Same Idea..Different Era....

Lately I’ve stumbled upon some writings from yesteryear that piqued my interest. When I say yesteryear I mean way back to 1647 with a writing by Joseph Salmon called The AntiChrist in Man…and then fast forward a few centuries or so to the late 1800’s and one of the writings of Andrew Murray….The Kingdom of God Is Within You. For the past few days, I’ve pondered what these guys had to say and connected some of the dots contained within their writings to some of the dots contained within the teachings of Tolle. Many of the dots “line up.”

As far as Salmon and Murray…..I have not read their writings extensively. There are quite a few Murray’s writings online but The Kingdom is the only one I’ve read through. I have skimmed some of the others. There are only a few writings by Salmon. He wrote in the 1600’s….and from what little I can find about him online he was quite the heretic in his day….linked to the “Ranters”….which could be a blog post in itself. Like many of his time period who dared to challenge church doctrines, he was jailed until he later recanted some of the beliefs he espoused in The Antichrist writing.

Murray wrote in the late 1800’s and although I could not find any particular cries of “heretic” about him online, it is believed he held universalistic views. We know that is a big taboo….no, no….heresy to this day.

I’ve read more by Eckhart….who has done most of his writing in the past 10 or so years. His writing is also easier to read….written in a very straightforward, understandable style, with words and phrases I am familiar with. Interesting to note that he, too, has been labeled a heretic by many in the Christian camp.

In Salmon’s writing, the language is quite archaic. He refers to our fleshly nature as a her….the whore, the harlot, Babylon, the Matron of all Iniquity….which are just different words that describe the egoic mind. “She” pretends she is the real us…and does not want us to catch onto the fact that our true nature is the Christ within.  Tolle's message is very similar. Different terminology...same "gist."

Murray writes more in the style of preachers from the 1800’s. Think Spurgeon…

I can’t even remember how I stumbled upon these writings….even though it was just a week or so ago. Probably from a google search….but it strikes me as odd that the writing by Salmon addresses the antichrist…but Murray focuses more on the Christ nature….and Tolle talks about both but uses totally different terms and does not hone in on the specifics of Christian theology.

There must be some timeless concepts in these articles I am supposed to understand…perhaps even share. As I’ve said before, I am sure God tweaks the results that come up on my google searches to send me where he wants me to go. The internet has been my main source of spiritual information for a while now. There is a treasure trove there…ancient manuscripts, dozens of translations of the Bible...and links and leads to hard copy books…and teasers within the writings that send me back to google for more tampered with search results. :)

What is that verse about the Lord directing our steps? (not a concession to total predetermination by the way)

Anyway…I will be writing more about this topic for a few posts at least….

More to come.....