Salvation Or Karma?

Salvation is not Personal and Exclusive

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D.

April 24, 2022

Salvation is Social and Inclusive

I admire people who have already designed a formula and algorithm for their own salvation, true to what the Bible says:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” ~ Philippians 2:12.

But we’re also judged by the number of souls we save in the process. For salvation is familial, tribal, communal, and social. We are to invite others along with us in our ascent to a higher realm of life and existence.

Salvation urges us to tag along with all the members of our family, including our grandchildren, our clan and tribe, our friends, our other loved ones, including the pets in our household.

Again, salvation is personal. One might have its own tested formula for his or her own salvation. But you cannot impose your own-made formula, even if inspired, on others.

Others have their own beliefs and experiences in life too. To insist your formula on them, can only spell disaster. For you could be guilty of the following:

(1) First: Convincing (as in brainwashing or forcing, even harassing and threatening or bribing) others to accept your own personal beliefs and experiences on others.

Then announced to the public that: “The decision was theirs. They voluntarily accept the beliefs preached in the Church. They were not imposed on them.”

“How would you personally react if others would do the same thing to you? How did you react when your presidential choice had been attacked? How did you react when your religion and God had been severely criticized and lambasted?

This was done to me.

I engaged in argumentation and debate. I insisted. The other insisted. In the end, nothing happened. It only triggered animosity and hostility between us.

Then, I immersed myself in silence and solitude, searching for lessons I could learn from that rather combative encounter. Even in such humbling, utterly bad, and uncompromising situations, something instructive and enlightening can emerge.

These confrontational encounters cannot be avoided. They come to us almost daily from people we meet. But I learned my lessons.

On a global scale, how did the people react when there was a violation of the international law of the seas? How did the UN member-states react when Russia invaded Ukraine?

On a cosmic scale, nations still need to learn their lessons instead of killing one another.

(2) Second: Wanting to place others in your place, wear the same color of shoes and clothing, and tread on the same path you’re walking on, not realizing that others are stepping on different pathways, sporting different uniforms with different colors, textures, symbols, and sizes.

(3) Third: Passionately clinging to what you believe can save you and simply ignore others. But once again, my friends, salvation is social.

We owe it to our Creator to bring precious gifts to Him, just as the Magi did to the Child Jesus.

And what precious gifts of greatest value there can be, than souls saved because we willingly offered ourselves as instruments of salvation.

Salvation or Karma?

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D.

October 6, 2023

The term “salvation” is multi-dimensional in its meaning and can be interpreted in so many ways. The Bible constantly speaks about salvation in the context of some straightforward and concrete relationships — between humans and God, between human beings, and between human beings and nature.

Sin connotes separation from God and somebody separated from God is in distress and in need of a rescuer, deliverer, and savior. In Christian teaching, sin is considered a deliberate action that goes against God’s laws. And the wages of sin are unbelievably heavy.

Matthew 25:41 - “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Revelation 20:15 - And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Jude 1:7 - Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 - They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

I find this teaching quite contentious. Again, what kind of God it is that condemns its children to eternal destruction? Even animals show deep signs of affection and love for their weak offspring. Can we afford to let our children suffer for eternity?

And the Christian God is supposed to be a loving, not a wicked, God. Is not this loving God instilling fear in us instead? Matthew 10:28 - And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 25:40 - ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

If we go by this admonition sin is essentially a heinous act against each other.

We have sinned because we are killing each other, manipulating and exploiting one another. We have sinned because we still harbor negative feelings of anger, hatred, revenge, resentment, guilt, or shame in us. In this sense, we have erred against God.

All this negativity and toxicity (sin in the view of Christians) are acts of our own doing, not anybody else's doing. While God may create evil (Isaiah 45:7), it is not the cause for our doing evil deeds.

In ancient knowledge, atoning for one's “sin” is an act of paying for one’s bad deeds by doing good ones until all the bad ones are deleted from one’s system of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Then, we are bringing ourselves back to the Source. So, if one is able to pay its debts every day or every moment in time (not only on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligations), the faster is the paying of our karmic debts. And the faster we become worthy of communing with the Source.

One cannot enter even the 5th dimension if one still carries those negative and toxic debts it encountered in the lower-level density. Otherwise, one will just be contaminating the 5-D residents with whatever virus the 4-D soul is carrying.

One has to be vaccinated first and the best place to vaccinate oneself is to reincarnate back to Earth. There is no salvation involved here strictly speaking such that one is rewarded if it is successful or condemned if it fails.

