My good friend, Arthur Carrier, is a retired mental health professional and master spiritual teacher. It is an honor to publish his article. —Doug

Article by Arthur Carrier

In many ways The Law of One appears to turn morality upon its head. Ra argues that since there is but one being in creation, the Infinite Creator, all things serve this infinite creator—even those things which most of us would typically see as destructive, counter productive, or even evil. All things that are less than infinity are viewed as merely distortions of the Law of One.

The great archrival of God in Christian mythology is the devil or Satan. In the Law of One, the behind the scenes devilry is carried out by the Orion group led by the rather gruesome and self-serving reptilian race. Like all extraterrestrial races that have what we would deem “supernatural” abilities, these reptilians might be considered “angelic.” Ra, himself, would correspond to a positive angel existing somewhere in the two thirds of the angelic pantheon that remained loyal to God depicted in Christianity. The reptilians would be one of a number of races that live in caves beneath the ground, can travel in the etheric planes, and who, through trickery and force, seek to divert souls away from the service-to-others path. This is devilry indeed, but it is far from an ultimate evil on a par with God.

Though The Law of One acknowledges the anti-service-to-other forces, it challenges us to transcend a dichotomous thought form that sees an ultimate separation between the service-to-self and service-to-other paths. Both paths, Ra says, serve the infinite creator. In fact, as creatures on the service-to-self path progress up the densities, they find that they must flip paths, since the more wisdom and understanding they gain, the more they must finally confess that their lives spent in service to hierarchy based upon the myth of separation is untenable. All is One ultimately, and separation is a mere illusion. Their hard-won power-hierarchy must eventually be abandoned, and service-to-self souls must open their hearts to love if they are going to progress further toward the infinite creator. For, at its core, the Infinite Creator, is more about love than about power.  Love tends to bring things together. Power tends to separate.

Atonement Amidst the Above Metaphysic

One of the major themes of Christianity is that of “atonement.”  The Collins Dictionary defines atonement as follows:

1. Satisfaction, reparation, or expiation given for an injury or wrong
2. In Christian theology: The reconciliation of man with God through the life, sufferings, and sacrificial death of Christ

Emphasizing the reconciling of alienation from one another, that occurs when a wrong is forgiven, more non-dual authors point out that atonement can be thought of as “at-one-ment”—a making of one where before there was division.

The Law of One and Christianity agree at this level of thought. Their dominant perspective, however, is different. Ra is viewing time from the level of 6^th density. From the perspective of outside of time, where Ra lives, there was very little separation to reconcile. As Q’uo says about sixth density, “which is the density of unity, where love and wisdom find the way to meld and become one. This density is the first density wherein the positive and the negative paths are reconciled and all paradoxes solved.” (http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/2000/2000_0206.aspx) Nevertheless, even Ra acknowledges that when souls enter the third density, there is always the chance that they can get stuck in the wheel of karma. This needs correcting.

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Questioner:  Would you define karma?

Ra: I am Ra. Our understanding of karma is that which may be called inertia. Those actions which are put into motion will continue using the ways of balancing until such time as the controlling or higher principle which you may liken unto your braking or stopping is invoked. This stoppage of the inertia of action may be called forgiveness. These two concepts are inseparable.

Questioner: If an entity develops what is called karma in an incarnation, is there then programming that sometimes occurs so that he will experience catalysts that will enable him to get to a point of forgiveness thereby alleviating the karma?

Ra: I am Ra. This is, in general, correct. However, both self and any involved other-self may, at any time through the process of understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness, ameliorate these patterns. This is true at any point in an incarnative pattern. Thus one who has set in motion an action may forgive itself and never again make that error. This also brakes or stops what you call karma. (Session 34– http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/1981/1981_0304_book_2.aspx)

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The thought forms of Christianity tend to not live outside of time. They grub around in the earthiness and mire of third density incarnation where karma is rampant. So, for Christianity, there is a tendency to emphasize the problem of separation and the need to reconcile with God and fellow humans. This does not mean that Christianity is without its timelessness, unitive elements, however. As Jesus said to his disciples in his high priestly prayer of John 14, ^“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” So we see that Christianity is both time-bound and non-dual with regard to its typical thoughts. It is less emphasizing of the non-dual than Ra, but it has its timeless, transcendent elements.

