History Channel's "The Bible"

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jayleew

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Who is watching History Channel's, "The Bible"? It is a mini-series that started up last night. It is mildly entertaining. One of the angels from the Sodom and Gomorrah story was a martial arts wizard with dual daggers that slaughtered people in his way while Lot's family fled the city. Later we see Pharaoh was played by a load mouth who screamed like a WWE wrestler. I couldn't place him though. The liberties taken in the show crack me up.

I am familiar with the Bible's teachings with all these stories, but seeing this presentation puts the absurdity of the divine nature of the stories in to front and center.

It's points are that this God notion was started by one man, Abraham. It also points out how God continually abandons its people. Do you think God has abandoned his people today yet again? Abraham's people were given to Pharoah for 400 years of slavery. For being chosen, why do you think God allows them to be persecuted so much and often throughout history? Between Malachai and Christ came, his people waited another 400 years. That's 4-8 generations total of people who are having the same discussions that we are having right now about "Is there a God?" From Christ's death to now is about double the amount of time of abandonment than the two periods combined. Why does God abandon his people?

Some might argue that he does not abandon everyone. But, the point is, as a group of people, they are left to their own devices for hundreds of years at a time. Why do this to people? Why submit them to doubt, sin, and evil without giving them something more than words to believe in?
 
jayleew said:
Why does God abandon his people?
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He/she must have a significant love interest on the side or he/she could be a big party animal/spirit. Why does a parent abandon his or her children? Where humans not made in God’s image?
 
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Hollywood is dumbing everything down these days.

Have you seen the new Time Machine or War of the Worlds or basically most of the remakes?

All the philosophy or theology has been taken out for drama and the same thing happened in the new Bible series so far.

It provoked absolutely no thought in terms of the morality of God and did not even hint that God himself hardened Pharaoh's soft heart before he hardened it to insure he could show off and kill the innocent first born instead of the guilty parents.

I think that quite immoral. Do you?

This piece does promote thoughts of philosophy or theology. Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx7irFN2gdI


Regards
DL
 
joepistole said:
He/she must have a significant love interest on the side or he/she could be a big party animal/spirit. Why does a parent abandon his or her children? Where humans not made in God’s image?
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Why does a parent abandon his or her children? I really can't think of any good reason. Anyone?
 
Depends on what you mean by "abandon." If a parent leaves a child in a dumpster, yeah, that sucks. But if they give them up for adoption, or leave them with a relative who can take better care of them, they're still leaving them behind, but it's for the greater good.
 
There are likely as many reasons as there are children so the question really has no answer or 1000 ones.

Fill in the slots with every negative psycological and real life physical scenario that comes to mind. Depression, insanity, poverty, immaturity and a plethora more.

I lived in an orphanage for a time and it went from soup to nuts as to why we were all there.

Regards
DL
 
Greatest I am said:
There are likely as many reasons as there are children so the question really has no answer or 1000 ones.

Fill in the slots with every negative psycological and real life physical scenario that comes to mind. Depression, insanity, poverty, immaturity and a plethora more.

I lived in an orphanage for a time and it went from soup to nuts as to why we were all there.

Regards
DL
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There are individuals that claim that God has not abandoned them. But, as a society, God has not put on shows like parting seas. In effect, we are abandoned in like manner as the sons of Abraham were in Egypt, left to 400 years of slavery. So, which is god to abandon us now in the 2 milleniums: depressed, insane, poor, immature, etc.?
 
jayleew said:
There are individuals that claim that God has not abandoned them. But, as a society, God has not put on shows like parting seas. In effect, we are abandoned in like manner as the sons of Abraham were in Egypt, left to 400 years of slavery. So, which is god to abandon us now in the 2 milleniums: depressed, insane, poor, immature, etc.?
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As a youth I used to wonder why God put on those shows back then but has been amazingly silent in the eons since. I remember thinking if God really wanted people to know he was real and obey his edicts, it should be a really easy task for him. He could appear in the sky and tell people what he wanted them to know and how he wanted us to behave and it would eliminate all of the ambiguity, uncertainty and dissention. I put that question to a friend of mine who attended Bible College and is now a reverend. He said that is why they call it faith. There are some things we are not meant to know. I suppose that makes sense in a spiritual sort of way. It is for each of us to find God in our own way. In my view, the Bible is not the word of God, but the attempts of men to find God.
 
