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AFTER PENTECOST
POGLAVLJE 195 : NAKON DUHOVA
1955 195:0.1 THE results of Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost were such as to decide the future policies, and to determine the plans, of the majority of the apostles in their efforts to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. Peter was the real founder of the Christian church; Paul carried the Christian message to the gentiles, and the Greek believers carried it to the whole Roman Empire.
2014 195:0.1 PETROVA je propovijed na dan Duhova odlučila o budućim planovima i aktivnostima većine apostola u njihovim nastojanjima da proglase evanđelje kraljevstva. Petar je bio istinski utemeljitelj kršćanske crkve; Pavao je pronio kršćansku poruku nežidovima, dok su je grčki vjernici proširili cijelim Rimskim carstvom.
1955 195:0.2 Although the tradition-bound and priest-ridden Hebrews, as a people, refused to accept either Jesus’ gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man or Peter’s and Paul’s proclamation of the resurrection and ascension of Christ (subsequent Christianity), the rest of the Roman Empire was found to be receptive to the evolving Christian teachings. Western civilization was at this time intellectual, war weary, and thoroughly skeptical of all existing religions and universe philosophies. The peoples of the Western world, the beneficiaries of Greek culture, had a revered tradition of a great past. They could contemplate the inheritance of great accomplishments in philosophy, art, literature, and political progress. But with all these achievements they had no soul-satisfying religion. Their spiritual longings remained unsatisfied.
2014 195:0.2 Dok su Židovi - koji su bili sputani tradicijom i dominacijom svećenstva - kao narod odbili prihvatiti bilo Isusovo evanđelje o Božjem očinstvu i bratstvu ljudi ili Petrov i Pavlov proglas Kristova uskrsnuća i uzašašća (buduće kršćanstvo), pokazalo se da je ostatak Rimskog carstva bio spreman prihvatiti kršćanska učenja koja su bila u procesu formiranja
[1]. Ondašnja je zapadna civilizacija bila intelektualna, umorna od ratovanja i puna skepticizma prema postojećim religijama i kozmičkim filozofijama. Narodi zapadnog svijeta, baštinici grčke kulture, su imali cijenjenu tradiciju znamenite prošlosti. Izgradili su bogatu baštinu velikih postignuća u filozofiji, umjetnosti, književnosti i političkom napretku. Ali sa svim tim postignućima, nisu imali religiju koja je mogla zadovoljiti čovjekovu dušu. Njihove duhovne čežnje nisu bile utažene.
1955 195:0.3 Upon such a stage of human society the teachings of Jesus, embraced in the Christian message, were suddenly thrust. A new order of living was thus presented to the hungry hearts of these Western peoples. This situation meant immediate conflict between the older religious practices and the new Christianized version of Jesus’ message to the world. Such a conflict must result in either decided victory for the new or for the old or in some degree of compromise. History shows that the struggle ended in compromise. Christianity presumed to embrace too much for any one people to assimilate in one or two generations. It was not a simple spiritual appeal, such as Jesus had presented to the souls of men; it early struck a decided attitude on religious rituals, education, magic, medicine, art, literature, law, government, morals, sex regulation, polygamy, and, in limited degree, even slavery. Christianity came not merely as a new religion—something all the Roman Empire and all the Orient were waiting for—but as a new order of human society. And as such a pretension it quickly precipitated the social-moral clash of the ages. The ideals of Jesus, as they were reinterpreted by Greek philosophy and socialized in Christianity, now boldly challenged the traditions of the human race embodied in the ethics, morality, and religions of Western civilization.
2014 195:0.3 Na takvu su scenu ljudskog društva iznenada stupila Isusova učenja u okviru kršćanske poruke. I tako je gladnim srcima tih zapadnih naroda predočen novi način življenja. Ova je situacija smjesta uzrokovala sukob između starijih religioznih običaja i nove kršćanske verzije Isusove poruke svijetu. Takav sukob je morao voditi bilo odlučnoj pobjedi novog učenja, pobjedi starog učenja ili nekom stupnju kompromisa. Povijest pokazuje da se borba završila kompromisom. Kršćanstvo se osmjelilo pružiti mnogo više nego što je bilo koji narod bio u stanju asimilirati u jednoj ili dvije generacije. Ono nije bilo Isusov jednostavni duhovni poziv ljudskim dušama; rano je zauzelo odlučan stav prema vjerskim obredima, obrazovanju, magiji, medicini, umjetnosti, književnosti, pravu, vladi, moralu, seksualnim pravilima ponašanja, mnogoženstvu i u nekoj mjeri, čak i ropstvu. Kršćanstvo nije došlo samo kao nova religija - na što su cijelo Rimsko carstvo i sav Orijent čekali - već kao novi poredak ljudskog društva. A takva je pretencioznost brzo dovela do iznenadnog društveno-moralnog sukoba ove dobi. Isusovi ideali, u interpretaciji grčke filozofije i u podruštvljenju kršćanstva, hrabro su djelovali kao izazov tradicijama ljudskog roda utjelovljenim u etici, moralu i religijama zapadne civilizacije.
1955 195:0.4 At first, Christianity won as converts only the lower social and economic strata. But by the beginning of the second century the very best of Greco-Roman culture was increasingly turning to this new order of Christian belief, this new concept of the purpose of living and the goal of existence.
2014 195:0.4 Kršćanstvo je isprva pridobilo obraćenike jedino iz nižih društvenih i ekonomskih slojeva. No, od početka drugog stoljeća, najbolji dio grčko-rimske kulture se sve više počeo okretati ovom novom redu kršćanskog vjerovanja, ovom novom konceptu životnog nauma i cilja egzistencije.
1955 195:0.5 How did this new message of Jewish origin, which had almost failed in the land of its birth, so quickly and effectively capture the very best minds of the Roman Empire? The triumph of Christianity over the philosophic religions and the mystery cults was due to:
2014 195:0.5 Kako je ova nova poruka židovskog porijekla koja je umalo doživjela neuspjeh u svojoj rodnoj zemlji, bila u stanju tako brzo i učinkovito pridobiti najbolje umove Rimskog carstva? Trijumf kršćanstva nad filozofskim religijama i mističkim kultovima treba zahvaliti:
1955 195:0.6 1. Organization. Paul was a great organizer and his successors kept up the pace he set.
2014 195:0.6 1. Organizaciji. Pavao je bio odličan organizator i njegovi sljedbenici su nastavili slijediti njegov primjer.
1955 195:0.7 2. Christianity was thoroughly Hellenized. It embraced the best in Greek philosophy as well as the cream of Hebrew theology.
2014 195:0.7 2. Kršćanstvo je temeljito helenizirano. Ono je usvojilo najbolje aspekte grčke filozofije i židovske teologije.
1955 195:0.8 3. But best of all, it contained a new and great ideal, the echo of the life bestowal of Jesus and the reflection of his message of salvation for all mankind.
2014 195:0.8 3. Ali najbolje od svega, sadržavalo je novi i visoki ideal, odjek Isusovog života darivanja i odraz njegove poruke spasenj a za cijelo čovječanstvo.
1955 195:0.9 4. The Christian leaders were willing to make such compromises with Mithraism that the better half of its adherents were won over to the Antioch cult.
2014 195:0.9 4. Kršćanske vođe su bile spremne učiniti takve kompromise s Mitraizmom da je bolja polovica njegovih s ljedbenika pri šlaantiohijskom kultu.
1955 195:0.10 5. Likewise did the next and later generations of Christian leaders make such further compromises with paganism that even the Roman emperor Constantine was won to the new religion.
2014 195:0.10 5. Kasnije generacije kršćanskih vođa su također bile voljne učiniti nove kompromise s paganizmom, tako da je čak i rimski car Konstantin prešao na novu religiju.
1955 195:0.11 But the Christians made a shrewd bargain with the pagans in that they adopted the ritualistic pageantry of the pagan while compelling the pagan to accept the Hellenized version of Pauline Christianity. They made a better bargain with the pagans than they did with the Mithraic cult, but even in that earlier compromise they came off more than conquerors in that they succeeded in eliminating the gross immoralities and also numerous other reprehensible practices of the Persian mystery.
2014 195:0.11 No, kršćani su se mudro pogodili s paganima tako što su usvojili pagansku ritualnu raskoš, dok su u isto vrijeme naveli pagane da prihvate heleniziranu verziju Pavlovog kršćanstva. Bolje su se nagodili s paganima nego s poklonicima mitraičkog kulta, ali su i iz ovog kompromisa izašli kao pobjednici jer su uspjeli ukloniti dosta nemoralnosti kao i mnoge istinski prijekome običaje ove perzijske misterije.
1955 195:0.12 Wisely or unwisely, these early leaders of Christianity deliberately compromised the ideals of Jesus in an effort to save and further many of his ideas. And they were eminently successful. But mistake not! these compromised ideals of the Master are still latent in his gospel, and they will eventually assert their full power upon the world.
2014 195:0.12 Mudro ili ne, ove rane kršćanske vođe su svjesno kompromitirale Isusove ideale u nastojanju da spase i unaprijede mnoge njegove ideje. I pri tome su bili jako uspješni. Ali pazite(!) jer se i pored ovih kompromisa Učiteljevi ideali još uvijek kriju u njegovom evanđelju i oni će na kraju nametnuti svoju punu snagu nad svijetom.
1955 195:0.13 By this paganization of Christianity the old order won many minor victories of a ritualistic nature, but the Christians gained the ascendancy in that:
2014 195:0.13 Ovom paganizacijom kršćanstva, stari poredak je izvojevao mnoge manje pobjede ritualističke prirode, ali kršćani su stekli sljedeće prednosti:
1955 195:0.14 1. A new and enormously higher note in human morals was struck.
2014 195:0.14 1. Nastupio je novi i daleko viši stadij ljudske moralnosti.
2014 195:0.15 2. Svijet je primio novu i znatno napredniju koncepciju Boga.
1955 195:0.16 3. The hope of immortality became a part of the assurance of a recognized religion.
2014 195:0.16 3. Nada u vječni život je postala dijelom uvjerenja priznate religije.
2014 195:0.17 4. Čovjekova gladna duša je dobila Isusa iz Nazareta.
1955 195:0.18 Many of the great truths taught by Jesus were almost lost in these early compromises, but they yet slumber in this religion of paganized Christianity, which was in turn the Pauline version of the life and teachings of the Son of Man. And Christianity, even before it was paganized, was first thoroughly Hellenized. Christianity owes much, very much, to the Greeks. It was a Greek, from Egypt, who so bravely stood up at Nicaea and so fearlessly challenged this assembly that it dared not so obscure the concept of the nature of Jesus that the real truth of his bestowal might have been in danger of being lost to the world. This Greek’s name was Athanasius, and but for the eloquence and the logic of this believer, the persuasions of Arius would have triumphed.
2014 195:0.18 Dok su u ovim ranim kompromisima umalo izgubljene mnoge velike istine koje je Isus poučavao, one se još uvijek pritajeno kriju u ovoj religiji paganiziranog kršćanstva - ustvari Pavlovoj verziji života i učenja Sina Čovječjega. A čak i prije paganizacije, kršćanstvo je prvo temeljito helenizirano. Kršćanstvo duguje mnogo, mnogo toga Grcima. Jedan se Grk, porijeklom iz Egipta, usudio tako hrabro zauzeti za svoje ideje u Niceji i uputiti tako neustrašiv izazov okupljenim slušateljima da se nisu usudili previdjeti ideju Isusove prirode, zahvaljujući čemu svijet nije izgubio stvarnu istinu o njegovom darivanju. Ime ovog Grka je Atanazije i da nije bilo rječitnosti i logike ovog vjernika, prevladala bi Arijeva uvjerenja.
¶ 1. UTJECAJ GRKA
1. INFLUENCE OF THE GREEKS
1. UTJECAJ GRKA
1955 195:1.1 The Hellenization of Christianity started in earnest on that eventful day when the Apostle Paul stood before the council of the Areopagus in Athens and told the Athenians about “the Unknown God.” There, under the shadow of the Acropolis, this Roman citizen proclaimed to these Greeks his version of the new religion which had taken origin in the Jewish land of Galilee. And there was something strangely alike in Greek philosophy and many of the teachings of Jesus. They had a common goal—both aimed at the emergence of the individual. The Greek, at social and political emergence; Jesus, at moral and spiritual emergence. The Greek taught intellectual liberalism leading to political freedom; Jesus taught spiritual liberalism leading to religious liberty. These two ideas put together constituted a new and mighty charter for human freedom; they presaged man’s social, political, and spiritual liberty.
2014 195:1.1 Helenizacija kršćanstva je ozbiljno započela tog znamenitog dana kada je apostol Pavao stajao pred Vijećem Areopagusa i rekao atenjanima o "nepoznatom Bogu[2]." Tu, u sjeni Akropole, ovaj je rimski državljanin proglasio tim Grcima svoju verziju nove religije koja je začeta u židovskoj zemlji Galileji[3]. Grčka filozofija je bila neobično slična mnogim Isusovim učenjima. Vezivao ih je zajednički cilj - teženje za pojavom individue. Grci su težili za društvenom i političkom pojavom; Isus je težio za moralnom i duhovnom pojavom. Grci su učili intelektualni liberalizam koji vodi političkoj slobodi; Isus je učio duhovni liberalizam koji vodi religioznoj slobodi. Ove dvije ideje su zajednički stvorile novu i snažnu povelju ljudske slobode; nagovijestile čovjekovu društvenu, političku i duhovnu slobodu.
1955 195:1.2 Christianity came into existence and triumphed over all contending religions primarily because of two things:
2014 195:1.2 Kršćanstvo se pojavilo i prevladalo nad svim drugim religijama prvenstveno zbog sljedeće dvije činjenice:
2014 195:1.3 1. Grčki um je bio voljan posuditi nove i napredne ideje čak i od Židova.
1955 195:1.4 2. Paul and his successors were willing but shrewd and sagacious compromisers; they were keen theologic traders.
2014 195:1.4 2. Pavao i njegovi sljedbenici su bili spremni na lukave kompromise; bili su oštroumni teološki trgovci.
1955 195:1.5 At the time Paul stood up in Athens preaching “Christ and Him Crucified,” the Greeks were spiritually hungry; they were inquiring, interested, and actually looking for spiritual truth. Never forget that at first the Romans fought Christianity, while the Greeks embraced it, and that it was the Greeks who literally forced the Romans subsequently to accept this new religion, as then modified, as a part of Greek culture.
2014 195:1.5 U vrijeme kad je Pavao u Ateni održao propovijed o "Kristu i Onome koji je razapet," Grke je morila duhovna glad; iskreno su tragali za duhovnom istinom s velikom znatiželjom i dubokim zanimanjem[4]. Ne zaboravite da su se Rimljani isprva protivili kršćanstvu, dok su ga Grci prihvatili, i da su zatim Grci doslovce primorali Rimljane da prihvate ovu novu religiju u njezinom novom i izmijenjenom obliku, kao dio grčke kulture.
