The Superlative Idea

By RE CASTEL

As I understand it—the knowledge of the truth is the knowledge of the superlative idea; becoming the superlative idea in each of us is getting closer to the truth; and finally being the superlative idea realizes in us the ultimate sense of the truth.

According to the well-reasoned religion, godhood is the superlative idea. God is good—absolutely good. And we are commanded to be good. The holy scriptures say "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Thus, we are enjoined to be good, even to be absolutely good. This presents the idea that we should try to become gods ourselves. And this is actually the doctrine taught in the holy scriptures. This is the Christian doctrine, the plain truth, the superlative idea.

In the scriptures Paul taught—"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."

To be clear about it, our minds mind thoughts. Paul said to let that mind be in us, the mind which was also in Christ Jesus, the mind that embraces the thought that it is not wrong to be a god like God.

As recorded in the Bible, this is clearly what the Lord Jesus Christ taught—for us to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, for us to become gods as God is.

The holy scriptures tell us that "God is God of gods", that "there are gods many and lords many", that human beings are the "offspring of God", that we may become "sons of God" like Jesus Christ who is the Firstborn Son of God, and that we may become gods like God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if we have the clever enough minds, this is telling us the anthropomorphic suggestion—that an infinite hosts of gods together govern the infinite totality of the existence and that God is in the same totality of the existence where all the infinite hosts of gods and where all of us anthropomorphs are in.

The desire for the sacred, the desire to be righteous, is the stimulus of true religion. We embrace religion because we desire, we like, we love the doctrine of righteousness—the doctrine of being good, the superlative idea.

But when the followers of religions do not have the superlative idea as their doctrine, they fear because they have only the deficient desires for their doctrines. Similarly, when the followers of religions are ignorant of the superlative idea, their desire becomes that of the unreasonable fanatic.

The worst circumstance is of course that of those who reject and deny the superlative idea. Because they refuse it, or ignore it, or defy it, eventually they become apathetic, unfeeling, past-feeling, and hence ultimately they embrace no good reason for their existence. Their senseless view becomes the argument that "We all die and that is that." And the "what if" of life after death is something they summarily ignore.

The apostate churches (e.g., Catholicism, Protestantism, and all other apostate churches) that have fallen away from the true Christian doctrine are clearly ignorant of the superlative idea. This is evidenced by the fact that none of these apostate churches preach that man can become gods.

If a church or religion is not preaching the superlative idea, then clearly it is not preaching the truth.

All the apostate churches in their blind monotheism, Islam in its 'shirk', and all other religions are far from the truth. They very clearly do not preach the superlative idea. Therefore, they do not preach the truth. They ignore the superlative idea; they ignore the truth; they are far from the truth. So, none of them can lead us to the ultimate, to the superlative, to the thorough prospects in our existence.

The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified because he had the mind for the thought that it is not robbery to be equal with God. Those who sentenced him to die on the cross said that his claim to godhood was "blasphemy". But sinless before God he was; and God raised the Sinless One from the grave and thereby ratified the superlative idea in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is Risen! And our Lord Jesus Christ claims us as part of the perfect reward for the work and the sinless sacrifice in the which he obeyed the will of God in everything. And the Lord Jesus Christ implores us to listen to him, our Advocate before God our Father. He beckons us to follow him who is the Great Exemplar; he is asking us to follow his ways and become like him, to be sons of God as he the Son of God is. This is the true Christian doctrine...

If trying to be good is good, then it must be that trying to be thoroughly good, to be another reality of the superlative idea, is best and is actually the absolutely sensible thing to do in this existence; anything less is a stupor of thought...

But sadly, only a few are inclined to believe in the superlative idea. There are more people who fear the ridicule of the proud in the world. And the proud, who think they know better, take pleasure in their ridicule of those who believe in the superlative idea.

The most proud of them all, Satan, continues to hinder the work of God. And he works hard to make man reject and deny the superlative idea. Satan uses the world religions to make man reject and deny the superlative idea. There is the blind monotheism in the apostate Judeo-Christian churches and there is 'shirk' in Islam; and there are the perversions of the superlative idea in the other religions. All of these try to hinder God's work to bring about the superlative idea in us.

But the strength of the reason and the sense in the superlative idea never falters for those who open their hearts and minds to the truth. No matter how much the forces of evil try to obscure it, the superlative idea, the truth stands out by its own merits.

