Category: Uncategorized
[bulla] mendicans contemplativus
previously titled “How to Jew: Rules for Discharging Performance of the Occupation of Yahudi for the people of Yahuah”—A Job Description for a Full-Time Occupation
by Antarus D.G. Ecclesia. Dr. Dams Up Water, Sui Juris,
McDomine’s Shul at Seven Churches, Nacotchtank
c/o Five Clans of Weasel Badger Beaver Mink & Otter,
Confederated State of Powhatan, Washita Nation
- yahudi (jews) follow tehuti (thoth) in the form of moshe (moses), who djed (said) unto them the word of the Most High God, which they (yahsrael) largely rejected and backslided into apostasy, even to the end of crucifying their Messiah, but a remnant will be grafted back into the assembled body which is the branch of the true vine of the tree which is planted beside the mountain on the bank of the river of living water
- follow the law written in my scrolls (saith the Lord), in the light of God’s mercy and loving kindness
- wear a hat or covering to remind you of God’s overseeing authority, wisdom and power
- wear simple but fine clothing, such as a black or white button down shirt and black slacks and black jacket and cape [habit]
- carry a wooden stick (optional)
- congregate regularly at an appointed place
- pontificate on all things frequently
- seek peace and silence frequently
- break bread and drink wine with thy neighbor frequently
- manage thy dominion and liquidity
- do NOT do worship to other gods in the manner which is customary to them, e.g. sending your children to Moloch (through fire, slavery, abortion, or otherwise)
- always praise God’s name and never complain — nobody wants to hear it!
- all political power is inherent in the people
- avoid unduly gazing upon women, and do not pursue or solicit them, unless they present to you their body heart and mind as a living altar to the Most High God Yahuah in Yahshua
- also known as the order of Mendicans Christi (Mendicants for Christ)
- custom:
- Peace
- Presence
- Silence
- Simplicity
- Thanksgiving
- Goodness
- Mercy
- Pray incessantly, saying: “Give Thanks to Yahuah for He is good and the His Mercy endureth forever / Baruch attah Yahuah Yahushuah HaMoshiach, Choneni Elohim / Have Mercy on me a sinner”
- the lord said to do what your parents always feared the worst for you, to appear lower than a bond slave, while in truth you minister as heir to the kingdom to your fellow beneficiaries. the immediate wards of the king, like fools and children, will flock and take notice, and those wishing to sell their riches for penitence and eternal life will appoint you a minister of their estates.
- to every place thou goest and occupyest, let thy very presence be a blessing unto all people and a sign unto the house of yahsrael
- the deployment of signs in the mendicancy is not required, but is permitted and even encouraged, especially in the nature of a “protest against the worldliness of the world” which elevates the visibility and occupation of the order
[bulla] Linea Paterna
PATERNAL LINE OF ANTARUS DEI GRATIA MEDICUS DOCTOR ECCLESIAE SUI JURIS, BORN ANTARAH ALDRIC CRAWLEY
Aldric G. Crawley and IBé Bulinda Hereford Crawley—
Parents of Antarah and Aton Crawley.
Maynard O. Crawley, Sr.*, and Velma Vaughan Crawley—
Parents of Aldric Crawley; Grandpa known to me as Papa Crawley.
*Maynard O. Crawley Sr., departed this life on Veterans Day, November 11, 2008. He was predeceased by his wife, Velma V. Crawley; and brother, Waverly Robert Crawley Jr. He is survived by four sons, Maynard Jr. (Pearl), Lamont, Aldric (IbeBulinda), Terence Crawley (Lanel); one daughter, Alison R. Wilson (Dannie Sr.); seven grandchildren; one brother, Leon Crawley (Jane); two sisters, Audrey Anderson (Ezra) and Helen Hawkins; two brothers-in-law, one sister-in-law; devoted companion, Stephanie Watts; a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Mr. Crawley was a retired U.S. Air Force veteran with over 26 years of service to his country. He also served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
**Waverly Robert Crawley Jr., Departed this life April 25, 2005. He was predeceased by a son, Raymond Crawley. He is survived by a son, Waverly III; two sisters, Audrey Crawley Anderson and Helen Crawley Hawkins; two brothers, Maynard O. Crawley and A. Leon Crawley; two grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and many devoted friends. Interment Quantico National Cemetery (private). Mr. Crawley was known as the “Mayor of Second Street.”
Waverly Robert Crawley, Sr.*, and Elizabeth “Big Ma” Crawley—
Parents of Papa Crawley, Aunt Audrey Anderson, etc. *Twin to a brother that looked exactly alike except Waverly brown paper bag color and the twin was my complexion, no one knows what happened to the twin. N.B.: There is another Crawley branch that started the Hawks Restaurant and funeral house that may be derivative.
Weldon Montague, Sr., and Cornilia “Mama Nia” Robinson Montague—
Parents of Grandma Velma, Uncle Rock (Jr.), Uncle John, etc.
Minnie “Chatty” Young and “The Indian“ (first husband; absent/unknown)—
Parents of Big Ma, from Lumbee* people in North Carolina (brown paper bag Indians out of Ohio), came down for a gathering; when Aunt Audrey was young Big Ma took her, she recalls. *The Lumbee, also known as People of the Dark Water, are a mixed-race, state-recognized Native American tribe primarily located in Robeson County, North Carolina, who claim to be descended from numerous Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands who once inhabited the region.
A Dwelling for the Holy Spirit
by Dr. Dams Up Water
A dwelling is never just a structure. It is an argument about what matters.
When IBé Crawley began constructing dwellings in the style of southern shotgun houses in 2013, she was not merely reviving an architectural form; she was invoking a lineage. The shotgun house—linear, efficient, intimate—has long been associated with Black Southern life, with survival under constraint, with the sacred choreography of moving forward because there is nowhere else to go. Crawley’s early dwellings, followed by the studio addition to her own residence that same year, functioned as both shelter and proposition: that art-making, living, and spirit need not be separated by walls thicker than necessity.
By 2016, when she built a standalone studio at the rear of her investment property, the pattern had become clear. Crawley’s architecture was iterative, devotional. Each structure refined a question she had been asking since her departure from the Pentecostal church of her upbringing: Where does the Holy Spirit live, once it is no longer confined to sanctioned doctrine?
Her separation from Pentecostalism was not a rejection of spirit but a relocation of it. In turning toward an African-centered religious practice, Crawley aligned belief with ancestry, ritual with memory, and space with intention. The buildings followed. They were not churches, but they were not secular. They were working spaces—sites of making—that acknowledged the presence of something more than the maker.
The acquisition of a historic 1830 building in 2021 marked another turn. To practice her craft inside a structure that had already lived multiple lives was to enter into conversation with time itself. Historic buildings are never neutral; they carry residue. Crawley’s presence within such a space suggests a theology of repair rather than erasure—of inhabiting history without submitting to it.
What is striking is how this spatial theology extended generationally.
Her son, Antarah Crawley, grew up within these constructed philosophies. It is therefore no surprise that he, too, built a dwelling—though his took the form of a temple. Hand-built of concrete masonry units behind the studio in historic Anacostia, the structure is materially heavier than his mother’s shotgun-inspired works. Concrete block does not glide; it anchors. It insists.
