Seminar Faith:Parameters of the Foundation of Faith
- This is section 4 of the Seminar Faith. Comments or questions are appreciated. You can also write to John Eagles.
The parameters of the Foundation of Faith are:
- Time periods
- Space or location of offering
- Numbers
- Objects of offering
There's a saying 'Walk your talk'... When your talk is to do God's will... Your walk should be after that talk... Doing your duty and something more still... Faith always precedes our action... And actions are done in space and time... A number of good deeds to God's satisfaction... Is what makes our faith sublime...
Parameters of the Foundation of Faith
To make a foundation of faith means to restore the most inner part of your being, it means to strengthen your relationship to God. We are created beings, so when we build up faith in ourselves, we are making ourselves more original creations of God.
We cannot but live in the world of creation. We simply are created beings. Therefore, we re-create ourselves in the world of creation of that we are part. Therefore, a foundation of faith always is made regarding the foundations of our created existence.
Because it is God who created us, it also God who instilled in us the purpose of our existing. To make a foundation of faith means to more deeply realize the purpose for which God created us. It means to come in line with God's plans for our lives.
When God created the cosmos, God created time, space and numbers, and in those dimensions of existence, things and living beings came to exist. God also gave us freedom to develop ourselves. We were not made as robots that can only follow built-in instructions. God gave us freedom to create and re-create ourselves. The essence of making a foundation of faith is that we create and re-create ourselves as human beings loved by God and standing in the closest relationship to God.
As all creations by God were created in the dimensions of time and space, and all creations have numbers attached, so also our re-creating ourselves can only be done considering time, space and numbers.
Objects of offering
In the foundation of faith we are asked to bring to God an offering. There is the object of offering. What is the object of offering? The offering is an expression of the love we have for God. A smile that you give to a person is an offering of love. Also a thing, a present given, can be an offering of love. We offer to God, this means that we express our love to God. The object of offering represents our love to God. By offering to God we say: "God, i love you."
As is true in the human world, objects of offerings can be of various kinds. When we wish to increase our faith, we need to work on building a foundation of faith. It's only God who knows what offerings we should bring at a certain period in our lives. God is our Creator and God planned how we should be and become. By bringing an offering to God, we respond to God's call to re-create or create ourselves in the way that God envisioned for us.
Offerings to God can be things that are dedicated to God. They can also be actions offered to God. A prayer can be the object of offering to God. Later in this seminar we'll come to speak more about how offerings should be made in an acceptable way.
Time periods
Because the purpose of the foundation of faith is to restore ourselves as original beings, to re-create ourselves to God's liking, always a time period is involved. All things existing were created over time. A star forms over time. A plant grows over time. All things develop over time and all living beings grow over time.
What would be the meaning of love if it were not given over a period of time? For example, a smile can be an expression of love, but there clearly is a difference between a smile given over a fraction of a second and a smile that holds on for one hour. There is a suitable time period for each offering.
When you build a temple for God, such cannot be done in a few days. When you offer to God your study and learning of God's principles, you need years before any satisfactory result can be made.
God created time for the purpose of creation and growth and development. We grow over time. Also the foundation of faith expands over time. Each offering that we bring to God should hold on over a pre-determined time period.
Location of offering
Also space, or the location where we bring the offering is important. You could not present your gift to a king or queen while expecting him or her to come to you in a shabby place. Instead, you dress up and go to the palace where you offer your gift, usually on an offering table.
In a religious setting, offerings are often brought on an altar erected on a sacred place, or to a temple. You offer your prayers preferably in a room dedicated to prayer or you go outside into nature. Sometimes a prayer can be offered in order to cleanse a spiritually dirty place. At any rate, the location or space where you prepare and offer an offering for the foundation of faith is significant.
Numbers
Always to each of God's creations numbers are attached. On the level of atoms, the elements differentiate because they each have an exact but different number of particles. A baby grows in the womb for a period of 40 weeks. A seed of a plant germinates in a certain time period. A tree grows to adulthood in a rather fixed time. God created time and space and to time and space, numbers are always connected.
Numbers have meaning. For example, the number 40 is used for a period of separating from evil. Here we won't dive into the specific meaning of different numbers, but when God asks you to prepare an offering for the foundation of faith, you always need to do this over a certain time period of for example 40 days, or 21 weeks, or seven years etc.
Also to the objects of offering numbers are attached. When you wish to build a physical house, you may need so many thousands of bricks. When you assemble any device, you need a number of parts. It is the same for the internal life. When you offer to God your learning of religious texts, you can read a number of pages a day. Jesus offered 12 disciples to God. Jacob's family was the foundation of 12 tribes of Israel offered to God. And so forth...
Assignments
- Assignments are optional tasks that may help you to get a deeper grasp of the topic of this section of the seminar.
- Try to list your own most meaningful offerings of faith to God.
- Look at important changes in your life and study what you did in the time period of 40 days, or weeks, or months, or years before that. See if you can understand a connection.
Further reading
- Other articles on ERW that are related to the content of this section of the seminar.
What you should remember
- The parameters of the Foundation of Faith: Time periods, Space or location of offering, Numbers, Objects of offering.
- To make a foundation of faith means to restore the most inner part of your being, it means to strengthen your relationship to God.
- We are created beings. Therefore, we re-create ourselves in the world of creation of that we are part. Therefore, a foundation of faith always is made regarding the foundations of our created existence.
- God instilled in us the purpose of our existing. To make a foundation of faith means to more deeply realize the purpose for which God created us.
- God gave us freedom to create and re-create ourselves. The essence of making a foundation of faith is that we create and re-create ourselves as human beings loved by God.
- All creations by God were created in the dimensions of time and space, and all creations have numbers attached, so also our re-creating ourselves can only be done considering time, space and numbers.
- Objects of offerings can be of various kinds.
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- Seminar Faith to go to the other sections of this seminar.
- Seminar Faith:The Foundation of Faith to go to the former section of this seminar.
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