I have a question and I want some real well thought out answers to this question. I've taken some anthropology classes at the U and all of those classes talked about religions of the different regions. I even had a class about the history of religion in the middle east. Now what I want to know is this: Do you take everything in the Old Testament, more precisely the portion before Noah, or do you read it as having a lot of good, interesting stories that tell you how you should be living your life? Stories full of values and morals and figures to look up to because of their actions in the text. I'm not saying that the Bible is false or that it didn't really happen. The fact of the matter is the Bible was written down hundreds and sometimes thousands of years after it happened. And the stories told in the Old Testament are not unique to Christianity. These stories are found in middle eastern religions regulary. They all influenced each other. Even a religion like the ones practiced in Egypt that you may look at as being different shares a lot with the Judeo-Christian traditions. Some things these religions have in common is a creation story, a disaster story, a predicted savior, and an end of times and judgment story. The stories may differ a little but when you look at them all in general they have a lot of similarities. At one point in the evolution of religion there was a god name Yaweh who we believe to be our God. The thing is he appeared before Judeo-Christian writings and in a different religion. He took over and removed the other gods leaving one all powerful god. I don't know if that story is true but knowing what we belive, that there are other gods and that we have the chance to become gods, it would make sense that maybe at one time there were other gods here on earth with Adam and Eve. Plus, we know from the temple and the scriptures that there were other people being taught the gospel of Satan and that Adam and Eve weren't listening or subscribing to those teachings. Who were these other people that Satan was teaching? It's an interesting thought. One that has always given me pause.
Now these thoughts all came about when Cheryl and I were having a conversation about the Bible. I pointed out that it seems like there are two different gods: an Old Testament god and a New Testament god. The Old Testament god is the scary, vindictive, unforgiving god and the New Testament god is one full of forgivness, charity, and turning the other cheek. Old Testament (OT) god says and eye for an eye where New Testament (NT) god says turn the other cheek. I've heard it said that God will never give up on you yet he gave up on all the people in Noah's day and he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. OT god was a strict task master that said if you don't do everything by the book then you have no chance. NT god said that as long as you treat others as you would have them treat you you'll be fine. Now of course he said that through Jesus but as Jesus was God's mouthpiece we have to assume that it came straight from Him. But it really seems like two different gods in these two books.
Now if you want to take it further and compare those 2 to the god in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants there is a little difference there as well. The god in the Book of Mormon is almost a composite of the Bible gods. He is a by the books god but he is forgiving. He does have some instances where it seems like he has given up on a group of people because of their wickedness and they are destroyed by the righteous. On the other hand the Book of Mormon is full of stories of redemption like Alma. I think the Book of Mormon (BOM) god is the most complex and seemingly human of the gods portrayed in the 3 books.
Then you have the modern god in the Doctrine and Covenants. This god is hard to describe because there isn't much written about him from the perspective of the people who have seen him through visions and had revelations from him. Judging from the Prophets of the LDS church and the Apostles he is a very kind and forgiving god but he has high expectations from his children. I think that is the real god. There are rules that have been set forth but those rules aren't hard and fast like rules set forth in the OT. You can be forgiven if you're willing to do the work. And you are rewarded for following the rules by not having to deal with the consequences of making bad decisions.
So this takes us back to the original argument; should the Bible be read as a history book or should it be read as a book with a lot of good stories about how we should live and what will happen if we should make the wrong choice? Were Adam and Eve really born 6000 years ago? Was the whole world really flooded and one man was able to build a ship and have 2 of every animal on it in the world? Was Lot's wife really turned into a pillar of salt because she turned around and looked at the city as she was leaving? Did Moses really lead the people through the desert by following a pillar of fire from the sky? Did he really talk with a burning bush? You've got me. I read those stories with a grain of salt. I don't think they all happened literally. I think some may have happened and I think that most have been blown out of proportion as stories do when they are passed down through generations orally. Then you have the poorly translated King James version where whole passages were left out because they thought the same meaning could be given in less words. We still don't know how much was really left out.