There is no need for a savior. If there is, the savior is yourself. But you’re not saving yourself, simply paying for the bad things you had done in the past. What one is doing is essentially paying past karmic debts since these are acts of our own personal doings.

I cannot save you since they are not my debts. You can borrow money from me but just the same, you will have to pay me. What will happen is that you will just be accumulating more karmic debts since you have the responsibility to pay me.

The game of life is not about salvation but about paying our debts. We have debts because we cause harm and injury to others. We have debts because we cause harm and injury to ourselves. We have debts because we are not paying our debts. It is our responsibility to pay all our debts by doing good deeds.

And what better way to pay our karmic debts than to reincarnate on Earth and confront those individuals we have “sinned” with the view of “paying” them?

And what better way to pay our karmic debts than to reincarnate on Earth and confront ourselves to resolve those negative feelings we still harbor within us?

And what better way to pay our karmic debts than to reincarnate on Earth and resolve those issues we committed against Nature, against the plants, insects, animals, rivers, and forests?

A challenge to each one of us, including me.

The Principle of Cause and Effect

by Paul J. Dejillas

May 9, 2022

The principle of physics states that for every cause, there is an effect and vice versa. For every effect, there is a cause. Nobody moves if there is no mover. There is no such thing as an unmoved mover.

There is continuity. No gaps. This is the old classical Newtonian physics.

In quantum physics, things are no longer continuous and linear. Things are discrete. They can jump from one place to another with no traces or footprints in between. Things can appear in one place, disappear in an instant, and appear instantly in another region of space and time across the globe, even across planets, stars, and galaxies.

This is called quantum jump, quantum leap, or quantum entanglement.

The leap or jump happens at light speed or even faster than light.

There is no mover, there is no moved. Nobody is moved and nobody moves. Everything is just flowing like a river moved by its own stream or current. But there is no more distinction between the stream or current and the river. The two have become one and the same.

In effect, there is no more space. There is no more time. Space and time become irrelevant and meaningless.

Things transcend time and space.

There is only infinity. Particles and events are no longer localized. They can appear anywhere in the region of space and time. You can approximate where they are. That they are in this particular space and time dimension. But they could not also be there. Because they can be anywhere in space and time.

Things and events become omnipresent. They are everywhere. They can be here, there, and everywhere, this time or that time, and even any time dimension.

The Big Bang theory that created our universe, was caused by a series of big bangs that happened in the past. But there must be a point that we should stop this cycle of no-cause no-effect, no-beginning-no-end conundrum. What hinders Carl Sagan from asking: “Who caused God?” “Who caused the Cosmos we are living in?”

Who can prevent us from raising the fact that the Cosmos and its laws are all there is to it? It has existed, it exists and will continue to exist for eternity. It is self-creative, self-nourishing, self-animating, self-sustaining, and self-destructive.

The same thing in religion, God is the unmoved mover. He was not moved because there was nothing that existed to move it. Outside God, there is nothing. God is all there is in the universe.

While science and religion differ in their approach, theories, speculations, and stories, they exhibit some parallelisms and similarities. In spite of their uniqueness and distinctness, they have some commonalities although expressed and revealed in different parlance or human lingo.

And each of their creation has a purpose. But we don’t know their purpose because of our finiteness. They are immortal and we are mortal.

Salvation

by Paul J. Dejillas

May 9, 2022

In case of an emergency landing, the father or mother must first put on their oxygen mask before they put on the oxygen mask of the child that rides with them in an airplane.

Save yourself first, before saving others. For how can you save others when you yourself are not saved yet? We can argue philosophically and theologically, even anthropologically.

In science, how can you give energy to others, when your energy is getting low? Before you can give energy to others, you must first replenish your dissipating energy by plugging your diminishing battery to the source of energy.

This is one way of saving others. And what is the surer way to save others than to save those that are nearer to us—our family, FB friends, students, and those we come into contact daily?

The world we are each living in is a small world. I have no ambitions of reaching farther out of my own little world. I cannot hope to save our leaders, our politicians. I don’t have a direct contact with them. If I intend to, I must connect with somebody who are directly connected to them. But this is not me.

They have to be concerned with their own salvation. If their salvation is not their priority, then, it’s their problem, not me. I don’t bother myself saving them. My family, my neighbors, students, FB friends, is more than enough challenge for me. But I have greater hope of success. I better focus myself on those whom I am in contact with every day of my life.

