Jesus and Christ

Understanding the true meaning of words in the Bible unlocks the meaning of this ancient and sacred text. Before we go any further, we need to look at the central character in the New Testament, Jesus Christ. Is this one being or two different beings?

A survey of the New Testament reveals that we rarely find the names Jesus and Christ expressed together. This is an important observation because not only are they two different beings, they are not interchangeable. We can only understand this if we understand who these beings are. To begin with, one is a human being; the other is a spiritual being.

In the Gospel of John for instance the name Jesus is always used alone except in two places:

Jn 1:17 “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” and,
Jn 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

In fact, St Paul reverses the names to Christ Jesus. This could suggest that Christ is a title; like saying President Obama or Queen Elizabeth.

If we read the New Testament with this in mind, a new story unfolds. Here is a man called Jesus Iesous meaning saviour, who becomes Christ Christos meaning anointed, or we could say Jesus becomes Christ-ened. This is our task too, but it is not plain sailing as Matthew points out in his discussion of the pseudochristos or false Christ:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray.” Mt 24:24

If we take the Bible as a manual for evolving consciousness then we could have a goal to become like Jesus striving to achieve Christ-ened perfection. The New Testament is full of descriptions of the nature of Jesus and how this nature might be attained, or followed. The word follow is akoloutheo that literally means ‘alike-way’ and gives the sense of becoming like Jesus, copying the way he is. The way he is has been greatly misunderstood.

When considering human consciousness it isn’t enough to say human beings are conscious and have consciousness. This state of being awake and aware clearly differs from person to person and changes within each of us throughout the day. Nor is it sufficient to say things like; I am health conscious, I have a national consciousness of shared beliefs and feelings, or I lose consciousness if I faint, or the way I think represents the kind of consciousness that I have. This is generalizing, skimming the surface of what it means to be conscious.

To be fully aware of our consciousness means to consider it in detail. Human consciousness has three core activities: feeling, thinking, and willing. We each use these activities differently, and in different combinations.

These three activities actually take place in the human soul, psuche. We form our feelings, thoughts and actions in our soul and express them in our body. The more aware of this we are, the more conscious we are.

In the biblical Greek there are more than thirty different words for these three activities. If we look up “An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words with their precise meanings for English readers” by W.E. Vine, M.A. we find fifteen words for think, five for feel and seven or more for act, commit, do (will). Each particular word reveals a specific quality of human consciousness, and a particular aspect of our soul, and it is in the specific use of these words that the real wisdom of the Bible unfolds.

Aristotle (384BC-322BC) was among the first to write about the human soul. Prior to this, it wasn’t necessary to write anything about the soul because the soul wasn’t differentiated into different activities as it is today - pointing to the fact that human consciousness changes.

Aristotle was aware that a differentiation was taking place which led him to described the soul as having three qualities that he called: Orektikon, Kinetikon, and Dianoetikon.

1. Orektikon refers to desires, appetites, sensations, impulses which is the soul activity of feeling.
2. Kinetikon means to set in motion, to try every way, reasoning, which is the soul activity of thinking.
3. Dianoetikon is about intention that is the soul activity of will.

If we take these things into account, the difference between Christ and Jesus, representing the evolution of consciousness, makes a lot of sense. Jesus had to prepare himself by becoming more aware of his consciousness, giving him the ability to be as objective as possible when he was treated the way he was.

Understanding this, we can follow Jesus on his journey to Golgotha and see how the human being makes way for the spiritual being to arise. Jesus was able to bear all things through his ability to be fully aware of his feeling, thinking and will, just as we are able to bear life’s difficulties when we control our feeling, think clearly and act consciously.

First published on Huffington Post - causing quite a stir, hundreds of people commented.

The Word

“Every one should consider his body as a priceless gift from one whom he loves above all, as a marvelous work of art, of undescribable beauty and mastery beyond human conception, and so delicate and frail that a word, a breath, a look, nay, a thought, may injure it.”
Nikola Tesla

Do we really have the freedom to say what we like or even to think what we like? How often do we stop to consider the impact of our words on another person before we speak? If we are angry with them then, probably rarely. Yet, we only have to think about our own response to the way some people speak to us to realise the truth of Nikola Tesla’s words.