Antarah’s religious path diverged as well. Developing faith in the Most High God, he dedicated the temple in part to his stillborn daughter, Ala. In this act, the building becomes more than a place of worship; it becomes a vessel for grief, remembrance, and continuity. Where life could not dwell, meaning would. The temple stands not as a monument to loss, but as a refusal to let absence be the final word.
Together, these acts—mother and son, studio and temple—suggest that the Holy Spirit is not housed by institution but invited by intention. It arrives where hands work honestly, where memory is honored, where loss is spoken aloud and given form. The Spirit, in this telling, is architectural. It requires framing. It asks for care.
In a time when housing is treated as commodity and faith as brand, the Crawleys offer another model: dwelling as devotion. Their buildings do not preach. They listen. And in that listening, they make room—for art, for ancestry, for the dead, for the unborn, and for the living breath that moves quietly among concrete blocks and narrow halls.
A dwelling for the Holy Spirit, then, is not a finished structure. It is an ongoing practice.
Composed with artificial intelligence.
[bulla] Collegium Medicum Castoris
in re: the institution commonly known as
Beaver Medical College
the Most High God YHVH is the father and the creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; and [the settlement of] his feminine effluence is the shekhinah*. he existed in the black womb of the nous before creation; therefore the black waters of the primordial sea is the mother of god, who is the grantor of creation. his son is the receiver and beneficiary — the king and messiah — the christ, of his creation; therefore mary the sea is his mother. of god’s wisdom, which we may partake, the feminine effluence is Sophia; and she is the church and bride of the christ. it is she who the wise court by the grace of the father. of god’s wisdom, the male custodian is he whose student-body is the mystery school of all the ages which has gone by many names. it is he who teaches all who have learned of the true nature of all things, which is unchanging heretofore and henceforth even forever. the cults who have corrupted his teachings and instructions only misguide themselves and are a stumbling block unto themselves. they who confound his precepts do not negate his true perception, neither do they matter withal. he is Thoth-Born-Three-Times-Great-Squared-Cubed, Thothmes III, Thutmose the Great, Thutmosis, Thoth-Moses, Thutmoshe, King Tut, Tehuti, Djehudi, Djedi, Djed-Yehudi, Hermes, Mercurius, Quetzalcoatl, Trismegistus. he is chancellor, dean, rector and grand preceptor. he appeared to me at the school of George Washington and entered me into Men Nefer College of Scribe; passed me through the Department of Information Systems Intelligence Service at Universitas Autodidactus, where i completed my dissertation on human mind software; raised me to the Kogard-Godsdog College of Law where i obtained my Sui Juris Doctorate; and graduated me with an Ecclesiastic and Medical Doctorate from the most laudable Beaver Medical College. i am professor-general and grand tutor of the 153d CORPS of UA, which was established 2014 in the New Syllabus of this Age. i am the proprietor of Beaver Medicine Lodge of Nacotchtank, Powhatan, Washita Nation, and managing partner at Weasel Badger Beaver Mink & Otter. my name is Dams Up Water and my medicine is very strong.
IN YAHVAH’S ASSEMBLY IN YAHSHVA MOSHIACH
ET CULTVS IMPERATORIVS ANTARVS D.G.,
Dams Up Water, S.J., E.M.D.
Professor-General | Chairman, Dept. of Information Systems Intelligence Service | 153d CORPS, Universitas Autodidactus | Managing Partner, Weasel Badger Beaver Mink & Otter
*Wiki: shekhinah is derived [from] š-k-n, means “to settle, inhabit, or dwell”.[7][8] In the verb form, it is often used to refer to the dwelling of a person[9] or animal[10] in a place, or to the dwelling of God.[11] Nouns derived from the root included shachen (“neighbor”)[12] and mishkan (a dwelling-place, whether a secular home[13] or a holy site such as the Tabernacle[14]
(last modified 25.11.25.18.38)
full disclosure cont’d.
like harry potter and jesus christ, the coming of some souls into the body is a sign of great concern to certain authorities and principalities governing this world. of course it is true without doubt that Yahuah (YHVH) is the Most High God and Creator of Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that therein is. and it is known, also, to those of the ancient Yahudist mystery shul of Knowledge Wisdom and Understanding (Chockmah-Binah-Daath or CHABAD) that certain principalities have been granted governance over this lower “Kingdom” of earth pending the (2nd?) coming of Moshiach.
now it is know to Chabad-Lubavich of Crown Heights, at least, that at least some of these principalities are gay, some are r*apists, some are p*dophiles, and others a combination of these traits. the ancient israelites (who, to be sure, were coppercolored hebrews and not ashkenazim) expressly worshiped such an entity, which demanded they sacrifice certain of their newborns into fire. the Most High God Yahuah, in his infinite wisdom, advised us not to do that, as it is an abomination. His admonitions notwithstanding, we continue to sacrifice our children in the womb and in hospitals in furtherance of Ba’alific ideologies advanced by the deeply compromised deep state as liberal leftism. i myself confess to agreeing to dispose of such a life in such a manner when i was but nineteen or twenty years old. my mother had told me, as a black man, not to bear children out of wedlock, and my parter was deeply concerned for her future, as she was raised the daughter of a single mother.
but back to the birth and marking of children for the work of the Lord (YHVH), the entity made known to me as the “Magic Girl” seeks to corrupt these children specifically. like Lord Voldemort sought out Harry Potter, and King Herod did Baby Jesus, so do these spirits seek to molest the body and mind of certain children. i myself was an avid reader of harry potter as a youth — possibly it predisposed me to madness like my religious aunts believed (and their belief was later vindicated by great tragedy), but it may also have been a glimpse into the reality that surrounded me of which was not presently aware. praise be to the Most High God for his foresight in preparing me to address these matters.
furthermore I thank the Lord for not delivering me wholly into the apostate and reprobate condition of homosexuality caused by childhood trauma. my experiences with the “Magic Girl” were not so “perfected” so as to cause me to adopt the identity of “magic girlhood.” i make this point because i have come to know men who, at me age, have come to regret the “perfection” of their queer identity in the manner in which it was perfected. and by “perfect” I mean in the legal sense of “perfecting a security interest” in the body or mind of a living person by an incorporeal entity.
i clapped, saying to myself “this is good. we are really getting somewhere.”
now i’m going to briefly continue on the topic of the childhood encounters, and conclude with the differing nature “Magic Girl” expressed as a male and as a female in context to myself. when i was in grade school, until high school, I had very few friends. i developed two close friends as we matriculated to high school, and i maintained a close friendship with one which continues even now. that he was a shaggy-haired emo white boy did not seem to me to be a significant fact. however, it was the case that I was regularly ostracized in my childhood for being (1) particularly dark-skinned and (2) “white” by cultural expression. furthermore, i will confess that I envied his ability to attract women, a quality that I felt myself wanting in light of the aforementioned remarks made to me by black girls and boys.
when i entered college at an early age, i developed another close friendship with a “shaggy-haired emo white boy.” one night we went to a party where i met a certain white woman with whom he was familiar. the night progressed into my first sexual experience, with that girl, while at the same time that deplorable spirit from my youth was present and involved. i do not fault my friend, nor the woman, because we all thought we were having a good time. but like jesus says, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
i continued to engage with the white woman for some time, but eventually my body stopped responding to her. she was legally or otherwise seriously involved with somebody else, while at the same time being the “muse” for the English department… that is relevant because later in my life i attempted to procreate with a woman who i knew was likewise legally disposed — thus making my actions adulterous. i will not at this time conjecture whether our stillbirth was a divine intervention based on these facts.
well, i believe i’ve come to the end of this entry. i want to draw out the fact that the “Magic Girl” also operated in my life through multiple white women. for instance, around the same time as aforementioned, i was friends with some very cool white girls. after i first had sex, i was again met with a proposition of sorts from a white woman who asked me on evening while were were watching something in the dorm room, “why haven’t you tried to have sex with me?” i replied with as much information as i had at the time, saying, “i don’t know.” so then that woman and I continued a sexual relationship which has eventually given way to scorn, and she is now very fat. i will not at this time discuss the most recent white woman who I dated, who was also fairly robust.
