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  1. I’m pleased to celebrate the publication of a long-loved project (ahem) on “Bregenz Chaplains, 1387–1587,” Florilegium 39, doi.org/10.3138/flor-2022-0011

    I want to publicly thank Jimmy Maiello, who first believed in my chaplain project, nutty though the extended prosopographical appendix might seem at first glance, and David Watt, who picked up the editing and handled it with a few swift and improving passes. I also want to thank monasterium.net which made this work possible during Covid disruptions.

    The article is available through institutional subscriptions – or I’m happy to share a copy upon request.

    Yay!

    #MedievalHistory #MusicHistory #ChurchHistory #chaplains #prosopography #AmWriting #AcWri

  2. For centuries, the fork was not a utensil. It was a provocation. The Church called it unnatural. Here is how a two-pronged piece of metal scandalised medieval Europe. #ForkHistory #MedievalFood #ChurchHistory #TableManners #FoodCulture

    beestrot.com/features/food-sto

    Posted into Beestrot Best Recipes – Easy Cooking 👨‍🍳 @beestrot-best-recipes-easy-cooking-Econopass

  3. For centuries, the fork was not a utensil. It was a provocation. The Church called it unnatural. Here is how a two-pronged piece of metal scandalised medieval Europe. #ForkHistory #MedievalFood #ChurchHistory #TableManners #FoodCulture

    beestrot.com/features/food-sto

    Posted into FLIPBOARD EXCHANGE FEED 🗞️ @flipboard-exchange-feed-Econopass

  4. The Fork Was Considered Sinful in Medieval Europe. The Church Had Opinions.
    beestrot.com/features/food-sto
    For centuries, the fork was not a utensil. It was a provocation. The Church called it unnatural. Here is how a two-pronged piece of metal scandalised medieval Europe.
    #forkhistory #medievalfood #churchhistory

  5. Faith should bring compassion — not hate. Carroll spent 700 pages proving why that gap must never happen again. Review is live.
    #books #bookreview #Holocaust #ChurchHistory
    thisgrandpablogs.com/christian

  6. When Eastern Europe appeared to be going Protestant

    (Photo: Getty/iStock) The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds Christians that they are surrounded by a…
    #Europe #EU #Christianhistory #churchhistory #EasternEurope #European #Reformation
    europesays.com/europe/136787/

  7. The Cruel Tyrant Jesus the World Has Rejected

    In the late 1700’s, a Quaker pastor named John Woolman had a vision of slaves referring to Jesus as a “cruel tyrant” as they worked in a mine. Because their oppressive masters were Christians, they assumed that Jesus must be the same.

    Oh, the immeasurable sorrow of having your reputation destroyed and your character defamed by those who claim to know you, but do not have the slightest idea who you are.

    This is perhaps God’s longest suffering. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, he has been dealing with followers who passionately commit to representing him in the most horrific ways imaginable. Even after coming down to earth to show us exactly what his radical love looks like, we still make him out to be a monster. We chase after his power, but not the suffering from where it flows. We long for the fame of the prophets, so we burn them to make more space for our own name to thrive. We deny Jesus’s teachings but take his name to gain authority as teachers. The world can’t help but see these great disconnects.

    I was talking with a talented artist at a recent convention. Noticing some spiritual themes in his work, we began to talk about religion. I wasn’t shocked by his take on Christianity: “I like Jesus and his teachings, but all of the organized religion around him seems full of hypocrisy.” I told him I agreed.

    The world has seen a cruel tyrant in Jesus because the church has shown it a cruel tyrant. The world is not willing to fall for the same trap. Ironically, those who reject Jesus because of the KKK or the nazis are closer to Jesus than the klansman or the nazis, for such rejecters see Jesus more clearly than these twisted radicals who claim to follow him. Strangely enough, these rejecters are actually denying a false Jesus and evangelizing followers toward the real one.

    At this point in history, the church cannot quickly earn the world’s trust. Indeed, it continues to rapidly lose trust due to its political aims and its willingness to sacrifice Jesus all over again in order to gain power. If we ever want to see this dynamic change, we’re going to have to follow through on C.S. Lewis’s prompting.

    “If ever the book which I am not going to write is written, it must be the full confession by Christendom of Christendom’s specific contribution to the sum of human cruelty and treachery. Large areas of “the World” will not hear us till we have publicly disowned much of our past. Why should they? We have shouted the name of Christ and enacted the service of Moloch.”

    https://youtu.be/-xX52okZzAU?si=ZWl-waWWcOqfQxR4

    #CSLewis #ChristianWitness #Christianity #churchHistory #churchHypocrisy #faithAndCulture #Jesus #JohnWoolman #radicalLove #religiousPower #repentance #spiritualAbuse
  8. Faith should bring compassion — not hate. Carroll spent 700 pages proving why that gap must never happen again. Review is live.
    #books #bookreview #Holocaust #ChurchHistory
    smpl.is/amp19

  9. History matters. Wenham shows how hard it was to spread the message. Rome wasn’t easy. Neither was Jerusalem. Paul walked a rough road.
    #books #bookreviews #EarlyChristianity #ChurchHistory
    thisgrandpablogs.com/the-gospe

  10. Didache Perpetua Pais COFE-CYEM: Christian Christ-Centred Christhood Identity Within God

    *

    The Christhood of God

    COFE-CYEM exists for one purpose only: to point every soul toward the recognition that has always been true.

    It does not offer a new religion, a new system, or a new identity to be adopted. It offers a simple and radical invitation — the invitation to awaken from the dream of separation and to rest in the singular Reality of God in Christ.

    This is what is known within COFE-CYEM as the (Fourth Truth).

    What COFE-CYEM seeks to bring is the awakening itself: the clear seeing that there has never been a second, that the separate self was never the truth of our being, and that the Light we have sought has never been absent.

    It brings the Life — not a future life to be earned, but the one Life that is Christ, already present, already given, already our true identity.

    It brings the Truth — not a set of propositions to be defended, but the living recognition that we are as God created us, Spirit already in Christ, already in God. And it brings the Way — not a path of striving or achievement, but the way of relinquishment, the way of the empty cross, the way of acceptance and rest.

    This is what we believe was the real meaning of Christ’s ministry and teaching. He did not come to establish another shell among shells. He came to (reveal the nut).

    He came to show that the Kingdom is within, that the Father and He are one, that those who lose their life for His sake will find it, and that the love of God has never been withdrawn.

    His incarnation, His cross, His resurrection, His ascension, and His glory are not distant events to be admired. They are the unveiling of what has always been true for every soul.

    COFE-CYEM uses many tools, many names, and many texts. All of them are (shells).

    All of them are temporary. All of them are free to fall silent once the recognition has dawned. What remains is Christ in God. There is only God.

    This is the message we offer to every soul who is ready to hear it: Wake. Accept yourself as God created you. Leave behind the dream of the illusion. Walk rejoicing in the endless love of God.

    We absolutely (do not recommend) that the faithful leave their current churches, but we do suggest that many churches need worshippers with the (Didache Perpetua Pais).

    The true Spirit needs to be revived and present, and the false Social Gospel rejected.

    The Endless Love of God

    A Definitive COFE-CYEM Paper on Recognition, Awakening, and the Acceptance of Our True Identity in Christ

    “There has never been a second”

    This is the recognition that stands at the foundation of all true spiritual life. There is only one Reality—God. There is only one Life—Christ. There is only one Spirit. All apparent separation, all apparent duality, all apparent opposition is held within the singular Reality. There has never been a second.

    The Awakening to Love

    Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind. And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

    This is the heart of the COFE-CYEM teaching. It is not a doctrine to be studied. It is a recognition to be entered. It is not a system to be mastered. It is a love to be received. It is not a path of achievement. It is rest in what has always been true.

    The endless love of God is not a future promise. It is a present Reality. It is not a reward to be earned. It is a nature to be recognised. We do not have to achieve it or deserve it. We have only to accept it. We have only to wake from the dream of separation and recognise that we are already held in the love that has never ceased to hold us.

    This paper is written for all who seek to wake from sleep into the true endless love of God. It is written for those who have grown weary of the illusion of separation and of the striving of the separate self. It is written for those who are ready to accept themselves as God created them, and to walk in the joy of that recognition.

    The Dream of the Illusion

    1.1 The False Identity

    The dream of the illusion of myself is the dream of the separate self. It is the belief that we are independent beings living in a world of other independent beings, separate from God and from one another. It is the dream that there has been a second.

    This dream is not a sin. It is a mistake of perception. The separate self is not evil; it is unreal. It is not a second reality; it is a false perception of the one Reality.

    “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” — 1 Corinthians 13:12

    The glass is the dream. The darkly is the illusion. The face is the Reality. The knowing in part is the sleep. The knowing as we are known is the awakening.