I remember as a young man of about fourteen some thirty-seven years ago when I first encountered the superlative idea. Somebody told me that God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ has a father, and that His father also has a father, and so on ad infinitum, and that it is God's desire to make us as good as He is and hence each a god as He is.

I was stunned by the superlative idea. The idea made me tremble and made me scramble to ascertain its truth by the scriptures and by my own reasoning.

Sure enough I found the truth of the superlative idea by the scriptures. The scriptures declare that "there are gods many and lords many", that "God is God of gods", that Jesus affirms the idea saying "Ye are gods" according to the scriptures regarding those who received the affirmation of their godhood; and Jesus commands his disciples to be as perfect as God is; and the martyrs gave up their lives faithful in their hopes of their fulfillment into being sons of God.

My own reasoning pointed out to me that this is profoundly the most rational, the most logical, and the most sensible idea. This idea is in the scriptures. This idea is supremely good. And on its own merits, it simply couldn't be wrong.

Reason reveals that the gods could only be in absolute and eternal felicity; they have all the knowledge regarding the existence; they have all the powers to rule over all the existence; they can do all the good that only gods can do. Reason reveals that God has all the powers and thus He can make gods out of those whom He deems worthy of godhood.

So, details regarding the superlative idea came to mind. If in due time I was found worthy and God makes me a god, then when I am a god I couldn't possibly offend God because then I would be doing only all the good that a god does. The suggestion is also clear that all the other gods would also be doing only all the good there is; thus, none of the gods could possibly offend the other gods. And so, there is only the absolute felicity among the gods.

Evidently, the gods as gods are able to morefully glorify their gods. Our God, who is God of gods, is morefully glorified by the gods who submit to Him as their God; so, evidently, we who are God's children can morefully glorify our God if we are made gods. The idea is truly superlative.

Beyond the affirmation presented by the scriptures and the affirmation brought about by my own reasoning, the affirmation of the truth also came by the source that never fails—from the absolute witness that remains true, be it to glory or to damnation.

I cannot say that I have been as diligent as I should have been regarding the superlative idea since that time in my youth. But I can say that I now try to do all that I should and whatever I could in my full embrace of my hope regarding the superlative idea.

Part of the beauty of the superlative idea is that it is accessible to almost everyone, even to those who are of the most humble circumstance. And, in truth, the meekness of the humble is actually the first step in the way to the superlative idea. Add to that the earnest desire and perseverance, and then the core of our being tells us that eventually we will find the truth as did the great patriarch Abraham, who said—"Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee."

So, what place has the true church of God in view of the superlative idea?

The true church of God is established by the true priesthood authority from God. The priesthood in the true church of God administers the ordinances of the covenants between God and man. The true church of God is where man affirms his sacred and righteous desire for the superlative idea. The true church of God is where the holy covenants are sealed by the sacred authority exercised by the brethren of the priesthood. The true church of God embodies and administers the charted course—characterized by the six divinely instituted covenant ordinances that lead to the superlative idea.

God is not an author of confusion. Therefore, there can only be one and only one true church that bears the true priesthood authority from God. Reason tells us that the one and only true church that bears the true priesthood authority from God is the church where the power of the prieshood authority is evidenced by the truth it proclaims. The one and only true church preaches the thorough Christian doctrine, the truth in its fullness, the superlative idea.

For myself, understanding the superlative idea became easier because I have found the true church of God that preaches the superlative idea and what to do in order to achieve it. But trying to become the superlative idea is not easy. Lots of things hinder the process.

Many are the times that I ache because of my mistakes and misgivings. But there are those times when I also enjoy and am thankful of the triumphs and successes, even though they are only flickers of the superlative. And I am grateful of the knowledge that, in spite of whatever I lack after all that I can do in the process, still, I can hope in him who is my Lord and Advocate before God the Father.

The idea of "God, gods, and godhood for man" is the most well-reasoned proposition, the superlative idea. This is the true doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is, in the most thorough sense, the idea of the truth. Anything less than this is an infraction and may even be a defiance of the truth.

Few are those who believe in the superlative idea, and fewer are those who succeed in the struggle to embrace it. But in the judgement bar of the eternities, no one can describe the sorrows of those who never allowed themselves the belief, the sorrows of those who never tried the embrace of the superlative idea, and especially the sorrows of those who defied the plain truth.