Some Modern Explorations in the Northern European Baltic Sea Area in 2014
Retracing some of our US Northern European ancestors’ footprints,
cruising and touring where they settled and fought and studied the Bible and the life of Christ in the Baltic areas.
A sailboat and four (out of about eighteen) new power grid augmenting windmills in Copenhagen bay (photo from the Holland America Eurodam’s sail in to the port there)
" Ourselves and our people's peace of mind and soul as the goal"
"The first experiment"
"The program and machinery of Christianity"
"The alchemy of influence"
Reflections on praying the famous prayer of St. Francis after praying it for about 30 years.
"The first experiment"
"The program and machinery of Christianity"
"The alchemy of influence"
Reflections on praying the famous prayer of St. Francis after praying it for about 30 years.
More prophetic thoughts
from the past, present and for the future related to our previous discussion
groups postings on how our Christian and Jewish religious doctrines of the
Trinity, the importance of which language and sounds are used in mantra and Nada
yoga as a Holy spirit, Hebrew Name of God (whether it can be just a Verb, or
must be something more like a ‘Subject, a Verb, and an Object’), developed,
half and half, out of the Old Testament prophets and the Greek Platonic,
Neo-Platonic, and Aristotelian writers thinking.
Reflections on how we are all reflected in Christ according to the liberal protestant Christian theology in Henry Drummond's book (not the three chapter address), 'The City Without a Church'.
This book contains a series of 10 beautifully written chapters in it about how serving and meditating on the Mind of God as Christ, our Messiah, transforms our souls not just when we die believing in him, but right now in the present moment.
What is Eternal Life? To know (by science and religion) Our God and to correspond, reflect in, with Him, is Life Eternal. summary of Henry Drummond's book entitled Eternal Life
"I saw no Temple there"
"The changed life."
"The formula of sanctification"
"The alchemy of influence"
"The first experiment"
"The program and machinery of Christianity (as a society of believers)
"Effects require causes "
(He believed in the interaction of science and religion, and even defined several such laws or ways of possible interactions eg. the Law of Continuity, the Law of Biogenesis. All this is explained in more detail in his advanced theological work 'Natural Law')
"Our people's peace of mind and soul as the goal"
"What are yokes for?"
(Even though he believed that we need to participate in the world and act ourselves in order to help God to interact with us, he did not think we could force things through our own wills or asking through prayer to help our wills. He believed instead that we can encourage our spiritual growth together by letting God reflect himself in us through an easily managed process of carefully managed mindful and faithful growth in Christ.)
"How fruits grow"
Thoughts on how this relates to the mirror metaphor above of our souls' transformations in Christ. as taught by Gwenfair Adams and David Cooper .
Reflections on how we are all reflected in Christ according to the liberal protestant Christian theology in Henry Drummond's book (not the three chapter address), 'The City Without a Church'.
This book contains a series of 10 beautifully written chapters in it about how serving and meditating on the Mind of God as Christ, our Messiah, transforms our souls not just when we die believing in him, but right now in the present moment.
What is Eternal Life? To know (by science and religion) Our God and to correspond, reflect in, with Him, is Life Eternal. summary of Henry Drummond's book entitled Eternal Life
"I saw no Temple there"
"The changed life."
"The formula of sanctification"
"The alchemy of influence"
"The first experiment"
"The program and machinery of Christianity (as a society of believers)
"Effects require causes "
(He believed in the interaction of science and religion, and even defined several such laws or ways of possible interactions eg. the Law of Continuity, the Law of Biogenesis. All this is explained in more detail in his advanced theological work 'Natural Law')
"Our people's peace of mind and soul as the goal"
"What are yokes for?"
(Even though he believed that we need to participate in the world and act ourselves in order to help God to interact with us, he did not think we could force things through our own wills or asking through prayer to help our wills. He believed instead that we can encourage our spiritual growth together by letting God reflect himself in us through an easily managed process of carefully managed mindful and faithful growth in Christ.)
"How fruits grow"
Thoughts on how this relates to the mirror metaphor above of our souls' transformations in Christ. as taught by Gwenfair Adams and David Cooper .
Also, a discussion of
some ways and the importance of chanting the Psalms as Christian/Jewish Yoga.
A special thanks to
Dennis Hollinger, Scott and Rhonda Gibson of Gordon-Conwell, our brother’s in
Christ at the Monastery of the Desert in New Mexico, and Jonathan Harrell of
Los Angeles, for praying with us during parts of this year. And, especially
thanks to Megan-Burton Krieger of Vanderbilt Divinity for not only praying with
us but visiting with us in March and Yolanda Horne of Vicksburg for praying and
studying the Psalms and the Torah on a weekly basis with us in Hebrew during
the Fall of last year.
‘Come unto me, all that
are weary and heavy laden. And, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me… for I AM meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ Gospel of Matthew 11;12
These are Jesus Christ words as quoted by
Henry Drummond in his book “The City Without a Church”. It should be a reminder to us that Rest,
Joy, Peace, Faith don’t just drop into our souls like snow or rain. We have to
practice relaxation, meditation, mindful breathing, along with scripture study,
giving and praying for God's and others sake, praise of God, on a regular basis in
order for Christ’s yoke to be able to do its work in order to help us.
If you are reading
parts of this posting why not take the time now to slow down yourself and study
and read and pray the rest of it together with us.
