quote: SirOscar
I am wondering, if there is a spiritual enlightenment in Christianity?
If so, what is it? How is it achieved?
Do you mean as Siddharta Gautama was considered the ‘Buddha’ = the ‘enlightened one’?
Christians hold that Christ, the anointed of God, messiah,
is the Light given.
Jesus was not the ‘enlightened one,’ Jesus is the Light of the World.
To be ‘enlightened,’ in this sense, is to be illumined, within, by
His grace - in receiving His body and blood - His very life, in us.
[communion = ‘to become one with’]
The gospel [the good news] written by St. John, is the guide
of guides, in terms of John’s reflecting on His Lord, as the
Light of the world.
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race -
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/john/john1.htm
quote: SirOscar
…It seems to me since I joined this forum, that there is so much focus on sin, who is sinning, what is sin, why its a sin, how it is sin, etc.
This is my own view, SirOscar. Somewhere, across time,
the freedom of the sons and daughters of God was lost,
and this constant ‘looking within’ was fostered.
A great deal of Catholic theology is absolutely right on the mark,
but the babe of Bethlehem seemed to be thrown out with
the water. Suddenly, it was “all about God” - and what He demands of us…
and not God - making it “all about us” -
which is kind of strange, when I think about it. The whole point of His incarnation
[incarnation = God taking on human flesh] was His making it all about us, and our salvation.
This mis-emphasis began to occur, when ‘theologians’ got rolling.
The beautiful images - that God, Himself gave us:
The Good Samaritan, The Good Shepherd, were cast aside,
in favor of 'theological 'statements" - the dry sands of theology…
eroding the very heart of Reality, like sandpaper.
Instead of accepting Jesus, in His role as savior - placing all of
our cares and worries on His shoulders, knowing that He saved us
and that He is always there for us - this morphed into a constant looking within -
interminable examinations of conscience, [have I sinned? [URL]http://bestsmileys.com/nono/9.gif[/URL] ] -
when Christ came to *be *our freedom. To draw our gaze outward, not inward.
If it comes down to a toss up - “correct” theology, or peaceful
mind, heart and soul, in accepting that He is our justification,
before God, He* is* our salvation, I choose to stay with the
good Shepherd in His pasture, giving all ‘organized’ anythings
a miss.
[URL='http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/reen12/shepherdandsheep3-1.jpg'] [/URL]
reen12
