While chit chatting with a friend last week, he told me that his 2 children (the son in Secondary 1, the daughter in Primary 5) have recently expressed enthusiasm for picking up Christianity as their religion. As my friend is a Buddhist, he is a bit concerned by this. He believes that his children have been influenced by their friends in school. It is not hard to imagine this happening in Singapore, as our schools are teaching in English, and Christianity is the dominant faith among English/Western societies. Children like to read English story books, and there are many Christian story books out there in the market promoting the religion. And children can be easily persuaded.
Personally, I do not have any problem with people taking up any religion of their choosing. If you like the tenets of a particular religion, and decide to commit to it, that's fine with me. However, I do draw a line if you then go about hounding other people into converting to your religion or into joining your religious group. I hate aggressive in-your-face proselytising, which is something that only the Christians practise.
For instance, in Buddhism, the Buddhist practitioners will simply give you the precepts and teachings of Buddhism, and let you read and study about the religion on your own time. You must choose to accept Buddhist teachings yourself (as Buddhism is all about personal effort. There is no deity who will grant you your wishes or forgive you for your sins). You do not see Buddhists accosting people on the road and haranguing them to convert them to Buddhism.
But this is completely different with Christianity. It is one of the tenets of Evangelical Christianity that to be a good Christian, you must spread the religion to non-Christians and convert them to the Christian faith. That is why the "proselytisation brigade" is almost exclusively comprised of Evangelical Christians. And by employing good marketing techniques, they are also very successful.
If you study the doctrines of Christianity, you will probably have no quibbles with the ethical aspects of the religion to do good and to do no evil. Philosophically speaking, the ethics and moral aspects of all religions, Christianity included, are simply elaborations of the golden rule:
Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.
If everyone follows the golden rule, we will all be living in a society filled with peace and harmony, despite our differences in race, language, or religion.
It is the superstitious aspects of Christianity that I have trouble with. And boy, are there lots of myths and superstitious beliefs in Christianity. Unfortunately, fundamentalist Christians are very aggressive in promoting their myths and superstitions as SCIENTIFIC and HISTORICAL FACTS. In fact, any criticism of the Christian Bible is treated by believers as a denigration and attack on their personal well being. The problem is that these believers do not feel the same way when they denigrate and attack the religion/belief systems of the non-Christians during their conversion exercises! What hypocrisy!
Examples of Christian mythology treated as SCIENTIFIC/HISTORICAL FACTS:
- That some deity created ADAM and EVE to lord it over the animals (reality: humans are animals too. Humans are really evolved apes).
- The concept of ORIGINAL SIN by humans eating from the Tree of Knowledge (reality: everything in Genesis is a fable and not history)
- The concept of JESUS being born of a virgin (reality: there is no such thing as a virgin birth in humans. Although parthenogenesis is technically possible, the offspring would be a female, and will never be a male. This is because a woman only possesses the X-chromosome. A man is required to supply the Y-chromosome for the X-Y chromosome pair to make baby boys. Thus, female virgins - should they exist - would only be able to give birth to daughters and never to sons. The reality is that Mary was never a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus).
- The concept that a loving deity must have someone DIE for the SINS of humans so that humans can be SAVED. What sins can a baby have? Besides, human parents usually exhibit unconditional love for their children - and will forgive their children transgressions when their children do wrong. Why can't this deity be like human parents and just forgive without exacting the penalty of DEATH by crucifixion for Jesus, or subject non-believers to everlasting burning in Hell?
- The concept that only believers will be saved, and non-believers will be doomed to eternal and everlasting punishment by burning in Hell forever and ever. (Reality: there are about 2 billion Christians, and more than 4 billion non-Christians, in the world. If the Christian theology is correct, then the majority of humans have been doomed by this deity to burn in Hell forever because they did not accept Jesus Christ as their saviour. What kind of deity is this that will submit the majority of humans to eternal punishment, and only allow a select group to be saved?)