1955 195:1.6 The Greek revered beauty, the Jew holiness, but both peoples loved truth. For centuries the Greek had seriously thought and earnestly debated about all human problems—social, economic, political, and philosophic—except religion. Few Greeks had paid much attention to religion; they did not take even their own religion very seriously. For centuries the Jews had neglected these other fields of thought while they devoted their minds to religion. They took their religion very seriously, too seriously. As illuminated by the content of Jesus’ message, the united product of the centuries of the thought of these two peoples now became the driving power of a new order of human society and, to a certain extent, of a new order of human religious belief and practice.
2014 195:1.6 Grci su štovali ljepotu, Židovi su štovali svetost, dok su oba naroda voljela istinu. Grci su stoljećima ozbiljno razmišljali i raspravljali o svim ljudskim problemima - društvenim, ekonomskim, političkim i filozofskim - samo ne o religiji. Mali broj Grka je obraćao ozbiljniju pažnju na religiju; čak ni svoju vlastitu religiju nisu uzimali ozbiljno. Židovi su stoljećima zanemarivali ova druga misaona područja, dok su se predano posvećivali religiji. Oni su uzimali svoju religiju vrlo ozbiljno, čak preozbiljno. Prosvijetljen Isusovom porukom, sjedinjeni proizvod višestoljećne misli ovih dvaju naroda je ovom prilikom postao pokretačkom snagom novog poretka ljudskog društva i, u određenoj mjeri, novog poretka ljudskog religioznog vjerovanja i prakse.
1955 195:1.7 The influence of Greek culture had already penetrated the lands of the western Mediterranean when Alexander spread Hellenistic civilization over the near-Eastern world. The Greeks did very well with their religion and their politics as long as they lived in small city-states, but when the Macedonian king dared to expand Greece into an empire, stretching from the Adriatic to the Indus, trouble began. The art and philosophy of Greece were fully equal to the task of imperial expansion, but not so with Greek political administration or religion. After the city-states of Greece had expanded into empire, their rather parochial gods seemed a little queer. The Greeks were really searching for one God, a greater and better God, when the Christianized version of the older Jewish religion came to them.
2014 195:1.7 Utjecaj grčke kulture se već bio proširio zemljama zapadnog Mediterana, kada je Aleksandar proširio helenističku civilizaciju bliskoistočnim svijetom. Dok su Grci živjeli u manjim gradovima-državama prilično su ih dobro služile njihova religija i politika, ali problemi su nastupili čim se makedonski kralj odvažio proširiti Grčku i stvoriti carstvo koje se pružalo od Jadranskog mora do Indijskog gorja. Umjetnost i filozofija Grčke su bile pripravne zadaći imperijalnog proširenja, ali to nije bio slučaj s grčkom političkom administracijom i religijom. Nakon što su se gradovi-države Grčke proširili u carstvo, njihovi su ponešto provincijalni bogovi počeli djelovati čudno. Grci su istinski tragali za jednim Bogom - većim i boljim Bogom - u vrijeme njihova susreta s kršćanskom verzijom starije židovske religije.
1955 195:1.8 The Hellenistic Empire, as such, could not endure. Its cultural sway continued on, but it endured only after securing from the West the Roman political genius for empire administration and after obtaining from the East a religion whose one God possessed empire dignity.
2014 195:1.8 Helenističko carstvo, kao takvo, nije moglo opstati. Njegov kulturni utjecaj se nastavio, ali se mogao održati samo nakon što je od Zapada osigurao rimsku političku sposobnost za imperijalnu administraciju i nakon što je od Istoka primio religiju s jednim Bogom koji je imao imperijalno dostojanstvo.
1955 195:1.9 In the first century after Christ, Hellenistic culture had already attained its highest levels; its retrogression had begun; learning was advancing but genius was declining. It was at this very time that the ideas and ideals of Jesus, which were partially embodied in Christianity, became a part of the salvage of Greek culture and learning.
2014 195:1.9 U prvom stoljeću poslije Krista, helenistička kultura je već dostigla svoju najvišu razinu; njezina retrogresija je već započela; učenje je napredovalo, ali je genij bio u opadanju. Upravo u to vrijeme su Isusove ideje i ideali, djelomično utjelovljeni u kršćanstvu, postali dijelom onoga što je ostalo od grčke kulture i učenja.
1955 195:1.10 Alexander had charged on the East with the cultural gift of the civilization of Greece; Paul assaulted the West with the Christian version of the gospel of Jesus. And wherever the Greek culture prevailed throughout the West, there Hellenized Christianity took root.
2014 195:1.10 Aleksandar je krenuo u napad na Istok s kulturnim darom grčke civilizacije; Pavao je napao Zapad kršćanskom verzijom Isusovog evanđelja. A gdje god je širom Zapada prevladala grčka kultura, tu se ukorijenilo helenizirano kršćanstvo.
1955 195:1.11 The Eastern version of the message of Jesus, notwithstanding that it remained more true to his teachings, continued to follow the uncompromising attitude of Abner. It never progressed as did the Hellenized version and was eventually lost in the Islamic movement.
2014 195:1.11 Unatoč tome što je istočna verzija Isusove poruke ostala vjernija njegovim izvornim učenjima, nastavila je slijediti Abnerov beskompromisni stav. Nikad nije napredovala kako je napredovala helenizirana verzija, i s vremenom se izgubila u islamskom pokretu.
¶ 2. RIMSKI UTJECAJ
2. THE ROMAN INFLUENCE
2. RIMSKI UTJECAJ
1955 195:2.1 The Romans bodily took over Greek culture, putting representative government in the place of government by lot. And presently this change favored Christianity in that Rome brought into the whole Western world a new tolerance for strange languages, peoples, and even religions.
2014 195:2.1 Rimljani su hrabro preuzeli grčku kulturu, stavljajući reprezentativnu vladu na mjesto vlade birane ždrijebom. A ta je promjena pogodovala širenju kršćanstva kako je Rim upoznao zapadni svijet s novom tolerancijom prema stranim jezicima, narodima, pa čak i religijama.
1955 195:2.2 Much of the early persecution of Christians in Rome was due solely to their unfortunate use of the term “kingdom” in their preaching. The Romans were tolerant of any and all religions but very resentful of anything that savored of political rivalry. And so, when these early persecutions, due so largely to misunderstanding, died out, the field for religious propaganda was wide open. The Roman was interested in political administration; he cared little for either art or religion, but he was unusually tolerant of both.
2014 195:2.2 Velik dio ranog progona kršćana u Rimu bio je isključivo posljedica njihovog nesretnog korištenja izraza "kraljevstvo" u javnim propovijedima. Rimljani su bili trpeljivi prema svim mogućim religijama, ali nisu bili spremni prihvatiti ni najmanji nagovještaj političkog rivalstva. I tako, po okončanju ovih ranih progona koji su u velikoj mjeri počivali na nesporazumu, bila su širom otvorena vrata za širenje religiozne propagande. Rimljanin se zanimao za političku upravu; malo se zanimao za bilo umjetnost i religiju, ali je bio neobično trpeljiv prema oboma.
1955 195:2.3 Oriental law was stern and arbitrary; Greek law was fluid and artistic; Roman law was dignified and respect-breeding. Roman education bred an unheard-of and stolid loyalty. The early Romans were politically devoted and sublimely consecrated individuals. They were honest, zealous, and dedicated to their ideals, but without a religion worthy of the name. Small wonder that their Greek teachers were able to persuade them to accept Paul’s Christianity.
2014 195:2.3 Istočnjački zakon je bio strog i proizvoljan; grčki zakon je bio prilagodljiv i umjetnički; rimski zakon je bio dostojanstven i ugledan. Rimsko obrazovanje je poticalo neusporedivu i tupavu odanost. Rani Rimljani su bili politički odane i blaženo posvećene osobe. Bili su iskreni, entuzijastični i odani svojim idealima, ali nisu imali religiju vrijednu tog imena. Nije čudo da su ih njihovi grčki učitelji bili u stanju uvjeriti da prihvate Pavlovo kršćanstvo.
1955 195:2.4 And these Romans were a great people. They could govern the Occident because they did govern themselves. Such unparalleled honesty, devotion, and stalwart self-control was ideal soil for the reception and growth of Christianity.
2014 195:2.4 I ovi Rimaljni su bili izvanredan narod. Bili su u stanju vladati Zapadom zato što su bili u stanju vladati sobom. Takvo neusporedivo poštenje, odanost i nepokolebljiva samokontrola su bili idealno tlo za primitak i rast kršćanstva.
1955 195:2.5 It was easy for these Greco-Romans to become just as spiritually devoted to an institutional church as they were politically devoted to the state. The Romans fought the church only when they feared it as a competitor of the state. Rome, having little national philosophy or native culture, took over Greek culture for its own and boldly adopted Christ as its moral philosophy. Christianity became the moral culture of Rome but hardly its religion in the sense of being the individual experience in spiritual growth of those who embraced the new religion in such a wholesale manner. True, indeed, many individuals did penetrate beneath the surface of all this state religion and found for the nourishment of their souls the real values of the hidden meanings held within the latent truths of Hellenized and paganized Christianity.
2014 195:2.5 Ovi grčko-rimski žitelji su postali jednako duhovno odani institucionalnoj crkvi kao što su bili politički odani državi. Rimljani su se protivili crkvi samo kad su u njoj vidjeli rivala državi. Rim, koji je imao malo nacionalne filozofije i domaće kulture, spremno je usvojio grčku kulturu i hrabro prihvatio Krista kao svoju moralnu filozofiju. Kršćanstvo je postalo moralna kultura Rima, ali se teško može reći da je postalo njegova religija u smislu individualnog iskustva u duhovnom rastu onih koji su u tako velikom broju prihvatili ovu novu religiju. Istina, mnoge su osobe doista uspjele prodrijeti ispod površine ove državničke religije i nahraniti svoje duše stvarnim vrijednostima značenja koja su se krila u latentnim istinama heleniziranog i paganiziranog kršćanstva.
1955 195:2.6 The Stoic and his sturdy appeal to “nature and conscience” had only the better prepared all Rome to receive Christ, at least in an intellectual sense. The Roman was by nature and training a lawyer; he revered even the laws of nature. And now, in Christianity, he discerned in the laws of nature the laws of God. A people that could produce Cicero and Vergil were ripe for Paul’s Hellenized Christianity.
2014 195:2.6 Stoik je svojim čvrstim apelom na "prirodu i savjest," pripremio cijeli Rim za primitak Krista, barem u intelektualnom pogledu. Rimljanin je po prirodi i učenju bio odvjetnik; štovao je sve zakone, čak i prirodne. A ovom prilikom, u kršćanstvu, on je razabrao u zakonima prirode Božje zakone. Narod koji je mogao proizvesti Cicerona i Vergilija, bio je zreo za Pavlovo helenizirano kršćanstvo.
1955 195:2.7 And so did these Romanized Greeks force both Jews and Christians to philosophize their religion, to co-ordinate its ideas and systematize its ideals, to adapt religious practices to the existing current of life. And all this was enormously helped by translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek and by the later recording of the New Testament in the Greek tongue.
2014 195:2.7 I tako su ti romanizirani Grci primorali Židove i kršćane da dopune svoju religiju filozofijom, da koordiniraju svoje ideje i sistematiziraju svoje ideale, da prilagode svoje vjerske prakse postojećem tijeku života. A svemu ovome je jako pomogao prijevod hebrejskih svetih knjiga i kasnija zabilješka Novog zavjeta na grčkom.
1955 195:2.8 The Greeks, in contrast with the Jews and many other peoples, had long provisionally believed in immortality, some sort of survival after death, and since this was the very heart of Jesus’ teaching, it was certain that Christianity would make a strong appeal to them.
2014 195:2.8 Grci su, za razliku od Židova i mnogih drugih naroda, već dugo provizorno vjerovali u besmrtnost - u neki oblik života poslije smrti - i kako je to bila sama bit Isusovog nauka, kršćanstvo ih je neminovno snažno dojmilo.
1955 195:2.9 A succession of Greek-cultural and Roman-political victories had consolidated the Mediterranean lands into one empire, with one language and one culture, and had made the Western world ready for one God. Judaism provided this God, but Judaism was not acceptable as a religion to these Romanized Greeks. Philo helped some to mitigate their objections, but Christianity revealed to them an even better concept of one God, and they embraced it readily.
2014 195:2.9 Zahvaljujući nizu pobjeda grčke kulture i rimske politike, mediteranske zemlje su konsolidirane u jedno carstvo s jednim jezikom i kulturom, što je pripremilo zapadni svijet za jednog Boga. Dok je Judaizam dao ovog Boga, on nije bio prihvatljiv ovim romaniziranim Grcima. Philon je djelomično ublažio njihove primjedbe, ali kršćanstvo im je pružilo bolju koncepciju jednog Boga koju su odveć spremno prihvatili.
¶ 3. POD RIMSKIM CARSTVOM
3. UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE
3. POD RIMSKIM CARSTVOM
1955 195:3.1 After the consolidation of Roman political rule and after the dissemination of Christianity, the Christians found themselves with one God, a great religious concept, but without empire. The Greco-Romans found themselves with a great empire but without a God to serve as the suitable religious concept for empire worship and spiritual unification. The Christians accepted the empire; the empire adopted Christianity. The Roman provided a unity of political rule; the Greek, a unity of culture and learning; Christianity, a unity of religious thought and practice.
2014 195:3.1 Po učvršćenju rimske političke vlasti i po proširenju kršćanstva, kršćani su imali jednog Boga - veliki religiozni koncept - ali nisu imali države. Greko-Rimljani su se našli u velikom carstvu, ali nisu imalo Boga koji bi poslužio kao prihvatljiv religiozni koncept imperijalnog bogoslužja i duhovnog ujedinjenja. Kršćani su usvojili carstvo; carstvo je usvojilo kršćanstvo. Rimljani su osigurali jedinstvo političke vlasti; Grci su osigurali jedinstvo kulture i učenja; kršćanstvo je osiguralo jedinstvo religiozne misli i prakse.
1955 195:3.2 Rome overcame the tradition of nationalism by imperial universalism and for the first time in history made it possible for different races and nations at least nominally to accept one religion.
2014 195:3.2 Rim je prevazišao tradiciju nacionalizma svojim imperijalnim univerzalizmom i po prvi put u povjesti stvorio uvjete za zajednički suživot različitih rasa i nacija koje su ako ništa drugo, barem nominalno prihvatile jednu religiju.
1955 195:3.3 Christianity came into favor in Rome at a time when there was great contention between the vigorous teachings of the Stoics and the salvation promises of the mystery cults. Christianity came with refreshing comfort and liberating power to a spiritually hungry people whose language had no word for “unselfishness.”