What to Do About Separation Even if it is Not the Ultimate Truth

Are you separated from God? Well, no, if you take the view of billion yearlong trajectory of the soul that Ra describes. Even Paul speaking to the pagan Greeks said that both they and he acknowledge that in God we “live and breathe and have our being.” (Acts). All reality must find its ground of being in God. So we are not ultimately separated. Nothing can separate itself from Infinity.

Nevertheless, we often FEEL separated from God here in third density. It is designed to be that way. There is the problem of the veil that prevents our seeing the unity of all things. Even Jesus, who experienced his union with God more than most, felt forsaken and separated on the cross.

So, what do we do about the problem of FELT separation from God? After all, that is where we live.

From this side of the veil, Christianity offers the idea of atonement as a pathway toward overcoming the real or at least felt separation from God.  In atonement, we come to view ourselves in a place of need either from wrong actions that create shame or guilt, often called, “sin”, or from inability to rescue our own selves and overcome our lack, which surprisingly is also called, “sin.” “Sine” is the Latin word for “without”. “To sin”, most broadly, means “to be without an appropriate good”, or if you prefer, “in need”. When we cry out in the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,” we are not, therefore, declaring ourselves to be a “bad actor.” We are saying that we are “a person in need.”  And one of our greatest needs is to FEEL connected to our Source in God.

How does the person and story of Christ participate in bringing us back into a felt connection to God from whom we are separated by the veil? This is the place of the various theories of atonement in Christian theology and teaching. We do well to look at the multiple forms this takes since many of us may not realize that the broad faith we call Christian can have such diversity of viewpoint and still be considered orthodox.  Seeing each of these side by side suggests that Christendom has viewed these as models and not absolutes. We will review these then look at how the perspective of the Law of One may favor one or another of the theories.

Atonement Theories of the Western Church

1. The Ransom Theory

In Mark 10:45 Jesus says that he came to give his life “as a ransom for many.” This is one of the oldest atonement theories, and during the first thousand years of Christianity, it was the most common explanation for why Jesus had to suffer and die.

The early Christian scholar Origen gave one of the first detailed descriptions of this theory. He said that the disobedience of Adam and Eve caused God to abandon humankind to the Devil, who then exerted his power over us. Later, when God decided to reconcile with us, he agreed to pay Satan a ransom for our release. The agreed-upon payment was Jesus’ death on the cross. After the crucifixion, Satan kept his part of the bargain by releasing us from his power. But then God pulled a trick on him by resurrecting Jesus.

The Ransom Theory is also called the Bargain Theory and the Classical Theory. It was the primary atonement theory for more than a thousand years, from the first century to the eleventh century, and is still accepted by some Christians.

The Ransom Theory and The Law of One

Does the story of Christ help release us from the Orion Group’s influence over a person or humankind?

The Ra contact did not address any kind of Ransom of souls through the action of Christ. Here is how Ra states we should protect ourselves against the Orion group.

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Session 32

… the means of protection against any negative or debilitating influence [by Orion group members in the spiritual sphere] for those upon the positive path was demonstrated by this instrument, [Carla] to a very great degree. Consider, if you will, the potentials that this particular occurrence had for negative influences to enter the instrument. This instrument thought upon the Creator in its solitude and in actions with other-self, continually praised and gave thanksgiving to the Creator for the experiences it was having. This in turn allowed this particular self such energies as became a catalyst for an opening and strengthening of the other-self’s ability to function in a more positively polarized state. Thus we see protection being very simple. Give thanksgiving for each moment. See the self and the other-self as Creator. Open the heart. Always know the light and praise it. This is all the protection necessary.

