Nathan,
Thanks for the extra info. Yeah I think there is meaning in these stories as you mention and not to be taken literally, it infantile to do so in our day and age.
Did Abraham Have Schizophrenia? Hearing A Voice Telling Him To Sacrifice Isaac?
by frankiespeakin 46 Replies latest jw experiences
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NOLAW
Its a myth. Here is the realhistory behind it:
Ancient Greeks used to sacrifice humans on top of the mountains to Baal and other deities. The same applies to other tribes and people that were inhabiting the Mediterranean. By time people were getting more civilized and human sacrifices were replaced by animal sacrifices. Such practices were now considered barbaric and were discontinued. Still there were some extreme circumstances where human sacrifices were performed.
Having above in mind all symbols-the sacrificial blood that redeems mankind, the ram-can easily be explained.
Let me repeat myself:
Jesus is called in Greek αμν?ς του Θεο?. Why to use a lamb and not another animal? Because the blood from the sacrifice was held in a bottle made from sheepskin. It was called ?μνιον (amnion). The bottle contained and protected the blood which in extend protected/redeemed humans from all evil. Even in English the same word is preserved till today. It is the membrane building the amniotic sac that surrounds and protects the embryo.
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NewChapter
I'd say there are a lot of red flags! Anybody who hears a voice or voices should get checked out immediately. Unfortunately, in Abraham's day there was no such thing. So they were probably pretty comfortable attributing voices and the commands they give to a god. We have learned a lot and come very far past that now. Some will defend it by saying the voice did not allow Abraham to go through with the sacrifice. That is no defense of the voice, though. Think about Isaac and what he went through while his father worked on his insane plan! Children's Services would not accept that a parent who came to the brink of killing their child because of a voice is not a danger to that child.
Horrid story. It may not be true, but many believe it is true. This can lead them to accept hearing a voice and such rather than getting help. Afterall, Abraham was God's friend, and they are too. Thousands of years later, we have a much better understanding of hearing voices, and we don't need to use any god's to explain it away.
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NewChapter
At any rate, Abraham does not behave like a man who, after years of fruitless trying, has been blessed with two sons. He sends the eldest, Ismael, together with his mother Hagar, away into the desert. The youngest, Isaac, will be sacrificed at Yahweh’s command. Did Abraham suffer at the thought that these children, who had restored his manhood in the eyes of his tribesmen, were in fact not his children at all? Did he suffer from a conflict between his delusion of a God-given promise of numerous progeny, of which the sons were the fulfillment, and the sneaking realization that they were not his own sons? At any rate, in a completely pathological development, he hears a voice telling him to sacrifice his son.
Here is a thought that never occured to me before. Reading it the way you put it just opened up a new idea. As you say, what ARE the chances that Abraham went his entire life without children only to send one away and to attempt to sacrifice another? What are the chances he went his entire life without having any other children? Think about that! A natural question could be, what happened to the previous children? Make up any story you want, but people don't suddenly become fertile in their older years when they were unable to conceive in their younger years. Just something to think about. Not a fully formed idea. LOL
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frankiespeakin
NC,
Good points.
But the idea that just because someones hears voices in thier head they need to see a doctor may be a bit of paranoia. I mean I hear voice all the time in the form of intrusive thoughts but I'm not gonna go running to a doctor about it. Granted in some cases that maybe a good call but that may not be true in the vast majority of cases.
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NewChapter
We aren't talking about intrusive thoughts though, but a voice or voices. And they aren't always caused by very serious issues. However if you hear a defined voice, it is the best idea to get checked out. I've had intrusive thoughts too---but never would have defined them as a voice I hear. It's more like an idea that seems to come from nowhere and is suddenly firmly planted in my brain. I hate them because they are usually something anxiety inducing. Although, I have had intrusive thoughts that have helped me with my writing. I argue these are very different from an actual voice. If a person hears a voice, they need to get checked out.
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frankiespeakin
NC,
Okay, we'll say voices not intrusive thoughts according to the way you see it. Which I still think no doctor is needed in most cases, the thing is that a person need not jump to the conclusion that the voice is Gods voice automatically just because he hears something in his head,, which to me seems like a no brainer.
I would say that most reasonable people don't automatically jump to that conclusion in the 21st century in my estimation, only those with bouts of severe depression or severe schizophreania or perhaps weakened mentally by some type tramatic experience otherwise I think given time it will be self correcting.
I think better advice would be not to identify with these voice and use intelligence in stead of blind superstition, perhaps encourage a little reading up on what some of these voice one hears come from(the unconscious), might be more appropriate to most we enconter on this forum.
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sizemik
Hearing voices is quite common. I read somewhere that 1 in 10 experience it at some time in their life. Many consider it a normal part of their life . . . and even a benefit. Even physicians do not consider all who hear voices to be mentally ill or in need of help. Something about that troubles me.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200701/in-your-head-hearing-voices
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NewChapter
I see many people, even on this board, jumping to just that conclusion. I would never tell anyone that claims to hear a voice that they probably don't need a doctor. There are many causes, some serious, some less so, but it is a serious symptom that should not be ignored.
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NewChapter
Size, we must have overlapped. The only way to know for sure is to get checked out. The causes can be so serious---both mental and phsical illness--that to just conclude it's nothing seems quite dangerous to me. But then, I've never heard a voice, and everyone I know who has, has been pretty sick.