Presentation #1

About: The Primacy of Stewardship: by John Manimas

The history of western civilization is based on a mistake.

Jesus was a science teacher, not a moral philosopher.

A good book does what the author said it would do:

Primacy does not try to persuade you that:

You should believe in a particular kind of God;

There is life after death -- or nothing after death;

You should be a Christian in order to be saved;

Religion and science are in conflict;

You should hate or reject certain people;

You should be "religious" or "not religious."

Primacy does endeavor to show that:

Jesus provides us with important information to empower us.

Good Stewardship means nurturing the weak and liberating the strong. (C. 1)

Jesus taught panspermia and evolution. (C. 2, 3, 5)

A person's religion is revealed by their actions. (C. 6)

The truth will be disclosed to everyone. (C. 10)

Violence is never approved by the Christian God. (C. 11)

We can learn about religion in public schools. (C. 12)

Churches are not the original source of morality. (C. 14)

We must reconcile science and religion in order to survive.

One can continue Jesus' mission with cold reason and warm passion. (C. 15, 16)

The Primacy of Stewardship

Presentation #1 -- (2017)

Something happened in 1957. I noticed something, and it seemed to me that others had not noticed the same thing. I read the New Testament with such innocent faith that I assumed without question that it should be consistent with all of our science. And it was, for me. But I was uncertain about who else noticed the same thing. Twenty years later, in 1977, I studied the New Testament again, taking notes three times, and using a scientific method that I call the Two Principles and Five Questions. I concluded that I needed to write down my viewpoint, a different viewpoint, so that others could consider it, because my conclusion was and is that the history of Western Civilization is based on a mistake. The mistake is that the original witnesses to the life of Jesus thought he was teaching moral philosophy. But he was not teaching morality. He was teaching science, and the primacy of stewardship is not a recommendation or a suggestion. It is a physical law of the real, physical universe. The message of the Gospel is not "Be good so that you will go to heaven." The message of the Gospel is "Take care of the people and property within your reach or you will lose everything." You are a technological animal and stewardship is not your chosen duty but rather your inescapable role in Nature. If you fail, you destroy the life supporting environment. If you fail, you die. No divine intervention is needed. Death is the natural consequence of bad stewardship. It is a law, not an option.

TITLE ISSUE: a few friends have said the title is wrong, misleading; I have stuck with the title because it tells real Christian equalists that they are right and why they are right. The book argues that Christ was a radical equalist.

NOT: there is a God; or there is no God.

NOT: there is heaven or hell; or there is no heaven or hell.

YES: What do the parables say -- the message delivered by Jesus?

Academic approach: examined by a scientific method:

A) The Gospel message is about scientific facts, not about morality.

B) The purpose of the Gospel message is to tell us what we need to know, what we need to know in order to survive and thrive as a species.

1) What is the kingdom of heaven?

2) What is the main theme or main idea conveyed by the parables?

3) Why are there so many parables about good servants and bad servants?

4) What do all the good servants have in common?

5) What do all the bad servants have in common?

Chapter One: My God and Your God -- last paragraph, p. 8

Chapter Ten: Everything Will Be Revealed to Everyone -- p. 96, 98, 99.

Chapter Twelve: Learning About Religion - the Seven Pillars of Religion -

people, calendar, ritual, history, teleology, ethics, institutions.

"scripture" is an institution; only content of teleology is differences in belief; other six pillars are "cultural" or societal content. p. 110

Chapter Thirteen: The Old and New in the Kingdom of Heaven

Ten Commandments (7 prohibitions) 8 prohibitions p. 127

The Sermon on the Mount/ Standard of Evaluation p. 129

Chapter 14: The Origins of Morality: not church, but proportion

sense of proportion = equity, balance, harmony, propriety,

child's sense of fairness, p. 131

Chapter Fifteen: Stewardship is the Action of Love -- Love is all you need. Devoted to the meaning of love that is both passionately warm and coldly rational. They who love best offer the best of what is best for the loved. (p. 151)

Chapter Sixteen: A Plan of Actions: Your chapter, the reader's chapter: … The Good Shepherd is not one who is climbing a mountain toward enlightenment. The Good Shepherd has visited enlightenment and has come back down to earth to be here among us who are busy, sweating, making a living. One's action of love occurs at a time that is inconvenient, at a place that is uncomfortable, under circumstances that are awkward, surrounded by chaos, uncertainty and fear.

(p. 155)