I’m reminded of the life of Jesus. He did not solve all the problems of the world. He saved us from sin, yes, but we have to work in out ourselves. Instead, he multiplied himself. He handpicked 12 apostles and continue the process of salvation. To this day, the process started by Jesus continues through the successors of Peter, at least as far as the Catholics are concerned.

Yes, salvation continues. And it is not personal but social. We continue to save ourselves and we continue to save others in our own limited way. I just want to save myself first and in saving myself, I want also to save others. Then, my salvation becomes the salvation of others within my reach. If it goes beyond my reach, then, it’s a bonus, a gift, a miracle from the divine, not of my own doing.

In science, this is the so-called synergistic effect of the efforts contributed by the individuals involved in the process of salvation. It is more than the sum of the individuals added up together. The synergistic effect is not arithmetical. It is geometric, it is exponential. It multiples a hundred or thousand times than the sum of its parts. It can even be raised to the highest power, which is infinity.

In this way, we can be caring for our salvation and that of our nearest kin. And we can also be caring for the salvation of our political and religious leaders, and those who are in power for the next six years. Even if we are not conscious of this. But the divine being up there is making us an instrument of his salvation, even after the death of his Son on the cross.

The Father Almighty may have abandoned us, as Jesus cried out to his Father. But still, we can shout with him before our last breath and say: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. The last breath is the time the spirit leaves the body.

Who Will Save Us?

March 7, 2022

Our atmosphere is getting denser and denser everyday. Our minds are polluted by what is going on around us. Our thoughts are not so clear anymore, clouded as they are by the negativities and toxicities hovering in our atmosphere and around us.

There are so many fake news, twisted news, corrupted news, lies, deceptions, illusions going on around us that it's now hard to discern which among them is true and which is fake, which among them is good and which is bad for the people.

Agencies conducting pulse surveys and Gallup polls are now proliferating. These are, of course, helpful in formulating our own individual opinions. But they can also be a way of conditioning the people's minds. In the end, we have to decide whether to believe in them or not.

Political parties are all the same. They differ only in the intensity and frequency of their colorful public displays and parades. This is common during electoral races. Yet, the people remain poor and oppressed, ruled by leaders who are only after of their own misguided interests.

Some have already left their country to free themselves from so many dictators. Others, with nowhere to go, sweat it out and simply suffer in silence, knowing very well that they're being slowly grilled to their death.

Who will liberate our people from their sufferings?

The Israelites had to flee out of Egypt against a dictator and tyrant. They were lucky. They had Moses guided by Yahweh along the desert crossing the Red Sea to Sinai, the Land Promised.

“When he saw the grief upon us, in his heart there burned a flame…his eyes are full of light… he's come for you and me … to drive away the night.

“On his lips a word is singing, and the word is Liberty…. to stir the souls of men … [who] will follow him to freedom … never wear those chains again.”

But who will speak the word of liberty for us? Who will stir our souls to freedom never to wear our chains again?

Will it be Elon Musk? Biden? Putin? Xiaoping? Harris? Hilary? Will it be Leni? BBM? Sarah? Pacquiao? Isko Moreno?

Let’s not expect much after the election. Whoever will be elected among them, the people will remain poor. It can be worse. The informal sector and the middle class will eventually become an endangered species, devoured by the mega malls, big establishments, and real-estate development that will continue to expand across the archipelago in the next 50 years.

In the absence of a comprehensive and massive skills-retraining programs to address the emerging demands for highly specialized types of labor, people will continue to be marginalized in the mainstream economy. Unemployment will exacerbate.

There’s no concept of common good in our leadership and governance. Those in power have their own agenda, interests, and priorities to protect.

Abandoned and cast off in the wilderness, we the people will continue to be deceived, exploited, disenfranchised in between electoral races, only to be herded and fed sumptuously again by this or that politician during election time.

Maybe, not all is hopeless. My cosmic, astrological and atmospheric readings as well as our moon-based tidal movements indicate that planetary alignments are all favorable for a rainbow to appear.

Who knows, the end of the rainbow might just fall in front of you. You might hit the pot of gold, a jackpot on the 9th of May 2022. Grab it to pay your debts and save until the next electoral exercise. And don’t forget to shell out to those who are not so lucky enough to win the electoral mega lotto.

