He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. I tend to understand it in a sense of reincarnation, that John purposely took the role of prepareing for the Christ Conciousness through his manifestation, rather than attaining the level of oneness with the Holy Spirit that Jesus did. Pretty noble, if I say so myself. There is always a reason for everything, and I feel that John's reasoning for this was simply to prepare for incarnation Jesus manifested through Mary But, I may also be completley insane and irrational, delusion. So, what's your thoughts on the matter? ~
All I know is that it is John the Baptist saying it, and I believe this was from the King James version. Sorry, I dont really have that much of the testament commited to memory, nor do I ever intend to. I just find certain parts to be in harmony with the Bhagavad Gita ~
I believe all religion isnt meant to be taking litterally. The point of religion is to show that the key to life is to LOVE. It doesnt matter whether Noah built a huge ark and stuck 2 of each animal in it or not, the main point of religion to to teach us to love, and to tell us thats the key to happiness. I believe it. Im not saying i dont believe in Jesus Christ, i do, but the stories in the bible cant be takin seriously(even though they could be true, i just dont think they are). Its all metaphors so us humans will know the way of life.
1005000% AGREE. how bout instead of worshipping legalism we try worshipping our creator? thats just one hella novel concept many cant seem to grasp. religion can be beautiful at times but many put all their eggs in one basket with it and this can sometimes result in resentment! religion is very conveniently placed on this earth for the means of fellowship..not mindbinding.
*EDIT*- i read what i posted and it sounds like im being anti-christian, which i'm not. it just sounds bad. to sum it up: think for yourself. that in itself is an act of worship
i think it is easy to get swept away and cop out by adopting the beliefs of others and not going into the holy word for yourself to find the facts. i am guilty of this but i try my best to think for myself. nobody told me to follow christ. i made that decision on my own because i knew that his positivity and influence would set me free because i had seen it with my own eyes happen to others. i believe making the ultimate decision to follow something out of faith ..is thinking for yourself. if we want to get right down to it none of us TRULY think for ourselves. in a nonreligious aspect i feel i think for myself 100% and most certainly i feel i am a individual. in a religious sense..it is hard when your trying to learn quick..(out of growing interest) not to get swept away a little.
Hey Relayer... I know your trying to find a way to reconcile reincarnation in your belief system. ... If it's going to be Christo-centric I should tell you. Jesus says it bluntly somewhere in the new testament. "it is the fate of man to be judged only once". sighs... sorry to rain on yur parade. Love your line of thinking though... a lot of your posts do help me out a lot. We'll all get to see this crazy spiritual world in the end I for one look forward to it Best regards bro
The exchange between John and Jesus in Matthew before Jesus is baptized was probably added by a Jesus movement to undermine the popularity of the John movement. I think this is from Luke's gospel, again, the same can be said. It is highly likely that john's movement was just as big if not bigger then the initial Jesus movement because john had promised somethign a bit more concrete with an initiation rite. Jesus simply talked of a "kingdom of God" which seems to have meant differing things to different groups of people as seen by Q1, Q2, and Q3. It is also possible that Jesus was baptized by John then his followers broke off from Johns group over differing ideas. From what I take from this is that John could be saying that his movement should absorb into the jesus movement (which becomes the christ cult) and follow the christ afer jesus begins to teach. not about reincarnation.
