REASON vs. SUPERNATURAL & FAITH
INSPIRATION SECTION
https://www.hillmanweb.com/reason/inspiration/
What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13?
By Mike Burch ~ Owner at Alpha Omega Consulting Group
For me, 1 Corinthians 13 is the most inspired passage in the entire Bible.And in this sublime passage Saint Paul completely refutes the Christian religion with its infinitely cruel, purposeless “hell.”
In his epiphany on Divine Love, the evangelist Paul, who almost single-handedly created the Christian religion as we know it, tells us three very important things (which 99.99% of Christians fail to grok).
First, Paul tells us that if God is not Divine Love, then God despite all his knowledge, wisdom, power and ability to prophesy, is nothing.
Nada. Zilch. Zippo. A complete blank.
Second, Paul tells us that if God is not Divine Love, all the words of the Bible are so much meaningless noise: clanging gongs and tinkling cymbals.
Third, Paul defines Divine Love for us in no uncertain terms: Divine Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and never fails.
The closest we can hope to come on this planet is a mother’s unfailing love — her unconditional love — for her children.
And no good mother would torture one of the children she loves for a second, much less for all eternity.
Nor would a good mother allow any of her children to suffer unnecessarily for a second if she could prevent it.
And thus a good mother puts the Christian “god” completely to shame, if there is a “hell” as most Christians believe. A good mother is a TOWER OF LOVE compared to the miserly “god” most Christians seem to believe in.
If a single soul went to “hell” the Christian “god” would be an abysmal failure and would be nothing according to Saint Paul in the Bible’s most sublime passage. If a single soul went to “hell” the Christian “god” should never have created life in the first place, if he was truly loving. Or just halfway decent.
Thus Paul leaves us with limited possibilities:
What Paul said is false and the Bible is not “infallible” or “inerrant.”
Or what Paul said is true and:
A human being is able to imagine a better God than the biblical “god,” meaning the biblical “god” is less than perfect.
A good human mother is a far greater being, morally, than the biblical “god.”
Or, if there is a God who meets Paul’s ultra-high standard, he may have inspired one chapter of the Bible and the rest was written by human beings who had no freakin’ idea what God was like when, in his name, they invented a nonexistent “hell” and commanded slavery, sex slavery, infanticide, matricide, ethnic cleansing, genocide and the ghastly stoning to death of boys for being stubborn and girls for being raped.It also bears noting that Paul said Divine Love is not “puffed up” and does not vaunt itself nor seek its own. This refutes the idea of a “god” who demands praise and worship, and is so egotistical that he will send billions of human beings to “hell” for not “believing” certain things about him.
Everything Paul said in the Bible’s most inspired, most sublime passage refutes the Christian religion and its vision of a “god” so puffed up that he demands constant praise, worship and belief in his person.
I don’t claim to know if there is or isn’t a God, but I do claim to be able read what Paul said and understand that he refuted the Christian religion with its infinitely cruel, purposeless “hell” and its failure of a “god” who could save everyone with a nod of his head but declines to do so, out of sheer egotism.
Christians love to quote Bible verses about the “glory” of God and how human beings fall short of the “glory” and “righteousness” of God, but the proof is in the pudding and the Bible’s pudding is rancid. My response:
“Mass-murder babies and unborns in their pregnant mothers’ wombs, but keep the virgin girls alive as sex slaves.” (Numbers 31:17-18)
Is the Bible a book of wisdom, really? How many of us have fallen short of the “glory” of such satanic Bible verses?
I join Mark Twain in grokking the economic basis of Christian “salvation.” My response to all infallible commandments of the infallible Bible, including those to mass-murder babies and unborns in their mothers' wombs, is: "Praise the LORD and pass the collection plate!" — Michael R. Burch
CHRISTIANITY MADE JESUS THE GREATEST HYPOCRITE OF ALL TIME
Ironically the Christian religion turned Jesus, who saved all his sternest criticism for religious hypocrites, into the greatest HYPOCRITE of them all! The Good Samaritan was a man who put aside religious differences to help a man of another faith who was unable to help himself. But Jesus, who was able to save the thief on the cross with a mere nod of his head, will hypocritically not deign to nod his head at billions of people who are unable to save themselves, according to Christians who blaspheme Jesus’s name from sunup to sundown. What will Jesus say when they have to stand before him on the Day of Judgment and explain why they accused him of such evil?
FALSE PROPHECIES THAT CAN NEVER BE FULFILLED
Jesus warned his followers about false prophets in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15-20):
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
But the hole-y Bible contains false prophecies that can never come true, so why believe? For instance, Ezekiel prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would sack and destroy Tyre, leaving it desolate and uninhabited forever (Ezekiel 26:1-21). Zany Zeke went on for three chapters about all the horrors the “Sovereign Lord” would inflict on Tyre (Ezekiel chapters 26-29). But Zeke later admitted on the pages of the Bible that his prophecy had failed utterly. (Ezekiel 29:18). Furthermore, the Bible confirms that Zeke’s prophecies were false, since according to the New Testament both Jesus and Paul visited Tyre centuries later. After admitting his false prophecy, Zany Zeke immediately prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would sack Egypt and leave it an uninhabited wasteland for 40 years. (Ezekiel 29:9-13). Once again Zeke went on and on about all the terrible punishments the “Sovereign Lord” would inflict on Egypt, this time for five chapters. (Ezekiel chapters 29-33) That prophecy also failed miserably. Egypt has never been an uninhabited wasteland for even a second in recorded history, much less at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar for 40 years. Egypt has been continuously inhabited for at least 8,000 years. Zany Zeke admitted that he was a false prophet and he proved it twice, so how can the Bible be “infallible” or “inerrant”?