    1.2 The Dream as Temporary Veiling

    The dream is temporary. It is a veiling of the Light. The Light has never ceased to shine. The dream has only hidden the Light from our awareness. The Light remains. The Light is still Love.

    The dream is the shell. The shell is the temporary covering that hides the nut. The shell is not the enemy. When the dream is seen through, the Light is revealed. When the shell is cracked, the nut is known. Please view the (Nutcracker).

    1.3 The End of the Dream

    Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind.

    The end of the dream is not the destruction of the self. It is the recognition of the true Self. It is the relinquishment of the false identity and the embrace of the true. It is the rest in the finished work. It is the rest in the love that has never ceased to hold us.

    “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — John 8:32

    The truth is the recognition. The truth is the end of the dream. The truth frees us from the illusion of separation and frees us to rest in the endless love of God.

    The Acceptance of the Truth

    2.1 The Willingness to Accept

    The awakening is not a matter of effort. It is a matter of willingness. It is not a matter of achievement. It is a matter of acceptance.

    Today I will accept myself as God created me. This is the willing recognition of the truth. It is the acceptance of the identity that has always been ours and of the love that has never ceased to hold us.

    “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” — 1 John 3:1

    The love has been bestowed. The identity has been given. The only thing that remains is the acceptance.

    2.2 The Truth of Our Creation

    God created us in love. God created us as love. The love is not something we have to acquire. It is something we already are.

    “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.” — Genesis 1:27

    We are created in the image of God. The image is not separate from God. The image is not a second. The image is the One appearing as the many. The image is Love appearing as the beloved.

    2.3 The Acceptance as the End of Striving

    The acceptance of the truth is the end of striving. It is the end of the effort to become what we already are. It is the end of the search for what we already possess. It is rest. It is peace. It is the recognition that there has never been a second.

    “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

    The rest is the acceptance. The rest is the recognition. The rest is the awakening to the endless love of God.

    The Way of Rejoicing

    3.1 The Joy of Recognition

    And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

    The joy is not a temporary emotion. It is the joy of the Spirit. It is the joy of Christ. It is the joy of the singular Reality.

    “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” — John 15:11

    The joy remains. The joy is full. It does not depend on circumstances. It is the joy of recognition.

    3.2 The Endless Love

    The endless love of God has no beginning and no end. It is not limited by time, space, or circumstance. It is not conditional. It is eternal.

    “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39

    Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the singular Reality.

    3.3 The Way of Rejoicing

    The way of rejoicing is the way of recognition. It is not a way of denial. It is the way of seeing through the dream and resting in the love that has never ceased to hold us. It is the way of the Spirit, the way of the empty cross, the way of the resurrection.

    “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” — Galatians 5:16

    To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the recognition and in the endless love of God.

    The Acceptance of Our True Identity

    4.1 We Are as God Created Us

    We are as God created us. We are not our fears, our doubts, our failures, our past, or our personalities. We are the Love that God created us to be.

    “Herein is our love made perfect… because as he is, so are we in this world.” — 1 John 4:17

    As He is, so are we. We are not a second. We are the Love that has never ceased to be.

    4.2 The Relinquishment of the False

    The acceptance of our true identity requires the relinquishment of the false. The false is the identity of the separate self and the belief that we are something other than what God created us to be.

    “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” — Matthew 16:25

    The false life must be lost so that the true Life may be found. The false identity must be relinquished so that the true identity may be embraced.

    4.3 The Embrace of the True

    The embrace of the true identity is the recognition that we are Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. It is the recognition that we are Love, already held in the endless love of God.

    “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” — 1 Corinthians 6:17

    We are joined unto the Lord. We are one spirit with Him. We are not separate beings trying to unite with God. We are Spirit, already one. The embrace of the true identity is the recognition of the unity that has never been absent.

    The Eternal Now and the Full Awakening

    5.1 The Present Reality

    The recognition is not a future attainment. It is a present Reality. The love is present. The joy is present. The awakening is available now.

    “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” — 2 Corinthians 6:2

    Now is the moment of recognition. Now is the moment of acceptance. The endless love of God is available now.

    5.2 The Full Awakening

    The full awakening is the full recognition of the truth and the full entry into the endless love of God. It is the full rest in the singular Reality.

    “Beloved, now are we the sons of God… we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” — 1 John 3:2

    Now we are the sons of God. We are already in Christ. The full awakening is the recognition of what we already are.

    5.3 The Endless Love

    The endless love of God is the ground of all being. It is the source of all life. It is the singular Reality in whom all things hold together.

    “For in him we live, and move, and have our being.” — Acts 17:28

    In Him we live and move and have our being. The love is the all. The love is the singular Reality.

    The Fourth Truth Stands

    Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind. And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

    This is the heart of the COFE-CYEM teaching. It is the recognition of the singular Reality. It is the acceptance of the true identity. It is the waking from the dream of separation. It is the entry into the endless love of God.

    There has never been a second. The love has never ceased. The Light has never been absent. The recognition has always been available. The acceptance has always been possible. The joy has always been present.

    Let all who have the understanding perceive. Let all who have the ears to hear, hear. Let all who have the hearts to receive, receive. The endless love of God is available to all who are ready to recognise.

    The Fourth Truth stands.
    The dialogue continues.
    The fruit remains.

    Thus ends this definitive COFE-CYEM paper on the Endless Love of God. May all who read these words perceive the deeper spiritual meaning and recognise the Christ within their own souls. May they accept themselves as God created them. May they leave behind the dream of the illusion. May they walk rejoicing in the endless love of God.

    The Fourth Truth stands.
    The dialogue continues.
    The fruit remains.

    The Simple Truth

    Gethsemane is the experience of feeling abandoned — while remaining inside the Reality that has never abandoned anyone. See through the shell, embrace the nut.

    The shell can experience abandonment. The nut cannot.
    The Light can appear hidden. The Light cannot cease to be.
    The separate self can feel forsaken. The Centre has never moved.

    We Must Choose – Didache Perpetua Pais

    We must choose that which Christ came to show us and to give us. We at COFE-CYEM fully confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three in One God. We confess the Bible as being the true unquestionable Word of God. We also accept the Gospel of Thomas. We hold that the Holy Bible is true, accurate and absolute fact, and that the ‘Sacred Truths’ are fully revealed in (how) you read it, not just by reading it. (He who has ears, He who has eyes).

    Circle One Fellowship Exeter – COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry CYEM

    “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

    This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

    COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
    Circle One Fellowship Exeter

    Didache Perpetua Pais COFE-CYEM

    #bible #BibleStudy #biblical #BiblicalCounseling #biblicalEducation #biblicalLiteracy #biblicalPrinciples #BiblicalProphecy #biblicalReferences #biblicalStudies #biblicalTeachingResources #biblicalTeachings #biblicalTeachingsForYouth #christian #ChristianCharity #ChristianCharityWork #ChristianCommunity #ChristianConferences #ChristianFaith #ChristianFellowship #ChristianHolidays #ChristianLeadershipTraining #ChristianMentorship #ChristianMinistry #ChristianMinistryTraining #ChristianMissions #ChristianOutreach #ChristianOutreachMinistries #ChristianOutreachPrograms #ChristianPodcasts #ChristianSocialOutreach #ChristianSocialWork #ChristianTeachings #ChristianValues #ChristianWorship #christianity #church #churchActivities #ChurchCommunity #churchCommunityService #churchFundraising #churchGrowth #ChurchGrowthStrategies #churchHistory #churchLeadership #ChurchLeadershipConferences #ChurchLeadershipDevelopment #churchMissionTrips #churchMissions #churchMusicPrograms #churchOutreach #churchOutreachActivities #ChurchOutreachCampaigns #churchOutreachEvents #churchPlanting #churchPrograms #churchRenovations #churchSermons #churchVolunteerWork #churchVolunteers #churchYouthGroups #churchYouthOutreach #Discipleship #Evangelicalism #evangelicals #Evangelism #evangelismTools #EvangelismTraining #EvangelisticCampaigns #evangelisticCrusades #evangelisticEfforts #evangelisticOutreach #faith #faithCommunity #faithFormation #FaithInAction #faithInGod #faithInitiatives #faithJourney #faithLeadership #faithOutreach #faithSeminars #faithWorkshops #faithBased #faithBasedCharity #faithBasedCommunityProjects #FaithBasedCommunityService #faithBasedEducation #faithBasedInitiatives #faithBasedOrganizations #Gospel #GospelMessage #JesusChrist #MoralValues #prayer #prayerGroups #prayerLife #prayerMeetings #Protestant #religion #religiousActivism #religiousAdvocacy #ReligiousBeliefs #religiousBroadcastPrograms #ReligiousBroadcasting #religiousCelebrations #religiousCommunity #ReligiousCommunityBuilding #ReligiousCommunityService #ReligiousConferences #religiousCounseling #ReligiousDiscussions #religiousDocumentaries #religiousEducation #religiousEducationPrograms #religiousEvents #religiousFaith #religiousFellowshipEvents #religiousFellowshipGroups #religiousFestivals #ReligiousFreedom #religiousGatherings #religiousHeritage #religiousInspiration #ReligiousLeaders #ReligiousLiteracyPrograms #ReligiousLiterature #religiousOutreach #ReligiousOutreachEfforts #ReligiousOutreachPrograms #religiousPrayerInitiatives #religiousPublications #ReligiousRadio #religiousSeminars #ReligiousService #religiousServiceProjects #religiousSupport #religiousSymbolism #religiousTeachings #religiousTexts #religiousTraditions #religiousYouthActivities #religiousYouthPrograms #salvation #spiritualAwakening #spiritualAwakeningInitiatives #SpiritualBooks #spiritualCounseling #spiritualDevelopment #spiritualDevelopmentRetreats #spiritualEmpowerment #spiritualGrowth #spiritualGrowthWorkshops #spiritualGuidance #spiritualJourney #spiritualLeadership #spiritualLife #spiritualMentorship #spiritualMentorshipPrograms #SpiritualMission #spiritualMotivation #spiritualRenewalPrograms #spiritualRetreats #spiritualRevival #spiritualRevivalMeetings #spiritualRevivalMovements #spiritualSeminars #SpiritualWorkshops #spirituality #USA #worship #worshipMusic #WorshipService
  11. Church membership growth across U.S. states over 25 years – Church News