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In a conscious channeling of Confederation source, Latwii, at an L/L Research meeting in 1980 the Confederation’s understanding of Satan and the nature of spiritual conflict was explored:

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Questioner: Is there also one known in the Bible as Satan that also lives?

There is, my brother, an entity in people’s hearts known as Satan to them. However, this entity is part of the illusion of your density. The reality or seeming reality of evil is as natural to those who dwell in your polarized density as the darkness.

The vibration in which you live is made of many pairs of opposites and the interplay between these causes movement. To live is to move and the principle which has been called Satan is something within consciousness which repels and thus causes growth and movement.

There are some drawn to the negative or evil principle who may be said perhaps to be fond of the Satanic and these people are truly not pleasant. But they simply have chosen a path of separation from the Father, a path of belief in the importance of the self. This leads such people to desire power, especially over others. Those polarized towards the good desire power over themselves, so that they may better serve others.

There is no being known as Satan on your physical plane nor has there ever been. However, the vibrational principle from which this concept received its ancient name is a thought form which is a reality of your illusion. We wish to distinguish this from the reality of the one known as Jesus or, as we know him, Amira, who is an entity who lives and dwells in love. He is a thought form only to those who do not realize that he is a real being.

The one known as Satan is merely the shadow of evil thoughts. Given fear enough, evil thoughts can do harm, can cause fear and pain and anguish. This power is given to the Satanic principle only through the fear of the one who is feeling the difficulty. There is no reality to the fear and thus it is said love casteth out fear. The one principle called Satan is a lonely and sad thought form, and we would say to you, accept this principle as part of yourself, as that within you, if you will, which spurs you on to growth, to new understandings, and to desire for truth. Love this entity therefore, and take all strength from this mere shadow.

Questioner: Is there a war between Latwii and the one you just mentioned?

I am Latwii. You are speaking of what this instrument knows as Armageddon. This battle has been underway for some time and, in truth, is proceeding towards its conclusion. However, only the shadows of its fierce antagonisms reach the physical plane, for this is a battle between light and darkness.

There are many, many hosts of those in the service of the infinite Creator. We ourselves are in the service of the infinite Creator and have formed a Confederation in order to do just what we are doing now: to speak to those who desire whatever knowledge we may have to share. These forces of light, of whom we count ourselves, an humble and unworthy number, stand, as it has been said in your Holy works, in the armor of light.

We face those of us on the physical, the etheric, and the [cosmic] forces which derive their substance from the belief and separation from the Creator and from each other.

Thus this battle. Whatever occurs upon your plane has already been joined, and it is fought with the heart and the minds and the spirits of mankind, not with their physical bodies.

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Also, in the Ra material, an example of Orion conflict with Ra was discussed. So the Law of One takes the idea of spiritual contest seriously, but I find no literal ransoming of souls from Satan taking place in the Confederation of Planets in Service of Infinite Creator sources channeled by the L/L Research group. Latwii once described their concept of salvation through Jesus.

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If one shall come unto the Father, the one infinite Creator, by the path followed by the one known as Jesus of Nazareth, then such an entity shall in the life pattern demonstrate the desire to seek the truth and the service to others that is of such a nature that the so-called salvation is imminent, the graduation draws nigh and the harvest shall be completed. It is not by mere belief in another entity—though faith, indeed, in the seeking of the truth is necessary—that an entity shall come unto the Father. The one Creator, the Father, resides within each entity. Each must go within the self in the life pattern and find the deepest truth available therein; and when that truth is found, manifest that truth in the experience of each day. Then the salvation shall be available by the efforts of the seeker following the same path the [one] known as Jesus of Nazareth followed. (http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/1983/1983_1016.aspx)

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2. The Satisfaction Theory

The eleventh-century scholar Saint Anselm did not like the Ransom Theory. He believed that an outlaw like the Devil had no right to exert power over humankind, and therefore God did not need to pay him anything for our release.

