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The Holy Bible has endured because it was written by different people, at different times, and from different languages, yet there is a central theme.
I wonder whether it is. After all there are Two central themes. One a god that is the Tribal god of the Hebrews, and the other is a gentile god who has turned his back on the Jews, effectively. because one was written by Jews and the other written by Christians who did not care for Judaism, very much.
So the reason the Bible has endured is luck, really. The Hebrew religion (I think) evolved out of a particular need to keep the Hebrews distinct from the Pagan tribes. This involved shunning anything characteristic of those tribes and this isolation has been stunningly effective. Indeed many of these methods were adopted by Islam to which was added the proselytising zeal of Christianity and the lust for conquest of the mongols, which combination has been devastatingly effective. or at least, just devastating.
Then Christianity came along. But, just as (it seems) Islam could have been obliterated by the Mongols but they were almost miraculously stopped by the Mamelukes, Christianity (or Messianic Judaism, as it was at first) could have been obliterated by Judaism had it not been for the Jewish war. It might have been inevitable that the appeal of Christianity (offering the disenfranchised of Roman society eternal life without much to do but join a club) would result is such Clout that Rome would have to accept them, and the refusal to brook any rivals would make Christianity the Only religion within a century or so.
So maybe luck, or maybe historical inevitability, is why the Bible (after several adaptation to suit the needs of the particular sect of Christianity) has endured to the present day. But I don't see a 'central theme' as being the reason. I would bet that you want to find the (apparent) basis of Godfaith' as the 'common factor' and claim (through the "miracle" of its'survival - as though the Bhagavad Gita, Tripitaka or Tao te Ching hadn't survived longer) that 'God is reason' it survived, so in a circular argument, the survival of the Bible proves that God exists.
Come on now - that was what you were trying to do, wasn't it?
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 10-15-2019 at 05:33 PM..
The problem I have with religion is that they base their laws off of events that clearly didn't happen the way they are presented. Jesus died and rose for our sins being one of them.
for example: Jesus had great teachings. The one I got was "try and give a little more than you take." and what do they (the fundy ones not the rational ones) turn it into? "literal jesus or you are damned."
Thanks, Arach.
I have to admit that I am a bit more skeptical about the Bible than you are. One of my chief concerns was why it has endured. It is a piece of literature after all and my impression of at least 1/2 of the US population is that they are anti-intellectual. Yet, the book endures and is referenced back to quite often. Why?
Believers will claim that the Bible's endurance demonstrates it must be the hand of a god who is responsible for this. Do most believers know their Bible? I am guessing, no, which is a strange choice. Here we have a book a god is supposedly responsible for but every verse is not memorized. It is true that memorization does not always equal intellectualism. But I believe most pastors know more about the Bible than the common believers, which shows there is value in knowing the book inside and out.
If not, why is it referred back to so often, even for the great teachings, which could have been learned in other ways? One position is they feel the Bible gives them the authority to point out behaviors in others. But analyzing behaviors could have been done without a Bible. So the answer must be that it is a part of Western culture and it protected for that reason. It is code for you are like me.
Yes, and that central theme is be a good slave and don't rock the boat and make waves.
What christianity says is that if you're oppressed, turn the other cheek. Islam says if you're oppressed, then right the injustice. That's why Africans are converting to Islam in droves, because Islam is liberation theology and christianity is slave theology and no one in the right mind would subscribe to christianity.
Some truth here, but me thinks you greatly oversimplify and misrepresent much about both religions that "works" for Christians and Muslims. Hard to contemplate so many billions of people not in their right mind, but...
I have to admit that I am a bit more skeptical about the Bible than you are. One of my chief concerns was why it has endured. It is a piece of literature after all and my impression of at least 1/2 of the US population is that they are anti-intellectual. Yet, the book endures and is referenced back to quite often. Why?
Not sure I understand you here...
Are you suggesting the Bible has endured because of all the anti-intellectual people or despite them?
Which brings up the question about education and religious fundamentalists. What do the demographics tend to suggest?
I've told this story before about when I was teaching earth science, and as a result evolution, and had several devout church people say...literally..."I don't want my child to think".
It reminds me of that old christian song "Gimme That Old Time Religion". Clearly the message is I don't need to think about it (my religion, it's good enough for me).
I've heard occasional reports of Christian protests along the lines of "I don't want my child to be taught how to think!" I'm reluctant to use this as an Argument as i can hardly believe that it isn't just an anti -religious jibe. Yet this is the effect, if not the actual mission statement.
When I say anti-intellectualism, in general, I mean that it is not cool to be smart, not that the people are actually dumb. So the answer is "despite" the attitude.
I've told this story before about when I was teaching earth science, and as a result evolution, and had several devout church people say...literally..."I don't want my child to think".
It reminds me of that old christian song "Gimme That Old Time Religion". Clearly the message is I don't need to think about it (my religion, it's good enough for me).
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