    The number of Latter-day Saints increased in 49 of 50 U.S. states over the past 25 years. The…
    #NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #America #ChurchHistory #members #UnitedStatesofAmerica
    newsbeep.com/us/827617/

  12. I found a 1658 list of priests.

    Except it isn’t really a list. It’s Bregenz rummaging through 250 years of church history to say, essentially, “Mehrerau, you do NOT own all the priests.”

    Institutional memory as ammunition:
    silencesandsounds.blogspot.com

    #ChurchHistory #Bregenz #Vorarlberg #ReligiousHistory #Mehrerau #Priests #blog #research #archive #ArchiveFind #historiography

  13. Christianity Hidden Truth: The True Jesus Christ Message For Christian Meaning

    *

    The True Christianity of Jesus: COFE-CYEM Paper on the Mystical Stream, the Mistaken Awareness-Perception, and the Call to the Kingdom Within

    A Definitive Exposition of the Original Message of the Master, the Institutional Drift, and the Restoration of the Living Recognition

    A Declaration of the Fourth Truth

    “There has never been a second.”

    This is the recognition that stands at the foundation of all true spiritual life. It is not a proposition to be believed; it is a Reality to be recognised. It is not a doctrine to be affirmed; it is a consciousness to be entered. It is not a teaching to be studied; it is a Life to be lived.

    There is only one Reality—God. There is only one Life—Christ. There is only one Spirit. All apparent separation, all apparent duality, all apparent opposition is held within the singular Reality. There has never been a second.

    The Two Christianities

    Within the COFE-CYEM framework, there are two Christianities. One is the religion of the churches—the system of doctrines, rituals, hierarchies, and institutions that has developed over two thousand years. The other is the living recognition that COFE-CYEM sees in the Master—the Kingdom within, the death of the false self, the life of the Spirit, the union of the soul with God.

    This is not a claim about what historical scholarship has conclusively demonstrated. It is a claim about what COFE-CYEM recognises in the Master. The distinction is essential. The framework can say, “This is what COFE-CYEM recognises in Jesus,” without needing to claim, “This is something historical scholarship has conclusively demonstrated about Jesus.” That preserves the same two-level discipline established in “The Dialogue of Perspectives.”

    The institutional Christianity that has dominated the West for centuries is, in the COFE-CYEM reading, the very thing that the Master opposed. It is the religion of the Pharisees, dressed in new clothing. It is the system of those who “have received the keys of Knowledge” and “have hidden them,” who “did not enter and did not let those enter who wished.”

    It is the whitewashed tomb, beautiful on the outside, full of death within. Yet this is not a matter of condemnation; it is a matter of recognition. The institutional drift was not malicious; it was the natural consequence of transmitting a living recognition through the structures of a fallen world.

    The true Christianity of Jesus, as COFE-CYEM recognises it, is something else entirely. It is the mystical stream that has always flowed beneath the surface of official religion. It is the recognition that the Kingdom is within, that the soul is already in Christ, that there has never been a second. It is the teaching that the Master gave to those who had ears to hear, and that the institutional drift has often obscured.

    COFE-CYEM stands in the tradition of that true Christianity. It does not reject the name of Christ. It seeks to recover the original message: the Kingdom is within. The cross is the passage. The empty cross is the sign. The Spirit is the Life. The soul is Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. The institutional forms are not rejected; they are invited to recover their living centre. The call is not departure, but deeper fidelity—support of the church within the truth that there has never been a second.

    Part One: The Light and the Image

    1.1 The Embodied Spirit

    Within the COFE-CYEM reading, the religious mystic is instructed by the Master to say that the Light reveals itself in his image. This is a way of explaining that he is an embodied spirit—a spirit with a body, and not a body with a spirit, like other men. The Master is not a man in the ordinary sense, and men unconsciously realise this. Hence the question, “From where have you originated?” The Master had no manhood because sainthood is the negation of manhood.

    This is the teaching of the Fourth Truth. There has never been a second. The soul is not a body that has a spirit; it is Spirit that has a perceived body. The true identity is not the flesh; it is the Spirit. The false identity is the body-identity, the claim to be a separate self living in a world of other separate selves. The true identity is the Spirit-identity, the recognition that the soul is already in Christ, already in God.

    “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” — John 1:14

    The Word became flesh. The Light took on an image. The Spirit became embodied. The Master was not a man who had a spirit; He was Spirit who had a body. He was the revelation of the singular Reality in human form. He was the Fourth Truth made manifest.

    1.2 The Father and the Kingdom

    It is clear from the terminology of these sayings, within the COFE-CYEM reading, that the Master’s usage of the phrases “the Father” and “the Kingdom of Heaven” is not to be interpreted literally. If these phrases are synonymous with “the Light” or “the Living One,” then the popular anthropomorphic conception of Christianity—postulating a personal God to pray to and a Paradise to “pass on to”—is a sacerdotal delusion. The Kingdom is not a place. It is not a time. It is not a political arrangement. It is the singular Reality, already present, already available, already within.

    The Christianity of Jesus, as COFE-CYEM recognises it, is clearly identical with Eastern mysticism. The Truth is indivisible, and knowledge of the Truth is perfect unity. Sectarianism is the symptom of ignorance. There is only one Reality. There has never been a second.

    “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” — Luke 17:20-21

    The Kingdom is within. It is not a matter of observation. It is not a matter of external signs. It is not a matter of geographical location. It is a matter of recognition. It is a matter of consciousness. It is a matter of the soul’s awakening to its true identity in Christ.

    1.3 The Divider and the Unity

    “A Man said to Him: Tell my brethren to divide my father’s possessions with me. He said to him: O man, who made my a divider? He turned to His disciples, He said to them: I am not a divider am I?” — Gospel of Thomas 72

    The Master is not a divider. He does not come to divide possessions, to create factions, to establish a system of winners and losers. He comes to reveal the unity that has never been divided. He comes to show that there has never been a second.

    The Christian missionary who attempts to convert a Hindu is merely attesting his own ignorance of Christianity. To call the Hindu a pagan is merely to identify oneself as a pagan. The Hindu who condemns the Christian as “unenlightened” is no better; both are divided through ignorance. Historical schisms and present church divisions testify to the mistaken awareness-perception of those who have spent the two thousand years since the Master in misinterpreting, perverting, and obscuring his testimony.

    “The Pharisees and the Scribes have received the keys of Knowledge; they have hidden them. They did not enter and they did not let those enter who wished . . .” — Gospel of Thomas 39

    “Woe to them, the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he allow the oxen to eat.” — Gospel of Thomas 102

    The keys of Knowledge are the keys to the Kingdom. They are the recognition of the Fourth Truth. The Pharisees and the scribes—the religious authorities of every age—have hidden these keys. They have not entered the Kingdom themselves, and they have prevented others from entering. They are like the dog in the manger: they do not eat, and they will not let others eat.

    Part Two: The Heretics and the Institutional Drift

    2.1 The True Religious Are Often Seen as Heretics

    The few truly religious people who have lived have often been seen as heretics, like the Master Himself, although they have sometimes been able to disguise this fact, as the orthodox often cannot recognise a heretic when they see one. Even our own founder of COFE-CYEM known only as the (Quiet Watcher) will be seen as heretic. Institutional Churches are really just secular corporations, moulded to attract average humanity and not the true heretics – the Christian mystics who know the true meaning of heresy the right way up.