To replace the Ransom Theory, Anselm put forward another explanation known as the Satisfaction Theory (or Debt Theory). According to this theory, humankind owes a debt to God because we dishonored him through our disobedience and sin. But his need for universal justice, prevents him from simply forgiving us. To resolve the matter, Jesus volunteered to pay our debt for us by suffering and dying on the cross. God accepted this act of love as a full atonement, and thus satisfied, he then forgave us and offered us salvation.

Some people still wonder why God did not just forgive us outright. Another criticism of this theory is that it puts Jesus in the role of a sacrificial lamb. It further depicts God the Father as unforgiving, and involved in ritual sacrifice mentality. In ancient times lambs and other animals were often sacrificed to pagan gods as a way to appease them. It was thought that the death of an animal could serve as a substitute payment for a person’s sins. Similarly, in the Satisfaction Theory, the suffering and death of Jesus serves as a substitute payment for humankind’s sins.

The Satisfaction Theory and The Law of One

The satisfaction theory’s use of the idea of debt is akin to the notion of karma which Confederation sources discuss. Here is a 1979 quote.

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I am Oxal, and we are aware of your question. However, it is best to deal with karma not as your people have dealt with it—as lawyers, attempting to balance the case in court, or accountants attempting to total the debits and credits; for we are dealing here, not with actions, but with thought.

A person is as he thinks. That is reality. His actions are the fruits of his thoughts.

It is possible for you as a being at this very moment to forgive in your heart all those who have hurt you, with such strength that you may stop the karma forever for them. It is possible, also, for you to take the karma of others, but we do not advise this, for you have your own destiny to work out and that is enough of a job for you.

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Ra addressed an interesting interaction between Carla and Don of the L/L team in 106:13. Jim explains it this way.

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Apparently Carla and Don had a conversation in the recent past in which Carla expressed concern for Don and all of his worries. He was worried that Eastern Airlines would soon go bankrupt and this would mean that Don would no longer be able to support L/L Research or our work together. He was also concerned that our negative friend of the fifth-density would eventually succeed in misplacing Carla’s spirit in negative time/space. He was also worried about Carla’s having to bear so much pain from her arthritis and the psychic greetings that intensified this pain on a nearly constant basis.

So Carla told Don that she would like for him to let her take on these worries for him. She said that she would be glad to “be the strong one”. She said that he could relax from his worries and be like her, “small and foolish”. Don off-handedly agreed to her suggestion, never thinking for a moment that what Ra called a “deleterious working,” or energy exchange, would result between him and Carla. However, Ra said since Don and Carla “have been as one for a timeless period and have manifested this in your space/time” that situation allowed Don’s pain to be transferred to Carla so that his pain lived in her. And Don, all of the sudden, had an open heart and no way to deal with all of the sensitivities that Carla felt. Carla had Don’s worries without his shield of indifference that he had adopted at age 26. (http://www.bring4th.org/members.php?uid=214&catid=all)

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This kind of energy transfer may be a model for the transfer of karmic responsibility embraced by Christianity. The Christian good news is that by trusting Christ with our sin burdens and trusting in God’s love for us, Christ takes our karmic burden upon himself. This was done voluntarily and is illustrated dramatically in the crucifixion story. It may not be that God the Father needed satisfaction in order to be so self-giving. That paints God in a very non-redemptive light. But the crucifixion narrative has certainly been an impactful one through the centuries, and the models of energy transfer that Ra affirms suggest that such an energy transfer may have been taking place through the voluntary sufferings of the Christ. Could Jesus have taken on the karmic burden without such suffering? Perhaps. But without the story element of death, burial, and resurrection, humankind would have had a much more difficult time getting the message.

3. The Moral Exemplar Theory

According to this theory, Jesus tried to help us obtain salvation by giving us a perfect moral example of how to live. He hoped that his teachings and his example would inspire us to lift ourselves out of sin and enter into true communion with God.