joepistole said:
As a youth I used to wonder why God put on those shows back then but has been amazingly silent in the eons since. I remember thinking if God really wanted people to know he was real and obey his edicts, it should be a really easy task for him. He could appear in the sky and tell people what he wanted them to know and how he wanted us to behave and it would eliminate all of the ambiguity, uncertainty and dissention. I put that question to a friend of mine who attended Bible College and is now a reverend. He said that is why they call it faith. There are some things we are not meant to know. I suppose that makes sense in a spiritual sort of way. It is for each of us to find God in our own way. In my view, the Bible is not the word of God, but the attempts of men to find God.
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If by "spiritual" you mean "delusional," sure. It makes tons of sense in that regard. Otherwise, no, it doesn't make any sense. It's the assumption that because we don't know, we're therefore not supposed to know, which is itself a gigantic leap in logic. The best explanation for why God is mysterious and not obvious is that God doesn't exist.
 
Since I will not pay to watch television, to much garbage to actually pay to view it, i can't view this piece of work which is fine by me because most everything on cable is not very entertaining unless of course pay a great deal more for the much better programs which will cost you over 100.00 a month!
 
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joepistole said:
As a youth I used to wonder why God put on those shows back then but has been amazingly silent in the eons since. I remember thinking if God really wanted people to know he was real and obey his edicts, it should be a really easy task for him. He could appear in the sky and tell people what he wanted them to know and how he wanted us to behave and it would eliminate all of the ambiguity, uncertainty and dissention. I put that question to a friend of mine who attended Bible College and is now a reverend. He said that is why they call it faith. There are some things we are not meant to know. I suppose that makes sense in a spiritual sort of way. It is for each of us to find God in our own way. In my view, the Bible is not the word of God, but the attempts of men to find God.
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It is faith, yes. The faith of Abraham. It still does not excuse the abandonment in the first place. There are other ways we can prove our faith like being willing to sacrifice our first born son.

@Christians: You know a person doesn't have to be absent, or out of your control, to have faith in them. I have faith in a lot of people. Tempered faith because they are people, but faith nonetheless. I would have unwavering faith in God if he were real (well perhaps after he was to clarify the writings of men in his Bible). God does not have to abandon us for a chance to be faithful. So, why do it? There is no excuse. It is cruel. 20 generations with no signs from God. I don't get it.
 
I don't watch television shows on the Bible. There's no way you can cram its entirety into a mini-series. Thus the creators run the risk of consciously or unconsciously omitting certain teachings, laws, and other verses that are in the book. If you want to learn about what the Bible says, READ THE BIBLE!
 
Thoreau said:
I don't watch television shows on the Bible. There's no way you can cram its entirety into a mini-series. Thus the creators run the risk of consciously or unconsciously omitting certain teachings, laws, and other verses that are in the book. If you want to learn about what the Bible says, READ THE BIBLE!
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Agreed. As I said, they took liberties for sake of drama. I am watching it for the entertainment value. It has a decent budget and they try to make it exciting. Why I started it was the previews looked like there would be good drama with the dialogue and scenes. As it turns out, it was a let down. I don't know if I will continue watching. I think I am liking the Vikings series they started though.
 
joepistole said:
As a youth I used to wonder why God put on those shows back then but has been amazingly silent in the eons since.
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I may be wrong but we have not seen his "shows" since he went "ascended" to heaven.
jayleew said:
It is faith, yes. The faith of Abraham. It still does not excuse the abandonment in the first place. There are other ways we can prove our faith like being willing to sacrifice our first born son.

@Christians: You know a person doesn't have to be absent, or out of your control, to have faith in them. I have faith in a lot of people. Tempered faith because they are people, but faith nonetheless. I would have unwavering faith in God if he were real (well perhaps after he was to clarify the writings of men in his Bible). God does not have to abandon us for a chance to be faithful. So, why do it? There is no excuse. It is cruel. 20 generations with no signs from God. I don't get it.
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Reading this post of your jayleew I am reminded of a story. Something like if your son was caught in the gears of a draw bridge and was alive and a ship loaded with passengers was going to crash. Would you raise the draw bridge and risk loosing your son or risk many lives on that boat....
 
Balerion said:
If by "spiritual" you mean "delusional," sure. It makes tons of sense in that regard. Otherwise, no, it doesn't make any sense. It's the assumption that because we don't know, we're therefore not supposed to know, which is itself a gigantic leap in logic. The best explanation for why God is mysterious and not obvious is that God doesn't exist.
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I think one can decouple spirituality from a belief in God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality
 
jayleew said:
It is faith, yes. The faith of Abraham. It still does not excuse the abandonment in the first place. There are other ways we can prove our faith like being willing to sacrifice our first born son.

