yesterday, my classmate was giving an example from her homeland on how people can give various interpretations which have nothing to do with truth.
though studying in the us, she was closely monitoring what was happening in kerala (a small southern state of india), her birth place.
last month saw unprecedent heavy rains wreaking widespread havoc in this small state with huge population (which is much more than australia’s population).
"Jehovah killed 70K people because David took a census--This should have been a Natural Plague - unknown that it was caused by microorganisms - for sure."
That's an interesting one I never thought of. It is most probable!
Wow, what a crowd of pilgrims! and your question is very relevant.
yesterday, my classmate was giving an example from her homeland on how people can give various interpretations which have nothing to do with truth.
though studying in the us, she was closely monitoring what was happening in kerala (a small southern state of india), her birth place.
last month saw unprecedent heavy rains wreaking widespread havoc in this small state with huge population (which is much more than australia’s population).
Yesterday, my classmate was giving an example from her homeland on how people can give various interpretations which have nothing to do with truth. Though studying in the US, she was closely monitoring what was happening in Kerala (a small southern State of India), her birth place. Last month saw unprecedent heavy rains wreaking widespread havoc in this small State with huge population (which is much more than Australia’s population). Over 1.4 million people were displaced besides many deaths.
In this State there is a famous pilgrim center called Sabarimala which attracts over 45 million pilgrims every year. Regarding the men-only-policy of this temple, case filed by women’s organization is pending with the Apex Court of India. In view of this case, many interpreted this natural calamity as caused by God’s anger because women wanted entry into this temple whereas others interpreted this calamity as caused by God’s anger because men prevented entry to women with some saying they would not permit women even if Apex Court judges in favor of women.
Yet environmentalists and scientists are sure this havoc was man-made because of widespread anti-environment policies being practiced by the State.
This explains why we find many interpretations on Biblical subjects with the possibility that none of them could be be true.
i have a long time “friend” around my age, she and her husband are big sheeple who have been raised to practically worship elders and view their as police angels.
anyways, they recently arranged to have a meeting with the elders to ask for their blessing pretty much to go to a wedding of a relative of hers who is not in the best standing, (she just recently got baptized and her husband was recently reinstated) anyways, the elders told them of course that it was their choice, but warned them that every time they ask for the elders advice on something, it is recorded whether they heeded the advice or not and looked at for things such as ske school, which is a goal they have to do together.
and of course they advised them not to go so they didn’t, especially since they want to go to the ske school, and i guess they only accept people who let people have full control of their lives.
This because religion is for preaching only, not for practising. Jesus was an exception. Though none of his 72 disciples or his family members accompanied him, he went early morning to a mountain to spend time in conversation with God. (Mark 1:35)
the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.
to mention a few:.
1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.
This is not about creating one’s own Bible. Jeremiah had trouble with priestly class of his time because he accused them of fabricating things as scriptures. (Jeremiah 8:8) Because of the way he was persecuted by them he called Pazhoor (priest) “as terror on all side.” (Jeremiah 20:10)
Interestingly, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says we need to choose from the Scriptures what is only kalos(inherently and intrinsically good) which means many verses are weeds as implied by Jesus in his famous illustration of the weeds. (Mathew 13:24-30) I have no problem in identifying what is inherently and intrinsically good.
the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.
to mention a few:.
1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.
Karter,
A was with God and A was God--this type of writings also.
the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.
to mention a few:.
1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.
OnTheWayOut,
Superb comments, thank you for that.
recent archeological discoveries have found that the ancient israelites were not exactly monotheistic to yahweh, apparently the israelites also worshiped a god which was seen as yahweh's wife asherah.
small carved sculptures have been found in places of worship and homesteads to support these findings.asherah's connection to yahweh, according to francesca stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in the bible and an 8th-century b.c.
inscription on pottery found in the sinai desert at a site called kuntillet ajrud.
Not always!
In essence, MYTHS are picturized version of truth. In mythology mind or consciousness is the builder—individual soul builds the body (micro universe) and Supreme Soul builds the macro universe.
That is what Nobel Laureate Max Planck [Father of modern physics] said: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” (The Observer, 25 January 1931) Richard Conn Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, in his article “The Mental Universe” (Nature, International Journal of Science, July 07, 2005) quoted Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans as saying: “Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.” (“The Mental Universe,” Nature, 07 July 2005)
the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.
to mention a few:.
1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.
You wrote: “I'm afraid we just reduced the Bible to Song of Songs only....”
That’s true because you are only echoing, in principle, what Jesus himself said in Mathew 13:24-30 where it is implied that truth is too scanty and weeds would be too much.
Let the weeds abound. Yet, there is a sure method to know what is true. Mathew 7:12 is the touchstone by which everything else can be judged. All those verses and accounts that are in harmony with this verse are factual and the rest are fabricated
recent archeological discoveries have found that the ancient israelites were not exactly monotheistic to yahweh, apparently the israelites also worshiped a god which was seen as yahweh's wife asherah.
small carved sculptures have been found in places of worship and homesteads to support these findings.asherah's connection to yahweh, according to francesca stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in the bible and an 8th-century b.c.
inscription on pottery found in the sinai desert at a site called kuntillet ajrud.
Thank for posting such an informative and interesting piece, Finkelstein.
This is no surprise to those who know the mythologies of other nations where God is depicted as having wife and sitting on top of mountain etc. For example, in Hinduism God’s wife is named Parvati, and the word for mountain is Parvat from which the words such as power originate.
The symbolism behind such depiction is simple: God being seated on the top of the mountain is that His standards are elevated and controls all manifestation of energy. His relationship with the nature (which is materialization of energy) is like that of husband with his wife. Myth, mystery, mysticism …all have the root meaning of ‘measuring out’ from the vast reservoir of knowledge known and unknown, ‘listening and seeing with ears and eyes shut down’ which means listening what is unsaid and seeing what is unseen.
In other words Myths are suggestive of the hidden. It is like saying ‘every action has equal and opposite reaction’ which we all know literally because we experience it in our life. Yet it has a suggestive meaning too. When we see good action producing good results and bad action bad results, many would choose to do good repeatedly and discontinue performing bad action; thus they evolve upwardly. Thus cause and effect mechanism is all about upward evolution. But in practice, many evolve downward repeating the same mistakes over and over again. This is because people go by their taste rather than proof. Those who want to know the truth would understand it even without external help, and even when it is in coded language or presented in mysticism. Those who do not want to know the truth would not understand it even with external help, and even when it is presented it in too simple language. Hence the seers/sages used mythologies.
the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.
to mention a few:.
1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.
All those accounts falling into the category of 10 listed are written by false friends of God because Bible itself admits much of it is written by false friends of God (Jeremiah 8:8). If you are tuned to music, it is easy for you to identify mismatches while someone is playing music. Similarly, we all have an in-built sense of justice because of which in all countries certain acts such as lying, cheating, sedition ..etc are treated as crime, and those found practising them are removed from the society on to the jail or from the life itself. The same in-built sense of justice in me tells me all those 10 listed above and similar ones are written by false friends of God because it doesn’t help the readers in any fruitful way.
But Mathew 25:31-46 is written by a true friend of God because it helps the reader to be humane which has the potential to make the world a better place with peace and progress thriving.
