Christianity of Tomorrow

What will it be like?

I've heard a few,

"There won't be one."

Some others, perhaps deeper in contemplation,

"The Christians of tomorrow will be mystics, if Christians at all."

What does that imply? That there are deeper levels to Christianity than what we commonly see practiced?

I've read that religion typically appears in two forms, no matter where you go.

Exoteric, Esoteric.

Exoteric is surface level, literal beliefs, the need for a story to be historically true, an interest in the icons (In Catholic faith) symbols and stories being meaningful, but no deeper, interpretive or even mystical meaning? You find this in ancient and medieval societies, modern Evangelism, Islamic fundamentalism, and in lesser forms the general publics belief in a literal God being human-like. (Not interpreting "Made in God's image" as anything more than, literally; A god divine, but with a face, feelings and thoughts.)

Esoteric, meaning deeper, more mystical beliefs. Where the stories are gateways to deeper meanings, where the surface level is a means to deeper understandings, that unify and bring people together, that do not need the stories to be literally true, that describe God as peeling away the ego (As mystic Eckhart of medieval europe described, St. Theresa) in order to let God shine through. A God that ultimately is always present, and can be felt presently, a unifying, non-dual God that can be experienced in transcendental and mystical states, one that allows unity, compassion, not bias, division and deconstruction of "Other" faiths. In esoteric practice, there is no "other" faith, no "other" god , nor other thing. There is only God, and we need only to open ourselves up.

Interestingly, esoteric practices the world over seem to say the same thing in different languages. And even more fascinating, this seems to be a common ground for all of the world's religions, beneath the fanatics and seemingly differing surfaces. . .

Anyhow, this is what I've learned and wanted to share it with you, open it up for discussion. That being said, your opinions? Thoughts? Reflections?

 

I hope Christianity goes esoteric, because from your description, it seems more open minded and apt to change.

Peace and love

 

It will go esoteric because many of the "facts" behind Christian beliefs are lies, where as spirituality can't be disproved...only felt.

 

at the earth dance this weekend there was a guy with a brilliant t-shirt on. it said "god is too big to fit into one religion"

 

The way shaman sun writes, and the fact that he calls himself 'shaman sun' both irritate me endlessly.

 

It must be a mental burden to be so jealous
of other's, heywood.

 

I try to conquer it through daily affirmation however it seems that no matter how much I try to feel good about myself, the insidious cleverness of others never stops destroying my confidence. I try, nay, I STRIVE so hard to approach the endlessly superior levels of others, however always fall short in some way. What is it about me? WHAT? Truly, I must conclude that only a person on the internet who has never met me yet still has wisdom enough to gain poignant insight into my character could possibly ever tell me.

 

And my intuition gathered enough about you to
touch a sensitive nerve in as little as one
sentence :tongue:

 

Yes. I actually feel worse now than when I accidentally wandered into that gay park in Taiwan and a fat old man came onto me.

 

Chillax.

 

GETTING BACK TO THE SUBJECT, what will happen to Christianity? I think it will continue to diverge. The esoteric will become so esoteric that it will verge on Buddhism and Hinduism. The exoteric will become so fundamentalist it will resemble the Taliban. And the two will clash and the resulting synthesis will be sensible, pragmatic Christian existential-humanism like mine--the wave of the future!(with me as High Priest, of course).

 

First of all, I didn't ride the short bus, I had a special section on the normal bus... but they kicked me off because I would throw things at the other kids when they wouldn't stop playing that goddam Bush album. And they gave helmets to everyone at my school, so that's not such a big thing. Dumbass.

Also, he was actually just middle-aged and he wasn't really like morbidly obese or anything but he did have a lot of extra padding. I was just wandering around keeping to myself and he came up and said 'You know, there's something special about this park, yeahhhhh! See if you can guess what it is, mmm-hmmmm!'... it was HORRIBLE!

Anyway, enough about me. I think that the Christianity of tomorrow will basically consist of a single guy talking about how it doesn't exist, and trying to make everyone agree with him, but they won't, because he's just too obnoxious and they don't want to give him that satisfaction!!!

 

Si, that's more like esoteric! Not that pope selling tickets part, but definitely the not needing to perform silly rituals. But you never know . . .

 

Here are some examples of esoteric practitioners:

"When I preach, I usually speak of detachment and say that a man should be empty of self and all things; and secondly, that he should be reconstructed in the simple good that God is; and thirdly, that he should consider the great aristocracy which God has set up in the soul, such that by means of it man may wonderfully attain to God; and fourthly, of the purity of the divine nature."

http://members.aol.com/heraklit1/eckhart.htm

-Meister Eckhart, a medieval mystic.