In my opinion what we need most now
in order for God to hear our prayers and for us to be successful in supporting
each other’s goals and intentions is not monetary gifts to each other, but more
people willing to answer individual prayers through discussions and posting and
to register themselves with us our prayer forum support site at http://www.yhwhschofchrist.org/prayers/index.cgi
And also at
This certifies that we have studied
and prayed for goals of the other groups listed there, that we will check back
from time to time in order to be witnesses to how God has answered the prayers
there, and gives each other the gift of acknowledging that we both believe that
our individual faiths are important and can make a difference. It guarantees that we both believe we can
work put any doctrinal differences, or other misguided individual or group ego
issues, aside and pray for the other’s intentions.
Figure 2 View out into the Baltic Sea from the stern of our
Holland America cruise ship, the Eurodam, as it sails from one interesting port
city to another.
Some study references on the history of the Baltic region during the last
millenium amd before that:
“Ancient Powers of the Baltic Sea” by Mayyi Klinge, Aspasia books.
“The Teutonic Knights, a military history” by William Urban, Frontline
Books
“The Scandinavian Baltic Crusades, 1100-1500, by D. Lindhom and D.
Nicolle, Osprey Publishing
“The Batic, a new history of the region and its people” by Alan Palmer,
The Overlook Press
“Deep Ancestory, inside the genographic project”, by Spencer Wells,
National Geographic
The fascinating question of how much the Platonic, Aristotelian,
Neo-Plationic philosophers influenced the development of our current Christian
Jewish Theology is an important and deeply complicated study.
For, Pythagoreas, Plato and Aristotle the being or what they called the “demiurge”
who was a being if not God, at least responsible for the initial cause of the creation of the
World. For them (Plato and Pythagoreus at least) the ‘integer numbers’… ‘One’,
‘Two’, ‘Three’ and so on were real persons, as well as being part of a Divine
Trinity of Pythagorean Arithmetric Creation. In the dialogue ‘Timeaus’ Plato
first outlines for us the philosophical and geometrical and arithmetical
details of how the Pythagoreans ( who were some of the most important early
creators of mathematics) understood all of this. The Number One was what was
called the ‘demiurge’ the ‘monad’ the
first form of forms for how the integers were created. Nowadays we use the
mathematical discipline of ‘set theory’ in order to define the integers. There
are several possible ways to do it. See
the MAA book ‘Which Numbers are Real’ for an excellent modern day treatment of
the various definitions and axioms required for the different methods and a
short discussion of the mathematical implications of the different
approaches. The philosophical and
theological implications of the different approaches is a much more
mathematically involved problem to
understand. But, our human
investigations into it go back to the Plato dialogues the Timaeus, the
Parmenides, and Aristotle’s books.
“We all, with unveiled face,
reflecting as a
mirror,
The Glory of the Lord,
Are transformed,
Into the same image,
From Glory to Glory,
Even, as from the Lord,
The Spirit.”
Figure 2a Bell Tower dominating the sky from a viewpoint of an island in the harbor of the city of Stockholm, Sweden.
"Effects require causes whether they are final or initial.
"The formula of sanctification"
Daily Mindfulness Teaching for the One Human Holy Spirit who is God’s Son,
Christ Jesus
(a poem written to tie us all in love and trust, for as long as we are true
to God and He to us)
Awareness and faithfulness~ are reflections of two truths*.
Truth is a heart that listens** and is faithful and aware,
Along with a mind that believes what is right for all of us.
Goodness~~ is a heart that loves and gives
Beauty is a reflection of what is good
And a mind that is open***.
~ God is a mind that is and knows no limits (is faithful toward our hopes and
prayers) yet still is what he or she or it is (aware) until that knowledge
blossoms (becomes true) in us.
~~ Jesus Christ is he or she who is the Prince of Peace, heals and saves us
all (being what we need him to be in order to do this) and sanctifies the
name of God. God has no Son or Daughter but him or her.
* or alternatively, toward two truths. “Jesus said, One person cannot ride
two horses at once, nor stretch two bows, nor can a man serve two masters, as
he will respect one and despise the other. “ The Gospel of Thomas, verse 47
op. cit. Also he said,
“Do not let your left hand know what your right is doing.” Op. cit. verse 62.
So, this said, if we are aware of our own shortfalls in this area and ask God
for help. it is possible for the Holy Spirit and thus God in all of us to do
all of this for all of our benefit. “Jesus said, If two make peace with each
other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here!’ and
it will move.” Gospel of Thomas, verse 48, op cit.
7/19/2014 Another more recent and scientific/religious viewpoint about the two ways the truth of love can express itself and reflect itself in us comes to us from the book 'Ascent of Man' by Henry Drummond:
"In our lives there are two struggles...the struggle for life, and the struggle for the life of others ( which is love)" Henry Drummond
** the Holy Spirit is a heart that listens, eyes and ears that see and hear
what is good, a mouth that speaks what is true, and strong arms and legs that
lift up the fallen, walks with them and leads them in the right direction.
*** To say that it is a reflection means it does not have an independently
existing self. Two reflections can be an image (perceptive reflection) and a
likeness (conceptual reflection)making up the soul and the spirit of a human
being. So, a reflection may or may not be a part of an independently existing
object or person. For instance, the heavens and the skies are beautiful. But,
so can be a person, a woman for example.As Dr. Immanual Kant has said in his
section distinguishing the transcendental logic into a transcendental
analytic and a transcendental dialectic... ,"the conceptions of pure reason
are not obtained by reflection...but by inference and conclusion." The
Critique of Pure Reason, Great Books # 42 edited by Dr. Mortimer Adler page
112. Another definition of beauty is needed in this case.(added to copy
11/14/07) Another definition of beauty is needed in this case.
