God Revealed to the 21st Century: A Progressive Christian Message: Creation, Christ Jesus, and Your Soul_s Journey

By Donald Day

God always reveals the divine nature and purpose in a manner which can be appreciated by humanity at every stage of its evolving knowledge. While rooted in basic Christianity, God Revealed to the 21st Century a Progressive Christian Message: Creation, Christ Jesus, and Your Soul’s Journey is a new and progressive voice of revelation spoken within the contextual framework of twenty-first-century human and scientific experience. This book presents God’s self-revelation through three basic themes:

Universal creation: A discussion of the purpose for creation and its role in the divine drama with humanity, the progressive nature of creation, in part guided by four divine gifts, and the divine presence sustaining the creative act.

Christ Jesus: A focus on the entire life and ministry of Jesus allows better understanding of Jesus’s humanity, the incarnation and its relevance to the nature of the triune God, and the universal Christ of eternity. Jesus’s teachings and miracles provide guidance for today’s Christian lifestyle.

Human soul: This is a unique explication of the soul’s origin, anatomy, and maturation through an individual’s life journey, death, and afterlife experience.

The divine voice is spoken through this book and the gospels, which together offer a rich resource for individual and group study programs in church renewal and outreach to those who are unchurched.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638144748

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God Revealed to the 21st Century

A Progressive Christian Message: Creation, Christ Jesus, and Your Soul_s Journey

Donald Day

Table of Contents

Creation: The Dawn of a Second Reality

Humanity

The Nature of God: The One Who Preserves

The God of Christianity

The Ministry of Jesus

Jesus the Teacher

The Miracles of Jesus

Jesus’s Death and Resurrection

Jesus and the Redemption of Humanity

Spiritual Helpers

The Spiritual Journey

The Postmodern World

Is There One True Religion?

Christianity in the Postmodern World: Belief and Experience

ISBN 978-1-63814-473-1 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63814-474-8 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 Donald Day

All rights reserved

First Edition

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version, copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used with permission. All rights are reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

I dedicate this work to those many precious yet unknown persons who donated their life-giving blood which saved my life during my early experience with cancer. Without your gift of sacrifice, I would not have had the time to live out the composition of these thoughts. My love and prayers for each of you, my unknown friends, are beyond words. Your love for universal humankind proves the mysterious and powerful presence of the divine which infuses all creation.

Preface

Often today, in the twenty-first century, a cry (or moan) is raised that our Christianity may not survive in the disruptive stress of the postmodern world. It is said that populations of many nations are becoming secular at such an alarming rate that the Christian church may become a minor player for the lives and souls of millions of people. Does Christianity have a future which can change this world for the better and fulfill God’s purpose for its creation?

Although Mahatma Gandhi lived his life in the Hindu spiritual tradition, he was deeply impressed by the teachings of Jesus. Much of his nonviolent social philosophy found its roots within frequent readings of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). This poor little man, who was able to bring the nineteenth century’s greatest empire to its knees, wondered why such a powerful Christian message could not completely reshape the world. You Christians have a document [the gospel teachings of Jesus] which contains enough dynamite power to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world [order] upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it [Jesus’s words] as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature. Truly, the greatest threat to twenty-first-century Christianity does not rest in the secularized world or in the confused noise of its many church structures; the greatest threat to its divine mission rests in the diluted witness of everyday Christians.

Today, the majority of Christians have scant understanding about the essential roots of belief. Often, that which they know is limited to a superficial level of short sound-bite statements of dos and don’ts and general platitudes. Most have minimal exposure to gospel teachings which have been given to them in short, piecemeal, and disconnected sermons or lessons. It is rare that they have heard God’s foundational purpose for their existence and the universe’s creation.

Frequently, the church has allowed the believer to remain at this level of experiential self-ignorance, whereby, the individual thinks that he knows enough, has a ticket to heaven, and needs not seek a deeper spiritual life. In this book, the reader will have the opportunity to hear (and experience) the entire sweep of God’s revelation for humanity—stretching from the first moment of creation to one’s present life’s existence and future path to eternity. It will proclaim that the essential and precious main (tap) root of Christianity is not found in dogma or specialized ritual practice but rather in the relationship of God and the individual! The ultimate divine purpose for which we and our universe exist is the creation of an authentic and intimate relationship of Creator God with each of us.

