Is the Bible God’s actual word? Is it God’s word that has been paraphrased after being translated and passed down through the generations? Or, is it a man-made creation designed to control humankind?
Religion :
Many people grew up being conditioned through their own religions that the Christian Bible was the end-all/be-all word of God — and that it was blasphemous to ever question it. However, modern humans are beginning to question portions of “The Good Book” and challenge why Christian society has long considered it immaculate.
Christianity’s “Word of God” is a huge book. So, it’s understandable that many people have only skimmed through it without ever reading it from cover to cover. However, what’s not understandable is how so many of these same people consider the book omnipotent and use it to judge others, despite the fact they’re deeply unaware of all its content.
For example, a Donald Trump supporter recently spoke of how happy she was that God is mentioned in the US Constitution. Imagine how surprised she was when someone showed her a copy of the American document and read through it with her, proving to her that the word “God” appeared nowhere in the papers.
Some people are quick to judge others for being homosexual (and they use the Bible as their judgmental tool), but ignore their own premarital sex, lust, or adulterous acts as acceptable.
The problem is that people frequently quote the Bible despite knowing or understanding its contents.
For example, take a look at these actual no-no’s from the Bible that may surprise you:
- Having Short Hair (Leviticus 19:27)
- Holding a Grudge (Leviticus 19:18)
- Owning a Home (Leviticus 25:23)
- Planting Different Deeds in the Same Crop (Leviticus 19:19)
- Handling Unblessed Meat (Leviticus 5:2)
- Alcohol in Church (Leviticus 10:9)
- Tattoos (Leviticus 19:28)
- Using Tarot Cards or Holding Seances (Leviticus 19:31)
- Disrespecting Your Elders (Leviticus 19:32)
- Mistreating Foreigners (Leviticus 19:33-19:34)
- Worshiping Other Religions (Deuteronomy 17:2-17:7)
- Defending Your Husband From a Beating (Deuteronomy 25:11-25:12)
- Shaving (Leviticus 19:27)
- Wearing Ripped Jeans (Leviticus 10:6)
- Wearing Make-up/Jewelry/Nail Polish (Timothy 2:9)
- Eating Bugs (Leviticus 11:27)
- Eating Four-Legged Animals (11:27)
- Eating Shellfish (Leviticus 11:10)
- Eating Fat or Blood (Leviticus 3:17)
- Eating Yeast and Honey (Leviticus 2:11)
People who consider themselves good Christians who follow God’s word very likely break most of the no-no’s on the above list. Their actions are not based on purpose but on ignorance.
A former bishop has gone on record by questioning the existence of Hell, saying it was a man-made creation in the Bible designed to force people into doing good and avoiding dark consequences in their eternal lives.
Bishop John Shelby Spong, who retired in 2000 and passed away in 2001 at the age of 90, often spoke of how Christians grew up being taught that if you’re good and believe in God, you’ll go to heaven — but if you’re not good, you’ll find yourself in Hell. Sprong added that Hell was mythical, was invented by the church to control people, and doesn’t actually exist at all.
“Religion is always in the control business and that’s something people don’t really understand, it’s a guilt-producing control business,” he said during an interview. “If you have heaven as a place where you’re rewarded for your goodness and hell as a place where you’re punished for your evil, then you sort of have control of the population. So they create this fiery place which has quite literally scared the hell out of a lot of people.”
Spong, who worked as a priest in North Carolina for 20 years and a bishop in Virginia for another 24 years before his death, added that not only is the Bible not a literal retelling of Jesus’ life, but a majority of the New Testament was written 40 to 70 years after the crucifixion by people who weren’t actually there and didn’t even speak the same language that Jesus spoke.
“A lot of people hear me attacking their certainty. I don’t have any interest in doing that. I’m interested in penetrating the meaning of certainty. We have to get beyond the symbols,” Sprong said.
“The church doesn’t like for people to grow up because you can’t control grown-ups. That’s why we talk about being born again, when you’re born again you’re still a child,” he continued. “People don’t need to be born again. They need to grow up. They need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world.”
“The idea that the truth of God can be bound in any human system, by any human creed, by any human book is beyond imagination for me,” Sprong concluded. “God is not a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu or a Buddhist. All of those are human systems that human beings have created.”
Take a look at his fascinating interview on NBC’s Dateline and listen to his take on church law and the Christian Bible in the video below.
OK WASSUP! discusses Christianity:
Is the Bible truly God’s word or a creation to control humanity?
DJ asked: “do younger generations have less literal faith in the Bible?”
I would really love to hear from any young adult readers you may have.
Based on my conversations with my nieces and nephews (all young adults) I would posit the answer is “Yes,” to a certain degree.
And the truth is, I have changed my view on the ‘literal” word of the Bible from when I was younger and growing up.
I now believe the Bible is mostly “God’s word that has been paraphrased (by man) after being translated and passed down through generations.”