Consider, “Beauty is controlled grace” a definition due to Leonardo da Vinci.
This builds on the term grace which is sometimes defined as “Love that
gives”. Also, I believe beauty may be due to an essential symmetry or a basic
economy of expression in a humanly constructed definition containing a
creative seed of truth or knowledge that can expand on itself growing into a
material, psychological entity or living being (yet start over from the
beginning or some midpoint along its path and reproduce itself if necessary).
Mathematical proofs, a set of physical concepts and axioms or a well written
and designed computer program can fall in this category. These three or four
examples and definitions of beauty seem to me to fit well together into a
shared human linguistic environment and belong to a common semantics or
context that I commend unto you as part of a larger set of metaphysical
definitions of heavenly terms. See www.ourprayergroup.blogspot.com blog for
In order to have a theory of prophecy, a theory of
salvation, redemption, justification, sanctification we
must have a theory of who we are and how we change or are
transformed into something we are not.
Platonists, and Aristotle have as the core of their theories
and philosophies a theory of transformation, or
of motion, based on causes, of definitions of what a soul is, of what
the intellect is, and what a body is.
In order to have motion, we have to have first a body (or
form), something that occupies space or place.
We have to have a location where the form, being us starts
and where it ends still being us and maybe something more. This location, being
in us, involves the material or essential causes and components which are an
initial cause of its motion. This is the motion's demiurge or Number One Faith
our God which dwells in us and is either self-existent mentally and materially
and self-justifying or not. The reasons that give us knowledge of this initial
cause are forward chained in our perceptive object oriented or material type
thought. For, we know that all knowledge begins with but not necessarily ends
with sense experience. And, as part of this, we have to have a final cause,
which is our salvation and which is divine because this cause is formed through backward chained
goal-oriented conceptual thought. If in
our search for a self-existent and self-justifying being or object outside and
inside of us we are fortunate enough through the Love inside of this Higher
Power, and not through our own efforts, to discover a source of all our thought
in this regard we will know that not only have we found God, but knowledge of
ourselves dwelling inside of Him and with Him as a part of our minds and bodies
forever. We cannot find this knowledge by asserting or demanding it to exist
from ourselves outward. But, we have to Love this knowledge as Someone or
Something more than us and which will always exists beyond and outside of us,
even when it so dwells within us.
There are many philosophical rewards and divine blessings of wisdom and
spiritual understanding, I think, for
theologians who keep trying to understand Aristotle’s metaphysics and theories
of religious causation over a long time period. Taking time to read commentaries like Proclus’, Simplicitus’,
Taylor’s and others on Aristotle can make the difference in being able to understand him.
To help in this area there are also translations of Proclus’ book, “The
Theology of Arithmetic” available.
Figure 3 In downtown Copenhagen the residents have learned the
joys of bicycling in the cool Baltic May air to and from work. Automobiles have
to share about a third of the streets with the cyclists and everyone else
walking. The Palace Hotel rented me a bicycle for a day for one Danish Kronin.
It was much more enjoyable than taking a taxi (which would cost as much as 50 to
60 Kronin). However, you needed to watch
where you were going in order not to have a collision and buy the bike for
about $600.
Copenhagen is a wonderful city to walk in during
cool windy May days. I took a free hop on and hop off canal boat around the
harbor then walked to the Tivoli Gardens. The next day I awoke at 3 am and
discovered it was light so I took another walk around the town before breakfast
Figure 4 Tivoli Gardens in downtown Copenhagen, It is centrally
located in the city right across from the main square by the City Hall and the
Palace Hotel where some of our cruise group stayed while in Copenhagen.
In the last century,some of
Professor Taylor's arguments about the unity of Plato’s and Aristotle’s
theology have been argued against by Francis Cornford, an English philosopher of the 1930s. His
commentaries on Plato were the ones I studied at Vanderbilt in the late 1960s.
It wasn’t until 15 years or so, due to a deeper understanding of theology and
philosophy that I started thinking about the details of Professor Taylor’s
commentaries.
Once we admit, understand, realize,
that there is such a things as an empty set ( which Aristotle did not
believe and which took modern physicists centuries to prove using the
Michaelson-Morley experiment) we can define the Number One as the Set whose
only element is the empty set. But when we postulate this material and scientific definition of the Number One do we leave behind the idea of a theological number one which can be the rational beginning of our theology? Plato’s monad is something quite different than
the set whose only element is the empty set.
It is more like a set with no elements, but with the form of a single
difference rule. Dr. Conway of Oxford and Princeton has invented some algebraic
rules of addition and subtraction which can be used to define integers as trees
of thought or rules of thought in games more than sets and using the concept of
a monad as the number One. Some of this is explained in the MAA book
referenced. The philosopher Leibnitz who
co-invented the modern calculus constructed a whole philosophy and theology
based on postulating the fundamental elements of reality were not material
elements but these theoretical ‘monads’. This led to some teachings such as our
world is already the ‘best of all possible worlds’ and reactions from other
enlightenment philosophers like Voltaire that ‘No’, 'You must be crazy to say
that'. But, I think just talking and discussing the possibility of it among
ourselves and letting God have the final say on the question, had to be a help to humankind. The celebrated Voltaire claimed that “God is a
hypothesis of which I have no need”. I myself believe strongly that Voltaire was wrong. I believe we have a need of the hypothesis of God and the reason we have a need
of the hypothesis of God is that he is our Fundamental Good that is ‘sufficent in Himself or
Itself’. Perhaps Mr. Voltaire, if his spirit and soul is still listening, could explain to me
what hypothesis he uses himself to help him understand what is good or
sufficient unto itself in all of us and each of us. Or does he, after
considering things both from and not from this point of view for a while,
really think such a hypothesis is not necessary for our human thinking?