This theory, which is also called the Moral Influence Theory, is usually attributed to the medieval scholar Peter Abelard. Many Christians have found it attractive and helpful. But some people wonder how it explains the crucifixion, since Jesus could have given us his teachings, and also provided a perfect moral example, without dying on the cross. One possible answer is that his death, though not strictly necessary, helped to draw attention to his life and therefore made his mission more effective.

This theory denies that Christ died to satisfy any principle of divine justice, but teaches instead that His death was designed to greatly impress mankind with a sense of God’s love, resulting in softening their hearts and leading them to repentance. Thus, the Atonement is not directed towards God with the purpose of maintaining His justice, but towards man with the purpose of persuading him to right action.

The Moral Exemplar Theory and the Law of One

In 1987, the Confederation source know as Q’uo had this to say about Jesus and his intentions.

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The master known as Jesus was a man, living a channeled or inspired and very impersonal life, yet containing and expressing emotion and affection. The master known as Jesus saw a pattern emerge [in his culture] during the short time of his actual ministry. It was the pattern of a warlike people, his own people, the Jews, who wished to become again a great kingdom as it had been at one time. It was felt by this teacher that as had his friend John the Baptist gone, so would he.

He wished for his people a realization. He wished them to realize and truly know that their identity, their nationhood, and their kingdom was eternity itself. He wished them to lay down those weapons which make kingdoms of Earth and pick up instead those tools of peace and love which might create the growing and life-giving knowledge of a greater life, a greater kingdom than this Earthly one. Thirdly, this entity wished by his death to be remembered as one who intended to die of love for those who killed him.

He wished to be remembered as one who loved. He wished to be a symbol of that greater kingdom which was the true kingdom of his people and all people. His instructions about bread and wine were that these be taken in remembrance, that when this food was taken, it would be food not of this Earth, not filling the hunger of this illusory plane, but, rather, he hoped that it might be seen as the true manna which is infinite and which feeds an infinite hunger—the thirst for truth and right action.

Indeed, the master known as Jesus had a stark vision of the nature of this illusion you experience. He saw the type of consciousness which you share, with all of its distortions and limitations, as producing a situation in which martyrdom was the nature of the life experience. The brevity of life within the physical body was a melancholy fact to him. The master wished therefore to imbue the suffering, the martyrdom of brief lives with a deep and abiding sense of the value and worth of the sacrifice of living a life.

The discipleship which Jesus the Christ hoped to inspire, was a discipleship of sacrifice, the sacrifice of attachment to treasure, the sacrifice of the overwhelming attachment which most entities feel to doubt, despair, darkness of mind and disconsolation.

This entity believed wholeheartedly with every fiber of its being that the kingdom which he called Heaven was within and all about all of us. He saw the kingdom of Heaven in seeds, in fields, in the leaven of a loaf and in the heart of any human being. He hoped by rising again, to give hope to those whom he knew and loved. He hoped that those whom he had left behind would share the excitement of eternity

It is our bias that the life of the one known as Jesus the Christ is perhaps the most artistic realization of the nature of undistorted love indwelling in the third-density illusion. It is felt by us that the teachings of the ones known as the Buddha [Siddhartha] and Lao Tsu were those teachings which might well appeal more to those entities who are attempting to learn the lessons of wisdom.  The wisdom teachings are most eloquent, […but…] The third density is the density wherein one attempts to learn the lessons of love.  Therefore it is our feeling, which is only an opinion, that the wisdom teachings are perhaps not as generally useful to awakening souls, but rather are helpful at a point at which the heart has been opened to compassion, for wisdom without the grounding of compassion can be a cold and indifferent thing, and the Father of all things, is certainly not cold or indifferent, [but] has a nature which grows and rejoices and spirals ever into a greater and greater sense of well-being and stability and infinite grace. The teachings of the one known as Mohammed we find as incomplete, shall we say, as those teachings of a similar nature within what is known as your Old Testament.