2014 195:3.3 Kršćanstvo je zadobilo naklonost u Rimu u vrijeme velikog sukoba između entuzijastičnih učenja stoika i mističnih kultova koji su obećavali spasenje. Kršćanstvo je dalo novu i vitalnu utjehu i oslobađajuću snagu duhovno gladnim narodima čiji jezik nije imao riječi za "ne sebičnost."
1955 195:3.4 That which gave greatest power to Christianity was the way its believers lived lives of service and even the way they died for their faith during the earlier times of drastic persecution.
2014 195:3.4 To što je dalo najveću snagu kršćanstvu bio je način na koji su njegovi vjernici živjeli živote služitelja, pa čak i način na koji su umirali zbog svoje vjere u vrijeme najranijih drastičnih progona.
1955 195:3.6 The early plan of Christian worship was largely taken over from the Jewish synagogue, modified by the Mithraic ritual; later on, much pagan pageantry was added. The backbone of the early Christian church consisted of Christianized Greek proselytes to Judaism.
2014 195:3.6 Rani način kršćanskog bogoštovlja uglavnom je preuzet iz židovske sinagoge, modificiran mitraičkim ritualizmom; kasnije je uveliko dopunjen paganskom pompom. U osnovi ranokršćanske crkve su bili pokršteni grčki obraćenici na judaizam.
1955 195:3.7 The second century after Christ was the best time in all the world’s history for a good religion to make progress in the Western world. During the first century Christianity had prepared itself, by struggle and compromise, to take root and rapidly spread. Christianity adopted the emperor; later, he adopted Christianity. This was a great age for the spread of a new religion. There was religious liberty; travel was universal and thought was untrammeled.
2014 195:3.7 Od cijele svjetske povijesti, drugo stoljeće poslije Krista je najbolje pogodovalo širenju dobre religije zapadnim svijetom. Kršćanstvo je tijekom prvog stoljeća uspjelo stvoriti situaciju - borbom i kompromisom - gdje je bilo spremno za ukorijenjenje i brzo širenje. Kršćanstvo je usvojilo cara; car je kasnije usvojio kršćanstvo. Bilo je to odlično doba za širenje nove religije. Vladala je religiozna sloboda; ljudi su putovali s kraja na kraj, dok je misao bila nesputana.
1955 195:3.8 The spiritual impetus of nominally accepting Hellenized Christianity came to Rome too late to prevent the well-started moral decline or to compensate for the already well-established and increasing racial deterioration. This new religion was a cultural necessity for imperial Rome, and it is exceedingly unfortunate that it did not become a means of spiritual salvation in a larger sense.
2014 195:3.8 Duhovni poticaj nominalno prihvaćenog heleniziranog kršćanstva je stigao u Rim suviše kasno da spriječi već poodmaklo moralno nazadovanje i sve veću rasnu deterioraciju. Ova nova religija je bila kulturna nužda carskog Rima i vrlo je žalosno što nije postala sredstvom duhovnog spasenja u širem smislu.
1955 195:3.9 Even a good religion could not save a great empire from the sure results of lack of individual participation in the affairs of government, from overmuch paternalism, overtaxation and gross collection abuses, unbalanced trade with the Levant which drained away the gold, amusement madness, Roman standardization, the degradation of woman, slavery and race decadence, physical plagues, and a state church which became institutionalized nearly to the point of spiritual barrenness.
2014 195:3.9 Čak ni dobra religija ne može spasti veliko carstvo od neminovnih posljedica nedostatnog osobnog sudjelovanja u državničkim poslovima, pretjeranog paternalizma, previsokog oporezivanja i zloupotrebe prihoda, neuravnotežene trgovine s Levantom kojom je Rim gubio zlato, raskalašenih gozbi, rimske standardizacije, degradacije žena, ropstva i rasne dekadencije, epidemija i državne crkve koja je institucionalizirana gotovo do točke duhovnog mrtvila.
1955 195:3.10 Conditions, however, were not so bad at Alexandria. The early schools continued to hold much of Jesus’ teachings free from compromise. Pantaenus taught Clement and then went on to follow Nathaniel in proclaiming Christ in India. While some of the ideals of Jesus were sacrificed in the building of Christianity, it should in all fairness be recorded that, by the end of the second century, practically all the great minds of the Greco-Roman world had become Christian. The triumph was approaching completion.
2014 195:3.10 Uvjeti, međutim, nisu bili tako loši u Aleksandriji. Rane škole su očuvale daleko više Isusovih učenja bez kompromisa. Panten je prvo poučio Klementa, a zatim je slijedio Natanija u naviještanju Krista u Indiji. Dok su u izgradnji kršćanstva žrtvovani neki Isusovi ideali, ispravno je zabilježiti da su na kraju drugog stoljeća praktično svi veliki umovi grčko-rimskog svijeta usvojili kršćanstvo. Bližio se konačni trijumf.
1955 195:3.11 And this Roman Empire lasted sufficiently long to insure the survival of Christianity even after the empire collapsed. But we have often conjectured what would have happened in Rome and in the world if it had been the gospel of the kingdom which had been accepted in the place of Greek Christianity.
2014 195:3.11 A to Rimsko carstvo trajalo je dovoljno dugo da osigura opstanak kršćanstva i nakon svog raspada. No, često smo razmišljali što bi se dogodilo u Rimu i u cijelom svijetu da je evanđelje kraljevstva bilo prihvaćeno na mjestu grčkog kršćanstva.
¶ 4. EUROPSKI SREDNJI VIJEK
4. THE EUROPEAN DARK AGES
4. EUROPSKI SREDNJI VIJEK
1955 195:4.1 The church, being an adjunct to society and the ally of politics, was doomed to share in the intellectual and spiritual decline of the so-called European “dark ages.” During this time, religion became more and more monasticized, asceticized, and legalized. In a spiritual sense, Christianity was hibernating. Throughout this period there existed, alongside this slumbering and secularized religion, a continuous stream of mysticism, a fantastic spiritual experience bordering on unreality and philosophically akin to pantheism.
2014 195:4.1 Crkva, kao privezak društva i saveznik politike, bila je osuđena sudjelovati u intelektualnoj i duhovnoj propasti takozvanog europskog "mračnog doba." Tijekom tog razdoblja, religija je sve više poprimala monasticizirana, asketicizirana i legalizirana. U duhovnom smislu, kršćanstvo je bilo u hibernaciji. Tijekom te dobi, usporedo s ovom uspavanom i sekulariziranom religijom, tekla je nepresušna rijeka misticizma, fantastičnog duhovnog iskustva koje je graničilo s nestvarnosti i koje je filozofski nalikovalo panteizmu.
1955 195:4.2 During these dark and despairing centuries, religion became virtually secondhanded again. The individual was almost lost before the overshadowing authority, tradition, and dictation of the church. A new spiritual menace arose in the creation of a galaxy of “saints” who were assumed to have special influence at the divine courts, and who, therefore, if effectively appealed to, would be able to intercede in man’s behalf before the Gods.
2014 195:4.2 Za tih mračnih i očajnih stoljeća, religija je gotovo sasvim postala iskustvo iz druge ruke. Individualni čovjek se gotovo sasvim izgubio pred zasjenjujućim autoritetom, tradicijom i diktatima crkve. Nova duhovna opasnost je prijetila od pojave cijele galaksije "svetaca" za koje su ljudi smatrali da imaju posebni utjecaj na božanske sile i da se, navodno, mogu zauzeti za ljude pred Bogovima ako im se ljudi pravilno obrate molitvom.
1955 195:4.3 But Christianity was sufficiently socialized and paganized that, while it was impotent to stay the oncoming dark ages, it was the better prepared to survive this long period of moral darkness and spiritual stagnation. And it did persist on through the long night of Western civilization and was still functioning as a moral influence in the world when the renaissance dawned. The rehabilitation of Christianity, following the passing of the dark ages, resulted in bringing into existence numerous sects of the Christian teachings, beliefs suited to special intellectual, emotional, and spiritual types of human personality. And many of these special Christian groups, or religious families, still persist at the time of the making of this presentation.
2014 195:4.3 Ali kršćanstvo je bilo dovoljno podruštvljeno i paganizirano da je, unatoč svojoj nemoći da se odupre nastupajućem mračnom dobu, bilo bolje pripremljeno da preživi ovo dugo razdoblje moralne tame i duhovne stagnacije. I ono je uistinu preživjelo dugo pomračenje Zapadne civilizacije i pri svanuću preporoda nastavilo djelovati kao moralni svjetski utjecaj. S rehabilitacijom kršćanstva, po okončanju mračnog doba, došlo je do pojave brojnih sekti kršćanskih učenja, vjerovanja koja su bila prilagođena posebnim intelektualnim, emocionalnim i duhovnim vrstama ljudskih ličnosti. I mnoge od tih posebnih kršćanskih skupina - ili religioznih obitelji - još uvijek postoje u vrijeme izrade ovog izlaganja.
1955 195:4.4 Christianity exhibits a history of having originated out of the unintended transformation of the religion of Jesus into a religion about Jesus. It further presents the history of having experienced Hellenization, paganization, secularization, institutionalization, intellectual deterioration, spiritual decadence, moral hibernation, threatened extinction, later rejuvenation, fragmentation, and more recent relative rehabilitation. Such a pedigree is indicative of inherent vitality and the possession of vast recuperative resources. And this same Christianity is now present in the civilized world of Occidental peoples and stands face to face with a struggle for existence which is even more ominous than those eventful crises which have characterized its past battles for dominance.
2014 195:4.4 Povijest kršćanstva pokazuje da je nastalo iz nenamjerne preobrazbe Isusove religije u religiju o Isusu. Nadalje ukazuje na povijest helenizacije, paganizacije, sekularizacije, institucionalizacije, intelektualne deterioracije, duhovne dekadencije, moralne hibernacije, prijetećeg izumiranja, kasnijeg preporoda, rascjepa i skorije relativne rehabilitacije. Takva rodovnica ukazuje na usađenu vitalnost i veliku sposobnost rehabilitacije. A to isto kršćanstvo je danas prisutno u civiliziranom svijetu Zapadnih naroda gdje je suočeno s borbom za opstanak koja je kobnija i teža čak i od strašnih kriza koje obilježavaju njegovu negdašnju borbu za prevlast.
1955 195:4.5 Religion is now confronted by the challenge of a new age of scientific minds and materialistic tendencies. In this gigantic struggle between the secular and the spiritual, the religion of Jesus will eventually triumph.
2014 195:4.5 Religija je danas suočena s izazovom novog doba znanstvenih umova i materijalističkih tendencija. U toj ogromnoj borbi između svjetovnog i duhovnog, na kraju će pobijediti Isusova religija.
¶ 5. SUVREMENI PROBLEM
5. THE MODERN PROBLEM
5. SUVREMENI PROBLEM
1955 195:5.1 The twentieth century has brought new problems for Christianity and all other religions to solve. The higher a civilization climbs, the more necessitous becomes the duty to “seek first the realities of heaven” in all of man’s efforts to stabilize society and facilitate the solution of its material problems.
1955 195:5.2 Truth often becomes confusing and even misleading when it is dismembered, segregated, isolated, and too much analyzed. Living truth teaches the truth seeker aright only when it is embraced in wholeness and as a living spiritual reality, not as a fact of material science or an inspiration of intervening art.
2014 195:5.2 Istina često djeluje zbunjujuće, pa čak i obmanjujuće kad se rasparča, fragmentizira, izolira i previše analizira. Živuća istina može biti dobra učiteljica tragatelju za istinom samo ako je prihvaćena u cjelovitosti i kao živuća duhovna stvarnost, a ne kao činjenica materijalne znanosti ili nadahnuće umjetničke intervencije.
1955 195:5.3 Religion is the revelation to man of his divine and eternal destiny. Religion is a purely personal and spiritual experience and must forever be distinguished from man’s other high forms of thought, such as:
2014 195:5.3 Religija čovjeku daje otkrivenje njegove božanske i vječne sudbine. Religija je posve osobno i duhovno iskustvo koje se zauvijek mora razlikovati od čovjekovih drugih viših oblika misli, kao što su:
1955 195:5.4 1. Man’s logical attitude toward the things of material reality.
2014 195:5.4 1. Čovjekov logični stav prema pitanjima materijalne stvarnosti.
1955 195:5.5 2. Man’s aesthetic appreciation of beauty contrasted with ugliness.
2014 195:5.5 2. Čovjekovo estetsko cijenjenje lijepog u suprotnosti s ružnim.
1955 195:5.6 3. Man’s ethical recognition of social obligations and political duty.
2014 195:5.6 3. Čovjekovo etičko priznanje društvenih obveza i političke dužnosti.
1955 195:5.7 4. Even man’s sense of human morality is not, in and of itself, religious.
2014 195:5.7 4. Čak i čovjekov smisao ljudske moralnosti nije, sam po sebi, religiozan.
1955 195:5.8 Religion is designed to find those values in the universe which call forth faith, trust, and assurance; religion culminates in worship. Religion discovers for the soul those supreme values which are in contrast with the relative values discovered by the mind. Such superhuman insight can be had only through genuine religious experience.
2014 195:5.8 Religija je osmišljena da nađe te vrijednosti u svemiru koje priznaju vjeru, povjerenje i sigurnost; religija dostiže vrhunac u iskazanju obožavanja. Religija otkriva duši te vrhovne vrijednosti u suprotnosti s relativnimvrijednostima koje su otkriće uma. Čovjek može imati takav nadljudski uvid samo kroz istinsko religiozno iskustvo.
1955 195:5.9 A lasting social system without a morality predicated on spiritual realities can no more be maintained than could the solar system without gravity.
2014 195:5.9 Trajni društveni sustav utemeljen na duhovnim stvarnostima koji u sebi nema moralnosti, ne može postojati dulje nego solarni sustav bez gravitacije.
1955 195:5.10 Do not try to satisfy the curiosity or gratify all the latent adventure surging within the soul in one short life in the flesh. Be patient! be not tempted to indulge in a lawless plunge into cheap and sordid adventure. Harness your energies and bridle your passions; be calm while you await the majestic unfolding of an endless career of progressive adventure and thrilling discovery.
2014 195:5.10 Nemojte pokušati zadovoljiti znatiželju ili utažiti sve pritajene pustolovne težnje duše u jednom kratkom životu u tijelu. Budite strpljivi(!) i ne dopustite da vas zavede iskušenje da posrnete u stidne i ništavne pustolovine. Obuzdajte svoje energije i zauzdajte svoje strasti; mirno čekajte veličanstveni razvoj događaja beskrajne karijere progresivne pustolovine i uzbudljivog otkrića.
1955 195:5.11 In confusion over man’s origin, do not lose sight of his eternal destiny. Forget not that Jesus loved even little children, and that he forever made clear the great worth of human personality.
