Soteriology and Bilocation: Perspectives on Salvation
by: Ber Stackhouse, MBA October 27, 2012
SOTERIOLOGY
The concept of salvation, or eternal salvation, can sculpt the perspectives of living on earth and provide a backdrop for the activities one chooses. Within Christianity and within religion generally, many question existence and what, if anything, is beyond this present existence. Often, in an attempt to know oneself, examples or ideas of others are sought in framing a self-concept and worldview.
In discussing soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, Professor Van A. Harvey states,
“There have been two basic perspectives in the history of Christendom so far as conceiving of salvation is concerned, one of which is characteristic of Roman Catholicism and the E.O. [Eastern Orthodox] churches, the other of which is more characteristic of Protestantism generally. Each perspective has certain presuppositions, leads to certain emphases, and casts up a certain kind of language. In the former, salvation is basically regarded as the deification of man by participation in supernatural grace. In this view, man’s destiny is nothing less than participation in the divine life….In Protestantism, salvation is conceived basically in terms of a restoration of a broken personal relationship. In this view, man’s true destiny is not so much deification as the forgiveness of sins and personal communion with God. Grace is not thought of as a medicine so much as the divine favor.”
Further stated is that, “In the Catholic churches, the monastic tradition represents one extreme, a life ordered around prayer and the sacraments. In the Protestant tradition, the moralization of all belief and the reduction of faith to moral conduct constitute an extreme.”
ORIGINAL SIN, ORIGINAL BLESSING
In addition to those assenting to original sin, are those that affirm original blessing. In this belief, one would therefore see to the Reality of the inner self, reminding oneself of the good and from such awareness, living affirmatively. “The doctrine of original sin—that all humans inherited both the guilt of Adam’s sin and a corrupt nature—was one of the chief points on which eighteenth-century Calvinists were at odds with their optimistic era. The emphasis on human freedom and innate capacities for virtue reflected growing modern tendencies toward views that men, or at least gentlemen, could control their own destinies. Further, as ideas spread that even kings and queens must be bound by higher rational principles of morality and justice, the Calvinist system—which asserted that God’s sovereign government was by definition good, even when humans could not fully understand God’s ways—seemed increasingly out of step.” Sin as defined in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary is “Meta. Missing the mark; falling short of the divine law. The divine law is the law of God, the law of Being; it is the underlying principle of every man’s being and of the universe.” “Neo-Reformed theologians were more appreciative of the doctrine (of original sin), although agreed that it had to be disentangled from what they believed to be its literalistic absurdities. Reinhold Niebuhr (1892- ), for example, argued that the doctrine cannot be fully rationalized but that it preserves better than any alternative the paradox of the inevitability of sin and man’s responsibility for it. It should be called, therefore, a myth, which though not literally true, expresses a truth about human existence.”
SPIRITUALITY AND LIVING
Many concepts about moral precepts or the relation of mind-body-spirit determine the expression, and often self-worth of humanity. Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet says, “Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.” Consciousness is the force within the realm of life activity. At times some people may be quite confident in some “saving” experience in the future yet may not realize a “saving” experience in the present. Thought Pioneer, Charles Fillmore mentions, “We…know how states of consciousness are formed and how persistent a certain mental state is after it has once crystallized. We see this in certain social states among the people. No matter how miserable and degraded their state, people get so accustomed to it that they do not aspire to anything higher.” Gibran emphasizes, “Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations? Who can spread his hours before him, saying, ‘This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?’ All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.”
CONSCIOUSNESS
As discussed in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, “Any failure of our part to exercise this (Genesis-referenced) dominion (in consciousness) is a falling short, or a ‘sin.’ The ‘eternal sin,’ or unpardonable sin, referred to by Jesus in Mark 3:28-30, is the belief that God is the creator of disease or inharmony of any nature. This belief is called an ‘eternal sin’ because that which is eternal is abiding. So long as man abides in the conviction that God causes him to suffer, he closes his mind against the inflow of God’s gifts of health, peace, and harmony. Man’s sins are forgiven when he ceases to sin and opens his mind to the fact that he is heir only to the good.”
