Well after reading a large portion of the bible here is my essay:
Religion is one of the few topics that has always been the question on people's minds throughout the ages. Is there a divine being? What happens when humans die? Which religion is the correct religion? Who is the voice of God? All of these questions have been pondered since beginning of human civilization and will always be pondered for the rest of time. It stems off from people's fear of death. No one knows what actually happens when you die. Are you reincarnated as a human, an animal, or a plant? Do you go into a heaven or a hell? Does your body just rot and nothing else? These are some of the few debatable afterlife scenarios. As long as there has been a Supreme Being there has been killing in his name. Look at most wars throughout history, about 80% of them were fought over religion. But the question one must ask himself is, do you have to pray and go to a house of worship to be considered religious, or can you just follow a specific religious way of life?
Through an examination of the different books and stories in the Bible, notion the contradictions, deterrent nature, and possible negative effects religion can have and has had throughout history. Proving that the idea of spirituality could be the answer to many of the problems caused by religion.
To begin with, there are many contradictions apparent through an intense dissection of biblical wording. According to biblical text, the law of the Lord is perfect (Psalm 19:7). In essence, this statement means anything God or Jesus were to say is benevolent without any chance of being wrong. Basically that the Bible has no blemishes or contradiction. It is very ironic that contradictions flow through the Bible like water. According to historic record and artwork from around that time, Jesus had long brown hair. There is one problem with this bit of information; Men with long hair are a shame upon themselves (Corinthians 11-14). Not only did the supposed son of God have long hair, but many of his disciples bared the same burden. If one were to look more deeply at Corinthians 11-14, the only reason it shares for men being a shame to themselves is the supposed image they portray with long hair. God is known as divine, basically he is perfect. Pre judging someone based simply off their appearance, is something that someone who is insecure about their own body would do. Do not judge a book by it's cover, this quote has been around seemingly forever. It still hold true today, by judging someone purely based off the way one looks is a horrible deed to do. Pre judging someone is essentially creating a reality for that person. This is very dangerous, looks do not defy the level of one's character. One who is truly perfect, like God would not pre-judge someone based off the length of their hair.
God is known as a benevolent being, who forgives those who seek forgiveness. "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree," (Deuteronomy 21:22).This is the exact wording from the Bible. If one were to break down the wording, one would see the apparent contradiction. If someone were to do something that goes against the 10 commandments, they should be hung from a tree if that sin was worthy of death. What chance does a man have to repent if he is put death? This directly contradicts God exculpating anyone from their sins. One cannot seek forgiveness if he is being killed. Also, the statement openly states that god supports vindication. The people that were to hang the man would essentially be murdering him. Men should not have the power to kill another purely out of spite. There is no way that such a benevolent being who is the supposed creator of everything would ever allow this atrocity to take place.
In the Book of Genesis, Abram, better known as Abraham, forms a covenant with God by circumcising himself. "He that is born in thy house, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for everlasting...covenant," (Genesis 17:13-14). Although it may be healthy, it still contradicts one not harming his own body. Their body is a temple, and should not be harmed by their own hand. One should not harm himself just for a covenant. Also men who are born not of doctors and who cannot get circumcised are automatically unholy. Why should people who are born into families who are eligible of performing such a task, start off already in God's good graces. While are children who are born into such a family in which they cannot receive this supposed holy sacrifice, automatically are born into the shadows of the children able to obtain this covenant.
In Exodus 35:2, it talks about the creation and how god made the seventh day (Sunday) the day of rest. If one were to work on this day, then they shall be put to death. One can plainly see the ambiguity of words described here. There are millions of Christians who work on Sunday. Many people cannot afford having a day of rest. Are all these hard working individuals not worthy of life, their passage into eternal salvation should not be based off the days they were to work. To live with the basic needs, many people have to work everyday of the week including Sunday. Many people have to sacrifice their body to provide their family with food. This individuals should not be punished, they should be commended. God should not punish people just based off the economic status. People born into rich families can follow God's law of not working on Sunday. While children born into families of less money, have to do anything to get by including working on Sundays. If God was perfect, he would not punish people for sacrificing themselves to provide their families with bread.
