I enjoy watching these documentaries because they force me to really think through what it is that I believe in as it relates to God. While it might have been God inspired, the Bible is human edited so I read it with a grain of salt. I was once challenged to read the Bible as I would any other work of fiction. I was to just read through it without trying to interpret it and I must say it fits in rather nicely with the other works of fiction if read that way. You have the protagonist, God and the villain, Satan and a plot that carries throughout culminating in the "final" battle in Revelations.
Now before I am stoned and called blasphemous, I do believe in most of the teachings of the Bible. Most because there are things that I flat out disagree with. I like wearing fabric blends [Leviticus 19:19], eating shrimp [Leviticus 11:9-12] and flat out refuse to own another human being [Leviticus 25:44-45]. What I do believe in generally falls into the realm of loving God, loving one another and doing no harm.
Anyway going back to the documentary, they had a segment on what is considered an extension of the teachings of Paul. One of the things Paul is said to have preached extensively on is celibacy, abstinence etc. Made a lot of people mad when he said that men and women should practice celibacy as part of their religious activities in order to prepare for the second coming. The final draft that appeared in the Bible recommended celibacy but made it a voluntary activity. I just found it an interesting coincidence given yesterday's post.
Minor edit 8/2
4 comments:
The Bible was written by men, even if they claim to have been inspired by God. Much of the Old Testament is Jewish tradition, culture and folklore and I think it insults our God-given intelligence when we accept everything we read in the Bible literally and without question.
Its a bit like when people decry archaeological findings which have offered scientific proof of the origins of the Earth and the evolution of life through millions of years, just because these scientific facts do not correspond with their own narrow interpretation of the Bible creation story.
I think humans are arrogant and in our arrogance, we have sought to narrow God down to fit into our little minds by packaging Him into the form of a book. The church (in all its forms), Christianity and all aother religions are the product of mankind's feeble efforts to rationalise the world that we live in and to acknowledge, as spiritual beings, that there is a power that is greater than us. All religion is man made, but God is greater than religion
Amen Anengiyefa Amen
Great piece!!
Nothing to add. Just wanted to say I really dig this one.
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