In the immutable words of...
Before we start.. This is my stance on God and an afterlife. There isn't one. Or, there is one. Either way, it doesn't change my actions. I will do the best I can regardless and since it can never be proven, there is no point really spending too much time thinking about it. People can believe or not believe as they choose but, anyone who thinks they know what a supposedly all-knowing god wants or thinks, is likely mistaken.
But, some people claim from various traditions to have the words of God trapped in a book and all of his desires within. This is something I have never really understood when it comes to people who put their faith in the words of the Bible as I have to ask, which Bible is correct? Which of Gods words are immutable and consistent through time because a God's words must be consistent and applicable across all time for it is all knowing. Right?
So, I have a question, which words are immutable in the bible when there are so many versions, so many translations, so many interpretations? A God's words shouldn't be open to interpretation, they should be laws of such clarity that one can choose to follow or, not. Following the word of God or burning for eternity in a sea of fire shouldn't be down to a guessing game, should it?
So, here are the word counts of some popular Bibles:
- The King James Bible: 783,137 words.
- New King James Bible: 770,430 words.
- The New International Bible (NIV): 727,969 words.
- English Standard Version (ESV): 757,439 words.
- New American Standard Bible (NASB): 782,815 words.
source
Which is correct? What has been changed?
Any contract lawyer can tell you cases where a comma out of place or a preposition error has opened up loopholes and large lawsuits but, there is 8% difference between the lowest and highest counts. That is significant. Would you notice an 8% increase in your income, what about an 8% decrease? What about if 8% more laws were added you must follow or go to prison? The amount of meaning that can be changed by adding or removing a few words is incredible, what about with 45,000 words?
This isn't about whether or not anyone believes in God or not, this is about immutability and trust. I wonder what the difference would be in the world if for example, Jesus wrote his words onto the blockchain himself. I think that would clear up a lot of the issues as there would be certainty on what was said. Yes, there is still the open to interpretation problem but, there would likely be a lot less of that if the words came stright from the horse's mouth so to speak as in all likelihood, he would have spoken quite plainly and in ways that even the uneducated could understand. He wouldn't have spoken in the words of scholars and poets.
Immutability has its benefits and as we go forward into an increasingly strange world, it is going to come in handy for a few things. Of course, there is the fake news issues where stories are slightly manipulated to alter their meanings. It will be possible to trace the original and compare changes to what else is out there. Perhaps a filter could automatically show the changes highlighted.
But, there are other things to come that are already causing issues where people are editing text, voice and video to make it appear someone with a reputation has said something they haven't. Combine that with the ability to fake people on camera visually saying what they never said as well as the ability to for content to go viral and, the damage can be devastating.
I think that quite soon, public figures with something to lose are going to start investigating ways to make sure that they have evidence that what is portrayed as them is actually them. It could get to a point where all social medias are running blockchains and are forced to filter out or identify the content that isn't original. I don't think they will be too happy about that since it is the polarization and arguments that really engages the users.
And just to finish up, just think about all of that polarization and argument, death, destruction and mayhem over the last 2000 odd years as people argue about what was said, what wasn't said and what it all meant. It happens with all religions doesn't it? People pick and choose what they want to adhere to by picking and choosing what was said, editing it, mutating it into what they are willing to live by.
I think the mutation of information is nearly always a power play, a way to manipulate the audience into taking an agenda'd view, even if unknowingly. Misquotes, uncharitable evaluation, imperfect recounting to support an argument for or against and convince the audience of correctness. These are the tools of FUD, the tools used to separate and turn people against each other.
As long as my group wins the argument, nothing is sacred.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
Have you looked into Talmud Jmanuel? That is something worth reading that you might even resonate with.
Heard of, read a little but, I am not really into much of these types of things other than for interest sake.
OK, how about the Buddha?
Same thing. I read a little, resonate with a little and can see value in a little of all of these things but, most of it is able to be discovered without a book isn't it? For the most part, I think if you stripped away all the nonsense people have added for their own ends, all of the prophets likely said the same things.
I really learnt something from you and it has been of help to me greatly, remember what you said when I commented on your post few days ago, your response was the key behind my success when it comes to commenting now thanks to you, at first I had to unfollow you thinking that I might get flag when next I comment on your post but I had to reason along with you that I have to read post first before making honest comment. Thanks to you I really appreciate it man.
You have to read a post first. How do you comment HONESTLY if you haven't read it. It takes time to write a post and is only good manners to read it thoroughly. If you enjoyed it then you write a comment about it. That is how this place should work. Running around from post to post doesn't help anyone. I couldn't believe you won the minnow fund community delegation. You have a lot to learn.
So what are your thoughts on reincarnation then?
I don't see the point in it after death. However, it is possible that what was originally meant was the shedding of who we think we are and discovering what we are by the loss of attachment to the self as it would mean the metaphorical death and rebirth. My view is that it will likely be a fade to black scenario and movement stops but, if my eyes open again, then I will act again.
What do you mean? You don't see the point of reincarnation?