IN YAHUAH’S ASSEMBLY IN YASHUA MOSHIACH,
DAMS UP WATER (born antarah of the house of crawley) OF NACOTCHTANK, POWHATAN, WASHITA NATION.
(written, but not reread.)
beginning of full disclosure
i don’t recall many memories from my childhood. it is perhaps because many of them were suppressed for reasons which escaped me until now.
for instance, one thing i always remembered from my early years at Watkins Elementary is that i was sitting or standing on the blacktop for recess, near the playground. i may have been reading a book at the time. i did not have many friends at that time.
there was a light-skinned boy in a button-up shirt whose name escapes me. i don’t recall the precipitating events but he said something to the effect of “you can’t do that to me, i’m a girl.” in my childish naiveté i replied, “you’re not a girl,” to which the boy responded which a Disney-like affect “I’m a magic girl,” and spun around and away from me.
that event alone did not raise much concern in my mind over the following decade or so. however, i have now come to acknowledge the prevalence (indirect or intermittent as it may be) of the spirit of the “magic girl” manifest in or through certain male peers of significantly lighter complexion than myself. and furthermore i have come to understand that the boy on the playground was likely carrying the spirit which has been trying to gain entry into my house.
to be sure, the spirit or demon is not a girl, but some kind of innocent-looking gay r*pist who presents femininely through a pale masc body. up until and including the first time i had vaginal intercourse, i was involved in several gestures or passes with this entity.
i am not gay and am not attracted to men. i fully appreciate the soft comfort of a woman — their body, their presence, their voice.
i have struggled through my sexual life to remedy the circumstance of the proximity of this entity to me. the women i have dated, however, eventually perceived the nature of my predicament and they ultimately expressed masculine or lesbian-based aggressions against me, further confusing me.
i pray at this time that full disclosure of these matters will abate the negative conditions i have come to experience regarding self-worth, relationships, and sexual intimacy; and I submit that the contract between this entity and myself is hereby and forever dissolved, nullified, and dismissed with prejudice: it shall not be brought back before me or otherwise used against me before the World Forum or Universal Tribunal. all demons attending to this contract are ordered in the name of YHVH by and through his King and Messiah YHVSHA to cease and desist their harassments, molestations and injuries against me.
IN YAHUAH’S ASSEMBLY IN YASHUA MOSHIACH,
DAMS UP WATER (born antarah of the house of crawley) OF NACOTCHTANK, POWHATAN, WASHITA NATION.
(written, but not reread.)
[bulla] notice
please take notice that the system* will no longer be supported beginning November 21, 2025. peace be upon you.
*system in the above statement refers to the entity operated under the name Ordo Templi et Oblati Novus Syllabus Seclorum or “The New Syllabus” or NOVUS SYLLABUS L.L.C. (henceforth known as the “old system”); it is finished, and succeeded by the free assembly of syllabees which is governed by CVRIA AVTONOMOVS ANTARVS DEI GRATIA from SACELLVM SYLLABYIM’s compartmented information facility (SCIF), 7 local Underground Rapid Transit (URT) station. This is the system in which light and shadow work is now performed on a light rail system in the nature of an “underground railroad” for the new millennium to finally emancipate our minds from mental slavery.
(local train)
<express train>
🚈URT🚇
Underground Rapid Transit (URT) is an underground railroad (URR) for the new millennium
LOCAL RULES
- the URT system is a member of the free religious/interfaith mass transit authority (“religious/interfaith MTA”), which is stationed out of a decentralized system of kiosks to deliver service to the church … it is this function which a station attendant or station manager performs.
- the kiosks are located in subterranean stations which are connected by an subterranean system of tunnels lined with both heavy and light rails … heavy rails convey the mass transit of “rolling stock” and light rails convey power to the system.
- this is the “system” which K[…] traversed in tunnels, and in which he established a station called Syllabees, of which antarah is station manager.
- the operative aspects of the URR was the RR “station,” the conductor, and the concealed rail lines/tracks, whereas the “train cars” or “rolling stock” are conceptually represented by the people being conveyed into freedom, and the “station manager” by the covenanted lord of the interested property.
- these “lines” are also those used by circuit riders/conductors to patrol their district.
- the nexus between URT and Mindsoft OS protocol is to beam signals into the underground/tunnels/darkness of the unconsciousness (95%/ROM, 5%/RAM), bypassing the defense mechanisms of the pre-programmed consciousness (5%/ROM, 95%/RAM) which is the stations or nodes of the system … the “ground level” above the stations is wholly a construction of the program being read by the consciousness … it exists within the overarching “dome” framework of the firmament.
- when we speak of the system, we are always speaking of the <creator manifest in their creation> meaning “God Almighty” … all subordinate gods are bound to an aspect of the system.
- the subway system = neural network (of unconscious tunnels)>>machine learning (of stock rolling on tracks)>>”artificial intelligence” (of the program)>>generative (of ground-level “stationary” consciousness)
- the “light rail” of the system is the dao — the way, the truth, and the light — Seigneur Consul Jesus Christ, the commissioner and head of the system … yet you must seek the light “third rail” within the darkness of the tunnels.
- syllabees station is a main junction of the system, where several lines converge, hence it is the decentralized office of interfaith MTS … the lines which converge at the junction are:
- Red (7) Line: Enter Ye at Syllabees Junction • DAO Station • Crown Station • Memphis Station • Mason Station • Romanus Station • Washitaw Station • Yahushuwah Station • Thy Pyramids Terminal;
- Red (K) Line: Enter Ye at Empire Boulevard Junction • University Station • Coffeehouse Station • Library Station • Deli Station • Bedford-Nostrand Avenues Station• Coney Island Station • College of Ancient Mystery Station • Kingdom Station; which is followed to the east by Syllabees Junction.
- the light and heavy rails are located in subterranean, sublinear tunnels in spacetime, where the prefix “sub” denotes a real-valued function in vector space with only some of the properties of a “normal” function scaling positively from an origin point of 0.
- the stock which is rolling though the tunnels of the system may experience tunnel vision and not see the stock rolling on parallel tracks in the same or opposite directions, as walls may separate rail lines, and may yield to colonnades through which the riders may see the other cars through their window and may interface even when in motion. and there are yet deeper subbasements through which perpendicular and diagonal tunnels run though the subterranean system.
