Saturday, September 26, 2020

68. A RELIGIOUS TURNING POINT

 

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Mostly in all mythologies, animals would come and 'talk' to humans in understandable human language. Such a case happens in Bible too! In Genesis, a serpent comes and talks to Eve. I don’t know in what language! Who or what is this serpent? Is it any allegory, a  serpent representing the devil? But whatever it could be, it was quite efficient and very tricky.( I wonder how do you believe this story, a kid stuff, just like that. God's word??)

Genesis 2:9,: "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

So there were two types of trees in the midst of the garden; one was good and the other was a tree of knowledge of good and evil. If fruits of the latter tree were eaten, they would leave behind their blissful state of innocence.

God forbids  Adam and Eve to eat the 'fruit' of the second tree. But everything goes awry!  God becomes  very angry and goes in search of Adam. Genesis 3:8 "… Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” So the almighty god could not even find him in the garden of Eden! Another part of the kid stuff!!  Then god's curse is followed. So god did not know earlier that Adam would disobey his orders.

"… Adam's decision to disobey God originated with Adam and not with God eluded by the claim that God foreknew from eternity that just that eternity that decision would bemade. The ruse here is the insistence that God foreknew from eternity that Adam would freely choose to disoney God. But the very notion of freedom as originative casualty loses loses its meaning in such an interpretation".  -- Reason and religion: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion by Rem B. Edwards (pp180)

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Why is god against knowledge?

  • ·         Proverbs 1:7: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." 
  • ·         Proverbs 9:10  -- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,…
  • ·         Corinthians 1:19  -- “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;   the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.
  • ·         Corinthians 3:20  --  “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.

Have two doubts on the above quotes. Firstly, why should god be so against knowledge, wisdom, intelligence? Does it now show my contention - that no religion can stand against rationality - is quite correct? Faith, if rationally questioned, might develop a week knee.

Secondly, christianiy is always proclaimed by the believers that it is a religion of love. They say their god is so merciful and their god loves us all. But this quote - Proverbs 1:7 -- " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. -- says that "fear"  is the essential and only from fear knowledge grows.

 

 

 

 

 

 




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