Today I was grocery shopping and I was watching an old couple. They were probably in their 70's.
The guy was pushing the cart, and the gal was walking next to him.
I watched them check out. She was paying, and he was standing behind her rubbing her back while she handed the cashier her money.
I watched them walk out to their car. He opened her car door for her and loaded the groceries into the trunk. He got into the car, and kissed his wife even before closing his door.
It got me thinking. I want to be that couple. I want to be old with someone and experience life with a partner.
I want to be a part of the simple things. Picking out ripe bananas, planning the weeks meals, suggesting good smelling body soap.
Placing my hand on my partner's back or shoulder, not necessarily as a sign of affection, but a confirmation that I am there with her.
Opening her door. Kissing her.
I think maybe I'm too picky. Maybe I'm not. Dunno.
I tried to keep the thread academic and read the Bible as a story and nothing more. There are good life lessons in it, but there is no historical fact to bak any of it up.
RNG....Truth is, NO ONE has an accurate translation of ancient Hebrew text. Most translations are speculation.
Ask a Hebrew. I research both sides of an arguement. That's how you prepare for a debate.
The Bible is not historical proof, and was not even written in book form until MUCH later in man's time line. By MAN. Again, ask a Hebrew. (jew) Most stories were passed by word of mouth and song before written word as was hebrew tradition..
Bottom line is, no one knows what the Bible meant. Sorry not even Strong's. So much of the language had been lost, you can not accurately translate any of it. That is a fact.
Both sides of the arguement are speculation. Period. all the characters are long dead and cannot retell the story.
In 1969, as Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder onto lunar soil he said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". This was recorded. If it wasn't recorded, we may have never known those exact words. In 2069 someone might write what they think he said but would have had far more veracity Bible scripture. They had no recording devices and there was nothing ever written down as the Bible Characters spoke.
So it's all speculation. Why not enjoy the discussion rather than have the atttitude of "I'm right, you're damned?"
I think you're stirring. It's remained pretty academic and historically based thus far. If you wanted to get all technical, I could say a few things "straight out" as you put it.
Nothing out of ignorance here. And knowledge is what a free thinking mind uses to draw conclusions about the unexplained.
I can speak as "authority." You don't know MY experience nor anyone elses on this site. I respectfully request that you either contribute something to the thread topic or kindly step aside.
Up until at least the time of the (sixth century BCE) Babylonian Exile, the ancient Hebrews worshipped many gods. Even in the time of the Exile, Isaiah (26:13-14) said in acknowledgement of Judah's polytheistic past:
'O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to vanish.' Having claimed that the old gods were dead and entirely forgotten, the author of the above passage then criticised those who still worshipped them.
Some of the Hebrew gods include (with limited references, because of space):
The moon god
The sun god
Venus, known to the ancient Hebrews as Asherah.
The serpent god, Nehushtan
Regional gods
Other gods that the Hebrew people worshipped in the period up to the Exile include Ba'al, Moloch, Chemosh, Milcom, Chiun or Remphan, Gad and Meni. Ezekiel 8:14 describes women in the Temple 'weeping for Tammuz' - the Semitic god condemned to hell by the goddess Astarte after she was crucified and resurrected.
And Lady Wisdom. And it is thought that MOses wrote the entire Old testament by a few Bible scholars. You could in theory attribute monothiesm to Moses and Exodus. (mosiac law/cult leader) So it kinda goes with the other thread about borrowed ideas in the bible. (which I suppose was my ultimate goal--linking these two threads together)
Unfortunately even the masons do not have an accurate translation of ancient Hebrew. No one does. The Rosetta Stone covered alot of the language barrier, but it still had MASS amounts of information missing. So even that translation "codex" is too speculative to be completely reliable.
The idea of trinity was borrowed from other religions. The Christian version of the trinity didn't come until after the death of christ and the beginnings of Christianity. And since there are no writings aboud Jesus made during the time he was alive, we'll never know of his existance nor his teachings. That's why I look at everything academically.
Don't know about the truth idea. The bible offers good guielines to living a god life. (If you pick certain verses) But God's love is not unconditional according to scripture, which I think is dangerous.
And the more I study it, I still can not find any reference to "man-made" gods. only "false" gods. So I continue to wonder the Plural god references. Anyone can read the bible and interpret it anyway. Even using Strong's isn't necessarily accurate. The origional hebrew text is ancient and mostly lost. Most stories were passed by word of mouth and song. (like folk lore) The blanks were filled in by scholars who didn't completely understand the language.
I do prefer the version from the movie. I think that once you put "god" into the quote, you actualy lose the universality. I posted this particular version because it has no religious reference.
JMO of course. Too often in these threads, once a higher being is referred to, be it from a believer, an agnostic, or an athiest, it turns ugly quickly.
I was often ridiculed by family, peers, and school faculty for my writing. I once did a paper where I built up to my thesis with a great deal of introductory work rather that state it at the beginning. I wanted to provide the reader with the thesis the same way it was presented to me-searching and deciphering information. I was trying to prove my thesis before it was stated. It was an intellectual risk that I thought was a good idea, but it didn't follow standard form and couldn't be assessed by the standard rubric, so I got a 'D'.
I wrote a novella that was poked fun of by a professor. I recently lengthened it into a full scale novel and am submitting it to a publisher. I write differently than most, and to let others read it is a real deep look into who I really am. Putting it in the view of the Public was a huge step for me.
Went grocery shopping today.....(my serious hat is on)
Alrighty, I'm outtie....I'll leave this for discussion and check it in a few days. I think it's a good topic. Relatable.But I'm no longer in the mood.
G'nite all...