What
would Jesus say about
Protestant religions?
Question for Jesus:
What would you like to see happen in Protestant religions?
Jesus: It is my great desire that Christians would
make a determined effort to go back and take an objective look at the
history of Christianity. I would like to see Christians evaluate the
history of Christianity with open minds and hearts, honestly determine
where errors have crept into Christianity and then make a sincere effort
to correct those errors. This is not difficult to do if you are willing
to take an unbiased look of the history of the Christian religion.
I would like to see Catholics make an effort to do this, but I think
it is far more likely that such an initiative will start among Protestants.
After all, the Protestant religions are based on the fact that one person
clearly saw the need for reform in the Catholic Church. Therefore, all
followers of Protestant religions should, by definition, be more open
to reforming Christianity than most Catholics. After all, if you accept
that the Catholic Church is not infallible, why would you continue to
uphold some of the fallible decisions made by authorities of that Church?
If you take an unbiased look at Protestant religions, you will quickly
discover that although Martin Luther correctly assessed the need for
reform of the Catholic Church, he was somewhat limited by his times.
He grew up in medieval times, and his outlook on life was shaped by
the times and by the Catholic Church. An honest evaluation of the situation
would reveal that Martin Luther did not take his desire for reform as
far as it could have been taken.
The most obvious example is that Martin Luther correctly observed that
the Catholic Church had added many elements to the Christian faith that
were not part of my original teachings. He attempted to remove these
elements, and in general this was not a bad idea. However, the greatest
problem with the Catholic Church was not the fact that the Church had
added to my original teachings. The greatest problem was that the early
Catholic Church, even the early Christian church before the formation
of the Roman Catholic Church, had taken away many elements that were
part of my original teachings. I am not faulting Martin Luther for this
because at the time it was difficult for him to know what was taken
out.
Today, things are vastly different. Modern science has provided people
with invaluable tools for researching the past. A sincere effort to
apply these tools to the history of the Christian religion would quickly
reveal that many things were deliberately taken out of my original teachings.
This was done by the early church, and in most cases it was done for
political reasons. Those reasons might have had some validity at the
time, but they are completely invalid today. A sincere Christian should
be willing to look at these facts and make an effort to put back what
was taken out for the wrong reasons. By combining modern research tools
with the discoveries of scriptures, such as the Nag Hammadi library
and the Dead Sea scrolls, much progress could be made.
Let me mention a couple of examples of how the early Protestant church
was influenced by the Catholic Church and therefore built upon the errors
created by that Church. The Catholic Church has always claimed to be
the only road to salvation. When Martin Luther realized that he could
not reform the Church from within and decided that he had to distance
himself from the Church, he had to find a way around this claim.
If people sincerely believed that the only road to salvation was through
membership of the Catholic Church, he would have little chance of having
them follow a branch of Christianity that was outside the Church. To
alleviate people’s fears of not being saved, Luther developed
the doctrine that salvation does not happen through the Church but through
grace. Salvation was not administered by an earthly hierarchy but exclusively
by God.
This is not an incorrect idea. As I have stated in this book, there
is no automatic salvation. No earthly organization can guarantee your
salvation or prevent it. The problem with Luther’s line of reasoning
is that it took too much emphasis away from the behavior of the individual.
By stating that salvation was obtained exclusively through grace, it
became difficult for people to see how they could personally work out
their salvation. Grace seems to be some mysterious thing that can be
administered arbitrarily by a deity with whom people feel little or
no connection. Incidentally, this move went against our efforts to raise
humankind to a more rational state of consciousness. In the Age of Pisces,
people were meant to develop a rational understanding of the laws of
God so that they could see how to work out their salvation.
Many Protestants see a huge gap between their current level of consciousness
and salvation, and they see no logical or systematic path for crossing
that gap. This has led some Protestant churches to develop the idea
that salvation is guaranteed if you declare Jesus Christ to be your
Lord and Savior. However, to most people it simply does not make sense
that a person like Adolf Hitler could accept Christ on his deathbed
and automatically be saved.
As I have described in this book and in The Christ Is Born in You, there
is indeed a systematic and logical path for working out your salvation.
I am not thereby saying that you can be saved without grace. No person
is ever saved without the grace of God, however, the grace of God is
not administered arbitrarily or indiscriminately. To receive the grace
of God, you need to earn that grace, and you do so through your actions,
your beliefs and your attitude. In other words, you can earn God’s
grace through your works.
An example of how the early Protestant church went a bit too far is
the removal of the concept of the Saints. It is true that the concept
of the Saints was inserted by the Catholic Church, however, this was
a beneficial addition. One of the main problems created by the Catholic
Church is that it elevated me to an idol that no one dares to follow.
As I have stated in this book and in The Christ Is Born in You, I came
to set forth an example of a universal spiritual path that all human
beings have the ability to follow. When the early Catholic Church elevated
me into a God, people could no longer see me as an example. The tradition
of the saints somewhat alleviated this problem because people could
now see that it was possible for them to achieve a higher state of consciousness,
a state of holiness. Most saints started out as regular human beings
who through their devotion attained sainthood. This provided people
with a path that they too could follow.
When the Protestant church took away the Saints without correcting the
earlier errors of elevating me to the status of God, they essentially
created an even bigger gap between human beings and myself than what
is found among Catholics. Obviously, I consider this an unfortunate
development.
I know that many modern Christians, Catholics and Protestants alike,
will not be willing to go through the process of reevaluating Christian
beliefs. They want to remain where they are comfortable. They want to
keep me and my teachings in the little box in which they feel they have
me under control. They don’t want the Living Christ to jump out
of the box and disturb their comfortability and their sense that as
long as they keep following their present religion, God will simply
have to save them. They don’t want to let go of their dream of
an automatic salvation.
Fortunately, I also see many modern Christians who have already started
the process of honestly and sincerely reevaluating the Christian faith.
Wherever these Christians are found, I lovingly commend them for their
efforts and for their honesty. I strongly encourage such people to continue
their efforts and to speak out against status quo.
The Christian religion was meant to be the main religion of the Piscean
age. As we move into the Aquarian age, the Christian religion will quickly
become obsolete unless it can change with the times. I can assure you
that in the new age a Christian religion based on current dogmas and
doctrines simply cannot survive. If a sincere effort is made to uncover
and restore my original teachings, especially the teachings that I could
not give to the multitudes but only gave to my disciples, Christianity
could be renewed. If I was allowed to give new teachings, Christianity
would not only survive but blossom in the new age.
For this to happen, millions of Christians must be willing to go through
the sometimes painful process of reevaluating virtually every aspect
of their current beliefs. Will this process happen? Will people be willing
to do this? I honestly cannot tell you because it is up to the free
will of the individual human being. However, I can tell you that my
greatest hope for seeing the beginning of this process is the many Christians,
of which many belong to a Protestant religion, who are open to, and
actively searching for, a higher understanding of the Christian faith.
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Copyright
© Kim Michaels, 2003 |
