I originally wrote this as an introductory passage for “What the New Testament means to me.”   I wound up leaving it out as I didn’t think Ezekah would care for a whole lot of abstraction.

As I view the world right now, I see three elements:  (1) What Is, including the material (seen) world, the spiritual (unseen) world, and all possibilities of events that can possibly occur.  I may as well call this “God.”  (2)  A single set of principles that govern existence and all events that can occur.  What we call the laws of physics are an example of these principles.  I may as well call this “God’s will.”

(3) Human activity.  It may be that there are no commandments, and no such thing as sin.  Rather, God’s will is inviolable; and it is how we interact with What Is, inevitably in accordance with those principles, that brings weal or woe.  If we act this way, we can have a world of harmony, beauty and joy.  If we act that way, we’ll have a world of poverty, violence and bloodshed.

So far, there is neither need nor room for teachings of John and Paul that deviate from Jesus’ teachings in the Synoptics: no need nor room for a Son of God, perfect sacrifice, “belief in” Jesus, or heaven or hell — aside from the heaven or hell we create for ourselves in this life, here and now.

“What the New Testament means to me” points to ways to create, in effect, heaven on earth.  The opposite path is described in “A living hell.”

Reblogged 2020-08-13.