Figure 5 The boat Lagoon in the crowded Tivoli Gardens. It cost
about $30 for a day pass here and there were many sidewalk cafes with delicious
Danish pastries to sample.
When we speak about our various theories of the Bible and
our reasons for believing them it is important to be aware of what we are and
are not claiming to be true with regard to the continuing transformations of
God’s glory in our souls.
If we say for instance, that we believe “Things are not true
because they are in the Bible, but they are in the Bible because they are
true.” : Then we are asserting that these truths, the birth, death,
resurrection of Christ in us, have already
happened and not prophesying them to happen in the future.
If we say that we believe that verses in the Bible will not
be fulfilled without future wars and suffering, then it’s not so easy for God
to make it happen without these tragedies happening (which in fact He does not
will wishing only goodness and happiness to happen to us).
Our purpose in Biblical preaching is both to be a “witness
to the Truth” as Jesus said his purpose was and also to be in some divine sense
representing the part of Him that “is the Truth”.
Our purpose in helping to glorify God’s name in the world, is
also to glorify his Name dwelling in us. But, it is up to Him to fulfill the
second part of this task eternally in our souls in what we call “the fullness
of time”. The fullness of time, is a sense or understanding of time that includes what is outside of time, that
is eternity. Thus this view of time must be something more that time, but it also must be a more
eternal viewpoint of things that do dwell in time. This viewpoint is a divine
viewpoint that transforms itself inside us as we live in the world not being of
it.
Figure 6 One of the main
canals that run through downtown Copenhagen, the beloved city of our long time
studied theologian and philosopher friend Kierkegaard.
Figure 7
Our group visited the partially
reconstructed remains of the Rekvere castle run by the Teutonic Knights in the
middle ages just North of Tallinin Estonia. It is built as a defensive fortress
on a high embankment overlooking the area’s terrain with interior buildings,
courtyard, throne room, large dining hall, kitchen, and below the rooms a
torture chamber where the grand master could sit on a throne while he
interrogated those placed on the rack. 
Figure 8 Area inside of the reconstructed medieval castle used
by the Teutonic Knights for martial arts training and competition in jousting.
There is a viewing stand in the back. And, to the right of the picture was an
area to keep farm animals for cooking in the castle kitchen shown further on
that side of the photo. The Knights, with their limited number of men, made a
point of dividing their raiding forces into small detachments… so that in case
of defeat smaller losses would be suffered. Each man had to carry whatever he
needed. “During the early years of the Baltic crusades it was customary to
slaughter all captives out of hand, with the exception of the peasants and laborers
who were still required to cultivate the land for their new masters.” During
the period 1170 to 1198 Popes Alexander III and Innocent III authorized
crusades against the pagan populations of the eastern Baltic. In 1226 10 1230 German Emperor Frederick and
Pope Gregory IX further authorized the Teutonic Knights to conquer western
tribes in this area. In 1291 the fall of
crusader-held city of Acre in Palestine caused the transfer of their headquarters to
Venice. It was later moved to Marienburg (now Malbork in Poland). In 1382 they
seized the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. In 1429 they were sent to defend
Hungary against the Ottoman Turks. Lindhom
and Nicole op. cit.
Figure 9 These ancient
graves hold the remains of some of the first northern European people to settle
in this area, some 10,000 years ago. They brought a separate language, similar
to Finnish, from Russian or German to the region. See the reference quoted
above, “Deep Ancestory” for more on this.
Figure 10 The Baltic
port city of Tallinin Estonia.
Figure 11 Medieval mural
on the wall inside of Rekvere Castle, Estonia. Notice the awful, miserable
depiction of the pagan slaves who were considered servants of a higher
organization of heaven on earth (our Christian Church at that time).
Figure 12
View from the top of Rekvere Castle overlooking the surrounding
countryside. With the invention of cannons and artillery the castle became
vulnerable to attack and being overrun. So, after this, it was no longer a strategic military center of operations for the whole Baltic area.
Figure 13
Some reconstructed figures used as bow and arrow targets for the archer’s practice
while living in the castle.
Figure 14 Russian
Orthodox cathedral in downtown Tallinin.
Figure 15 City streets from a typical Estonian village north of
Tallinin, where our tour group had lunch.
Helsinki,
Finland
Figure 16
Church organ used for worship inside of the
Christian Lutheran (or should I say Lutheran Christian?) Church of the Rock. It
is built inside of a rock from a large Baltic Sea geologic formation underlying
the middle of downtown port city of Helsinki. Organs themselves can give our
church’s deeply satisfying and motivating resonances (I have a Hammond XK-7 in
my home's dining room).
When the Psalms are
being chanted (not just read) in Christian churches, we know that is one sign that the Lord is with
us, even, as another is that the Gospel is being blessed in us all by
being preached and prayed and discussed evangelistically
to all corners of the earth, as we try to do our best for God, living our
lives, running the race to the finish line for our Father in Heaven and His
Son, Our Christ, ‘up the hill, every day, all the way’ . If you preach that the Lord is mostly yet to
come for believers, then you might want to withhold being able to sing and
participate in this blessing of chanting the
words of King David and Jesus Christ from your congregation. The basic
chant for most congregations to sing is as in the Episcopal and Methodist
Hymnals.
