Friday, March 28, 2014
Two Creation Accounts in Genesis
Why are there two creation accounts in Genesis (Bereshit)? One of them, from Genesis 1:1-2:4, the other is Genesis 2:4b-Genesis 4. The first lays out seven days of creation:
Day 1: heavens, earth, light, day and night.
Day 2: the "dome" (sky) that separates the waters below (on earth) from the waters above the sky.
Day 3: dry land and vegetation.
Day 4: stars, moon, sun.
Day 5: water creatures and birds.
Day 6: land animals; humankind (both male and female). The number of human beings created is not specified. Also, God here gives to people "every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food" (Gen 1:29) -- no prohibitions.
Day 7: God rested, and blessed this day.
The second lays out a very different version of creation, without the seven days binding the creation and with an emphasis on agriculture:
earth and heavens; no rain yet but a spring would well up and water the ground
from dust, man was created (not woman yet)
garden of Eden -- man is put here; garden includes the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil
God tells man to till and keep the garden of Eden, but not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
God notices that Man is alone and wants to find him a helper and partner, so He first creates animals and birds and Man names them. But still there was no helper as partner.
God makes Man fall asleep, pulls out a rib, and makes Woman.
The story of original sin then ensues.
In the first story, everything is good; in the second, everything is not good and humans are prohibited from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Mark 10:6, Jesus seems to believe the first creation account (that men and women were created together). This is all putting aside the fact that neither creation account is historically accurate. Which creation account do you believe?
Things sacrificed to idols
Here is an interesting question for all the Christians: Is it or is it not Biblically permissible to eat things sacrificed to idols? Your answer to this question will reflect whether you believe primarily in Paul or the apostles. The dissenting voices of the Bible:
Acts 15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas,two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. 30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
This is the voice of the apostles: Abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. Paul, on the other hand, says there is nothing wrong with eating the meat of animals sacrificed to other gods:
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God. 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
So, which voice speaks louder to you, oh Christian? And how do you deal with this obvious contradiction in the Bible?
Acts 15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas,two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. 30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
This is the voice of the apostles: Abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. Paul, on the other hand, says there is nothing wrong with eating the meat of animals sacrificed to other gods:
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God. 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
So, which voice speaks louder to you, oh Christian? And how do you deal with this obvious contradiction in the Bible?
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Is the trinity Biblical?
First of all, the idea of a trinity is not uniquely Christian. Many other religions, including Hinduism, Egyptian religion, Phoenician religion, classical Greek religion, Roman religion, Celtic religion, and others had trinities. The idea of the trinity is not mentioned at all in the Bible. The claim that "elohim" is a plurality, therefore refers to a plural deity, is not at all supported by the Bible or by the Hebrew language, and in fact should make Christians worship *at least* SIX gods, not three:
(Sorry, this video comes in at the middle of a thought, but it makes a good point). The idea of a trinity contradicts Deuteronomy 6:4--"Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." The idea of the trinity is also illogical. There is no Biblical support for the idea of the trinity, nor is there any support for it before the fourth century.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Mania! Hooray!
Well boys and girls, I think it's official: I'm manic again. That means lots of posts for the next two years or so. And very little sleep unless it's medicated sleep (right now I'm taking Seraquel for sleep after a month of averaging 3 hours of sleep but getting as little as 1.5 hours. The seraquel is working fantastically, thank you. I feel so much better!). And that I will be compulsively pissing people off. Basically the thing I despise about Christianity is that it allows you to check your morality at the door because Jesus will forgive you of whatever you do. I have been sexually assaulted by five Christians when I was between the ages of 9 to 14. I've been horrifically abused by Christians so bad that I can't even remember all of the abuse. It's been a rough life. I have PTSD from the abuse and I have nightmares about my abusers chasing me through the woods almost every night. But anyway, this isn't a pity party. This is a celebration of my mania. L'Chaim! Or something. I don't know. But enjoy it while it lasts, it won't last forever; in two short years I will go back to being violently suicidal all the time.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Jesus: Died for our sins?
Did Jesus die for our sins? Is this even necessary according to the Bible? What did the early Christians say?
First, sacrifices ARE NOT the way sins are forgiven: sins are forgiven through sincere repentance (teshuva), prayer (tefilah), and deeds of charity (tzedakah).
Prayer:
2 Chronicles 6:21 And hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive. 22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before Thine altar in this house; 23 then hear Thou from heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
Repentance:
Psalm 51:18 For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering. 19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Second, God DESPISES offerings that are not accompanied by these three things:
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
8 Then said I: 'Lo, I am come with the roll of a book which is prescribed for me;
9 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts.'
First, sacrifices ARE NOT the way sins are forgiven: sins are forgiven through sincere repentance (teshuva), prayer (tefilah), and deeds of charity (tzedakah).
Prayer:
2 Chronicles 6:21 And hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive. 22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before Thine altar in this house; 23 then hear Thou from heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
Repentance:
Psalm 51:18 For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering. 19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Second, God DESPISES offerings that are not accompanied by these three things:
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Psalm 40:7 Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in; mine ears hast Thou opened;
burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.8 Then said I: 'Lo, I am come with the roll of a book which is prescribed for me;
9 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts.'
Malachi 1:10 Oh that there were even one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on Mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Etc.
So, even IF Jesus had died for our sins, it is not his death, nor his resurrection, nor belief in him that would grant the forgiveness of God. God despises sin offerings that are not offered with sincere repentance, prayer, and deeds of charity, and it is these things that make God forgive a person, not the sin offering. The sin offering is only an outward sign of an inward change that has already occurred.
Thirdly, many early Christians did not believe Jesus had actually died.
