Excerpts from a letter to a friend

Differentiating between what is familial love - natural affections - and the deeper fuller spectrum of love as described, elucidated and demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ Familial - Family - affections - we can all (I assume all) easily comprehend them. You dont need a divine encounter to love your offspring (although ultimately it is an expression of God). But what if the love of God (the inborn character of God) is contrary to what may be natural affections? What if the vision of love - not familial - but divine - encompasses a greater sphere than immediate relations? What if, in hearing the words of Christ - as expressed in the Bible - a personal sense and need to apply these, compels one to risk it all for the sake of what Christ says? In an apparent conflict of interests between the familial and the divine, which love wins? How do we know the difference? Ive been finding out that most of what is truly Spiritually Biblical does have some Gnostic and New Age elements. I am not saying I have embraced Gnosticism or the New Age, but there are truths that they both have realized - where as the church hasnt got a clue. I have come to believe that the Political embracing of Christianity by Constantine and the subsequent purging of the Church of Gnostic thought and writings was a greater atrocity than Hitlers attempted holocaust of the Jews. To come to think of it, Constantine and the Council of Nicaea may well be argued as the first in a series of regimentation of Christian thought that ultimately evolved into the crusades, the Inquisition, European Holy wars, witch burnings and innumerable other religious acts in the name of God and Christ. All Bull Shit (with a sword). Let me add, that I really believe if pure Gnostic thought had prevailed - It probably would have evolved into just another religious system over time too. If you are going to talk about Jesus Christ, and what He taught and did, you cant do that without the Scriptures (Bible). They are the ultimate reference. How that information is discerned and applied, is where our problems lay. And, quite honestly, others works of reference are not out of the question. I think the religious baggage, how most of us have been force fed our Biblical religion has left a bad taste in our mouth for the Bible. Having done virtually all of my Bible research independently of religious oversight and direction, I dont have a problem with it.