As you can easily see, there is no Tao Bible post tonight -- I'm taking a one-day break. In its place, I just wanted to make the observation that I have found few, if any, moral tidbits in the Old Testament to this juncture. No, what I have found is page upon page of endless war and treachery. It's enough to make any person wonder why the Israelites supposedly were selected by Yahweh as the "chosen people."
The other thing that stands out is that this supposed loving and merciful creator is, in fact, quite petulant, egotistical and tends to bear grudges. Sometimes, the weirdest things seem to set him off and his sense of justice is...well...haphazard, at best.
I am convinced -- now more than ever -- that, if more self-proclaimed Christians actually took the time to read their own foundational document, there would be a lot fewer Christians in the world today.
The other thing that stands out is that this supposed loving and merciful creator is, in fact, quite petulant, egotistical and tends to bear grudges. Sometimes, the weirdest things seem to set him off and his sense of justice is...well...haphazard, at best.
I am convinced -- now more than ever -- that, if more self-proclaimed Christians actually took the time to read their own foundational document, there would be a lot fewer Christians in the world today.
The Old Testament is just the history of a tribe defining its relationship with Yahweh. The New Testament message is "let's move on." Jesus said only two commandments were important, they covered the whole ball of wax, for everyone.
ReplyDeleteBut Paul, now there's another problem....
Are you going to do Proverbs and Song of Solomon? That's beautiful stuff.
The problem is they read it but don't understand really LOOK at it. They'll have it memorized, chapter and verse, but haven't thought a lot about it.
ReplyDeleteThen again... many Christians seem pretty uncomfortable about the OT, probably for the stuff you point out. They love the creation, the flood, Moses, etc. The enjoy the prophets, especially where they twist the meaning to look like a foreshadow of the Christ. But the rest of it is never mentioned.
And I agree Proverbs and Song of Solomon are pretty good. Psalms are ok, though many just sound like David whining about his enemies all the time. I like Ecclesiastes (sp?) too, though it's kind of a downer.
Baroness,
ReplyDeleteTrue, but Jesus himself embraced the OT. That, in and of itself, is kind of mind-boggling.
Brandon,
Agreed.