I am very appreciative of those of you who have read my entries so far, especially my letters which I wrote whilst I was in hospital. I entitled this blog as Christian Anarchism, there are problems with that (my wife hates the idea of anarchy!), but I am asking now if there are any of you who feel that Christian Anarchism has something to offer in our fundamental belief in Christ as God then I would be pleased to get any responses to my thoughts whilst I lay in hospital. In other words, are any of my readers Christian Anarchists!? I do not subscribe to the title. Give yourself a title and you open yourself to the devil, but anarchism is an interesting and legitimate field of political science. My immediate physical problems may mean that I am not far away from some sort of permanent residential care.
A Fifth Letter From Hospital.
I want to pursue further the question of faith and works on being a Christian. To be saved for eternity, for safety in this world is not guaranteed as we all know, to have our sins forgiven and to receive mercy are all gifts of God, and we will receive them by faith alone in God, through Jesus. There is nothing we can do in this world through works, now described as mental or physical or both, activities which contribute to the well-being of other human beings and future generations, which would ensure our eternal salvation. The gospel of St John, now having read it several times, only appears to offer eternal salvation through faith alone.
I therefore ask again, if we live solely by faith, will we be fed and clothed and protected from dangers and illnesses? Obviously not, no matter how much we pray to God He does not always answer our petitionary prayers, but He does hear them. Non-believers contribute to our welfare through their good works in this world, helping the poor and needy, volunteering in day-to-day services and even dangerous ones such as first responders in accidents, illnesses and disaster relief. We all do these things for our love of ourselves and others, and not because we want eternal salvation. It seems to me, by only reading the Gospel of St. John that to be a Christian is only motivated by the belief, guaranteed by faith in God, in eternal salvation. We need not bother with works at all!! However, as a Christian, I now find myself in hospital and in my old age, asking God what He wants me to do in this mortal life left to me, and I have settled to accepting all I can do is write and perhaps talk to try to bring others closer to Him. God is my great Motivator and is my great Comforter, but non-believers can also be comforted and motivated by their worldly endeavours. I therefore repeat, eternal salvation is all mainstream Christians talk about in their religious services. Yes, many do engage in good works, hopefully on a voluntary basis, but true Christians will, apart from praying for eternal salvation, also engage in good works but without displaying the evils of pride, greed, selfishness, cruelty and indifference towards their fellow men. A continuing study of the Bible must bring us to this conclusion, belief in eternal salvation through faith alone is not sufficient to make us true Christians. We must have both faith and works.
This now brings me back to anarchy because I am not prepared to engage in worldly works which only support the corrupt endeavours of the majority, and the capitalist economies of the world. If I contribute to the well-being of others which would be purely on a voluntary basis, my reward is in this life, but I would not accept worldly benefits at the expense and exploitation of others. We do need to engage in works, along with our faith, to be a true Christian. Throughout history saints have lived a humble life, devoted solely to spiritual matters. They inspire us all to develop our own spirituality, but few of us are saints. Dorothy Day has been put forward to be considered for sainthood, and this is through the recognition of her worldly efforts. I do not know how humble her day-to-day life was. Did Mother Teresa, C. S. Lewis and Mahatma Ghandi humble themselves in their day-to-day lives? I do know Lewis treated himself and his wife to a holiday in Greece sometime during her last two years with him. She died of cancer, a painful death, five years before his own death. He suffered greatly during those years, emotionally and physically, but he continued to write when he was able and he has inspired millions to draw closer to God. His last book, "Letters to Malcolm", is still re-published, and he replied to all correspondence with hand-written letters.
Today it occurred to me whether or not I was reacting to the other patients as a a true Christian? Christopher I have mentioned before, and tonight I was moved to call across one of his regular visitors to my bedside. I am not able at the moment to get across to him. His other visitor, possibly his mother, was helping him to eat. The lady came across and I told her about my conversations with Christopher so far, and how I was inspired by his fortitude for life in the face of his adversity. I said I did not want to pry, but asked why he was in hospital now, and whether or not he had had another fall? She said hospital visits were routine for him throughout his eighteen years of infirmity, paralyzed from the waist down. I told her I was searching for answers to my condition, and how I prayed to God asking Him what else He wants me to do. At the moment I told her that I am writing and talking! She left, thanking me and saying she enjoyed listening to me.