@Christians: You know a person doesn't have to be absent, or out of your control, to have faith in them. I have faith in a lot of people. Tempered faith because they are people, but faith nonetheless. I would have unwavering faith in God if he were real (well perhaps after he was to clarify the writings of men in his Bible). God does not have to abandon us for a chance to be faithful. So, why do it? There is no excuse. It is cruel. 20 generations with no signs from God. I don't get it.
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What I am trying to say is the Bible is more about man than it is about God. It was written by man, not by God. If you could speak with authors/publishers and the people who believe in the Bible they would tell you that yes, men wrote the Bible but they were divinely inspired men, and they wrote the Bible under the auspices of God. Therefore the Bible is the literal truth. I am saying that is not so. I am saying the Bible is not a 100% literal truth. The Bible is more spiritual than historical. We humans have a strong and long tradition of using myth to convey spiritual messages. And so it is with the Bible, it is better viewed as a spiritual document which conveys a spiritual message and provides comfort to the believers and its readers.

We know there are many texts with comparable provenances and authenticity that have been excluded from the Bible and are in conflict with accepted cannons (e.g. Gospel of Judas). And there is a lot of evidence to suggest that many of the stories in the Old Testament have been borrowed from other religions (e.g. the flood story). So I think the best way to look at the Bible is to look at it as man’s attempt to understand his role in the world and a means to cope with the uncertainty and the chaotic nature of our world (e.g. faith) . . . to know what is not knowable and cope with the chaos and adversity in our lives.
 
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joepistole said:
What I am trying to say is the Bible is more about man than it is about God. It was written by man, not by God. If you could speak with them and the people who believe in the Bible they would tell you that yes men wrote the Bible but they were divinely inspired and wrote the Bible under the auspices of God. Therefore the Bible is the literal truth. I am saying that is not so. I am saying the Bible is not a 100% literal truth. The Bible is more spiritual than historical. We humans have a strong and long tradition of using myth to convey spiritual messages. And so it is with the Bible, I don’t think the Bible was ever intended to be a historical document. I think it was always intended to be a spiritual document to convey a spiritual message and provide comfort to the believers of the period.

We know there are many texts with comparable provenances and authenticity that have been excluded from the Bible and are in conflict with accepted cannons (e.g. Gospel of Judas). And there is a lot of evidence to suggest that many of the stories in the Old Testament have been borrowed from other religions (e.g. the flood story). So I think the best way to look at the Bible is to look at it as man’s attempt to understand his role in the world and a means to cope with the uncertainty and the chaotic nature of our world (e.g. faith) . . . to know what is not knowable and cope with the chaos and adversity in our lives.
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Yes, the flood story is probably a copy of the earlier Sumerian story of Gilgamesh. They are so similar. If what you are suggesting is true, then a lot of people on both sides of the religion issue have missed the boat and that is unfortunate.
 
jayleew said:
There are individuals that claim that God has not abandoned them. But, as a society, God has not put on shows like parting seas. In effect, we are abandoned in like manner as the sons of Abraham were in Egypt, left to 400 years of slavery. So, which is god to abandon us now in the 2 milleniums: depressed, insane, poor, immature, etc.?
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From MPOV we have never been abandoned because God was never here in the first place but I would agree with you and these good folk if I had ever believed.

[video=youtube;dx7irFN2gdI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx7irFN2gdI[/video]

Regards
DL
 
joepistole said:
As a youth I used to wonder why God put on those shows back then but has been amazingly silent in the eons since. I remember thinking if God really wanted people to know he was real and obey his edicts, it should be a really easy task for him. He could appear in the sky and tell people what he wanted them to know and how he wanted us to behave and it would eliminate all of the ambiguity, uncertainty and dissention. I put that question to a friend of mine who attended Bible College and is now a reverend. He said that is why they call it faith. There are some things we are not meant to know. I suppose that makes sense in a spiritual sort of way. It is for each of us to find God in our own way. In my view, the Bible is not the word of God, but the attempts of men to find God.
Click to expand...

To find God. Perhaps.

But more for social manipulation and control. I see Christianity as just a tool of governments who are still maintaining the Noble Lie.

[video=youtube;sJgvws0ZYUE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgvws0ZYUE[/video]

If the Church wanted us to find God then you would think they would actually teach what Jesus did. They do not.

[video=youtube;FdSVl_HOo8Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdSVl_HOo8Y[/video]

Regards
DL
 
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