I did not succumb to them as they had planned. But I was not afflicted at all. Those who were there punished me. And I did not die in reality but in appearance, lest I be put to shame by them because these are my kinsfolk. I removed the shame from me and I did not become fainthearted in the face of what happened to me at their hands. I was about to succumb to fear, and I suffered according to their sight and thought, in order that they may never find any word to speak about them. For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death. For their Ennoias did not see me, for they were deaf and blind. But in doing these things, they condemn themselves. Yes, they saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the wealth of the archons and the offspring of their error, of their empty glory. And I was laughing at their ignorance. (The Treatise of the Great Seth)
When the soldiers with Judas drew near to the place where Jesus was, Jesus heard the approach of many people, wherefore in fear he withdrew into the house. And the eleven were sleeping. Then God, seeing the danger of his servant, commanded Gabriel;, Michael;, Rafael;, and Uriel, his ministers, to take Jesus out of the world. The holy angels came and took Jesus out by the window that looks toward the South;. They bare him and placed him in the third heaven in the company of angels blessing God for evermore.
Judas entered impetuously before all into the chamber whence Jesus had been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. Whereupon the wonderful God acted wonderfully, insomuch that Judas was so changed in speech and in face to be like Jesus that we believed him to be Jesus. And he, having awakened us, was seeking where the Master was. Whereupon we marvelled, and answered: 'You, Lord, are our master; have you now forgotten us?'
And he, smiling, said: 'Now are you foolish, that know not me to be Judas Iscariot!' And as he was saying this the soldiery entered, and laid their hands upon Judas, because he was in every way like to Jesus. We having heard Judas' saying, and seeing the multitude of soldiers, fled as beside ourselves. And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked. For God heard the prayer of Jesus, and saved the eleven from evil. (The Gospel of Barnabas)
In conclusion, Jesus did not need to die for our sins; and even if he had, believing in him would not grant forgiveness of sins.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Evolution in Islam
Now I'm pretty sure this post is going to lose me a lot of friends, but please read it all the way through before you hit the "unfriend" button. The short summary is: Evolution is a fact. Get over it.
This video is a good introduction. Evolution has occurred and continues to occur:
Humans have many vestigial organs, like the appendix, the coccyx, and wisdom teeth. That's all the FAQs I can think of but I'm sure you guys will generate more.
I believe that Allah (swt) created the first life, and then used evolution to create more complex forms like us. Thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed this little deviation from the norm. I probably won't post very many more articles like this; I'm going back to comparative theology in my very next blog post [Jesus: Died for our sins?].
Allah is Al-Bari, the Evolver. Islam is THE religion that can boast that it likes science. I don't understand why so many people are against this simple scientific fact. I think probably they're against it because they don't understand it, so I'm opening up my blog for people to ask questions about evolution. I'm no biologist, but I know a thing or two from listening to them. I was going to post some evolution FAQs but they fled my mind. Whatever, I'll do that when you ask the questions. Oh yeah. We didn't evolve from chimpanzees. Like the video says, we share a more primitive common ancestor with chimpanzees. The eye evolved like this:
I believe that Allah (swt) created the first life, and then used evolution to create more complex forms like us. Thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed this little deviation from the norm. I probably won't post very many more articles like this; I'm going back to comparative theology in my very next blog post [Jesus: Died for our sins?].
Confessions of an Asexual Muslim
I don't see what the big deal is about sex. It hold absolutely no appeal to me...in fact, it's revolting. It's tough being an asexual Muslim because Islam is the religion most concerned with your sex life. People constantly ask me if I'm satisfied with my sex life. I tell them I am, even tho to be honest I'm more than satisfied with my lack of a sex life. Some people feel that I'm asexual because I was sexually abused by men and a woman as a minor. I don't think that's true; it may be, but I don't believe it is. Maybe that's a part of it, but I don't think that's all of it.
I feel alone as an asexual Muslim. I want other asexual Muslim friends but so far I haven't found any. I found plenty of support for LGBT Muslims, tho. Apparently all the asexuals but me are on Tumblr. Should I start to figure out Tumblr? I don't really see the need, I mean I hardly ever check on my Twitter, got off of Facebook, and really only use Google Plus to chat with people anymore. I'm not really into social networking. I used to be but now I'm more interested in just talking to people. I want good, close friends.
Also, I apparently only develop crushes on older guys. Like, old enough to be my dad. I have a mad crush on Shahrukh Khan. He's 48. It feels weird to know he's old enough to be my parent. Is that normal? I don't even know. Maybe it's my really bad daddy issues. My daddy was never there for me, boofuckinghoo. It's not really his fault, he has paranoid schizophrenia and one of his paranoias is psychiatrists, so he has never been medicated. Well, he was briefly medicated after a run-in with police back in the 70s, but that's another story.
This post doesn't really have a point. It's just here. Like a blob of goo or something.
Purple.
I feel alone as an asexual Muslim. I want other asexual Muslim friends but so far I haven't found any. I found plenty of support for LGBT Muslims, tho. Apparently all the asexuals but me are on Tumblr. Should I start to figure out Tumblr? I don't really see the need, I mean I hardly ever check on my Twitter, got off of Facebook, and really only use Google Plus to chat with people anymore. I'm not really into social networking. I used to be but now I'm more interested in just talking to people. I want good, close friends.
Also, I apparently only develop crushes on older guys. Like, old enough to be my dad. I have a mad crush on Shahrukh Khan. He's 48. It feels weird to know he's old enough to be my parent. Is that normal? I don't even know. Maybe it's my really bad daddy issues. My daddy was never there for me, boofuckinghoo. It's not really his fault, he has paranoid schizophrenia and one of his paranoias is psychiatrists, so he has never been medicated. Well, he was briefly medicated after a run-in with police back in the 70s, but that's another story.
This post doesn't really have a point. It's just here. Like a blob of goo or something.
Purple.
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