The alternating versicles, cantor and responders, are marked
with the point where the monotone
switches to a canticle type of tone either up or down a full tone or
half-tone. Because, King David’s original (if there ever was in fact a single
original King David other than the unique Holy Spirit of Our Lord’s soul
extending forward and backward through time even as we speak) intentions and
notations for his music have been lost in time temporarily, there is the
possibility of some variation in the specific
tunes used at the end of the verse. Another way to mark the versicles
for tonal shifts is according to the change in meaning of the verses. There are
many, many different books of various Christian translations of the Hebrew
words, without accompanying historical comments. But, for someone studying them it is important to understand the orally
transmitted history of them through a book like the orthodox Jewish Artscroll Mesorah
two volumes on the Psalms entitled ‘Tehillim’. And, also because for the reasons
discussed below it makes sense to
believe that Jesus studied them in Hebrew and had these same oral teachings,
and the associations of the letters with metaphysical and philosophical concepts,
embedded in Him as part of his studies.
Figure 17 Nice flower
stall, full of some beautiful plants enjoying a bright sunny and cool fresh
harbor side morning, in the marketplace
by the docks of the boat harbor in the bay of Helsinki.
Figure 18
Parliament square in Helsinki. Finland has about
5.4 inhabitants, Helsinki 500,000. Its religion is 78% Lutheran, 1% Orthodox.
And has a sovereign parliamentary republic government since 1917. Finland was
part of the Swedish empire for about 800 years, then in the last century they
fought two wars against Russia, the second allied with Hilter’s Germany for a
while. The first Finns settled here about 8000 years ago from Mongolia and
modern day Finns share a language, which came from these people, with Estonia and Hungary.
It is completely different than Russian or German.
Figure 19 Wind
chapel sculpture, with someone, dressed like an organ pipe himself, standing in front. It is found in one of the
many nice Helsinki town parks overlooking the harbor.
St.
Petersburg, Russia
Figure 20
Crowded scene of tourists walking along and
viewing the art in one of the many lavishly decorated rooms in the world famous
Hermitage art museum of St. Petersburg . In my opinion the Hermitage is a better art museum than
the Louve, which I visited in the 1980s. Does that make it the best in the
world?
Figure 21
A beautiful portrait in one of the Hermitage’s
display rooms. My own reflection can be seen in the glass admiring the young
lady’s portrayal by the artist (Rubens).
"The alchemy of influence" of two reflections in a mirror
"The alchemy of influence" of two reflections in a mirror
Figure 22 View from the outside of the world famous Hermitage
art museum in St. Petersburg.
Figure 23 Church of the Weeping Tears built, by his son, on the
spot where the Tsar Alexander I was assassinated in order to honor him.
Figure 24 The whole of the inside of the Church of the Weeping
Tears is beautifully decorated with Russian Orthodox iconic paintings of
angels, archangels, famous people in the Bible, and Church elders.
Figure 25
An important area of the Church where the priest
makes his entry through a door during the Church service.
Figure 26
Picture of
an archangel, perhaps Mikhael (or Michael as we English say to invoke him by
his name… I think both pronunciations will work if you really need call upon
him and to have his help). Archangel invocations are an important part of
ourprayergroup’s daily meditations and prayers.
Rabbi David Cooper, following the early medieval Kabbalist Abulafa,
has written some good books on the Kabbalah. But, in one of them he
claim’s ‘God is a Verb’. The reason he gives for this conclusion is
that ‘We can only know God as a process… and not a reality’. I have tweeted
out to David and posted a question to him on his website with the important
disclaimer that ‘I could be wrong, but I don’t think so’) “Because a verb by itself cannot be Truth in
itself, the Name of God is something much more than a verb.”
"Shema Israel: One way to meditate on the Greek/Hebrew 4 Letter Name of God YHWH, Our Tetragrammaton as not being a Verb, but a Truthful Sentence is through its three letters... Yod is the Subject, Vav is the Verb, Heh the Object.."
"Shema Israel: One way to meditate on the Greek/Hebrew 4 Letter Name of God YHWH, Our Tetragrammaton as not being a Verb, but a Truthful Sentence is through its three letters... Yod is the Subject, Vav is the Verb, Heh the Object.."
Andrew W. Harrell Discussions > .
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that since a verb by itself cannot be
Truth in Itself (which I believe God is), the Name of God has to be much more
than 'just a verb'. Any thoughts on these comments on this important subject?
Shema Israel: One way to meditate on the Greek/Hebrew 4 Letter Name of God
YHWH, Our Tetragrammaton as not being a Verb, but a Truthful Sentence is
through its three letters... Yod is the Subject, Vav is the Verb, Heh the
Object..
Shema Israel: I bless God's Holy Name through you and me by these postings.
Friends, may I explain to you how God want's us to bless His Name Together. I
think you already know this if you have been bar-mitvahed in the daily use of
the Tefillim in our prayers.... Seven times mindfully, and from the top-knot
of His Eternal Holy Spirit dweling as our knowledge of His soulful presence
living and praying with us inside of us.
And while you are doing it thus seven days, seven times you might want to
repeat or chant the following magical teaching which we will place as a
precious cornerstone of Truth on a commemorative brick in several places:
'When God is One, His Truth is One, YHWH Christ."
When Yod is the subject, Vav is the verb and Heh is the object there are five
ways of knowing our Oneness with God's Name YHWH.
In Name of God, YHWH we are known 'of God' by YAH, and 'by' God by WEH.
Adding the Name Elohim we are known 'with Him' and Adonai 'in Him'.
When you call upon the angels Gabriel and Michael you get a team operating as
our Father in Heaven. Gabriel is the head, Michael the tail.
