Big D    Ok.   What if the fundamentalist Christians interpreted some of the other Biblical passages with the same zeal and intensity that they use to interpret their version of the  crucifixion story?

T.L.C.   What Scriptures? 

Big D     Scriptures such as:

John 14:12 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."    

Commonly Paraphrased as:   
"Anything I can do, you can do and more."

Luke 17:21 

“Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 

John 10:34, 35   

"Jesus said to them, is it not so written in your law you are gods?   If he called them gods because the word of God was with them and the scripture cannot be broken."

Isaiah 41:23 

"Shew [show] the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [it] together."

Psalms 82:6  

"I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High."

Matthew 25:40

"What you do onto the least of mine, you do onto me."

In this passage, where is God? 

Mark 10:27

"...with God all things are possible."

Ecclesiastes 3:19  

"For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one does, so does the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity."   

Genesis 1:26-27  (Paraphrased)

And God said let us make man in our image,  after our likeness and let them have dominion over all the Earth and over everything upon the Earth.   God created man in his [own] image. . .

Several biblical passages, such as John 14:12,  ("Anything I can do, you can do and more.")  and The Universal Law of Thought indicate that it's far  more likely that God created man with the capacity to be God-like in behavior and in ability and not (as our distant ancestors believed) to be God-like  in physical form.   

Matthew 18:20

"When two or more are gathered in my name, I am there also."

Matthew 6:5-6   (Paraphrased)

When you pray, go into your closet and pray privately, and God will reward you openly.

Matthew 7:15-16

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but  inwardly they are ravening wolves.   Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

John8:32 

“Know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Genesis 11:6

"And the Lord said, 'Behold the people are one,  and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have determined to do."

Genesis 2:7 

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Job 33:4

"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life."

Job 33:4                                                                                                   John 3:13    ...

"And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that [has not first] descended out of heaven, [even] the Son of man, who is [now] in heaven.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

"As you do not know how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of the woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

Big D    Stoney, what do Genesis 2:7,   Job 33:4,  Job 33:4  and  Ecclesiastes 11:5  tell you about your relationship to your physical body?

T.L.C.    That there is a difference between what a human being is and his/her physical body --  that I am NOT my physical body.          (Reference:   Physical Versus Spirit) 

Big D    Now please read the Genesis 11:6 passage several times and then say it out loud  in your own words.  (i.e. We are all one people.  By working together we can accomplish absolutely anything.)     Then add the words of Jesus from   John 14:12 " Anything I [God/Jesus] can do, you can do and more."  and from  Luke 17:21 “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 

            Next, add the messages in John 10:34, 35  and Isaiah 41:23 to the mix:  "I, and all other human beings, are Gods in a physical form."      And then throw in Genesis 1:26-27   "God created man in his own image."   And top it off with Ecclesiastes 3:19 "Man and Nature are intimately interconnected."  And there you are  holding that delightful and powerful  mix while enfolded  in the arms of none other than God, himself.   Matthew 18:20   "When two or more are gathered in my name, I am there also."

            Sit quietly for a few minutes and think about your intimate relationship to God, to Sacred Mother Earth, and to your fellow travelers on space ship Earth.   Look into a mirror and say.   "I am a God in a physical form.   I know this is true because the Bible tells me so."   Say it again.   Say it with feeling.   Say it as if you meant it.   

            Stay with this idea  for at least three minutes.   Resist the temptation to discount what the Christian Bible tells you you are.   When you are finished,  ask yourself:  Who am I?   What Am I?   If I cooperate with others, what can we accomplish?   Now, please take the Biblical scriptures and re-state them in your own words.

T.L.C.    Restating the Biblical scriptures in my own words, I say:  

I am a God in a physical form. 

I am a spirit being and not a physical body.

I can personally  contact   The Creator of All That Is   at any time.

I can find both God and Jesus within myself.

I can do anything Jesus did and more.  

God, nature, and I are intimately inter-connected.   

I can recognize the liars and the thieves by what they produce.

The truth brings freedom.   Secrecy and lies (including lies of omission) bring slavery.   

All humans  are all one people.  We are all God's Children.   We are all Gods is physical form.   We are all one.   Being separate from God is an illusion.

By working together, God, my fellow humans, and I can accomplish absolutely anything. 

I know this is true because the Bible tells me so.  

Big D    Thank you, Stoney, I couldn't have said it better, myself.   Now I have three  important questions for you.   

T.L.C.    Then please ask.

Big D    Does any of what you've just paraphrased directly out of the Christian Bible sound, look or make you feel as if you are:   
      separate-from-God, 
      separate-from-nature, 
      or  a groveling-in-the-mud,  inherently-evil  sinner 
who's destiny is to burn in hell forever unless you are obedient to an angry, intolerant,  violent,  vengeful, easily-displeased,  super-human-being sitting on a throne somewhere above the clouds? 

T.L.C.    Definitely not.   

Big D    Did anything you just said indicate that you must belong to a church to find God?

T.L.C.    No.   

Big D    Did anything you just said indicate that you are inherently evil?

T.L.C.    No.   

Big D    As a reporter who writes human interest stories you talk rather intimately with hundreds of people from all walks of life.   Is that true?

T.L.C.    Yes.   

Big D    Then, you must know that the inherently evil story just doesn't match common human behavior.   

T.L.C.    You are correct.   It doesn't.   

Big D    Of course, there are ignorant, mentally- dysfunctional  and/or desperate people who do evil things, but what about the average person?  

T.L.C.    They are kind, loving, and generous.   

Big D    How many times have you heard about people risking their lives to save someone else's life?   How many times have you heard people say something like,  "I want to make the world a better place."  "How can I help?"  "I want to make a contribution to society."?  

T.L.C.    Too many times to even count. 

Big D    Then why do most Christians perceive themselves as church-dependent, groveling-in-the-mud, inherently-evil sinners?

T.L.C.    Because they have been sold a bill of goods by those who have a vested interest in keeping them in the role of servants and cash cows.    

Big D    And the sheep, with mindless obedience, have accepted the fundamentalist Christian illusion as if it were the "Absolute Truth."   

            I rest my case.    Amen!

T.L.C.    As one of my former girlfriends used to say;  Ahh. . .  Men!

Big D    There's more.   Shall we move on?  

T.L.C.    You didn't rest for very long.   

Big D    Stoney, you weren't listening to what I said.   Let me say it again,  I rest my case.  

T.L.C.    So it was your case you were resting and not you, yourself.  

Big D    Correct and the resting isn't like taking a nap.  Rest-my- case means I have concluded offering information on this topic of discussion.  

T.L.C.    Why are you making a big deal of this?   

Big D    Because my job is to wake you up so that you see the subtle things that many people miss, and so that you see the fine distinctions that completely change the meaning of the messages you are sending or receiving.  

T.L.C.    Then, thank you.   

.