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Ask the Author: Rev. Ed Townley, Author of Kingdom Come
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Ed Townley has been a Unity minister for more than 20 years, after an earlier career as an actor, director and playwright. He has served congregations in Beaverton, Oregon; Chicago, Illinois, and Dallas, Texas. He most recently served as senior minister at Unity of
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Hartford in South Windsor, Connecticut. Townley is the author of Meditations on the Mount (later released in paperback as The Secret According to Jesus). He is the host of The Bible Alive! on Unity Online Radio. He lives in Manchester, Connecticut, with his partner in ministry,
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a Welsh corgi named Bentley. Townley responds to requests for Bible interpretation on Unity’s website, www.unity.org.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
What makes Revelation so scary? Aren’t most of us beyond believing in giant locusts, seven-‐headed dragons, and other monsters?
I am passionate about the Bible as a practical and positive metaphysical guide to the spiritual journey each of us is here to accomplish. Charles Fillmore [co-‐founder of the Unity movement] described it as our spiritual textbook, which must mean that all of it, properly understood, is intended to encourage our creative spiritual progress. But, by allowing conservative Christians to interpret the Book of Revelation as an affirmation of their own negative and judgmental beliefs, many others are discouraged from venturing anywhere near the final book of the Bible. However, to be fearful of any part of the Bible is to turn its positive message into an energy of darkness and punishment. So I think it’s important that we examine the apparent negativity and fearful imagery of the Revelation so that we can appreciate how solidly it aligns with the universal spiritual principles common to all spiritual paths—principles that are loving and creative, not judgmental and punishing.
Well, there are certainly many people who still believe in a literal interpretation of the Revelation—as could be seen in the phenomenal success of the Left Behind series of novels. But beneath the scary imagery, I think it’s an underlying assumption of painful and eternal punishment if we fail to live perfect lives that frightens anyone who knows how complicated our life choices can become. It seems as though the God of Love that Jesus expressed and taught becomes a God of anger and vengeance in the Revelation, and that’s a scary concept indeed.
The Book of Revelation seems like an unusual subject for a progressive minister to tackle. What motivated you to write this book?
Well-‐known scholar Elaine Pagels recently wrote a history of the Book of Revelation. Is it possible to truly understand or appreciate Revelation without studying John of Patmos and his times?
In the course of interpreting the 22 chapters of Revelation, you share your personal story of addiction and recovery. Why did you decide to combine these elements? Was it difficult to reveal this part of your life?
You present Revelation as a guide to spiritual progress, saying that the spiritual journey—like Revelation itself—is nonlinear. Can you explain?
Our mortal minds like to “understand” everything by placing it all on a linear path. We start off at one place—birth, the Garden—and we trudge along until we arrive at another place—death, heaven, hell, whatever. But time is strictly an invention of our humanity; it has no reality in the realm of Spirit in which we truly exist. So a time line cannot be of any great spiritual use. The Bible truly began to come alive for me when I realized that it describes, not a linear journey, but an expansion in consciousness. This means that we don’t leave earlier stages behind as we move forward; we contain it all as our spiritual understanding expands to encompass more and more of the infinite Oneness of which we are both collective and unique expressions. I may achieve flashes of Christ consciousness as my spiritual awareness unfolds; but given a new and unwelcome challenge, I may quickly revert back to victim consciousness, wondering why this is happening, and whose fault it is. It’s all within me, and the I AM of my being is the master of it all. Recognizing that it is my personal belief that decides how the Revelation unfolds in my consciousness is absolutely key to using it as a positive guide instead of a terrifying threat.
It’s important, in approaching any part of the Bible, to understand something of the times and situations in which it was written—and something as well of its intended first readers. Elaine Pagels has been providing invaluable guidance throughout her career—from Adam and Eve and the Serpent through The Gnostic Gospels. Her most recent book looks at, not just the Revelation to John, but many similar Revelations written within the first century of Christian history. Why was one included in the New Testament while others were ignored—or violently attacked? As always, her work sheds exciting new light on longstanding questions.
I’m not an academic; I don’t have degrees or other credentials that underlie my understanding of the Book of Revelation—or anything else, for that matter. What I do have is my personal story. I understand the metaphysical dimension of all Scripture by relating it to my own experience, as I now understand it. It’s this approach that makes Scripture more than a historical document, and more than an inventive story with a strong moral. At its deepest level, Scripture is like a personal travel journal. Unity co-‐founder Charles Fillmore taught that all characters in scripture correspond to ideas in our collective consciousness. And the greatest characters become what Carl Jung called archetypes—touchstones by which we can measure our own progress, and our own situation at any given point on our spiritual journey. Recognizing how images from the Book of Revelation have appeared and interacted in my own life is not difficult—it’s thrilling! It offers meaning and purpose to times and experiences that would otherwise seem like a total waste of energy.
You write that the positive, unifying message of Revelation has come to be seen as just the opposite. Why do you think its message has become so distorted?
Well, why has the Jesus Christ message of unconditional love, personal empowerment, and creative possibility become, in many cases, a repetition of the kind of stifling, limiting, fear-‐based religion that Jesus constantly warned against? The teachings and writings serve as a kind of mirror, reflecting back to people whatever fear-‐based beliefs they’ve accumulated from the past.
What do you hope readers will take away from Kingdom Come?
I hope they will finish my book with a new realization that the Revelation to John assumes and supports their own Christ consciousness, and that it describes a creative process that guides us, with infinite love, as we work, choice by choice, to create the new consciousness that Jesus calls “the kingdom of heaven.”
How can ministers or study groups use this book?
I’ve done my best to break the Revelation down into manageable bites, without removing or ignoring even one word. Each chapter includes detailed information on each passage, as well as a concluding essay that looks at the bigger picture. I’ve also added questions for discussion and a closing meditation for each chapter.
What do you say to the people who claim we are now at “end times”—or to those who believe a cosmic shift will take place on December 21, 2012?
I think all people at any degree of spiritual awareness recognize that we are engaged in a great shift of collective consciousness. I agree with Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and others that what we’re experiencing is not the end of something, but the birth of a new dimension. It’s a process in which we’ve been engaged for some time, and it’s a process that will continue into 2013—and beyond. Of course, if we collectively decide that something dramatic needs to happen on December 21, we certainly have the power to make that happen. But I’m very comfortable making plans for the new year.
I have to ask: How do you plan to spend December 21, 2012?
Well, I’m open to invitations! I think spending the day in a heart-‐centered appreciation for the love and abundance already expressing on our planet would create the best possible energy for whatever may express.