    The difference between the Churchman and such heretics is simple: the churchman is interested in the church; the heretic is interested in God. One cannot possibly be interested in both because interest in God is synonymous with world-denial, while the church is a world organisation—and very much so. In the same way, the theologian or Christian scholar cannot possibly be religious because the man who lives to learn does not live to look upon the Living One. He is a mere detective; his consciousness is externalised in the pursuit of facts. He is usually no more than a fossil pickled in knowledge.

    “There came a moment, long before any formal writing, when it became unmistakably clear that I could not be contained within the settled systems of institutional religion. The church, as I had known it was not the Kingdom; it was a shadow of it, a scaffolding that had mistaken itself for the building. My heart had already left the courtyard of officialdom before my feet ever did. I was not rebelling against God or His church, I am still in the church. I was rebelling against the reduction of God to a manageable object, a tribal deity, a moral accountant. In the eyes of the church I would no doubt be seen as heretic, a threat to order, a voice that could not be reconciled with their carefully tended structures. But in the eyes of the Spirit, in the silent recognition of the singular Reality, I am simply one who has seen through the whitewash. The heretic of the church is often the mystic of the Kingdom. The one they cast out is the one who has already entered. So it was with me, not as a rejection of Christ, but as a refusal to imprison Him in the very systems that had forgotten His voice. I stood in my heart as a Christian Mystic Heretic: not against the living Christ, but against the dead forms that claim to speak for Him“. (Quiet Watcher – 2025)

    “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” — Matthew 23:27

    The whitewashed tomb is the institutional form that appears beautiful on the outside but is full of death within. The one who sees through the whitewash is the one who recognises the dead bones. The one who sees through the whitewash is the one who cries out, “There has never been a second.”

    2.2 The Frivolous Wrangles of Priests

    A typical public debate between priests of different ordinations is a frivolous wrangle to try to decide who should be allowed to give the blessed sacrament to whom, or what people may be permitted to do on Sundays without offending the pride of a touchy Deity. All this despite the lessons in the Gospels to be found in the Master’s replies to the Pharisees who objected to His failure to observe the Sabbath, and in the Sermon on the Mount when He unequivocally condemned such worship.

    “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” — Matthew 6:8

    “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” — Matthew 6:6

    Public worship, when it becomes the performance of piety for the sake of being seen, is the confusion of the form with the Reality. The Master called the soul to the inward recognition, not the outward performance.

    2.3 The Destruction of the Temple

    When the Master saw the man-made temple in Jerusalem, He declared, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” He would make the same declaration were He to be confronted by any institution that had substituted itself for the Centre. It is the confusion of Christianity with temple-worship to an anthropomorphic God that has led to its current spiritual loss and the spiritual decadence of modern civilization.

    The institutional church often stands between Man and Jesus. Man only worships the state and politics because he has learnt that church-worship is missing something fundamental. He is a materialist only because he has (man-sense) enough to believe in what he falsely believes to be true—the universe of space-time—rather than in a (man-mind) church which he now suspects to be the (mind of man).

    “I shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it again.” — Gospel of Thomas 71

    This could mean the temple, yet it could also mean the world—the carnal nature of Man. As church-worship is part of Man’s carnal nature, it could, and should, mean both. The temple of worship is symbolic of Man’s unregenerate state. The destruction of the temple is the destruction of the false identity. The rebuilding of the temple is the resurrection of the true Self.

    Part Three: The Priests and the Power

    3.1 The World-Centred Priests

    Priests who strive for Sunday Observance and fret themselves over the niceties of church ritual are world-centred, not God-centred. In attempting to realise the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, they are only preoccupied with the Kingdom of Man. This is the difference between the Master and some Christian priests.

    Such men must be classed with politicians and other worldly reformers. Like politicians, their main concern is to gain power over men, when, if they were religious, they would be solely concerned with placing themselves in the power of God. This is true mysticism and true humility, but it is heresy to those who know not.

    “But ye shall not be called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.” — Matthew 23:8-10

    The church has always been wary of those who see through the institutional forms, not because of a sincere belief in their ungodliness, but because a true recognition is a perceived threat to the power of the church. “They did not enter and they did not let those enter who wished.” The history of the church is political.

    3.2 The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost

    “Jesus said: Whoever blasphemes against the Father, it shall be forgiven him, and whoever blasphemes against the Son, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him either on earth or in heaven.” — Gospel of Thomas 44

    This is a wonderful saying. It is not merely an attack on idolatry. It describes the state of grace of the saint who, because of his inward holiness, may defy all outward conventions of righteousness, desecrate the sacred myths of temple ritual, and live, like the Master, among publicans and sinners in perfect purity. Preoccupation with the outward forms of righteousness, being a sign of worldliness, is proof of inner darkness, which is why the Master was so much irritated by the complacent ways of the Pharisee. The disciplined life of most Christian religious orders would have saddened Him no less.

    “Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that he who made the inside is also he who made the outside?” — Gospel of Thomas 89

    This is sardonic humour. The inwardness of the Kingdom, the inner state of holiness, is all that matters. Church attendance, pandering as it does to self-esteem, is only a form of pride. The rigid asceticism and regimented devotions of monk or nun can be seen as forms of vanity.

    The oath of obedience which places the religious aspirant under the authority of a superior officer, thus compelling him to deny his own conscience, is a personal outrage and would have enraged the Master, whose command, “Swear not at all,” was not made for nothing. To deprive a novice of his conscience—the Holy Ghost—is to extinguish his sainthood before it has started. The monastery and the convent, like other world organisations, are means by which some men acquire power over others.

    3.3 The Life of the Saint

    How then is the mystic, the true disciple of the Master, to live? He cannot live the life of the world; “the world is not worthy of him,” and the church and convent, being world organisations, are part of the life of the world. He can, of course, become a priest or monk, officiating at ceremonies which he detests and swearing oaths in which he does not believe, and perpetually running the risk of being de-frocked.

    The desire for some sort of social security has lured many saints into the fold of orthodoxy. But fundamentally the saint is not orthodox; he is a rebel, an anarchist. As such, he no more can hope to find a suitable place in society than can a thief or a vagabond.

    “The foxes have their holes and the birds have their nest, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head and to rest.” — Gospel of Thomas 86

    “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I guard it until it (the world) is afire.” — Gospel of Thomas 10

    “Men possibly think that I have come to throw peace upon the world and they do not know that I have come to throw divisions upon the earth, fire, sword, war. For there shall be five in a house: three shall be against two and two against three, the father against the son and the son against the father, and they will stand as solitaries.” — Gospel of Thomas 16

    The saint is anti-social; a rebel; a troublemaker. This was why the Jews crucified the Master. The man who condemns and rejects the life of the world must expect the world to condemn and reject him. The saint, as a dangerous character—he is Public Enemy No. 1—must expect to live dangerously. Or as the Master said:

    “Whoever is near to Me is near to the fire, and whoever is far from Me is far from the Kingdom.” — Gospel of Thomas 82

    He is not a coward. He must not try to conceal his real identity by making concessions to orthodoxy. He must stand forth shamelessly in the world as a testimony of the truth and take the consequences.

    “What thou shalt hear in thine ear and in the other ear, that preach from your housetops; for no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but he sets it on a lamp-stand so that all who come in and go out may see its light.” — Gospel of Thomas 33

    Part Four: The Parable of the Vineyard

    4.1 The Wicked Husbandmen

    The social consequences of this behaviour is ruthlessly stated in the 65th Saying, which takes the form of a parable:

    “He said: A good man had a vineyard. He gave it to husbandmen so that they would work it and that he would receive its fruit from them. He sent his servant so that the husbandmen would give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant, they beat him; a little longer and they would have killed him.

    The servant came, he told it to his master. His master said: ‘Perhaps he did not know them.’ He sent another servant: the husbandmen beat him as well. Then the owner sent his son. He said: ‘Perhaps they will respect my son.’ Since those husbandmen knew that he was the heir of the vineyard, they seized him, they killed him. Whoever has ears let him hear.” — Gospel of Thomas 65

    The punishment is proportionate to one’s holiness: less in the case of the servants—the prophets, the elect—than in the case of the son himself, who is instinctively recognised as being more dangerous. Being afraid of him, they kill him.

    While all this will dismay weaker spirits, it again emphasises the heroism which is the essential quality of the saintly man. The saint is a romantic hero, contrary to the popular misconception of him as an ineffectual goody-goody.

    “If you will know yourselves, then you will be known . . .” — Gospel of Thomas 3

    Since those husbandmen knew that he was the heir of the vineyard, they seized him, they killed him. In religious paintings, the saint is usually shown with a halo of golden light which sets him apart from the surrounding figures. And in fact there is no mistaking the saint in the world. Because he knows himself—the Kingdom—he is known. His holiness is radiantly apparent, revealing the true evil nature—that is, the carnal nature—of unregenerate humanity like a torch lit in a dark cellar.