2014 195:5.11 Kad se nađete zbunjeni pitanjem čovjekovog porijekla, ne gubite iz vida njegovu vječnu sudbinu. Ne zaboravite da je Isus ljubio čak i dječicu i da je uvijek isticao veliku vrijednost ljudske ličnosti.
1955 195:5.12 As you view the world, remember that the black patches of evil which you see are shown against a white background of ultimate good. You do not view merely white patches of good which show up miserably against a black background of evil.
2014 195:5.12 Promatrajući svijet, sjetite se da su crne mrlje zla koje vidite uočljive samo u kontrastu s bijelom pozadinom najvišeg dobra. Vi ne vidite samo bijele mrlje dobra koje su lako uočljive zahvaljujući užasu crne pozadine zla.
1955 195:5.13 When there is so much good truth to publish and proclaim, why should men dwell so much upon the evil in the world just because it appears to be a fact? The beauties of the spiritual values of truth are more pleasurable and uplifting than is the phenomenon of evil.
2014 195:5.13 Kad je u svijet prepun dobrih istina koje trebate publicirati i proglasiti, čemu usmjeravati toliku pažnju na zlo u svijetu, samo zato što djeluje činjenicom? Ljepote duhovnih vrijednosti istine su daleko ugodnije i inspirativnije od fenomena zla.
1955 195:5.14 In religion, Jesus advocated and followed the method of experience, even as modern science pursues the technique of experiment. We find God through the leadings of spiritual insight, but we approach this insight of the soul through the love of the beautiful, the pursuit of truth, loyalty to duty, and the worship of divine goodness. But of all these values, love is the true guide to real insight.
2014 195:5.14 U religiji, Isus je zagovarao i slijedio iskustvenu metodu, upravo kao što suvremena znanost slijedi ekperimentalnu vještinu. Čovjek nalazi Boga vodstvom duhovnog uvida, ali on prilazi ovom uvidu duše kroz ljubav prema lijepom, težnju za istinom, odanost dužnosti i obožavanje božanske dobrote. A od svih tih vrijednosti, ljubav je ta koja vodi stvarnom uvidu.
¶ 6. MATERIJALIZAM
6. MATERIALISM
6. MATERIJALIZAM
1955 195:6.1 Scientists have unintentionally precipitated mankind into a materialistic panic; they have started an unthinking run on the moral bank of the ages, but this bank of human experience has vast spiritual resources; it can stand the demands being made upon it. Only unthinking men become panicky about the spiritual assets of the human race. When the materialistic-secular panic is over, the religion of Jesus will not be found bankrupt. The spiritual bank of the kingdom of heaven will be paying out faith, hope, and moral security to all who draw upon it “in His name.”
2014 195:6.1 Znanstvenici su nenamjerno gurnuli čovječanstvo u materijalističku paniku; započeli su proces nepromišljenog pražnjenja konta višestoljećnih moralnih resursa, ali ta banka ljudskog iskustva ima na depozitu bogate duhovne resurse; ona ima dovoljno resursa da zadovolji obveze koje mu se nameću. Samo nerazborit čovjek može pasti u paniku zbog duhovnih resursa ljudskog roda. Po okončanju materijalističko-sekularne panike, Isusova religija neće bankrotirati. Duhovna banka kraljevstva nebeskog mora isplatiti vjeru, nadu i moralnu sigurnost za sve koji se oslanjaju na nju "u Njegovo ime."
1955 195:6.2 No matter what the apparent conflict between materialism and the teachings of Jesus may be, you can rest assured that, in the ages to come, the teachings of the Master will fully triumph. In reality, true religion cannot become involved in any controversy with science; it is in no way concerned with material things. Religion is simply indifferent to, but sympathetic with, science, while it supremely concerns itself with the scientist.
2014 195:6.2 Bez obzira na prividni sukob između materijalizma i Isusovih učenja, budite uvjereni da će u budućim dobima u potpunosti pobijediti Učiteljev nauk. U stvarnosti, istinska religija ne može biti upletena u bilo kakav sukob sa znanošću; ona se ni na koji način ne bavi materijalnim pitanjima. Religija je jednostavno ravnodušna, premda suosjećajna, prema znanosti, dok je jako zainteresirana za znanstvenika.
1955 195:6.3 The pursuit of mere knowledge, without the attendant interpretation of wisdom and the spiritual insight of religious experience, eventually leads to pessimism and human despair. A little knowledge is truly disconcerting.
2014 195:6.3 Potraga za pukim znanjem, bez popratnog tumačenja mudrosti i duhovnog uvida religioznog iskustva, na kraju vodi pesimizmu i ljudskom očaju. Malo znanja je doista obeshrabrujuće.
1955 195:6.4 At the time of this writing the worst of the materialistic age is over; the day of a better understanding is already beginning to dawn. The higher minds of the scientific world are no longer wholly materialistic in their philosophy, but the rank and file of the people still lean in that direction as a result of former teachings. But this age of physical realism is only a passing episode in man’s life on earth. Modern science has left true religion—the teachings of Jesus as translated in the lives of his believers—untouched. All science has done is to destroy the childlike illusions of the misinterpretations of life.
2014 195:6.4 U vrijeme pisanja ovog teksta, završen je nagori dio materijalističkog doba; već počinje svitati dan boljeg razumijevanja. Filozofija viših umova znanstvenog svijeta više nije posve materijalistična, iako običan svijet još uvijek naginje u tom smjeru zbog ranijih učenja. Ali ovo doba fizičkog realizma je samo jedna prolazna epizoda u čovjekovom životu na zemlji. Suvremena znanost je ostavila istinsku religiju - Isusova učenja prevedena u živote njegovih vjernika - nedirnutu. Znanost se samo može pohvaliti uništenjem djetinjastih iluzija pogrešnih tumačenja života.
1955 195:6.5 Science is a quantitative experience, religion a qualitative experience, as regards man’s life on earth. Science deals with phenomena; religion, with origins, values, and goals. To assign causes as an explanation of physical phenomena is to confess ignorance of ultimates and in the end only leads the scientist straight back to the first great cause—the Universal Father of Paradise.
2014 195:6.5 Znanost je kvantitativno iskustvo, a religija je kvalitativno iskustvo, što se tiče čovjekova života na zemlji. Znanost se bavi pojavama; religija se bavi izvorima porijekla, vrijednostima i ciljevima. Navesti određene uzroke kao objašnjenje određenih fizičkih posljedica znači priznati vlastito neznanje o postojanju krajnosti i na koncu samo vodi znanstvenika ravno do prvog uzroka - Oca Svih na Raju.
1955 195:6.6 The violent swing from an age of miracles to an age of machines has proved altogether upsetting to man. The cleverness and dexterity of the false philosophies of mechanism belie their very mechanistic contentions. The fatalistic agility of the mind of a materialist forever disproves his assertions that the universe is a blind and purposeless energy phenomenon.
2014 195:6.6 Čovjek je uznemiren iznenadnim prijelazom iz doba čuda u doba strojeva. Oštroumnost i dosjetljivost lažnih filozofija mehanizma pobijaju svoje vlastite mehanističke tvrdnje. Fatalistična dosjetljivost uma čovjeka-materijaliste zauvijek opovrgava sve njegove tvrdnje da je svemir slijepi i besciljni fenomen energije.
1955 195:6.7 The mechanistic naturalism of some supposedly educated men and the thoughtless secularism of the man in the street are both exclusively concerned with things; they are barren of all real values, sanctions, and satisfactions of a spiritual nature, as well as being devoid of faith, hope, and eternal assurances. One of the great troubles with modern life is that man thinks he is too busy to find time for spiritual meditation and religious devotion.
2014 195:6.7 Mehanistički naturalizam nekih navodno obrazovanih ljudi i nepromišljeni sekularizam običnog svijeta se isključivo bave stvarima; oni nemaju stvarnih vrijednosti, ovlaštenja i zadovoljstava duhovne naravi, niti imaju vjere, nade i vječne sigurnosti. Jedan od velikih problema suvremenog života je da čovjek misli da je suviše zauzet da nađe vremena za duhovnu meditaciju i vjersku odanost.
1955 195:6.8 Materialism reduces man to a soulless automaton and constitutes him merely an arithmetical symbol finding a helpless place in the mathematical formula of an unromantic and mechanistic universe. But whence comes all this vast universe of mathematics without a Master Mathematician? Science may expatiate on the conservation of matter, but religion validates the conservation of men’s souls—it concerns their experience with spiritual realities and eternal values.
2014 195:6.8 Materijalizam svodi čovjeka na razinu bezdušnog automata koji nije ništa drugo nego aritmetički simbol koji beznadežno ulazi u matematičku formulu jednog neromantičnog i mehanističkog svemira. No, odakle dolazi sav taj golemi svemir matematike, ako ne od Glavnog Matematičara? Znanost može voditi duge rasprave o konzervaciji tvari, ali religija opravdava očuvanje ljudskih duša - ona se bavi njihovim iskustvom s duhovnim stvarnostima i vječnim vrijednostima.
1955 195:6.9 The materialistic sociologist of today surveys a community, makes a report thereon, and leaves the people as he found them. Nineteen hundred years ago, unlearned Galileans surveyed Jesus giving his life as a spiritual contribution to man’s inner experience and then went out and turned the whole Roman Empire upside down.
2014 195:6.9 Suvremeni materijalistički sociolog prouči društvenu zajednicu, napiše izvješće o stanju stvari i ostavi ljude onako kako ih je i našao. Prije tisuću devet stotina godina, neuki Galilejci su vidjeli kako je Isus položio svoj život kao duhovni doprinos čovjekovom unutarnjem i skustvu, i zatim su otišli i okrenuli naglavačke cijelo Rimsko carstvo[7][8].
1955 195:6.10 But religious leaders are making a great mistake when they try to call modern man to spiritual battle with the trumpet blasts of the Middle Ages. Religion must provide itself with new and up-to-date slogans. Neither democracy nor any other political panacea will take the place of spiritual progress. False religions may represent an evasion of reality, but Jesus in his gospel introduced mortal man to the very entrance upon an eternal reality of spiritual progression.
2014 195:6.10 No, religiozne vođe čine veliku grešku kad pozivaju suvremene ljude u duhovnu bitku služeći se srednjovjekovnim trubama. Religija mora naći nove i ažurne parole. Ni demokracija niti bilo koja druga politička panaceja neće zauzeti mjesto duhovnog napretka. Lažne religije mogu biti stvar izbjegavanja stvarnosti, ali Isus je u svom evanđelju doveo smrtnog čovjeka do samog ulaza u vječne stvarnosti duhovnog napretka.
1955 195:6.11 To say that mind “emerged” from matter explains nothing. If the universe were merely a mechanism and mind were unapart from matter, we would never have two differing interpretations of any observed phenomenon. The concepts of truth, beauty, and goodness are not inherent in either physics or chemistry. A machine cannot know, much less know truth, hunger for righteousness, and cherish goodness.
2014 195:6.11 Reći da se um "pojavio" iz materije ne objašnjava ništa. Da svemir nije ništa drugo nego mehanizam i da um nije odvojen od materije, nikad ne bi mogla postojati dva različita tumačenja bilo koje pojave. Pojmovi istine, ljepote i dobrote ne ulaze u sastav bilo fizike ili kemije. Stroj ne može znati, a pogotovu ne može znati istinu, težiti za ispravnošću i njegovati dobrotu.
1955 195:6.12 Science may be physical, but the mind of the truth-discerning scientist is at once supermaterial. Matter knows not truth, neither can it love mercy nor delight in spiritual realities. Moral convictions based on spiritual enlightenment and rooted in human experience are just as real and certain as mathematical deductions based on physical observations, but on another and higher level.
2014 195:6.12 Znanost može biti fizička disciplina, ali um znanstvenika koji raspoznaje istinu odmah postaje nadmaterijalan. Materija ne zna istinu, ne može voljeti milost i ne može uživati u duhovnim stvarnostima. Moralna uvjerenja utemeljena na duhovnom prosvjetljenju i ukorijenjena u ljudskom iskustvu, jednako su stvarna i sigurna kao matematički zaključci utemeljeni na fizičkim opažanjima, samo na drugoj i višoj razini.
1955 195:6.13 If men were only machines, they would react more or less uniformly to a material universe. Individuality, much less personality, would be nonexistent.
2014 195:6.13 Da čovjek nije ništa više nego stroj, ljudi bi reagirali manje ili više jednako na materijalni svemir. Ne bi bilo individualnosti, a još manje ličnosti.
1955 195:6.14 The fact of the absolute mechanism of Paradise at the center of the universe of universes, in the presence of the unqualified volition of the Second Source and Center, makes forever certain that determiners are not the exclusive law of the cosmos. Materialism is there, but it is not exclusive; mechanism is there, but it is not unqualified; determinism is there, but it is not alone.
2014 195:6.14 Činjenica apsolutnog mehanizma Raja u središtu svemira nad svemirima, u prisutnosti bezuvjetne volje Drugog Izvora i Centra, zauvijek onemogućuje da kozmički zakoni postanu isključivi deterministički faktori. Materijalizam postoji, ali nije isključiv; mehanizam postoji, ali nije bezuvjetan; determinizam postoji, ali nije jedini.
1955 195:6.15 The finite universe of matter would eventually become uniform and deterministic but for the combined presence of mind and spirit. The influence of the cosmic mind constantly injects spontaneity into even the material worlds.
2014 195:6.15 Konačni svemir materije bi s vremenom postao jednolik i deterministički da nije spojene prisutnosti uma i duha. Utjecaj kozmičkog uma neprestano unosi spontanost čak i u materijalne svjetove.
1955 195:6.16 Freedom or initiative in any realm of existence is directly proportional to the degree of spiritual influence and cosmic-mind control; that is, in human experience, the degree of the actuality of doing “the Father’s will.” And so, when you once start out to find God, that is the conclusive proof that God has already found you.
2014 195:6.16 Sloboda ili inicijativa u bilo kojoj domeni egzistencije izravno je proporcionalna stupnju duhovnog utjecaja i kontrole kozmičkog uma; u ljudskom iskustvu, to znači stupnju aktualnosti činjenja "Očeve volje[9]." I tako, kada jednom krenete u potragu za Bogom, to je uvjerljiv dokaz da je Bog već pronašao vas.
1955 195:6.17 The sincere pursuit of goodness, beauty, and truth leads to God. And every scientific discovery demonstrates the existence of both freedom and uniformity in the universe. The discoverer was free to make the discovery. The thing discovered is real and apparently uniform, or else it could not have become known as a thing.
2014 195:6.17 Iskrena potraga za dobrotom, ljepotom i istinom, vodi do Boga. A svako znanstveno otkriće potvrđuje da u svemiru istodobno postoje sloboda i jednolikost. Osoba koja učini otkriće prvo mora imati slobodu otkrića. Kad predmet opservacije ne bi bio stvaran i naizgled jednolik, on ne bi mogao postati poznat kao predmet.
