Monday, July 21, 2008

A book for athiests

7/21/2008 - Ever talked to a grandparent, or at least someone significantly older than you and realized how much more they know than you? And not necessarily because they're smarter, but simply because they've experienced more than you. It's only natural that you can learn from elders, simply because they've done more than you and lived more of a lifetime than you. Have you raised kids yet? No? Then talk to someone that has. Have you grieved the death of a spouse? No? Then talk to someone that has. Etc. They know more about these things, simply because they've gone through something you haven't.

At it's most bare form, this is how I view the Biblical text; but multiplied by like a thousand. Why? Let's for a moment suppose that there is no God of the universe, and that the Bible is completely man-made. What nutritional value does the Bible then provide? It's still generation upon generation upon generation of people that lived a full life, and at the end of it said "This is what I've learned to live a happy life. Do this, and don't do this.." And this knowledge is compounded ontop of their priors' knowledge - a horribly powerful idea, regardless of your religious orientation.

Because of it's sacred status, it's one of the only texts that has survived this long and this accurately (and it has, by the way, been proved to be historically, archaeologically, and internally more accurate than any other text of antiquity). When you stop to think about this tool at our fingertips, regardless of the existence of a divine creator, this is a horribly powerful tool for living a happier life.