The Thief Mentality

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - March 9, 2022

Is the thief mentality a way to justify our misdeeds without sacrificing our Christian principles and morality?

As Proverb 6:30 says: “People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.”

Can this be taken as a justification for the poor and the hungry not to take up arms, which is nothing anyway compared to the huge armories of politicians? In this sense, can we say that Christian principles and morality are still preserved as our moral guide?

The hungry and starving is indeed favored by the Lord Jesus, given life today by the Church’s Option for the Poor.

Imagine myself, being their good protective pastor, beer-belly at that, donning my colorful vestment and crown tiara, with a big diamond ring on my finger, riding on a limousine, owning a big jumbo jet, summoning my legionnaires to go out and knock on everybody’s doors around the world asking for donations, telling them that it’s ok because it’s what the Lord says!

But look what verse 31 of the same book says!: “Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold though it costs him all the wealth of his house.”

Yes, if one is caught, he or she must dispose all of his family’s wealth and possessions as payment to the aggrieved and its family and the latter’s generations. So stern a warning indeed!

So stern that I can even justify myself saying to the law enforcers: “It’s my legionnaires doing it. Do not despise me!”

So long as you are not caught in flagrante delicto, as lawyers would say, then, you’re fine.

Can we invoke the Bible then to justify stealing, even bloodshed and killing in the name of hunger and starvation?

Does this justification also apply to those holding powers in government who have been enjoying their fat pork barrels since they entered politics?

Certainly, not. As the Lord himself said:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" (Matthew 19:24).

At times, it’s difficult to read the Lord’s mind. For he could be most merciful and forgiving at the same time, even though we have rebelled against him:

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more ..." “Then he adds: Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Daniel 9:9).

I know that the Lord loves us so much that he even willingly offered his life on the cross for us. But at the same time his words are often used to justify one’s action, mostly for one’s misdeeds.

And this is what’s happening today.

Legionnaires are even replaced with more effective collectors like the SEC registered Foundations and NGOs that both politicians and religious leaders owned and established for their own unfettered interests.

As I said, I do not doubt the Lord. Exegetes and theologians must have long explanations for his teachings. But they have also a lot of explaining to do to the people today.

The pulpit, their examples, and the social media are the best means to spread the real message of the Lord.

In the meantime, I’ll remain myself cloistered in my little room reflecting on the questions:

“Is my hunger and starvation real or fake? Am I the hungry parishioner of his flock or the fat-belly shepherd referred to in this article?

Timely for the Lenten season and the ongoing electoral race.

Salvation is not Personal and Exclusive. It is Social and Inclusive

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - April 24, 2022

I admire people who have already designed a formula and algorithm for their own salvation, true to what the Bible says:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” ~ Philippians 2:12.

But we’re also judged by the number of souls we save in the process. For salvation is familial, tribal, communal, and social. We are to invite others along with us in our ascent to a higher realm of life and existence.

Salvation urges us to tag along all the members of our family, including our grandchildren, our clan and tribe, our friends, our other loved ones, including the pets in our household.

Again, salvation is personal. One might have its own tested formula for his or her own salvation. But you cannot impose your own-made formula, even if inspired, on others.

Others have their own beliefs and experiences in life too. To insist your formula on them, can only spell disaster. For you could be guilty of the following:

(1) First: Convincing (as in brainwashing or forcing, even harassing and threatening or bribing) others to accept your own personal beliefs and experiences on others.

Then announce to the public that: “The decision was theirs. They voluntarily accept the beliefs preached in Church. They were not imposed on them.”

“How would you personally react if others would do the same thing to you? How did you react when your presidential choice had been attacked? How did you react when your religion and God had been severely criticized and lambasted?

This was done to me.

I engaged in argumentation and debate. I insisted. The other insisted. In the end, nothing happened. It only triggered animosity and hostility between us.

Then, I immerse myself in silence and solitude, searching for lessons I could learn from that rather combative encounter. Even in such humbling, utterly bad and uncompromising situations, something instructive and enlightening can emerge.

This confrontational encounters cannot be avoided. They come to us almost daily from people we meet. But I learned my lessons.

On the global scale, how did the people react when there was violation in the international law of the seas? How did the UN member-states react when Russia invaded Ukraine?

On a cosmic scale, nations still need to learn their lessons instead of killing one another.

(2) Second: Wanting to place others on your place, wear the same color of shoes and clothings, and tread on the same path you’re walking on, not realizing that others are stepping on different pathways, sporting different uniforms with different colors, textures, symbols, and sizes.