Are God and the Devil really that different? The famous ten commandments, delivered by Moses high on Mount Sinai, preached Thou Shall not kill. God is notorious for providing aid in wars, choosing sides in wars, and having his creations kill sinners. God directly contradicts his own rules he sets forth. The hypocritical nature portrayed in the Bible is blatantly obvious. This is comparable to a police officer driving while on his cell phone, then ten minutes later he will pull someone over for this. Men in power should not be any higher than anyone else. "I will dash one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy but destroy them," (Jeremiah 13:14). God is openly forcing people to their own death. Not only does this contradict his 10 commandments, but it also contradicts the Lord being good to all. Psalm 145:9, goes on to say that the lord views and treats everyone equally, obviously this statement is not true. God has been choosing sides since the beginning of time. Aiding different groups of people in war, and allowing the extermination of humans due to those wars. God also brought fourth The Great Flood, plagues, and wars which directly contradicts his tender mercies over all his works. In Genesis 4:15, God goes on to say how he will bring vengeance sevenfold upon the killer of Cain. The vindictive nature is apparent none the less. A perfect being would never seek vengeance no matter what the situation were. All vengeance brings is sadness, look at a classic comic book super hero, Batman. His character is based on the vindication of criminals, due to the murdering of his parents. Bruce Wayne may seem happy, yet his alter-ego Batman is extremely sad. A benevolent being such as god, would not allow his emotion to drive his choices. God would not allow his passion for Able, force a vindicative nature for Cain.
On the topic of Cain, God basically spawned the evilness that dwelled within Cain by not adhering to his own rules, in essence God is Frankenstein. In Chronicles 19:7, it states that the Lord shows no inequity and respects everyone equally. In Genesis 4:4-5, God prefers Abel's offering over Cain's offering. Cain commits an iniquity by killing his brother. Yet, if God did not show favoritism to either one the situation may have turn out differently. God is the father of all his children, and person who has had a parental influence on their life, knows the pain when your hard work is not good enough for your parents. If God really did not show inequity for the sacrifices that Able and Cain made, then he would not have told the brother whether he liked the flock or the piece of land better. This may have prevented the evil side of Cain from being exposed.
God asks Cain where his brother Abel was in Genesis 4:9. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place... good," (Proverb 15:3). If this were the case, then his all seeing eyes would allow him to see where Able was. The fact that he did not know exactly where Abel was at the time, disproves Genesis 4:9. If a simple scripture such as this is incorrect who is to say that anything in the Bible is true. Obviously, the law of the Lord being perfect in Psalm 19:7, is not true. If such a thing is false, then what else can that lead one to believe. The Bible could essential say anything since apparently contradicting it later does not matter. Did the Christian faith just pick and choose the philosophies in the bible that suited their lifestyle. If the Bible did have such simple blemishes, then can one even take the wording of it to heart? If all this contradictions are in the holy text, then who is to say what is known as the facts and laws of the Christian religion are all true?
There are also many contradictions in the Bible in which one section contradicts the other. This also sheds light on the fact that everything one reads may not be true. If one thing is false, then a person will not be able to tell if their is truth in the other statements. At Luke 3:23, Heli was the father of Joseph. This seems simple enough, but in Matthew 1:16, Jacob was the father of Joseph. Abraham had two sons Ishmael and Isaac according to Genesis 16:15.Yet, according to Hebrews 11:17, Abraham had one son. Although this may seem insignificant, the fact that the father of Joseph, and the amount of sons that Abraham had contradicts each other in each book, proves that not everything in the Bible is true. Nothing in the Bible be taken as its literally meaning, unless you are willing to acknowledge the fact that it may be wrong.
The story of Noah's ark and the great flood, has been passed down through the Bible. In Genesis 7:7, Noah and clan enter the ark. Then this same circumstance occurs only six lines later. In Genesis 7:13, they enter the ark. There is nothing saying that they left the ark between Genesis 7:7-13. Obviously this does not make sense. It is physically impossible for someone to enter the same thing twice. The word of the Bible is taken for its literally meaning every time. Why is the literally meaning ignored in this scenario? Do sections of the Bible hold more significance then others, or does the Christian religion only pick what is important to them and keeps their religion at its full power.