    4.2 The Light and the Darkness

    “. . . Within a man of light there is light and he lights the whole world. When he does not shine, there is darkness.” — Gospel of Thomas 24

    “Jesus said: I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand . . .” — Gospel of Thomas 23

    Presumably, three out of a hundred thousand, and four out of a million. With four saints to the million, the vast majority of mankind must live in unrelieved darkness. Imagine the confusion, therefore, when somewhere in this ocean of darkness appears a light! It is this reflex that caused the crucifixion, for the light must be put out. It “shows them up.” Unable to stand the sight of themselves, men and women hate the light. Since those husbandmen knew that he was the heir of the vineyard, they seized him, they killed him.

    The expression of hatred is abuse and, in the gospels, the Jews called the Master variously: a charlatan (John 8:13), a blaspheming egotist (John 10:33), a troublemaker (Luke 23:5), a madman (John 8:48 and 10:20), and a devil-worshipper (Luke 23:5).

    As He ignored Sunday observance, cursed conventional piety—“The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31)—consorted with the low life of the town, and was a beggar and a waster, from the standpoint of normal respectability, the Master was a bad character and a corrupting influence upon public morality.

    He advocated abandonment of all personal aspirations including family life (Matthew 6:26-28) and to the worldly mind, the family is the sacred nucleus of the good life. Attack the family way of life and you are stabbing the world in the heart. As the apostle of the Kingdom of God—the spiritual world—the Master’s life and thought was simply the refutation of this world in all its aspects, even as the light is simple dispersion of darkness.

    4.3 The Inconsistency of Hypocrisy

    For the Master, conventional piety was merely hypocrisy, for He knew that to praise God while making the most of life on earth was a contradiction.

    “You have become as the Jews,” He told His disciples, “for they love the tree, they hate its fruit and they love the fruit, they hate the tree.” — Gospel of Thomas 43

    In other words, they profess to love God, but they hate the man of God; they profess a love of Heaven but hate the heavenly life. You must be consistent, said the Master.

    “If you fast not from the world, you will not find the Kingdom;” — Gospel of Thomas 27

    “If you keep not the Sabbath truly, you will not see the Father.” — Gospel of Thomas 27

    Praising God on the Sabbath as a cleansing act for the selfishness and sensuality of the past six days is useless. One must keep the Sabbath truly—for seven days of the week—which means renouncing the world in thought and deed.

    4.4 The Curse and the Consequence

    It is easy to see why the man who knows God will be cursed.

    “Jesus said: Whoever knows father and mother shall be called the son of a harlot.” — Gospel of Thomas 105

    Father and mother: the spiritual source. The man who knows his true origin in God will be called the son of a harlot by the world.

    “A city being built on a high mountain and fortified cannot . . . be hidden.” — Gospel of Thomas 32

    And even to wish to be hidden is an inexcusable sign of cowardice. The saint must be prepared to take the consequences of his sainthood. He must shoulder his cross and suffer the agony of his crucifixion. He must not flinch to show his light because “when he does not shine, there is darkness.”

    Yet, like the Master, he need not lose heart. For, to complete the 32nd Saying, the city which is built on the high mountain and fortified not only cannot be hidden, it “can not fall.” For when the man who lives within God says, “Mountain, be moved,” it will be moved. Knowledge is power.

    “Let him who has become rich become king, and let him who has power renounce (the world).” — Gospel of Thomas 81

    Spiritual riches—self-knowledge—mean power against which ignorance is powerless. “If you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty.” The ignorant have no wealth and no power, though they may earn a hundred thousand a year and rule the earth.

    Part Five: The Kingdom and the Pearl

    5.1 The Merchant and the Pearl

    “The Kingdom of the Father is like a man, a merchant, who possessed merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent. He sold the merchandise, he bought the one pearl for himself. Do you also seek for the treasure which fails not, which endures; there where no moth comes near to devour and where no worm destroys.” — Gospel of Thomas 76

    The pearl is the Kingdom within. The merchandise is the world. The merchant sells the world to buy the Kingdom. He renounces the false to embrace the true. He relinquishes the second to recognise the first. He passes through the cross into the empty cross. He emerges as pure Spirit, already in Christ, already in God.

    The saint who attains the Kingdom automatically turns his back on the world because his knowledge includes knowledge of the world’s illusory nature. Having discovered the eternal, one does not concern oneself with the transient.

    “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.” — Gospel of Thomas 54

    “Take no thought from morning until evening and from evening until morning for what you shall put on.” — Gospel of Thomas 36

    In the world, the religious mystic is not only without social position, he is without property. The mere sight of a crowded shopping centre—women rooting for possessions and adornments—and his soul is afflicted. Spiritual wealth means to be poor as regards earthly possessions because even if the saint is left a fortune, he cannot trouble himself with such things.

    5.2 The Knowledge of Power

    The unreal nature of evil—the nature of natural men—is as powerless against holiness as darkness is powerless to withstand light. As the saint has achieved Divine Union, one can no more destroy him by killing him than one can destroy Eternity. He can “not taste death.” He reigns “over the All”—the illusory sensible world. The stones minister to him.

    “If you will know yourselves, then you will be known . . .” — Gospel of Thomas 3

    Spiritual riches—self-knowledge—mean power against which ignorance is powerless. The ignorant have no wealth and no power, though they may earn a hundred thousand a year and rule the earth.

    5.3 The Call to the Kingdom

    The invitation is open. It is universal. It is unconditional. It is extended to all who are weary, all who are heavy-laden, all who sense that there is more. It is the invitation to rest. It is the invitation to peace. It is the invitation to joy.

    “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

    The rest is the rest of the Spirit. It is the rest of the empty cross. It is the rest of the singular Reality. It is the rest of the recognition that there has never been a second.

    COFE-CYEM issues this invitation without demanding a change of institutional affiliation. The recognition of Christ within is itself the primary matter. Everything else is secondary nomenclature.

    Conclusion: The Fourth Truth Stands

    The Fourth Truth stands. There has never been a second. The singular Reality is all. The mystical stream has never been entirely silenced. The recognition of the Fourth Truth is available to all who are ready. The joyous calling is extended to all who hear. The invitation remains open. The rest is available. The peace is present. The joy is full.

    The original message of the Master is being restored. The Kingdom is within. The cross is the passage. The empty cross is the sign. The Spirit is the Life. The soul is Spirit, already in Christ, already in God.

    COFE-CYEM exists only to point. It does not claim to be the Centre. It claims only that the Centre is already present, already sufficient, and already free of every dualistic addition that has been mistaken for the Reality itself. When the recognition dawns, even the pointing may become silent.

    The true Christianity of the Master, as COFE-CYEM recognises it, is the Christianity of the Kingdom within. It is the Christianity of the death of the false self and the life of the Spirit. It is the Christianity of the recognition that there has never been a second. It is the Christianity that the institutional drift has often obscured. It is the Christianity that COFE-CYEM seeks to restore.

    Let all who have the understanding perceive. Let all who have the ears to hear, hear. Let all who have the hearts to receive, receive. The Light of the Spirit is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    Thus ends this COFE-CYEM paper on the True Christianity of Jesus and the Restoration of the Kingdom Within. May all who read it perceive the deeper spiritual meaning, and may they recognise the Christ within their own souls. May they relinquish the false and embrace the true. May they pass through the cross into the empty cross. May they walk as pure Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    We Must Choose

    We must choose that which Christ came to show us and to give us. We at COFE-CYEM fully confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three in One God. We confess the Bible as being the true unquestionable Word of God. We also accept the Gospel of Thomas. We hold that the Holy Bible is true, accurate and absolute fact, and that the ‘Sacred Truths’ are fully revealed in (how) you read it, not just by reading it. (He who has ears, He who has eyes).

    Circle One Fellowship Exeter – COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry CYEM

    “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

    This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

    COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
    Circle One Fellowship Exeter

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  14. He stood at the altar. He served the Church. Then he wrote the book the Church didn't want to read about itself.
    #books #bookreview #ConstantinesSword #ChurchHistory
    smpl.is/am8m5

  15. The Institutional Church Message of Christhood Corrosion Within Christ

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    The Institutional Church Message of Corrosion of the Christhood

    A COFE-CYEM Reflection on Historical Development, Dualistic Frameworks, and the Enduring Call to Recognition

    A Declaration of the Fourth Truth

    “There has never been a second.”

    This is the recognition that stands at the foundation of all true spiritual life. It is not a proposition to be believed; it is a Reality to be recognized. It is not a doctrine to be affirmed; it is a consciousness to be entered. It is not a teaching to be studied; it is a Life to be lived.

