Humankind resides in the three-dimensional universe. It is a real materialistic universe where humans utilize their senses to perceive the dimension, temperature, color, or taste of all beings of the universe. However, the Universe that humankind discovered to date is not the entire Universe. The scientific results from researches performed by modern physicists and the knowledge passed down by ancient sages throughout generations have lead humankind to believe that the visible Universe is only a fraction of the whole Universe. The void invisible to humankind is where the Origin of the Universe lies.
This book presents basic postulates concerning many esoteric concepts. These include the concept of ‘God’, what constitutes evil, the nature and function of karma, the manifestation of energy from the subtle planes of perception, the nature of manifest Divinity, as veiled by the concept of the Christ in the Bible, and the mysteries of Being. The analysis moves from my earlier Buddhist writings to focus upon the information in the Bible, especially in relation to the nature of the reappearance of the Christ, which here is equated with the externalisation process of the Hierarchy of Enlightened Being. This doctrine concerns the mode of the evolution of transcendent perception by humanity. The awakening of higher spiritual perceptions via the enlightenment path, and the understanding of the psychic constitution of the nāḍīs and chakras are also explained. A syncretic approach is therefore espoused through the comparison between Eastern doctrines and the presented esoteric Christianity. In doing so many of the veiled, hidden mysteries in the Gospel story and the book of Genesis are revealed. The text shows how these religions are but aspects of one fundamental religious evolution, of the historical development of what is known in the East as the dharma, and in the Western tradition as the ‘Law of God’.
This book endeavours to integrate the concepts gleaned through modern physics with those of the esotericist, hence with the lore derived from meditative penetration of high dimensions of perception. This incorporates the nāḍī and chakra system, via which all phenomena is derived, and of the nature of the projection of thought-forms from the subjective domains to the phenomenal world. This book consequently endeavours to show how the laws discovered by physicists derive from those of the subjective universe. Many abstruse ideas therefore need to be discussed which the scientifically minded are unaware, as well as unfamiliar concepts for most religionists and philosophers. Hopefully this syncretic approach will evoke many revelations in all these schools of thought. Readers should not dismiss the ideas presented out of hand, but rather should rationalise what is logically correct as a valid basis for further research and enquiry into the origin and nature of things.
Part 5 in a monumental six-volume set that presents an undeniable case for the revealed authority of God to a generation that has forgotten who he is and what he has done.
Part 5 in a monumental six-volume set that presents an undeniable case for the revealed authority of God to a generation that has forgotten who he is and what he has done.
This volume provides a comprehensive resource for those wishing to understand the German theologian, pastor, and resistance conspirator Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) and his writings. During his lifetime he made important contributions to many of the major areas of theology: ecclesiology, creation, Christology, discipleship, and ethics. The Oxford Handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer surveys, assesses, and presents the field of research and debates of Bonhoeffer and his legacy, as well as of previous Bonhoeffer scholarship. Featuring contributions from leading Bonhoeffer scholars, historians, theologians, and ethicists, many essays draw attention to Bonhoeffer's positive contributions, while several essays also identify limits and problems with his thinking as it stands. Divided into five parts, the first section provides a detailed outline of Bonhoeffer's biography and the contexts that gave rise to his theology. The contributors explore the dynamic relationship between Bonhoeffer's life and theology. Section two provides rigorous engagements with and assessments of Bonhoeffer's theology on its own terms. Part three demonstrates how Bonhoeffer's ethical claims and engagements are deeply integrated with theological commitments. The fourth section showcases some of the best work drawing upon Bonhoeffer for engaging contemporary challenges, including feminism, race, public theology in South Africa, and contemporary philosophy. In recent decades, Bonhoeffer's theology has provoked significant critical reflection on social and cultural issues. The essays in this section exemplify how his writings can continue to contribute to such reflection today. The fifth and final section consists of essays on resources for the contemporary study of Bonhoeffer and his theology, including sources and texts, biographies and portraits, and readings and receptions. These essays also address pressing historiographical issues and problems surrounding writing about Bonhoeffer's life and theology. This authoritative collection draws together and assesses the very best of existing research on Bonhoeffer and promotes new avenues for research on Bonhoeffer.
Educated Western Christians seek to understand the scientific basis of evolution as well as to justify why a God worth worshiping can be responsible -- yet not indictable -- for evil. The author creates an innovative theological framework that addresses these concerns and provides part of a structure for fundamental theology which is based on the neoclassical metaphysics of Charles Hartshorne and the speculative cosmology of Alfred North Whitehead. His model of the divine has three basic principles: God is love, God is the creator, and this creativity is an integral part of divine essence. From this model, he develops a fundamental theology which focuses on the nature of divinity, the interaction between human and the divine, and divine revelation. He attributes much of his own concept of revelation to Whitehead's model in which revelation is indicative of a successful communion between human and divine. This revelation is achieved through symbolic mediation and it is as much inter-personal reconciliation as it is a universal resonance of the creative essence between heaven and earth. This framework shows initial agreement with Christian traditions; it is highly coherent, universal in scope and, most importantly, it has rich potential for future Christian understanding.
Could a work of revelation be justified as a viable theological project today, especially in light of some modern sceptics questioning its validity as a doctrinal discipline? Engaging with the work of theologians such as Karl Barth, Paul Tillich and Colin Gunton, Chung explores and justifies revelation and mediation in the theology of T.F.Torrance and argues that Torrance’s distinctiveness is able to contribute significantly to current debate and bring a fresh perspective to the theological landscape.
Under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, you and your small group will here discover that the bizarre images of Revelation conceal one of Scripture's clearest and most dramatic visions of God's plan for creation.
