1. For learning purposes, let us consider the crucifixion again. 2I did not dwell on it before because of the fearful connotations you may associate with it. 3The only emphasis laid upon it so far has been that it was not a form of punishment. 4Nothing, however, can be explained in negative terms only. 5There is a positive interpretation of the crucifixion that is wholly devoid of fear, and therefore wholly benign in what it teaches, if it is properly understood.
2. The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example. 2Its value, like the value of any teaching device, lies solely in the kind of learning it facilitates. 3It can be, and has been, misunderstood. 4This is only because the fearful are apt to perceive fearfully. 5I have already told you that you can always call on me to share my decision, and thus make it stronger. 6I have also told you that the crucifixion was the last useless journey the Sonship need take, and that it represents release from fear to anyone who understands it. 7While I emphasized only the resurrection before, the purpose of the crucifixion and how it actually led to the resurrection was not clarified then. 8Nevertheless, it has a definite contribution to make to your own life, and if you will consider it without fear, it will help you understand your own role as a teacher.
3. You have probably reacted for years as if you were being crucified. 2This is a marked tendency of the separated, who always refuse to consider what they have done to themselves. 3Projection means anger, anger fosters assault, and assault promotes fear. 4The real meaning of the crucifixion lies in the apparent intensity of the assault of some of the Sons of God upon another. 5This, of course, is impossible, and must be fully understood as impossible. 6Otherwise, I cannot serve as a model for learning.
4. Assault can ultimately be made only on the body. 2There is little doubt that one body can assault another, and can even destroy it. 3Yet if destruction itself is impossible, anything that is destructible cannot be real. 4Its destruction, therefore, does not justify anger. 5To the extent to which you believe that it does, you are accepting false premises and teaching them to others. 6The message the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not necessary to perceive any form of assault in persecution, because you cannot be persecuted. 7If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the destructible, and are therefore regarding yourself insanely.
5. I have made it perfectly clear that I am like you and you are like me, but our fundamental equality can be demonstrated only through joint decision. 2You are free to perceive yourself as persecuted if you choose. 3When you do choose to react that way, however, you might remember that I was persecuted as the world judges, and did not share this evaluation for myself. 4And because I did not share it, I did not strengthen it. 5I therefore offered a different interpretation of attack, and one which I want to share with you. 6If you will believe it, you will help me teach it.
6. As I have said before, “As you teach so shall you learn.” 2If you react as if you are persecuted, you are teaching persecution. 3This is not a lesson a Son of God should want to teach if he is to realize his own salvation. 4Rather, teach your own perfect immunity, which is the truth in you, and realize that it cannot be assailed. 5Do not try to protect it yourself, or you are believing that it is assailable. 6You are not asked to be crucified, which was part of my own teaching contribution. 7You are merely asked to follow my example in the face of much less extreme temptations to misperceive, and not to accept them as false justifications for anger. 8There can be no justification for the unjustifiable. 9Do not believe there is, and do not teach that there is. 10Remember always that what you believe you will teach. 11Believe with me, and we will become equal as teachers.
7. Your resurrection is your reawakening. 2I am the model for rebirth, but rebirth itself is merely the dawning on your mind of what is already in it. 3God placed it there Himself, and so it is true forever. 4I believed in it, and therefore accepted it as true for me. 5Help me to teach it to our brothers in the name of the Kingdom of God, but first believe that it is true for you, or you will teach amiss. 6My brothers slept during the so-called “agony in the garden,” but I could not be angry with them because I knew I could not be abandoned.
8. I am sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one Voice, because it weakens them as teachers and as learners. 2Yet I know they cannot really betray themselves or me, and that it is still on them that I must build my church. 3There is no choice in this, because only you can be the foundation of God’s church. 4A church is where an altar is, and the presence of the altar is what makes the church holy. 5A church that does not inspire love has a hidden altar that is not serving the purpose for which God intended it. 6I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. 7Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him.
9. I elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, does not matter. 2As the world judges these things, but not as God knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. 3It was clear that this was only because of the projection of others onto me, since I had not harmed anyone and had healed many.
10. We are still equal as learners, although we do not need to have equal experiences. 2The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn from mine, and be reawakened by them. 3That is their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the way, the truth and the life. 4When you hear only one Voice you are never called on to sacrifice. 5On the contrary, by being able to hear the Holy Spirit in others you can learn from their experiences, and can gain from them without experiencing them directly yourself. 6That is because the Holy Spirit is one, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate His way for all.
11. You are not persecuted, nor was I. 2You are not asked to repeat my experiences because the Holy Spirit, Whom we share, makes this unnecessary. 3To use my experiences constructively, however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them. 4My brothers and yours are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. 5My one lesson, which I must teach as I learned it, is that no perception that is out of accord with the judgment of the Holy Spirit can be justified. 6I undertook to show this was true in an extreme case, merely because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those whose temptation to give in to anger and assault would not be so extreme. 7I will with God that none of His Sons should suffer.
12. The crucifixion cannot be shared because it is the symbol of projection, but the resurrection is the symbol of sharing because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to enable the Sonship to know its Wholeness. 2Only this is knowledge.
13. The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear:
2Teach only love, for that is what you are.
14. If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. 2The Apostles often misunderstood it, and for the same reason that anyone misunderstands it. 3Their own imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear they spoke of the “wrath of God” as His retaliatory weapon. 4Nor could they speak of the crucifixion entirely without anger, because their sense of guilt had made them angry.
15. These are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, although its gospel is really only the message of love. 2If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.” 3This is clearly the opposite of everything I taught. 4Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas as they did, if they had really understood me. 5I could not have said, “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” unless I believed in betrayal. 6The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did not. 7The “punishment” I was said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar mistake. 8Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. 9Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?
16. As you read the teachings of the Apostles, remember that I told them myself that there was much they would understand later, because they were not wholly ready to follow me at the time. 2I do not want you to allow any fear to enter into the thought system toward which I am guiding you. 3I do not call for martyrs but for teachers. 4No one is punished for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners. 5Any concept of punishment involves the projection of blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified. 6The result is a lesson in blame, for all behavior teaches the beliefs that motivate it. 7The crucifixion was the result of clearly opposed thought systems; the perfect symbol of the “conflict” between the ego and the Son of God. 8This conflict seems just as real now, and its lessons must be learned now as well as then.
17. I do not need gratitude, but you need to develop your weakened ability to be grateful, or you cannot appreciate God. 2He does not need your appreciation, but you do. 3You cannot love what you do not appreciate, for fear makes appreciation impossible. 4When you are afraid of what you are you do not appreciate it, and will therefore reject it. 5As a result, you will teach rejection.
18. The power of the Sons of God is present all the time, because they were created as creators. 2Their influence on each other is without limit, and must be used for their joint salvation. 3Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are meaningless. 4The separation is the notion of rejection. 5As long as you teach this you will believe it. 6This is not as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to know Him again.
19. Remember that the Holy Spirit is the Communication Link between God the Father and His separated Sons. 2If you will listen to His Voice you will know that you cannot either hurt or be hurt, and that many need your blessing to help them hear this for themselves. 3When you perceive only this need in them, and do not respond to any other, you will have learned of me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am.