VoltaicVolition
August 22nd, 2010, 07:49 AM
For the sake of fairness, to evaluate the integrity of using holy books as a source of "truthful anecdotes" I've started to look into the bible recently, In the only form that I can read it and actually understand what the hell is actually being said. (http://www.templetons.com/charles/jesus/preface.html)
I put in a catch for myself with some criterion, because many have already have taken the literal approach and few that do ever have any relevant insight:
1. I won't assume the writers of the gospels are some sort of mad scientists that had intentions to set evil into action from the get-go.
2. I will however deem the facts they used to be "heavily embellished" depending on the circumstances and will attempt to read between the lines to assess alternative "What could have really happened here if these were real people and magic doesn't exist" scenarios.
Lets see what we have on page 1!
"...he (Zachariah) saw an angel. The angel spoke to him... When he tried to speak, no sound came..."
Ok...this can either be:
"Zachariah, due to some unknown disease or other circumstance (bad booze), suffered a hallucination in which, him being a religious zealot and all, his subconscious took form as an angel, but could have easily just been a foggy blob of no descriptive adjectives at all, to tell him not nearly as much as it is claimed that it told him, or even anything, but would surely be impressive and exciting to say that an angel came to answer a prayer, years after the event happened, and when there is something of significance to point out that could be constituted as a prayer being answered! And then he suffered more health problems from being so old. How convenient."
-or-
"Zachariah encountered the time traveler Gabriel, who came to him disguised an angel, or perhaps future dudes just have wings, or maybe he was wearing a fancy suit that had wing like appendage things. Or maybe Zachariah's eyesight was just too messed up and the guy didnt have wings at all, and the old man was just waiting for any excuse to claim that he was speaking to god or sighting an angel, as apparently the only thing these people do with their lives is worship and talk and sing about God incessantly. What Gabriel wants to achieve by meddling with time is unclear, but it is clear that he is meddling, as he gives Zachariah information he was not supposed to have, which no doubt would change events from that day forward, not to mention that there is more meddling to be done...Also, he messes up Zach's vocal cords with the witchcraft that he had on hand just to be a dick."
.....
Ok, I'm changing something to my criterion.
1. I'll assume holy scriptures were written for purposes of control and/or cultural/moral teaching from the beginning. Maybe it was the only way to get people to behave back then.
And there you have it!
I put in a catch for myself with some criterion, because many have already have taken the literal approach and few that do ever have any relevant insight:
1. I won't assume the writers of the gospels are some sort of mad scientists that had intentions to set evil into action from the get-go.
2. I will however deem the facts they used to be "heavily embellished" depending on the circumstances and will attempt to read between the lines to assess alternative "What could have really happened here if these were real people and magic doesn't exist" scenarios.
Lets see what we have on page 1!
"...he (Zachariah) saw an angel. The angel spoke to him... When he tried to speak, no sound came..."
Ok...this can either be:
"Zachariah, due to some unknown disease or other circumstance (bad booze), suffered a hallucination in which, him being a religious zealot and all, his subconscious took form as an angel, but could have easily just been a foggy blob of no descriptive adjectives at all, to tell him not nearly as much as it is claimed that it told him, or even anything, but would surely be impressive and exciting to say that an angel came to answer a prayer, years after the event happened, and when there is something of significance to point out that could be constituted as a prayer being answered! And then he suffered more health problems from being so old. How convenient."
-or-
"Zachariah encountered the time traveler Gabriel, who came to him disguised an angel, or perhaps future dudes just have wings, or maybe he was wearing a fancy suit that had wing like appendage things. Or maybe Zachariah's eyesight was just too messed up and the guy didnt have wings at all, and the old man was just waiting for any excuse to claim that he was speaking to god or sighting an angel, as apparently the only thing these people do with their lives is worship and talk and sing about God incessantly. What Gabriel wants to achieve by meddling with time is unclear, but it is clear that he is meddling, as he gives Zachariah information he was not supposed to have, which no doubt would change events from that day forward, not to mention that there is more meddling to be done...Also, he messes up Zach's vocal cords with the witchcraft that he had on hand just to be a dick."
.....
Ok, I'm changing something to my criterion.
1. I'll assume holy scriptures were written for purposes of control and/or cultural/moral teaching from the beginning. Maybe it was the only way to get people to behave back then.
And there you have it!