Why do we have holy books?
Why not a huge structure made of incomprehensible material engraved with a message?
If I were an all-powerful deity, the very last thing I would use to convey a message is a book. Why, Because books require language, and languages can be mis-translated, either accidentally or deliberately, and most of the time it is impossible to translate precisely from one tongue to another. There is too much room for error--as we can see from a simple comparison of one holy book translation to another. The very fact that so many translations exist, and they all contradict one another on numeous points, proves that the written word is not very reliable in transmitting messages across time.
So, why not a huge structure of some sort? Some say that whoever built the pyramids (Egyptians, pre-Egyptian culture, aliens, take your pick) did just that by the precise application of mathematics to their structures. This information is available all over the Web, and some of it is quite fantastic while some seems to make sense. It does point out that math is the ONLY language that spans all barriers; pi = pi no matter whether you speak English, Japanese, Babylonian, or Martian. If I were god, I could encode a mathematical message about the universe in a structure made of indestructable metal, perhaps--and hope that people really understand that I made it, and not aliens from Triton or wherever.
Of course, if I were god, I would skip all that hogwash and simply impart knowledge of me into the minds of humans everywhere so that they would know instinctively who I am and what I expect from them. I would do a lot of things to make this world a better place--things that an holy books god didn't do because he's a cosmic asshole. There would be no need for mucking about with books and prophets and revelations from on high and angels and sacrifices and all the rest of the religious bullshit.
In fact, I will go one step further and say that, as creator Of All That Is, I wouldn't need people to worship me at all. I would not have an holy books god's profound insecurities, would not require that people constantly praise me and offer dead, burnt animals to appease me. Nothing they did, said, or believed could insult or offend me in any way, because I would be as far above them as humans are above the protozoans. The more I think about how a real god would be, the more it becomes obvious that the religious worship a man-made construction.
thanks x
Why not a huge structure made of incomprehensible material engraved with a message?
If I were an all-powerful deity, the very last thing I would use to convey a message is a book. Why, Because books require language, and languages can be mis-translated, either accidentally or deliberately, and most of the time it is impossible to translate precisely from one tongue to another. There is too much room for error--as we can see from a simple comparison of one holy book translation to another. The very fact that so many translations exist, and they all contradict one another on numeous points, proves that the written word is not very reliable in transmitting messages across time.
So, why not a huge structure of some sort? Some say that whoever built the pyramids (Egyptians, pre-Egyptian culture, aliens, take your pick) did just that by the precise application of mathematics to their structures. This information is available all over the Web, and some of it is quite fantastic while some seems to make sense. It does point out that math is the ONLY language that spans all barriers; pi = pi no matter whether you speak English, Japanese, Babylonian, or Martian. If I were god, I could encode a mathematical message about the universe in a structure made of indestructable metal, perhaps--and hope that people really understand that I made it, and not aliens from Triton or wherever.
Of course, if I were god, I would skip all that hogwash and simply impart knowledge of me into the minds of humans everywhere so that they would know instinctively who I am and what I expect from them. I would do a lot of things to make this world a better place--things that an holy books god didn't do because he's a cosmic asshole. There would be no need for mucking about with books and prophets and revelations from on high and angels and sacrifices and all the rest of the religious bullshit.
In fact, I will go one step further and say that, as creator Of All That Is, I wouldn't need people to worship me at all. I would not have an holy books god's profound insecurities, would not require that people constantly praise me and offer dead, burnt animals to appease me. Nothing they did, said, or believed could insult or offend me in any way, because I would be as far above them as humans are above the protozoans. The more I think about how a real god would be, the more it becomes obvious that the religious worship a man-made construction.
thanks x