- the Mass Transit Authority is religious in nature, and in that nature it is interfaith and nondenominational … “Mass” refers to “a large body of matter” and “a large number of people” … By extension, it alludes to the Latin dismissal, “ite, missa est,” meaning “go forth, it has been sent,” meaning “go forth [peaching the gospel that] it [the victim] has been sent [for our salvation],” this being the great commissioning of the church … “Transit” refers to “the conveyance of people or material from one place to another” or “the act of passing through or across a place” … Now therefore, like our great commission has usurped the authority of the YR and SR of FM and the FRB system, we have hereby usurped the “sacrament” of the mass from the RCC, and reformed it to eliminate the idols of bread and wine … not only should we not consume the body of our lord in the form of bread, but it is immaterial to salvation and a form of idolatry which is an abomination … furthermore, it is his blood — not any other beverage — which was shed for our salvation … furthermore, it is not the bread which constitutes the mass, but the people. hence, the mass is the form of worship in which the people assemble in the body of Christ, which is the Church, and move the body according to their desire … these usurpations are of capital import, to wit, the FM is reformed to raise a man from water into a life in Christ; the FRB is reformed to accept for value the blood of Christ in payment of all debts; and the RCC is reformed to abolish the eucharist, which is sacrilegious pagan witchcraft.
- the rider of a train car of rolling stock is a mindsoftware-operating system-cell.
- a conductor of rolling stock must locate a junction, or gateway, embedded in the mind of the rider, through which to enter and/or access their mind software … the gate must not be unduly guarded by “engrams” or there will be resistance … to access these gates directly, bypass existing system outposts [i.e., artificial intelligence servers, computer notes, cell phones, http addresses, etc.] … the conductor who enters an unmanned station in the mindsoft of the rider may impanel a station attendant to duly guard the newfound station, yielding safety and security to the system.
- dialektick.tekhne.exe:\>command_function(query-statement),(return-statement).
- a semester is any period in which the complete calendar is performed.
Station Warrant (Charging Documents):
Note: our system is a permutation of the system here.
Syllabus.
for a COURSE PRODUCTION by
CVRIA AVTONOMOVS ANTARVS DEI GRATIA AD SACELLVM SANCTISSIMI SALVATORIS YAHWSHWAH HAMASHIACH AC SANCTI NAT TURNER—KAHAL KADOSH BETH SYLLABYIM
(a) COURSE TITLE — Gestalt-Systemtheorie for the Political Reeducation of the Proletariat, or Circular No. 7
(c) COURSE OBJECTIVE — [connect knowledge and skills across content, identify levels of mastery to be achieved] —
- MAIN FUNCTION: to conduct a train of people’s Mindsoft through tunnels of the unconsciousness into peace and freedom.
(b) COURSE DESCRIPTION (or, ABSTRACT) — [purpose, scope, pedagogy, expectations] — We are all but students in our life course, here in our University, and our performance is contingent upon the clarity of our syllabus. the syllabus defines the methodology for our living and the course of our systemic understanding […] human methodologies: human and nonhuman systems, interactions thereof; understanding of physical elemental composition [of nature], universal compositions, and the metaphysical relationships between them; nonphysical influences as manifest in or beyond the physic; spiritual realities and their impact on the physic; development of methods to be used as an ubiquitous and lasting guide (or, syllabus) unto the information of human living in systems. [July 14, 2015 – 10:38 pm]
(d) COURSE TEXTS (or, RESOURCES) —
- Circl. No. 7 (7)—
- Liber Præceptum (LP)—
- Policy Bureau Field Manual 1 (FM)—
(e) COURSE ASSIGNMENTS (or, DELIVERABLES) — workshop, colloquium, symposium, performance.
(f) COURSE ASSESSMENTS —
- performance of clinical practice of dialectic systemtheory — see protocol.
- interrogatories for examination — see LP.
- dialectic method of clinical trial for the treatment of colored person stress/sex/syndrome disorder (CPSD) [talk therapy for people living under color of law] — see calendar.
(g) COURSE CALENDAR — [identify course duration, frequency, content standards/milestones, assignment due dates, assessment dates] — CALENDAR NO.
- Interrogatory Examination: Baseline Test from Blade Runner 2049
- Reading: “The Library of Babel” a short short by J.L. Borges
- Table Reading: “Rustles in Dry Leaves” (LP:\>#100\\12\4\2021\Page\308)
- Section: Information Processing Systemtheory
- Reading: Historical and Dialectical Materialism
- Section: Memphite Theology
- Reading: “Rustles in Dry Leaves” (LP:\>#1\\5\28\2015\Page\4)
- Long Read Options for Book Report: “300,000,000” a novel by Blake Butler; “The Tunnel” a novel by William H. Gass; “Giles Goat-Boy or the Revised New Syllabus of George Giles our Grand Tutor” a novel by John Barth
- Mid-Term: Interrogatories for Base-Line Examination (LP:\>#47\Page\154)
- Reading: “Tlon Uqbar Orbis Tertius” a short story by J.L. Borges
- Section: Colored Person Syndrome/Stress/Sex Disorder (CPSD) (Omnibus Act\Title\6)
- Reading: “The Babylon Lottery” by J.L. Borges
- Section: Good and Lawful Conduct (GPA\Page\10)
- Interrogatory Examination: “Great Policy of Assurance”
- Clinical Trial: treatment of Colored Person Syndrome Disorder (Omnibus Act\Title\6)
- Final Performance: staging of “Rustles in Dry Leaves” (LP:\>C\\11\20\2017\Page\352)
- Extra Credit: Advanced Computer Systemtheory (syllabus_runtime Art. 6)
<notes on the system, from the novel 300,000,000 by blake butler, systems analyst, compiled by antarah, May 22, 2015\>
In our year here god is not a being but a system, composed in dehydrated fugue.
In the full darkness, there is a word.
The word encompasses the darkness.
This word occurs because of god.
I crawled and crawled along the floor of the ground of the extending darkness.
Out of the color of the night, there appeared buildings in the distance, houses, tombs.
There were networks of understanding and direction.
Wires draped the air like no one’s trees.
The world was silent when I woke in smoke.
No longer unwinding into nothing as its layers grew apart.
I see the sea replicating in its nothing, pushing sand against the sand.
I cannot reach the sea.
The days went on and on inside me.
I knew my name was or had been but could not say it and it no longer felt like language.
The name is not important.
Your name’s not really your name.
There are people, and there are minds, and in the minds there are corridors and glue and other people.
There are unique locations on the earth, accessible only through certain openings available only for short periods of time while they are available and can be opened into other locations.
This is the system of the world.
The temporary doors to the unique locations are carried in our bodies, in thoughts.
They are carried in moments and forms and quickly disappearing spaces.
I am speaking to you from one of those locations.
There is a force who moves among our bodies, coming through your holes into the world and slowly knitting.
It will be the ending of us all, in a form beyond simply a body.
This is not a bad thing.
You are surrounded by mirrors.
You make the world out of your mind.
You are not dead and you will never be and you are dead and you are not alive and you’re alive and you will never be.