Another patient on my left, just admitted, spoke to me and his first words were to ask for a boiled sweet, brought to me by Malvina. On the third sweet through the afternoon, I said that Malvina would not be visiting me again for three days, this was a lie to put him off. He said he would get some tomorrow. This evening he asked for sweet number four, which I gave to him without question, saying we had nearly eaten the whole packet between us. I wished him a merry Christmas, thinking about the antarctic explorer who shared his sweets, one each to his comrades on Christmas Day during a storm. If I was mobile perhaps I should carry my packet around the ward, but I think we would all need to do the same with whatever we all possessed. Dealing with this one patient, I could only suspect that he was of the type to take advantage of any opportunity to receive and not to give. I guess we will find out tomorrow. It takes time to form relationships in this world, and even longer to form wholesome and worthwhile Christian relationships. Returning to the established Churches, such wholesome relationships do not appear to be very prevalent, certainly not in any Church which my wife and myself have attended, even though the SDA Quarterly, which has inspired me to write these letters, seems to be actively trying to encourage such an outcome. I think most people do not want such a relationship in their Church nor to develop their so-called spiritual lives, and by attending their Church, and becoming tithe-paying members, they are closed to becoming true Christians. As Jesus said, those of you who speak of me but do not believe in me, I do not know you, or words to that effect.
I want to make a short digression from my discussion on works, and return to three Scriptures concerning salvation, John 1:4-6, Acts 16:13 and Romans 10:9. Taking them not out of context, John is only concerned about eternal salvation after death. In Acts the jailer is asking to be saved from death from his superiors because his prisoners may have escaped, he was only interested in worldly salvation. They have not escaped therefore Paul and Silas are telling the jailer about saving his soul (eternal salvation) even though they also mention his house. The jailer was not interested in saving his soul at that time, just his life and, I guess, his house. This is a double entendre, really confusing salvation in this life and eternal salvation in the after-life. As true Christians both should be important, therefore works and faith are inseparable for true Christian living.
In Romans 10:9 to be saved must be seen in the context of the whole chapter, and is only referring to salvation of the soul, or eternal salvation. therefore there is nothing new from what is found in the whole of the Gospel of St. John. Reading isolated Scriptures does little or nothing to bring us closer to God, only a scholarly study of the whole Bible could do that. I respect the authority of those who do this, but I do not want to reward them with worldly goods beyond the level of all others. If a pastor accepts a large salary he is no Christian, certainly no member of the universal church of Christ. In this materialistic world controlled by the devil, we call it the God business. As I have mentioned before, the profound thing about being a true Christian is believing in the triune God. Jesus was God come to earth as a man, in our time. He then ascended to heaven and returned as the Holy Spirit, still God, to be within us and to encourage us to do good works in this life. These have to be beliefs firmly embedded in our developing spirituality, and therefore intimately connected with our faith and cannot be separated from it. We cannot have faith without works to be a true Christian.
A Fifth Letter From Hospital.
I want to pursue further the question of faith and works on being a Christian. To be saved for eternity, for safety in this world is not guaranteed as we all know, to have our sins forgiven and to receive mercy are all gifts of God, and we will receive them by faith alone in God, through Jesus. There is nothing we can do in this world through works, now described as mental or physical or both, activities which contribute to the well-being of other human beings and future generations, which would ensure our eternal salvation. The gospel of St John, now having read it several times, only appears to offer eternal salvation through faith alone.
I therefore ask again, if we live solely by faith, will we be fed and clothed and protected from dangers and illnesses? Obviously not, no matter how much we pray to God He does not always answer our petitionary prayers, but He does hear them. Non-believers contribute to our welfare through their good works in this world, helping the poor and needy, volunteering in day-to-day services and even dangerous ones such as first responders in accidents, illnesses and disaster relief. We all do these things for our love of ourselves and others, and not because we want eternal salvation. It seems to me, by only reading the Gospel of St. John that to be a Christian is only motivated by the belief, guaranteed by faith in God, in eternal salvation. We need not bother with works at all!! However, as a Christian, I now find myself in hospital and in my old age, asking God what He wants me to do in this mortal life left to me, and I have settled to accepting all I can do is write and perhaps talk to try to bring others closer to Him. God is my great Motivator and is my great Comforter, but non-believers can also be comforted and motivated by their worldly endeavours. I therefore repeat, eternal salvation is all mainstream Christians talk about in their religious services. Yes, many do engage in good works, hopefully on a voluntary basis, but true Christians will, apart from praying for eternal salvation, also engage in good works but without displaying the evils of pride, greed, selfishness, cruelty and indifference towards their fellow men. A continuing study of the Bible must bring us to this conclusion, belief in eternal salvation through faith alone is not sufficient to make us true Christians. We must have both faith and works.
