7/3/99

Dear Mr. Sam:

What is the justification we have for the honesty of God?

[I begin with trying to think in an Islamic way, with its emphasis on the pleaure arising from conformity with the will of God.]

Even the Islamics, who otherwise pretty well take the Hindu approach that God is what he is and does what he does without the least concern for the opinion of his puny creatures*, even the Islamics assert that God is honest and will keep His word.

[* and so what he says is good is good, ipso facto and by definition, and what he says is bad is bad; and if you do what is bad, i.e., what he tells you not to do, you will suffer unimaginable pain. He will have people do what he says simply by virtue of the fact that he has said it, and our only intelligent way out is to do what he says. Period.**]

[** Remember that I am trying to put myself into an Islamic frame of mind.]

Now it just so happens that God/Allah is beneficent. thank goodness! for he did not have to be. It just so happens that it pleases him to be beneficent. Now what has happened is this. He tried to get the message out through the Jews, but they were corrupt and deliberately changed the message to suit their own purposes. Then Jesus came and spoke the absolute truth, but then his followers, while not deceptive like the Jews, were confused in their excitement (like thinking that Jesus died on the cross, when actually Judas was put in his place at the last moment; for Allah is mighty and just).

Now once more, and for the final time, Allah speaks to the humans. And to make sure there is no mistake he physically seizes the tongue of Mohammed, his Prophet, and actually forms the words himself. And furthermore He has the words written down during the instant in which they are spoken. So no question about accuracy ever again. Only those who are rebellious will refuse now to believe the words of God.

Allah is beneficent, and he requires very little. Nothing that is beyond any man. Obey the criminal laws of your country. Give ten percent to poor people. Do homage on your knees in kowtow facing the place of the something or the other of Abraham at Mecca. Do it five times a day, and simply because Allah has told you to, to get you properly humble before him. If you can stop blasphemy of others, then do so; if you cannot stop it, then speak against it; and if you cannot speak against it, then hate it always in your heart. Allah is mighty. Allah sees all. Allah knows if you have been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake (or rather, for you own sake, for it is only in pleasing Allah [whatever they may entail] that you can get the sexual kicks that lasts forever and abundant with climaxes of 1000 years duration) and avoid the unending pain of the rebellious and haughty who refuse to heed the clearly pronounced word of Allah (through the entranced lips of Mohammed). Go to Mecca once in your life and humble yourself before Allah by doing these otherwise silly things simply because he requires it of you, and don't argue about it. Allah is beneficent, and if you are too poor or too sick (your conscience be your guide!), you don't have to go, and Allah will still give you some sex and lots of pretty girls at the end of life. You will begin to desire your own death in order to get the promised kicks.

How absurd (the Islamic continues) that God would require you to spin your wheels in trying to figure out what he wants, as though he wanted you just to search for his will all of your life without once figuring out for sure what he wants, or as though uncertainty on your part were His will. What he wants is clear (for Mohammed spoke it in his trance), and begin to comply immediately now that you have heard about it, for otherwise you will rot in everlasting hell. Don't even think non-Islamic thoughts, for that is dangerous and leads to destruction. Allah is mighty and sees and hears all, even what is spoken in the mind.

Now I switch gears and think as a Wesleyan (as I wish to characterize this thinking), namely: the requirements of man in order to please God are so simple as to be startling, namely to love one's neighbor as one's self. Nothing else is required (Romans 13:8-10). This rule even covers your dealings with neighbors who disagree with you (Romans 14). The Islamics would be right if there were no clarity in the Christian faith, but there is perfect clarity; only the "weak in faith" (see Romans 14) have trouble and must look to external sources, e.g., the church or scripture, to supplement this clearest of all teachings of the Christian faith, namely that each Christian stands vis-a-vis Christ alone with his conscience and both shall know immediately if heshe tried sincerely to love as Christ love, i.e., neighbor as self.

The confirmation of this concept is in the lives of the saints, e.g., John of England, Francis of Assisi, Philip of Atlanta, Tom of Georgia Tech, Sam of Mississippi, who, while far from perfection, have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit sufficiently to testify that they are on the way to the only perfection that is required by God, namely perfection in Christ, i.e., perfection in love of neighbor, and even of enemy; and which is provided by God himself upon our faith

And so the gospel story is very, very simple. Jesus came to give people a second chance, but more! namely with a guarantee of success, namely the moral perfection of himself in the flesh. Now it is true that most people do not attain this perfection while on earth, but if time is available (unlike the case with the thief on the cross), then progress toward that goal will be manifested. The icon for this so simple gospel is two fold, namely 1. the vicarious death of Jesus in taking the place of the no-count, Barabbas, and 2. his miraculous resurrection from the dead. The former images his love for all people, including therefore even me (as John Wesley finally came to accept with reference to himself personally), and the desire he has to make me new; and the latter (the resurrection) shows us his power in accomplishing what he has promised in giving us this second chance, namely newness of spirit and eventual perfection in flesh (even if only at the end in the heavenly flesh of our heavenly bodies).

The concept is so terribly simple, that the Christians have the story needed to convert the world, for it is a story which 1. conforms entirely to the moral conception of Immanuel Kant (in his rational confirmation of Genesis 3:22) and the categorical imperative of Jesus in Matthew 7:12; and 2. calls for a yoke which is easy, i.e., honest conscience with regard to one's commitment to loving as Jesus loved; and 3. provides empirical evidence (in the lives of the saints, including ourselves) of the power of God actually to perform miracles in the hearts and flesh of people through the work of the Holy Spirit, Who is willing and even eager to enter into the lives and hearts to work this miracle, requiring merely a ready and expectant spirit.

Barabbas was rescued by Jesus, but his salvation came when he realized it was for the purpose of giving him a second, guaranteed chance.

The only stumbling block to this powerful message comes from those who call themselves strong in faith when actually they are weak in faith, namely those who think that the scriptures call upon them to supplement the Golden Rule as the sole guide to their own conscience, and to look in that regard for physical things like: refusing blood transfusions, not eating the flesh of animals who died, men refraining from wearing long hair, or avoiding homosexual contact. Thus they "materialize" the gospel.

Until these are cured, as it were, the Christian gospel is tainted and confused and suspect, and the Islamic win the upper hand. Once we are able to see weakness (in faith) for what it is (and that it is actually pitiful), then we can go to the rest of the world with the gospel message; but then ask the new converts to remember the weak-in-faith [a technical term] who are, of course, also their brothers and sisters in the faith, and to seek not to offend them and indeed to pray for them diligently.

In returning now to the original question, we find that our insistence upon the honesty of God is what makes every revealed religion valid with regard to the material and specifics. This insistence on the honesty of God is moral, for it is a wrong to lie, ever! This was the teaching of Jesus, and is the teaching of the moral law itself, which "infects" the soul of every rationally thinking human who takes time to think about the principles of his life (and which confirms Genesis 3:22). Therefore the moral law precedes the knowledge of God, and the revelation of God is based upon it. Therefore the moral law precedes any revelation of God and is the negative mark of truth, i.e., the revelation must be moral in its concept in order to ever be valid.

But this conception, for humans, is given its clearest expression in the Golden Rule. And so it is no wonder that our Lord enunciated this rule by itself when speaking to the multitudes. The second command leads naturally to the first, for by virtue of the fact that we see that we are indeed becoming increasingly like Jesus in the love that wells up from within us, we are made cognizant of the miracle that God has worked (and is working) and so turn to Himher in utter and spontaneous adoration of His Holy Name.

Yours in Christ,

Philip