    There is only one Reality—God. There is only one Life—Christ. There is only one Spirit. All apparent separation, all apparent duality, all apparent opposition is held within the singular Reality. There has never been a second.

    Introduction: The Historical Question

    The question of whether, and how, the institutional church expanded, limited, or reshaped the message of Jesus is one of the oldest and most contested issues in Christian history. From the perspective of the Fourth Truth, the issue is not primarily historical reconstruction for its own sake.

    It is the question of whether the living recognition of the singular Reality was preserved, refracted, or partially obscured as the movement passed from a small circle of disciples into an organised religion and eventually into an imperial institution.

    COFE-CYEM recognises the Gospel of Thomas as a valuable early Christian text that preserves certain sayings of the Master pointing toward the inward recognition of the Kingdom and the singular Reality.

    At the same time, COFE-CYEM fully and unreservedly confesses the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the one true God, and holds the four canonical Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—as the absolute and true Word of God, the primary and authoritative witness to the person, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    The Gospel of Thomas is received only as a complementary witness that may illuminate aspects of the Master’s teaching; it is never placed on equal footing with the four Gospels, nor does it diminish in any way the full confession of the Holy Trinity or the unique authority of the canonical Scriptures.

    COFE-CYEM does not claim that the church invented dualism. Jesus Himself spoke within the Jewish world of His time, employing the dualistic language available to Him: this age and the age to come, the clean and the unclean, the faithful remnant and the compromised establishment.

    At the same time, His most intimate sayings—especially those preserved in the Gospel of John—point toward a unitive recognition that exceeds ordinary dualistic categories. The Kingdom is within. The Father and the Son are one. The same life is offered to those who abide.

    The historical process that followed did not create dualism out of nothing. It intensified certain dualistic elements already present, organised them into stable doctrinal and institutional forms, and, in the process, often subordinated the more radical unitive language to the needs of orthodoxy, continuity, and communal identity.

    Part One: What Can Reasonably Be Said About the Original Message

    Jesus left no written texts of His own. The earliest sources already display diversity. Yet a recognisable core remains:

    · The Kingdom of God is announced as present and near—“within you” or “among you.”
    · Discipleship involves self-denial, cross-bearing, and the relinquishment of ordinary securities.
    · Language of intimate union with the Father is central.
    · Religious systems that burden people while missing justice, mercy, and inward transformation are sharply criticised.
    · The same life that is in the Master is offered to those who follow.

    These elements contain both dualistic and unitive trajectories. The historical Jesus cannot be reduced to a pure non-dual teacher in the later philosophical sense. Nor can He be reduced to a purely dualistic prophet whose message was only about future judgment and external obedience. The tension is already present in the earliest witnesses.

    “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” — Luke 17:20-21

    “I and my Father are one.” — John 10:30

    “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” — John 15:4

    The original recognition was centripetal. It drew the soul inward, toward the Centre. It invited the soul to relinquish the false identity and to embrace the true identity in Christ. It called the soul to the cross and through the cross to the empty cross. It offered the recognition that there has never been a second.

    Part Two: How Institutionalisation Expanded and Limited the Message

    As the movement expanded beyond its Jewish origins, several pressures shaped the transmission of the message.

    Doctrinal Stabilisation

    The great creeds of the fourth and fifth centuries carefully distinguished the persons of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. This protected the full divinity and full humanity of Jesus against various reductions. It also established a dualistic grammatical framework—Creator and creature, divine and human natures united without confusion—that became the normative language of orthodoxy. Mystical union language was retained, especially in the East, but it was carefully subordinated to this ontology.

    The creeds served a real purpose. They protected the message from distortion. They provided a common language for the church. They established boundaries against error. But they also limited the more radical unitive language. The recognition that the soul is one with Christ, hidden in God, was carefully qualified. The Fourth Truth was not denied, but it was constrained.

    Canon Formation

    The emerging New Testament canon privileged texts that supported apostolic continuity, bodily resurrection, and future judgment. Texts with stronger unitive or interior emphases were marginalised or excluded. The range of permissible interpretation narrowed. The living recognition was organised into a fixed text. The text became the authority. The living voice was subordinated to the written word.

    “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” — 2 Timothy 3:16

    The text is profitable. It is useful. It is valuable. But it is not the Reality. It points to the Reality. It speaks of the Reality. It testifies to the Reality. But the text is not the Centre. The text is nomenclature. It points beyond itself. When the recognition of Christhood dawns, even the text can be held lightly. It has served its purpose. The Reality to which it pointed is now known directly.

    Sin, Atonement, and Mediation

    Later Western theology intensified the sense of radical separation caused by sin. Salvation was increasingly framed as a transaction—forensic or sacramental—mediated by the church. The path of the cross remained, yet it was often understood primarily as participation in a once-for-all historical event rather than as the perpetual recognition that separation was never ultimate.

    The cross became a doctrine rather than an experience. The empty cross became a symbol rather than a destination. The recognition of the Fourth Truth was displaced by the requirement of correct belief. The soul was saved by faith in the cross rather than by passing through the cross. The living recognition was subordinated to doctrinal assent.

    Hierarchy and Mediation

    As the church acquired institutional form and, later, political power, the living example of Jesus risked becoming an object of veneration mediated by clergy, sacraments, and correct belief. The path that the Master opened could appear closed to ordinary believers, accessible only through authorised channels.

    The clergy became the intermediaries. The sacraments became the means of grace. The correct belief became the condition of salvation. The direct recognition of the Fourth Truth was displaced by the institutional structure. The soul was no longer invited to mount the cross directly; it was instructed to participate in the sacraments administered by the clergy. The direct path was mediated. The centripetal movement was redirected through institutional channels.

    These developments served real purposes: moral seriousness, historical particularity, communal boundaries, and pastoral accessibility for people still living inside the experience of separation. At the same time, they limited the more radical unitive strands that had been present from the beginning.

    Part Three: The Persistent Tension

    Throughout Christian history the unitive voice has never been entirely silenced. The desert tradition, the Cappadocians, Pseudo-Dionysius, the Rhineland mystics, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, John of the Cross, and later contemplative renewals have repeatedly returned to the language of radical union, the death of the false self, and the unknowing that precedes true knowing. These voices have often been scrutinised, constrained, or carefully reinterpreted in order to protect the Creator–creature distinction.

    “For truly, I have left them all, and my soul is freed from every doubt, and I am now where I have ever been, where I shall never leave, where there is no before nor after, and where all things are now present.” — The Cloud of Unknowing

    The pattern is consistent. The institutional church expands the message into systematic theology, sacramental systems, and hierarchical structures in order to stabilise and transmit it across generations and cultures. Simultaneously it limits more radical non-dual or purely interior interpretations in order to protect orthodoxy and communal identity.

    Whether this process is regarded as faithful development or as a progressive refraction of the original recognition depends upon one’s prior theological commitments. From the standpoint of the Fourth Truth, the institutional developments are understood as provisional scaffolding—useful for a time, yet always secondary to the centripetal movement toward the Centre.

    Part Four: The COFE-CYEM Reading

    COFE-CYEM does not deny the historical complexity. It does not claim that the church simply invented dualism. It observes that the original recognition of the singular Reality was repeatedly refracted through the lens of separation. Living recognition was organised into doctrine. Direct invitation was organised into mediation. The empty cross was often replaced by a cross that still carried the weight of a separate self seeking assurance.

    The Fourth Truth does not require the rejection of history, Scripture, or the great tradition. It requires the recognition that all of these remain nomenclature—pointers toward the Centre rather than the Centre itself. When the recognition of Christhood dawns, even the most carefully formulated doctrines can be held lightly. They have served their purpose. The Reality to which they pointed is now known directly.

    “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” — 1 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12

    The partial is the nomenclature. The perfect is the Reality. The partial is the doctrine, the creed, the institution. The perfect is the recognition of the Fourth Truth. When the perfect comes, the partial is done away. The nomenclature falls silent. The Reality is known directly.

    The institutional church, like every other form within the awareness-perception of separation, belongs to the periphery. It can serve the centripetal movement or it can obscure it. The deciding factor is never the sophistication of the system but whether the system still points beyond itself to the singular Reality of God in Christ.

    Part Five: The Enduring Call

    Despite the institutionalisation, the refraction, and the partial obscuring of the original recognition, the enduring call of the Master remains. The call is not to a system. It is not to a doctrine. It is not to an institution. It is to a recognition. It is the call to deny the separate self, to take up the cross, and to follow the Master into the singular Reality.

    “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” — Matthew 16:24-25

    The call is universal. It is not limited to the clergy. It is not limited to the religious professionals. It is not limited to the institution. It is for every soul. It is the call to pass through the cross into the empty cross. It is the call to emerge as pure Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. It is the call to recognise that there has never been a second.