¶ 7. RANJIVOST MATERIJALIZMA
7. THE VULNERABILITY OF MATERIALISM
7. RANJIVOST MATERIJALIZMA
1955 195:7.1 How foolish it is for material-minded man to allow such vulnerable theories as those of a mechanistic universe to deprive him of the vast spiritual resources of the personal experience of true religion. Facts never quarrel with real spiritual faith; theories may. Better that science should be devoted to the destruction of superstition rather than attempting the overthrow of religious faith—human belief in spiritual realities and divine values.
2014 195:7.1 Kako je glupo kad čovjek- materijalista dopusti da ga tako ranjive teorije kao što su ideje mehanističkog svemira liše bogatih duhovnih resursa osobnog iskustva istinske religije. Činjenice se nikad ne protive stvarnoj duhovnoj vjeri; no, to može biti slučaj s teorijama. Znanost se prije treba posvetiti uništenju praznovjerja, nego nastojanju da opovrgne religioznu vjeru - čovjekovo vjerovanje u duhovne stvarnosti i božanske vrijednosti.
1955 195:7.2 Science should do for man materially what religion does for him spiritually: extend the horizon of life and enlarge his personality. True science can have no lasting quarrel with true religion. The “scientific method” is merely an intellectual yardstick wherewith to measure material adventures and physical achievements. But being material and wholly intellectual, it is utterly useless in the evaluation of spiritual realities and religious experiences.
2014 195:7.2 Znanost čovjeku treba biti materijalno na usluzi onako kako mu religija treba biti duhovno na usluzi: proširiti njegove životne vidike i uvećati njegovu ličnost. Istinska znanost ne može održati dulji spor s istinskom religijom. "Znanstveni metod" nije ništa drugo nego intelektualno mjerilo materijalnih pustolovina i fizičkih postignuća. Ali kako je u svojoj prirodi materijalna i posve intelektalna, znanost je doslovce beskorisna u procjeni duhovnih stvarnosti i religioznih iskustava.
1955 195:7.3 The inconsistency of the modern mechanist is: If this were merely a material universe and man only a machine, such a man would be wholly unable to recognize himself as such a machine, and likewise would such a machine-man be wholly unconscious of the fact of the existence of such a material universe. The materialistic dismay and despair of a mechanistic science has failed to recognize the fact of the spirit-indwelt mind of the scientist whose very supermaterial insight formulates these mistaken and self-contradictory concepts of a materialistic universe.
2014 195:7.3 Tu počiva nedosljednost suvremenog mehaniste: Da je ovo posve materijalan svemir i da čovjek nije ništa drugo nego stroj, ne samo što takav čovjek ne bi bio u stanju sebe prepoznati kao stroj, već takav ljudski stroj ne bi bio svjestan činjenice postojanja takvog materijalnog svemira. Materijalistička zbrka i očaj mehanističke znanosti nisu uspjeli prepoznati prisutnost duha u umu znanstvenika koji formira tako pogrešne i samokontradiktorne pojmove materijalističnog svemira.
1955 195:7.4 Paradise values of eternity and infinity, of truth, beauty, and goodness, are concealed within the facts of the phenomena of the universes of time and space. But it requires the eye of faith in a spirit-born mortal to detect and discern these spiritual values.
2014 195:7.4 Rajske vrijednosti vječnosti i beskonačnosti, kao i istine, ljepote i dobrote, počivaju u činjenicama fenomena vremensko-prostornih svemira. No, samo oko vjere smrtnika koji je rođen od duha može otkriti i raspoznati ove duhovne vrijednosti.
1955 195:7.5 The realities and values of spiritual progress are not a “psychologic projection”—a mere glorified daydream of the material mind. Such things are the spiritual forecasts of the indwelling Adjuster, the spirit of God living in the mind of man. And let not your dabblings with the faintly glimpsed findings of “relativity” disturb your concepts of the eternity and infinity of God. And in all your solicitation concerning the necessity for self-expression do not make the mistake of failing to provide for Adjuster-expression, the manifestation of your real and better self.
2014 195:7.5 Stvarnosti i vrijednosti duhovnog napretka nisu "psihološka projekcija" - uzvišeno sanjarenje materijalnog uma. Takve stvari su duhovni nagovještaji Ispravljača koji živi u umu, Božjeg duha u umu čovjeka. Ne dopustite svojim diletantskim idejama maglovitih spoznaja "relativiteta" da ometu vašu spoznaju Božje vječnosti i beskonačnosti. U svom pokušaju postignuća samoizražaja, ne zaboravite ostaviti prostora Ispravljačevom izražaju, manifestaciji vašeg stvarnog i boljeg "ja."
1955 195:7.6 If this were only a material universe, material man would never be able to arrive at the concept of the mechanistic character of such an exclusively material existence. This very mechanistic concept of the universe is in itself a nonmaterial phenomenon of mind, and all mind is of nonmaterial origin, no matter how thoroughly it may appear to be materially conditioned and mechanistically controlled.
2014 195:7.6 Da materijalni čovjek stvarno živi u posve materijalnom svemiru, on nikada be bio u stanju stvoriti ideju o mehanističkom karakteru takve isključivo materijalne egzistencije. Ovaj mehanistički koncept svemira je sam po sebi nematerijala umna pojava - a sav um ima nematerijalno porijeklo - unatoč tome što se čini da njime upravljaju materijalni uvjeti i mehanistička kontrola.
1955 195:7.7 The partially evolved mental mechanism of mortal man is not overendowed with consistency and wisdom. Man’s conceit often outruns his reason and eludes his logic.
2014 195:7.7 Djelomično razvijen mentalni mehanizam smrtnog čovjeka nije obdaren značajnijom dosljednošću i mudrošću. Čovjekova uobraženost često nadilazi njegov razum i izmiče njegovoj logici.
1955 195:7.8 The very pessimism of the most pessimistic materialist is, in and of itself, sufficient proof that the universe of the pessimist is not wholly material. Both optimism and pessimism are concept reactions in a mind conscious of values as well as of facts. If the universe were truly what the materialist regards it to be, man as a human machine would then be devoid of all conscious recognition of that very fact. Without the consciousness of the concept of values within the spirit-born mind, the fact of universe materialism and the mechanistic phenomena of universe operation would be wholly unrecognized by man. One machine cannot be conscious of the nature or value of another machine.
2014 195:7.8 Pesimizam najpesimističnijeg materijaliste je sam po sebi dovoljan dokaz da svemir tog pesimiste nije posve materijalan. Optimizam i pesimizam su konceptualne reakcije u umu koji je svjestan vrijednosti kao i činjenica.Da je svemir doista ono za što ga materijalista drži, čovjek kao ljudski stroj ne bi mogao svjesno spoznati tu činjenicu. Da um koji je rođen od duha nema svijesti o konceptu vrijednosti, taj čovjek ne bi mogao prepoznati bilo činjenicu kozmičkog materijalizma ili mehanističke fenomene kozmičkog djelovanja. Niti jedan stroj ne može biti svjestan prirode ili vrijednosti drugog stroja.
1955 195:7.9 A mechanistic philosophy of life and the universe cannot be scientific because science recognizes and deals only with materials and facts. Philosophy is inevitably superscientific. Man is a material fact of nature, but his life is a phenomenon which transcends the material levels of nature in that it exhibits the control attributes of mind and the creative qualities of spirit.
2014 195:7.9 Mehanistička filozofija života i svemira ne može biti znanstvena, jer znanost prepoznaje i priznaje samo materijalne predmete i činjenice. Filozofija neminovno nadilazi znanost. Čovjek je materijalna činjenica prirode, ali njegov život kao fenomen nadilazi materijalne razine prirode tako što ispoljava kontrolna obilježja uma kao i stvaralačke osobine duha.
1955 195:7.10 The sincere effort of man to become a mechanist represents the tragic phenomenon of that man’s futile effort to commit intellectual and moral suicide. But he cannot do it.
2014 195:7.10 Čovjekovo iskreno nastojanje da postane mehanist predstavlja tragičan dokaz njegovog uzaludnog nastojanja da počini intelektualno i moralno samoubojstvo. Ali on to ne može učiniti.
1955 195:7.11 If the universe were only material and man only a machine, there would be no science to embolden the scientist to postulate this mechanization of the universe. Machines cannot measure, classify, nor evaluate themselves. Such a scientific piece of work could be executed only by some entity of supermachine status.
2014 195:7.11 Da je svemir posve materijalan i da je čovjek samo stroj, ne bi bilo znanosti koja znanstveniku daje hrabrosti da postulira ovu mehanizaciju svemira. Strojevi ne mogu mjeriti, klasificirati niti ocijeniti sami sebe. Takvo znanstveno djelo jedino može proizvesti entitet koji nadilazi status stroja.
1955 195:7.12 If universe reality is only one vast machine, then man must be outside of the universe and apart from it in order to recognize such a fact and become conscious of the insight of such an evaluation.
2014 195:7.12 Da kozmička stvarnost nije ništa više nego jedan veliki stroj, čovjek bi morao biti vanjski i zaseban dio svemira da bude u stanju prepoznati takvu činjenicu i postati svjestan vlastitog uvida u takvu procjenu.
1955 195:7.13 If man is only a machine, by what technique does this man come to believe or claim to know that he is only a machine? The experience of self-conscious evaluation of one’s self is never an attribute of a mere machine. A self-conscious and avowed mechanist is the best possible answer to mechanism. If materialism were a fact, there could be no self-conscious mechanist. It is also true that one must first be a moral person before one can perform immoral acts.
2014 195:7.13 Da je čovjek samo stroj, kakvom bi vještinom došao do uvjerenja ili tvrdnje da zna da je samo stroj? Iskustvo samosvjesne procjene vrijednosti svoga “ja” nikada nije osobina pukog stroja. Samosvjestni i javno priznati odanik mehanizma je najbolji mogući odgovor na mehanizam. Ako je mehanizam činjenica, ne može postojati samosvjesni odanik mehanizma. Također je istina da čovjek prvo mora biti moralna osoba da može počiniti nemoralna djela.
1955 195:7.14 The very claim of materialism implies a supermaterial consciousness of the mind which presumes to assert such dogmas. A mechanism might deteriorate, but it could never progress. Machines do not think, create, dream, aspire, idealize, hunger for truth, or thirst for righteousness. They do not motivate their lives with the passion to serve other machines and to choose as their goal of eternal progression the sublime task of finding God and striving to be like him. Machines are never intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, ethical, moral, or spiritual.
2014 195:7.14 Sama obrana materijalizma podrazumijeva nadmaterijalnu svijest uma koji se usuđuje založiti za takve dogme. Stroj može nazadovati, ali ne i napredovati.Strojevi ne mogu misliti, stvarati, sanjati, težiti, idealizirati, gladnjeti za istinom ili žednjeti za ispravnosti. Oni ne mogu nadahnuti svoje živote težnjom da služe drugim strojevima i ne mogu odabrati za cilj svog vječnog napretka vrhovni cilj pronalaženja Boga i nastojanja da budu poput njega.Strojevi ne mogu biti intelektualni, emocionalni, estetski, etički, moralni ili duhovni.
1955 195:7.15 Art proves that man is not mechanistic, but it does not prove that he is spiritually immortal. Art is mortal morontia, the intervening field between man, the material, and man, the spiritual. Poetry is an effort to escape from material realities to spiritual values.
2014 195:7.15 Umjetnost dokazuje da čovjek nije nalik stroju, ali ne dokazuje njegovu duhovnu besmrtnost. Umjetnost je smrtna morontija, posrednička domena između materijalnog čovjeka i duhovnog čovjeka. Poezija je čovjekovo nastojanje da pređe s materijalnih stvarnosti na duhovne vrijednosti.
1955 195:7.16 In a high civilization, art humanizes science, while in turn it is spiritualized by true religion—insight into spiritual and eternal values. Art represents the human and time-space evaluation of reality. Religion is the divine embrace of cosmic values and connotes eternal progression in spiritual ascension and expansion. The art of time is dangerous only when it becomes blind to the spirit standards of the divine patterns which eternity reflects as the reality shadows of time. True art is the effective manipulation of the material things of life; religion is the ennobling transformation of the material facts of life, and it never ceases in its spiritual evaluation of art.
2014 195:7.16 U visokoj civilizaciji, umjetnost humanizira znanost, dok nju samu produhovljuje istinska religija - uvid u duhovne i vječne stvarnosti. Umjetnost predstavlja ljudsku i vremensko-prostornu procjenu stvarnosti. Religija je božansko prihvaćanje kozmičkih vrijednosti i podrazumijeva vječni napredak u duhovnom usponu i ekspanziji. Vremenska umjetnost je opasna samo ako postane slijepa pred standardima duha božanskih uzoraka koji su odražaj vječnosti u stvarnosnim sjenama vremena. Istinska umjetnost je djelotvorna manipulacija materijalnih predmeta života; religija je oplemenjujuća preobrazba materijalnih činjenica života koja naprestano teži duhovnoj procjeni umjetnosti.
1955 195:7.17 How foolish to presume that an automaton could conceive a philosophy of automatism, and how ridiculous that it should presume to form such a concept of other and fellow automatons!
2014 195:7.17 Kako je glupo pretpostaviti da čovjek-automat može biti u stanju spoznati filozofiju automatizma i kako se smiješno usuditi formirati takve koncepcije o svojim bližnjim kolegama kao automanima!
1955 195:7.18 Any scientific interpretation of the material universe is valueless unless it provides due recognition for the scientist. No appreciation of art is genuine unless it accords recognition to the artist. No evaluation of morals is worth while unless it includes the moralist. No recognition of philosophy is edifying if it ignores the philosopher, and religion cannot exist without the real experience of the religionist who, in and through this very experience, is seeking to find God and to know him. Likewise is the universe of universes without significance apart from the I AM, the infinite God who made it and unceasingly manages it.
2014 195:7.18 Ni jedno znanstveno tumačenje materijalnog svemira nema vrijednosti, osim ako pruža dužno priznanje znanstveniku. Ni jedna ocjena umjetnosti nije autentična ako ne poklanja vrijedno priznanje umjetniku. Nikakva procjena morala nije vrijedna ako ne uključuje moralistu. Nikakvo priznanje filozofije ne može biti poučno ako zatvori oči pred filozofom, a religija ne može postojati bez stvarnog iskustva religioniste koji u sastavu i u procesu ovog iskustva nastoji pronaći i upoznati Boga. Ni sam svemir nad svemirima nema vrijednosti bez JA JESAM, beskonačnog Boga koji je njegov stvoritelj i upravitelj.
1955 195:7.19 Mechanists—humanists—tend to drift with the material currents. Idealists and spiritists dare to use their oars with intelligence and vigor in order to modify the apparently purely material course of the energy streams.
