WARNING and DISCLAIMER: THE BOOKS OF RELIGION
We are a worldwide society of people who follow some really strange customs. These strange customs cross faith, all faiths with doctrine usually found adapted from the "written word'. I like to cut to the chase. I see much more harm than good when the written word gets mis-interpreted and false doctrine appears. If you can't handle truth, be gone with thee.
This piece is not a condemnation of religion nor meant to offend anyone. It is about truth, reality and tolerance. I do care what you believe, if... you believe it with an informed healthy heart and are not being manipulated.
And I would never try to change your thinking, you are the only one that can do that. Fear in some cases is what moves some to do stupid things. God is not about fear, God is about love. Truth comes sooner or later.
PAGANS INVENTED THE HOLIDAYS
Just like when you grew up, you found out, "There was no Easter Bunny". There were only the temporary pets that died shortly after being brought home to reinforce some ridiculous custom. That custom of animal adoption and subsequent mutilation, lack of care, starvation, suicide and murder was imported way before PETA, the ASPCA, and the Animal Control thought it was a bad idea. It has a Pagan background.
Easter reveals rich associations between early Christians and the practices of the pagan religions. The excellent but quasi-ficticious book and movie 'The Da Vinci Code' is all about this transition. Traditions practiced today evolve from pagan symbols, from the ancient goddess Ishtar. Which leads us to Easter.
Easter, the most important of the Christian holidays, celebrates the Christ resurrection which occurred at the time of the vernal equinox, historically a time of pagan celebration. It just "happens" to coincide with the arrival of spring.
Easter is named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name derives from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east. Our words for the "female hormone" estrogen derives from her name.
Ostara was, of course, a fertility goddess. Bringing in the end of winter, with the days brighter and growing longer after the vernal equinox,
Ostara had a passion for new life. Her presence was felt in the flowering of plants and the birth of babies, both animal and human. The rabbit with 31 day gestation (thats one month!) and sexually mature at five months, was her sacred animal.
OTHER CUSTOMS NEED UPDATING
And lets take all that electrical wire, led's and bulbs and spend that money on new paint, housing for the needy, medical care, and a little food for the poorest in our country who have risen in numbers to 18%. Then I would say religion was doing it's job. Right now much is a joke with millions of dollars being siphoned off by the "Prophits", the TV preachers, and all the stores selling those lights. More as you read.
Then you found out around eleven there was no "Santa". Probably when the fire department used the ladder truck to get "Uncle Fred" out of the chimney. Must of been "Uncle Fred" trying to leave since Mama was kissing him when Dad came home. So much for that song, "I saw Momma kissing Santa Claus".
So much for the nasty letters those folks from the credit card company sent in February that Dad got after the divorce.
THE BIBLE and "Bablificational and Idoctrinational"
The outline and guideline for all religions comes in the form of books. The King James Version, the most printed version is not the original Bible. There is no such thing as the literal original Bible because the Bible is a collection of writings by several different people over many, many years.
The “Bible” as you find it in many Houses Of Worship is really the abridged or "heavily regulated" version suited to the particular sect or facet of gospel that agrees with that group. Subtle changes depending on which gospel, by whom, and revised by whom, and sales versions (big print, translated into modern English, un-babled etc.) may differ based on what the economics will bear.
Remember, this is a collection of those stories first told by story tellers without copy machines or tape recorders. Actually scribbling them down on paper cloth. Some say thousands of them. Those who didn't quite have an elaborate language or written recording system. XEROX was not born yet.
If you had been alive in the days of the testaments you would find a lot of information had been left out concerning mortality, morality and mentality. It would be a lot more gory than today's version.
THE PROFITS SPEAK
So the next time one of the TV PROFITS like Mike Murdock and have the scriptures in his hand and starts quoting, rest assured the manipulation is in place, and he is setting it up for the finale which is how much you will send him or her to enact that prophesy, lesson, or verse to your situation and everything will suddenly change for the better.
Right on, it's a book of stories and parables written by man, edited, changed to suit certain Kings and Popes, upon fear of death in man's image, not Gods. In history there are eight primary versions; And many, many, sub-versions and alterations.
• Septuagint - 250 A.D. Written in Greek
• Vulgate - 400 A.D. First version of the Bible which is canonized. Council of Carthage in 400 A.D. and the first written in Latin
• Luther's German Bible- 1534 A.D.
