin from a theological level as Gregory saw it—are the seven deadly sins defined at this point, is sin reflective of something less tangible, how is it defined against its Hebraic origins? I also found this theosophical element a fascinating one in that, to some degree, it logically undermines the notion that one can interpret the unfolding of historical events from a revelatory and theologically preparatory way.  Pope Gregory appears to address this aspect by holding there are exceptions to the predestined versus freewill argument by suggesting there was an "elect" exempt from free will.  I would have liked greater clarification as to who reflected this. All in all, I enjoyed the course and I appreciated Dr. Loy also attending to issues pertaining to women within the church, violence that emerged as the Church became a political authority, as well as defining the unique differences between East and West Christian structures and the source of this schism.  Katherine MacDowell ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site 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 since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar