2024/02/05

129. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' Part 2

The 'enmity' (cf. Genesis 3:15) that God had put between 'the woman' and 'man's accidental information' (the serpent) was passed on from generation to generation to her offspring by women's birth pangs. The 'enmity' worked to continually prompt people to discern the 'man's accidental information.' In time, the people's 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man' grew to such an extent that prophets who spoke for the word of God appeared out of them. The "cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way" which God placed "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24) have become markers that the 'tree of life' was there. Therefore, people would sense the 'tree of life' in them even though it is hidden. 

In the fullness of time, Mary was born and was Joseph, then John the Baptist, too. So, God sent the 'Word' as the only begotten Son (cf. John 1:1-5). The Gospel of John testifies that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17) and that "no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (John 1:18). 

Jesus Christ taught people that God is their Father and led them to naturally realize the relationship between the heavenly Father and the Son by praying and calling out to God, 'Father in Heaven,' as their own, and the words of God, "in our image" (Genesis 1:26), to be fulfilled. He did so also to fulfil what God had foretold to David but had failed to be realized in Solomon (cf. 2 Samuel 7:14). 

Jesus clearly showed 'man's accidental information.' When people distinguish that information, it is a sign that the way to the 'tree of life' has been opened. The connection of the 'breath of life' to the 'tree of life' is essential for the 'likeness of God' to be manifested in the one into whom the 'breath of life' had been breathed. 

The incident in which Jesus Christ confronted the 'man's accidental information' (the tempter, Satan, the devil) in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry (cf. Matthew 4:1-11) was crucial to show the exemplar of discerning accidental information to the many disciples who followed him. It is interesting to note that Jesus here not only exposed who the tempter, the devil and Satan were but also dismissed the 'man's accidental information' who tempted him with the words of the Psalms, quoting from Deuteronomy. 

Furthermore, the themes in the exchange between Jesus and the 'man's accidental information' in this scene closely resemble those in the dialogue between the 'woman' and the 'serpent' in Genesis. They are initially about food (cf. Genesis 3:1; Matthew 4:3), then about life and death (cf. Genesis 3:4; Matthew 4:6), and finally about getting knowledge and prosperity (cf. Genesis 3:5; Matthew 4:8-9). Jesus restored, at every turn, the mistakes of the first two in Genesis (cf. blog №116). 

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/29

128. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' Part 1

The Book of Genesis says, "The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). This happening became the direct cause of the first two being driven out of the Garden of Eden. This idea of Adam must have been inspired by God's words to the 'woman,' "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children" (Genesis 3:16), which he had heard and remembered the experience. 

As he took in the accidental information, a trial-and-error process occurred within the unconscious thinking mechanism of his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man', from which a delayed judgement appeared in his consciousness, developing an episodic memory: 'She was the mother of all living.' As a result, Adam named his wife Eve. This act could never have happened by spontaneity responding to God's command, 'Let there be ...,' alone. 

That happening was again a sign that his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man' was connected to the 'breath of life,' skipping over the 'tree of life,' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (cf. blog №127). Man evolved in such a way. But God did not give up what he had said: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness," and set up another plan and bestowed it upon man. The description, "And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21), suggests this fact. Another plan, in this case, is that people wait for the Saviour, being led to discern 'man's accidental information' by the 'enmity that God has placed' in them. 

Continuing, God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:22). This statement refers to the fact that, just as the Word that commanded 'Let there be ...', which maintains interaction with individual lives through the work of the Holy Spirit, is linked with the lives of living creatures (cf. Matthew 6:25-31, 10:28-31, John 14:17), man has become connected to the 'breath of life' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' Concerned about the 'tree of life', God "drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). 

On the other hand, God had an original plan for Adam to make him 'till the earth' (cf. Genesis 2:5; 2:15; 3:23). However, God's foretelling, "[C]ursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17), comes true. In time, in the land, the work of redemption, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:19), is revealed in its true form, and it is carried out as priesthood by the male descendants of Adam. This work of redemption continues to sustain the people to this day.

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/22

127. Interface Part 2

God knows all man's thoughts because of the Word commanding, 'Let there be ...'. 'Let there be ...' is the Word that has already been fulfilled and keeps interaction with the individual life. That is by the work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 1:20). The Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends in the name of Jesus (cf. John 14:26), is God, who has both the will of God and the knowledge of God, and God is omnipotent, infinite, the only good, and behaves just as He is. 

Therefore, He is free to set any limits on Himself. So, God grants man the 'breath of life' out of His spontaneity but remains ignorant of how the spontaneity of the 'breath of life' is exercised because of its freedom. God gives man each 'tree of life,' which is proper knowledge to manifest God's likeness together with each 'breath of life.' 