(3) Third: Passionately clinging to what you believe can save you and simply ignore others. But once again, my friends, salvation is social.

We owe it to our Creator to bring precious gifts to Him, just as the Magi did to the Child Jesus.

And what precious gifts of greatest value there can be, than souls saved because we willingly offered ourselves as instruments of salvation.

Salvation and Where’s Our Savior?

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - March 6, 2022

Covid has really demoted our status from saints to ordinary citizens willing, like sheep, to be led to our slaughter.

The Google dictionary defines salvation to mean save, rescue, protect, avoid, deliver from, etc. But to be saved from what? fire? earthquake? Injury? Harm?

The Firetruck? Ambulance? Are we sure it will come to save us?

There’s a saying that still remains to be true: “Johnny come lately” that originated in the United States during the 1800s, the earliest known use found in the 1839 novel The Adventures of Harry Franco by Charles Frederick Briggs.

Yes, they usually come in late. Most likely, the fire or earthquake has already subsided, people buried in the ashes of the aftermath. What was once a project to save lives has turned into “Save and Rescue Mission", then into “Rehabilitation”, “Reconstruction“, or “Rebuilding from the Ashes” of the former occupants or civilization.

Or do we want to be saved from death?

Come to think of it. Nobody can save us from death. Whether we like it or not, we will die. Nobody can die for us.

I only know of the Prophet Elijah, Master Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary who escaped death. The legendary figure Gilgamesh tried his best to be given that seed of immortality so he can escape death and be like the gods and goddesses. But he failed.

Or do we want to be saved from temptations and sins?

God did not protect Job from temptations and sins. It even allowed the monstrous Devil to tempt him and commit sin. Nobody wants to save us from temptations. On the contrary, everybody is trying to tempt us daily. We’re on our own.

How about salvation? Is what we witness today a result of God’s wrath? Or is it because of our own wrongdoings? Who can save us from all this then?

It’s all our mistake, an error in our judgement either because we simply ignore doing the will of God or simply because we are just lazy enough to do anything at all to transform ourselves and our society.

Or we simply act and move like humanoids, automatons, or robots whose thinking, feeling, and behavior are dictated by the laws of physics, not bothering to be aware and conscious of our spiritual origins.

If indeed this is the case, then, yes, we need a savior. But who can best save us? It’s again our choice.

We can wait for the second coming of God: “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).

But when is He coming?

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

Some are taking advantage of the situation by amassing themselves with wealth and power, establishing Kingdoms and Empires by invading and conquering other nations.

Other nations have already sold their souls to their neighbors for fear of being eaten and devoured by them. Or they have joined them in partaking the booty that goes with the building of Kingdoms and Empires.

This is what’s happening in the world today.

We cannot blame the tempter or temptress. But we’re not like Job who successfully resisted the devil’s temptations. We are not like Master Jesus. The wealth and power of the whole world is just too attractive.

I rest my case.

I am still in a long journey to saving myself, rather than wait on the intercession of God or the Devil. For after all what’s happening to us today is Man’s own doing and I have contributed badly and regretfully to it.

Yet I know this is giving me an opportunity to make amends before my God to whom I am solely responsible as well as the opportunity to know my role and responsibilities towards myself, my society, and my surroundings.

Let’s all be thankful that we’re alive at this time and place when and where we can contribute to the turning of the tides of history. We may not see the world we’re crafting for the future but at least we are doing our part, however insignificant on the grand scale it is.

See you in the future, wherever it may be.

Rewriting the New Salvation History of Humanity

January 3, 2022

I don't celebrate New Year the Chinese way, not because I'm ignoring it but the Chinese New Year still begins on February 1, Tuesday. The tiger is not yet around to charm us. In the meantime, the ox still reigns supreme.

"People born in the Year of the Ox are strong, reliable, fair and conscientious, inspiring confidence in others. They are also calm, patient, methodical and can be trusted. Although they say little they can be very opinionated."

Frankly, I like the ox more than the tiger. "People born in a year of the Tiger are brave, competitive, unpredictable, and confident. They are very charming and well-liked by others. But sometimes they are likely to be impetuous, irritable, and overindulgent."

So, in the meantime, why not excite ourselves the Christian way this New Year? And what better way to do it than by, once again, reflecting on our mysterious appearance on this Planet Earth from the perspective of the Old Testament Bible. This one can be very disturbing but I want to spew this thought-provoking theory of mine out of my mouth.