Our Father is also an angel (Gabriel and Michael). His angelic Only Son is
Jesus, an angel team with Ariel as the head and Raphael the tail.
You can say Amen here if you believe.
Jason's reply on the blog: (since deleted by Rabbi Cooper on his new website)
Ok ok... First of all a verb is an action... An action can be truth... Every
action is truth... Are you saying that your concept of God is that God is
absolute truth...one then assumes that The truth you speak of is
absolute...through living and life we are Verbs... All the names of God are
verbs in Hebrew ...the concept of Goding has been lost in most western
religions..the concept of truth... The ego... Is more than I can type ... God
is not truth... The Verb allows us to experience truth and that my friend is
what defines who we are.. Buy the book God is a Verb by Rabbi Cooper and that
will help explain a lot of the lithurgy of what you are talking about.
May 11, 2015 | CommenterJason
Hello Jason,
Thanks so much for the discussion. I have some Good News for you which you
may or may not already know:
God's Will (an Action...yes a verb..dwelling in us) and His Name dwelling in
us( I AM) are the Truth. You are and I AM the Truth. I AM that (in the past a
Christian and a Jew) who I AM (now) and will be (in the future), Jesus Christ
is, for you and I and all of humankind, the Truth of God's Will and Name
dwelling in us (as salvation, redemption, sanctification, justification).
With God's help (as we faithfully and sincerely represent Him), we
can "build the building" of our own salvation and redemption (inside of His
Name, which is the Concept of a Concept...the way we Define the Divine Number
One). even in ourselves and the boundaries of it all around us. If you have
been counting the Omer with me this year, Friday (Shavuos 2015) and the next
few days leading up to it will be an especially good day for all of us to
participate in this process together.
How would you like God to help you "build the building" of your salvation
and redemption this year?
May 12, 2015 | CommenterDr. Andrew William Harrell
Jason,in reply to your question about whether I was talking about absolute truth or relative truth
the answer is absolute Truth.
How do I define absolute Truth? One way I believe is the way Jesus meant when He said,
I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life in the Gospel of John.
Here is a little more clarification about what He meant in this Bible verse:
( It is the secret hide in the ages, Christ in you, that St. Paul talks about)
Absolute Eternal Truth is something that appears in you after you listen for God to say It, then
you say &do what you have heard Him say do.
And, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus dwelling in you as God's Holy Spirit, is someone Who appears
in you after you listen carefully to what God Says and you say and do what He(God speaking to
you) says.
Figure 27 Boat
canal where the Russian Tsars and other royal guests with favored privilege arrived on holiday from downtown
to the Peterhof Palace.
All of this also relates to our earlier thoughts on how our souls' are transformed in Christ like being reflected in a mirror. A mirror transformation is like a verb's transformation in a sentence. So what I AM saying prophetically here is that our soul's in order to be transformed into something that has its being in God's name and in fact in the being of God's Son's name Jesus Christ have to be transformed not only as a verb transforms things, but as the Truth transforms things. Ms Gwenfair Adams recent article, 'Becoming 'Brighter and more Beautiful' in Gordon-Conwell's Contact theological seminary's magazine is an example of leaving out this deeper analysis when talking about how God's Truth wants to grows in us. I hope you all agree with my analysis of this claim of his and will pray with me for David and Gwenfair to understand things a little better. David combines Michael and Gabriel into two larger and higher metaphysical order spiritual beings inside of God’s Name. These beings are the angels' Metatron (angel of intellect) and Sandalphon (angel of body). But, he, being a Jew more than a Christian, associates Michael with the attribute of compassion and loving kindness more than Gabriel, who he claims is more severe and judgmental to him. Being a liberal Protestant Christian I tend to claim Gabriel, the angel of divine prophecy to be more open to new ideas, like Christ, our Messiah, more liberal and kinder than Michael who watches more over our conservative believers. Although by saying this I wouldn’t want to preclude Michael from being compassionate and kind if he wants to be.
All of this also relates to our earlier thoughts on how our souls' are transformed in Christ like being reflected in a mirror. A mirror transformation is like a verb's transformation in a sentence. So what I AM saying prophetically here is that our soul's in order to be transformed into something that has its being in God's name and in fact in the being of God's Son's name Jesus Christ have to be transformed not only as a verb transforms things, but as the Truth transforms things. Ms Gwenfair Adams recent article, 'Becoming 'Brighter and more Beautiful' in Gordon-Conwell's Contact theological seminary's magazine is an example of leaving out this deeper analysis when talking about how God's Truth wants to grows in us. I hope you all agree with my analysis of this claim of his and will pray with me for David and Gwenfair to understand things a little better. David combines Michael and Gabriel into two larger and higher metaphysical order spiritual beings inside of God’s Name. These beings are the angels' Metatron (angel of intellect) and Sandalphon (angel of body). But, he, being a Jew more than a Christian, associates Michael with the attribute of compassion and loving kindness more than Gabriel, who he claims is more severe and judgmental to him. Being a liberal Protestant Christian I tend to claim Gabriel, the angel of divine prophecy to be more open to new ideas, like Christ, our Messiah, more liberal and kinder than Michael who watches more over our conservative believers. Although by saying this I wouldn’t want to preclude Michael from being compassionate and kind if he wants to be.
Figure 28
More fountains in front of the Peterhof Palace.