- The concept that the god of the bible is an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent god. (Reality: if you read the bible, the god described in it is anything but omnipotent, omniscient, or benevolent!)
Indeed, the philosopher Epicurus said it best:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is not benevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
The existence of suffering (also referred as the problem of evil) is the best evidence on why there is no such thing as gods - at least not the type which answer our prayers or interfere with our lives to fulfil some divine plan.
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Science has helped us to learn more about ourselves and the universe, and has helped demote many such religious beliefs into the realms of superstitions and myths. However, when children are not taught the facts, or are not nurtured from young to do critical thinking, they can fall prey to treating such myths as facts.
Richard Dawkins wrote a very good essay in his book The Devil's Chaplain titled Good and Bad Reasons For Believing. If your children are thinking of converting to any religion, it might be helpful to ask them to read Richard Dawkins essay, which can be found here:
http://www.siliconglen.com/news/2009/01/richard-dawkins-letter-to-his-ten-year.html
Children should also be told that it is perfectly fine to not believe in the concept of god or gods. In fact, most rational people, after examining all the available evidence, always come to the conclusion that there is probably no such thing as gods, and do not need to believe in such things. Indeed, humans are already good without god. There is no need to postulate the hypothesis that gods exist to explain the goodness in people.
The list of atheists include some very famous and renowned people. I am proud to associate with and consider myself part of this group:
Let's celebrate reason!
There was an article in Tuesday's (07 Jul 2009) Straits Times about the official launch of a web site featuring the world's oldest copy of the Christian Bible:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_400035.html
The web site itself is at:
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/
The web site allows users to browse through digitised images of every page of this bible, which is completely handwritten in Greek, as well as displaying its English translation simultaneously. The was very interesting for me because of something I learnt while reading about the history of the bible, which I could now view with my own eyes.
*****
Although I am not a Christian, I read many of the bible's stories when I was young, and one of the most memorable stories about Jesus is the tale about how the Pharisees, the sworn enemies of Jesus, brought a woman "caught in the very act of adultery" before Jesus. The Pharisees told Jesus that according to the Law of Moses, an adulterer should be stoned to death, but they want to know what Jesus had to say about the matter. Should they stone her or show her mercy? Of course, the Pharisees were laying a trap for Jesus. If Jesus says to let the woman go, he will be accused of violating God's Law. But if he tells them to stone her, he will be accused of dismissing his own teachings of love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Jesus reply was: "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."
Of course, none of the Pharisees were free of sin. So one by one, they left, finally leaving just Jesus and the woman. Jesus, looking up and noticing that all the men were gone, asked the woman: "Woman, where are your accusers? Is there no one who condemns you?" The woman replied, "No one, my Lord." To which Jesus responds, "And neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more."
(New Testament: The Gospel According to John - Chapter 8 - Verse 1 to 11)
This was a captivating story, which cleverly illustrates the compassion and the brilliance of Jesus. I loved this story when I first read it as a child, as it appealed to me in how Jesus ingeniously outsmarted his enemies.
But a few years ago, I learnt that this beautiful story was actually a forgery.
****
Before the printing press was invented by Gutenberg in the 15th century, any book that you want to make a copy of has to be copied "by hand". Thus, when someone wants to make a copy of the bible, he can only do so by copying it manually. In fact, all copies of the bibles produced before the 15th century were handwritten ones painstakingly written out in longhand by scribes.
And interestingly, among all the earliest copies of the Gospel of John, there is not a single mention about the story of Jesus and the adulteress. In fact, this endearing story of Jesus and the adulteress is not mentioned at all in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, either. Indeed, the story does not appear in any other place in the New Testament at all.
According to historians, the story of Jesus and the adulteress did not even appear in any manuscript of John before the 9th century. And then suddenly, from the 9th century onwards, copies of the bible started to appear with this story INSERTED into chapter 8 of the Gospel of John. And it was one of this "tainted" bibles that was translated into English in the 16th century as the "King James Version". And the fabricated story has been carried forward into all subsequent editions of the bible from then onwards.
