Okay, let me start with, I am the granddaughter of a fundamentalist Midwestern Presbyterian minister, who spent time in my 20s and 30s searching for a religion that lived up to the teachings of Jesus, but came out the sausage grinder an atheist. I spent years studying the history of religion, anthropology, history of Egypt and the Middle East, etcetera. As a result, when we look at the Bible, especially the Old Testament, we must remember that:
1. The Bible is a collection of oral histories written down centuries or decades later.
2. The Bible, and the Koran, reflect the culture of the Middle East between 2000 BCE to about 100 AD which was patriarchal, misogynistic, tribalistic, polygamous, and polytheistic, even among the Hebrew people.
3. Democracies did not exist in the Middle East during this time.
4. Slavery was the norm. Slaves were bought and sold, often came from conquered tribes, villages, city-states, towns, cities, and empires, as well as criminals, the poor, and others in the conquering societies.
5. The dominate form of government were monarchies and emperors.
6. Most modern translations of the Bible are inaccurate. Translators have made mistakes. Example first: We speak modern English. One of the earliest renown authors of modern English is Shakespeare. When you read Shakespeare, do you understand the text? When, I taught Shakespeare (I have a credential to teach secondary English) my 20th and 21st century students could not understand the many of the words. Some words, like anon, are archaic, some had changed their meaning, and my students had no frame of reference to divine contextual clues. Why should they? Shakespeare wrote in the late-15th/early-16th centuries. The same issues have perplexed translators of the Bible.
7. Jahweh was originally the Hebrew volcano and war god. Jahweh was the Hebrew Ares. War leaders, like generals, are authoritarian and everyone else is a pawn or slave.
8. Religion had two purposes: to explain the natural world, and to provide the rational for the priestly caste and monarchy, often the same person, think pharaohs, to have power over the people.
At least Muslims are upfront about it. The very name of their religion is “Islam” which translates from Arabic as SUBMISSION! I have a theory that the god of the Old Testament was actually an evil energumen (evil entity) from another dimension., who wowed the Bronze Age people of Palestine into a tizzy of religious fervor. Just sayin. Sounds legit!
This is excellent.
Thanks! I'm glad you like it!
Okay, let me start with, I am the granddaughter of a fundamentalist Midwestern Presbyterian minister, who spent time in my 20s and 30s searching for a religion that lived up to the teachings of Jesus, but came out the sausage grinder an atheist. I spent years studying the history of religion, anthropology, history of Egypt and the Middle East, etcetera. As a result, when we look at the Bible, especially the Old Testament, we must remember that:
1. The Bible is a collection of oral histories written down centuries or decades later.
2. The Bible, and the Koran, reflect the culture of the Middle East between 2000 BCE to about 100 AD which was patriarchal, misogynistic, tribalistic, polygamous, and polytheistic, even among the Hebrew people.
3. Democracies did not exist in the Middle East during this time.
4. Slavery was the norm. Slaves were bought and sold, often came from conquered tribes, villages, city-states, towns, cities, and empires, as well as criminals, the poor, and others in the conquering societies.
5. The dominate form of government were monarchies and emperors.
6. Most modern translations of the Bible are inaccurate. Translators have made mistakes. Example first: We speak modern English. One of the earliest renown authors of modern English is Shakespeare. When you read Shakespeare, do you understand the text? When, I taught Shakespeare (I have a credential to teach secondary English) my 20th and 21st century students could not understand the many of the words. Some words, like anon, are archaic, some had changed their meaning, and my students had no frame of reference to divine contextual clues. Why should they? Shakespeare wrote in the late-15th/early-16th centuries. The same issues have perplexed translators of the Bible.
7. Jahweh was originally the Hebrew volcano and war god. Jahweh was the Hebrew Ares. War leaders, like generals, are authoritarian and everyone else is a pawn or slave.
8. Religion had two purposes: to explain the natural world, and to provide the rational for the priestly caste and monarchy, often the same person, think pharaohs, to have power over the people.
Even chimpanzees wouldn’t fall for religious bullshit , that’s why chimps don’t have one , they are smarter 😊
Brilliant and I agree with every word Religion is total BS and the worlds biggest fairytale
Black immigration made my eyes bug out. I'm a Love One Another kinda person. But good grief. And very worth reading. Many thanks
At least Muslims are upfront about it. The very name of their religion is “Islam” which translates from Arabic as SUBMISSION! I have a theory that the god of the Old Testament was actually an evil energumen (evil entity) from another dimension., who wowed the Bronze Age people of Palestine into a tizzy of religious fervor. Just sayin. Sounds legit!
It can be said, also, that for believers Christ, Himself, submitted to the will of the Father and in doing so won the redemption of all.