Do I have to be baptized? Must I pray towards Mecca 5 times per day? Is Jesus the ressurected Son of God? Or perhaps just a prophet? Is the earth really only 10,000 years old? Why is my religion at odds with science? What exactly are my beliefs?
One thing we know for sure is that throughout history, people have always looked to the heavens and asked, "What does it all mean"? As long as humans have been able to write, that which they have written is regarding their religious beliefs. From the Egyptian hieroglyphics to the Mesopotamian epics of creation and of Gilgamesh, human writing has always had much to say about the god(s).
It makes sense how primitive societies in an attempt to explain or cope with the unknown would have passed along metaphorical myths. But what about modern society? How are we to view the more fantastical, miraculous parts of religion today? Do we accept it on blind faith? Do we dig deeper and try to explain it analytically? Or do we abandon it all together?
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Speaking at the most recent EG conference, author, philosopher, prankster and journalist A.J. Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.
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The Didache is a late 1st century writing on the teachings of Jesus as taught by the 12 Apostles. It was widely circulated by 100AD and read by many of the early Christian churches as scripture. The Apostles were Jews, and we know from the Bible did not abandon Judaism practices, but continued to practice it with a renewed "Christian" perspective. The Didache was more or less how the Apostles viewed their spiritual priorities and how they felt their Christian-Judaism should be adapted for Gentiles. Through much controversy however, it did not make the NT canon, and therefore is not commonly read today.
Nothing in it is contradictory to the New Testament Bible. It is more or less NT Gospels 101... Love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, etc. However what is most interesting is that it does not mention the diefication of Jesus, or many typical modern religious priorities. I believe it should not be used to discredit modern Christian faith (Lord knows we have enough factions as it is), but rather to teach us all that living lowly and compassionately as Jesus did is more important than your intellectual beliefs.
The first 2 chapters sum up the entire book nicely. I will paraphrase the 1st chapter here:
0 commentsby Jaxon on March 4, 2010
Karen Armstrong FRSL (born 14 November 1944 in Wildmoor, Worcestershire) is a British author of numerous works on comparative religion, who first rose to prominence in 1993 with her highly successful A History of God. A former Catholic nun, she asserts that, "All the great traditions are saying the same thing in much the same way, despite their surface differences." They each have in common, she says, an emphasis on the transcendent importance of compassion, as epitomized in the so-called Golden Rule: Do not do to others what you would not have done to you.
This video awarded Karen the $100,000 TED Prize in February 2008, Armstrong then called for a council of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders to draw up a Charter for Compassion which would identify shared moral priorities in order to foster global understanding in the spirit of the Golden Rule. The Charter was unveiled in Washington, D.C., in November 2009. Its signatories include Prince Hassan of Jordan, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Sir Richard Branson.
2 commentsby Jaxon on March 3, 2010
I have long believed that the biggest problem with religion today is that it has lost its purpose. Religious people often debate things like science, evolution, liberalism or church doctrine, and lose sight of that which is most important. The Bible for example is not a science book, its purpose is not to explain the origin of species, and it is definitely not a guideline for deciding which dogmatic faction of Christianity to belong to. I believe it's purpose is to provide a history of the Jews and early Christians, and of their religious cultures. And more importantly to teach us how to be moral, maintain good/healthy habits and how to treat, and not treat one another. It teaches the mistakes and successes of 4000 years of Jewish men and women, so that we may use it as a guide to a more spiritual and vibrant life.
It is important to also understand that regardless of your specific faith, as long as it is peaceful, the benefits of possessing a devotion to that faith are essential. This article is simply a healthy, contrarian walk through the Book of Mark, that all people religious or not would benefit from understanding.
0 commentsby Jaxon on December 22, 2009
The oldest written records of man’s earliest religious beliefs come from Ancient Mesopotamia. Located in and around what is today known as Southern Iraq, Mesopotamia dates back as early 8000BC. Mesopotamians developed the world’s first known cities as early as 4000BC, some of which become dynasties beginning in about 3000BC. Around 2000BC , one of these dynasties, Ur, is believed to have given birth to a man named Abraham, who later becomes the Father of the 3 popular Monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
2 commentsby Jaxon on December 15, 2009
This is a study from the Christian Bible, examining examples of how Godly men were judged not by their specific doctrine, but rather their heart. There is also reason to believe that the Bible says that even non-Christians have a Godly sense of morality written on their hearts... And according to the Bible they will be judged by that, and not necessarily their beliefs.
0 commentsby Jaxon on January 15, 2009
The goal of this post is to share some of the passages from the Bible that I don't completely understand. During the course of my study, somethings did not exactly add-up, given the context, it seemed as if there were other facts that might have been ommited. Thus I wanted to share and learn from others how they made sense of their study in the first 4 books of Genesis.
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