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ," (Galatians 6:2). The wording here tell each human being to help each other out, yet In Galatians 6:5, it says "For every man shall bear his own burden." This tells mankind to take care of every thing on his/her own. In Galatians 6:5, one caries the weight of his own world on his shoulders, while in Galatians 6:2, one has to help people carry their weight.
According the Oxford English Dictionary the definition of temptation is a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise. There seems to be a negative connotation in the definition. The Bible agrees apparently, or at least according to James 1:13. "Let no man say when he is tempted....God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." God apparently will not tempt people, due to the fact that he is perfect. Yet, in Genesis 22:1, in simply terms it says God tempts Abraham.
There are many contradictions in the Bible, one can plainly see. If human can recognize the fact that their are contradictions, then the next question one must ask himself is, If the Bible has many mistakes then who is to say what is true. There is no way that anyone can say what is correct, and incorrect, yet the Bible contradicts itself numerous times. If the contradictions are apparent then, the Bible could essential say anything since apparently contradicting it later does not matter. Did the Christian faith just pick and choose the philosophies in the bible that suited their lifestyle. If the Bible did have such simple blemishes, then can one even take the wording of it to heart? If all this contradictions are in the holy text, then who is to say what is known as the facts and laws of the Christian religion are all true? There are also many contradictions in the Bible in which one section contradicts the other. This also sheds light on the fact that everything one reads may not be true. If one thing is false, then a person will not be able to tell if their is truth in the other statements.
This all could stem from the gap between the death of Jesus and the recording of Bible. Since there were many years in between then many things could have unintentionally been changed. The Bible was written 150 years after Jesus's supposed death. So for 150 years, three to four generations, it was passed down by word of mouth. The Bible could have been skewed many times to fit the story tellers beliefs. We were not there 2000 or so years ago when Christ was supposedly alive and neither was writers of the bible. Word of mouth, is something that cannot be trusted. A strong man, fighting another man, can turn into a giant fighting 10 men. Look at the childhood game "Telephone." Although it is only a child's game it still is prevalent in society. If the history was not recorded at the time it occurred, then there is no one of knowing what are true and what are lies and exaggerations. Due to the fact that their is so much time in between, this leaves room for human influence on the Bible. The most common Bible of today is the King James version of the Bible. King James was responsible for the translations of the Bible. Since he was the ruler at the time, who is to say that he did not change the Bible to benefit his lifestyle. Religion, especially Christianity, has a enormous amount of power over society. There are many changes apparent in the wording from the old Bible and King James' version. He may have changed it to benefit himself, and have it more suited to his life choices.
According to the Bible humans are born straight and everyone on this planet is straight. People who are gay choose to be that way, and will not be accepted into heaven. There are also gay animals in this planet, so obviously it is not a choice of humans. It is in the genetic make up of a human if they are gay or straight. Humans do not choose their sexuality, they are born into it. A true benevolent being would not judge someone based off what they are born into. Gay men and women are just as much humans and deserving of salvation then straight men and women. This portion may have been influenced by arrogant ignorant human beings.
In Exodus 21-7, and Leviticus 25:44, both portions of the Bible support slavery. Slavery obviously is one of the worst thing man kind has ever created. It being in the Bible is proof enough of the many different human influences on the Bible.
"If a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished," (Exodus 21:20). "Men should not go near woman having their period," (Corinthians 19-24). Both of these statements show the blemishes and impurities due to Human influence. The first quote allows men to beat his slave or mistress as long as they do not die. The second quote puts men higher then woman, telling them not to go near women during their period. These are obviously both due to human influences on the Bible.
One of the most absurd things from the Bible, is the killing of disobedient children. According to Deut 21:18-2, If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son... all men of his city shall stone the son, until he died. There are many families were the parents are abusive and the children have no choice. Either the child sits their crying and deals with it everyday, or the child can resort to sticking up for his or herself. Since the child had some dignity and decided to defend what is right, they get stoned by the whole town? Where is the humanity, humans have no right to ends one life, just because a supposed "Holy Text" says so.
