Who's the Author, Anyway?

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

Redbaron

Pirate fan since the dark ages
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Found this in my inbox, I found it intriguing. Whaddaya think?
Discuss.


 
Good approach, I would say. The ending bit about how any inspiring writings can be "God-breathed" seems to be veering into UU territory but he wouldn't be the first Christian to think it. Both the Unitarians and Universalists started out as offshoots from Christianity after all.

In my own life, I would certainly say I have lived what he talks about. The Bible is just one source of wisdom among many, with the Gita, Hellenistic philosophy, Mary Oliver, and other sources being right up there with it. But I am also one who has walked away from being "Christian". I wonder how many who still call themselves "Christian", even liberal mainstream ones, could really throw down with what is being said there, let alone embrace it in their own spiritual journeys.
 
Actually, the guy who wrote that is a classical Universalist (ie. believes in universal reconciliation). Read the summary of the book he links in the about section at the end.
 
I do agree with the article's main points, I think the case was pretty well presented. I was interested in the comments that followed; one person who didn't seem to agree with the article seemed bound and determined to drown out any who would disagree with his/her way of seeing things... and thus proving most of what the article says.
 
George Fox, founder of the Quakers has been saying this since 1646.

Another argument: God not only didn’t write it, “ he” also didn’t edit it into a book. That was also the powers of their time.
 
Overpowering creates the humble lesser power sthat recess from the flaming idioms ... that can degenerate into Savannah flatout!
 
Redbaron. There is actually more wisdom in Aesops fables than there is in the bible, (There are 31.102 verses in the bible and of that just 518 are snippits of wisdom, that is just over 1.6%. The other 98.4% is just chaff (Etc, Wars, Absurdities, Injustices, Death and Violence, Intolerances, Contradictions.) And less than a third of that wisdom, which is 0.5% is from the NT) So it is clearly not written by a superior being, nor was it god breathed, if it was it would contain much more wisdom.
It is just like any other fictional book.
It contains all the ingredients it needs to lure people in.
 
I've always thought that the Bible should come with a disclaimer on the cover and after every book within, that says,
"If after reading this book you feel you can justify the right to discriminate, kill, hate or start a war, then you have not understood this book and need to start reading it over again".

Also I think a greater focus on the mystical is missing within it's pages and that to me is an essential ingredient in order to transcend into a continuing progressive, evolving, loving understanding of God. The Bible can be static and the mystical encourages movement, growth and progression that transcends beyond the ordinary writings of mere men.
 
So, to you, the Baghivad Gita, the Koran, the Torah, are exactly equivalent, spiritually, aesthetically, etc., to the Harry Potter series?
Not a good example. There is a lot of spirituality in Harry Potter ;)
 
I think spirituality need not be limited to books specifically designated as "scripture", though I do find a lot of the attempts at finding spirituality in Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. are stretching either the source material or the spirituality. To cite a classic example, while Joseph Campbell's analysis of myth may have influenced Star Wars, I don't think Star Wars does as good a job as, say, classical sources like Homer. In fact, George Lucas' handling of mythical themes gets downright ham-handed at times. Being consciously spiritual is actually not how it should work, the spirituality should be a natural extension of the story being told otherwise it can feel "tacked on" or "preachy". Gaiman does it well, even when he is being obvious about it, but he's also arguably one of the best writers of his (meaning "my" since he's only a couple years older than me) generation and gets away with a lot of things that other authors would rightly get pilloried for.
 
If intelligence is mystical in a world based on pure emotions ... is something gone off track?

Does free will indicate unrestrained emotions by any mystical intelligence ... and thus indicate disruptions in data, information, and foreign intelligence (by definition out there in deep state of the alternate kind)?

Then there is the definition of opinion: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

Now can we relate fact, knowledge and information ... or should such non substance be tossed out there as exorcised so as to fulfill blind emotions in the Dark Velvet Band ... that might be taken as blinders, or Egyptian visors assisting to see what's under the abstract overhead?

Then there is the definition of abstract hue that appears to come up as a state of devoid in light of the situation! Black holes in the full light? Could explain pixels of the alternate kind ... spots in the azure blue that are verily dragon flies (sometimes referred to derogatively as damsels ... they fly too!

This sort of raises further enigmas ... and thus the humanity paradox! It is a word ... as just god is ... that can be converted to powerful god by a wee bit of naivete ... or lack of adequate information and intelligence. Is that a corruption?

