On Fundamentalists
The following is a reply to a member of The church Of Interfaith Christians who inquired about fundamentalists.
In reply to your request to hear from members of this church that might be of a “Fundamentalist” thought in relation to theology, I would say that although there might be some of that path in this group, subscribers to that which we commonly stereotype as fundamentalism are few.
I just received a hard copy of Reverend Steadman’s book “Pathway To The Stars” in the mail, and although I have read the e-book several times, thumbing through the hard copy still amazes me as to how relevant the material that Reverend Steadman wrote twenty years ago is to discussions of the present day.
As a physicist, you are very familiar with the process of determining the validity of a scientific hypothesis by independent researchers attempting to recreate the process outlined in the hypothesis and either arriving at the same conclusions as the originator of the hypothesis thereby confirming his/her findings or failing to recreate the process find that the hypothesis is flawed. So far, subjects of a spiritual/religious nature defy normal scientific processes therefore rather than to accept these claims as scientific fact, we rely on faith that they are correct.
This process of relying on faith is one that has been touched on this very day in our various discussions on this group. One member noted that “her faith (path)” is unique to her while the paths of others are unique to each individual. This concept is one that has been reiterated in multiple discussions since the beginning of this church. The connection to the Divine is a deeply personal, independent, and unique phenomena. Admittedly we each may have certain commonalities but our personal connection and faith in the divine is unique to each of us.
In our Statement of Faith we echo this concept when we say;
We believe Jesus Christ came into this world to bring the message of salvation to all of mankind. This was a message by the Father, to do His will in all things and justified all things before Him by forever eliminating the written law, doctrine and dogma which had been polluted by man’s flesh. This allowed mankind to fellowship directly with the Father through the Holy Spirit.
The ability to “fellowship” directly with the Father (Divine) becomes a gift to us from the divine that transcends the laws (religious laws) of man, and we have the choice to either develop a unique individual connection to the divine or allow ourselves to become victims, or “naught but trainable animals” when we choose to blindly accept the doctrine of man.
Reverend Steadman has often spoke of “those that are naught but trainable animals,” while others in this group have noted that some members of our society simply fail to think for themselves and choose to blindly follow doctrine and dogma that has been authored by mankind. I give is as my personal opinion that this process of failing to think, failing to make an individual unique personal connection to the divine is relegating oneself to becoming “naught but a trainable animal.” By that, in my personal opinion, those that follow a herd mentality, accepting as gospel the ranting of religious leaders that conceal a personal agenda of power and greed behind a façade of piety, have allowed themselves to become “trained” or conditioned to accept false teachings as the words of God. They seek to deny others the freedom of a personal unique connection to the divine by suggesting that true faith is as their way or no way.
In “Pathway” Reverend Steadman mentions that Jesus Christ was an accomplished “metaphysician” and we note this concept also in our statement of faith when we suggest;
We believe He arose from the dead and began a Ministry that reached into every hollow and mountaintop on every continent of this world. By His words, He proved He was Master of Astrology, Medicine, Physiology, Psychology and all the Earth Sciences. And, by faith we believe He sits on the right hand of God, the Father, the Creator of all.
This concept of Christ being an accomplished “metaphysician” / scientist is remarkably similar to the concepts held by many of the so-called new age groups that explore western mystery traditions. Some of these even suggest that Christ was himself not only an initiate in these mysteries, but an ascended master. But whatever the case we do know that Christ taught in parables; messages that while conveyed in the common knowledge of the time had a deeper hidden meaning. Literalists acknowledge that Christ relied on messages of an esoteric or hidden meaning as great moral/spiritual guidelines, but they (literalists) then argue that the entire Bible is to be taken absolutely literal. So which is it, is the entire bible absolutely literal words of God recorded by man, or are some of God’s words meant to be received for their hidden meaning, just as Christ’s parables? Again in my personal opinion, the Bible has far greater value when one receives it for the hidden messages, the esoteric teachings.
The scriptures referred too by those that follow the doctrine of a flat earth are prime examples of the esoteric beauty, sometimes poetry of the Bible, and yet these same scriptures are usually taken totally out of context (taken literally) in an attempt to support their (flat earthers) theory that the Earth is totally flat and immovable versus being a sphere that not only rotates on its axis but revolves around the sun. Would not the acknowledgement of the stupendous revolutions of the Earth, Moon, and universe be a more grand testament to the glory of the creative diversity of God? In the same respect would not life on other planets also further advance the concept of a deity that transcends the confines of this planet and whose power and glory permeates the entire Universe?
In this respect I have to question why would the revelation of life on other planets cause one to loose faith in God. I give it as my personal opinion that one could conceivably loose their faith in contemporary religious leaders and authors when ET steps out of an UFO and demonstrates that there is life elsewhere, life ostensibly created by the divine. By that hypothesis I am referring to those religious leaders that promulgate a doctrine that all “extra terrestrials” are demons and that no life exists beyond our atmosphere. The arrival of those from other worlds would in effect prove the false teachings of certain religious leaders, regarding this subject, and also open up the question for debate, that of what else were they wrong about?
To me the argument of a flat Earth at the center of the universe versus the concept of a sphere that is miniscule in comparison to the infinite dimensions and creations throughout the Galaxies is representative of the differences between the fundamentalists that seek to inhibit the personal connection to the spirit/divine and those such as the members of this group/church that seek to rediscover and return to the true teachings of Christ. To subscribe to the literal views of the fundamentalists, is in my opinion a denial of the uncomprehendable, infinite greater glory of the divine architect that designed the heavens and earth. While seeking to rediscover the true teachings of Christ and the esoteric beauty of God’s words, is to open up one’s heart and mind to the glory of the divine which is so stupendous it cannot be visualized by the limited capability of the human mind.
Consider the differences that arise between scientists and fundamentalists. While scientists have proven that certain parts of the Bible are based upon revelations given to man in a manner that he was able to understand, science cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the existence or non-existence of a supreme beneficent entity, a.k.a. God/Goddess/divine. But on the contrary modern students/researchers in the field of quantum physics have given raise to the thought that there is indeed an existence of energies beyond our human experience or knowledge, energies that might even be what we of faith refer to as the Holy Spirit.
Just as man of old relied upon methods based upon their limited knowledge in the explaining and publishing in the bible these various revelations, we rely upon our more advanced but yet limited knowledge to explain that which cannot be recreated in the laboratory, measured, cataloged, or analyzed by scientific methods. We depend upon faith to describe those phenomena that lie beyond our common senses and attempt to describe that in words and concepts that are relevant to our twenty-first century experience and knowledge.
Just as fundamentalists in the scientific community deny the existence of this which lies outside of our realm of knowledge, fundamentalists within religion seek to deny the greater glory of the divine and our freedom to connect to it. And this is what this group/church has been about from the beginning, not to impose doctrine and laws of man, but to empower the seeker upon their search for the unique personal connection to that glory of the divine that cannot be adequately described in words or concepts known to mankind at this present stage of enlightenment.