Religion is one of the most deterrent things to human society. There are many reasons behind this. There are battles and wars fought every day over religion. If people would not force their beliefs upon others the world would be a better place. The catholic extremists groups, who believe that gay men and woman will suffer in hell, are just wrong. How can people say something like this, the Bible causes many people to believe horrid things which creates bigotry, racism and violence. They preach that humans were molded after God. Where Gay people molded after the devil? Gay people are just people and can be some of the nicest people on the Earth. Islam radical groups like Jihad believing in the 6th pillar being "Holy War" this is one of the worst thing I have heard. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace," (Hendrix).
If you strip the exterior parts away from a human all you essentially have left is the struggle in this world to survive. People can walk in a zombie waking life state and their only motivation to keep on living is to survive. "To be or not to be that is the question," (Hamlet). One reason people continue to live is fear of the unknown or fear of the afterlife, if there truly is one that is. Religion is a good thing to have because it strips that fear away, but human society as a whole must realize that humans are humans and there is no correct religion or a wrong religion. The philosophy people should follow is, lead a good life and help others in their time of need.
You do not need to go to church to be Catholic; you do not need to go to temple to be Jewish. All you need to do is lead a good life. Atheist belief of no god does not make them wrong or right. And they will not burn in hell for such a belief. As long as they lead a good life they will be accepted into heaven, if there is a heaven that is. Why should some of the best people in the world, that lead lives void of materialism, and live of only the basic needs, not be accepted into Heaven? According to the Bible only people who accept God into their heart will reach salvation. Yet there is a philosophical debate that can spring from this question. What if a man is born into a remote island with no access to the outside world, since human's are not born with the belief of God, how can he accept God into his heart?
The religious turmoil caused due to Bible, is horrible. Wars fought in the name god. "As long as there has been one God there has been killings in his name," (The DaVinci Code). There have been wars fought in god's name since the beginning of time. The Bible, and many other religious text allow wars to be justified. Deuteronomy 17:2-7, Leviticus 24:16, and Deuteronomy 13:13-14, all support the killing of non-believers. The deterrent nature caused by the Bible, is quite disgusting. If people did not take religion to such a literally meaning, then this non sense would not happen.
The problem lies not in religion, but in authenticity that humans hold in their Holy Text. The only way to solve the problem is to replace religion with spirituality. The difference between religion and spirituality may not seem relevant, but spirituality may be the answer the people's prayers. The openness of spirituality will open people's eyes to the atrocities around the world. Spirituality can help put an end to wars. Following certain religions limits a person potential. They must follow certain rules, listening to people even if such people are racist bigots. Religions, in many ways, try to impose their way on others almost like a cult-ship, this alone will cause problem. People will begin to have god complexes, believing that their beliefs are correct and others are wrong. In fact, many religions were founded on the belief that only believers of their religion can gain access to their form of salvation. The close-mindedness is very apparent, it is like being reduced to a lamb in a herd where the church is the shepherd and everyone screams black sheep when someone doesn't obey or believes something different.
Spirituality is freedom, one will do what makes him or her happy and the people around one happy. Believe in whatever and accept other peoples beliefs. The acceptive nature of spirituality still gives hope to people and does discriminate according to race or intelligence.
People do not read their holy text that they are supposed believers of. If one were to read, they would grow not to trust religious writings to bear any shred of truth. Looking back on religion through the ages one can see it was an extremely effective form of control and this could have possibly been the reason for it's creation in the first place. Under the control of religion, regular members police themselves without need of exterior enforcement. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men," (John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton). When there is no one stronger then the Religion in which people believe, and no one to keep them in check who is to say that the power is not corrupt. It is much like the setting in 1984, where children would turn in their parents and friends would turn in friends. People would betray each other just to obey Party doctrine.
In recent times Religion still has many inklings of influence on the current Governments in power. However in some less developed countries Religion still retains some relic of it's former domination. There are more selfish people than non selfish people in the world, and "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" (Edmund Burke). Thus there is no real way of good men (unselfish) to take back the world from selfish people. Religion can be very manipulative especially to lesser minds. Something can be done in the current state of things with slow change, and this new wave of spirituality seen in recent generations versus parents gives open minded people hope.
