RE: Is there no-one brave enough?
Dear Gillyann
The Temptation forms part of the second initiation in the ancient mysteries it is all part of the rite of passage, evolvement of consciousness and purification of the soul. 😉
The Second Initiation
Interesting Gillyann your questions are exactly the same, word for word as written in the book by Alice Bailey From Bethelem to Calvery. Great minds think alike obviously! 😮
1. Was it possible that Christ could be tempted, and if so, could He have fallen into sin?
Doubtful as Jesus came to wipe away the law of sin and replace it with the new convenant of love. However the Temptation is really about doubts in self and being tempted by human desire. and whether he would allow his doubts in his own divinity to take a hold of him.
2. Did He meet these temptations as the omnipotent Son of God, or did He meet them as a man and therefore subject to temptation?
He met them as a human who is also divine.
3. What is meant by the devil?
After 9/11 Archangel Michael described it as the darkness within. THE DEVIL WITHIN
Archangel Michael is here,
I ask you to consider the devil within.
Where does it lie?
And how does it lie to you?
The falsehood, mistrust and the darkness that befalls you and your planet
at this time.
However, I feel that you already have all your answers, as you hold the book in your hand. Alice Bailey explains this initiation well.
On 28th July 1999 Pope John Paul II stated that hell is not a place, but rather, a state of being. He said that it is the result of having separated yourself from God, who is the source of all life and joy.
HEAVEN, HELL AND PURGATORY
Pope John Paul II
In three controversial Wednesday Audiences, Pope John Paul II pointed out that the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human language. This language of place is, according to the Pope, inadequate to describe the realities involved, since it is tied to the temporal order in which this world and we exist. In this he is applying the philosophical categories used by the Church in her theology and saying what St. Thomas Aquinas said long before him.
Heaven is Fullness of Communion with God
One could say that ones own darkness and devil within can take one to hell. The angel within is the soul that can learn through self mastery to fly to heaven.
The previous Pope said that Bush was the anti-christ and the anti-christ represents anti-love. Wherever you find a lack of love you will indeed find darkness. For once we whole we are pure love and light.
THE LAMP/MIRROR OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The Lamp of the Body
33No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.
Also the quote from Clement 'on purity.
"all things are pure to the pure"
4. And what was the relation of Christ to evil?
The same as your own at that time. It is all about showing us the struggle between human control and surrender to divine self and moving beyond the illusion of duality. One can achieve this once one has healed the darkness within.
5. Had this wilderness story never been told to us, what would have been our attitude to Christ?
Depends whether you look at it literally and whether you look at the inner meanings. The whole of Christianity wo
RE: Is there no-one brave enough?
This is in reply to GillyAnne's post of 10 July!! Just had a thought about Paul- not only was he a gnostic who worked towards his interpretation of Christ as an ideal, he was also a Roman. True to form, with the old Romans, if they couldn't conquer it they "absorbed" it! Here was a whole new way of thinking, living and believing that was, literally, taking the world by storm. Maybe Paul jumped on the band-wagon?
Love
Glenys
RE: Is there no-one brave enough?
Hi Glenys, interesting you bought this up, as I know it, Paul described himself as an Isrealite of theTribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee. He was born as Saul and received a Jewish education. Acts 22-25 and 27-29, also tell us Paul was a Roman citizen, which he tended to use tohis advantage! One such time was when appealing his conviction in Judea.;) Paul actually never mentions this Roman citizenship and so some scholars have expressed scepticism as to if he actually possessed this and something to remember is that it was apparently not very common in those times to endow a Jew with this honour. Also as such he would have been asked or required to participate in the Imperial Cult, which would have been in conflict with his Hebrew religious ideals. Some scholars believe Paul dabbled !!! in esoteric mysterys and later on possibly used these to embellish the teachings of Jesus.
Paul first persecuted Christians but later had the vision on the road to Damascus, (or an epileptic fit);) and dramatically reversed his beliefs. There is no absolute description of this event in any of his surviving letters though and some scholars to question whether Paul's vision actually occurred. Paul did claim Jesus appeared to him and frequently claimed that his authority as an apostle came directly from God - we have, well as always int he Bible, only his word for it though. So, jumped on the bandwagon sounds like the truth to me, but, as always, unles we have a time machine, that truth remains hidden. It's very much an individual perception, or rather, to put it in a more succinct way, if you like Paul's preaching or if you don't is down to you as an individual. I don't much care for him personally, as he strikes me as a hypocryte, but, others think he is the bees knees;)
Love Gillyxxx
😉
RE: Is there no-one brave enough?
Thank you for that! My sister is a Eucharistic minister in C of E and thinks Paul is indeed the bees knees. In many ways this surprised me as she is also active in bringing the "ideologies" of Celtic christianity (?) back into the established church.
I have never liked Paul/Saul - even as a child when forced to attend the local Presbyterian church......
RE: Is there no-one brave enough?
My parents were not fans either, but as a child I loved him, I guess we all go against how our parents feel for a while. Later on when I met a theological student who became a vicar, we discussed Paul at great length, and I began to see what my parents meant. Amongst other things they thought he was a misogynist, however, I have come to see this has to be looked at in the light of the times he lived in. Women fare not much better in the Middle East today sadly.
Love Gxxx