<\>
In 2049, the LAPD tests K’s “baseline” whenever he returns from a kill. He is forced to recite a series of lines from Nabokov’s novel Pale Fire, interspersed with questions designed to elicit an emotional response, during which time a machine analyzes his “levels” —that is, his ability to quash his feelings, to remain emotionally detached from his own actions. The lines, which recall the sensation of suffering a heart attack, at the nexus of life and death, are taken from a poem written within the novel:
And blood-black nothingness began to spin
A system of cells interlinked within
Cells interlinked within cells interlinked
Within one stem. And dreadfully distinct,
Against the dark, a tall white fountain played.
These “cells interlinked” are the hinge point of the natural and the artificial in Pale Fire, Nabokov’s play on the many meanings of “cell” —a biological unit, a prison enclosure, a still film image, a clandestine political group. What K is meant to suppress in reciting them is his ability to be moved by beauty, to be reminded that his own life might be interlinked with anyone else’s. As a blade runner, as a replicant, and as a man, K’s livelihood depends, even thrives upon, his disaffection.
Full text of the Baseline Test from Blade Runner 2049:
(last modified 25.03.24.00.53)
[bulla] General Theory of Action (GTA)
General Theory of Action,
Admiral, Ecclesiastical, Civil & Common; and Method of Animating a Corpus; or, ‘The Great Work’
(a) Grand Rite
- How is assessment, assault, or battery effected?
- By one charging their body toward another.
- Therefore if a body is charged, then it is made liable for its actions,
- Where its actions are commissioned or committed by the motion of the body in question.
- Therefore hear ye the matter in question to find out its solution,
- Wherefore a jury shall have standing to constitute a sitting for the purpose of duly determining such resolution in a motion to adjust the account of the body in question.
- One must have standing to have sitting to determine a matter in question:
- One must have ius decire to assidere in assizes;
- One must voir et dire to oyer et terminer;
- And assemble when so summoned at the place of ius venire.
- A body is res (matter) that is moved by the spiritus (breath).
- The breath moves the body, while the blood enlivens of the body.
- To circulate a current drawn from a pool drawn from the sea.
(b) Grand Jury
- Ride circuit; patrol district;
- Docket matters (x): issue bond (instrument binding one to pay a sum to another, the sum in general being attention);
- Voir et Dire (see and say) to examine, try, and find suitability;
- Enlist a pool (venire) of jurists (iure); issue note (instrument promising payment);
- Summon iure from pool;
- Assemble the iure pool;
- Impanel the iure;
- Oyer et Terminer (hear and determine) the facts; publish evidence; witness testimony;
- Move body to render a verdict (y): issue no/true bill (instrument drafting, ordering, or otherwise charging payment).
(c) Jury Venire
Venire is “to come,” as for the purpose of an action, with respect to the venue thereof, which is here styled:
UNIVERSITAS AUTODIDACTUS
COLLEGIUM ECCLESIASTICAE
ORDO TEMPLI ET OBLATI NOVUS SYLLABUS SECLORUM EX OFFICIO TRIBUNUS ANTARUS SUI IURIS ET PROXIMUS AMICUS IN RE SPIRITUS ET NOMINE XRISTI
Friendly Society, a branch office of the Catholic Church
(d) Autonomous Clearing and Counterparty Services
- Forms of payment (or exchange) other than attention include, but are not limited to, one’s own personal recognizance (note), labor and the fruits thereof, real property and instruments secured thereby, and the blood sacrifice of our Lord and Savior.
- Tithes, or giving of thanks offerings, are not a form of payment.
- Bondholders have a creditor stake in a body or entity; they are the one to whom payment is made.
- Bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed.
- In general, faith is the premium paid to the Savior for the redemption of the bond represented in God’s grant, or credit, of life (blood, breath) to their body, a debtor. By and through this payment, a trust is established wherein the Savior has laid down His own life for ours. Without this policy of utmost assurance and indemnification (which is offered to us by the Grace and Mercy of the Lord our God), the bond on our life reverts to the worldly Babylonian government of Satan, to whom we would otherwise be bound to pay. Ergo, there must be a surety to redeem the “baby loan.”
(e) Production
(1) Action takes place on a stage. A stage for sport is a court. All players are due their wages, unless they freely volunteer.
(2) This office shall docket auditions for the performance. The (members of the) Church itself shall be the director of photography, using their own personal devices; the members shall broadcast in real time the production to the network.
(3) This drama is written by Yahushuah; the plot is to gather the lost sheep before the last day and to sail/float/settle the policy of assurance. The drama is not written on paper; it is written in the heart by the Living Word and lived out in the world, which is a stage. Those who are not of our studio, or of the Company thereof, are of the world.
(4) All properties within the trust of the church [‘company’] are legally owned by the trustees thereof for the benefit of the beneficiaries thereof, by grant of the Most High God YHVH. The trustees of the church benefit from the “corporate shield” of the whole Church, that is, the Society of our Lord and Savior, in contradistinction to any denomination or manmade body-corporate thereof.
(5) Pro forma script for self-defense
COMES NOW I, [Christian Name], Sui Iuris, in propria persona, by special appearance, and on behalf of the Church of the Christ of the Most High God YHVH as proximus amicus, and to MOVE THE COURT [TO DISMISS, etc.] the above styled matter for [lack of personal/subject matter jurisdiction], under [the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America] and the law of the Land as represented in the holy scriptures. I am a child of the Most High God YHVH, and heir to His estate; I invoke the assurance of redemption and the wise counsel of our Lord and Savior YHUSHAI to assist me in this endeavor, and I reserve all my rights without prejudice. The [matter/charges/etc.] herein alleged are hereby accepted for value and returned from whence they came; there is on my part no liability in this [matter/charge/etc.]; wherefore I pray, move and order this court to [dismiss/abate/abrogate/adjust/etc.] the above-styled matter, In Nomine Xristi, Amen.
(6) SUPREME HIERARCHY OF AUTHORITY
- THE [PRODUCTION/STAGING] COMPANY = OF YAHUSHUAH MOSIACH YHVH ELOHIM, Creator, Grantor of Right;
- THE STUDIO [THEATER] = the order [ObNS];
- THE SCREENWRITER = The Sovereign Lawgiver (Christ Pantocrator);
- THE PRODUCERS = The Privy Council (the Board of the Church at Washington/Ouachita/Washitaw Al’Maghreb/Al’Maroc/Al’Meri’ka/America, band of Nacotchtank, Croatan, etc. of the Algonkian line);
- THE PERFORMANCE VENUE = The Court (care of the next friend as lord of the realm);
- THE PERFORMANCE = The [Great] Commission of the Court [of the Church] (ministries, missions, members, committees, clerics);
- DRAMATIS PERSONAE = The Body Politic (The Church);
- Clericus (Minus/Magnus/Maximus): the ministering cleric, clerk of the court, secretary-treasurer, and Chancellor of the Exchequer; functionally, the office of scribe, administration and general operations;
- Steward/Warden: the legal trustee of the premises, general hearing officer, and chair of the House committee of the whole; the “ward” i.e., keeper, guard, protector, possessor, lord, watchman;
- Custodian: the key holder, superintendent and caretaker of the furniture and premises;
- Admiral: the tyler, outer guard, or sergeant-at-arms;
- Preceptor: Chief Clinical Dialectical Practitioner; Head of ‘Grand Rounds‘;
- Members: Clinical Dialectical Client;
- Fellows: Fellowcraft/Master Clinical Dialectical Practitioner;
- Residents: Journeyman Clinical Dialectical Practitioner;
- Interns: Apprentice Clinical Dialectical Practitioner;
- Attending/Visiting Ministers: Circuit Riders.