2014 195:7.19 Odanici mehanizma - humanisti - imaju tendenciju da se besciljno predaju materijalnim strujama. Idealisti i odanici spiritizma se usuđuju inteligentno i energično koristiti svoja vesla da izmijene naočigled čisto materijalni pravac energetskih struja.
1955 195:7.20 Science lives by the mathematics of the mind; music expresses the tempo of the emotions. Religion is the spiritual rhythm of the soul in time-space harmony with the higher and eternal melody measurements of Infinity. Religious experience is something in human life which is truly supermathematical.
2014 195:7.20 Znanost postoji zahvaljujući matematici uma; glazba izražava tempo emocija. Religija je duhovni ritam duše u vremensko-prostornom skladu s višim i vječnim melodijskim mjerilima Beskonačnosti. Religiozno iskustvo je nešto u ljudskom životu što uistinu nadilazi matematiku.
1955 195:7.21 In language, an alphabet represents the mechanism of materialism, while the words expressive of the meaning of a thousand thoughts, grand ideas, and noble ideals—of love and hate, of cowardice and courage—represent the performances of mind within the scope defined by both material and spiritual law, directed by the assertion of the will of personality, and limited by the inherent situational endowment.
2014 195:7.21 U jeziku, abeceda predstavlja mehanizam materijalizma, dok riječi izražavaju značenje tisuću misli, velikih ideja i plemenitih ideala - ljubavi i mržnje, kukavičluka i hrabrosti - predstavljajući umne izvedbe koje podliježu okvirima materijalnog kao i duhovnog zakona, a kojima upravlja snaga volje određene ličnosti, u granicama postojećeg obdarenja okolnosti.
1955 195:7.22 The universe is not like the laws, mechanisms, and the uniformities which the scientist discovers, and which he comes to regard as science, but rather like the curious, thinking, choosing, creative, combining, and discriminating scientist who thus observes universe phenomena and classifies the mathematical facts inherent in the mechanistic phases of the material side of creation. Neither is the universe like the art of the artist, but rather like the striving, dreaming, aspiring, and advancing artist who seeks to transcend the world of material things in an effort to achieve a spiritual goal.
2014 195:7.22 Svemir ne nalikuje zakonima, mehanizmima i jednolikostima koje su predmet znanstvenog otkrića i koje znanstvenici smatraju znanošću, nego nalikuje znatiželjnom, misaonom, kreativnom, asocijativnom, odabirnom znanstveniku koji na taj način promatra kozmičke pojave i klasificira matematičke činjenice koje su svojstvene matematičkim fazama materijalne strane tvorevine. Svemir također ne nalikuje umjetnikovoj umjetnosti, nego poletnom, zanesenom, aspirativnom i progresivnom umjetniku koji želi transcendentirati svijet materijalih predmeta u nastojanju da postigne duhovni cilj.
1955 195:7.23 The scientist, not science, perceives the reality of an evolving and advancing universe of energy and matter. The artist, not art, demonstrates the existence of the transient morontia world intervening between material existence and spiritual liberty. The religionist, not religion, proves the existence of the spirit realities and divine values which are to be encountered in the progress of eternity.
2014 195:7.23 Znanstvenik, a ne znanost, spoznaje stvarnost evolucijskog i progresivnog svemira energije i materije. Umjetnik, a ne umjetnost, demonstrira postojanje prolaznog morontija svijeta koji posreduje između materijalne egzistencije i duhovne slobode. Religionist, a ne religija, pruža dokaza postojanju stvarnosti duha i božanskih vrijednosti koje se susreću u procesu vječnog napretka.
¶ 8. SEKULARNI TOTALITARIZAM
8. SECULAR TOTALITARIANISM
8. SEKULARNI TOTALITARIZAM
1955 195:8.1 But even after materialism and mechanism have been more or less vanquished, the devastating influence of twentieth-century secularism will still blight the spiritual experience of millions of unsuspecting souls.
2014 195:8.1 Ali čak i nakon što materijalizam i mehanizam budu više ili manje iščezli, za njima će ostati poražavajući utjecaj sekularizacije dvadesetog stoljeća koji će nastaviti zagorčavati duhovno iskustvo više milijuna bezazlenih duša.
1955 195:8.2 Modern secularism has been fostered by two world-wide influences. The father of secularism was the narrow-minded and godless attitude of nineteenth- and twentieth-century so-called science—atheistic science. The mother of modern secularism was the totalitarian medieval Christian church. Secularism had its inception as a rising protest against the almost complete domination of Western civilization by the institutionalized Christian church.
2014 195:8.2 Suvremeni sekularizam proizlazi iz dva svjetska utjecaja. Otac sekularizma je zatucani i bezbožni stav takozvane znanosti devetnaestog i dvadesetog stoljeća - ateističke znanosti. Majka suvremenog sekularizma je totalitarna srednjevjekovna kršćanska crkva. Sekularizam je začet kao rastući protest protiv gotovo potpune dominacije institucionalizirane kršćanske crkve nad zapadnom civilizacijom.
1955 195:8.3 At the time of this revelation, the prevailing intellectual and philosophical climate of both European and American life is decidedly secular—humanistic. For three hundred years Western thinking has been progressively secularized. Religion has become more and more a nominal influence, largely a ritualistic exercise. The majority of professed Christians of Western civilization are unwittingly actual secularists.
2014 195:8.3 U vrijeme ove objave, dominantna intelektualna i filozofska klima u europskom i američkom životu je izrazito sekularistička - humanistička. Kroz tristo godina, zapadna misao je postajala sve više sekularizirana. Religija je postajala sve više i više nominalan utjecaj, uglavnom ritualistička praksa. Takozvani kršćani zapadne civilizacije su u stvarnosti u velikoj većini nesvjesno postali sekularisti.
1955 195:8.4 It required a great power, a mighty influence, to free the thinking and living of the Western peoples from the withering grasp of a totalitarian ecclesiastical domination. Secularism did break the bonds of church control, and now in turn it threatens to establish a new and godless type of mastery over the hearts and minds of modern man. The tyrannical and dictatorial political state is the direct offspring of scientific materialism and philosophic secularism. Secularism no sooner frees man from the domination of the institutionalized church than it sells him into slavish bondage to the totalitarian state. Secularism frees man from ecclesiastical slavery only to betray him into the tyranny of political and economic slavery.
2014 195:8.4 Bila je potrebna ogromna snaga, moćni utjecaj, da se život i misao zapadnih naroda oslobode od umrtvljujućeg stiska toltalitarne crkvene dominacije. Sekularizam je uspio raskinuti okove crkvene kontrole, ali on trenutno prijeti uspostavom novog i bezbožnog oblika vlasti nad srcima i umovima suvremenih ljudi. Ugnjetačka i diktatorska politička država je izravan proizvod znanstvenog materijalizma i filozofskog sekularizma. Teko što sekularizam oslobodi čovjeka od dominacije institucionalizirane crkve, on ga smjesta prodaje u ponizno robovanje totalitarnoj državi. Sekularizam oslobađa čovjeka od robovanja crkvi samo da ga izdajnički proda u tiraniju političkog i ekonomskog robovanja.
1955 195:8.5 Materialism denies God, secularism simply ignores him; at least that was the earlier attitude. More recently, secularism has assumed a more militant attitude, assuming to take the place of the religion whose totalitarian bondage it onetime resisted. Twentieth-century secularism tends to affirm that man does not need God. But beware! this godless philosophy of human society will lead only to unrest, animosity, unhappiness, war, and world-wide disaster.
2014 195:8.5 Materijalizam poriče Boga, a sekularizam ga jednostavno ignorira; barem je to bio njegov raniji stav. U novije vrijeme, sekularizam je usvojio militantniji stav, usuđujući se da zauzme mjesto religije čijem se totalitarnom ropstvu nekoć opirao[10]. Sekularizam dvadestog stoljeća podržava tvrdnju da čovjek ne treba Boga. Ali pazite(!) ova bezbožna filozofija ljudskog društva jedino može voditi nemirima, neprijateljstvu, nesreći, ratu i općesvjetskoj katastrofi.
1955 195:8.6 Secularism can never bring peace to mankind. Nothing can take the place of God in human society. But mark you well! do not be quick to surrender the beneficent gains of the secular revolt from ecclesiastical totalitarianism. Western civilization today enjoys many liberties and satisfactions as a result of the secular revolt. The great mistake of secularism was this: In revolting against the almost total control of life by religious authority, and after attaining the liberation from such ecclesiastical tyranny, the secularists went on to institute a revolt against God himself, sometimes tacitly and sometimes openly.
2014 195:8.6 Sekularizam ne može donijeti mir čovječanstvu. Ništa ne može zauzeti mjesto Boga u ljudskom društvu. Obratite pažnju na ovo pitanje(!) i nemojte olako izgubiti vrijedne plodove sekularne pobune protiv crkvenog totalitarizma. Zapadna civilizacija danas uživa mnoge slobode i zadovoljstva koja su proizašla iz ovog sekularnog revolta. Velika pogreška sekularizma je ovo: U revoltu protiv gotovo potpunog crkvenog autoriteta nad ljudskim životom i nakon oslobođenja od takve crkvene tiranije, pobornici sekularizma su krenuli u pobunu protiv samog B o ga, b ilo otvorenim ili pritajenim metodama.
1955 195:8.7 To the secularistic revolt you owe the amazing creativity of American industrialism and the unprecedented material progress of Western civilization. And because the secularistic revolt went too far and lost sight of God and true religion, there also followed the unlooked-for harvest of world wars and international unsettledness.
2014 195:8.7 Upravo ovoj sekularističkoj pobuni treba zahvaliti nevjerojatnu kreativnost američkog industijalizma i neviđeni materijalni napredak zapadne civlizacije. I kako je sekularistički revolt otišao predaleko i izgubio iz vida Boga i istinsku religiju, za njim je uslijedila neželjena žetva svjetskih ratova i poremećaja u međunarodnim odnosima.
1955 195:8.8 It is not necessary to sacrifice faith in God in order to enjoy the blessings of the modern secularistic revolt: tolerance, social service, democratic government, and civil liberties. It was not necessary for the secularists to antagonize true religion in order to promote science and to advance education.
2014 195:8.8 Nije potrebno žrtvovati vjeru u Boga da se uživaju blagodati suvremenog sekularističkog revolta: tolerancija, društvena služba, demokratska vlast i građanska sloboda. Sekularisti nisu morali antagonizirati istinsku religiju da unaprijede znanost i obrazovanje.
1955 195:8.9 But secularism is not the sole parent of all these recent gains in the enlargement of living. Behind the gains of the twentieth century are not only science and secularism but also the unrecognized and unacknowledged spiritual workings of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.
2014 195:8.9 Ali sekularizam nije jedini koji je vodio ostvarenju tih skorijih postignuća naprednijeg življenja. Iza tih dobitaka dvadesetog stoljeća kriju se ne samo znanost i sekularizam, već i neprepoznati i nepriznati duhovni učinci učenja i života Isusa iz Nazareta.
1955 195:8.10 Without God, without religion, scientific secularism can never co-ordinate its forces, harmonize its divergent and rivalrous interests, races, and nationalisms. This secularistic human society, notwithstanding its unparalleled materialistic achievement, is slowly disintegrating. The chief cohesive force resisting this disintegration of antagonism is nationalism. And nationalism is the chief barrier to world peace.
2014 195:8.10 Bez Boga - bez religije - znanstveni sekularizam nikada ne može koordinirati svoje snage, uskladiti svoje različite i proturiječne interese, rase i nacionalizme. Sekularističko ljudsko društvo, unatoč svom neusporedivom materijalnom postignuću, je u polaganom raspadu. Glavna kohezivna sila otpora ovom antagonističkom raspadu je nacionalizam. A nacionalizam je najveća zapreka svjetskom miru.
1955 195:8.11 The inherent weakness of secularism is that it discards ethics and religion for politics and power. You simply cannot establish the brotherhood of men while ignoring or denying the fatherhood of God.
2014 195:8.11 Usađena slabost sekularizma je to što odbacuje etiku i religiju u politici i moći. Jednostvano ne možete utemeljiti bratstvo ljudi dok ignorirate ili negirate Božje očinstvo.
1955 195:8.12 Secular social and political optimism is an illusion. Without God, neither freedom and liberty, nor property and wealth will lead to peace.
2014 195:8.12 Sekularni društveni i politički optimizam je iluzija. Bez Boga, nema te nezavisnost ili slobode, imovine ili bogatstva, koji će dovesti do mira.
1955 195:8.13 The complete secularization of science, education, industry, and society can lead only to disaster. During the first third of the twentieth century Urantians killed more human beings than were killed during the whole of the Christian dispensation up to that time. And this is only the beginning of the dire harvest of materialism and secularism; still more terrible destruction is yet to come.
2014 195:8.13 Potpuna sekularizacija znanosti, obrazovanja, industrije i društva može dovesti samo do katastrofe. Tijekom prve trećine dvadesetog stoljeća, žitelji Urantije su ubili više ljudskih bića nego tijekom cijele prijašnje povijesti kršćanstva. A ovo je tek početak kobne žetve materijalizma i sekularizma; svijet će ugledati još strašnija uništavanja.
¶ 9. PROBLEM KRŠĆANSTVA
9. CHRISTIANITY’S PROBLEM
9. PROBLEM KRŠĆANSTVA
1955 195:9.1 Do not overlook the value of your spiritual heritage, the river of truth running down through the centuries, even to the barren times of a materialistic and secular age. In all your worthy efforts to rid yourselves of the superstitious creeds of past ages, make sure that you hold fast the eternal truth. But be patient! when the present superstition revolt is over, the truths of Jesus’ gospel will persist gloriously to illuminate a new and better way.
2014 195:9.1 Nemojte previdjeti vrijednost svog duhovnog nasljeđa, rijeku istine koja teče iz stoljeća u stoljeće, čak i u jalovim vremenima materijalističkog i svjetovnog doba. U svim svojim vrijednim nastojanjima da se oslobodite od praznovjernih religija prošlosti, čvrsto se držite vječne istine. Ali imajte strpljenja(!) jer po svršetku suvremenog revolta protiv praznovjerja, istine Isusovog evanđelja moraju nastaviti blistavo osvjetljivati novi i bolji put.
1955 195:9.2 But paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision of the Master’s life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.
2014 195:9.2 Ali paganizirano i podruštvljeno kršćanstvo treba uspostaviti novi kontakt s Isusovim učenjima u njihovom predkompromisnom obliku; kršćanstvo pati od nedostatka nove vizije Učiteljevog života na zemlji. Novo i punije otkrivenje Isusove religije mora izvojevati pobjedu nad dominacijom materijalističkog sekularizma i skrenuti svijet sa staze mehanističkog naturalizma. Urantija trenutno podrhtava na samom rubu jedne od najuzbudljivijih i najčarobnijih epoha društvene prilagodbe, moralnog preporoda i duhovnog prosvjetljenja.