"Contemplative prayer is the world in which] . . . our private, self-made worlds come to an end; a new world appears within and around us and the impossible becomes an everyday experience. Yet the world that prayer reveals is barely noticeable in the ordinary course of events."

"Centering prayer is a method of refining one's intuitive faculties so that one can enter more easily into contemplative prayer. It is not the only path to contemplation, but it is a good one. As a method, it is a kind of extract of monastic spirituality . . . you have to keep up a certain level of silence in the psyche and nervous system if you want to obtain the benefits of contemplative prayer. "

-Father Thomas Keating

http://www.thecentering.org/centering_method.html

"Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words."

-St. Therese

http://www.ewtn.com/therese/quotes.htm

This of course, only scratches the surface...

It's true that there are far fewer esoteric practices than exoteric, but one might argue that this 'edge' is the fringe of our awareness, the latest and greatest of humanity's capacity to evolve its consciousness. Anyhow... Your thoughts?

 

I have little use for either the esoteric or the exoteric trends in Christianity. The former, exemplified by contemplative monks perfecting their "spirituality", professors of theology in some of our prestigious seminaries, and "High Holies" encountered at Rainbow Family gatherings, contribute little to human welfare while spinning elaborate cobwebs of pretentious b.s. that give them the illusion of being closer to God than the rest of us. The best that can be said about them is that their contemplations keep them off the street and out of trouble. The latter are essentially androids, uncritically following their programming and recruiting others to do the same. We could use more sensible folks who follow Jesus' example of compassion and love--and show a little moderation and common sense.

 

True esoteric practice is not as you say... It seems you're describing the "Holier than thou" syndrome many people rightly dismiss about the practices. The truth is any of these honest mystics will not tell you they are closer to God than you. In fact they mostly seem to teach that one can keep a quiet mind and be open to God and to love. They would agree with your statement in most respects, about Jesus. Compassion, love. They teach that selfishness is a road block at times to openness and compassion. That's esoteric enough for me.

 

here is what breaks my heart about christianity. this morning at the whale festival i met a young man who used to work in a local restaurant when i was last in this area. he was the kindest, most gentle soul, and had the finest manner i have ever encountered in a waiter. his life's dream was to fly planes, and he was saving everything in order to do his pilot's license. when i saw him today i was delighted and said "are you flying yet?"

"no, i came to repentance," he replied. "jesus saved me from all desires." i looked around and realised i was standing in the middle of the crowd of men who live in this town and spend saturdays and especially festival days walking around in a tightly grouped bunch, their women trailing silently and meekly behind, playing mournful songs on their guitars and shouting from the street corners at everyone to repent.

so a vibrant, happy, beautiful human, who was full of life and enthusiasm, is now a robotic zombie, with no "desires" he says, but from where i stood, (in my initial shock before i realised it's all ok, and perfect manifestation of oneness anyway), i just saw someone who seemed to have had the life and love sucked right out of them. :stunned:

 

christianity turns people into hot milfs?

 

It seems to be moving towards a more open minded, more bible based belief, at least there is a sector of it. I lost my faith for years but recently, in the last yr, have been gaining it back. I am 25 and i started dating a girl and told her "i will never go to church with you" and through her actions and acceptance, i little by little have gotten more interested. now i am the one wanting to go. I have met some of the most geniune people i have ever encountered not directly through "church" but in various places who share this common belief, this living the way of the teachings. People who are appaled at the current state of most churches. I thought everyone who was a Christian was the bible thumping, i hate everything that doesn't fall in line type of judgmental people. This i have found is very untrue and i think these people are no closer to god than people who do not believe. They use religion as a tool and have no respect or love for Jesus or his teachings, only with the parts they agree with. they mold jesus to fit their beliefs instead of adhering to his teachings.

There are jerks in every sect. If i were to know nothing but what i saw on TV, what religious conservatives were touting, what the talking heads were saying, i would be turned off. It is the teachings, the real life examples of people that have turned me back on.

I have seen several "new" churched spring up from preachers who were run off from other, more traditional and well establised churches.

To sumerize, i think there is a movement moving towards the teachings of the bible and less towards what people want the bible to say or what they have been told the bible says. It is actual amazing to me and i have very much enjoyed it thus far. I look foward to each day to see examples of it.

 

Me, too, bro.