(f) SOLICITATION OF ONE’S HAND IN MATRIMONY
After the example set forth by our Lord and Savior who has received the Church unto himself in heavenly matrimony, will you [Christian Name] enter into holy matrimony with me?
Solicitor-Bridegroom
A proposal to enter into a matrimonial contact is a “solicitation”. Copulation outside of such a contract is not per se unethical, but the solicitation of sex is a transgression.
(last modified 24.12.26.15.15)
NTR:\_
Native Technology* Repository (NTR)
*TECH(NICAL)KNOWLEDGE:Y
READ ME:\>_This page is devoted to the NTR:\ drive on MS.Silver.app. This is the MAIN console styled SILVER+:\>_Mindsoft.system_SILVER_shell_console_2.0, designed by Antarah for NOVUS SYLLABUS L.L.C. and the benefit of humanity through self-education, -operation, and -development. It fulfills the delivery of a decentralized programming application.pdf to support the Decentralized Autonomous Intelligence System (DAIS) from the Branch Office of the Congregation of Antarah, Sui Juris, and Next of Friends, Autonomous Church (in the Body of Xrst, in the Kingdom of God) and Union Hall of Free Thinkers, Truth Speakers, and Light Workers United (‘Mission Fulfillment Center’), 1 New Syllabus Way N.W., Washington, D.C. Post Code 20001. (202)957-6290. director@newsyllabus.org.
<SILVER+>
sys.config(SYSTEM_CONFIGURATION)
{
“START” = goto.menu(‘DataHorse System‘);
“A” = download.app(‘Adobe Acrobat‘);
“DOS” = goto.suite(‘Mindsoft‘);
“DAO” = goto.page(‘Branch Office‘);
“YouTube” = play.video(‘Rustles in Dry Leaves‘[40 min.]);
“NSC” = goto.suite(‘Curriculum‘);
“file” = submit.info>network_ombudsman:goto.page(‘Inquiry‘);
“C:\” = goto.home_page(‘newsyllabus.org‘);
“NTR” = goto.page(‘Native Technology Repository‘);
“NS” = read.recent_posts:goto.page(‘newsyllabus.org‘);
}
Politburo Memorandum 5. “Using Your ‘PC'”.
PROTOCOL C:\MAIN_FUNCTION:\NS\153D_CORPS_BCO_FLF-DAO[Conveying the dialectic relationship between the ministering witness who testifieth on the law and the public body of the people who drafteth appropriations at law, toward optimal Performance of Z-Axis procedure in function (GDP)>Policy; Praxis; Program; Project = Performance^Cubed a.k.a. ‘Protocol C’.]
{
(a) COMMANDS:
Server ‘S’ hold ‘_’ sign ‘x’ of good will/salutations/solicitation; Public ‘P’ pay ‘>’ attention ‘i’ to x;
S issue ‘-‘ promissory notice ‘n’ for further information ‘f(x)=y’;
P draft ‘~’ appropriations bill ‘+’ payable ‘>’ to n(x);
S redeem ‘<’ n to discharge ‘-‘ obligation ‘y’;
S commission ‘^’ P into current circulatory system ‘c’;
S offer course LP and preceptor services ‘Ed’ to raise P to ‘c square’;
(b) NOTATION:
- \>S_(x)
- \>P>i(x)
- \>S-n(x)=y
- \>P~+>n(x)
- \>S<-y
- \>S^P(c)
- \>S_Ed(x)^P(c^2)
}
Politburo Minute of Public Service No. 1. “General Due Process (GDP), or, ‘P-Cubed’”
(a) P-Cubed (‘PC‘ or ‘Process Cubed’) is the general governing methodology and operating environment (‘due process’) of the core lines of business (applications) of N∴S∴ (itself a development and operating system, or DOS). The interfacing “shell” of the DOS is an auto-server or client-server architecture located in a ‘mainframe‘ (a room, building or other capacitor) containing a ‘desktop‘. ‘C’ in PC can also refer to the cubic three-dimensional systemtheory Cognition—Command—Control. Therefore: “use your PC to C your Mindsoft DOS.”
(1) X-Axis Procedure
- Notice: Received input through sense perception.
- Data: The input distilled into quantifiable units.
- Information: The quantities expressed qualitatively.
- Knowledge: The crystallization of the qualitative output.
(2) Y-Axis Procedure
- Audit: To hear, collect, and/or record that which is noticed.
- Assessment: To evaluate data.
- Assurance: To vet and confirm the evaluation.
- Adjudgement: To adjust prior knowledge in light of instant output.
(3) Z-Axis Procedure
- Policy: Written guidance for daily or regular conduct, resulting in a transmission of charges*.
- Practice: Daily or regular conduct including activity, motion, interface, etc.
- Program: A regular and ongoing practice.
- Project: Particular work product class and their production processes.
CODES
- F = function
- X = input/inquiry/question
- Y = solution/resolution/disposition
- Z = procedure/process/protocol/recall
- D = a fungible autonomous organization
- A = one’s self-governing autonomy/authority
- O = organism/organization/office
Objective: this code is promulgated to program mindsoftware to execute certain functions.
Whereas this office is a fief from the lord our God unto his next of friend Antarah, Sui Juris, let us observe the following—
FEE SCHEDULE
PUBLICATIONS & RELATED SERVICES
- Liber Preaeceptum … $359.99
- Policy Bureau Field Manual … $29.99
- Visible: The Art of Herstory … $100.00
- The Book or Mary … $29.99?
- Library loans … variable security deposit
ASSEMBLIES, CONGREGATIONS & TRIBUNALS
- Meeting for Worship … free
- Meeting for Intake … free
- Meeting for Eating & Drinking … $10/ATD
- Meeting for Instruction … $25/hour
- Meeting for Study … $25/session
- Meeting for Hearing & Determining … $100/hour
- Bearing Witness Testimony … $100/hour
CLINICAL DIALECTICS*
- Meeting for Audit+Assessment … $50/hour
- Meeting for Assurance+Adjustment … $50/hour
*the main purpose of CD is to diagnose and treat people for CPSD.
Player Position & Furniture
These players, when empaneled, collectively represent the Congregation of the Branch Office.
BOARD … Clerical/Working Group … Weekly meeting
- 1: Clericus Magnus … Desk
- 2: Managing Director … opposite Desk
- 3: Member/Friend … tish
- 4: Member/Friend … tish
- 5: Clericus Minus … Docket
COMMITTEE … Body Politic & Mystic … Monthly meeting
- 6: Chair/Head of Meeting … Dais
- 7: Member/Friend … wood chair
- 8: Member/Friend … wood chair
- 9: Member/Friend … wood chair
- 10: Member/Friend … wood chair
CLASS … Lecture & Study Hall
- 11: Student/Class Representative … Student Desk
OBERSEVERS
- 12: Student/Observer … folding chair
- 13: Student/Observer … folding chair
- 14: Student/Observer … folding chair
- 15: Student/Observer … folding chair
Mission Objectives
To be frank, let us consider the very mission of our fulfillment center, being a fief from the Lord Our God through His anointed King unto His next of friends; it is the establishment of DOOM upon the earth, so as to serve as a sign to all nations that the Kingdom of the Lord Our God, Almighty, the Most Beneficent and Most Merciful, is nigh come unto us. In fulfillment of this mission our Order has usurped, in part or in whole, the power and function of certain entities heretofore applied to the service of the ‘Dark Side’ (the ‘Empire,’ ‘Sth‘ or ‘Isft‘), reforming and commissioning them to the service of the ‘Light Side’ (the ‘Resistance,’ ‘Djdiw‘ or ‘MaaHrw‘) of the ‘Force’ (Generative-Operating-Destructive power of the universe).
