CommuniChristi.

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.                        The home-page off…. CommuniChristi Group.

.                                                              family of Abraham associates.

.                                                                & an un-common word between us & you.

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The CommuniChristi creed…

.                                              Gods love is purposeful – Gods love is constructive.

His purpose is to redeem humankind from its fallen state; to raise us up to salvation & fulfillment in… the most high. Gods love is constructive; it lends itself to those constructions through which his purposes might best be actualized.

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Keep it simple & cut to the chase?

The eight documents below (total 21 pages) are a summation off my core positions.  They will be all most readers want to know.                                   Last updated on May 7, 2012.

On proof of Christ…  A KEY DOCUMENT…    double click here… PROOF of Christ - 3 pages (57)

Do you ever ask; just WHO is the Biblical God?… here…  WNO is the Biblical God - 4 pages (54)

Seven laws of SIN…  Seven laws of sin - 4 pages (10)

On the matter of Islam… SUMMARY - the problem off Islam - 4 pages (53)

The Bible as the WORD of God… Bible as the WORD of God - 2 pages (49)

Made in the image of God…  Made in ~His~ image - 2 pages (56)

Nature of God…   Nature of God - 1 page (25)

The centre of the universe…  man - CENTRE of the ~known~ creation - 1 page (15)

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The items below, scroll down, comprise my principle understandings. The tabs at the top right hand corner of this home page, (Christianity – secular – Islam, etc.) open to pages off support documents.

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While some say no one ever had a coherent idea of the Trinity, it has always been remarkably simple.   We know the Father when we know God as a remote & distant authority; we know the Son when we know God as intimately close & personal.   We know the Holy Spirit as we experience it working within the creation & through we the created.  The three are held a monotheism, by reason of their common community… the most high.

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What do I get out of my work?  A sense of awe, wonder & humility.

In this whole universe there is nothing like man. As I say in the preamble to my home page item, it is in God that we have our being, ~it’s lonely being a human, there are not many self determining intelligences around~  We can look to the universe & nature for many things, but they do not inform us on how we should conduct ourselves.  Man must make his own solutions, which puts an enormous burden on us with regard to our own self management.

So different are we to all things known to us, we attribute our origins not to evolution nor to nature; but hold ourselves as created.  Created moreover in the image off a God of love, higher purposes & goodness; a God no one can actually find, who resides in a distant heaven no one can find.

According to St. Clement, the first Pope… ~God called his Son Christ Jesus, & called us through him, to be a peculiar people~

We really had to search for a source of guidance relevant to the needs of man.  Only in the Biblical God do we find an explanation of ourselves, & the guidance to ~best manage~ the unique potentialities of man.  So bereft is man of guidance suitable to himself, if the Most High God of Israel did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. There is no replacement; he will be in business until the end of time.   Love him or hate him, there is nobody else who do what he do.

What is man, nothing more than a bumptious little upstart of quite recent origins, whose every existence is precarious, who can never know whether he was an intent or an accident.  A temporary resident on a minor planet so small it is near lost in a vast universe.

I experience awe, wonder & humility.  Despite all our difficulties, bleats, moans & insecurities; it is a unique privilege to be us.  In this whole universe there is nothing else like us.  I am stunned by the immensity of that.

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In closing this welcome page, I cannot tell you what questions you should ask about God. You can only look in your own heart for your own questions. I can only tell you the question I ask.

To me the only question is… ~If humanity is to have any self respect & merit as a self-determining species; off all the claimants for the title God, which one is most meet for I a human to deify~

.         God answered…        In Christ, better than we would otherwise be.

.         You can email me directly…. communichristi@gmail.com

.         Or you can post comments to this site…

.         Yours in Christ…. Ken Maynard

.          Link to home-page… http://www.communichristi.org.nz

An overview on religions, updated March 2012…

Its lonely being a human, there are not many self determining intelligences around. Man, uniquely, has to create his own solutions.  We have to create our own purposes, our own justifications, our own stability, our own security, our own dignity & our own worth.

Unlike animals, trees or stars man has no defined place or purpose.   Man is the oddball in the whole order of things. We cannot clearly define where animal ends & human begins, nor can we define where human might end or what we might become.  We can gain knowledge of the universe, knowledge of physics, of biology, genetics, chemistry & science.   All of which is to the good, yet none of it explains the single oddity off one free will self determining species on a minor planet in an otherwise ordinary solar system.  A species capable of coordinating its capacity for abstract thought with the hands of a toolmaker.  In this whole universe, man is alone. Man is the subject of many potentialities, no fixed boundaries, & many existential uncertainties.

The higher religions are all intentional efforts to address issues unique to humankind.

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In evolution, humanity is little more than a collection of self determining flotsam adrift in void.  The first words off the God of the Bible; Gen 1:3 ~Let there be light~ Let there be order; creditworthy purpose & direction to human affairs. It is in God that we have our being, for without Him we are little more than a collection of serial accidents looking for somewhere to happen; thus man invests a great deal of effort in his religions.

