Free and co-operative individualism is winning signal victories over the unnatural authority of creed in the Protestant bodies, and the bondage of the letter is giving way to the freedom of the spirit. The Gospel of Christ is triumphing over the theories about Christ, and spiritual self- fulfillment by becoming Christ-like is crowding out of existence all theories of magical salvation. The creed of the theologians consists of many "articles"; the Creed of Christ only two --- 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.' I prefer Christ's Creed.Me too!!! I prefer Christ's Creed.
However, his optimism in 1916 seems to have grown clouded by 2016. There are many leaders of congregations who have doubled back to the old magical ideas of the creeds of the 300's and embroidered new and strange ideas upon them. Following Christ's Creed is simple, but perhaps too difficult to put into effect for some people. So, manipulators have added all kinds of hoops to jump through to be judged by them to be acceptable and what is sometimes called "saved." It seems to me they have dropped the 2nd half of Christ's Creed to all who are not in their category of "saved." So they deem Christ as giving mere suggestions and the control freaks of history as much more solid.
I don't want to get into it today, but I find the concept of "saved" as ludicrous - Jesus said God is love. What is there to fear? They speak of the words saying to fear God, which more accurately might be translated as "awe." They don't know the history of the human creeds, what Constantine did and why, how original sin was non-existent until Augustine and his buddies added it in what some say was a mistranslation of Paul, they don't study idioms and customs of that part of the world, they don't realize Jesus spoke Aramaic, they don't know of the shift from a Jewish sect to a Gentile world who did not understand anything Jewish and so really got far fetched from original meaning, and thousands of other facts that inform the true seeker on the Christ-led spiritual path.
Anyway, all the crazy details are really meaningless, except they control so many. I urge all who wish to follow Christ to work on His Creed, implementing these two items into every moment. See where that takes us spiritually. These two simple/challenging parts of the Creed could actually usher in peace on earth, the Kingdom of God here on this strange little planet.
God is Love. Love God back. Our neighbors have the spark of God within, salute the Christ in everyone. I salute the Christ in you.
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