According to Religious beliefs, the chosen people are the people that believe in a certain religion. Christians believe only Christians will go to heaven, will Jews believe only Jewish people will achieve salvation. This arrogant nature creates many problems in society. People believe that only their religion is the correct one. "Suppose you have two buckets. Two very large buckets. On one bucket we'll slap the label "God" and on the other "Science". Now let's pretend these buckets have always existed along side with mankind.
It's now time for a little bit of time travelling. Let's go back to the time when cave people existed. Nothing was in the "Science" bucket, and a very few things in the "God" bucket. We discovered fire, but we still couldn't figure out the frightening streaks across the sky when it rained. So lightening, rain and weather in general went into the "God" bucket.
Fast forward a few years. When people got sick, and when plagues hit towns and countries, those things were put into the "God" bucket. When it rained frogs, it was added into the "God" bucket. When sailors encountered unexpected storms they thought the sinners on the ship brought the storms. All of this stuff was added into the "God" bucket. But as time went on. We discovered how weather worked. We also discovered viruses, bacteria and why people got sick or died. Even the raining of frogs was explained - tornadoes sucked the frogs up and rained them down in a neighbouring land. Every single on of those things was taken from the "God" bucket and put into the "Science" bucket. Not one thing has ever been taken from the "Science" bucket and put into the "God" bucket," (God Delusion).
In Matthew 4:8, the Devil takes him up the mountain to see all the kingdoms. Anyone who knows science knows that the world is round, and it is impossible to see all the cities in the world. Human belief at that time was that the world was flat in which one would be able to see all the cities. But according to the Bible the Earth still is flat. Modern science tells us that the Earth is spherical. According to Lev. 11:21 Insects go on all fours to leap. Insects obviously do not have 4 feet. Unless evolution happened, although according to the Bible God made every creature/beast as he is today.
According to the Bible, the world is only 6000 years only. True religious Christians do not believe in carbon dating. Apparently carbon dating and fossils are not real. One can see that the world being only 6000 years old proposes many dilemma. Religion closes people's minds off from science. Governments around the world still hold religion as the backing for their laws. Look at the Scopes Monkey Trial, a teacher was threatened with jail time for enlightening children about Darwinism. Why do humans believe they are so special? Animals and the universe have existed far longer then we have. Why can only humans achieve salvation, and why is god in man image. Rather man was created in God's image.
God existing is not a question that any man can argue whether he likes to believe so or not. Reason being for every supposed miracle there is a story of a good man suffering. If there truly was a God and we were molded in his image, then how in god's name can genocides and wars occur on this planet while people stand idle just to continue there petty, precious, ignorant life.
{One interesting thing about religion is how similar the supposed holy text are to an astrological calendar. One of the oldest forms of astrology is the Zodiac. It depicts the sun as it passes through a year, the four seasons, the twelve months, eclipses and equinox as well as a map to the sun passing through our galaxy. The word Zodiac is due to the 12 signs personified as different animal and only one as a balance. The sun is the representation of God. The light of the world the savior of human kind. Horus the sun God of Egypt, explained the movement of the sun across the sky. Horus had an enemy called Set which is representative of the darkness. They would battle each day and Horus would always rise again symbolizing life and death, and rebirth. Who is to say that this is not the correct religion? The zodiac stripped away was a pagan symbol. Where all four lines meet and the circle representing the sun in the middle almost looks like a cross with a circle in the middle. This is why early art shows Jesus with the symbol behind him, since he represents the sun. In fact, Jesus's crown of thorns is actually sun rays. Look at the holy text in the Bible, a lot of it can be explained through the astrology. Every 2150 years the Sun would pass through a sign of the zodiac. They referred to these 2150 years as an age. We are currently in the Pisces age and that age will end at 2150 A.D. The bible goes through 3 ages and foreshadows a fourth to come. When Moses comes with the 10 commandments, he is very upset to see his people worshiping a golden bull and breaks the tablets instructing his people to purify themselves. The Golden Bull is Taurus and Moses comes exactly when entering into the new age of Aries the ram which last until 1 A.D. That is why the Jews blow the rams horn. Jesus comes with the two fish other wise known as Pisces. He feeds people with 5000 pieces of bread and two fish. The Pisces sign for Jesus still around today on the back of cars is the small fish. At Luke 22:10, when Jesus is asked by his disciples where the next Passover will be when he is gone Jesus responds "When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters." This is foreshadowing the coming of the next age, Aquarius who is represented by a man carrying a pitcher of water. Matt 28:20, Jesus says I will be with you to the end of the world. World actually represent Aeon or age. Jesus is basically saying he will stay until 2150.
