| ScionofDestiny | 06-09-2006 10:01 PM |
. . . inaccurate . . . ? compared to what?
Technically, I would say all religious texts are 'inaccurate', depending on what you are comparing them too. Certainly, the King James Version is inaccurate in contrast to the Catholic Bible on which it was based, but I'm sure the Cathars and other Gnostic Christian groups would have said they were both inaccurate and vice versa. Moreover, you can't call (or at least prove) the Gnostics were/are completely inaccurate because some of their texts existed prior to the Catholic Church - then there is the Orthodox Church and a number of other religious groups and rejected religous texts to consider.
Trying to find the 'truth' among these documents is very . . . improbable, when you consider all the circumstances. You just have to pick one that resonates with you and be at peace with it for as long as you can.
Thankfully (for me), I am spiritually liberal-minded and tend to view all religion as collections of myths which have had a profound influence on world culture; language, philosophy, and to some extent science - and also as a rich source of material for deducing parts (if not all) of the human condition, prescientific psychology, and also as spirtually uplifting pieces of literature. Religion is important wherever you look, historically or for the future. I worry about a generation which will come to scorn spiritual thinking and rely on pure science.
Not that I have any problem with science; it is a useful process for humanity. I'm just more of a humanistic philosopher - I fear mankind losing our identity and individuality by becoming slaves of science. It seems very probabable. Following the course I fear, mankind won't be able to define itself from the molecule of a rock and the molecule of our own being.
Thus I urge reasoning, logic, science, philosophy, and spiritual thinking combined for a well-rounded species. Having too much of any of these things and not enough of the others tends to be . . . unhealthy.
Technically, I would say all religious texts are 'inaccurate', depending on what you are comparing them too. Certainly, the King James Version is inaccurate in contrast to the Catholic Bible on which it was based, but I'm sure the Cathars and other Gnostic Christian groups would have said they were both inaccurate and vice versa. Moreover, you can't call (or at least prove) the Gnostics were/are completely inaccurate because some of their texts existed prior to the Catholic Church - then there is the Orthodox Church and a number of other religious groups and rejected religous texts to consider.
Trying to find the 'truth' among these documents is very . . . improbable, when you consider all the circumstances. You just have to pick one that resonates with you and be at peace with it for as long as you can.
Thankfully (for me), I am spiritually liberal-minded and tend to view all religion as collections of myths which have had a profound influence on world culture; language, philosophy, and to some extent science - and also as a rich source of material for deducing parts (if not all) of the human condition, prescientific psychology, and also as spirtually uplifting pieces of literature. Religion is important wherever you look, historically or for the future. I worry about a generation which will come to scorn spiritual thinking and rely on pure science.
Not that I have any problem with science; it is a useful process for humanity. I'm just more of a humanistic philosopher - I fear mankind losing our identity and individuality by becoming slaves of science. It seems very probabable. Following the course I fear, mankind won't be able to define itself from the molecule of a rock and the molecule of our own being.
Thus I urge reasoning, logic, science, philosophy, and spiritual thinking combined for a well-rounded species. Having too much of any of these things and not enough of the others tends to be . . . unhealthy.