Letter to so-called Christian Scientists (Church of Christ-Scientist).
The Christian Concept of Reality

This letter is addressed in the first order to members of the organization Christian Scientists (or Church of Christ-Scientist). But it can be very inspiring for the Christians in general and interesting to other categories of people including philosophers, people of other religions, and even atheists.

It was written as a letter to Michael, a member of the Church of Christ-Scientist in Melburn, Australia. I wrote it because of the issue of spiritual Eucharist but it teaches about reality and illusions, Christ, God and Holy Spirit in general. I publish it without changes (except of grammar corrections). It is a long letter but please read it carefully to the end to raise to a new level of knowledge of God.

Michael, it is the most important of my letters to you. Please read it very carefully even despite it is long.

Now I want to explain the Christian concept of reality in details.

Modern physics teaches that distance and time are relative, that is really do not exist but are just viewpoints of a seer. Different seers see it differently but nope of these is truth. The distance and time are just illusions. Continuing this way we can conclude that accordingly this viewpoint every physical object is just an illusion of a seer, that really exists is only ideas not physics, physics is our illusions.

Consider some material object (a table or a bottle for instance). Then imagine that we view it from an amazingly great distance (from an other galaxy at minimum). Than one will see from so big distance may be quite different (in color, form etc.) from what sees a man in the same room. Even some properties (color, form etc.) may be lost at all.

The motto of atheists for instance is that what they see when they are near in a good position to see it is the reality. Our (both mine and yours) position is different: both these views are just equal illusions, both are equally wrong.

But then let consider it is viewed not just from a high (distant) galaxy but by the Most High. What He sees IS the reality (direct opposite to the opinion of atheistic science that the view from a small distance is the reality).

Bible says about God as the Most High. It is surely not just having a bigger physical distance than any galaxy. The Most High is the primary absolute term while the distance is a relative thing. Indeed it is clear from Bible that He is above every distance (where the term above is to be understood spiritually, that is above than just above).

What we studied reading to this paragraph? We studied that God sees differently than we see. (By the way, this explains that Christ which is the image of God sometimes says that he doesn't know something we can see despite of He knows everything.)

But really to this moment the knowledge studied from this letter is no different even from atheists' opinion. Atheistic scientists would also agree that the Most High sees differently than people see. So we haven't yet reached faith. Something is needed to be added to reach the faith. What it is?

In other words, the main issue is whether God has good or bad sight or rather whether He sees the World just as a blur spot or sharply.

Our faith in the first order is that GOD SEES EVERYTHING. Nope God doesn't see even a single material object as every material object is just an illusion while God sees only the truth.

Then how God sees everything sharply from infinitely big distance to the Heaven where He lives? God has glasses or rather to say a telescope through which He sees everything sharply. These glasses are Christ.

Christ Himself has said that He is the light of the Universe. Glasses of God consist not of glass but of light. It is written in Bible that God is light. We turned our issue to the question: we see with the light, but what the light itself sees?

All of us, believers, know that in Christ nothing is lost. But recently I said seemingly just the opposite: that every material object is lost (God does not see it as it is just an illusion, not a truth). Here we have certain very hard to understand for people paradox.

The solution of the paradox is that we, Christians, have two different view points: with our own eyes and through Christ. When we look with our own eyes, the truth we should accept is that what we see is an illusion, that the objects we see really do not exist. But when we look through Christ like God our Father does, all and anything that we see is the reality. It is the distinction of true Christians from all others that we have this second viewpoint that is through Christ in whom anything is real.

God the Father has created the World. The World dies, every material object is gone to be an illusion. But the Christian teaching is that in Christ everything is raised again to the reality.

Bible teaches that every dead will be raised to life again!

So in Christ every matter is real despite of every matter is irreal. Christ has overcame the death.

To say in plain words understandable by common people: every deal is dead (illusion) but it is real and alive in memory of Christ which has seen it.

Every deal which the Father does is seen by the Son and so in Christ lives all the fullness of the God the Father.

This way Christ is the image of of God and as God contains in Himself the entire World, Christ also contains in Himself the entire World.

It can be said that the World of God has a second copy in Christ. The World is irreal but in Christ, its second copy is real.

Christ is a spirit and He is the light of the Universe. So the light of the Universe is a spirit, not a matter.