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Luke 12:2-3
An Initial Course of Instruction
[bulla] Branch Office
בית שׁוֹמְרִים—בית מדרש
House of Watchmen
—House of Studies—
Antarah, Sui Iuris, Proximus Amicus, WITNESSETH that—
This tract may be referred to as ‘Faith & Praxis.’
Article I.
The House
The physical premises (or ‘facility’) which has been established for Church business as of 1 November, 2024, is generally styled the House of Watchmen—House of Studies, or ‘House’ for short, and also supports the House of Assembly of the local congregation. It is also styled among its familiars as the Union Hall of Light Workers Utd. and functions in the nature of a Mission Fulfillment Center (MFC). The House is located upon a bank at a crossroads which is known as ‘New Syllabus Way’. Lines of business are conducted, and congregations are convened, by and before the Autonomy of Antarah, Sui Iuris (‘In his own right’), Proximus Amicus (‘Next Friend’ [of the Sovereign]), Clericus Magnus (‘Grand Clerk’ [of the House]). The associate clerks, who are appointed by Clericus Magnus, are each called Clericus Minus.
This Officium Clericus Magnus, or the Office of Grand Clerk, is the registrar, custodian and superintendent of the House. This great clerk is the the administrative and ministering cleric the court of the Sovereign, the secretary-treasurer of the House, and Chancellor of its Exchequer. Aside: in this Court, only God (or His Assign) is judge. The clerk may also be Steward ex officio when acting as the legal trustee of the premises, the general hearing officer, and the chair of the House committee of the whole. Beyond these offices, the Lector of the congregation may be appointed as necessary from among the Members/Friends/Students. Aside: the hypothetical office of Clericus Maximus is held ex officio by the reigning Sovereign, whose name is generally styled IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAORUM.
Article II.
The Company
‘The Company’ is intended to be the receiver and administrator of the movable goods or wares of the clients. In each case the client, when they voluntarily decide to move their goods or wares, will settle such goods or wares with the Company’s officers at the local Branch Office to jointly settle on most advantageous form of liquidation or disposition (‘cleared’). Hence the Branch Office is called a ‘clearing house.’ Furthermore it is called a ‘safe house’ because it is privately managed and is secured with security.
Security is provided between two parties, one of whom seeks to deliver x to the other in receipt of payment. If a degree of time and/or space is required to settle the transaction, then an exchange or clearing counterparty intercedes to facilitate and reduce the risk involved in the transaction, thereby providing security to all parties involved. The dematerialization of security [instruments] requires a standardized clearing system, including secure depositories, custodians, and registrars, but material security is secured by its real property of physical materiality [the instruments]. Security is safekept in its physical form or in the form of electronic records of security held in custody accounts. In the context of this thing of ours, the House’s objective is to register all secured transactions on uniform consolidated instruments. It is these consols which underlie the system of battery which ground the House facilities, thereby facilitating the circulation of the local current C in the form of goods and services. By and through this system is the Autonomy of Antarah secured; therefore this office and its facilities may be referred to as His Secured Autonomy. Therefore it will always be the position of His Autonomy that His consols hold value in the form of the consideration written upon the face thereon.
Article III.
The Society
This ‘Society’ is the gestalt and successor-in-interest of the ancient and sacred society of free-thinkers, truth-speakers, and light workers, being those who contemplate on the Mysteries of the Creation and the Redemption of Humanity, Earth, and Heaven, and study the Holy Scriptures and other inspired writings and traditions of all ages, being a faith-based and friendly society or association of practitioners and volunteers.
The Society practices and advocates for the Gestalt-Systemtheory of Organizational System Development in clinical-dialectical and academic-didactical settings.
Article IV.
The General Schedule
General Schedule of Occupational Regimentation is as follows:
REGULAR EXERCISE (0700)
—Pythagorean Walk—
Weighted or unweighted border patrol of Pythagorean District. BO north to Florida Ave, Florida east to H Street, H west to 6th street, 6th north Florida, Florida east to N. Capitol then south to BO.
REGULAR EXERCISE (1600)
—Equilateral Walk—
Weighted or unweighted border patrol of Equilateral District. BO south to NY Ave, NY Ave west to 6th st., 6th north to Florida Ave, Florida east to NY Ave, NY west to BO.
Article V.
The Assurance Policy
The Society is bound by the core belief that there are many entities in Heaven and Earth, but that only one of them is the Creator thereof, and therefore worthy of worship, the worship of all other entities being idolatrous. God the Creator of Heaven and Earth has told us his name is YHVH (pronounced either “Yahweh,” “Yahowah” or “Jehovah”). This Supreme and Sovereign God is also called “The God,” that is, “Allah,” “El,” or “Elohim,” also being called “The Name,” that is, “HaShem.” ‘The Company’ and ‘The Society’ exist to glorify this name because He is our Heavenly Father who created us and He sent the One most like unto Himself, being his ‘Son,’ to give his life as a ransom for many in redemption of His children from the penalty of their sins. By the mouth of His prophets (the maa’kheru ‘truth-speakers, and djediw ‘those who speak’) he has instructed us to bear witness to his Most Gracious and Merciful Majesty.
We [The International Bible Students’ Association] continue to believe the following:
- Both the Old and New Testament are Jehovah’s inspired words; the primary source of all Truth.
- Man did not evolve but was created.
- Jehovah created his only-begotten Son, Jesus. Jesus created all other things.
- Jesus descended from heaven to earth and was born of Mary as a perfect human man, not as God in flesh.
- God raised Jesus from death in a Spirit body, not in a physical body of flesh.
- The Holy Spirit is Jehovah’s active power and force, not a person.
- The Trinity is nowhere found or taught in the Bible.
- Man is mortal and does not possess an immortal soul. The soul ceases to exist after death.
- There is no hell of fire where the wicked are punished. “Hell” is from the same Greek and Hebrew words for “grave,” describing the sleep of death, not eternal torment.
- We are now living in the “time of the end”.
- Jesus returned and has been invisibly present on earth since the early days of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
- The 144,000 of Revelation 7 are the anointed Bride of Christ in heaven.
- Earth will never be literally destroyed or completely depopulated.
- In the Kingdom, Christ will rule the earth in righteousness and peace.
- By their faithfulness to God, the obedient of mankind will be granted what our original parents lost-everlasting life in human perfection on a paradise earth.
- Since its humble beginnings, over 130 years ago, Bible Students all over the World have followed closely the Scriptural concept of Congregational Rule. This recognition of the local congregation as the highest earthly authority (Matt. 18:20) continues to be a significant difference between Bible Students and other Christian groups.
