Month: February 2022

The implementation of Kings was considered the act of god because his followers always tailor a story to fit the narrative. King James wrote a portion into his bible that basically let everyone know that kings are super and important and pretty much a way of life. God will always be something that the bible tries to make sense of. When God is not prevalent it’s because he is doing it to teach us something. When he is helping humanity we are being rewarded but saying all of that isn’t fair. Thinking that “the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12) is giving god too much credit. When the lord is not present when some of the worst imaginable things happen then he is not a god. If he loves his people he wouldn’t let them murder each other and suffocate to death under the ashes of a volcano or died in crumbling buildigs from earthquakes. There are no sins to atone for that deserve that measure, according to christianity. Christianity is based on being forgiven for sins. In ancient times the voice in one’s head was considered god. Then developed the idea that god is enormously powerful and all must fear him/it. However, there soon was a religion that allowed people to no longer fear god. It allowed them to make human mistakes, show remorse, and still arrive in paradise. That is the appeal of christianity- that no matter what you do you can always become a good person again if one truly changes their heart. So where did that idea go? Why is god not preventing earthquakes, forest fires and instead showing as a subtle whisper? It’s clear humans don’t believe enough in themselves that’s why religion exists. It helps them displace their own behaviors and actions to some abstract entity that controls them. Freeing them of the stress of controlling their life and blaming all good and all bad things on god. With the idea that even when bad things happen it’s because it’s by god’s design. Devoting oneself to faith is kinda like becoming a modernized caveman. The concern for social media, monetary values, and modern wants dissipates; while the desire for intrinsic desires and spiritual goals increases. People become most intune with the world and with the universe when they decide that they don’t actually have control over their lives, but they are happy because they know it will work out.

The movie The Ten Commandments serves to further share the word of the lord because it follows the plot of Exodus. Exodus is extremely famous worldwide for being the set rule of laws that everybody should follow. It has served as an influence across hundreds of years, showing up in unexpected places like one of Bob Marley’s most important albums titled “Exodus.” According to the bible Moses was the one who was told the ten commandments by God himself. However, it was very peculiar since he was the only one allowed to go up the mountain to talk to God. He revealed that if any other person did they would be punished severely. In contrast to that idea Moses revealed the ninth commandment being “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). It begs the question if he was falsely telling the truth to his followers and peers. But since he was not punished and not convicted of sin the other people believed he was the truth. In the movie he is seen talking to an everlasting burning bush (2:10-2:13). He hears God’s voice from it and comes back down to tell the people what he learned but he was stuck in a state of shock from communicating with God again. Although it makes for a good story, it seems crazy that people would believe him and not want to see for themselves. It just seemed like Moses created these rules and said God did so others would follow them. Hiding his words behind the most powerful thing in the universe was a good strategy and served him well seeing as classes 2,000 years later are still discussing his immortalized words. But it still feels like he is going against the ninth commandment since it doesn’t seem believable at all that a bush of fire could speak the word of the lord. And wouldn’t people see smoke from it? Or was it so magical it didn’t have smoke. Even though through a modern perspective the story seems absurd there is justification to the enslaved hebrews in Egypt. If believing something so crazy and absurd has even the slightest chance of helping them escape their torture then they would believe it whole heartledy. When that many people believe and enforce something it is bound to have a profound influence on hundreds of thousands. Further spreading the word of how to live life which could potentially remove the threat of slavery from their lives.

The bible is an influence of other literature because of the prominent stories told that relate to life. Since the bible is an account of God’s will the words chosen are true reflections of what the people felt at the time of his messages. In the bible it’s determined that “God said. Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Genesis 1:3-1:5). People truly believed what was worded here even though there may be much more spiritual/symbolic prevalence rather than literary. God was revealed to be the one creating Earth because he was the divinity that determined reality. Whatever he created was what humans perceived. In Paradise Lost it takes from the bible and relates to the concept of god creating. In this story it’s revealed that “in Paradise to Adam or his race,/Charged not to touch the interdicted tree,/If they transgress, and slight that sole command, So easily obeyed amid the choice/Of all tastes else to please their appetite,/Though wandering. He with his consorted Eve/The story heard attentive, and was filled/With admiration” (Paradise Lost page 200). According to the people that deciphered the language of “God” Adam is an extension of the Lord. God is creating free will by giving Adam the choice for a safe, happy future or an unpredictable, evil, and dangerous future. But that’s by literal definition. When it’s taken into account what it meant that “God” gave “Adam” (or the first man/mankind) the choice to eat fruit from the tree it gets much more interesting. It could be theorized that the fruit is representative of mankind developing consciousness. When humans first became conscious it was so rapid and sudden that there was no true explanation for it. The only way to comprehend the absolute ludicrousy of consciousness was by creating representative stories. The tree is a symbol of all the paths that life can go in. Each branch is a part of the organism searching for the healthiest fullest and best life. When the younger branches go out and closer to the light (power or truth) it starts to provide and strengthen the older branches beneath it. Similar to how humans learned to take care of their elders to encourage the success of human life. Wisdom and prior human knowledge is the key to our civilization and life as we know it. The bible and Paradise Lost articulate this but in a much more interpretive manner.