1955 195:9.3 The teachings of Jesus, even though greatly modified, survived the mystery cults of their birthtime, the ignorance and superstition of the dark ages, and are even now slowly triumphing over the materialism, mechanism, and secularism of the twentieth century. And such times of great testing and threatened defeat are always times of great revelation.
2014 195:9.3 Isusova učenja, iako znatno izmijenjena, su prvo preživjela misterijske kultove iz vremena njihova rođenja, te zatim neznanje i praznovjerje mračnog doba, dok sada polako ostvaruju pobjedu nad materijalizmom, mehanizmom i sekularizmom dvadesetog stoljeća. A u takvim razdobljima velikih iskušenja i prijetećeg poraza, uvijek dolazi do velikih otkrivenja.
1955 195:9.4 Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world.
2014 195:9.4 Religiji trebaju nove vođe, duhovni muškarci i žene koji će imati hrabrosti ovisiti samo o Isusu i njegovim nenadmašivim učenjima. Ako kršćanstvo nastavi zanemarivati svoju duhovnu misiju, dok se i dalje bavi društvenim i materijalnim problemima, duhovni preporod mora pričekati na dolazak novih učitelja Isusove religije koji će se isključivo posvetiti čovjekovoj duhovnoj obnovi. A ove duhom rođene duše mogu vrlo brzo preuzeti vodstvo i donijeti inspiraciju za uspostavu nove društvene, moralne, ekonomske i političke organizacije svijeta.
1955 195:9.5 The modern age will refuse to accept a religion which is inconsistent with facts and out of harmony with its highest conceptions of truth, beauty, and goodness. The hour is striking for a rediscovery of the true and original foundations of present-day distorted and compromised Christianity—the real life and teachings of Jesus.
2014 195:9.5 Suvremeno doba odbacuje religiju koja je u suprotnosti s činjenicama i u neskladu s najvišim shvaćanjima istine, ljepote i dobrote. Bliži se ponovno otkriće izvornih i stvarnih temelja kršćanstva koje danas postoji u izboličenom i kompromitiranom obliku - bliži se otkriće Isusovog stvarnog života i učenja.
1955 195:9.6 Primitive man lived a life of superstitious bondage to religious fear. Modern, civilized men dread the thought of falling under the dominance of strong religious convictions. Thinking man has always feared to be held by a religion. When a strong and moving religion threatens to dominate him, he invariably tries to rationalize, traditionalize, and institutionalize it, thereby hoping to gain control of it. By such procedure, even a revealed religion becomes man-made and man-dominated. Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them—and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man.
2014 195:9.6 Primitivni čovjek je živio u praznovjernom robovanju religioznom strahu. Suvremeni, civilizirani čovjek strahuje od misli da može pasti pod dominaciju snažnih religioznih uvjerenja. Razboriti čovjek je uvijek strahovao od religiozne kontrole. Kad snažna i dinamična religija zaprijeti dominacijom nad čovjekom, on je uvijek pokuša racionalizirati, tradicionalizirati i institucionalizirati, u nadi da će tako nad njom steći kontrolu. Takvim postupkom, čak i religija otkrivenja mora postati čovjekovo djelo i doći pod čovjekovu dominaciju. Suvremeni inteligentni muškarci i žene izbjegavaju Isusovu religiju zbog straha od onoga što će učiniti od njih - i s njima. I svi takvi strahovi su dobro utemeljeni. Isusova religija uistinu dominira nad svojim vjernicima i izaziva njihovu preobrazbu, zahtijevajući da ljudi posvete svoje živote nastojanju da upoznaju volju Oca na nebu i da posvete svoje energije nesebičnoj službi bratstvu ljudi.
1955 195:9.7 Selfish men and women simply will not pay such a price for even the greatest spiritual treasure ever offered mortal man. Only when man has become sufficiently disillusioned by the sorrowful disappointments attendant upon the foolish and deceptive pursuits of selfishness, and subsequent to the discovery of the barrenness of formalized religion, will he be disposed to turn wholeheartedly to the gospel of the kingdom, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth.
2014 195:9.7 Sebični muškarci i žene jednostavno ne žele platiti takvu cijenu čak ni za najveće duhovno blago koje je ikad ponuđeno smrtnom čovjeku. Tek kada čovjek postane dovoljno otriježnjen žalosnim razočaranjima glupih i obmanjujućih težnji njegove sebičnosti, te dalje otkrićem neplodnosti formalizirane religije, on će biti voljan da se svesrdno okrene evanđelju kraljevstva, religiji Isusa iz Nazareta.
1955 195:9.8 The world needs more firsthand religion. Even Christianity—the best of the religions of the twentieth century—is not only a religion about Jesus, but it is so largely one which men experience secondhand. They take their religion wholly as handed down by their accepted religious teachers. What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! Descriptive words of things beautiful cannot thrill like the sight thereof, neither can creedal words inspire men’s souls like the experience of knowing the presence of God. But expectant faith will ever keep the hope-door of man’s soul open for the entrance of the eternal spiritual realities of the divine values of the worlds beyond.
2014 195:9.8 Svijetu treba više religije iz prve ruke. Čak i kršćanstvo - spoj najboljih religija dvadesetog stoljeća - nije samo religija o Isusu, već je u tako velikoj mjeri religija koju ljudi doživljavaju iz druge ruke. Oni u cijelosti primaju svoju religiju onakvu kakvu im daju njihovi prihvaćeni religiozni učitelji. Svijet bi doživio takav preporod da može vidjeti kako je Isus stvarno živio na zemlji i znati - iz prve ruke - njegova životonosna učenja! Opis ljepote ne može biti upečatljiv kao sam prizor ljepote, a religiozne parole ne mogu nadahnuti ljudske duše kao samo iskustvo poznavanja Božje prisutnosti. A iščekivanje vjere uvijek mora čuvati vrata nade čovjekove duše otvorenim za vječne duhovne stvarnosti božanskih vrijednosti drugih svjetova[11].
1955 195:9.9 Christianity has dared to lower its ideals before the challenge of human greed, war-madness, and the lust for power; but the religion of Jesus stands as the unsullied and transcendent spiritual summons, calling to the best there is in man to rise above all these legacies of animal evolution and, by grace, attain the moral heights of true human destiny.
2014 195:9.9 Kršćanstvo se usudilo uniziti svoje ideale pred iskušenjem ljudske pohlepe, ratobornog ludila i požude za moći; ali Isusova religija i dalje stoji kao neokaljani i transcendentni duhovni poziv onome što je najbolje u čovjeku da se uzdigne iznad svih ovih ostavština životinjske evolucije i da milostivo postigne moralne visine istinske ljudske sudbine.
1955 195:9.10 Christianity is threatened by slow death from formalism, overorganization, intellectualism, and other nonspiritual trends. The modern Christian church is not such a brotherhood of dynamic believers as Jesus commissioned continuously to effect the spiritual transformation of successive generations of mankind.
2014 195:9.10 Kršćanstvu prijeti spora smrt od formalizacije, pretjerane organizacije, intelektualizacije i drugih neduhovnih tendencija. Suvremena kršćanska crkva više nije bratstvo dinamičnih duhovnih vjernika koje je Isus pozvao na neumoran rad na duhovnoj transformaciji novih generacija čovječanstva.
1955 195:9.11 So-called Christianity has become a social and cultural movement as well as a religious belief and practice. The stream of modern Christianity drains many an ancient pagan swamp and many a barbarian morass; many olden cultural watersheds drain into this present-day cultural stream as well as the high Galilean tablelands which are supposed to be its exclusive source.
2014 195:9.11 Takozvano kršćanstvo je postalo društveni i kulturni pokret, kao i religiozno uvjerenje i praksa. Rijeka suvremenog kršćanstva u sebi nosi mnoge drevne ustajale paganske vode i mnoge barbarske močvare; mnogi se zastarjeli kulturni slivovi ulijevaju ne samo u ovu suvremnu kulturnu rijeku, već i u galilejske visoravni koje navodno predstavljaju njezin isključivi izvor.
¶ 10. BUDUĆNOST
10. THE FUTURE
10. BUDUĆNOST
1955 195:10.1 Christianity has indeed done a great service for this world, but what is now most needed is Jesus. The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men. It is futile to talk about a revival of primitive Christianity; you must go forward from where you find yourselves. Modern culture must become spiritually baptized with a new revelation of Jesus’ life and illuminated with a new understanding of his gospel of eternal salvation. And when Jesus becomes thus lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. Jesus’ disciples should be more than conquerors, even overflowing sources of inspiration and enhanced living to all men. Religion is only an exalted humanism until it is made divine by the discovery of the reality of the presence of God in personal experience.
2014 195:10.1 Kršćanstvo je doista učinilo veliku uslugu svijetu, ali ono što je sada najpotrebnije je Isus. Svijet ponovo treba ugledati Isusov zemaljski život u iskustvu smrtnika rođenih u duhu koji će Učitelja uspješno obznaniti svim ljudima. Uzaludu je govoriti o preporodu primitivnog kršćanstva; morate ići naprijed s mjesta na kojem se nalazite.Suvremena kultura mora postati duhovno krštena novim otkrivenjem Isusovog života i osvijetljena novim razumijevanjem njegova evanđelja vječnog spasenja. A nakon što ovako uzdignete Isusa, on će k sebi privući sve ljude[12]. Isusovi učenici moraju biti više od osvajača, oni moraju biti preobilni izvori nadahnuća i uzvišenijeg življenja svim ljudima[13]. Religija je samo uzvišeni humanizam ako nije obožanstvljena otkrićem stvarnosti Božje prisutnosti u osobnom iskustvu.
1955 195:10.2 The beauty and sublimity, the humanity and divinity, the simplicity and uniqueness, of Jesus’ life on earth present such a striking and appealing picture of man-saving and God-revealing that the theologians and philosophers of all time should be effectively restrained from daring to form creeds or create theological systems of spiritual bondage out of such a transcendental bestowal of God in the form of man. In Jesus the universe produced a mortal man in whom the spirit of love triumphed over the material handicaps of time and overcame the fact of physical origin.
2014 195:10.2 Ljepota i blaženstvo, humanizam i božanstvenost, jednostavnost i jedinstvenost Isusovog života na zemlji predstavljaju tako dirljivu i upečatljivu sliku spasonosne obznane Boga, da se teolozi i filozofi nikada ne smiju upustiti u formiranje teoloških sustava duhovnog ropstva iz tako transcendentalnog darivanja Boga u obliku čovjeka. U Isusu je svemir proizveo smrtnog čovjeka u kojem je duh ljubavi izvojevao pobjedu nad materijalnim poteškoćama vremena i nadvladao činjenicu tjelesnog porijekla.
1955 195:10.3 Ever bear in mind—God and men need each other. They are mutually necessary to the full and final attainment of eternal personality experience in the divine destiny of universe finality.
2014 195:10.3 Uvijek imajte na umu - Bog i čovjek trebaju jedan drugoga. Oni su uzajamno potrebni za potpuno i konačno postizanje vječnog iskustva ličnosti u božanskoj sudbini kozmične finalnosti.
1955 195:10.5 In winning souls for the Master, it is not the first mile of compulsion, duty, or convention that will transform man and his world, but rather the second mile of free service and liberty-loving devotion that betokens the Jesusonian reaching forth to grasp his brother in love and sweep him on under spiritual guidance toward the higher and divine goal of mortal existence. Christianity even now willingly goes the first mile, but mankind languishes and stumbles along in moral darkness because there are so few genuine second-milers—so few professed followers of Jesus who really live and love as he taught his disciples to live and love and serve.
2014 195:10.5 Kada nastojite pridobiti duše Učitelju, znajte da to nije prvi kilometar prisile, dužnosti i konvencionalnosti, koji će preobraziti čovjeka i njegov svijet, već drugi kilometar dobrovoljne službe i odane ljubavi, koji obilježava čovjekovo Isusovsko nastojanje da ljubavlju dopre do svog brata i da ga duhovnim vodstvom povede prema višem i božanskom cilju smrtne egzistencije[18]. Kršćanstvo i danas voljno ide prvim kilometrom, ali čovječanstvo vene i propada u moralnoj tami jer je mali broj ljudu iskreno voljan poći drugim kilometrom - vrlo mali broj takozvanih Isusovih sljedbenika istinski živi i voli onako kako je Isus učio svoje učenike da žive i vole i služe[19].
1955 195:10.6 The call to the adventure of building a new and transformed human society by means of the spiritual rebirth of Jesus’ brotherhood of the kingdom should thrill all who believe in him as men have not been stirred since the days when they walked about on earth as his companions in the flesh.
2014 195:10.6 Primama pustolovine u izgradnji novog i preobraženog ljudskog društva metodom duhovnog preporoda Isusova bratstva kraljevstva, treba ushititi sve njegove vjernike i to onako kako ljudi nisu bili ushićeni od dana kad su kročili zemljom kao Isusovi zemaljski suputnici.
1955 195:10.7 No social system or political regime which denies the reality of God can contribute in any constructive and lasting manner to the advancement of human civilization. But Christianity, as it is subdivided and secularized today, presents the greatest single obstacle to its further advancement; especially is this true concerning the Orient.
2014 195:10.7 Ni jedan društveni sustav ili politički režim koji ne priznaje stvarnost Boga ne može na bilo koji konstruktivan i trajan način voditi unaprijeđenju ljudske civilizacije. Ali kršćanstvo, u svom današnjem segmentiranom i sekulariziranom obliku, predstavlja najveću pojedinačnu zapreku daljnjem društvenom napretku; ovo je posebno istina kad se radi o Istoku.
1955 195:10.8 Ecclesiasticism is at once and forever incompatible with that living faith, growing spirit, and firsthand experience of the faith-comrades of Jesus in the brotherhood of man in the spiritual association of the kingdom of heaven. The praiseworthy desire to preserve traditions of past achievement often leads to the defense of outgrown systems of worship. The well-meant desire to foster ancient thought systems effectually prevents the sponsoring of new and adequate means and methods designed to satisfy the spiritual longings of the expanding and advancing minds of modern men. Likewise, the Christian churches of the twentieth century stand as great, but wholly unconscious, obstacles to the immediate advance of the real gospel—the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
2014 195:10.8 Strogo držanje crkvenih načela je zauvijek nespojivo s tom živućom istinom, tim rastućim duhom i tim iskustvom koje Isusovi prijatelji po vjeri, dionici bratstva ljudi i duhovnog saveza nebeskog kraljevstva, postižu iz prve ruke. Vrijedna težnja za očuvanjem tradicije prošlih postignuća često vodi obrani zastarjelih sustava obožavanja. Dobronamjerna želja za promicanjem drevnih misaonih sustava djelotvorno sprječava stvaranje novih i prikladnijih načina i metoda zadovoljenja duhovnih težnji sve širih i naprednijih umova suvremenih ljudi. Isto tako, kršćanske crkve dvadesetog stoljeća predstavljaju veliku, premda posve nesvjesnu, zapreku neposrednom promicanju istinskog evanđelja - učenja Isusa iz Nazareta.
