Chapter 1

The Letter to the Interretiales

1    I, Jonathan, a servant of God, who wants nothing but good and desires for you to come together as brothers and sisters and for you to keep the commandments of God and serve under the grace we have from our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be with you and the churches you serve.

Discerning Your Faith

    Long before I came to be with you and discuss our differences, I have seen every potential and gifts that God has made you with, but when I had seen each of the fruits you had presented upon me, not with your gifts, but with haste. No longer can I partake of the things that you engage with because they do not match the manger that our Lord was in at birth. All passions are good, but not all passions are permissible. Can one boast about the other saying, “My fruit is better” or “I need more fruit”? For Mary, the blessed rejoiced in God's favor and the baby leaped in the womb. And it was not the fruit she had presented with God but God rejoiced as well in the womb and Mary had faith and with it she was seen as righteous. For even Abraham had his faith and was seen as righteous. So without Mary no-one could see the Father in the flesh as to the one true God sent through her. 

Building Others For God

    Now concerning your fruit might I add, present yourselves as tools for building others up. Do not use your mouth for evil hasten. You are bright and smart, not foolish nor wicked, so discern what is so good, that others may look up and wonder. For a sluggard mouth to others, they walk and do not listen. So I say to affirm what beloved Saint Peter was saying, “But in your hearts honor Christ our Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered against, those who revile your good behavior in Christ, they may be put to shame.” For our Lord sent his disciples into the world, to preach to all nations. So I say to you ‘be wise as serpents and innocent as doves’.

    I am no longer a teacher, nor am I longer a prophet, nor do I come to you as a judge, but to only build you up and encourage you beloved brothers and sisters, for I can not know of the heart; of course only God knows. I have my own struggles but kindness is not one of them. I have my own walk, but pride is not one of them. I have my own family, but hatred is not one of them. So brothers and sisters, do not present yourselves as angry hosts and hasten devils. Do not be overly compassionate, but humble minded. Does not a wolf go around and over estimate its surroundings? And if the wolf had slept, would it not have a big yawn and stretch like a puppy in the dawn of day. Therefore be like the humble wolf; a puppy who is blameless in the charity of thorns. Amidst, there are many purple thorns that kill and devour. And in these fields there are wolves, not many but few. But in others, there are also heavenly thorns that do not kill, with fields that grow bright, lakes that never stop flowing, and grounds that are like golden abstract, and in it; many that have white vines that bear fruit. However, there are wolves who prowl around seeking to devour this land; and like many I have seen among you. They defend the field of thorns that look heavenly, but only out of arrogance and pride, who seek to have a righteous tongue so others may hear. Do not be deceived, for it is written, “Many will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” So when I say be like a humble wolf, I mean be like a sheep who likewise is harmonious with a wolf.

The Parable of the Seventy

    Hear this then, because some of you have bright minds to continue in your walk with God, so keep in prayer, wisdom and knowledge and meditate on the word. I say to you, I do not consider wisdom the same as knowledge. You do not know what it was like to see our Jesus crucified, but you understand from that crucifixion, our sins are blotted out of us and sent into the lake of fire. For they had bruised Him and mocked Him, but you do not know what it is like. But you only know what being mocked is like contrary to being crucified. I will say this parable to you might I add, “the one who holds up to the boundaries of God that cannot reach over; is the one who studies for thirty years but only know the knowledge of fifteen years. One teacher says, ‘I have studied for thirty years but know the knowledge of thirty’. And his students marveled to teach others too. Another teacher says, ‘I have studied for fifteen but know the knowledge of thirty’. And his students marveled and stayed silent. Another teacher says, ‘I have studied for fifteen but know the knowledge of thirty’. And his students listened and knew plenty. Truly I say to you, blessed are those who study for fifteen and know the knowledge of thirty. And if you know the knowledge of thirty then you know the knowledge of seventy. If you do not understand what I say, turn to God and follow His ways, so He may therefore give you knowledge of seventy.

Reviews

[JayG]

• I, Jonathan, a servant of God,

A self-appointed and self-defined position, of course. I happen to be the founder, Patriarch, and bake-sale chairman of, The Church of the Really Nice Try. So, I outrank you.

You take yourself, and your self-defined mission WAY too seriously. In reality, you’re someone with a keyboard, just like everyone else here.

• ... who wants nothing but good and desires for you to come together as brothers and sisters and for you to keep the commandments of God and serve under the grace we have from our God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Naa, you just declared everyone who doesn’t fit your definition of that as unworthy. And, you've appointed Jesus to a position he cannot hold, based on what the Jewish Messiah was to be, according to scripture. Have you not read about what that is, given your exhaulted position? Not even the most basic of reseatch? Seriously?

• I have seen every potential and gifts that God has made you with,

Hmm... There are currently over 8.2 to 8.3 billion people on the planet, and you’ve seen every potential and gifts EACH of them has? Kind of a bit over the top for someone without superpowers. But, I guess you’re used to addressing uneducated people.

• I am no longer a teacher, nor am I longer a prophet,

Forgetting the inept phrasing, nor were you ever a prophet. You’re just someone who believes that if they pontificate, using a flood of words, you'll be praised. But...you posted this on a WRITERS site, and your writing is seriously flawed, even for a religious fanatic. *t’s also a serious error of judgement to spam a writers site with a religious and self-aggrandizing screed, assuming no one would call you out for it.

But...while you’re here, something you can explain:

According to scripture, The “serpent” was punished ONLY by removal of its legs. So, prior to the reported event, it was a four-legged, 6 foot long snake—which somehow never appears that way in pictures. So...Eve has a conversation with it, never stopping to shout, “Hey Adam, get your a*s over here, quick. It’s a talking thingamabob!

But of more importance:

1. How can a serpent, without lips, vocal chords, or a human style tongue speak? Magic?
2. How did a simple serpent, know what God would or would not do? He is no more than a serpent,according to the words of the text.
4. Why did Eve, who we assume had a functioning brain, not have the sense to ask, “How do you know that?” And why would she, or anyone, take the word of a snake over that of the creator of the universe? Would you?
5. Given that the serpent told Eve that she and Adam would NOT die if she ate the fruit, and-they-did-not-die, the serpent, clearly, told the truth. So...why was it punished? Punishing someone for telling the truth seems not to be the action expected of any decent person.
6. Given that the fruit was eaten BEFORE they knew the difference between good and evil, and so, didn’t-know-it-was-wrong-to-disobey-God’s-rules, why were they punished?
7. Since it’s dogma that God knows that WILL happen. And that everything happes according to God’s plan, obviously, God knew he would be disobeyed, and planned for it to happen. So all that anger and punishment bluster was for show. In reality, he was firing Adam and Eve as gardeners, and sending them to live with, and live like the men and women he created on the sixth day of Genesis (which is why Cain had a place to go to find a wife). It also establishes that God lies, since he said that they would die, and they didn't get even a tummy ache.

Of course, I have lots more questions, like why the “great flood didn’t kill all the insects, kangaroos, polar bears, and, how all the plants survived. And then...