This book offers a connected overview of this divine self-revelation which is contextually compatible with twenty-first-century human knowledge and experience. If it is to have meaningful importance, the Christian Scriptures, which was written from two thousand to three thousand years ago, must be understood by individuals within their evolved social and intellectual frame of reference. Experience of current global social trends and advanced scientific knowledge have the potential to add to scriptural wisdom. Today, we can better perceive these mysteries of God’s purpose and better respond to the divine.

Some readers of this book will consider it to be controversial (and in some aspects, they may be correct). Other readers will find this book gives new insights and, hopefully, the possibility of liberation from certain past religious concepts which did not promote their deeper spiritual quest. I offer it to those who wish to search for direction toward a more intimate relationship with God and to those who will employ the wisdom of God’s Spirit to guide them as they read these words. May I suggest that you enter this reading task with an open mind. Allow God’s Spirit to reinforce those passages by which you may benefit. It is not my intention to tell the reader what to think or believe. Let God’s Spirit do that! But I ask you to wrestle with God’s Spirit in order to obtain the best understanding for your life. All good relationships require sincere effort be expended by both parties.

Here are some special comments about this book:

I have attempted to use inclusive language throughout the text. This is an effort to be mindful that God is not an old man up in heaven. The divine Creator has no gender which is recognizable to us. Jesus of Nazareth was a male. The resurrected and deified Christ Jesus is without gender. Although both Greek and Hebrew words used to denote God’s Spirit are feminine, I have used the neutral pronoun for the Spirit in this book. The reader will notice that often God’s pronoun is called it or its. Don’t be shocked. I know it might be a little upsetting; but once again, I use a genderless pronoun. The only exception to the use of inclusive language occurs when a gendered pronoun is ascribed to the divine in a passage which is directly quoted from the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) Bible.

Scripture passages are quoted from the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV), third edition, edited by Michael D. Coogan (Oxford University Press, 2001). The Bible translation has been inserted after the citation to identify these passages. Some scriptural passages have square bracketed words added by me to clarify or promote smooth reading when extracted from its context.

Foreign language words are presented in italicized type format.

Unlike a novel, this book is not intended to be read quickly. Some passages have superficial knowledge which may be gained by a fast read. However, it is filled with a depth of meaning which should cause one to pause, rethink about what was just read, and ask God’s Spirit to speak about the truth of those words. The purpose of this book is to promote and aid the evaluation and growth of your personal spiritual journey.

The reader has a valid question when asking the origin of these thoughts. My entire long life has been spent in Christian thought, practice, and prayer. The Scriptures have been a significant part of my daily life since early childhood, and a wide spectrum of spiritual writings have flooded my mind throughout adulthood. Life experience as a physician, medical geneticist, Franciscan, and chaplain have confirmed many of these statements. But the most influential source of these words came from God’s Spirit!

Approximately five years ago, the Spirit started nagging me to write this book of spirituality. Cancer and various obligations have slowed the process, but each sentence was painstakingly crafted under the Spirit’s influence. I never sat down to write without the following meaningful prayer to bathe whatever transpired: Lord God, let me speak your word to others and do that without fear. I ask that you perfect these thoughts and words to perfectly express your desired message so that, in all things, you are glorified and others are blessed. So my prayer continues for each reader that with these words and with the Spirit’s guidance, your life will be blessed by a more meaningful and intimate relationship with God.

Come now and read carefully with God’s Spirit. Join me on this spiritual journey and seek a more intimate relational experience with the divine. Be inspired by these words and thoughts. May they lead you into a more intense and loving relationship with God—which is the primary lover of creation.

Part 1

(Please read the preface of this book before reading chapter 1.)

Chapter 1

Creation: The Dawn of a Second Reality

Once, nothing was secular—none of our tangible reality, only the divine. In that beginning of all beginnings, there existed only the sacred, intangible reality; and from it came into being all that now exists. The very essence of our tangible world still exists within the stream of that sacred intangible. Every atom, each quark of physical reality, manifests and resides within that stream of the sacred presence, the divine presence, from which it was derived and in which it continues to exist. As a coin is whole and intact with its two sides, so is each atom whole and intact with its two realities being simultaneously tangible and intangible. Within the divine creation, there is no dualism or separation of these two realities. If a human chooses to recognize only the tangible reality, he simply is opting to limit his experience to one reality. Humanity exists as both tangible and intangible being—Homo sapiens and Homo spiritus.