This Palace was the summer residence of the Tsars. It was destroyed in World
War II by Hilter. He believed that to destroy a nation you have to destroy its
culture. To prove the contrary, it has been completely restored and has a
magnificent restored interior as beautiful as then. When it was originally built Tsar Peter
realized that he needed intelligent educated people to reform his country. They
say Versailles has larger gardens but I have never seen to many extravagant
fountains on a palace grounds as here. The figures for the statues are taken
from Greek mythology.
Figure 29 Another view
of the royal vacation barge arrival area at the Peterhof.
Thoughts on Chanting the Psalms
After living like a
monk for forty years, I truly believe, the Psalms were and still are the
‘Prayerbook of Jesus’. Why is this? Well
first of all if you believe our God and our Lord His Only Son are real
persons alive today inside of us, and their soul in us carries with it the remnants
of its past, you have to believe the prayers he studied and carried out while
he lived on this earth were not lost in the theological shift/transition of
Judaism to Christianity but are still living in us around us or in some book
somewhere. What might this book
be? And, where are they to be found in
that book? I submit that his sayings are in the Greek New Testament that has
come down to us, but his prayers are in the Hebrew Old Testament as the book of
Psalms. As a practicing Yoga I teach to
all those who ask that chanting or mantra yoga is the easiest way to use yoga
to become enlightened as a Christian/Jew as well as being important for other
types of Christian Jewish prayer goals like intercessory and thematic
prayer. So, chanting the Psalms should
certainly be an important part of Christian/Jewish studies by all of us. The
next question might be, if so, how do you do it?
The Methodist hymnal has a set of modern day Psalm chanting tunes in it. Some of them are even designed for 'transfiguration' worship like that we have been discussing in the book by Henry Drummond.
The Methodist hymnal has a set of modern day Psalm chanting tunes in it. Some of them are even designed for 'transfiguration' worship like that we have been discussing in the book by Henry Drummond.
Recently, our Christian
Catholic Protestant leader Francis followed up on our older friend St.
Benedict’s visit to the Holy Land. What did the leader of Israel and one of the
leader’s of us Christians talk about? He asks the Pope whether he thinks the
fact that Jesus was a Jew means he spoke Hebrew. The Pope, who is supposed to
be infallible in this public situation of pronouncing on doctrine, gives in my
opinion the wrong answer. The answer was, ‘He was [therefore is sic] Aramaic’ This seems like much to convenient
an answer for a group that claims being under the ‘our new covenant theology’
is the reason why we don’t need to practice Judaism anymore. I don’t think anyone who has studied and tried
to imitate our Jesus Christ of the Four Gospels over a long period of time
would seriously think Jesus considered Himself or that God wanted him to be infallible at
that time or even now. If so, he would
have asked the many angels that surrounded Him then and now help Him. The
person Jesus Christ considers infallible is His Father in Heaven who at any
time, may be dwelling in Himself or in another. And, He says, doesn’t He, that
it’s better to say the wrong thing and do the right than the opposite, doesn’t
he? In fact, it is for this reason that
despite, saying the wrong thing in Israel, but doing the right thing by
confronting and condemning the Mafia in Italy that we think the present Pope is
overall doing a good job for us so far.
We know from verses in the Bible that Jesus,
being divine, has a Holy Spirit which speaks all languages. Thus, whosoever says
that Jesus spoke or speaks only Aramaic, is not representing Jesus but someone
else. And, whoever says Jesus, the
Christ, God’s Son, is only Jewish, is making the same mistake of long ago
before a new religion rose up to correct this mistake.
Here is one important
passage in the Gospels that teaches us this:
Luke
4:16-20
New International Version (NIV)
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on
the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to
read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant
and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Here are others:
Acts
26:14
King James Version (KJV)
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice
speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And so did the Apostles speak and
study in Hebrew. The website hebrew4christians of Rev. Parsons, thanks to him
for this reference, lists the following
quote to show this:
Acts
15:13-21
King James Version (KJV)
13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying,
Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the
Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is
written,
16 After this I will return, and will build again the
tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins
thereof, and I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all
the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these
things.
18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
world.
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which
from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from
pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from
blood.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach
him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Clearly
here the apostles were referencing the Hebrew words of the apostles.
Figure 30
Extravangant, liberally pointed, fountain in the gardens on the opposite side
of the Peterhof from the entrance canal.
Sailing
Ship in the Baltic Ocean
"How fruits grow"
Figure 31 A modern day 3-masted schooner that our more modern Holland America passenger ship sailed by on its route through the Baltic.
"The program and machinery of Christianity as a society of believers'
So, for the reason that Jesus must have known Hebrew if he prayed the Psalms and if he studied it with the main Jewish priests in the Temple. For this reason, I tweeted the following thoughts and trusted in God and my many angels that follow me to convey an alternate theological answer for us all to give to Mr. Netanyahu:
But, now, Jesus Christ speaks
English ,also, as well as Hebrew..."Benjamin, if you want Peace in our
Holy Land?...Tear down that wall!"
To answer the question, "Yes, Jesus
would know Hebrew if he taught from the Jewish scriptures, because they were
taught to Jews in Hebrew."
So, if this is the case, that Jesus
knew at least enough Hebrew to pray the Psalms in them. We might also want to
know how did he sing or chant them? Is this to much to ask God to teach us?
Well, I can’t help you with the Hebrew chanting, because, what Jews call the
Mesorah or how the verses were pointed for meaning and pronunciation is not now
in any public books in a definitive and easily understandable form that I have
been able to find. But, thanks to many Christian monasteries, the Methodist
Hymnal (keyboard edition) and the Sounds True course by Ms Cynthia Bourgeault
on ‘How to Chant the Psalms’ we do have some good methods for any one that
wants to participate with us trying to be faithful to these ancient prayer
intentions of Jesus in English.