Having said all that I must say that I do believe Jesus to be the savior of the world. I believe that if you follow the commandments and the teachings in the Bible and the Book of Mormon you will live a very righteous life. I believe in the process of repentance and forgivness. I have a strong testimony of those things. And yet I don't believe the Bible should be taken literally as it is written. I am probably in the minority with this but that is the conclusion I have come to with my studies. I'm not discouraging anyone from reading those books, I'm actually encouraging people to read them. I just know the consequences that come from people reading books and taking them literally. It never leads to good things. We end up with religious extremists. We have Muslims blowing up buildings and cars and people because of a passage that says the Infidels should die. We have abortion clinics being bombed in the name of religion. We had a whole war between European Christians and Middle Eastern Muslims in the name of religion because of what they read in a book. That's not right. That's not what the book was written to inspire. That's not what any religious book was written to inspire. There is not one religion in the world that preaches hatred of others, that preaches violence against non-believers.
Those are called extremests.
Thanks for reading.
I love this. Absolutely love it, you definitely have a way of wording things that only skim through people's minds. I love reading your blog, it always helps me start my day with a little contemplation :)
ReplyDeleteThe Bible should NOT be read as literal history. If someone looks at it that way, in a fundamentalist way, then he will be disappointed when he finds out it's not 100% true, and his testimony will fall apart.
ReplyDeleteThere are some obvious factual errors with the Bible--for example, the ark is way too small to hold every different kind of animal, we don't have a firmament in Heaven which holds up the stars, and people have been living on Earth for way more than 6,000 years. It can't possibly be completely true.
Nevertheless, the Bible is an important book. It's integral to our religious and cultural identities. We quote from it a lot. We seek ethics and inspiration from it. The Bible and other scriptures are very valuable, but not as a scientific or historical text.
The Bible is not really about God, in my opinion, but rather it's about people's perceptions of and experiences with God. They all experience spirituality and divinity through a different lens - as Paul said, "For now we see through a glass, darkly," which is why God seems different from one author to another.
Children will take scripture stories literally, and will have a fundamentalist view of God and the Church. This is perfectly fine; every faithful believer started out believing that way. But eventually, our beliefs will become more nuanced and complex. Again, Paul: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
Just out of curiosity, Jay, have you ever thought of religion as a personal belief within yourself? Across time, I have not read the entire BOM, or any scriptures for that matter, so I don't really know if I'm out of line here, but I want to know what you think.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have come to believe, and your blog reminded me of this and how I have wanted to ask you, do you think that everyone has their own religion? Because people read the scriptures and come to their own conclusions, their own beliefs to where they make their own choices, their own mistakes.. Is religion just a guideline as the God in the NT or BOM is where they could forgive if you weren't straight on, or do you think everything needs to be spot on as the OT God? If everything is supposed to be spot on, I sure wish the books were more specific.. I guess that is all part of life, though, and our test..?
I dunno. I have, in my day, literally had a hard time defining what is right and what is wrong because I may believe something different than someone else believes based upon how we perceive what we read or hear.
What do you think?
I think that religion is a very personal matter. I don't believe that you have to be straight on like the OT but that if you live a good life and you recognize when you have done wrong and make amends for those offences you should be just fine. I don't think that just becuase you belong to a different religion that you are exempt from entering heaven. There are some things that you need to do to be able to reach the highest levels of heaven and those things are done in the temple.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a personal religion for everyone I don't think it's that simple. You have the Holy Ghost when you got baptized and he helps guide you towards what's right and wrong if you will listen. You need some guidence from an authority figure to help you make the good choices and remind you of which direction you should be going in. That's why it is such a blessing for us to be able to listen to a living prophet who can guide us and be God's mouthpiece on Earth.
Everyone goes through a point in their life where they do a little soul searching and they try to find meaning with their life. This always leads in the direction of spirituality. You wonder if what you've been taught your whole life is really what you believe or if you just go along with it because it is all you know. If you're not sure, search it out. Do some research. I've studied other religions and belief systems and I always come back to our church because it seems to be the only one that is complete. Most of the other religions seem incomplete or vague in their beliefs. You need to find that out for yourself. Once you do then your whole life can change. You will have direction in your life that can help you make good choices for your future; choices that can push you in the direction for happiness.
Like I said before, religion is a personal matter but it is a matter between you and God. What you need to find is what is the best way for you to cultivate that relationship. I strongly believe that you have been given the best possible groundwork and foundation to make that relationship strong. Just pray about it, search yourself and use the tools that have been given to you. You'll find the answers that you need.