We tangible humans live as captives within a universe whose farthest boundaries fully contain our reality. We cannot look over its edge to determine what is beyond. Is there another universe? Is it comparable to ours? Is there some form of time or distance by which it can be measured? Is there anyone else out there in a universe beyond the boundary of our universe? Our tangible world of mathematics, science, and experienced reality all end at that far distant and expanding horizon which represents the tangible edge of our universe. Beyond that boundary, there is no time or measurement like that which we experience. Our reality and scientific understanding end at the horizon of our universe.

The universal Creator, which is not a tangible part of the creation itself, is beyond that boundary and cannot be recognized or understood by us, except as the Creator chooses to self-reveal to us. Our understanding of the divine one and its nature and purpose can only be the result of that self-revelation and not our direct examination of it. We must acknowledge and experience those self-revealed messages in order to speak about our God. Fortunately for humanity, the Creator has chosen to self-reveal to us and even seeks to have a relationship with humans—an intimate relationship.

The first action, by which the divine one revealed some of its nature, occurred almost 13.8 billion years ago when a single point of super concentrated energy broke forth to create all that we know to be our universe. Imagine that everything on planet Earth could be shrunk so small that it would fit into the period at the end of this sentence. Then imagine that the entire universe, everything of which we have any knowledge, was shrunk even smaller—so small that it would require a microscope to be able to glimpse it. Then realize that it was shrunk beyond that level to a point so small that the most powerful electron microscope could barely see it—a single point containing all that now exists and that which ever existed. Everything would have been reduced below the quantum level into a speck of energy. Everything that had future potential of existence was contained within that tiny speck.

When this super concentrated point of energy became unstable, it exploded forth and initiated an enormous creative process. In that nanosecond, our universe was born in its tangible and intangible forms. Everything was derived from that Big Bang as it expanded and created our universe’s space-time web. In the nanoseconds from that initial event and its expansion, there was enough diffusion of energy to allow the first formation of subatomic particles. Attractive and repulsive forces between these particles generated the earliest atoms of hydrogen and helium. The existence of a tangible universe was dawning.

Huge clouds of those early atoms became the building blocks of heavier and larger atoms, and some of these atoms combined into more complex units. As the initial explosive dust continued to spread and combine together, the earliest forms of solid space matter evolved. Space pebbles became rocks, and some of those rocks collided together, becoming asteroidlike bodies. In time, hot stars and their planetary neighbors were positioned in relationship with one another. Our own system of planets, moons, and assorted rocks was positioned around the sun. These were the heavenly bodies early humans observed, and they still remain subjects of our research.

Unfortunately, when physicists speak of this point of singularity, their definition of it is limited by both the constraints of language and the accepted scientific units which measure energy. The point or focus of all origins is more than the force by which we usually describe energy and much more than joule units measuring the work required to move mass through spatial distance. Within its nature as potential building blocks and fuel, it also had a futuristic potential to become an evolving universe determined to manifest an intimate relationship between the creation and its Creator. The appreciation of this unique focus of origins cannot be fully understood by either scientific or theological observation in isolation, but in combination, its full potential begins to be realized.

Even then, several questions remain. What or where was the origin of this point of incredible energy which manifested in the point of singularity? Did the concentration of such energy into a tiny point just happen? Was it an accident derived from another universe which previously had been created? Does its existence have any meaning? Was it the initial action of a creative power to self-reveal a purpose with the products of this energy?

Until the past few decades, humans could not speak of this elusive point of all origins. Theoretical physics and mathematics had not yet predicted it. Only when the most recent particle accelerators came online did we get a glimpse of such an energetic state and primitive matter. The quest of Greek philosophers, writers of the Jewish Scriptures, and the tales of early humans all sought an answer to this beginning of everything. But they had no understanding of the possible existence and importance of this point of singularity. They were limited to explain our universe’s origin within the context of their available observations and experience.

