My dear friend Traci wrote what is, by far, the most thought-provoking blog I've ever read. In fact, I have so much to say about it that I had to write my OWN blog as a response! So, here you go:
First, let's talk history – actual fact, determined by archeological evidence – for a moment. According to the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (www.carm.org), the Bible began when Moses finished writing the book of Genesis in 1445 B.C.
According to the International Bible Society (www.ibs.org), the Old Testament was written predominantly in Hebrew and took 1000 years to compose. With the exception, language-wise, being a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah, all of which were written in Aramaic.
The New Testament, according to that same site, was written in Greek. This is said to be because Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the New Testament, not to mention, most Jews could no longer read Hebrew. Around 300 B.C., a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek was undertaken and completed nearly 100 years later, so to spread the word of God.
And so it begins … the word of God sees its first translation. And since then, it hasn't stopped. 2300 languages and counting have been graced with a translated Bible. And us realists have to wonder, can we truly be certain that every single one of those languages (going back all the way to Moses writing his Book of Genesis and including the one YOU read) is translated just as God intended?
And through time, through multiple translations from the original Hebrew and Aramaic version to the modern-day King James, dare we believe the meanings behind the stories haven't changed – dare we believe the stories themselves haven't? And dare we believe, when the Greeks conquered the Near East and instilled their cultural practices on the natives, that they didn't also have their hands what they believed the word of God should be? It was, after all, King Ptolemy II who ordered the Greek translation of the word of God; King Ptolemy II being a Greek, polytheist man.
Enter: Faith.
Faith. It begins within one's self, but peaks with a person holding strong to whatever they choose to have faith in, regardless of outside circumstances, events, or information. By all definitions, faith is the decision to believe in something which is, in most cases, non-tangible.
Such a vastly overlooked part of having general faith is having the utmost faith in one's self. How can a person be so adamantly certain they will go to Heaven after death, if they are not so adamantly certain they can accomplish real-time goals they have set (like graduating college or getting married)?
These real-time goals are things we, as free-thinking beings, decide to or not to accomplish. Reaching Heaven, on the other hand, is something we can work toward in this life, but ultimately is decided by the Ultimate Decider. Granted, we are given guidelines (see: Ten Commandments), but until we reach the Pearly Gates, how can we know for certain whether we'll make it through to the other side or be dropped through the trap door while being maniacally laughed at from both above and below?
I happen to believe faith is part of everything I believe to be true, based on what I've been told -- black is the opposite of white, the sky is blue, every four years there are 29 days in February, and there are 24 hours in a day. All of those things are things are taken for granted and assumed to be factual because somewhere, however many years ago, some man or woman decided to declare them so. Since I did not determine these facts for myself, I'm putting my faith in the discovery of the person who did and the documents and history that proves it so.
It is my personal opinion that the smarter, more informed a person becomes, the stronger their faith must also become -- for balance, and for parallelism. When we are young, we are engrained with beliefs, practices and scriptures. As we grow older and choose to become more educated, we would be naïve to not develop a curiosity toward the origins of those beliefs. And just like Traci has, I believe, it is then that we begin to question our faith.
Enter: Atheists.
According the dictionary, an atheist is a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being(s). Atheists lack faith that Gods exist, often times, due to historical, documented fact to justify the non-existence of such beings (see: carbon-dating), or due to the lack of historical, documented fact supreme beings do exist.
I know some atheists, and from what I can tell, they are generally incredibly well-educated people, who happen establish their opinions on historical facts rather than beliefs. Or rather, Atheists are people who have faith that there is no (specific or non-specific) God or Gods. My point is, as far as faith is concerned, atheists are as theists are: believers.
Theists and atheists alike, there will be thoughts, theories, and persuasions challenging a person's faith. And it is up to each individual to determine whether they will re-evaluate their faith based on newly learned facts.
Some fear the more a theist learns, the more likely their faith will wane, and evil will overcome. But I ask, what kind of religion are you practicing and believing in that you are not encouraged to learn and to grow?
At the same time, I believe it is perfectly normal to question what you believe in, especially in modern, more common religions where the almighty God you entrust your soul to is nothing more than a lead role in a book of fables (I am not targeting Christianity specifically) – nothing tangible. You entrust your entire existence to a God you only know through stories that have been passed down through literally thousands of years.
And now I find myself back at one of my original questions – who's to say this God I know from the current translation of the Bible is the real God? Or is an accurate depiction of the way God actually acted and behaved? As believers and followers of the Bible, Christians have faith, that often times goes unaddressed, that the translators of the Bibles in all the languages before had all the best intentions of translating it exactly as it was originally worded.
In Deuteronomy 4 : 2, it says "you shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." So basically, don't you dare add anything to the words of the Bible and don't you dare accidentally leave anything out either.
And what's more, it's commonly practiced that for handling situations such as coming to an Archaic word, which most would not know the modern translation for, when preaching, it is acceptable practices to, as a side note, define the Archaic word, but we should leave the archaic word in the text.
I found the explanation of that on the Chick Publications, Gospel Literature website (www.chick.com). And the site specifically says "this is what God did! Surely we sinners are not going to come up with a better method for handling archaic words than God has." So now I'm curious, which God-spiting translator decided to start this trend, because according to my interpretation of the King James, we aren't supposed to translate His original text. And how ironic is it that I read that weren't supposed to translate it, from a translated copy?
Traci wrote about a philosopher from the 18th century named Liebniz. Liebniz believed that God split himself into an uncountable number of microscopic pieces and is now part of every single piece of every single thing that makes up the entire universe. Essentially meaning, God is in everything.
He went on to say that God pre-established harmony. As Traci put it, Liebniz believes the whole world is a stage. Can you handle that, because if my understanding is correct, Liebniz essentially defines karma or destiny? And if that's the case …
Enter: Free-Thinking
So say Liebniz was correct – that God has predetermined everything from that earthquake in China to what shoes I put on this morning. Does that mean that, despite how I think I am, I'm actually not capable of free-thinking? Perhaps it's all a ruse. Perhaps God lets me believe I am making my own choices, when in fact, he's already programmed my brain to run the exact lines of thought that I do, each and every time I think anything – like when I made my decision to wear my black flip-flops today. Was that me, or was that already determined by God?
And what's more? If God has already determined each human's destiny, then by all logical progression, God himself is capable of sin; and not only capable, but willing to (perhaps only for the greater good though, that we do not know until the Glory Day) execute sins. See: any drunken driver, terrorist, thief, or addict, for obvious examples.
If God has already predetermined all the destinies of the humans, I'm guessing that would include Adam and Eve. So God intended for them to eat the forbidden fruit and was using reverse psychology before it was even invented?
I don't know the answers to all of these questions I pose. Sometimes I don't even know what I believe. I know I did bounties of research today and read enough websites about faith to even doubt that I'm sitting here right now, in this chair, in existence, even.
All I know is all I am, today. Not even yesterday, for all I know, yesterday could have been a dream. But my opinion of authorities on thing such as faith is this: there is no such thing. Faith starts within one's self and can only be contained there. YOU are the best authority on what you will and won't and should and shouldn't have faith in. There is no one to tell you what is right.
If God has predetermined all the destinies of all the humans, then He is responsible for this blog. Blame Him if you find yourself questioning things.
(i'll have to write more later, i've hit a sandbar)
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