This now brings me back to anarchy because I am not prepared to engage in worldly works which only support the corrupt endeavours of the majority, and the capitalist economies of the world. If I contribute to the well-being of others which would be purely on a voluntary basis, my reward is in this life, but I would not accept worldly benefits at the expense and exploitation of others. We do need to engage in works, along with our faith, to be a true Christian. Throughout history saints have lived a humble life, devoted solely to spiritual matters. They inspire us all to develop our own spirituality, but few of us are saints. Dorothy Day has been put forward to be considered for sainthood, and this is through the recognition of her worldly efforts. I do not know how humble her day-to-day life was. Did Mother Teresa, C. S. Lewis and Mahatma Ghandi humble themselves in their day-to-day lives? I do know Lewis treated himself and his wife to a holiday in Greece sometime during her last two years with him. She died of cancer, a painful death, five years before his own death. He suffered greatly during those years, emotionally and physically, but he continued to write when he was able and he has inspired millions to draw closer to God. His last book, "Letters to Malcolm", is still re-published, and he replied to all correspondence with hand-written letters.
Today it occurred to me whether or not I was reacting to the other patients as a a true Christian? Christopher I have mentioned before, and tonight I was moved to call across one of his regular visitors to my bedside. I am not able at the moment to get across to him. His other visitor, possibly his mother, was helping him to eat. The lady came across and I told her about my conversations with Christopher so far, and how I was inspired by his fortitude for life in the face of his adversity. I said I did not want to pry, but asked why he was in hospital now, and whether or not he had had another fall? She said hospital visits were routine for him throughout his eighteen years of infirmity, paralyzed from the waist down. I told her I was searching for answers to my condition, and how I prayed to God asking Him what else He wants me to do. At the moment I told her that I am writing and talking! She left, thanking me and saying she enjoyed listening to me.
Another patient on my left, just admitted, spoke to me and his first words were to ask for a boiled sweet, brought to me by Malvina. On the third sweet through the afternoon, I said that Malvina would not be visiting me again for three days, this was a lie to put him off. He said he would get some tomorrow. This evening he asked for sweet number four, which I gave to him without question, saying we had nearly eaten the whole packet between us. I wished him a merry Christmas, thinking about the antarctic explorer who shared his sweets, one each to his comrades on Christmas Day during a storm. If I was mobile perhaps I should carry my packet around the ward, but I think we would all need to do the same with whatever we all possessed. Dealing with this one patient, I could only suspect that he was of the type to take advantage of any opportunity to receive and not to give. I guess we will find out tomorrow. It takes time to form relationships in this world, and even longer to form wholesome and worthwhile Christian relationships. Returning to the established Churches, such wholesome relationships do not appear to be very prevalent, certainly not in any Church which my wife and myself have attended, even though the SDA Quarterly, which has inspired me to write these letters, seems to be actively trying to encourage such an outcome. I think most people do not want such a relationship in their Church nor to develop their so-called spiritual lives, and by attending their Church, and becoming tithe-paying members, they are closed to becoming true Christians. As Jesus said, those of you who speak of me but do not believe in me, I do not know you, or words to that effect.
I want to make a short digression from my discussion on works, and return to three Scriptures concerning salvation, John 1:4-6, Acts 16:13 and Romans 10:9. Taking them not out of context, John is only concerned about eternal salvation after death. In Acts the jailer is asking to be saved from death from his superiors because his prisoners may have escaped, he was only interested in worldly salvation. They have not escaped therefore Paul and Silas are telling the jailer about saving his soul (eternal salvation) even though they also mention his house. The jailer was not interested in saving his soul at that time, just his life and, I guess, his house. This is a double entendre, really confusing salvation in this life and eternal salvation in the after-life. As true Christians both should be important, therefore works and faith are inseparable for true Christian living.
In Romans 10:9 to be saved must be seen in the context of the whole chapter, and is only referring to salvation of the soul, or eternal salvation. therefore there is nothing new from what is found in the whole of the Gospel of St. John. Reading isolated Scriptures does little or nothing to bring us closer to God, only a scholarly study of the whole Bible could do that. I respect the authority of those who do this, but I do not want to reward them with worldly goods beyond the level of all others. If a pastor accepts a large salary he is no Christian, certainly no member of the universal church of Christ. In this materialistic world controlled by the devil, we call it the God business. As I have mentioned before, the profound thing about being a true Christian is believing in the triune God. Jesus was God come to earth as a man, in our time. He then ascended to heaven and returned as the Holy Spirit, still God, to be within us and to encourage us to do good works in this life. These have to be beliefs firmly embedded in our developing spirituality, and therefore intimately connected with our faith and cannot be separated from it. We cannot have faith without works to be a true Christian.