Harsh words, words said in anger, insults, all create wounds in the soul. We could even say that if we let an insult fester in us, we assist with the wounding.

If we look at the true meaning of the word, ‘word’ we will have greater understanding of Nikola Tesla’s ideas. The Word, in New Testament Greek, means Logos and it is an important word in the Bible. It is so important that St John uses it to begin his Gospel. To the Apostle John the Word or Logos means much more than a simple word; in the Logos word and concept become one. This means that if we experience the Logos, we live in the concept the word describes, and we experience a full understanding of it. This is an, ‘aha’, moment. Unfortunately today the world is drowning in words that are mostly misunderstood.

When St John speaks of the Word, the Logos, he means a spoken word that creates something.

When does a spoken word create something today? Perhaps when it inspires, for example, during a motivational talk, or at school when the words used by a teacher ignite the life path of a student. Although, as Nikola Tesla says, the word can also be destructive.

With these ideas in mind we can look at the words used to begin the Gospel of St John. They are not usually translated accurately. The following is a more considered translation.

In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. The same was in the beginning with God;
all things entered into existence through it and without it nothing entered into existence. In it was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
John 1:1-4

So if this Word, this Logos, was a God, what exactly was it? We can gather some helpful ideas from St Mark as he reports on the parable of the sowing of the seed. After he told the parable of sowing the seed on rocky ground, among thorns, or on good ground, he said privately to his disciples that the “sower sows the word (Logos).” Mark 4:14

This parable explains that the word is a seed and how it is planted matters. While the word remains a seed it is mute, the seed only speaks when it becomes the plant it is destined to become and bears the fruit it is intended to bear.

This also tells us of a creative process, a birth process. When we speak we give birth to words, we conceive them, then we form them, and then we let them go.

It follows that when we become aware of this primal Logos resonating through us, we are in touch with the creative impulse of the Universe. We could also say that this word is a universal form of communication, a universal language we must awaken within ourselves. We know that words are what connect us to each other, when one speaks and the other hears we are joined by the Word, the Logos. When the Word is expressed in its purity, out of love, we experience grace.

As St John tells us, from the very earliest beginnings the Word, the Logos, filled cosmic space with the sound of creation. If we think of sound as a note, we know that a note must have a perfect tone otherwise it is discordant. If we can hear the original sound, we know that through it we can make sense of the mysteries that underpin human life. This is our challenge, to get in touch with the Creative Word, the Logos - that which was in the beginning.

First published on Huffington Post  

What is Sin

Sin is one of the most misunderstood concepts today. All too often it is tied to guilt and fear which has the potential be psychologically disturbing. “If you don’t do A, B will happen to you.” Surely this is not encouragement to avoid sin but rather motivation to conceal sin.

In the New Testament, the Greek word for sin is hamartia, which literally means ‘to miss the mark’. Think of an archer pulling on the bowstring to point the arrow at the target. Think of the archer’s body; every muscle aligned with precision, eyes focussed on the target, coordinated breathing, stillness, and full concentration. To hit the target the first time, and every time after that, is expecting a lot.

Let’s take a look at the word ‘sin’ in this bible text.

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:22f

If we start with the Greek word for ‘any,’ which is tis; it is an interrogative pronoun used in order to ask a question: who, which, what? It doesn’t necessarily refer to others, it can refer to ourselves by applying it in this way: ‘If you forgive the sins of yourself? they are forgiven;’.

Forgive is aphiemi made up of two words; apo and eimi. Apo means separating the part from the whole, or distancing ourselves; eimi means ‘to be’, as we might say, “I just am.” This suggests a state of harmony and balance, and a position of recognition (not necessarily acceptance).

Retained is krateo which means to have power, to be powerful. Whenever we want power, we usually have the wrong motive. We enter into a state of compensation rather than just being with whatever is happening.

