The Abraham & Isaac story

On Sunday 20 February 2011, I sent out the following question to a small group. Please find below the feedback I got. I have deliberately left out the names of the commentators for obvious reasons.

First the question:

Could the story that Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son refer to physically killing Isaac? Just food for thought. I'd appreciate your insights.


Now the answers:

1. I believe!

2. Well, so far I’ve seen the Abraham-Isaac story as mainly to show his implicit trust and obedience to The Almighty. It is not likely that The Almighty would demand human sacrifice.

3. Adam and Eve did not eat an apple and Abram saw no ram.

4. Obviously no. Not physical. The Lord would never ask such of anyone.

5. Hello Sola. It is a beautiful allegorical illustration of Test of Faith. The story went further to show how Abraham was shown the ram as the alternative for such an act! The case of serpent and apple in the Garden of Eden is also another spiritual illustration although for different situation. From what we know of the Lord in His Commandment through Moses, He will never permit or even demand such physical sacrifice. Thank you for sharing.

6. Who asked Abraham to offer the sacrifice? Certainly not the Almighty. Was it folk tale or reality? Methinks those are pertinent questions!

7. It was an ethereal experience for Abraham- not earthly!

What does the Cross represent?

The sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, has been known to man before the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization.

There are different types and shapes of crosses. The type of cross used for torturing Jesus the Son of God many years ago for instance was the one used for executing offenders by the Roman authorities at that time. This cross of suffering remains an executioner’s tool and has nothing to do with the redemption of mankind.

The real Cross of Redemption is an equal armed cross. It is the sign and the living form of Divine Truth! The Cross of Truth stood behind Jesus radiantly during His life on earth. It clung to Him inwardly and outwardly in a living form because He was a Bringer of Divine Truth and came from the Truth. Even some of us have seen paintings that show the Son of God with the equal armed Cross shining around His head. Where this Radiant Cross is, there also is Truth, since the Cross and the Truth are one.

Furthermore, since man can only be saved and come to know about his Creator through the Truth, it follows that the Cross of Truth is also the Cross of Redemption. Truth comes from God, His Holy Word is Truth and if we adhere to this Word of God or this Truth, we will be redeemed out of our present derangement and error. The Truth frees us from the shackles of sin and leads us back to our Creator. Our salvation and redemption therefore lies solely in our accepting and abiding by the Truth.

For that reason the Son of God told men to take up the Cross and follow Him, which means to accept the Truth and to live accordingly! This simple and clear instruction has been wrongly interpreted to mean that following Christ also implies that we are to embrace suffering and that suffering is part of serving the Almighty. This doctrine of suffering is a fallacy desired neither by God nor the Son of God. In fact, in the scriptures we read words to the effect that Jesus called out to men who are heavy laden to come to him to find rest but not to add to their burden.

What is required from us therefore is to accept the Truth as it issues from Christ and adhere to His Teaching faithfully. We would then have taken up the Cross which will lead us to joy instead of suffering. Ultimately, the way of the Redeeming Cross of Truth leads to our salvation and redemption!

Is it good to be ambitious?

Ambition is the work of the intellect. Here man allows his brain to take the lead and this sets for him earthly goals, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. For men of ambition, no consideration is given to their spiritual lives or their neighbors since nothing else matters but their selfish aims. Such human beings do not consider what truly benefits them spiritually but can sacrifice anything or crush whatever or whoever stands in the path of the achievement of their goals.

This is in contrast to striving for spiritual ascent, refining one’s abilities, uplifting everything in one’s surrounding and seeking the welfare and advancement of mankind generally. To do these, we have to work with our intuition, seek guidance from our Creator and then we will be guided unto the paths we have to tread to reach our lofty goals. This way, no matter what our occupation is on earth, we will ennoble it and give it a wider goal. What will matter to us will not be the amount of money we make, neither will worldly greatness or fame be the motivating factor for our activities but we will be more mindful of the SPIRITUAL QUALITY of our work.

The goals thus set by our intuition can be translated to visible deeds while employing our intellect. So, the spirit leads and sets the goals while the intellect plays a secondary role of executing on earth that which one has perceived intuitively. When we follow this order which is ordained from above, the ensuing activities will bring us joy and give nothing but blessing to all that come in touch with us and our activities. This way we will learn new things each day, become clarified, gain maturity and rise ever higher.
Therefore, for the human spirit, ambition is like striving after the wind! It amounts to VANITY, and gives no spiritual benefit to man who himself is spiritual in his essence. Instead, it leads man to commit all kinds of evil; life seems meaningless; there is no fulfillment and all that ambitious and self seeking human beings experience is general unhappiness prevalent in the world today.

The ever constant longing within us is a gift from God which is not to be directed at temporary earthly achievements. In reality, we are obliged to channel this longing into spiritualizing the work of our hands, by dedicating same to God. By doing this we will in time learn to recognize our path and the purpose of our existence and this will in turn fill us with joy and the greatest happiness a human spirit is able to bear!