Romans: The Book That Changed the World or the Book That Derailed the Gospel Jesus Sent Us Ver. 1.0.1
The Philosopher and Church Reformer, Twentieth-First Century
https://anewparadigminchristianthinking.wordpress.com/tag/Romans/
9/11/2015
Dear Fellow Christians:
Our Bible Study Group is in the midst of an in-depth study of the book of Romans, written by the Apostle Paul preceding his trip to Rome. Our class leader has stated that the Book of Romans is “the Book the changed the world.” It has, but is it the Gospel Jesus wanted us to have? Our class leader stated that Martin Luther thought that the book of Romans and especially Chapters II & III “were the heart of Paul’s argument for his Gospel.” However, Jesus was all about the empowerment of individuals.
Things to keep in mind about the Apostle Paul
There are some things we should keep in mind about Paul and his Gospel. 1) Paul was very educated in the Jewish religion. 2) Paul did not have firsthand knowledge of the teachings of Jesus. 3) Paul did not have firsthand knowledge of the arrival of the Personal Counselor, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit, that Jesus said he would send to us when he got back home to Heaven. Paul had secondhand knowledge of this event on that day of the Pentecost Festival, receiving his information from disciples that themselves did not understand the significance of the arrival of this Personal Counselor. 4) Paul was a problem solver; his institution of the Lord’s Supper solved a problem in the Corinthian Church. His theology of the salvation of man was a solution to a condition of man – his original sin. 5) Paul’s mission was to put the church of Jesus on the map. He accomplished his mission. 6) Paul’s lack of knowledge of the Personal Counselor and his failure to empower the new converts with this Personal Counselor resulted in Paul micromanaging his churches.
The Teachings of Jesus
From the teachings of Jesus, it should be obvious to any well-trained philosophical investigator that is very well educated in the New Testament teachings, that it was not the church, that Paul created, that Jesus wanted, but then he, like all taskforce leaders, had to accept what his taskforce people could accomplish with their given skill packages. Jesus was given the assignment to establish His church on this planet by His Father in Heaven; no time limit was given for Jesus to accomplish His mission. Jesus was in the position of waiting for someone to come along, like Paul did, to move his church forward in the direction that He wanted it to go.
Teachings of Jesus
There are some teachings of Jesus that His disciples did not understand, nor did any of the Gospel writers, the Apostle Paul, or any of the New Testament writers, nor any religious leader in the past twenty centuries and, to this day, I think there is only one person on this planet that understands these particular teaching of Jesus found in: Mathew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22, Luke 5:36-38. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse, and no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine, wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better’.” Jesus is teaching His disciples about a Paradigm Shift. This is something that only a philosopher, who is also a serious student of the Gospel, is likely to notice.
Peter’s Contribution to Derailing the Gospel
Peter in Acts: 2:38 connected the reception of the Personal Counselor, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit, to the existing Paradigm, which was the Jewish religion. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” To this day this action has not been challenged by anyone knowledgeable in the teachings of Jesus, and this is probably because they have a problem with Philosophers.
Different Philosophers
Churches seem to have a problem with philosophers and scientist, probably stemming from Paul’s interaction with the Philosophers of Athens in his time and Darwin’s theory of evolution. They seem to be of the opinion that there are two Gods, one created religion and the other created science and they are at odds with each other. This writer’s intent is to show that religion is only science that we do not yet understand and when we do it will be shown to be science. There are several categories of Philosophers: There are Philosophers who have studied Philosopher’s teaching and can quote Philosophers like a serious student of the Bible can quote Book, Chapter, Verse and phrases on demand. Then there are Philosophers who have studied the methodology of Philosophers and learned how to apply this methodology themselves and thus have indeed become a Philosopher in their own right. There are Modern Philosophers and Ancient Philosophers; there are Philosophers that put arguments forward to prove the existence of God and those who argue for the nonexistence of God.