In life and with interactions, being open to releasing and receiving good takes awareness. Fillmore proclaims, “We shall come into conscious recognition of the Christ mind, effecting the junction between our mind and God’s mind just as soon as we let go of the limitations of mortal sense.” “Jesus Christ broke through the crystallized thought strata and opened the way for all those who will follow him.” Many have provided opportunities for new thoughts that resulted in spiritual growth and the ability to imagine new, beneficial ways of living. The teachings of Jesus Christ have made great impact on the world. Yet we see that anyone who appropriates Divine Ideals can demonstrate peace and harmonious conditions. “He (Jesus the Christ) became the way by which all who accept Him may ‘pass over’ to the new consciousness.”
NOTIONS OF SALVATION AND A SAVIOR
The Revealing Word defines Savior as, “The Christ Mind is our Savior. Through the Christ Mind we find salvation from poverty, sickness, sin, and death.” Charles Fillmore discusses how some view Jesus as their Savior,
“By believing that Jesus was more divine than other men, the church has assumed that He had certain privileges that the Father does not extend to all; that in a superhuman way He made good all our shortcomings; that we are saved from suffering for our acts simply believing on Him and accepting Him, in a perfunctory way, as our Savior. Paul is responsible for a good share of this throwing of the whole burden upon the blood of Jesus—doubtless the result of an old mental tendency carried over from his Hebrew idea of the blood sacrifices of the priesthood. In order to show the parallel in the life of Jesus, Paul preached to the Jews that He was the great once-for-all blood sacrifice and that no other blood sacrifice would ever become necessary. But Jesus went further than this. He said: ‘Come, follow me.’ ‘Keep my sayings.’ He meant: Do as I do. I have overcome; now by following in my footsteps you shall overcome. We all recognize the advantage of thought co-operation. It is much easier to hold ourselves in the true consciousness when we are associated with those who think as we do. It was the work of Jesus to establish in our (human) race consciousness a spiritual center with which everyone might become associated mentally, regardless of geographical location. He said to his disciples, ‘I go to prepare a place for you….that where I am, there ye may be also.’
BILOCATION, UNITY, AND SUPERPOSITION
One may ask, “How can there be a place be where Jesus the Christ is and humanity can also be simultaneously?” A definition of bilocation is “the capability of being in two places at one and the same time. This idea was sometimes resorted to in the Theology of the Sacraments to explain how the body of Christ could be present in many places at one time. Some R.C. [Roman Catholic] theologians believe this capability to have been granted to a few saints at specific times.” Writer, Jeremy Hsu, presents information about technology showing how particles can exist simultaneously in multiple locations or states. Hsu writes that gravitational wave detector “technology would enable scientists to detect gravitational waves related to events such as a black hole or two stars merging in a distant star system….NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program takes advantage of quantum mechanics, the physics theory that describes how matter behaves at the tiniest scales. Researchers would (perform procedures to) put the atoms into ‘a superposition of states,’ which allows them to exist in multiple states simultaneously.” Dr. Stuart Hameroff further explains consciousness and superposition. He illustrates that, “A century of experimental observation of quantum systems have shown that, at least at small scales, particles (mass) can exist in two or more states or locations simultaneously (quantum superposition). Penrose takes superposition (e.g. a mass in two places simultaneously) to be simultaneous space-time curvature in opposite directions - a separation, or bubble ("blister") in underlying reality.” If taking the premise from the Revealing Word that, “The Christ Mind is our Savior, the relevance of Christ-Consciousness is understood. We may see bilocation, unity, or quantum superposition in scriptures such as Matthew 18:18-20, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Charles Fillmore describes this relation with the Christ and the connection of humanity with Jesus. Fillmore notes, “That place is a state of consciousness right here in our midst, and we can at any time connect ourselves with it by centering our mind on Jesus and silently asking His help in our demonstrations. It is not the prayer of a ‘worm of the dust’ to a god, but of one who is on the way asking the guidance of one who has passed over the same road, and who knows all the hard places and how to get through them.” The nearness or being in the midst of the kingdom, the realm of embracing Oneness, and the ability to appropriate Divine Ideals that save one from life circumstances are a saving science to some. Others may see salvation in just a future sense. I affirm Blessing at birth, and Blessing in life – as Heaven right now, through a personal, faithful and active appropriating of good - and through the awareness of allowing God to be. Aspects of Self, whether in mind, body, or spirit are good as I take on the consciousness of Eternal Living, knowing Love in the unified Field. This centering and positioning of Love is described in the Book of Mark 12:28-34:
“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the L-RD our G-D, the L-RD is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and to ‘love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.”
Biblical references are from the NRSV (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2008) unless otherwise noted.