Is naivete like demented form of intelligence denied as an improper experience ... and more easily spread because unlike intelligence ... it takes no work of essential nature ... and thus essence collapses ... bringing down the substance of the question that someone was attempting to avoid? I.E. no questions allowed even thought it is contrary to Thessalonians ...
 
Mendalla said: "the spirituality should be a natural extension of the story being told"

Doesn't extraneous assume something that is out there? Disallowed in the emotional domain as substance of strain ... what a pain! Dealing with things beyond or in dead languages AD vented ... driven into deep states under the rolling mode ... revelations come round!

Another thing to ... AD Onus to our ability to respond to two forces simultaneously ... strange demiurges? Explains compounded coming and going ... dual doings! Twin busts ... or peaks!
 
Many years ago I read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. I've always thought it had a good bit of spiritual insight. Would love to find my copy and read it again. I think it's at least as inspired, and inspiring as, say, Leviticus or Numbers.
 
In terms of my current engagement with The Bible, there's really only a few books that still do anything for me. The Bible is very influential on me since I grew up with it, but I am very much of the view it's an anthology, not a novel, and like any anthology, some stories resonate and others don't.

Ecclesiastes is pretty clearly influenced by Hellenistic philosophy, so I'm down with it being influenced by Epicureanism and to some degree Stoicism myself

Psalms has some marvelous poetry.

The Gospels, of course, since Jesus is still influential on me

Beyond that, there's some individual passages that resonate. 1 Cor 13, Gen 1 (not literally, but as poetry), some of the prophetic writings
 
So, to you, the Baghivad Gita, the Koran, the Torah, are exactly equivalent, spiritually, aesthetically, etc., to the Harry Potter series?
Correct they cant be anything else. They are all merely fiction. Though there is more wisdom in the baghivad gita than there is in the other two combined. The koran only has 78 wise things to say. Out of 6.236 and the torah is just the OT. They are most certainly not written or expressed by any deity.
 
Myth and fiction are great things for cover-up ... metaphorically we could call it a mental fabric ... matrix?

Why do these things occur given so much truth is out there? Is it because the truth is excluded and denied to support power versus its opposite ... humility in intelligence and information ... because those set in their belief that there is only a flat out world of unchangeable rule ... thus humble informed facts needed a place to hide truth ... being the pharisees couldn't deal with any change. And the sadducees couldn;t deal with the old way dying.

End of any New World conspiracies ... yet it keeps erupting from the kells, cauls and folds in the old system as wrinkles in time. Just look across the deserts of the world for drifts ... and shifting whispering sanδ. (san's bein an old word for outside the system collapsing ... true grits escaped! Well not all ... some got caught up in the donkey labelled Midnight as black sands from ground basalt)

He was one dusty mu*el jousting with the winds ... but you gotta admit the shadow carried in the future ... as mythical composite of a damaged conscience ... tis a deep legend with suidae! Maybe fat headed with jowls and floppy ears ... and said to have intelligence comparable to mankind. Doesn't say too much for us does it ... this line on anima ... doolittle!
 
Not a good example. There is a lot of spirituality in Harry Potter ;)

Agreed, but there's only one author, so there's a consistency that's rarely seen in a sacred text. Even the Koran, ostensibly written by one person, occurred over 23 years, long enough for subtle development of theology, etc.
 
Though there is more wisdom in the baghivad gita than there is in the other two combined.

Do you have a good working definition of "wisdom"?

Also, I think you'd be hard pressed to decide about the "wisdom" of a parable, for instance. I attend a weekly ecumenical bible study. We'll ALWAYS come up with at least one more interpretation of a passage than there are participants; we're very Jewish that way, lol.
 
Agreed, but there's only one author, so there's a consistency that's rarely seen in a sacred text. Even the Koran, ostensibly written by one person, occurred over 23 years, long enough for subtle development of theology, etc.

Actually, that's one case where "God wrote it" is the actual, official theology. While the Christian and Jewish scriptures don't really claim divine origin without a fair bit of interpretation, orthodox Muslims believe the Qur'an was "revealed to" Mohammed by Gabriel acting as God's go between. So you and I may consider it to be Mohammad's work, but we would be wise to tread carefully when discussing the point with Muslims.
 
Back
Top