Go to Religion in the Modern World
- Add a comment
- Go to At what point in our history as a species do we discard the Bible?
The religious and scientific researches do not tally.There is a huge gap between them
posted by
adventurer02
on July 7, 2015 at 3:07 AM
| link to this | reply
empty_handed_painter --- if one follows specific themes through ancient
mythology some things become glaringly apparent about the bible. It really is nothing more than 1000 generations of folklore, edited and encapsulated during a certain period in our history. There is no doubt that some historical fact exists within it pertaining to specific people, events, times and places but on it's whole the credibility of the work would not stand up to even a modicom of objective scrutiny. But it doesn't need to stand up to scrutiny, it has the blindness caused by the wishful thinking of humans. You say it all here: "I too have investigated the Bible's authenticity -- it is layers upon layers of tale telling wrapped about some reality.....only thing is the tale telling is accepted as reality."
The really funny part of this is: as the faithful adhere to the notion that the bible is the word of God it is the most bastardized of the great holy books on this planet. The Koran is far less adulterated as is the Talmet.
posted by
gomedome
on March 14, 2005 at 5:16 PM
| link to this | reply
is anybody listening?
I too have investigated the Bible's authenticity -- it is layers upon layers of tale telling wrapped about some reality.
only thing is the tale telling is accepted as reality.
problem is when people accept myth as reality, they do everyone a disservice.
the Bible, as are all religious books, is an account of human seeking.
funny how scholars have discovered that several different groups wrote different portions of the old testament and that it was compiled mainly in Persian times -- that it was not written as accepts -- Moses wrote the first five books -- this is mere legend.
then there is the new testament -- i think Jesus (Yeshua) existed -- there is a personality in them there pages -- a man obsessed with a message --
and it all began with Paul's letters -- that's what we h ave to work with
only thing is -- there were hundreds of gospels and letters and what we're left with was decided hundreds of years later.
then the King James itself is flawed -- translated using earlier latin translations -- had to be corrected hundreds of times and it still has mistranslations in it.
so what are we left with? -- certain valid precepts -- no doubt -- they are universal, as attested to by the various religions and cultures adhering to them albeit in a different name and guise.
the burden of possession applies to possessing documents that get in the way of seeing the full spiritual -- they are the camel's hump and we cannot get through the "eye of the needle" -- the small gate with the hump -- we have to get rid of it. there's so much waiting over there in the spiritual realms once we do.
posted by
Xeno-x
on March 14, 2005 at 2:47 PM
| link to this | reply
Very well thought out, gomedome.
I, too, grew up in an area permeated with the pious teachings of prurient preachers and sanctimonious hypocrites judging everyone else by god's law while somehow selectively forgetting to apply the same moral and ethical tenets to themselves. I, too, have grown to understand that most of these biblical lessons were done out of what they thought was right, even though their standards were corrupted by the crushing guilt of Jesus' death and the inviolable "truths" that make up the bible.
But I have also found that biblical teachings, parables, and stories have their counterparts in hundreds of cultures, that the "one true god" is merely a youngster on the playground of mythology, and that the "son of god" is a tired and much-used tale.
To the point: I would keep the bible, as I would all holy books. They are true conveyors of morality. They are the historical basis of our legal codes. They are full of great object lessons and cautionary tales. They were written to be and remain controllers of men, and, as such, remain dangerous to logical truths and universal tolerance.
But that is all they are. Books of ideas and stories, adages and proverbs, to be shelved with Grimm's and Aesop's. Nothing more, nothing less.
Hallelujah, amen, and pass the fried chicken.
posted by
saul_relative
on March 12, 2005 at 5:57 PM
| link to this | reply
drasticmeasures -- where do you learn to talk crazy like that?
Is there a crazy school somewhere that teaches you all of the really nutty things to say to people? Give up my life to a higher power? Is that what you feel you are doing with your life? You also must not be aware that a version of the ten commandments exists in every civilized culture in history and is hardly exclusive to the bible. The folklore theme of being handed down from God re-occurs as well, many many times. From burning bush on the side of a mountain to sacred scrolls found in a cave. But of course your folklore version is somehow better than the rest isn't it? That ultimately answers your own question: "what harm does it do to you?". Your faith system historically only works for people of like mind. The rest of us have to find a way to live and raise our children in a world where not being willing to spew this crazy gibberish somehow deems us as second class citizens.
posted by
gomedome
on March 12, 2005 at 8:54 AM
| link to this | reply
what harm does it do to you?
thats right. NOTHING. Except threaten you with the prospect of giving up control of your life to a Higher Power. And please dont give me the crusades and all that. The Bible lays some pretty good ways of conducting your life such as love your neighbor as yourself, do unto others, the 10 commandments are a good thing to follow. Get over your bad childhood experience with nuns and what not, and open your eyes.
getting rid of the Bible would be disasterous for this country and the world.
posted by
drasticmeasures
on March 11, 2005 at 11:36 PM
| link to this | reply
That's right Gheeghee
This may deserve a trophy. You have actually gotten one of my points. I will alert the media...CNN will want to hear about you actually getting one of my points. But do not think for a minute that I do not realize the absurdity of what I have just contended. It is an impossible dream, so we are just going to have to live with reality. That reality is that if we can't burn all of the holy books in the world all we can do is adjust to a lifetime of looking at absolutely everything through a pair of "God Fan Club Special Edition" rosy red glasses. No matter where we walk on this globe, there will be no respite from mankind's wishful thinking.
posted by
gomedome
on March 11, 2005 at 6:26 PM
| link to this | reply
By your logic, you'd have to discard all literature that was ever written.
posted by
Gheeghee
on March 11, 2005 at 5:22 PM
| link to this | reply