Stockholm,
Sweden
Figure 32
Interesting architectural design of a Museum
in Stockholm facing the building housing a huge Viking ship which was rebuilt
several hundred years after sinking in the Stockholm harbor. Whoever designed
the ship made the mistake of ignoring mathematical design principles and placing
too many cannons on its decks for the weight of the ships water displacement to
support.
"Our people's peace of mind and soul as a final goal of the society"
Here are some more twitter thoughts
on Jesus’ friend St. Francis’ prayer related to the above theological
teachings. It is the prayer I started this prayer blog talking about back in
2008.
Praying with
St. Francis that seeking more to love than be loved will help us find
forgiveness and peace with God and each other long term.
The prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an
instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant
that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving
that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
This prayer gives the program of
Christianity as explained by Henry Drummond in his book ‘City without a Church’
“To bind up the broken-hearted as God makes
us an instrument of their Peace.”
“To comfort all that mourn (by explaining
to them their liberty or salvation in Christ which enables them to overcome sin
and mistakes).
To give unto them--- beauty for ashes,
faith for doubt, light for darkness, pardon for injury.
The Oil of Joy for mourning…joy for
sadness, love for hatred.
The Garment of Praise for the Spirit of
Heaviness, hope for despair.
Praying with
St. Francis that we all seek to understand each other more than to have each
other understand us... read more tweets than post
Praying with St.
Francis that seeking more to love than be loved will help us find forgiveness
and peace with God and each other long term.
If there were
two more versicles I would add to St. Francis’ intentions, that he may have
unintentionally left out it might be:
Lord, wherever
there is illusion, let it be transformed into what is good in our lives’ experiences,
and let there be in that place what is real.
And, wherever
there is untruth (in our lives' experiences), let there be truth.
For,
It is in this
way that we with un-veiled faces allow our Lord’s glory to transform His image
in us (II Corinthians 3:18).
Figure 33
A
more built up and developed view of several of the islands and bridges running
in the middle of downtown Stockholm. This close to the Arctic Circle, it is
another 7 or 8 nautical degrees north of Copenhagen. In the summer you can use
the daylight at night to work more, early in the morning if you want. In the
winter there is so much of it, daylight that is, some people take a vacation in
Spain or elsewhere closer to the equator.
Figure 34
Cycling,
horse-riding trail in the beautiful downtown Stockholm royal park.
Painted section of the Berlin Wall, near the
former East Berlin railway station. Here we see that the residents of Berlin, have transformed with our and God's help, a formerly sad dull gray wall, a wall which was blocking their liberty, to a colorful joyful and creatively artistic display of happiness. May there be more Divine Power and Help given to you in order to transform other parts of your live's experiences, my friends.
Figure 35
Brandenburg Gate in downtown Berlin. It sits
astride the remains of the route of where the former wall ran. This wall was
built in 1961 by Soviet President and Communist Party Chairman Krushchev,
convinced of the superiority of Marxist economic and political theory and causing the cold war ‘Berlin
Crisis’. It encircled the western part of the city which he declared a ‘bone in
the throat of Communism’. President Kennedy sent 1500 American troops to
reinforce the city. And, here 25 years
later our friend Ronald Reagan made his famous rhetorical challenge to another
Russia leader, “Mr. Gorbachov…tear down this wall”. Thanks to the hard military
preparedness and planning work of a lot of American and Nato people and thanks
to his own inherent sense of righteousness, Mr. Gorbachov did.
Figure 36
Holocaust memorial in the middle of modern Berlin, right
across the street from the bunker where Hilter shot himself. The city of Berlin around it, an important
capital and center of the government of a large part of Europe, has made a
remarkable and heartening recovery after being left in ruins at the end of the last
world war. But, this memorial is designed to present those who explore it with
a feeling of disorientation and stark despair. The human race needs to be
vigilant to never forget our shortcomings and hatreds which led us all past the
point of no return of war. May looking back on the remnants of this human destruction
always keep us trying to protect
ourselves against its return. It seems
fitting that if Hilter’s soul is still alive somewhere down in Hell and tries
to come back to earth up from this point, that the souls of these martyrs
should be on guard here in this part of Berlin in order to confuse and
disorient him until he has to confess and atone for his mistakes in thinking
and speaking, his purposeful and cruel, harmful, intentionally wrong crimes
against the goodness in us all, for even some centuries and millennium more. ..
or maybe not… what do you think?
Figure 37 Group of a few walking tourists,
local residents and bicylists who attended the ‘One World Festival’ that Sunday
in the heart of the City of Berlin.
Figure 38
The
worship area, beautiful wood pews, vaulted ceilings, white brick walls, of the interior
of St. Mary’s cathedral in the medieval island city of Lubeck in North Germany.
Note the steel rod supports required to uphold the bending of its walls over
the centuries. It was first constructed in about 1200 AD by the magistrate and
merchants of the city. Its Romansque basilica was built of brick. From 1251 it
was rebuilt as a Gothic cathedral in the high Gothic style of enormous
dimensions. The vault of the interior of the church spans about 140 ft, and the
twin spires outside are about 390 ft. tall. This ‘mother of Gothic brick churchs’
set the pattern for about 70 churchs in the Baltic region.
Figure 39 Exterior view from the courtyard outside of
the church of St. Mary’s cathedral of her spires, stone geometrical designed
windows and crested doors, slate roof, bell tower with clock face, and red
brick patchwork wall designs, in Lubeck, North Germany.