A better way of understanding sin is to see it as a state of non-perfection, which has the possibility of becoming perfection. Then sin becomes something constructive, part of our goal. With this attitude, we have the courage to keep pulling on the bowstring, working on our aim and our poise.

When we have developed a certain level of skill we are able to see how we have underperformed. When it comes to sin, this takes courage. Usually we are inclined to make excuses for missing the mark; it was someone else’s fault. Then we engage in the power of retaining sin, not the recognition required for forgiving sin.

If we are going to hit the mark, we need to work out what the mark is. What target, as human beings, are we aiming for? Surely is it love, the New Commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34

This love understands; it has the right perspective. It is a love that recognizes the effort involved in honing the archer’s aim. We become objective and in this way, we stand in the other person’s shoes and see, not their failure, but how, step by step, they sharpen their aim. We also apply these same principle to ourselves.

We could also say that we sin when we don’t make an effort to understand sin. Without this understanding, we perpetuate sin. Our task is to aim the bow by recognizing the right way and the wrong way. None else can do this for us, not any law of government or religion, but only our own understanding of who we are as human beings and where we stand in the universe. There is an ancient saying, “Man, know yourself!” and as we work towards knowing ourselves we become much more aware of our motives. The true meaning of sin gives us the courage to objectively recognize how we miss the mark and work on perfecting our aim.

First published on Huffington Post

What Does it Really Mean to Repent?

The Baptism of Christ by Francesco Francia 1509

“Repent,” “turn,” “stop sinning,” “ask God for forgiveness,” is the clarion call from pulpits all over the world. Is it clear what we should actually do? This preaching comes from these Bible texts:

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2 and “‘From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17
“but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3

What are we to make of this today? What does it actually mean to repent? Don’t we need to know what it means if we are to do it? In fact, we could even ask what it means to be good, i.e. not sin. We can only find some real answers to these questions if we first consider human consciousness, and assess how conscious our mind is.

We also need to consider the ways in which human awareness changes over time; the way we use our mind evolves and our consciousness becomes increasingly individualized. If we accept this, it means we are thinking for ourselves much more than we ever did, just as a child does as it matures. Unless we understand the way in which our consciousness - our mind and awareness - changes we can’t begin to fully understand the Bible, especially words like repent and sin.

Observing the way our consciousness changes as we age is a good way of grasping the idea of changing human consciousness. We also know that we think differently from our grandparents and even our parents. Apart from this difference between generations, there is another important way to look at changes in consciousness. If human consciousness changes over thousands of years, couldn’t we compare this with the way it changes in one human being during their lifetime. For example, we could say that if primitive man thought like a 10 year old, then at present, by comparison, we now think like a 35 year old.

If this were the case, it would mean that when the New Testament was written people’s thought processes were less mature than ours are today. This might lead us to question, as many people do, the relevance of the Bible for us today. The question that arose for me personally was whether the Bible was written for a certain kind of consciousness or whether it can be applied across time and still be relevant - particularly when I came across certain words like repent and sin, among others.

I have been writing reflections on the Bible since 2003 and have studied it since 1983, which has led me to see the Bible as a map of developing human consciousness. I have found many examples of this over the years as I looked at the original Greek meaning of words, and it amazes me how pertinent these ideas are for us in the 21st Century as we move from local to global interactions. I see how our expanding awareness means that we have to think differently on many levels. At the same time, many people seem to live their lives unconsciously even though they have the opportunity to be more conscious than ever before. It is time for all of us to wake up!

What does this have to do with repenting? Just as we re-engineer the work place to accommodate the changing ways we do business, so we must also re-engineer our mind. As Einstein famously said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Furthermore, when we start to understand how our consciousness can change, that in itself changes it! It is as if we put a magnifying glass to our own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

We also know that the pace of change is quickening. Just as technology always needs updating, so do our patterns of thinking and ways of living. I can see that the human race has reached a point of intensity in its development in which we are asked to repent. It happened two thousand years ago, and it is happening now. It could even be a perpetual thing.

So, what does it mean to repent? This word means something quite different from the way we use it today. It isn’t about being sorry or regretful, and it certainly isn’t about asking for forgiveness; it could be about changing our mind, but how?