All religions are based off the same stories in fact most of them have very little differences. Religion essentially was created to explain the different phenomena that humans could not explain at the time. Horus (Egypt 3000 B.C.) in Egyptian religion was born on Dec. 25th of the virgin Ises Mary, his birth was accompanied by the Star of the East. 3 kings adorned the new born savior. At age 12 he was a prodigal child teacher and at the age of 30 he was baptized/ministry by a figure known a Anap. Horus had 12 disciples he traveled with performing miracles such as healing the sick and walking on water. He was known as the light, and the Lamb of God. He was betrayed by Tifone he was crucified buried for 3 days and thus resurrected. Attic (Greece 1200 B.C.) of Frijia was born on Dec. 25th of the virgin nunon, He was crucified buried for 3 days and thus resurrected. Krishna (India 900 B.C.) born of the virgin deike with the star of the east. Performed miracles with his disciples and upon his death he was resurrected. Dionysus (Greece 500 B.C.) born of a virgin Dec. 25th was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine and was referred to as King of Kings. Upon his death was resurrected. Mithra (Persia 1200 B.C.) born of a virgin, Dec. 25th he performed miracles with his 12 disciples was dead for 3 days and thus resurrected. He was referred to as the Light. The question is not why all these stories are same, the question is why these same attributes. Jesus Christ the most popular of all was born on Dec. 25 of the virgin Mary, birth was accompanied by the Star of the East, 3 kings adorned the new born savior, At 12 he was a prodigal child teacher and at the age of 30 he was baptized/ministry by John the baptist. Jesus had 12 disciples he traveled with performing miracles such as healing the sick and walking on water. He was known as the light, and the Lamb of God. He was betrayed by Judas he was crucified buried for 3 days and thus resurrected. The birth sequence behind all of these stories is completely astrological The star of the Sirius which is the brightest star, on December 25th aligns with the three star on Auron's belt which has kept its nickname since ancient times, The Three Kings. Those four stars all point to the sun rising on December 25th. The three kings follow the star of the East in order to find the sunrise... the birth of the Sun/son. Virgin Mary is portrayed as the constellation Virgo and its name comes from the M symbol. That is why the Virgin mother Mary, along with Myrra and Maya all start with M. Virgo is known as house of bread that is why she is depicted with wheat. In fact Bethlehem literally means House of Bread. So Jesus born in Bethlehem, is literally saying born of the Virgin Mary, or of the constellation Virgo. On December 22nd the sun stops moving south for three days. The sun stay in the Cross constellation and on the 25th moves one degree north. This is where the story of son/Sun dead for three days and resurrected on the forth. That is why numerous Sun gods share the same story.}
Thus proving, that one religion is no better then the next. In fact, many of them are based off the same story which can bee seen in astrology. Religion may not exactly be a bad thing, yet when people interpret the wording of their holy text for its literally meaning, that is where problem can derive from. There are many contradictions in the Bible. If one piece of text contradicts another, who is to say which is wrong and right. In recognizing that there are contradictions, one can plainly see that the Bible cannot be taken for its literally meaning. Throughout the ages the Bible has been passed down through word of mouth. There may have been many alterations made inadvertently. Also the Bible was altered by the rulers in power, especially King James, who is responsible for the Bible we all know today.
The deterrent nature the bible portrays effect not only simple society, but high ranking government officials. In fact religion has a large effect on all humans. It causes many wars and creates bigotry and ignorance in the world. Through a study of the Bible and other religious text one can see that the Arrogant nature in these holy books is responsible for many atrocities around the world. When people learn to accept each other, the world will know peace. Spirituality allows people to have a more open mind about many different situations. Religion on the other hand can brain wash people. That is why Spirituality is the answer.





