Completing a year of bible
reading along with taking courses on the Old and New Testaments as well as companion reading has given me a different way
of looking at both the Hebrew and Christian religion. Instead of looking at the Word or possible
philosophy or interpretation of what this or that prophet meant it was
interesting to look at the writing of the Bible from a historical
perspective. As an historian the first
thing one must do is suspend any belief in the writings come directly from
God. That was easy for me but for others
I know that is a hard one to deal with.
Just do it in order to get a new perspective. Why would you want that new perspective, you
may ask. For me the answer was to then
be able to understand people from both sides of that perspective as well as
understanding how religion(s) evolved; not necessarily to debunk religion.
I’ve always had problems
reconciling the Old and New Testaments but when you understand the theory of
how the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) was developed it becomes much easier to
appreciate the differences in the 2 testaments.
Furthermore when you take the step to analyze the different Gospels in
the New Testament you can again understand the conflicting messages both between the Old and New Testaments but also within
the New Testament. itself Looking at the Bible
from a historical perspective is fascinating and enlightening.
More to come on this tomorrow.
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