In the Greek language, the word repent is metanoia which literally means ‘to perceive afterwards’. It implies that we can see the consequences of our actions before we act. We could call it foresight although it is more than that. It is about placing ourselves in the future and consciously experiencing firsthand the effects of, not only our actions, but also our thoughts, and feelings.

Repent means to be very observant, acutely aware. This level of awareness applies to our speech, our emotions, and our intentions. It means that we accept a new level of responsibility. Each day the news reveals how many people do not consider the consequences of their actions before they act. They feel free to express themselves without concern about the effects of their words and emotions on others.

To see ‘in real time’ the affect we have on the future changes everything about us. This is what it means to repent.

First published on Huffington Post

The Bible Unlocked

Sacred texts intrigue me and although they can be difficult to read, I often find little gems that shine like diamonds in my mind. It is as if they have the power of a seed to sprout over time, tickling my brain with a new thought. We can find inspiration in any of these ancient books; The Bhagavad Gita, The Vedas, The Tanach, The Quran or The Bible.

It may have escaped our attention that we are now free to read any of these books. Previously it would have been necessary to be a devotee of a particular faith before we could have access to its sacred texts. Not only that, only a few hundred years ago not many people could read, but also, only the religious leaders were allowed to read these sacred texts to their followers according to certain guidelines.

Today, many sacred texts are freely available on The Sacred Text Archive

The question then arises about how we can understand these texts. This has been my mission for over thirty years. My biography explains my journey. Beginning on New Year’s day in 2003 I first began writing about hidden meanings in the Bible. These hidden meanings are not associated with any religious philosophies; they apply across the board and appeal to many kinds of readers.

I would like to take you on a journey through the Bible, mostly the New Testament, to show you how it can make sense to our modern outlook. I will start by explaining how some of the words translated into English lose their true meaning. I will also introduce some ideas about the makeup of the human being which are necessary if we are to make full sense of what the Bible actually means.

Take this text for instance.

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Th 5:23

Why would St Paul bother describing us human beings in this way? Never mind what he meant by “kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I will come to that because it doesn’t mean what we think it does).

One of the first hurdles to overcome when reading the Bible is our understanding of the nature of the human being which is usually limited to its physical substance of flesh and blood. A closer look at human nature reveals three different human characteristics; body, soul and spirit, each of which expresses itself differently.

If we think about ourselves and how we function in the world, we know that we are beings who think ideas; have sensations, feelings, and emotions; and we act according to how we think and feel. It is these three essential human faculties; feeling, thinking and acting, that we need to be more conscious of. They are tangible; we experience them every moment of each day. Not only that, each of these three faculties is linked to our body, soul and spirit.

Psuche, from which we have the word psychology, can be translated in the Bible as heart, life, mind or soul, and refers to our soul which gives us our capacity to feeling and sense things. Pneuma can be translated as breath, life, spirit or wind, it is our spiritual nature associated with our ability to think, it is suggestive of thoughts that can blow through our mind. Our body, which is the earthly vehicle of the soul and spirit, in Greek is soma, the centre of human activity and mobility, which we can identify with the human will.

In 2 Corinthians we can see how these bodies are referred to in other ways. It is interesting to note that without our spiritual body we are naked, which is a direct reference to events in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve saw that they were naked.

“For we know that if the earthly tent [physical body] we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God [spiritual body], a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling, so that by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed” 2 Cor 5:1-4

Finally, the words from Thessalonians 1 5:23, “kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” have a very specific meaning, which in broad terms refers to the work we must do to become aware of our full human potential. The word sound is tereo which means to watch, observe, become conscious of. What are we to become conscious of? Ourselves as beings of body, soul and spirit.

Blameless is amemptos, which means perfect, without fault and is a direct reference to our values and motives. Are our actions motivated to benefit ourselves, or for the benefit of everyone? This text is really saying become conscious with good values and motives.

It is surprising to notice how we change when we consider these small things about ourselves. I welcome any comments and experiences that arise for you as you consider these thoughts.

First published on Huffington Post

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