There are two important Philosophers of the 18th and 19th century that have contributed greatly to the field of philosophy. These two Philosophers are Rene` Descartes of France, and Immanuel Kant of Germany. Rene` Descartes was a supporter of his church and country, but he wanted to prove the truth to himself, by himself, leaving no doubt to what the Truth was. He developed a methodology of self-doubt and “Autonomous Reflection.” He had to prove to himself by a step-by-step process, building from the basic known truths to the more complex truths. This new methodology was the beginning of Modern Philosophy and has become the new protocol for Philosophers. This is a new era, “Modern Philosophy,” differentiating it from “Ancient Philosophy” going back several thousand of years. Rene`Descartes then is known as the Father of Modern Philosophy (The Enlightenment Era, The Age of Reason).
This methodology was accepted by other Philosophers, including Immanuel Kant of Germany, who also was an ardent supporter of Christianity and known as the greatest Philosopher since Aristotle, who stated that “We are not yet enlightened, but are becoming enlightened,” which means we are still in the Enlightenment era in this twenty-first century. These Philosophers became known as the “Enlightenment Philosophers,” as they lead us out of the middle ages, where man was instructed how to live, think and act by the authorities of their time, including church leaders, and into the “Enlightenment Age”, where man could determine for himself how to live, think and act. The Truths that these “Enlightenment Philosophers” developed, regarding the “Rights of Man”, influenced Thomas Jefferson to incorporate them into our “Declaration of Independence” from England. They also led to the bloodless revolution in England, the French revolution and probably the Ottoman Empire revolution.i
Definitions of a Paradigm Shift
Jesus gave us His definition of a “Paradigm Shift” when He taught us that “One does not take a piece of cloth from a new garment and sew it on an old torn garment. The new cloth will shrink and the tear will become worse.” “One does not pour new wine into an old wineskin, as the new wine is volatile and will burst the old wineskin and both the new wine and the old wineskin will be lost.” People will always say that ‘the old wine is better than the new’.”
From Wikipedia: “The term ‘paradigm shift’ has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought-pattern — a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing.”
“Hans Küng applies Thomas Kuhn’s theory of paradigm change to the entire history of Christian thought and theology. He identifies six historical ‘macromodels’: 1) the apocalyptic paradigm of primitive Christianity, 2) the Hellenistic paradigm of the patristic period, 3) the medieval Roman Catholic paradigm, 4) the Protestant (Reformation) paradigm, 5) the modern Enlightenment paradigm, and 6) the emerging ecumenical paradigm.”ii
The Paradigm Shift of Jesus:
Jesus brought us a “New Paradigm Shift” – a complete change from the old Jewish way of thinking, believing and acting. This was a paradigm shift that was not to be associated with the old Jewish way of relating to our Father in Heaven, but a new relationship with our Father in Heaven that had nothing to do with the history of the Jewish Religion, its laws or its traditions. This New Paradigm Shift that Jesus brought us was completely new and not to be associated or linked to the Jewish past. But nobody understood it; not one person did until now in this 21st century. The New Paradigm Shift of Jesus is that we have a loving Father in Heaven who wants to guide us through this life on Earth and provide for all our needs to live on this planet. He wants to participate in all of his children’s lives and he wants us to look to him for His support so that “He can feel good about participating in our lives.” That is the New Paradigm Shift that Jesus brought to us and He provided that support through His Personal Counselor a.k.a. the Holy Spirit.
The Problem of Ego
The only thing that prevents us from receiving this guidance from His Personal Counselor is our Ego. This is not the Ego as Freud described it, as a moderator between the Id and the Super Ego, but for what the Ego has evolved through time. “In modern English, ego has many meanings. It could mean one’s self-esteem; an inflated sense of self-worth; the conscious-thinking self; or in philosophical terms, one’s self. Ego development is known as the development of multiple processes, cognitive function, defenses, and interpersonal skills or to early adolescence when ego processes are emerged.”iii This is our desire to be independent and live, think and act the way we want to without the guidance from His Personal Counselor. “We want to live it our way.” This is what separates us from God (our Father in Heaven) and this is the problem Paul, in his intellectual augments in the “Book of Romans,” attempted to solve in chapters II & III by associating ‘The Problem’ and its solution with the existing Jewish religion.
Yours Truly,
The Philosopher
Church Reformer, 21st Century
A New Paradigm in Christian Thinking Conclusion 