TDH #64
Do not be deceived:
Bad company corrupts good morals.
1 Corinthians 15:33
(CSB)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The label “religion” often carries baggage. Therefore, the texts of each religion carry the weight of humanity’s actions that have snowballed over time, long after these ancient stories were written down. I think the primary reason it took me so long to crack open these books was the stigma surrounding “religion,” even though I had little grasp of what each one actually entails.
If these stories were separated from the Biblical canon, for example, and stood alone on a bookshelf labeled “Humanities Myths & Origin Stories,” I might have picked them up sooner. If the back sleeve of a book called “Genesis” read something like, “Follow mankind’s evolution through ancient Israel’s origin story. From the time a great deity molded man out of clay and breathed life into his lungs, to a brother sold into slavery who rises up to become the governor of Egypt, this riveting series of tales tracks early humans through the trials and tribulations of founding civilization in the cradle of life.”
When not umbrellaed under religious doctrine, that might have actually piqued my interest while browsing through bookstores for Joseph Campbell-type literature. I was completely taken aback by what I found in the first book of the Bible when writing “Genesis: Biblical Commentary Through Dialogue.” I had no idea it was stories of rape and incest and murder. I had no idea what to expect, but it sure wasn’t a bunch of tales of lies and deceit and chaos.
Imagine perusing another bookshelf labeled “Most Popular Short Stories of All Time” and reading a summary that says, “Explore one of the most confounding mysteries of all time in a tale that explores why bad things happen to good people. Witness an innocent man endure the worst of tragedies, one after another, all to settle a wager between Satan and God.”
Would you be more intrigued if you didn’t have to flip through much of a leatherbound Bible to get there?
I’d encourage anyone to put aside the labels of “Christianity” and just read these stories as best sellers passed down throughout the millennia.
Bad company corrupts good morals.
1 Corinthians 15:33
(CSB)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The label “religion” often carries baggage. Therefore, the texts of each religion carry the weight of humanity’s actions that have snowballed over time, long after these ancient stories were written down. I think the primary reason it took me so long to crack open these books was the stigma surrounding “religion,” even though I had little grasp of what each one actually entails.
If these stories were separated from the Biblical canon, for example, and stood alone on a bookshelf labeled “Humanities Myths & Origin Stories,” I might have picked them up sooner. If the back sleeve of a book called “Genesis” read something like, “Follow mankind’s evolution through ancient Israel’s origin story. From the time a great deity molded man out of clay and breathed life into his lungs, to a brother sold into slavery who rises up to become the governor of Egypt, this riveting series of tales tracks early humans through the trials and tribulations of founding civilization in the cradle of life.”
When not umbrellaed under religious doctrine, that might have actually piqued my interest while browsing through bookstores for Joseph Campbell-type literature. I was completely taken aback by what I found in the first book of the Bible when writing “Genesis: Biblical Commentary Through Dialogue.” I had no idea it was stories of rape and incest and murder. I had no idea what to expect, but it sure wasn’t a bunch of tales of lies and deceit and chaos.
Imagine perusing another bookshelf labeled “Most Popular Short Stories of All Time” and reading a summary that says, “Explore one of the most confounding mysteries of all time in a tale that explores why bad things happen to good people. Witness an innocent man endure the worst of tragedies, one after another, all to settle a wager between Satan and God.”
Would you be more intrigued if you didn’t have to flip through much of a leatherbound Bible to get there?
I’d encourage anyone to put aside the labels of “Christianity” and just read these stories as best sellers passed down throughout the millennia.
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TheDevoutHumorist
Ancient wisdom with a modern application (and an often humorist twist)
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