28 April 2004

When I came out of a showing of Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of
 Christ,' there were some people from Christian groups, giving
 leaflets with the addresses of their meeting places.

 I look rather authoritative to people, and therefore one of those
 persons, after some fidgeting about, came up to me and wanted to
 know from me, "do I believe in Jesus Christ?"

I looked at him, at his anguish and his anger about those people who
 had replied to him, that

    "they did not believe in Jesus Christ," that

    "they lived fine without 'believing in Jesus Christ'."

Afterward, I looked at his problem, and decided it would have been
 better, both for him and for those people, had he asked them

    "What do you think of Jesus Christ?" or

    "How do you like Jesus Christ?"

 He was more interested in making people BELIEVE in Jesus Christ,
 than in getting people to KNOW Jesus Christ.

So, gathering his courage, and "being allowed," socially - because I
 just came out of the movie 'The Passion' - to approach me and
 satisfy his curiosity, he asked me:

    "Do you believe in Jesus?"

I replied to him, that I did not 'believe in Jesus,' but

    I know Jesus.

 As he did not understand this, I went on to explain to him:

   "I see you, and so I do not BELIEVE you exist, but I know you
    exist."

And he then went on to make sure that he had understood me correctly,
 which he had.

 And he wanted to know how I had come to this knowledge of Jesus
 Christ's existence.

 Not having the time to assess his level of knowledge and particular
 areas of interest, I replied to him, that I had achieved that
 through a lot of study, and that it would, indeed, take too long
 now, to give him a more extensive answer.

 Now, I have taken some time to formulate a more extensive answer:

     You can not see - unless you are looking at the Earth as from
     heaven - you can not really see, that the Earth is a round ball
     turning slowly in space (unless you are looking at the Earth as
     from heaven).

     Rather, to your visual perception, it looks like a flat surface
     that you live and work on.

     But you can study many things, read about many things, look at
     many things, understand and examine many things - which then
     inevitably result in the knowledge and therefore certainty, that
     the Earth indeed is fully round as a ball is round.

Thus it is also with knowing Jesus Christ, and with knowing God:

     By studying all the things known and observable, and putting
     these together, you can gain a knowledge and certainty with a
     correct understanding of the existence of Jesus Christ, and also
     of God.

     This study I did with the 'Trinity of Science,'(*) should you so
     desire and be inclined to make that study, and not only believe
     or feel, but also KNOW Jesus Christ to exist.

Koos Nolst Trenite "Cause Trinity"
 human rights philosopher and poet

                                            'It is of no use walking
                                                  anywhere to preach
                                                  unless our walking
                                                    is our preaching.'

                                             Saint Francis of Assisi

________
Footnote:

(*) 'The Trinity Of Science - Truth, Love and Beauty (Version 2.1)
    {HRI 20030307-pi-1-V2.1}' (7 March 2003 - V2.1 on 17 October 2003)
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3b6f518d.0310180348.7cf1b6f5%40p...

_________
Reference:

- 'When God Has Left You...'
    (24 November 2003 - Version 2.0 at 5 Apr 2004) {HRI 20031124-V2.0}
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3b6f518d.0404050553.2a806...@posting.google.com&output=gplain

Copyright 2004 by Koos Nolst Trenite - human rights philosopher
 and poet
This is 'learnware' - it may not be altered, and it is free for
 anyone who learns from it, and (even if he can not learn from it,)
 who passes it on unaltered, and with this message included,
 to others who might be able to learn from it.
None of my writings may be used, ever, to support any political
 or religious agenda, but only to educate, and to encourage people
 to judge un-dominated and for themselves about any organizations
 or individuals.