The light of a lamp or of Sun for instance is matter as studied with physics. But the light of the entire Universe is not a matter.

Yes, it is not a matter because it has came into the Universe from outside out of God as Christ Himself has said I've come into the Universe... While I'm in the Universe, I'm the light of the Universe... I leave the Universe and go to the Father.

Anything is real (through Christ) and anything is irreal (with our own viewpoint). How then we can practically distinct about what to think as real and about what to think as irreal? How to choose?

Holy Spirit is called in Bible also the Spirit of Truth which can otherwise be translated from Greek the Spirit of Reality. That is when a thing is filled with Holy Spirit (anointed) it is real, it is irreal otherwise.

But Bible says The Spirit penetrates to anywhere. So God makes every thing real just as I've said before that in Christ anything is real.

In fact anything consist of Holy Spirit, the air around us is Holy Spirit. But Holy Spirit is not always noticeably active. It is anywhere but we not always see its presence.

The more clear is presence of Holy Spirit in something, the more it is real. It is just the same presence of Holy Spirit and being real.

Bible also says that Holy Spirit is sent from Heaven. So a thing filled with Holy Spirit is no more a matter, it is a spirit as Born from a spirit is a spirit. We are born from God's Holy Spirit and are spirits not flesh. Our bodies are filled with Holy Spirit and so are becoming spiritual bodies being raised into above heaven.

But now we must add one more element to have truly full Christian position and Christian life: Christ is in us. (So Bible teaches clearly.) As st. Paul has said: Already not I live but Christ lives in me.

So our eyes became eyes of Christ. Yes, we are members of His body! My eyes are two of Christ's eyes! Christ sees the reality, He sees the truth, the things as they are, not anything false.

So with my own eyes I see the reality! I see the World as it really is not an illusion. Praise God the Father who has given us the reality!

It again looks like a contradiction as before I've said that what we see with our eyes is an illusion. But remember that we have two different viewpoints: with ourselves and through Christ. With ourselves anything we see is an illusion but through Christ it is a truth.

When we see with our own eyes it is an illusion but when we see with eyes of Christ, it is a truth. These eyes may be the same eyes as our eyes are also eyes of Christ. Bible says At every place are eyes of the Yahweh.

What is then the distinction of saw by ourselves and saw by Christ with our eyes which are His eyes also? It is of faith: whether we have faith that it is Christ who sees in us (again: Already not I live but it is Christ who lives in me) or to say differently that we have faith to see through Christ.

And now to the topic of Eucharist:

When one eats and drinks without faith, it is just bread and wine, a matter which is illusory and has no truth in it.

But when we accept Eucharist with faith that is look at it through Christ, it is His flesh and His blood.

Now we can understand that the bread and wine we see is an illusion, but in reality it is Christ's flesh and blood. The bread and wine are penetrated with Holy Spirit, that is the reason why these are real Christ's flesh and blood.

Corn and vine grow under light which comes from heaven, but the light of the Universe is Christ. That is how corn and vine are His flesh and blood.

Can we say: It is of spiritual let us not eat material bread and wine? Yes, we can, but let us also add then: let us not eat bread but instead accordingly our faith do photosynthesis in our own bodies. Let you accept the light yourselves!

Jesus have said to them about a paralyzed man, What is simpler, to say forgiven are your sins, or let you stay and go. What is simpler then for us to accept Christ's light without corn and vine or to live without eating at all?

What is the significance of Eucharist as the matter is illusory? It is a checkpoint (a stumble stone) on which it is checked whether we have the true faith on the question of reality concept. If we believe in Eucharist, we have the true reality concept, otherwise false. The faith without deals is dead, Show me your faith without deals. When we eat the bread and drink wine we prove our faith with a deal. The live faith always produces deals, we just believe and this always leads us to certain deals in communion with other believers which we strive to reach.

But the bread is illusory and the wine is illusory, because they are irreal we won't really eat them, you can say. Then how do you have courage to consider the real flesh and blood of Christ as illusory bread and wine which they really are not? You do blaspheme Christ.

(Is. 29:9, TEV) ... Get drunk without any wine! Stagger without drinking a drop!

Copyright © 2004-2005 Victor Porton. All rights reserved.