Bible Interpretation - Acts-Revelation

19. Exercise #5: Interpreting with New Thought Principles

1. God is absolute good,  everywhere present

2. Human beings have a spark of divinity within them, the Christ-spirit within.  Their very essence is of God, therefore they are also inherently good.

3. Human beings create their experiences by the activity of their thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginning in thought.

4. Prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God-Mind and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good.

5. Knowing and understanding the laws of life, also known as Truth, is not enough. A person must also live the truth that he or she knows. 

Applying Unity principles to bible interpretation. So far we have learned a metaphysical and a maieutic method of interpreting scripture and we have tried out applying some theological concepts to better understand passages from Paul's letters.  As truth students in the New Thought tradition, let's try using some New Thought principles to interpret a well known passage from the Revelation to John. 

In the final chapter, there is a very interesting and somewhat mysterious passage that begins the epilogue of the book, verses 22:8 through 22:12.  Here's the text:

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

“See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”