"Religious movements begin with an individual soul gaining enlightenment. Some person profoundly connects with God and changes the course of history. "Religion" follows in the wake of personal or individual enlightenment as others are taught by the enlightened visionary. It is not easy to transfer a connection to God from one person to another, and religion is the unavoidable result of enlightenment as the transfer is attempted.

"It is impossible to institutionalize enlightenment. Although that is the object of every religious movement at the start, none of them able to reach that goal. What is institutionalized is an echo of the enlightenment experience. It is always left to the individual participant to find the experience for themselves.

"Moses' experience on Sinai resulted in a new Dispensation, because the heavens had opened and God had spoken. From this original contact with the ineffable, a religious construct was organized. It involved organization, priestly officiators, ordinances, rites, rituals, laws, social order and a body of teachings. The purpose of it all was to allow those who followed Moses and believed God had revealed Himself to Moses to worship in a form which would bring them into harmony with God. However, as the Old Testament account shows, those who followed in these religious observances would be at times cruel, mischievous, perverse, hard-hearted, vain and rule-ridden. Often, the whole of the Old Testament is viewed as a time of darkness and ignorance. The whole of the Mosaic Law is viewed by the Christian world as inferior to what was to come.

"The Mosaic Dispensation was a time of religious importance, however. It lasted for more than a millennium and is still remembered for its religious rites and observances. This epoch was dominated by religion. There may have been seasons when there was precious little enlightenment for a time, but throughout the era the people are still remembered for being religious. As the New Testament unfolds, we find just how entirely possible it was to be devoted to the religion, and yet so unenlightened to the truth that people would reject God. This gulf between religious people and their God highlighted Christ's ministry. Christ's teachings attempted to bring people back to God by focusing on what was truly important." (Denver Snuffer, Eighteen Verses, p. 189-191)

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