Have you been reincarnated?
Here is my 2 cents.
You are here on this earth, and so am I. This much we cannot argue. When you look at me, you will see me, and when I look at you, I will see you. To ask if there is a God is to ask to see that which cannot be seen.
You are here on this planet, and you are a piece of creation, I am another piece of creation. The entire universe is made of individual pieces of creation. We cannot deny that we are here, but we cannot prove where we came from, nor where we shall go when our time here is up. To me it is premature to seek to understand the nature of the source of creation, or to prove that there is a source. I say it is premature because with all of the knowledge and technology that we have at our disposal, we still do not understand everything there is to know about what has been created. If we cannot fully understand ourselves, how can we understand God?
Let us be brutally honest for a moment, there is no way for anybody alive today to know for certain if there is a God or not. There is nothing that can prove that there is a God, and nothing that can prove that there is no God.
Whether or not there is a God does not matter. What matters living a meaningful life, full of love, laughter and peace of mind. What matters more is sharing love, laughter and peace with all you shall meet in this life.
I have said this in a previous post I believe in a super being but don't believe in the Bible. There are too many questions that get manipulated into what people want you to believe. we all know what happens when someone says something and it gets repeated by someone else. the facts tend to slowly disappear and by the end of the line nothing makes sense. if it gives people something that gives them comfort and hope then that's fine by me but don't force it onto others.
My friends dad was a priest and he packed it in because of hypocrisy. There are liars and cheaters that go to church every Sunday and they call themselves religious.
Murderers, rapists, drug dealers, politicians...
I used to be more vocally atheist when I first started studying philosophy, but this has moderated greatly over time. Mostly it's because I realised that the question of whether or not God existed was far less important that what people do with their belief. There are plenty of people who believe things that I think are outrageously implausible and un-grounded by evidence who are kind, honourable and ethical. And there are people who have what seems like a more rational view of many things, but still somehow manage to be arseholes about it.
I do take your point about verifiability of whether or not someone really said something. I've been thinking about this, and when I finish my current slab of academic work, I did want to come back to some implications of where this might go. Spoilers: I think we might have to revisit everything from 'seeing is believing' right up to the uncritical worship of empirical evidence.
Much like with anything in life really. People like to proclaim and profess but at the end of the day, do they live it?
Seeing is believing yet, what one sees is unlikely to be the truth and the evidence omits that which is untestable, unobservable and as of yet, unknown which makes it very limited.
That's one of my main arguments against the existence of a God. Certainly not like the one depicted by any of these religions. I can agree that perhaps there's something, but once you start telling me very specific details about it, I'm pretty sure you made it up, so I'm not gonna believe you.
good on you for not bothering too much with it. I tend not to care too much, myself. After all, what's the point? If you're gonna do good, you will anyway and if you're gonna do good just for the sake of an afterlife, then you're an a-hole in any scenario, no? So why bother worrying about it?
Pretty much :)
I so love this article. I wish I could create sensible and interesting posts like this soon something that my readers would really use their brain and think.
True or not and like you I am also trying to do things right not because I dont wanna go to hell but because I know as human that it is the right thing to do
Lastly thanks for sharing this to us I really find it very interesting and maybe I could create my version to this topic and mention you as one of my references.
God bless!
This is really heart touching piece, it actually contain a reasonable and deep down thinking of how this things does work. Imagine there are a lot of questions one will like to ask about the spiritual realm but the pastor would always say it is divine, one shouldnt try hard to think of what has been in place since one cannot question God nor His authority, they say.
You are absolutely right on this group, we all have different set of opinion and view as far as religion is concerned even within same religious beliefs, that is why we find a lot of churches with different set of doctrine but all claims to have one God. Who can actually tell the right from the varieties of church we have since they all preach the truth.
Like you said we have different set of Bible with various edition in the name of perfection.
I agree with you on this point, you are absolutely right when I try to think of it I couldnt know what is right from it. People say Holy Spirit does teach a lot of things that is not really on the Bible.,
Bible is written with powerful word that even illiterate wouldnt get a chance to understand at all. The truth is, it is divine and there is nothing anybody can do about it. We just have to things that we want other to do the same for us. I can't wait to receive more of it.
The God debate is one I joyfully stay out of. Believing in God isn't a rational decision, I say that as a Christian. It's a choice and I choose to. Everyone though is free to hold any beliefs they wish. Of course you're allowed to question, like you said, nothing is sacred
Yeah, it doesn't bother me either way as I said but it is interesting when people try to rationalise it based on a book. The belief itself doesn't require words.
you talk about the existence of god, but your examples only show the inconsistencies of Christianity - which is just one religion. Christianity could have inconsistencies due to message corruption over the years, but that won't disqualify (nor confirm) the existence of god.
As Said, mt view is god or no god, nothing changes as it is what it is. Nothing can confirm or deny it other than human opinion.
Well I don't think any religions will purport to confirm the existence of God within ones lifetime so faith is an obvious requirement.