Re: [FairfieldLife] Jesus' words: description or instruction?

[MDixon6569]

In a message dated 6/23/06 1:03:20 A.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The following phrase of Jesus' is used by many fundamentalist Christians as a justification for telling people that if they don't accept Jesus as their personal savior that they will burn in hell for all eternity: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me. If you had known me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." But is this phrase an instruction of Jesus' to get to enlightenment -- as per the Fundamentalists I cite above -- or is it a description of the goal? That is, once you are having the experience of enlightenment within a Christian context that this quote of Jesus makes sense? There could be something said for both interpretations. One being an initiation or rebirth onto the spiritual path by accepting the blood of Christ, as that which atones for all sin, the ultimate sacrifice, the perfect lamb, free of sin, one's intention binding him to the spiritual path. And then there could be the deeper meaning of personal experience of complete enlightenment. Why not both? Christ did say "unless your are reborn you can not enter the Kingdom of heaven". While I could never claim to be an authority on Biblical scripture, I think Christians place an awful lot of emphasis on the numerous prophesies from the old testament that foretell His coming as a covenant with God and by accepting the foretold sacrifice of the Lamb of God one is then covered in that Covenant. Just as one expresses an intention when performing a yagya that binds him to the action. Personally I have always had a problem with the shedding of blood to atone for sin concept but, the Old Testament says without the shedding of blood there can be no atonement and it was first accepted as the method in the story of Cain and Able and has been used by both Jews and Muslims ever since, not to mention Hindus and their many sacrifices to deities which Buddha almost put a stop to.  __._,_.___ To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Buddha shakyamuni Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___