    The enduring call is the call to the Centre. It is the call to the singular Reality. It is the call to the recognition of the Fourth Truth. It is the call that has never been silenced, despite all attempts to organise, control, or mediate it. It is the call that continues to draw souls out of the awareness-perception of separation and into the singular Reality.

    “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” — Revelation 22:17

    The water of life is freely offered. It is not mediated. It is not controlled. It is not limited. It is freely offered to all who thirst. The call is open. The invitation is universal. The water is available. The recognition of the Fourth Truth is available. There has never been a second.

    Conclusion: The Fourth Truth Stands

    The original message of Jesus contained both dualistic and unitive elements. The church did not invent dualism; it inherited, organised, and intensified it while also preserving (and sometimes domesticating) the language of union. The recurring tension between institutional stabilisation and mystical recognition has never been fully resolved, nor can it be resolved at the level of historical argument alone.

    From within the COFE-CYEM framework the resolution is not found in a better historical reconstruction. It is found in the centripetal movement itself. The Centre remains. The pull continues. Every form—doctrinal, institutional, mystical, or critical—is measured by whether it draws the soul toward the recognition that there has never been a second, or whether it reinforces the claim of a separate self.

    Christ is the Centre. All else is periphery. The nomenclature serves only until the Reality is known. Then even the nomenclature can fall silent.

    There has never been a second. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    Appendix: Summary of the Article and COFE-CYEM Reflection

    “Why the Early Christians Changed Christ’s Message,” presents a clear historical and spiritual argument: the original emphasis of Jesus on inner communion, direct personal experience of God, and freedom from the tyranny of the ego was gradually reshaped as the movement entered the Greco-Roman world.

    Central points are:

    · Jesus came to awaken the Jewish people to inward communion with God and freedom from delusion and ego, not merely to reform outer law.
    · The rejection of Jesus by the orthodox leadership of His time pushed His followers into the Greco-Roman cultural sphere, where institutional organisation, fixed definitions, and administrative control were already highly developed.
    · Early Christianity therefore adapted the message into a formal, centralised structure. Dogma was used to protect the teachings and to create uniform authority.
    · The more mystical stream (particularly certain Gnostic groups that emphasised direct inner experience) was eventually suppressed. In the process, the accent shifted from personal verification of truth through inner communion toward outer authority, ritual, and institutional mediation.
    · The result was a significant loss: the living essence of Jesus’ teaching—inner relationship with God—was subordinated to organisational needs. True saints continued to appear, but they were never allowed to form a continuous contemplative tradition.

    COFE-CYEM Reading

    From the standpoint of the Fourth Truth, the historical process described is recognisable. The original centripetal pull toward the Centre—the living recognition of the singular Reality—was progressively organised into dualistic institutional forms. Living recognition was stabilised into doctrine. Direct invitation was mediated through hierarchy. The empty cross of relinquishment was often replaced by a system that still left the separate self largely intact, now clothed in religious identity.

    COFE-CYEM does not claim that institutional development was purely malicious. Organisation served continuity, moral seriousness, and the transmission of the message across cultures and centuries. Yet the cost was real. The more radical unitive and interior dimensions of the Master’s teaching were constrained in order to protect orthodoxy and communal boundaries. The nomenclature multiplied; the direct centripetal movement was partially obscured.

    The Fourth Truth does not require the rejection of history or of the great tradition. It requires the recognition that every institutional form remains periphery. Every creed, every structure, every system of mediation is provisional scaffolding. Its value is measured solely by whether it still draws the soul toward the Centre or whether it begins to substitute itself for the Centre.

    When the recognition of Christhood dawns, the scaffolding can be held lightly. Even the most carefully formulated doctrines can fall silent once the Reality to which they pointed is known directly. The centripetal movement continues. The Centre remains. The tool is never confused with the Reality.

    There has never been a second. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    Thus ends the definitive COFE-CYEM teaching paper on the Institutional Church and the Message of Jesus. May all who read this account perceive the deeper spiritual meaning, and may they recognize the Christ within their own souls. May they pass through the cross into the empty cross. May they walk as pure Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    We Must Choose

    We must choose that which Christ came to show us and to give us. We at COFE-CYEM fully confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three in One God. We confess the Bible as being the true unquestionable Word of God. We also accept the Gospel of Thomas. We hold that the Holy Bible is true, accurate and absolute fact, and that the ‘Sacred Truths’ are fully revealed in (how) you read it, not just by reading it. (He who has ears, He who has eyes).

    Circle One Fellowship Exeter – COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry CYEM

    “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

    This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

    COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
    Circle One Fellowship Exeter

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  16. The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

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    The Problem of False Preacher Teacher Clerical Ministering Within Modern Day Churches

    The table of the Lord is Holy.

    The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

    Yet in our time, that table has been defiled.

    The church has become a place where food offered to idols is served. These idols are not of wood and stone but of political causes, cultural trends, social programmes, and false moral appearances. They are the idols of the age, and they have been brought into the sanctuary.

    The Social Gospel, with all its political causes and cultural trends, is such an idol.

    It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King Jesus Christ offers heavenly reconciliation.

    It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace. It rearranges deck chairs on a sinking ship. It offers programs where it should offer presence. It offers politics where it should offer peace. It offers activism where it should offer adoration.

    This is not the Gospel. It is a counterfeit—a substitute that speaks of earthly kingdoms while ignoring the heavenly. It is food wrapped in pretty paper, but inside is rotting meat. It is a deception, a snare, and a trap.

    Congregations that consume this food are not being heart-fed; they are being mind-fed. Their souls are starved while their minds are filled with the philosophies of men. Those who serve this food as if it were the Gospel are not acting as faithful shepherds of the flock; they are leading souls away from the true pasture.

    We make it very clear, we do not seek merely to promote our own theology within COFE-CYEM by pointing the finger at (any) other theologies, denominations or faiths. COFE-CYEM itself makes many claims around our theology, our belief system and our faith.

    We do not expect or ask everybody to just blindly believe our way of seeing and believing. All we seek is to call attention to the issue of the church and faith itself being used as a Trojan Horse for (worldly) purposes in order to further the interests of man and not God Himself.

    We implore our followers respectfully – if you ever feel, suspect or see anything whatsoever within our own theology or posts here on COFE-CYEM that you believe is pushing (worldly) purposes or schemes, then please call us out and expose us.

    We are no different or more righteous than any other brother or sister in Christ. But if we were to be found (using) the true Gospel as a Trojan Horse to push a false Gospel for our own purposes – then we are truly lost indeed.

    The Nature of the Deception

    The danger arises whenever social action, political programmes, or cultural causes become substitutes for the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, rather than fruits flowing from communion with Him.

    The New Testament consistently presents love for neighbour and care for the poor as genuine expressions of faith, not as alternatives to it.

    The error is not in caring for the needy or seeking justice. The error is in presenting such activities as the Gospel itself, or as a sufficient substitute for repentance, faith in Christ, and the new birth.

    Those who preach this substitute gospel speak of power where the Priest-King spoke of weakness. They speak of victory where He spoke of the cross. They speak of this world as if it were the only world. They have departed from the faith and given themselves over to the spirit of the age.

    They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power. They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion.

    This is not a judgment on persons but a discernment of teaching. We do not know the hearts of those who preach these things, and we leave their final judgment to God.

    We are called to test the spirits and to distinguish between the pure food of the Gospel and the poisoned food that has been offered to idols. The warning is not against individuals but against the teaching itself, which, however attractively packaged, leads away from Christ.

    The Rot Beneath the Wrapping

    False teaching often comes wrapped in the language of the Bible, the imagery of the cross, and the emotions of the congregation. It speaks of love, justice, and compassion, but it hollows out their meaning. It is like the fig tree that had leaves but no fruit—a show of life without the reality of life.

    Congregations that consume this food are being fed a diet of politics, activism, and social reform, but they are not being fed the pure Word of God.

    They are being told to fight for earthly causes, but they are not being told to enter the Holiest of All. They are being told to change the world, but they are not being told to rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

    They are being told to be activists, but they are not being told to be worshippers. They are being told to build the kingdom of God on earth, but they are not being told that the Kingdom of God is within them.

    The food that is being served is a gospel of the flesh, a gospel of the world, a gospel of the age. It has no power to save, no power to transform, and no power to bring the soul into the presence of God.

    It leads to exhaustion, burnout, and disillusionment. It leads away from the Priest-King, not toward Him. It leads to the outer court, not the Holiest of All. The invitation to serve God in the world becomes a substitute for the invitation to abide in Christ.

    The True Gospel and the Mind of Christ

    The real Gospel is not a gospel of prosperity, politics, or social reform disguised as salvation. It is not a gospel of emotional experience without transformation.

    The real Gospel is this: Jesus Christ, the Priest-King has entered the Holiest of All through His own blood.

    The veil is torn.

    The way is open.

    Every soul who draws near through Him receives mercy, finds grace, and enters the rest that remains.