1955 195:10.9 Many earnest persons who would gladly yield loyalty to the Christ of the gospel find it very difficult enthusiastically to support a church which exhibits so little of the spirit of his life and teachings, and which they have been erroneously taught he founded. Jesus did not found the so-called Christian church, but he has, in every manner consistent with his nature, fostered it as the best existent exponent of his lifework on earth.
2014 195:10.9 Mnoge iskrene osobe koje bi rado posvetile svoju odanost Kristu koji je proglasio evanđelje, nisu u stanju svesrdno prihvatiti crkvu koja pokazuje tako malo duha njegova života i učenja, a za koju im je greškom rečeno da je njegova tvorevina. Isus nije utemeljio takozvanu kršćansku crkvu, ali ju je podržavao na svaki način koji je u skladu s njegovom prirodom, kao najbolji postojeći izdanak njegovog zemaljskog života i rada.
1955 195:10.10 If the Christian church would only dare to espouse the Master’s program, thousands of apparently indifferent youths would rush forward to enlist in such a spiritual undertaking, and they would not hesitate to go all the way through with this great adventure.
2014 195:10.10 Samo kad bi kršćanska crkva imala hrabrosti prihvatiti Učiteljev program, tisuće naočigled ravnodušnih mladih osoba bi pojurile da se pridruže takvom duhovnom poduzeću i da se bez imalo oklijevanja u cjelosti odaju toj velikoj pustolovini.
1955 195:10.11 Christianity is seriously confronted with the doom embodied in one of its own slogans: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The non-Christian world will hardly capitulate to a sect-divided Christendom. The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church—the Jesus brotherhood—is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity. Uniformity is the earmark of the physical world of mechanistic nature. Spiritual unity is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus. The visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them.
2014 195:10.11 Kršćanstvo je ozbiljno suočeno s prokletstvom utjelovljenim u jednoj od svojih vlastitih parola: "Kuća u sebi razdijeljena ne može stajati[20].” Nekršćanski svijet teško može kapitulirati pred sektaški podijeljenim kršćanstvom. Živi Isus je jedina nada mogućem ujedinjenju kršćanstva. Istinska crkva - Isusovo bratstvo - je nevidljiva, duhovna i obilježena jedinstvom, ali ne i jednolikošću. Jednolikost je obilježje fizičkog svijeta mehanističke prirode. Duhovno jedinstvo je plod živuće vjere jedinstva s Isusom. Vidljiva crkva više ne smije ugrožavati napredak nevidljivog i duhovnog bratstva kraljevstva Božjeg. A to bratstvo mora postati živući organizam, a ne samo institucionalizirana društvena organizacija. Ono može nastaviti koristiti takve društvene organizacije, ali one ne smiju zauzeti njegovo mjesto.
1955 195:10.12 But the Christianity of even the twentieth century must not be despised. It is the product of the combined moral genius of the God-knowing men of many races during many ages, and it has truly been one of the greatest powers for good on earth, and therefore no man should lightly regard it, notwithstanding its inherent and acquired defects. Christianity still contrives to move the minds of reflective men with mighty moral emotions.
2014 195:10.12 Ali nemojte prezirati kršćanstvo, čak ni kršćanstvo dvadesetog stoljeća. Ono je spojeni proizvod moralnog nadahnuća mnogih ljudi iz više rasa i doba koji su poznavali Boga, i uistinu je bilo jedna od najvećih sila dobra na zemlji koju stoga nitko ne treba olako odbaciti, unatoč njezinim usađenim i stečenim nedostacima. Kršćanstvo je i dalje u stanju pokrenuti umove dubokomislenih ljudi snažnim moralnim emocijama.
1955 195:10.13 But there is no excuse for the involvement of the church in commerce and politics; such unholy alliances are a flagrant betrayal of the Master. And the genuine lovers of truth will be slow to forget that this powerful institutionalized church has often dared to smother newborn faith and persecute truth bearers who chanced to appear in unorthodox raiment.
2014 195:10.13 Ali ništa ne može opravdati sudjelovanje crkve u trgovini i politici; takvi nesveti savezi nisu ništa drugo nego neprihvatljiva izdaja Učitelja. A iskreni ljubitelji istine neće olako zaboraviti da se ista ova moćna institucionalizirana crkva često usuđivala gušiti novorođenu vjeru i progoniti nositelje istine koji su se slučajno javili u nekonvencionalnom ruhu.
1955 195:10.14 It is all too true that such a church would not have survived unless there had been men in the world who preferred such a style of worship. Many spiritually indolent souls crave an ancient and authoritative religion of ritual and sacred traditions. Human evolution and spiritual progress are hardly sufficient to enable all men to dispense with religious authority. And the invisible brotherhood of the kingdom may well include these family groups of various social and temperamental classes if they are only willing to become truly spirit-led sons of God. But in this brotherhood of Jesus there is no place for sectarian rivalry, group bitterness, nor assertions of moral superiority and spiritual infallibility.
2014 195:10.14 Točno je da takva crkva ne bi opstala da u svijetu nisu živjeli ljudi kojima je odgovarao takav način iskazanja obožavanja. Mnoge duhovno lijene duše traže zastarjelu i autoritativnu religiju ritualističkih i svetih tradicija. Ljudska evolucija i duhovni napredak teško mogu sami po sebi navesti sve ljude da odbace religiozni autoritet. A dobro je da nevidljivo bratstvo kraljevstva prihvati obiteljske grupe različitih društvenih i temperamentalnih klasa, ako se one pokažu spremnim slijediti vodstvo duha i i postati Božjim sinovima. No, u tomIsusovom bratstvu nema mjesta za sektaško rivalstvo, osjećaj gorčine među grupama, niti tvrdnje o moralnoj superiornosti i duhovnoj nepogrešivosti.
1955 195:10.15 These various groupings of Christians may serve to accommodate numerous different types of would-be believers among the various peoples of Western civilization, but such division of Christendom presents a grave weakness when it attempts to carry the gospel of Jesus to Oriental peoples. These races do not yet understand that there is a religion of Jesus separate, and somewhat apart, from Christianity, which has more and more become a religion about Jesus.
2014 195:10.15 Ove različite grupacije kršćana mogu pružiti utočište velikom broju različitih tipova potencijalnih vjernika među različitim narodima Zapadne civilizacije, ali takva podjela kršćanstva predstavlja ozbiljnu slabost u pokušaju promicanja Isusovog evanđelja narodima Istoka. Ove rase još uvijek ne razumiju postojanje Isusove religije kao nečeg zasebnog i donekle odvojenog od kršćanstva, koje je s vremenom sve više postalo religija o Isusu.
1955 195:10.16 The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of his saving message which would spiritually unite in loving service the numerous families of his present-day professed followers.
2014 195:10.16 Velika nada Urantije počiva u mogućnosti novog otkrivenja Isusa s novom i proširenom predstavom njegove spasonosne poruke koja će duhovno ujediniti brojne obitelji njegovih današnjih takozvanih sljedbenika u službi ljubavi.
1955 195:10.17 Even secular education could help in this great spiritual renaissance if it would pay more attention to the work of teaching youth how to engage in life planning and character progression. The purpose of all education should be to foster and further the supreme purpose of life, the development of a majestic and well-balanced personality. There is great need for the teaching of moral discipline in the place of so much self-gratification. Upon such a foundation religion may contribute its spiritual incentive to the enlargement and enrichment of mortal life, even to the security and enhancement of life eternal.
2014 195:10.17 Čak bi i svjetovno obrazovanje moglo pomoći u ovom velikom duhovnom preporodu, ako obrati više pozornosti na podučavanje mladih vještinama planiranja života i izgradnje karaktera. Svrha sveg obrazovanja treba počivati u poticanju i unaprijeđenju vrhunskog smisla životarazvoju veličanstvene i uravnotežene ličnosti. Postoji velika potreba za učenjem moralne discipline umjesto toliko samougađanja. Na takve temelje, religija može dograditi svoj duhovni poticaj za proširenje i obogaćivanje smrtnog života, čak i osiguranje i poboljšanje vječnog života.
1955 195:10.18 Christianity is an extemporized religion, and therefore must it operate in low gear. High-gear spiritual performances must await the new revelation and the more general acceptance of the real religion of Jesus. But Christianity is a mighty religion, seeing that the commonplace disciples of a crucified carpenter set in motion those teachings which conquered the Roman world in three hundred years and then went on to triumph over the barbarians who overthrew Rome. This same Christianity conquered—absorbed and exalted—the whole stream of Hebrew theology and Greek philosophy. And then, when this Christian religion became comatose for more than a thousand years as a result of an overdose of mysteries and paganism, it resurrected itself and virtually reconquered the whole Western world. Christianity contains enough of Jesus’ teachings to immortalize it.
2014 195:10.18 Kršćanstvo je improvizirana religija i kao takvo uvijek mora djelovati usporeno. Ubrzanije duhovne predstave moraju sačekati novo otkrivenje i šire prihvaćanje Isusove istinske religije. Ali kršćanstvo je moćna religija, ako se uzme u obzir da su svagdašnji učenici raspetog stolara proglasili učenja koja su tijekom tristo godina osvojila rimski svijet, a poslije toga izvojevala pobjedu nad barbarima koji su svrgli Rim. To isto kršćanstvo je osvojiloapsorbiralo i uzvisilo - cijeli sustav židovske teologije i grčke filozofije. A onda, kad je ta kršćanska religija pala u komu kroz više od tisuću godina pod prevelikom dozom misticizma i paganizma, ona je uspjela samu sebe uskrsnuti i doslovce osvojiti cijeli zapadni svijet. Kršćanstvo u sebi ima dovoljno Isusovih učenja da osigura vlastitu besmrtnost.
1955 195:10.19 If Christianity could only grasp more of Jesus’ teachings, it could do so much more in helping modern man to solve his new and increasingly complex problems.
2014 195:10.19 Samo kad bi kršćanstvo bilo je u stanju bolje shvatiti Isusova učenja, mnogo bi daleko bolje pomoći suvremeno m č ovjeku da riješi svoje nove i sve složenije probleme.
1955 195:10.20 Christianity suffers under a great handicap because it has become identified in the minds of all the world as a part of the social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization; and thus has Christianity unwittingly seemed to sponsor a society which staggers under the guilt of tolerating science without idealism, politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without restraint, knowledge without character, power without conscience, and industry without morality.
2014 195:10.20 Kršćanstvo pati pod velikim hendikepom, jer je postao identificirano u svijesti cijelog svijeta kao dio društvenog sustava, industrijskog života i moralnih standarda Zapadne civilizacije; i tako je kršćanstvo nehotice pružilo podršku društvu koje posrće pod negativnim posljedicama znanosti bez idealizma, politike bez principa, bogatstva bez rada, užitka bez samokontrole, znanja bez karaktera, moći bez savjesti i industrije bez moralnosti.
1955 195:10.21 The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear—the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
2014 195:10.21 Nada suvremenog kršćanstva počiva u tome da treba prestati podržati društvene sustave i industrijske metode Zapadne civilizacije, dok se ponizno pokloni pred križom koji tako hrabro veliča, da od Isusa iz Nazareta ponovo nauči najveće istine koje je smrtni čovjek ikada čuo - živuće evanđelje Božjeg očinstva i bratstva ljudi.
¶ Reference
¶ Biblija
- ↑ 195:0.2 Proglašeno evanđelje: Dj 4:10-12; Dj 5:29-32; Dj 13:26-39; 1 Kor 1:23; Gal 6:14.
- ↑ 195:1.1 Grčko kršćanstvo započelo: Dj 17:22-23.
- ↑ 195:1.1 Pavlova verzija evanđelja: Dj 17:24-31.
- ↑ 195:1.5 Krist i on raspeti: 1 Kor 2:2.
- ↑ 195:3.5 Poučavanje o djeci: Mt 18:2-5; Mt 19:13-14; Mk 9:36-37; Mk 10:13-16; Lk 9:46-48; Lk 18:16-17.
- ↑ 195:5.1 Tražite kraljevstvo Božje: Mt 6:33; Lk 12:31.
- ↑ 195:6.9 Neučeni Galilejci: Dj 4:13.
- ↑ 195:6.9 Okrenuo svijet naopačke: Dj 17:6.
- ↑ 195:6.16 Vršeći Očevu volju: Ps 143:10; Sir 15:11-20; Mt 6:10; Mt 7:21; Mt 12:50; Mk 3:35; Lk 8:21; Lk 11:2; Iv 7:16-17; Iv 9:31; Iv 14:21-24; Iv 15:10,14-16.
- ↑ 195:8.5 Militantni sekularizam: Ps 10:4c; Ps 14:1; Jr 5:12; Sef 1:12.
- ↑ 195:9.8 Vjera koja očekuje: Mt 212:21; Lk 17:6; Dj 14:27; Dj 21:19; Rim 5:1-2.
- ↑ 195:10.1 Gravitacija duha: Jr 31:3; Iv 6:44; Iv 12:32.
- ↑ 195:10.1 Više od osvajača: Rim 8:37.
- ↑ 195:10.4 Božje kraljevstvo je u vama: Job 32:8,18; Iz 63:10-11; Ez 37:14; Mt 10:20; Lk 17:21; Iv 17:21-23; Rim 8:9-11; 1 Kor 3:16-17; 1 Kor 6:19; 2 Kor 6:16; Gal 2:20; 1 Iv 3:24; 1 Iv 4:12-15; Otk 21:3.
- ↑ 195:10.4 Bog je duh: Iv 4:24.
- ↑ 195:10.4 Bog je živi Duh: Pnz 5:26; Mt 16:16; Mk 12:27; Lk 20:38; Iv 4:24; Iv 6:69.
- ↑ 195:10.4 Bog je Duh pun ljubavi: Mt 5:43-45; Mt 22:37-40; Mk 12:29-33; Lk 10:27; Iv 3:16; Iv 13:34-35; Iv 15:9-13,17; Iv 16:27; Iv 17:22-23; Rim 5:8; 1 Kor 13:1-8; 2 Kor 13:11; Tit 3:4; 1 Iv 3:1; 1 Iv 4:7-19.
- ↑ 195:10.5 Druga milja: Mt 5:38-41.
- ↑ 195:10.5 Živite i volite kako je Isus učio: Iv 13:34-35; Iv 15:12,17.
- ↑ 195:10.11 Kuća podijeljena: Mt 12:25; Mk 3:24-25; Lk 11:17.