You may perhaps gain from studies of inspired lives such as the master known as Jesus, that when you experience the love that that master encouraged each to seek, that love is experienced as nurturing, supporting, enabling and inflaming the life, the words, the heart, and the mind of each seeker. The one known as Jesus hoped to encourage each soul upon the journey home. May you love each other and encourage each other in the path towards that home—that is what the one known as Jesus would hope for. (http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/1987/1987_0913.aspx)

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We see in this channeling via Carla, a fairly complete description of a Moral Influence view of atonement with an emphasis on love. The crucifixion is there to teach us that there is meaning in suffering and to encourage us in loving sacrificially. The resurrection is there to give us hope in death and for the eternal realm.

4. The Penal-Substitution Theory

The basic idea of this theory is that Jesus suffered and died to take upon himself the punishment that we ourselves deserve. Although God was not willing to forgive us outright, he was willing to accept the punishment of Jesus as a substitute for our own punishment. Thus, in this theory Jesus takes the role of an innocent scapegoat who is punished for the sins of others.

On one occasion God punished humankind by sending a flood that killed everyone on the earth except a few people on Noah’s boat. But according to the Penal-Substitution theory, when humankind later needed to be punished again, God allowed Jesus to take the punishment for us.

Some of the underlying assumptions of this theory can be found in the letters of Saint Paul. The Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century took those assumptions and developed them into the modern form of the theory. In some ways it resembles the Satisfaction Theory, since Jesus’ act of taking our punishment for us is basically equivalent to paying our debt for us.

The Penal-Substitution Theory is accepted by many modern Protestants. Most of them also believe that Jesus’ sacrifice brought the possibility of forgiveness to everyone, including people who have lived since the crucifixion and people who will be born in the future. This is known as universal atonement. But some Christians believe that Jesus died only for the “elect”, a small minority who are predestined to be saved. This is called definite (or limited) atonement.

The Penal-Substitution Theory and the Law of One

This form of thought does not appear to be present in the Law of One. The karmic understanding of the Confederation does not include the idea of punishment, per se. Rather karma is a rebalancing and a developmental process as noted previously.

5. The Governmental Theory

According to this theory, God acts as a governor (or overseer) of all life on the earth. But he became very displeased with the way people were behaving, and he wanted to show us that we deserve severe punishment. To demonstrate just how severe, he sent Jesus to suffer and die.

Thus, the crucifixion was meant to be a demonstration of the punishment that we all deserve. By giving us this demonstration, God hoped that we would realize the seriousness of our sins and reform ourselves. He could have actually punished us, and would have been justified in doing so, but decided to merely give us a warning, and let us have another chance.

This view was formulated by Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) and is subsequently found in Arminianism, Charles Finney, the New England Theology of Jonathan Edwards (the younger), and Methodism.

One problem with this theory is the fact that many people have lived and died without ever hearing about Jesus or the crucifixion, and therefore were never aware of God’s warning. Further many people who are aware of it, appear to disregard it.

The Governmental Theory and the Law of One

In a 1986 Q’uo channeling through Carla the Logos’ motivations in sending Jesus were addressed.

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The concept of the Christ was this—that intelligent infinity as experienced by the Logos and with the bias of the Logos would enter a third-density experience, not erasing the one known as Jesus’ personality or being, but coming into the closest possible harmony with that being. There needed to be one who wished to sacrifice an incarnation to the ever-increasing pleasure and agony of the Creator, experiencing what this instrument would call the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, for it is the nature of the Christ and the nature of third density that the two, perceiving each other, should react—the third density with a lack of understanding, and the Christ with wonder, joy and sacrifice. Such is the sorrow of your illusion and the joy of sensation and communion.

In the end, Jesus the man became so able to bear both joy and agony that this entity stopped experiencing the Creator and for long periods of time became the Creator experiencing third density. Such is the perfect channeling of love. The achievement of the perfect channeling was the mystery of union between Creator and illusion.