God's likeness, manifested by the 'breath of life' and the 'tree of life', is the source of the authority with which people have dominion over every living thing (cf. Genesis 1:28). God places the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' in the centre of his consciousness as an interface to connect this authority with his 'knowledge and memory appropriate to man,' which is capable of subduing the earth.¹

 1. cf. Genesis 1:28, 2:15, 3:23 

The two people in Genesis were the first two, even for God. So, God actually made two trees grow in the middle of the garden because if they take the fruit of the 'tree of life' and eat it, that would be a sign that the spontaneity of the 'breath of life' has been exerted in them and connected to the 'tree of life.' But finally, the two never ate the fruit of the 'tree of life.' That is because God's words of prohibition (cf. Genesis 2:16-17) had been blurred (cf. Genesis 2:9, 3:3). Accidental information had developed between the first two people. 

Since all creatures have knowledge and memory appropriate to their species and spontaneity to respond to God's command, 'Let there be …,' the unconscious thinking mechanism that judges things is at work, and they can live following what God wants. So, it is natural that when several of the same species gather, information is exchanged, and accidental information develops among them. Of all the accidental information that emerges among species of living beings, the most advanced one is that of humans, who are able to subdue the earth. 

Furthermore, when a person incorporates accidental information into his knowledge and memory, a trial-and-error process occurs in his unconscious thinking mechanism (cf. Genesis 3:1-5). Then, the judgements that appear in his consciousness after a delay develop episodic memories unique to humans (cf. Genesis 3:6). That is a sign that the 'knowledge and memory appropriate to man' is temporarily connected to the 'breath of life,' skipping the 'tree of life,' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' The process above led the two in Genesis into actually taking and eating the fruit forbidden by God, which was an act that could never have happened by spontaneity that responds to God's command, 'Let there be ...,' alone.

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/15

126. Interface Part 1

Last time, we discussed the Garden of Eden as a human consciousness. We will again proceed to consider it from this perspective. The reason for approaching again the events that occurred to the first two in Genesis is to try to deal with the remaining themes of Revelation, the fifth 'blessedness' concerning the 'first resurrection' and the 'second death' and the seventh prophecy 'the prophecy of the spirituality of the Holy Spirit' (see figure of blog № 120), from their starting point (cf. blog № 121). 

The first idea of God when he created humanity was: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" (Genesis 1:26). The word "we" hear is referring to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But, as Jesus said, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13), the Holy Spirit is a unique being, therefore, the "our image" that humans could accept without much difficulty was the Father and the Son. 

So, the Bible goes on to describe as follows when God made this idea a reality: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). He created man male and female so that they would acquire the "image of God" by having children and becoming parents. 

Then, people learn that many animals also have children through reproduction, just like people do. Just as people were endowed with the spontaneity that comes from the word 'Let there be ...,' by which God created every reality, and with the proportionate knowledge and memory, other creatures also have the spontaneity together with the knowledge and memory proportional to their species. 

Thus, God blessed the man and the woman and commanded them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28). Here, for the command, "subdue it," it was sufficient for people to acquire the "image of God" but to respond to the one, "have dominion," "our likeness" was essential. 

Therefore, God breathed into man the 'breath of life,' and between it and his proportionate knowledge and memory, he placed the 'tree of life' and the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' The 'breath of life' and the 'tree of life' manifest "our likeness," which comes from God's spontaneity and knowledge. The 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' functions as an interface through which the "our likeness" is connected to the proportionate knowledge and memory. 

Thus, a human is sustained by two divine spontaneities: the spontaneity of the 'breath of life' and the spontaneity that comes from the command, 'Let there be ...'. It is for this reason that man searches for what he is.

To be continued

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/08

125. Baptism of the Lord

John the Baptist threw harsh words at the crowd who came out to be baptised: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance" (Luke 3:7-8). The word 'brood of vipers' overlaps with the image of the descendants of the 'serpent' in Genesis. 

Observing the events associated with the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil', of which the 'serpent' said that "when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5) (cf. Genesis 3:1-24), the following discussion can be done. People have an unconscious faculty of thought that judges something about the object of action (cf. Genesis 3:1-5). Judgments that appear in consciousness after a delay develop episodic memories, which are unique to humans and closely related to their linguistic expressions (cf. Genesis 3:6-8). From this perspective, the centre of the Garden of Eden, where God made the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil grow (cf. Genesis 2:9, 3:3), can be seen as the centre of human consciousness. From this perspective, the centre of the Garden of Eden, where God made the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil grow (cf. Genesis 2:9, 3:3), can be seen as the centre of human consciousness. 

See blog №124

The baptism of the Lord is the event in which Jesus Christ inserted his own life into biblical history. A Christian follows Jesus Christ by being baptised. By jumping into the future of the New Testament world where Jesus Christ is and living as an inhabitant of it, he, so to speak, prolongs the historical time of the New Testament world. The Mass liturgy, which emerged from the New Testament, makes this possible. 

