From: davidh@cascade.ens.tek.com (David Hatcher)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: You should be a Christian because (30 words max):
Date: 4 Jan 1993 06:19:02 -0800
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: cascade.ens.tek.com

In article <78447@hydra.gatech.EDU> rpitts@emperor.gatech.edu (Richard Pitts) writes:
>In article <1gnifaINNsko@cascade.ens.tek.com> davidh@cascade.ens.tek.com (David Hatcher) writes:
>>Jen Kilmer writes:
>>>Christianity is true.
>>
>>  And so are many other spiritual traditions.	
>
>How do you reconcile Jesus' statement of Himself being the only way to
>the Father? 

  The way that I reconcile those words is that from what I have seen
and experienced, I do not believe that the God stuff that Christians see 
within the personage of Jesus Christ is limited only to the body that 
Christians know by as that name.

>It is written about Jesus that there is no other name given whereby men 
>must be saved.  

  When I peer around these words and gaise upon the source of Jesus and
experience that source within in my heart and soul, I know that Jesus
in not the only way to the Divine. When I experience the Divine through
the ways of other spiritual traditions, from those places I also can not 
help but know that the Christian way of coming to God is not the only way. 
When I see the Divine at play within the hearts and souls of those of other 
spiritual traditions, again, I know that God is wide open to all, regardless 
of the spiritual traditions that anyone follows.

  It appears to me that what is written and what is actually experienced
are two different things. It also appears to me that truth lies outside
of written words.

  If your at all interested in finding a compromise with others "in God",
could we try something? NOTE: I'm not suggesting that we try to find a 
compromise in our beliefs. I'm pointing directly towards as the place
towards which we can find unity.

  Suppose we, just for a moment, we can agree that others of other spiritual 
traditions also know and experience and live within the awareness of God
just as much as any Christian does. This immediately raises a question within
the mind of many a Christians of "how with out going through Jesus Christ?"
May I suggest that quite possibility the stuff or essence of what Christians
know and experience by the name of Jesus Christ is also known and experienced 
within many other spiritual traditions, but in other forms and names?.

  So, coming from that experience, if we look within our hearts, I feel that 
we can look at and share, across spiritual traditions and with each other, of 
the glory of the experience of God as our hearts and soul are being is filled 
with the awareness of that experience. In coming from that intimacy with God, 
I feel we can recognize the same God at work within our lives. 

Do you care to give it a go?

>I guess I'm asking what do you mean by truth - do you see no contradictions
>between these spiritual traditions among themselves or with Christianity?
	                 ^^^^^^^^^^


  Coming from the "tradition" perspective, of course I see contradictions. 
But God is not a tradition. There in lies the rub. I see contradictions
fadding away when we approach God from the perspective of our experiences
of being filled with the intimiaticy of the Love of God. 



        The saints are what they are, not because their sancity makes
        them admirable to others, but because of the gift of sainthood
        makes it possible for them to admire everybody else.
                                        Thomas Merton


	David Hatcher