• King James Version - 1611 A.D. This is the most widely used versions however it has large number of errors given that none of the writers had a decent understanding of Hebrew.
• Revised Standard Version - 1952 A.D. Literal translation into American English which used the earliest possible text for revisions.
• New International Version - 1960 - 1970 A.D. This is a very good contemporary English version.
• The Youngs Literal Translation is as close to the originals as you can get, translated by Robert Young in 1898 A.D.
THE BOOK OF ANSWERS
Whenever questions would arise regarding biblical prophecy the people needed to go to the church elders who in turn would refer to their ' Book of Scriptures ' for answers. These inquisitions became somewhat burdensome to the church who were too busy beheading, begetting and pedophilling.
In an effort to alleviate the many inquries, King James wanted the people to have their own copy of the scriptures. He then commisioned scholars, scribes and elders to translate the scriptures in to different languages to accomodate the masses from which the King James Version, "The Holy Bible" was derived.
The title should be "Bablification for Dummies" and would sell like hotcakes on Amazon.com right now.
• KJV - The King James Version (KJV) is excellent, but you must use a dictionary as you read because it uses language typical of the time it was translated (1611).
• NASV - The New American Standard Version (NASV) is believed by many to be one of the most accurate translations and is an excellent study Bible
• ASV - The American Standard Version (ASV) is also excellent and highly accurate.
• NKJV - The New King James Version (NKJV) is high on the recommended list.
• NIV - The New International Version (NIV) tries to make the text as easy to understand as possible and is an excellent reading Bible, but not a good study Bible. To study? To make further interpretation of the already interpreted.
• JWB - Nobody in the conventional Christian Church with all it's versions, seems to like anything the Jehovah's Witnesses do thus this opinion was in the source material. Love thy brother seems to take a back seat and religious beliefs border on prejudice and their own form of hate. Thus the quote...
"The New World Translation, 1950, the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible should be avoided because its is actually corrupt, being a sectarian paraphrase rather than a true translation of the Holy Scriptures".
CATHOLIC VS. THE PROTESTANT BIBLE - IT'S WAR
(With a cheap shot by a Catholic website)
ONE SIDED - www.cathtruth.com, a Catholic website tells it as they believe. "As Catholics were responsible for writing the New Testament (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), the Catholic Church doesn't "interpret" the Bible". We explain it. Protestants can only "interpret", because they are not the author (guided by the Holy Spirit), and therefore, can only guess at the possible meaning of a chapter, passage or phrase, just as anyone can only guess at any author's intentions in any other book. As the author, the Catholic Church is the only proper authority to consult in matters pertaining to the Bible". The original Douay Version, which is the foundation on which nearly all English Catholic versions are still based, owed its existence to the "religious controversies of the sixteenth century".
AJL: Thats a nice way of saying the Kings and Popes killed anyone and everyone if the current edition of the Bible did not suit their interpretation.
IT GETS DEEPER
Many Protestant versions of the Scriptures had been issued and were used largely by the Reformers for polemical purposes. The renderings of some of the texts showed evident signs of controversial bias, and it became of the first importance for the English Catholics of the day to be furnished with a translation of their own, on the accuracy of which they could depend and to which they could appeal in the course of argument.
AJL: Now there's the shot heard round the world. why can't they all get along.
CREATIVE WRITING 101
The first book, misses the point, it merely sets the stage, and then the "Greatest Story Ever Told" went to George Stevens who wrote, directed and produced the film in 1965 with Dorothy McGuire and Charlton Heston. Note: This was not as most answered incorrectly on quiz shows, a film by Cecil B. DeMille, he did "The Robe" and "The Ten Commandments", God was the scriptwriter, Cecil was the screen-writer.
The creative writing skills come into play, with the addition of the REDEMPTION part and without redemption little is offered to the buyer, thus the second book or sequel comes with many, many paragraphs of promises and self-improvement motivational spiel.
Maybe, this is the true meaning of the word "creationism". The creation of a better product for the world. Simply by trading on words and stories. And the familiar sales pitch, you hear it all the time, Newer and better.
After many many versions, the Bible helped solidify the context of religion. Many feel those who crafted later versions did so in the effort and intent to repeal the religion using Pagan Gods and practices and to adjust the religion to their thinking. Many of the customs come today from these Pagan rituals and practices.