****
Now that the Codex Sinaiticus is available online, I immediately went to the site to look at the section bearing John 7:53 to 8:11. And indeed, as has been described by historians, the entire passage does not appear in the Codex Sinaiticus.
Of course, the Jesus and the adulteress story is not the only fabrication that has been inserted by forgers into the New Testament. In the earliest copies of the Gospel According to Mark, the book ends very abruptly in chapter 16 verse 8. The Mark gospel actually ends when the 3 women (Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, and Salome *) are told to inform the disciples that Jesus will be meeting the disciples in Galilee. However, the women flee the tomb and said nothing to anyone, "for they were afraid."
And as with the story of Jesus and the adulteress, scribes copying the Mark gospel felt that this ending was too abrupt for a gospel. So, somewhere down the line, one scribe decided to add 12 verses to chapter 16 (verse 9 to verse 20) so that the gospel concludes with a "happy ending". And the "happy ending" Mark gospel is the one that got translated into English in the "King James Version", and which is propagated to all subsequent editions.
As before, the true ending of Mark (Mark 16:8) can now be seen from the Codex Sinaiticus web site.
* Note: The 3 women in the Mark Gospel directly contradicts the Matthew Gospel, which states that only 2 women, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary", went to Jesus' tomb (Matthew 28:1).
Yet another Christian friend has found the original World Bible School "Chinese Characters and the Bible" video and has again forwarded it to me. The following is a follow up reply to this second friend, in which I explain why I do not find the Bible to be that "great" a book:
Any big book, such as the Bible, can be made to advocate anything that you desire. For example:
- Want a harsh, strict, wrathful and vengeful god, killing everything and everyone through genocide and infanticide, or endorsing the practice of slavery? Read Exodus and Leviticus in the Old Testament.
- Want a quiet, subtle, kind, gentle, loving and forgiving god? Read Paul's epistles in the New Testament (eg. Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philippians etc)
As I love to read history and philosophy, studying the world's many religions (their origins and their doctrines) holds a constant fascination for me. And when I read about the history of the Bible, it is very clear that most of the Bible's stories must be read metaphorically and symbolically, and not literally.
Many fundamentalist Christians believe the Bible is a divine book of God. As God's book, they believe it is inerrant - and that everything written in it is literally true! But if the Bible is a divine work of god, why are there so many errors and contradictions in it?
http://skeptically.org/newtestament/id19.html
If the Bible contain errors, then it is not perfect. If it is not perfect, is it still a divine piece of work from a perfect God?
The rationalist in me says that the Bible is simply a piece of work by humans, and is not divine. As the list of the errors and contradictions show, it is far from perfect.
And the Old Testament certainly does not describe a "nice" God that fits with contemporary societies. Many of my Christian friends only know of the "good" bits of the Bible, but never actually read its "bad" parts. They find reading the actual Bible to be very tedious because of its old language and style, so they merely read the "nice" parts selected by their priests or pastors. These "nice" stories are very tame and would not be out of place even in a collection of stories for children.
However, a more complete reading of books such as Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and you will see a much different picture of the "nice and loving" god.
In an effort to encourage people to read the WHOLE bible and not just the "nice" bits, the site "The Brick Testament" at:
http://www.thebricktestament.com
has illustrated many portions of the Bible as comics styled narratives using Lego bricks. Most people find reading the comic style illustrations much easier than reading the actual Bible itself. When people can see the writings in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua presented graphically, they see a whole new dimension in the "Good Book".
I recommend the following links for a picture of the more "vindictive" and "cruel" aspect of the religion:
The Law : http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/index.html
Joshua : http://www.thebricktestament.com/joshua/index.html
Judges : http://www.thebricktestament.com/judges/index.html
As one commentator has said,
The Old Testament God is a "psychotic monster". Not only is the character of God diabolical in those books, but there are explicit prescriptions for how to live that are not metaphors; they are not open to theological judo. God just comes right out and says "stone people" for a list of offenses so preposterous and all-encompassing that the killing never stops. You have to kill people for working on the Sabbath. You kill people for fornication.
