The Autistic Christian

My experience of church has been weddings and funerals. 

The seating is awful, uncomfortable long rigid benches, no personal space, trapped. 

No clock, no timeline of events, no knowing when you will be back to your personal space. 

Hi, Our church has comfy seating and is always warm, well hot this last Sunday.  We all take our coats off as we sit down.  As for the clock, I can turn around and see it.  But the timeline thing, is you've got to get used to what is happening.  Each week we follow the same routine, but it isn't written down anywhere.  That would be a good thing for our church to do, to make it more autistic friendly.  We have individual seats, though these are joined at their feet.  We always unhook two of them for us at the end of a row, so I'm not enclosed.

We have underfloor heating.  It keeps your coffee warm during the service (I don't think that's the reason though).  It keeps your feet warm, well all of your body.  I like to sit in the church for coffee afterwards and before (but they don't always like this), as it gives me space and getting away from the crush of people queuing for drinks.

But I do like our service.  (Just not the long sermon), though extra long ones are gone now, as they do these on Monday evenings and call them lectures on a series of something.

Happy Christmas to one and all, and sorry for my ramblings,

Margaret

Magaret

Its interesting that you say about coffee before and after as I am well renowned for making a mug of tea just before the service and drinking it at the sound desk. However, I have to be discrete as if like old could kill at times.

The Church I am a member of has individual seats and underfloor heating too, although due to a leak the heating is rather temperamental at the moment despite only being 4 years old. There is a clock on the side wall, which is easily seen depending where one sits. I do think though that long sermons should be replaced by more ear friendly short bursts of good teaching. Paul’s letters, which are in effect sermons, could each read in ten minutes so why do modern pastors prattle on. Surely teaching and discussion would be far more useful then 45mins. What would you suggest to make your own church more friendly other than a stated timeline?

Andrew

Correction! Rather than as I stated above:

Deepthought said:

In Hebrew ~ the word 'Elohim' describes the infinite marriage train or procession of the Goddess of God, yet 'Elohim' is normally miss-transliterated as 'Lord' in the old testament.

When in fact “Elohim” (‫אֱלֹהִים‬ with Hebrew being read from right to left) is normally transliterated into English as the word God, even though Elohim is itself a plural or group definition, as defines the Goddess as being the consort of God, and the divine assembly or council of gods, goddesses, angels and spirits that She embodies in and as the heavens and earth.

.

And from another perspective:

If one allows the Bible to interpret itself, it clearly shows that Elohim is an institution consisting of more than one Person. The Old Testament shows that Elohim consists of two divine Beings. The New Testament adds that we are being drawn into that same institution to be one with Those who are already there.

.

It is true that Elohim is also used in many places to indicate a singular divine Being. This is because Elohim always acts as one. They are in perfect harmony, in perfect agreement.

.

John W. Ritenbaugh

.

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/430/Elohim.htm

So in terms of “The Old Testament shows that Elohim consists of two divine Beings” at very least, Genesis 1:1 can be transliterated as:

.

In the beginning God and Goddess created the heavens and the earth.

.

And Genesis 1:27:

.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of the Goddess he created them; male and female he created them.

.

And the link to the BBC2 documentary called 'The Bible's Hidden Secrets', episode two, 'Did God Have A Wife' is no longer operable, but here is another link to a written article covering the matter:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42154769/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/did-god-have-wife-scholar-says-he-did/

Very interesting Deepthought. I could sit and talk to you for hours about this.

Well, there was a documentary series on BBC 2 some time back (2011 perhaps) called 'The Bible's Hidden Secrets', and episode two, 'Did God Have A Wife' ~ which covered the above topic brilliantly from the archaeological and the scriptural standpoints. So maybe if you have the tech and the credit ~ you could sit and watch for an hour about this; via the following link:

 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ik5oi

Very interesting Deepthought. I could sit and talk to you for hours about this. 

  I challenged and asked impertinent questions, is there anything good about women in the bible other than Mary and why don't you tell us about that as half the class is female?! 