Religions need to be based on a common element universal to all people & all you wish to relate to.  In chemistry I could use water, as water is present in man & in all living things.  Yet man is not just chemistry.  The Indigenous religions all held a common community in nature.  As man is 80% water, man is also over 90% nature in common community with the animals.  Yet man is not just an animal.

Addressing the challenge of higher development the developed religions based themselves on elements unique to our humanity; elements which distinguish man ~from~ the animals.  As the DNA of apes & the DNA of humans is (I am told) 97% the same, what distinguishes man from ape is a mere 3% of our DNA.  As mans physical, biological & motor functions are held in common with animals, the only thing which distinguishes man from the animals is our capacity in abstract concepts.  On this small margin we are uniquely human.

All the developed religions are variants of this narrow but uniquely human band; the ability to conceptualize in abstracts.

Most of the Asian religions are head trips or mind games.  They are intellectual or reasoned explanations of the world; some based on precepts which seem sound, others on precepts more questionable.  Yet whether apparently sound or doubtful none of these precepts can be validated, so they are non concrete.  Yet mans commitment to the developed abstracts allows him to live & relate in a w/holistic paradigm of his own reasoned explanations as if they are real.

Judaism & Christianity are based on love.  Where animals only feel affection for immediate relations, man can love in developed abstracts, he can love ideals, he can love humanity as a whole, life as a whole & even love God.  None of this love can be objectively validated, thus it is non concrete.  Yet mans capacity to love in abstract concepts allows Christians to build a w/holistic paradigm of inter-relationship of love with all things.

Islam chose fear.  Where animals only fear direct danger, man is able to fear in developed abstract concepts. (Paranoia)  None of these fears can be validated, they do not comprise clear & present danger so are ~non-concrete~  Yet man capacity for developed abstracts allows him to treat these fears as real; again building a w/holistic paradigm of inter-relationship with all things.

Thus while chemistry defines man by his chemical elements; Indigenous religions define man by the great deal he holds in common with nature; the developed religions define themselves by the element which distinguishes man ~from~ nature.  That element; our ability to experience the world; indeed to shape our experiencing; by humanities unique capacity to conceptualize in the developed abstracts.  While all religions use a combination of our three abstract capacities, they are principally shaped by the one they give ~primacy~ to.

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Abraham decided to disdain all other Gods, & vest the whole human future in just one God. A risky proposition, what happens if you guess the wrong one? Abraham chose the right God, the Most High God of the Bible; an entity best described as the highest man can aspire to & reasonably presume sound, at any current level of development.

The highest is what man naturally aspires to, reasonably presume sound is as trustworthy as we can have. A God which develops in tandem with mans progress, reverses & development is always ~up to speed~ on current conditions.

Thus was given one God & the same God for all mankind, for all conditions, for all levels of development, for all off time.

The God of the Bible who says, ~thou shalt raise no other Gods above me or beside me; thou shalt have no other God but me~

The Biblical God then needed to choose one off mans capacities in the developed abstracts as the principal medium of mans relationship with him.

Abstract reason is common to all men, yet human reason is a fair weather sailor.  As soon as the going gets tough it loses faith & throws in the towel.

Abstract fear is common to all people & is effacious in enforcing compliance. (The word Muslim means ~submit~)  Yet fear is a disempowering, destructive negative which enslaves humanity.

Abstract love is also common to all people, & THE good news, love is an empowering constructive positive which people can build out off.  Love is faithful & constant.  Where reason is dissatisfied & abandons God; love says ~hey its amazing humanity even exists at all; be grateful you are alive to be moaning~

Where reason quits & fear enslaves, love keeps steadfast faith in the hard times in the belief it will be justified in the better times which must surely come. (The God of the good times is the God of the bad times, if you want the fulfillment of mans manifest destiny do not abandon faith in God just because it is sometimes difficult)

In sum, the relationship between the Most High God off the Bible & love is truly inspired & the best humanity can have.

~For God so loved the world He gave his only begotten Son, in order that humanity might be saved in Him~  It is in this that we vest our faith.

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On Reproduction.

When God said ~go forth & multiply~ he was not talking to a rabbit.

In art, music, industry, science, economics, ethics, economics & technology man has a range of reproductive capacities no rabbit ever dreamed off.

Man procreates new life in many forms; the Biblical ethos ~sex is for the creation of new life~ stands on sound ground.  As does the Biblical requirement, those who bring forth new life are responsible for it & accountable, to God; for raising it in creditworthy manner.  That applies no matter what form of new life mans sexual activities brings forth.

Sanctity of life can only be achieved if man keeps all his reproductive capacities in a state of managed balance with each other.

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Finally I want to spend a little time on the proposed ~common religion~ which is mainly advanced by academics who work in the cloistered world of the universities.

Meanwhile, in the real world many are heading back to religions as we reach current limits to material growth.  Yet they are heading back to the traditional religions; there is about as much grass roots demand for a new common religion as there is grass roots demand to install Esperanto as a new common language… none!