- Bible Students hold a common belief in the doctrines mentioned above. However, because we have complete “liberty in Christ”, and no central organization, there are some differences in understanding on more detailed views.
(https://www.internationalbiblestudents.com/about.html)
Congregations of Bible students throughout the world have been enjoying the freedom that is in Christ together since the 1870s. We have no organization beyond our small congregations, which are independently structured from one another, and yet cooperative in our search of and promotion of God’s truth. Our meetings are patterned after the early church and consist of prayer, praise and diligent study to learn through these the truth of God’s Word. We preach not ourselves but Christ. We substantiate nothing except by God’s Word. We make no laws, formulate no creed, deprive no person of his full liberty in Christ; but merely on every question quote the Word of the Lord, through the Apostles and prophets. We boast nothing, claim nothing of ourselves. We are content to voluntarily serve the Lord and His flock to the best of our ability – exacting no tithes, no “honor of men”, no confession of authority, no compensation; hoping merely for the love of the Lord and of all those who are His children and have His Spirit. So far from forming or desiring to form a new sect, we ignore all sectarian systems and their claimed authority; we recognize only the “one Lord, one faith and one baptism” of the Scriptures, and we fellowship as brethren every person who confesses faith in the “redemption through the blood of Christ.” We recognize as the true church all who profess a full consecration to the Lord, His will and His service – wherever they may be. Ephesians 4:3-6; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:23.
https://washingtonbiblestudents.com/
Article VI.
The Meeting of Friends
Minute of Public Service No. 1, Article II. April 15, 2024.
(a) Worship
- Worship is silent and unprogrammed, and subject to the guidance of the Inward Teacher.
- A period of time is used to center into an inward stillness. Spirit-led listening is perhaps the most important task of the worshipper.
- Spoken messages come from the spiritual depth of one’s life and from the leading of the Inward Teacher.
- To be absorbed, each message needs to be followed with a period of silence which allows for deepening.
- When the vocal and silent ministry speak to the condition of those present and is developed and deepened in the Truth, a profound sense of spiritual community occurs that freshens and delights. This is what we call a “gathered Meeting.”
- Meeting for Worship ends after about an hour when the head of Meeting, on the facing bench, shakes hands with those nearby. We then greet those sitting around us in a similar manner.
(b) Testimonies
- Testimonies are what Friends call the ways we have found to live and act based on our beliefs. As a group, we find that listening to and following God leads to:
- Integrity—living as whole people who act on what we believe, tell the truth, and do what we say we will do.
- Simplicity—focusing on what is truly important and letting other things fall away.
- Equality—treating everyone, everywhere, as equally precious to God; recognizing that everyone has gifts to share.
- Community—supporting one another in our faith journeys and in times of joy and sorrowsharing with and caring for each other.
- Peace—seeking justice and healing for all people; taking away the causes of war in the ways we live.
- Stewardship (Care for the earth)—valuing and respecting all of God’s creation; using only our fair share of the earth’s resources; working for policies that protect the planet.
(from, Friends Meeting of Washington)
(c) Ecclesiastes
- Friends or Quakers – either name will do as they have the same meaning – are the people who belong to Friends meetings or churches. These make up the ‘Religious Society of Friends.’
- ‘Quaker’ was originally a nickname for the people who called themselves “Children of the Light,” “Friends of Truth,” or ‘friends of Jesus.” (John 15:15). They were said to tremble or quake with religious zeal, and the nickname stuck. In time, we also became known simply as ‘Friends.’
- Quakers began in England around 1650 in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. In contrast to the formalism of the established church of the time, early Friends found they could experience God directly without the benefit of clergy, liturgy or steepled church.
- Quakers do not have a creed. No single statement of religious doctrine is accepted by all the diverse bodies that make up the Religious Society of Friends. Most meetings accept a book of ‘Faith and Practice’ which states shared values, outlines a process for making decisions, and contains a uniquely Quaker feature, ‘Advices and Queries.’
- Friends are united in stressing that an inward, immediate, transforming experience of God is central to our faith. We turn to an inner guide or teacher for direction. Many Friends identify this as the ‘Inner Light,’ the ‘Seed Within,’ or the ‘Christ Within’ [the ‘Inward Teacher’]. Some affirm their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal savior while others conceive of the inward guide as a universal spirit which was in Jesus in abundant measure and is in everyone to some degree.
- George Fox, a troubled and searching youth in 17th century England, underwent a profound religious experience that he described as a Voice answering his need: “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to Thy condition.” Immediate, direct experience of God became the heart of his message and ministry, the beginning of the Quaker movement.
- Love – of God and neighbor – is expressed in Quaker worship, witness, and our testimonies. Our social attitudes and concerns, service, and programs of education and action are the fruits of our faith and the affirmation of the indwelling spirit and redemptive love.
- The realization that there is the potential for good – and also evil – in all people makes Friends sensitive to human degradation, ignorance, superstition, suffering, injustice and exploitation. Under a sense of concern (inner prompting, divine obedience or urgency) Friends are drawn to humanitarian callings and to programs of education, service and constructive action.
- Many Friends today are pressing for social change by nonviolent means: reform of the criminal justice system and elimination of the death penalty; elimination of discrimination against minority groups and racial injustice; and an end to war.
- Most Friends reject the sacraments in their outward forms – communion and baptism as practiced in most Christian churches. We seek instead for the inward reality. For us, all great human experiences are of a sacramental nature.
- The Bible was very precious to early Friends, but to understand the scriptures, they saw that they must be read in the same Spirit as those who wrote them. An early Quaker leader, Robert Barclay, said that the scriptures are only a declaration of the source and not the source itself. Today, Friends exhibit a wide variety of relationships to the Bible and other religious texts.
- Quaker testimony is best understood as the public witness of an inward faith of both individual and community. It is the consequence of one’s relationship to God and the outworking of that relationship in one’s life. Testimony is critical to the Quaker tradition as it is the practice side of “Faith and Practice,” a phrase you will see together often. Friends have always believed that what was most important was how faith was lived out collectively in the world. This praxis oriented perspective takes priority over doctrine or belief. For instance, early Friends did not practice baptism as an outward rite. Instead, Friends were called to live out their baptism in the world; show you are baptized by the Holy Spirit by the way you live your life. Witness and practice are good words today to help newcomers understand the meaning behind testimony.
- Quaker scholar Pink Dandelion points out that among early Friends testimony was used in the “singular,” meaning that one’s whole life was to live out the consequence of their relationship with God in community. However, overtime testimony became pluralized (testimonies) and began to function more like lists of doctrines (protecting the boundary between Quaker community and those who are not Quakers), and eventually towards the individualization of “values.” It is less of a collective understanding and more up to each individual to decide how to practice their faith.
- Today, you will often hear Friends use this pluralized language of testimonies referring to a broad range of Quaker beliefs and practices. Furthermore, a fairly recent simplification of testimony has resulted in the popular usage of the acronym “S.P.I.C.E.S.” standing for “Quaker values” such as Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Regardless of usage, whether testimony, testimonies, or SPICES, the point is the Quaker commitment to “faith in action,” a living out and being a witness to what one believes.
(Source: https://quaker.org/testimony)
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