With the Aspergian thing, i.e. ~ very early reader and pattern recognition strong ~ I got into comparative metaphysics when I was about 6 from the Egyptian stuff, philosophy from the Greek stuff, and then religion with the 1885 K.J.V. Bible when I was 8.

Oh my whole life and amazed factor ten ~ I started reading the new testaments, then the old through to the new again, and I was done in five days.

It was for me the reason I have no faith; because I got something so so much more. Now I did not nor could not do anything other than read the Bible day in and day out ~ until I had finished my first full reading of it.

There were a few things that really did not fit the linguistic structures of Hebrew or Greek though, but the morning I finished reading the Bible was the morning a Vicar was doing the morning assembly talk, so I thought I would ask him about these seemingly blatant irregularities.

Unfortunately ~ I was late getting to the school, which really annoyed me because by the time I got there, assembly would be over. None the less though I met the vicar as he was coming out from the main building, and I apologised for missing his assembly as I had just finished reading the Bible. He thought I meant the primary school 'new-testament' version, and asked if I liked the pictures, and I said, "Yes, but I meant the 1885 King James Version Bible." He was a bit taken aback, and then I asked if he would answer a question for me, to which he adjusted his suit-jacket proudly and answered, "Why of course . . . " so I asked, "What's all this business about God being a bloke then?" and he got really annoyed and walked off at a hurried pace.

I was remarkably puzzled, and thought '(That's another problem added to the list then!)' involving all the other reams of questions other people found too difficult or challenging to answer. I asked other Vicars, Priests and followers, but the sexism thing was of course way too pervasive back then, so the question got moved onto the strictly to be solved by myself and not mentioned again list ~ mainly because I got confronted, warned and even threatened several times by furious husbands about discussing this issue with their wives.   

Due though to intense bullying at secondary school, I got rather sidetracked from my spiritual and religious reading on account of numerous mental breakdowns, and did not get back to the research for another fifteen years. But I learnt how to interpret Hebrew and Greek, and solved the problem about God being a bloke, along with few others.

In Hebrew ~ the word 'Elohim' describes the infinite marriage train or procession of the Goddess of God, yet 'Elohim' is normally miss-transliterated as 'Lord' in the old testament.

Also the Greek texts use masculine, feminine and adrogyne tenses when describing God, and these have not been transliterated through into the English standardised versions of the Bible.

Basically though ~ we have the God of life, and the Goddess of nature, as being the one and only unity of the in-visible and absolute Father, with the visible and infinite Mother.

Thus in the image of God as being the Goddess we were made 'male-'and'-female' (spirit 'and' flesh) each of us ~ as a paraphrase of Genesis 1:27., and also a quote of Psalm 139:7., "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 

In the book of Genesis also what God thinks is what the Goddess speaks, so, "Let there be light?" was a mutual request of each other, with God being Loving and the Goddess as his consort being wise, and thus all things together have come to be so. 

  I challenged and asked impertinent questions, is there anything good about women in the bible other than Mary and why don't you tell us about that as half the class is female?! 

With the Aspergian thing, i.e. ~ very early reader and pattern recognition strong ~ I got into comparative metaphysics when I was about 6 from the Egyptian stuff, philosophy from the Greek stuff, and then religion with the 1885 K.J.V. Bible when I was 8.

Oh my whole life and amazed factor ten ~ I started reading the new testaments, then the old through to the new again, and I was done in five days.

It was for me the reason I have no faith; because I got something so so much more. Now I did not nor could not do anything other than read the Bible day in and day out ~ until I had finished my first full reading of it.

There were a few things that really did not fit the linguistic structures of Hebrew or Greek though, but the morning I finished reading the Bible was the morning a Vicar was doing the morning assembly talk, so I thought I would ask him about these seemingly blatant irregularities.