- Sam Harris
As you read the Old Testament and compare it against the New Testament, it would seem like they are describing 2 completely different entities! But then, that would contradict the mantra that there is only "One God".
This brings me back to what I stated at the beginning: that the Bible is such a big book that it can be used to advocate anything you desire. Need "Proof" of vindictive God? See Old Testament. Need "Proof" of loving God? See New Testament.
Using the Bible as "proof" that God is real is hardly persuasive.
Regards,
NJ
P.S. By the way, I just finished reading the book "Misquoting Jesus" by Bart Ehrman:
http://www.amazon.com/Misquoting-Jesus-Story-Behind-Changed/dp/0060859512
which describes how errors crept into the New Testament.
Bart D Ehrman, its author, is a famous Biblical scholar and author ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_D._Ehrman ).
He actually presented a lecture on his book at Stanford University, which is available from this link. It was after listening to this lecture that I went on to read his book:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=397006836098752165&hl=en
If you are keen to learn about some of the errors that have crept into the New Testament that you are reading today, you need to listen to Professor Ehrman's lecture.
Yesterday, a friend of mine forwarded me a video file that purports to show that the Chinese language shows proof of the authenticity of the stories of Genesis:
http://students.washington.edu/cbsf/cool/Chinese.swf
The video is produced by an organisation called the "World Bible School", but when I clicked on the link in the World Bible School's website, they have removed the video:
http://www.wbschool.org/chinesecharacters.htm
If you don't like the flash video version, the same contents can be viewed as a static web page here:
http://www.jdaniellowe.com/china.html
However "entertaining" this article is, and may seem utterly convincing and believable to some people, the sceptic in me immediately tells me that this is not PROOF!
There are at least 20,000 characters in the Chinese language, although only about 10,000 are used contemporarily (see note #1). With 20,000 characters to choose from, it is possible to find all kinds of coincidences and meanings to fit whatever you want. (Note: another Wikipedia entry states that at least 53000 unique Chinese characters were compiled in 1039 CE during the Song Dynasty. See note #2)
There are only 214 radicals in the Chinese language, which are used to form the Chinese characters. It is obvious that for any combination of radicals, you would get at least several characters that are formed from such radicals. Now, all you need is to choose characters that have any superficial connection to the bible stories, and put them into this multimedia presentation, and ta-da, you have a very convincing presentation that seems to say that the Chinese language validates the authenticity of the bible!!!
This is weak thinking. In actual fact, this video proves nothing except that you can choose to interpret anything you want to make the flimsiest of connections to the bible.
Fundamentalist Christians have a weakness for developing this kinds of "proofs", in which you first form the conclusion ("Chinese characters are related to the bible"), and then look for evidence that supports the pre-conceived conclusion and publishing them, while ignoring and discarding evidence that do not support it. This is totally against the scientific method, in which you accept and publish the evidence that are both pro AND con to your hypothesis. In the scientific world, if contradictory evidence is found, the initial hypothesis MUST BE REJECTED, and the researcher must refine it, or re-propose a new hypothesis. Unfortunately, fundamentalist Christians do not like to acknowledge contradictory evidence, always choosing to sweep aside facts and ignoring them when such contradictions are pointed out. This is the sole reason why fundamentalist Christians believe that the bible is LITERALLY true, and that the universe is only 6000 years old because of this unshatterable belief in the inerrancy of the bible.
I found that another blogger has written about this video, and has use the same kind of weird logic employed by the World Bible School to make a mocking association that is so provocative that you just have to read it yourself:
http://www.hanzismatter.com/2006/03/chinese-language-of-god.htmlNotes
#1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#Vocabulary
#2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese#Literacy