We are told that the Great Flood wiped out everything except those saved by Noah in his Ark. Was the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, Bhagavad Gita, Pali Canon, including all other holy scriptures of other religious beliefs and traditions, also part of those saved? WHAT IF they were not saved? This is highly possible because there was no biblical narrative of them being saved by Noah.

How then did we get the Old Testament Bible in its present form today? Did Noah memorize everything in it and rewrite it sometime later after the Great Flood? In what language did he pen it? What kind of paper did he use? How long did it take Noah to rewrite it?

True, the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert dates back to the last three centuries BCE. But it did not contain the complete works of the five books (Pentateuch). Besides, assembling and decoding the little biblical fragments discovered, remains controversial even among Christians, their authenticity and veracity even questioned.

Tradition and culture are another way of transmitting ancient beliefs and theories through generations. There are thousands and millions of them narrated as "once-upon-a-time" stories and legends scattered across the globe. And there were no biblical references at all that these legendary stories were collected and deposited in the Ark of Noah.

Was it possible then that, without Noah's knowledge, some extraterrestial beings hid several copies of the Holy Books and gave them to Noah later, just as Yahweh appeared to Moses in Mount Sinai? If so, who were these extraterrestrials? Where are they now? What kind of life and civilization do they have? Are these ETs still communicating with us to this day?

If the Old Testament (and other Holy Scriptures) tells about humanity's salvation history, we owe it to our next generations to explain this gap. Salvation history, as it has been unveiling to us, is happening in leaps and jumps since the Mesopotamian era. There are so many gaps and missing links between epochs.

Is this perhaps one of the main reasons why the Council of Trent was convened to narrate its salvation history centered on the writings allegedly about Jesus but written mostly by authors who have never seen Christ?

What really happened in between periods? Why the discontinuities? Were they intentionally designed to retain that aura of mystery and magic that continue to baffle our lives today? Can we not have a salvation history that is not discrete, but continuous?

How do we explain all this? How can we fill the gap and emptiness we are all experiencing now in our salvation history? Many of what used to fill and satisfy our lives in the past have become under attack during the 20th century and made more acute during the past two years of global pandemic, with no signs of abating.

According to recent bible scholars and exegetes, the Book of Genesis was written during the time of Moses who lived about 1550 to 1200 B.C. Assuming that this is accurate, then, as per my reckoning, this puts the appearance of the Book of Genesis at around 3,000 years after the first Sumerian legend appeared.

Not only this, the Book of Genesis also came at about 3,000 years before the New Testament was written in its present form. Interestingly enough, we are already in the Third Millennium, 3,000 years, after the New Testament was compiled in 381 A.D. It's high time we have a new salvation history, a history of how our New World today evolved and how we are transformed in the process, in our ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Coming up with a New Bible is all too-important to humanity. For, after all, our salvation history is not yet finished and we cannot just continue using ancient texts that are already made irrelevant by the passage of time and drastic changes of events happening all around us today.

In the event that a New Salvation History will be written, will this be presented in a religious context that expects again of the Second Coming of a Savior? Or will the Savior be coming from among us?

In any case, who will direct the salvation history of the next generations? Can we find other personages at least on par with the caliber of Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, or Buddha? Will it be Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Rodrigo Duterte, or any of the prominent leaders across the globe who are making significant contributions to our world history?

How about Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Gregori Rasputin, Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Napoleon Bonaparte, Fidel Castro, Sadam Hussein, as well as Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Mozart, Beethoven, Hegel, Rene Descartes, Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Edgar Cayce. Will the history of their lives be incorporated also?

How about us, ordinary people, who are both the subject and object of salvation? Will our lives (our longings, aspirations, poverty, sufferings, joys) be written and placed at the center of salvation history? More importantly, who will do the writing and explanation?

Maybe, we can start writing our own individual story based on our knowledge and experience of our recent history and on those directly revealed to each one of us. We can incorporate in our story, the lives of our family, work mates, leaders, and the entire humanity.

Come one, come all. Everybody is invited to write a new story about the appearance of our New Cosmos and humanity. We're in fact already writing what we're doing now in our places of work, in the streets, and halls of justice through mainstream and social media. We owe this as a legacy to our children.

Somebody from the next generations will collate our writings and compile them to form the New Salvation History of Humanity.

Who Will Save Us from Poverty and Suffering?

Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - October 22, 2021