The three great monotheistic religions trace back their concept of the universe’s origin to the early oral traditions of Semitic people. These early people observed the world around them. In response to these observations and experiences, they sought an explanation for the creation. They recognized that there must have existed a power and wisdom which far exceeded human capacity. It did not live in their tribes or walk among them. It must have existed and created this world much earlier than their collective human memory. Simply, this power was not part of the tangible and finite creation itself. Yet they were certain that it remained involved with the ongoing events which they experienced daily in the world around them. Many names were given to this other power, and many religious practices developed that allowed humans to relate to this one which was essential to sustain their world and daily lives.

The Judeo-Christian tradition begins with the simple and yet profound statement that In the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1 NRSV). There is no guess about how or why this occurred. Those early people recognized that this creative work far exceeded human power or understanding; so as they retold the story throughout many generations, they did not try to explain the origin of God or the essential characteristics of God. It was adequate to cloak this other power in the unspeakable name of God. Clearly, no human was present to witness the cataclysmic events of universal creation. Their account may have been how those early Hebrews sought to explain the beginning of the world within the context of their experience, or it may have represented divine inspiration leading those writers into a creative process which they were capable of understanding. In either case, the explanation was simple and symbolic. It was compatible with their level of experience and their knowledge base.

In their daily activity, those early people created many objects for their life needs. All were made out of existing substances; and the final form of the object was simple, static, and without the characteristics of life. The human creator of the object always possessed more power and wisdom than the base material. This was the paradigm for creation as they understood it. But the creation of our Earth’s plants, animals, and life itself stretched the experiential boundary of those early Hebrews. Their limited contextual experience with life required that a descriptive account of such monumental activity had to be expressed in myth and symbol format.¹ It was sufficient to say that God spoke forth permission for the event to come into being. How God accomplished the action was beyond their understanding and remained a mystery. This action of speaking forth or molding from the dust conveyed the necessary concept to other humans but was only a symbolic representation of what actually happened.

Today, the Hubble Space Telescope and particle accelerators have greatly expanded the knowledge base or the context of human understanding relative to our planet and the universe around us. These scientific observations allow us to generate a series of sequential events which conceivably could have produced the basic elements of our early world. Some of the mechanisms involved in these progressive steps of creation are understood and may have been part of the actual acts of creation. Modern understanding of astrophysics and energy has advanced our level of sophistication and has reset the contextual level of our intelligence. Therefore, we can better understand and define the creative process without the use of vague symbolic language. In doing that, some of the steps of creation can be given reasonable explanation and shown to be a progression of increasing complexity and interaction.

Creation: Static or Progressive?

All ancient people agreed that the world and its contents could not have been created by them. Humanity simply did not have the power or wisdom to throw the stars into their heavenly paths or to create life and death in plants and animals. Therefore, a divine and absolutely other force had to be the primary source for creation. As these early people looked around at their world and its life-forms, they thought that the plants and animals possessed the same physical characteristics which had been present in the world of their forebears. Sheep always had great woolly coats which their earlier relatives had used for clothing just as they now used that wool. The stars in the nighttime sky had been used for navigation and prediction in those early days just as they used their guiding light and sky position. The hills seemed to be everlastingly tall. To early humans, nature and its life-forms seemed to be fairly static. There always had been sheep and cattle, seas, and tall mountains. They could not imagine that these objects were any different than when first created.

However, God created our universe with a futuristic perspective.² The original act of universal creation is part of an unfolding plan or purpose which extends throughout eons of creative time. Those first atoms of creation had a demonstrable future and continue to be the substance of the evolving universe. From then to now and into the unknown future, the residual of that original point of singularity progresses toward the purpose for which it was created. From the beginning, it was destined that the most evolved units of creation, its spearhead, would be free to establish an intimate relationship with the Creator. That relationship is the purpose of creation and its ultimate goal.

There is a huge difference between the primitive understanding of creation and that which we may accept in the twenty-first century. It was not until the last three centuries that paleontologists analyzed fossils, biologist observed progressive similarity among the various species, and molecular biologists demonstrated the thread of life in DNA. Until these scientific advances were achieved, accounts about creation were relatively static and lacked any concept of progressive development.

Because human generations have a relatively short life span, the opportunity to observe and measure changes is limited, and the world around those early people did not seem to change much from generation to generation. Although the ancients assumed that the mountains were everlastingly tall and unchanged, it is the theory of tectonic plate movement (1960s) which explains the creation and upward thrust of the Alps, Rockies, and Himalayas. The grinding impact of water on rocks created such wonders as the American Grand Canyon