Gospel Nous Ministries

Whether 'Christian', 'Jew', or 'Muslim', the very prospect of 'knowing' and subsequently sustaining communion with a sovereign, omnipotent God ultimately begins with a personal acknowledgement of that relationship.  For me, Jesus Christ is both the embodiment and model of Divinity, exemplifying the faith and obedience to willingly give of His own life that others, through His sacrifice, could be redeemed to and for, the Father.

The onus of responsibility for receiving a gift of such unfathomable worth however, necessarily entails acknowledging its Giver (with all my 'heart', 'soul', and 'strength').  Yet, I'd neither know 'how' or 'where' to even begin doing this except by observing Christ's own example and God's will, as expressed in and through Scripture (the Bible).  Consequently perhaps, but as I've aspired to do (with varying success) over the last three decades, my personal experience in this 'journey' or 'process' of spiritual growth, has meant at times, grappling with formidable adversity.

 

This depiction, as I show it, and to which I refer as a 'Totalitarian Hierarchy', is actually an amalgamation of several different contemporary models superimposed one upon another.  In different ways then, but depending upon the particular background of the person viewing it, in respect to the vertical plane you may recognize Sigmund Freud's "structural theory" (id, ego, and superego), Ken Wilber's 'Great Chain of Being' (matter, mind, and spirit), or across the horizontal plane, Georg Hegel's "triad thesis" (thesis, synthesis, antithesis). Summarily though, the model reflects an ordering of 'values' or 'ideologies' as I currently view them in respect to my own societal perspective.

To at least some extent then, and because a 'hierarchy of values' connotes an interpretive disposition on my part concerning 'power' and 'authority', I've discretely excluded such differentiating components as 'good/evil', 'right/wrong', and 'male/female'. I've done this because, while I'd fervently argue for the existence of an implicit (Divine) order, there's no denying that value assessments, at least in respect to human beings, is a very subjective exercise indeed. Nowhere has this been made more plainly evident to me however, than as articulated by Ken Wilber in respect to something termed the pre/trans fallacy.

Because human development occurs across a spectrum of consciousness ranging from pre-personal (id) to trans-personal (superego), and incorporates two non-rational realms [pre-rational (pre-linguistic) and trans-rational (trans-linguistic)], Wilber noticed the proclivity to interchangeably confuse the non-rational levels of development with each other.

"For example, Wilber claims that Freud and Jung commit this fallacy. Freud considered mystical realizations to be regressions to infantile oceanic states. Wilber alleges that Freud thus commits a fallacy of reduction. Wilber thinks that Jung commits the converse form of the same mistake by considering pre-rational myths to reflect divine realizations. Likewise, pre-rational states such as tribal thinking, groupthink, and the occultism of the Nazis or Charles Manson may be misidentified as post-rational states. Interestingly, Wilber characterizes himself as having fallen victim to the pre/trans fallacy in his early work." Ken Wilber – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

In other words, and depending to a great extent on what is commonly recognized and subsequently accepted as ascribed 'authority', entire populations are sometimes wantonly capable of incriminating genius though they themselves are all the while serving madmen. Consequently then, though (human) limitations certainly constrict ones ability to convey ‘absolute truth’; divorcing, suspending, or otherwise abdicating a personal (moral) responsibility in respect to Its existence, inevitably results in the most dire of outcomes; one history has measured rather consistently in terms of ungodly suffering.

 

In respect to leadership then, if the presumption of knowing and subsequently serving God isn’t challenging enough, one thing is clear. In so much that my eternal soul may be at stake, a perfectly Just and Loving Creator only, is worthy of my unfettered devotion.