Upon the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses...

"Upon the mouth of two witnesses and three witnesses every spoken word will be made to stand." -2 Corinthians 13:1, Deuteronomy 19:15

"Because where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there I am in the middle of them." Matthew 18:20

One of the most striking things when one reads the Gospel of Buddha, or the Tao Te Ching, or even in Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita is how much agreement there is with the Biblical Scriptures in many places. There is disagreement to be sure, but that there is agreement at all should give one pause to think and reflect. Lately, I've been reading a book called "The Enlightenment Project," which is about the author's findings and techniques he learned after spending decades interviewing "enlightened" people such as Mother Theresa, the Dali Lama, Ram Dass and others. The chapter I just read this morning was about what he called "Relationship Yoga," and about using one's intimate relationship to further their progress along the road to enlightenment or awakening. Thing of it is, I am finding that several of the things he says are things which I have heard coming from my own mouth when counseling relationships, things which I could and can take no credit for at the time but the Spirit of Christ was doing the speaking, and what I read in this chapter feels like it echoes Paul's sentiments in the beginning of 1 Corinthians 7.
      If God is who the Scriptures says He is, then doesn't it follow that He would have communicated to those who diligently sought Him, even like Abraham not really knowing who they were seeking or following, and that what they left behind would have reflected that in some way? As Christians, we tend to forget what the Scriptures themselves say regarding the agreement of witnesses as applied to various spiritual writings from around the world. When both Jesus and Buddha say similar or even the same things, we need to pay attention. When the Tao Te Ching and John the Apostle are describing similar concepts, we need to recognize that it might be the same Mind behind both. Or even when the writings of the Stoics reflected the same Mind behind Paul's writings, shouldn't we sit up at take notice? Where two or three witnesses are in agreement, then we need to listen, pay attention, and take their testimony seriously.
     It is my opinion that the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the Old and New Testaments must be given priority over all others (Prima Scriptura), but that when those others agree then the same Mind behind them must be recognized. When the priority is placed on love, compassion, mercy, and the letting go of one's ego or self in spiritual writings the world over including in the New Testament, doesn't it follow that God was revealing Himself to those other people in ways that they could digest, even if that revelation might not have been to the full extent as was given to the descendants of Abraham? Yes, He spoke to them face to face and they received His direct rule, attention, prophets, and more. Does that imply that He spoke to no one else who might have been seeking Him even not knowing His name? Jesus Himself said He had other sheep who weren't from Judea's fold. He had other sheep who would recognize His voice and follow it. How would they have recognized His voice if they hadn't heard it before?
     Christians tend to run the risk of the same exclusivity which characterized the Judeans of the 1st Century. We tend to think that we alone have the Scriptures. We alone have the Christ. We alone have the truth. We do indeed have all of these things, and yet the same warning Paul gives in Romans 2 applies to us as well. And the same warning Jesus gives to the Judeans, "God can raise up sons of Abraham from these rocks here." God can provide for Himself "Christians" from the rocks outside. Just because you believe, just because you attend a church, or were born into a "Christian" culture means nothing except that you had certain advantages. How have you made use of them? Is God Himself confined to only "Christian" things? As Paul also wrote describing us as wild branches which have been grafted into a cultivated olive tree, if He did not spare the natural branches, then be careful, He may not spare you either, "Christian" or not.
      Where there is agreement, we need to sit up and pay attention, because God is trying to tell us something important.