After this bonding, the burden of channeling rather rapidly began to tire the master teacher, Jesus. At the time of the crucifixion, as this instrument calls it, there were almost no tears left, …there was no companionship that had not been betrayed in one form or another. Nevertheless, Jesus the Christ lived well and did not stop the channeling until the breath left the physical vehicle. We witness to this Christ with thanksgiving and joy, …celebrating the Creator poured into a channel who could share in full the nature of the Logos, the nature of love, the Creator’s powerful, terrible love. (http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/1986/1986_1214.aspx)

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So, no sense of governmental administration or punishment was involved in sending Jesus to the earth according to Confederation sources.

6. The Christus Victor Theory

In 1931 Gustaf Aulen published the book Christus Victor, in which he argued that Jesus came to earth to defeat the evil forces that had gained control over us. To win our salvation, Jesus needed to overcome both Satan and death. The name Christus Victor, which means “Christ the Victor”, refers to his successful accomplishment of this task.

In some ways this theory is similar to the Ransom Theory, for it assumes that humankind had come under the control of the Devil after the sins of Adam and Eve caused God to abandon us. But in this theory, instead of God paying Satan a ransom for our release, Jesus freed us by directly defeating the Evil One. And his resurrection proved that death can also be conquered.

In his book Aulen argues that this was the original belief of the earliest Christians. It is also the basic belief of many modern Eastern Orthodox Christians, and in recent years it has become popular among some evangelical Christians.

The Christus Victor Theory and the Law of One

The metaphor of victory is used by Q’uo in a 2010 channeling by Carla.

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In the face of many seeming difficulties and disasters in your Earth world at this time it is easy to have fear. In the wake of so many theories about ascension and the “great rapture,” it is easy to have a fear that you shall not continue, or that you shall continue but be plucked from this place to a place of fire and brimstone. It is time to let those fears go, once and for all. As the poet said, “Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?”

We ask you not to be concerned about such things as the physical life or the physical death, for unconditional and absolute love is with you in this world and in larger life as well. So if love is within you, what does it matter whether you experience [it] as a physical being or as a spiritual being? For when that transition occurs, you know, and let it be beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you shall continue as citizens of eternity. {http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/issues/2010/2010_0123.aspx}

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So the victory is over our fear of death or separation and not over Satan per se. As noted previously, the Confederation view is that Satan is but a thought form and not an independent being requiring conquering. The Confederation group acknowledges war against the Orion group in the heavenlies, but it does not connect victory in this arena with the activity of Jesus. It would, however, acknowledge that Jesus’s example of love moves humankind more toward harvestability and thus freedom from the Orion group in the fourth density. Individually, Jesus inspires us to love, and that faith-filled love overcomes the efforts of the Orion group.

Some Important Nuances

Eastern Christianity

Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism have a substantively different theory of salvation than is typical in the west. This is sometimes cited as a core difference between Eastern and Western Christianity. In contrast to other forms of Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox tend to use the word “expiation” with regard to what is accomplished in a sacrificial act. In Orthodox theology, expiation is an act of offering that seeks to change the one making the offering. The Greek word that is translated expiation means “to make acceptable and enable one to draw close to God”. Thus the Orthodox emphasis would be that Christ died, not to appease an angry and vindictive Father, or to avert the wrath of God, but to change people so that they may become more like God

In Christian theology, particularly in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic theology, theosis, meaning divinization, or deification, or making divine, is the process within a believer that emulates the life example of Jesus Christ. It involves following the gospel of Christ in one’s daily life toward the end of becoming more Christlike. According to this doctrine, the holy life of God, given in Jesus Christ to the believer through the Holy Spirit, is experienced through the struggles of this life initially. This grows into an increased experience of God, and it is later consummated in the resurrection of the believer when the power of sin and death will lose hold over the believer forever. This last phase has much in common with one’s harvesting to fourth density in Confederation teaching.

Evangelical Understandings

Evangelicals tend to divide salvation into three phases: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. We begin the journey by receiving a free gift of being put right with God. Because it is a gift, it is not based on our merits or strivings; it is based upon the gift-giving and accepting heart of Christ illustrated in his willing sacrifice on the cross. The emphasis on the free gift nature of justification obviates our need to hold onto guilt or shame and invites us to open our heart, let go of our woundedness, and, like children, receive God’s unconditional love. This is justification. It requires no transformation effort on our part—just a free will invitation to God to do God’s work. God does the transformation.