The proponents of this common religion have yet to advance a proposition which comes anywhere near the standard already available in the God of the Bible.  They are proposing to reinvent a wheel which is inferior to the wheel we already have.  Today man faces many converging problems; overpopulation, environmental limits, economic limits to material growth, the despair of the starving & deprived; the personal breakdown & tendency to social anarchy of the despairing.  Even the best of religions will be struggling, this is no time to bring forth a second rate ~common religion~

The general consensus is pre modern age man was religiously competent & technically illiterate; modern man technically competent & religiously illiterate.  If we can get past the problem the condition ~half-wit~ may be normative for humanity. (We have never been omnipotent or able to be good at everything at once) Then we need to combine the two competencies into a working relationship with each other, not invent a new common faith based on modern mans religious incompetency

Lastly, the proponents of a common religion hold Christianity will have to abandon its claim on the exclusivity of Christ. It holds Christ is not commonly held by all people; & those excluded suffer from hurt feelings & are variously offended or insulted.

They propose any common religion must be based on the common communities of man. (Humanism per se)  The realty is common communities do many things for man, it is a place where we sort out our pecking order, celebrate & strive for achievement, commiserate & support each other in times of hurt & loss.  Yet mans common nature is fallen, there is no salvation to be had in any common community of man.

Salvation can only come from a plane other than normal human community, a plane which transcends human normalcy. We are saved exclusively in Christ who bought salvation from a plane ~higher than~ normal human community.  This we celebrate in the Eucharist.

In our time of many converging troubles, there is no point in inventing a new common religion if said new faith can accord us no salvation at all.

Those who are proposing this new common religion would be better to invest in a Millennium III upgrade of Christianity.  Be off good cheer, there is a salvation in Christ.

On the proposed common religion…  refer to the Bible as… the superior authority.

……Blessed be the names of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit…… reign forever…amen.

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.                       Ken Maynard.         e-mail…    communichristi@gmail.com

.                       Link to Home-page….       http://www.communichristi.org.nz

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Some time ago I spotted about a dozen books grouped together in a public library.  They were all looking for an ancient obelisk that had, reportedly got itself lost, most inconveniently, under sand dunes or under the dead sea.  Once this hidden decoding key was found, all the secrets of the Bible would be revealed & his kingdom come on earth etc, etc. I was stunned, that a group of educated & intelligent men could devote so much time & effort to this bizarre proposition.

The next day I had a working lunch in a Sydney pub. (as you do)
I pondered the issue… Y-H-W-H is a God bought forth by the Patriarchs.
Who were the Patriarchs… a group of grumpy old men off their times.
Who am I having lunch with today… a group of grumpy old men off my times.

If the Bible is the day to day living guide to mans concerns for all of time, is the hidden key that reveals its secrets; likely to be found in some ancient obelisk that got itself stupidly lost, or more likely to be found in the day to day concerns of responsible & decent living men in our times.

When I look at Abraham, Isaac & Jacob particularly, I find they were not so much learned men, as worldly men with many worldly responsibilities. They were not formally learned to a doctoral or professorial standard as is the office of Rabbi or Bishop. The sum of their worldly experience had led them to believe humanity needed to reform. They were worldly men who had come to cherish the most high God in their hearts. The spirit of God had come upon them. The spirit off the most high God of Israel, specifically. They were men in positions off influence from which they could initiate changes. As such they performed the role of Patrons or sponsors, rather than the role of Rabbi’s, Bishops or Professors.

It is we the Patriarchs who first bought forth the most high God, & it is we who maintain oversight until the end of time.

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If we have to come out of retirement to put it all back on course from time to time…

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.                                                      that’s what we do.

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On my capacity to discharge the office of Gods Patriarch. (Assumed after an encounter with the tantalizing Elijah)

All administration will work if power & responsibility are equal & co-ordinate & vested in one place.  It may work well or it make work badly; you still have to work & struggle for it, but it will at least work.

When God commanded Noah ~build me an ark~ he did not stick him with the impossible, he also gave him the working plans to build a boat that big.

When God commanded Moses ~set my people free~ he did not leave Moses to flounder under an impossible charge, but supported him with the practical instruments & powers necessary to achieve it.

In both cases power & responsibility were equal & co-ordinate & vested in one place.  They were not given unlimited power (No mortal can have that) but given power & practical instruments specific to the task at hand, & sufficient for the task at hand.  Both still had to struggle & work for it, & their efforts were subject to the vagaries of human error.  We all have our faults. Yet because power & practical instruments were vested in proportion to the demands of the task, with faith in God, their tasks were accomplished.

When called to the office of Patriarch, ~address current problems in the family of Abraham~ I was not stuck with an absurd & impossible responsibility; but is his grace, I was endowed with the powers & practical instruments specific to the task at hand, & sufficient to the task.  I have to work & struggle for it, still have the failures of my own faults & inadequacies, oh me of little faith; but I am given all the means to make it a viable project, with faith in him it can be done.

…… …        Ken Maynard.      Patriarch… family of Abraham

.                                          e-mail… communichristi@gmail.com

.                                        Webb… http://www.communichristi.org.nz

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