A
look at the Bible
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It is generally agreed after decades of careful historical research conducted by reputable institutions that Jesus was a Jew of the Essene sect, which we now know (through the Dead Sea Scrolls) existed 200 years before his time. During Jesus' time and for 20 years after his death, converts to the Christian sect of Judaism were required to convert to Judaism first to become Christians. Jesus was Christianity's greatest spokesman, but not its originator.
Until the year 132, Christians considered themselves a sect of Judaism. In that year, Simon bar Kochba (Simon son of the star), was confirmed by the great Rabbi Akiba as the Messiah. bar Kochba was a great leader and warrior, and led a revolt of tens of thousands of Jews against the Romans (similar to recent conflicts in Chechnya, or Grozny.) The Christians, who would have been eager to fight the Romans, couldn't, because they already had a Messiah. This was the final split, where Christianity stopped being Judaism.
By the 390's A.D., Galastria, Bishop of Galatia counted 156 different sects of Christianity, all blending the Christian story with local and tribal concepts. There were cults that believed that Jesus was a God when born, those that believed that he became a God later. Some believed that Jesus did not have normal bodily excretions, and those who worshiped Satan because they believed that serpent had won in the Garden of Eden. The confused and varied notions of what Christianity meant were consolidated by the growing concentration of power and centralization in Rome, in various councils, beginning in Nicea, in 325 A.D. This is when four gospels, and many of the other New Testament books were selected and enforced. The final structure of the New Testament developed at subsequent councils over the next several hundred years.
Until the fourth century, the mass was in Greek. Merging with Roman government, and adopting Roman management methods, the Church adopted Latin as a way to mystify itself. At the time Latin was adopted, curtains or screens hid the activities on the altar from the congregants, and clergy was being more and more sequestered from the public arena. Stiff competition from competing pagan cults necessitated these measures, since pagan rites had typically been extravagant and ritualized.
Officially sanctioned and fomented supression of paganism began in the late 300's, and the Church was brutal, in the style of the times.
Christianity, as it developed, created a dependency on an adversary; Satan is as essential to its doctrine as is God. Early (and current) critics of the church were appalled to see Christians elevate 'Satan' to such power.
"...Many Christians have behaved as though the devil were a First Principle, on the same footing as God. They have paid more attention to evil and the problem of its eradications than to good and the methods by which individual goodness may be deepened, and the sum of goodness increased. The effects which follow too constant and intense a concentration upon evil are always disastrous. Those who crusade, not for God in themselves, but against the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes even perceptibly worse than it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself."
from "The Devils of Loudun," by Aldous Huxley, Harper & Brothers NY NY, 1952.
A 'satan,' in Hebrew, is an obstructing angel, ultimately a stimulus to growth and spiritual development. It is not personified, and referred to as the "yetzeir ha ra-" the "evil inclination." When mentioned, it is referred to as "the satan", rendering it a generic, utilitarian concept. Some strands of Christianity interpret it as a cosmic battle between good and evil. It is common among primitive belief systems to create an 'us and them' mentality, and to de-humanize the 'them.' Fundamentalism is replete with this ideology.
Monotheism originated in Judaism. In addition, the single God of the Hebrews had made man "in his own image;" a radical departure from animistic and pagan religions. It personalized the deity, and set the Hebrews apart from the rest of the world. The moralistic God Yaweh also broke with other traditions, in his strict commandments. Other religions had guidelines, but Jewish law is voluminous, specific, and endlessly debated. In Judaism, the commandments are of core importance. Purity of intention, and a will to heal the world, are also at this core; this goodwill, this getting closer to the Eternal One, is indeed the fuel, and purpose of human life.
Christianity is a Hellenistic, Greek, "Paulist" development, centered around a Jewish mystic named Yeshua ben Nazaret (Jesus of Nazareth).
Here's a cogent email about the Greek aspects of the New Testament:"...it cannot be substantiated that - even though the new testament was written in Greek, any Greeks wrote the new testament, per se.
Just for history's sake, the ancient language the Greeks used was a Hellenistic "Attic" dialect. After the campaigns of Alexander the Great, money and trade encouraged Greeks to emigrate to the middle east, and they carried their Attic dialect with them. Over time, Middle Eastern tongues mixed with Attic to form a more simplified dialect called "Koine." As the Roman Empire gained its foothold in the Middle East, the Koine dialect remained. This is more closely what our 20th century fundamentalists refer to as "new testament Greek." It was the popular form used in literature, trade, science, art and so on, and was used by the upper class, as well as the commoners and merchants. Hence, the new testament is written in a peculiar form of Koine. Interestingly, this vernacular continued to change over the centuries and is yet one more rub the theologians have to ponder - since Koine's popular usage was probably very different at times than other forms of Greek, thus holding biblical translations even more suspect to accuracy.
In any case, this is not to suggest the new testament authors were necessarily Greek (granted, authors to some books of the new testament are in dispute). Still, this help explains why there is a mixture of theological ideas, both Hellenist and Jewish, both appearing in the new testament. It's worth looking into! At any rate, I hope this helps. I'm very schooled in the Christian religion (an education I often loath), and I know the fundamentalist mind. Many are champing at the bit to jump on any incongruity by us "heathens." " Thank You!.
Knowing some of the actual history of the Bible might help a few people to take it less literally, and accept the metaphor for what it is. This does not discredit moral ideas in the Bible, but it removes the self-assigned moral authority some people derive from it. It also shows that science and the Bible don't cancel each other out.
In the current vernacular, 'it's all good-' all the universe is 'God,' and to suggest that any part is out of that realm is ludicrous. God is everywhere, we are immersed in bliss at all times, but our calcified adult natures make us forget. In Yiddish, they say: "Gam zu l'tov," which means, "and that too, is for the good." There's also the Sanskrit "Tat twam asi-" "and that too," which is used as a meditation mantra. Every new thought is seen as another aspect of the Godhead. There are many approaches to Transcendence.