Unfortunately ~ I was late getting to the school, which really annoyed me because by the time I got there, assembly would be over. None the less though I met the vicar as he was coming out from the main building, and I apologised for missing his assembly as I had just finished reading the Bible. He thought I meant the primary school 'new-testament' version, and asked if I liked the pictures, and I said, "Yes, but I meant the 1885 King James Version Bible." He was a bit taken aback, and then I asked if he would answer a question for me, to which he adjusted his suit-jacket proudly and answered, "Why of course . . . " so I asked, "What's all this business about God being a bloke then?" and he got really annoyed and walked off at a hurried pace.

I was remarkably puzzled, and thought '(That's another problem added to the list then!)' involving all the other reams of questions other people found too difficult or challenging to answer. I asked other Vicars, Priests and followers, but the sexism thing was of course way too pervasive back then, so the question got moved onto the strictly to be solved by myself and not mentioned again list ~ mainly because I got confronted, warned and even threatened several times by furious husbands about discussing this issue with their wives.   

Due though to intense bullying at secondary school, I got rather sidetracked from my spiritual and religious reading on account of numerous mental breakdowns, and did not get back to the research for another fifteen years. But I learnt how to interpret Hebrew and Greek, and solved the problem about God being a bloke, along with few others.

In Hebrew ~ the word 'Elohim' describes the infinite marriage train or procession of the Goddess of God, yet 'Elohim' is normally miss-transliterated as 'Lord' in the old testament.

Also the Greek texts use masculine, feminine and adrogyne tenses when describing God, and these have not been transliterated through into the English standardised versions of the Bible.

Basically though ~ we have the God of life, and the Goddess of nature, as being the one and only unity of the in-visible and absolute Father, with the visible and infinite Mother.

Thus in the image of God as being the Goddess we were made 'male-'and'-female' (spirit 'and' flesh) each of us ~ as a paraphrase of Genesis 1:27., and also a quote of Psalm 139:7., "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 

In the book of Genesis also what God thinks is what the Goddess speaks, so, "Let there be light?" was a mutual request of each other, with God being Loving and the Goddess as his consort being wise, and thus all things together have come to be so. 

Correction! Rather than as I stated above:

Deepthought said:

In Hebrew ~ the word 'Elohim' describes the infinite marriage train or procession of the Goddess of God, yet 'Elohim' is normally miss-transliterated as 'Lord' in the old testament.

When in fact “Elohim” (‫אֱלֹהִים‬ with Hebrew being read from right to left) is normally transliterated into English as the word God, even though Elohim is itself a plural or group definition, as defines the Goddess as being the consort of God, and the divine assembly or council of gods, goddesses, angels and spirits that She embodies in and as the heavens and earth.

.

And from another perspective:

If one allows the Bible to interpret itself, it clearly shows that Elohim is an institution consisting of more than one Person. The Old Testament shows that Elohim consists of two divine Beings. The New Testament adds that we are being drawn into that same institution to be one with Those who are already there.

.

It is true that Elohim is also used in many places to indicate a singular divine Being. This is because Elohim always acts as one. They are in perfect harmony, in perfect agreement.

.

John W. Ritenbaugh

.

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/430/Elohim.htm

So in terms of “The Old Testament shows that Elohim consists of two divine Beings” at very least, Genesis 1:1 can be transliterated as:

.

In the beginning God and Goddess created the heavens and the earth.

.

And Genesis 1:27:

.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of the Goddess he created them; male and female he created them.

.

And the link to the BBC2 documentary called 'The Bible's Hidden Secrets', episode two, 'Did God Have A Wife' is no longer operable, but here is another link to a written article covering the matter:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42154769/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/did-god-have-wife-scholar-says-he-did/

Very interesting Deepthought. I could sit and talk to you for hours about this.

Well, there was a documentary series on BBC 2 some time back (2011 perhaps) called 'The Bible's Hidden Secrets', and episode two, 'Did God Have A Wife' ~ which covered the above topic brilliantly from the archaeological and the scriptural standpoints. So maybe if you have the tech and the credit ~ you could sit and watch for an hour about this; via the following link:

 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ik5oi

Very interesting Deepthought. I could sit and talk to you for hours about this.