Sanctification is the more effortful following of God and Christ through the subsequent years following justification. It is growth in the life of God. This involves, among other things, service to others and the manifestation of Christ-love within us.

Glorification is the transformation that occurs in the Christ follower at the end of the age or second coming of Christ. A renewed body is anticipated that will be like the one Jesus used following his resurrection. This body has what we would now call paranormal abilities. The Confederation describes fourth density bodies as having similar improvements.

An Archetypal Recapitulation Theory

Those who understand the archetypal psychology of Carl Jung will be pleased to know that Christianity includes an archetypal dimension in some understandings of atonement. This is implied in many of them but more overtly expressed in Irenaeus’ recapitulation theory.

St. Paul in Romans 6 teaches what are often called identification truths. He says that when a person is baptized or converted or justified, they go through a change internally. One identifies with Christ on the cross, in essence saying, “That is me.” They spend three days in the tomb while under the waters of baptism. Then, a believer becomes identified with the resurrected Christ, saying once again, “That is me.” These are what some teachers have called positional truths. In other words, they are true by spiritual fiat and not because of anything of which you might be personally conscious. It is part of who you are, just as a person who is adopted into a family is part of that family, no matter what they look like on the outside. The adoptee’s “position” and identity is that of a family member.

The same thing using terms of archetypal psychology, one would be to say that an archetypal shift occurred. Archetypes underpin our subjective sense of identity. The Pauline “new self” arrives first as an archetype, and it may take it some time to work its new patterns into our lives so that they are perceptible to our ego-selves. But the newly “downloaded” programs are “booted” and running in the background. As a result of this identification with Christ, the activity of the programs eventually will find its way to the surface and transform a person if they let them.

The church father, Irenaeus, (125 to 202 A.D.) promulgated an archetypal appreciation of atonement in what is called the Recapitulation Theory. He, like Paul, sees Christ as the new Adam, who systematically undoes the errors and limitations of the old Adam archetype. Thus, where Adam was disobedient concerning God’s edict concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Christ was obedient even to death on the tree of the cross. Whereas our body was born to decay, the resurrection body will transcend those limitations. Irenaeus drew similar comparisons between Eve and Mary, contrasting the faithlessness of the former with the faithfulness of the latter. In addition to reversing the wrongs done by Adam, Irenaeus thinks of Christ as “recapitulating” or “summing up” human life. To redeem fallen humanity during this age, God implants the Christ archetypal story into the collective soul of humankind. Christ is the second universal kind of human. This is the archetypal seed that is hidden in the ground of our being.

The method of growth and transformation is subtlety different in this understanding. Transformation of outward character happens when a person starts being who they already are. The true self is viewed at the Christ archetype within us, not our old, more limited way of being.  Spiritual development becomes the process of fully manifesting what we already are rather than striving or pretending to be something you are not. Blocks may need to be removed for the manifestation to occur, but this subtle shift of thought has great psychological significance.

It is easy at this point to see how the Law of One would dovetail with the recapitulation theory. If our basic identity is oneness with God, and if separation is an illusion caused by the veil, re-identifying with who we already are makes perfect sense. Ra’s suggested exercises do exactly this.

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Exercise One: The moment contains love.

Exercise Two: The universe is one being. When a mind/body/spirit complex views another mind/body/spirit complex, see the Creator.

Exercise Three: Gaze within a mirror. See the Creator.

Exercise Four: Gaze at the creation which lies about the mind/body/spirit complex of each entity. See the Creator.

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Conclusion

So are you saved? Are you reconciled to God? Has God’s atoning work taken place in your life? Or do you live with Ra outside of time and consider such questions irrelevant to your unitive thought forms? Whichever way it is that you perceive the gospel, may it continue to be Good News for you!

 

 

 

• Atonement
• Christianity
• Law of One