For us believers who were to live within this prolonged New Testament reality of God, Jesus carefully redeemed with his Word each of the human errors that occurred in the book of Genesis (cf. blog № 116) and, by his own Passion and death, redeemed the sin of Cain, the first murderer, and the history of human sin (cf. blog № 117). Then, by being placed in the tomb as a dead man and resurrected, he erased first all mistakes, sins and death for all eternity to come. God testified with the new Bible that the memory of all the mistakes, sins and death in the Bible had been erased by Jesus Christ. 

John the Baptist's testimony about the baptism of the Lord, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him" (John 1:32), is the grace of their own baptism, which many believers still hold dear in their consciousness. They hope to hear the voice: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). 

The Gospel of John says: "And many came to him; and they said, 'John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.' And many believed in him there" (John 10:41-42). John the Baptist certainly fulfilled his mission.

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/01

124. Mary, the Holy Mother of God

When Mary of Nazareth was pregnant with Jesus, the angel who appeared to her husband Joseph in a dream told him that "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20). Mary's words when she visited Elizabeth: "[F]or he who is mighty has done great things for me" (Luke 1:49), show that she was well aware of the work of the Holy Spirit that had been bestowed on her. 

Figure 1

The Holy Spirit works in various ways to make us realize what Jesus has achieved to be a reality. God created every reality using the words 'Let there be -,' based on his essence of 'I Am.' As shown in Figure 1, living creatures have proportionate knowledge and memory to live spontaneously and to procreate. They multiply, and the accidental information unique to their species is generated among them, allowing them to evolve over long periods of time. That is so that they may live with people. 

Man, on the other hand, was created as shown in Figure 2. The 'breath of life' that God breathed, if spontaneously connected to the 'tree of life', will become likeness of the divine essence of 'I Am,' as God said in Genesis, "Let us make man … after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). The words 'I Am' show an image of the combination of God's will and knowledge. 

Figure 2

Just as God's will spontaneously orients itself toward his knowledge, so the 'breath of life,' which is of God and comes from God, spontaneously connects with the 'tree of life.' The 'tree of life' must contain the divine plan that each person has been given. In other words, it is, for the person, the one and only 'good,' the knowledge of God. 

Once this image of 'good' is transmitted to the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil,' and the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' knows the image of 'good,' it begins to distinguish man's accidental information. But God appears to have been unaware of when the 'breath of life' that belongs to him would exert its spontaneity. God may have partially waived his omnipotence for the freedom of the 'breath of life' that belongs to him. 

Even after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the 'enmity that God placed' had been breathing in the people. Eventually, inspired by it, the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' began to function, and prophets came to appear who obeyed God's voice. After a long time, in the age of Jesus' Nativity, people like John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph began to appear. The fullness of time had come. God chose Mary to be the mother of God so that his mercy might be on those who fear him from generation to generation (cf. Luke 1:50).

Maria K.M.

 2023/12/25

123. Nativity of the Lord

For a long time, terms such as the 2045 problem, when artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to surpass human intelligence, and the technological singularity have been a hot topic. Artificial intelligence, in which deep learning using artificial neural networks has been implemented, is evolving by finding features and laws from the vast amount of data inputted and learning by itself. Furthermore, research into supercomputers and quantum computers, each with different purposes and calculation methods, as well as hybrid computers combining both technologies, is underway, and they are expected to surpass the limits of current computers once they are completed. As a matter of fact, we amateurs cannot but watch these rapid evolutions anxiously lest they make a fatal mistake. 

This situation is similar to that in Genesis. That is to say, the first 'man' was divided into the 'man' and 'woman' and became plural, generating accidental information between them. And they took it in as knowledge and eventually made a mistake. This initial informatisation brought man's knowledge a rapid evolution, so much so that their dialogue with God at that time (cf. Genesis 3:9-13) is no different from that among us today. God coped with this crisis of humankind caused by informatisation by putting 'enmity' between man and accidental information (cf. Genesis 3:15), making it inherited. Then, about the result of the mistakes committed by the two (cf. blog № 113) and the problem of sin that happened later (cf. blog № 117), God solved them by himself being born as a human being. 

Although there are only a few people around me who believe in the event of God becoming man, there is no doubt that since that time, the unique evolution of humankind has accelerated and that the last five hundred years have seen dramatic developments in science, technology, economics, and other fields. In recent years, there has been a momentum to share the benefits of these developments on a global scale and to narrow the various gaps. 

In the course of such a world, we who believe in the event of God's becoming man and who live as those who, in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, have witnessed the birth of the Lord and experienced his death, need to complete the Mass liturgy in which we collaborate with the Holy Spirit, who goes ahead with God's plan inheriting Christ's work of atonement. And the liturgy must be the one that meets the needs of the congregation, who constantly seek clarity and the best way of understanding, so that they can be equipped with these experiences.   

Maria K. M.