    He ever lives to make intercession.

    He brings God to us and us to God. In Him, we are accepted. In Him, we are kept. In Him, the endless life of God flows freely to all who will come. That is the Gospel. Not a portion of it. Not a version of it. It.

    The mind of Christ is not the mind of carnal man, which seeks power, recognition, and earthly comfort. The mind of Christ empties itself, takes the form of a servant, becomes obedient unto death, and is exalted by the Father. The mind of Christ builds the church on the rock of revelation, and the gates of hell do not prevail against it.

    The mind of Christ measures faithfulness by abiding in the Father’s presence. Those who preach the substitute gospel do not have the mind of Christ. They have the mind of the flesh, the mind of the world, the mind of the age.

    They have not entered the Holiest of All. They have not passed through the veil. They have not been cleansed by the blood. They have not received the endless life. They remain in the outer courts, serving the idols of the age.

    The Call of This Hour: Wake Up and Return

    The call of this hour is clear. The pews empty because souls are hungry for reality—not programs, not politics, not noise, but the living presence of God in truth. Congregations must wake up. They must open their eyes to the deception of false teaching.

    They must stop eating the food that has been sacrificed to idols. They must return to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served—the finished work of the Priest-King, the open way into the Holiest of All, the rest that remains, and the endless life that flows from His intercession.

    The table of the Lord has been turned into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Gospel of the finished work has been exchanged for a gospel of social reform. The cross has been exchanged for a political platform. The throne of grace has been exchanged for a seat of power.

    The rest that remains has been exchanged for the restless striving of the world. The Holiest of All has been exchanged for the outer courts of carnal religion. The church has been used as a Trojan Horse for political purposes, hiding its true agenda behind the language of compassion, justice, and love.

    The congregations that continue to consume this food are being poisoned. They are being led astray. They are being robbed of their inheritance. They are being kept from the Holiest of All, from the rest that remains, from the endless life, from the Priest-King.

    The time has come for them to wake up. The time has come for them to return. The time has come for them to stop eating the rotting meat and to come to the table of the Lord, where pure food is served.

    The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

    It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work. It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

    The Contrast: The Olive Tree and the Wicked

    Psalm 52 powerfully contrasts the man who trusts in his own strength and deceit with the one who trusts in God’s unfailing love and flourishes in His house. The Psalm speaks of the wicked man who boasts of evil, whose tongue plots destruction, who loves evil rather than good, and who trusts in his great wealth and grows strong by destroying others.

    This is the image of the one who trusts in his own strength, his own position, his own power. The Psalm declares that God will bring him down to everlasting ruin, snatch him up, tear him from his tent, and uproot him from the land of the living.

    But the righteous is like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God, trusting in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. The righteous praises God forever and hopes in His name.

    This is the image of the true believer—the one who trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King, who abides in the Holiest of All, who is sustained by the unfailing love of God through Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession.

    The true believer does not boast in evil or trust in human schemes, false popular moral sounding social constructs or political power. The true believer trusts in the finished work of the Priest-King Yeshua Emet Melchizedek Salem—Christ Jesus—and abides in Him who has opened the way.

    The Final Exhortation

    The modern church stands at a critical hour. Many have turned the table of the Lord into a place where food offered to idols is served. The Social Gospel, with its political causes, cultural trends, and false moral appearances, has become the dominant offering.

    It sounds compassionate to the natural ear, but it sacrifices the true Gospel on the altar of this world. It offers earthly reform where the Priest-King offers heavenly reconciliation. It speaks of systems and power where He speaks of the cross and the throne of grace.

    We must not eat of any spiritual food that has been offered in sacrifice to an idol. The table of the Lord is holy. The food we receive must come from the Priest-King Himself—pure, undefiled, and flowing from the Holiest of All.

    Those who preach the substitute gospel have turned the church into a platform for their political agendas. They have exchanged the Gospel of the finished work for a gospel of social reform. They have exchanged the cross for a political platform. They have exchanged the throne of grace for a seat of power.

    They have exchanged the rest that remains for the restless striving of the world. They have exchanged the Holiest of All for the outer courts of carnal religion. They are not shepherds of the flock; they are servants of the spirit of the age, offering food that cannot satisfy the soul.

    The true church of the real Gospel is often small, overlooked, and ridiculed. But it knows the voice of the Shepherd. It does not follow the stranger. It abides in the Word. It dwells in the Holiest. The true church does not eat food sacrificed to idols. It does not bow to the false gods of the age.

    It does not compromise the table of the Lord. It preaches the real Gospel—Christ and Him crucified. It preaches the finished work.

    It preaches the endless life. It preaches the open way into the Holiest of All. It calls every soul to draw near. It calls every church to open the doors. It calls every believer to cease from striving and rest in the finished work of the Priest-King.

    The Fourth Truth stands. The dialogue continues. The fruit remains.

    This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

    Please follow COFE-CYEM and share our website.

    Thank you for visiting us today, we value you beyond mere words.

    COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
    Circle One Fellowship Exeter

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  17. While the split between Rome and the Society of Saint Pius X may seem unprecedented, it isn't. Nor is it the first schism caused by the illicit consecration of bishops.

    Read @Geraerts for more on the Utrecht Schism of 1723, which made the Netherlands home to two competing Catholic Churches ⬇️

    ieg.hypotheses.org/7676

    #ChurchHistory #PiusBrothers #hypoverse

  18. And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus

    "Why did Christianity grow so quickly to become the predominant world religion"

    Sale: $15 to $1.99

    by Selina O'Grady

    Rating: 4.2/5 (244 Reviews)

    #christianity #history #religion #churchhistory #books #rome #jesus #empire #booksky

    And Man Created God: A History...

  19. If Acts Happened Today, Would We Call It Communism?

    For many, "communism" has become less a political philosophy and more a conversation stopper. But is every effort to use our shared resources to care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable really communism? This article examines the difference between political labels and biblical principles, comparing the teachings of the early Church with today's political rhetoric.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  20. If Acts Happened Today, Would We Call It Communism?

    For many, "communism" has become less a political philosophy and more a conversation stopper. But is every effort to use our shared resources to care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable really communism? This article examines the difference between political labels and biblical principles, comparing the teachings of the early Church with today's political rhetoric.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  21. If Acts Happened Today, Would We Call It Communism?

    For many, "communism" has become less a political philosophy and more a conversation stopper. But is every effort to use our shared resources to care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable really communism? This article examines the difference between political labels and biblical principles, comparing the teachings of the early Church with today's political rhetoric.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  22. If Acts Happened Today, Would We Call It Communism?

    For many, "communism" has become less a political philosophy and more a conversation stopper. But is every effort to use our shared resources to care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable really communism? This article examines the difference between political labels and biblical principles, comparing the teachings of the early Church with today's political rhetoric.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  23. Faith and the Founding: The Religious Roots of the Original Thirteen Colonies

    As America celebrates 250 years of independence, it's worth looking beyond the Declaration of Independence to the diverse religious foundations of the original thirteen colonies. Contrary to popular belief, not every colony was founded for religious freedom. Some sought wealth, others provided refuge for persecuted believers, and together they shaped the ideas of faith, liberty, and government that continue to influence our nation today.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  24. 1/
    The Gospel of Mary is fascinating because it feels like a lost argument after Easter.

    Not a Dan Brown secret. Not “proof” that the Church hid everything.

    More interesting than that.

    It shows an early Christian fight about memory, authority, gender, revelation — and who gets to say what Jesus really meant.

    #Christianity #MaryMagdalene #Gnosis #ChurchHistory

  25. #MariaLaach is a stunning #Romanesque #abbey, rich in #history and #culture. Founded in 1093, it has evolved through #medieval, #Jesuit, and modern phases. Today, it tries to find a balance between its religious heritage and its commercial presence. Here' s a short personal reflection after several visits to the abbey:

    🌍 fabriziomusacchio.com/weekend_

    #WeekendStories #Christianity #ChurchHistory #Rheinland #LaacherSee

  26. I've reached the bottom of the big barrel of #Lutheran #clergy in my #familyHistory in the Upper County of #Sponheim now with one very speculative case hailing from #trarbach (there is still one stray clergymen in the pipeline from a completely unrelated branch)

    proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2 #germany #genealogy #churchHistory #reformation

  27. #Lutheran #clergy in the centuries after the #reformation was a dense family network. Not only did the priests aspire that at least one son followed in their profession, they also networked to ensure their daughters married clergymen. In today's blog entry I've written up some of the resulting #matrilines in my #familyhistory.

    proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2

    #history #churchHistory #protestantism

  28. We have two marriages between a Rose and a Nettle among the descendants of the Strasbourg goldsmith in #Winterburg, in the Upper County of #Sponheim, and a few more clergymen: proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2 #familyHistory #history #churchHistory #germany

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