Re: Is there anything comparable to a spiritual journey that leads to heaven on earth
Actually, if one is a little more radical in their interpretation of the OT than Ben you get a different result. See
Heaven on Earth - Reflections on the theology of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe - Contemporary Works actually the entire Lubavitcher Rebbe's output is available on the web and quite interesting.
Pax et amore vincunt omnia!
Ah the Lubavitchers hey? I think they're probably the most interesting group on the planet, considering that they're probably more like the Nazarenes and early Christians than any Christian group in the world could ever hope to be.
They don't base their beliefs on gospels or epistles. No, they're a Hasidic sect. Their belief that their last Rebbe might be a messiah is what makes them so interesting. What if this explains how Christianity got started? What if we can finally figure out where many concepts in Christianity originated, so we don't have to dig up dead fossils?
What we need is right here, not in the past but in the present.
What's even more compelling is the Christian yearning for manifestations of "the true church" that had been lost so long ago ....... What if these Lubavitchers can "show us the way" (so to speak) on how to restore that church?
Maybe the Lubavitchers are a kind of "resurrection" (so to speak) of something deeply spiritual that had been lost long ago.
So many attempts to restore the "true church" have failed ...... the Catholic Church, Islam, the Mormon Church, Watchtower Society, the Sun Myung Moon cult and various other cults ...... they have all failed. They have all failed because ...... they tried to do it without Judaism.
If the Lubavitcher concept of "the kingdom of heaven" is the same as that taught by Jesus, then that may be what we need to complete the baptism of the world ......
Oh one more thing. Just another thought ......
I wonder if the Christian yearning for a restoration of the "true church" is a bit like the Jewish yearning for a restoration of the Temple of Jerusalem. Perhaps both will be restored when the messiah comes. If so, all attempts to restore the true church are futile just as all movements to restore the Temple are against the divine will. Only the messiah can restore both the Temple and the true church. We're both waiting for the same thing and we can't complete the deed ourselves ...... It doesn't mean we should do nothing. We should prepare ourselves for the coming of the messiah, but preparation does not equal completion.