Other biblical prophecies that can never be fulfilled include the one that King David would always have an heir to sit on the throne of Israel (Jeremiah 33:17), which was later drastically reduced to David always having an heir to sit continually on the throne of tiny Judea (2 Kings 8:19). However, both those prophecies failed. So did the one that the Levites would always offer sacrifices continually in the temple (Jeremiah 33:18). The Jerusalem temple was destroyed twice, making temple offerings impossible. Another failed prophecy was Jesus’s that he would return during disciples’s lifetime, fulfilling ALL prophecies, including his appearance in the clouds with great glory to the trumpets of angels, and the elect being gathered together from the four corners of the earth. (Matthew 24:29-34).
THE BIBLE SAYS THERE ARE OTHER GODS
Christians, why is your pastor or priest lying to you? The Bible clearly says there are other gods besides Yahweh/Jehovah:
The other gods exist, and should worship Yahweh: “Worship him, all ye gods!” (Psalm 97:7)
Why should the other gods worship Yahweh? Because he is the higher god: “For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.” (Psalm 97:9)
“Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.” (Psalm 86:8)
“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.” (Psalm 135:5)
“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:3)The Hebrew word Elohim is plural and means “gods” rather than “god.” The Elohim were the 70 sons and daughters of the Mesopotamian father-god El, who ruled beside his consort Asherah, the Queen of Heaven. Yahweh was one of the Elohim along with Baal/Marduk, Chemosh and other gods and goddesses whose names appear in the Bible.
In the opening chapters of Genesis the Elohim create the earth and the sky. The first verse of Genesis actually means: “In the beginning the gods created the heavens and the earth.” Later, when human beings are created, the proper interpretation is the Elohim saying: “Let us (plural) create mankind in our (plural) own image, after our (plural) likeness.” The narrator then observes: “So the gods created mankind in their own image, in the image of the gods created they them; male and female created they them.” Unless god is a hermaphrodite, human women were created in the likeness of female gods like Asherah.
When Yahweh hardened the Egyptian pharaoh’s heart, so that he would have an excuse to mass-murder multitudes of innocent children, toddlers, infants, babies and animals, he was also on the rampage against the gods of Egypt:
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” (Exodus 12:12)
Numbers confirms the Exodus account:
“For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them: upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments. (Numbers 33:4)When the Israelites enter Canaan, Yahweh warns them about the gods of other tribes:
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Exodus 23:32-33)In the next verse, Moses does not say that the sun, moon and stars are not gods, only that Yahweh has allotted these gods for other nations and their people to worship:
“And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided [apportioned/allotted] unto all nations under the whole heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:19)This allotment is confirmed in a startling way:
“When the Most High [Elyon] gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel/sons of God [Dead Sea Scrolls; Septuagint]. For the Lord’s [Yahweh’s] portion is his people, Jacob [Israel] his allotted inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 32:8-9)
“The Lord alone led him [Jacob/Israel]; no foreign god [singular El] was with him.” (Deuteronomy 32:12)In the passages above we see several very important things:
First, we see how the Bible has been “doctored” to remove references to other gods. It makes no sense for the boundaries of other nations to be set up based on the number of the sons of Israel, but it makes sense for boundaries to be set up based on the number of gods available to rule over the nations. (I am not saying such gods exist, which I don’t believe, but am speaking from the perspective of the original writer of this passage, who was speaking about the father god El apportioning the nations to his children.)
Second, we see how El and Yahweh started out as separate gods, father and son, who were rather clumsily edited into the same being. In the Christian Bible there seems to be just one god with three primary names, one of them plural: El, Elohim and Yahweh. But in the original text the three names make sense: Father, sons, and one individual son.
Yahweh does not deny that there are other gods, only that they are “foreign” or “strange” because they have been allocated other nations and people to rule.
The “most high” god Elyon is clearly different from Yahweh and is giving Yahweh his allotted boundaries and people, just as a human king would split up his kingdom between his sons and daughters.In Psalm 82 we see a council of the Elohim with Elyon presiding:
“God [El] standeth/presides in the congregation [council/assembly] of the mighty/gods [Elohim]; he judgeth among the gods [Elohim].” (Psalm 82:1)
“I have said, Ye are gods [Elohim]; and all of you are children of the Most High [Elyon].” (Psalm 82:6)
“Arise, O God/gods [Elohim], judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.” (Psalm 82:8)These verses make much more sense when we realize Yahweh was one of many tribal gods, the Elohim, and that Yahweh’s allotment was the Israelites. In the original Mesopotamian pantheon, El was the supreme god and his consort was Asherah. (The names El, Elohim and Asherah occur throughout the Bible.) Over time, the editors of the Bible replaced El with Yahweh as the supreme god, making Asherah his consort rather than El’s. This is why the Bible tells us Asherah was being worshiped alongside Yahweh in King Solomon’s temple, and that women were weaving ritual fabrics for Asherah in the temple. This also explains why Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived or ever will live according to the Bible, was not a monotheist! I find that amusing.
“For Solomon went after Ashtoreth [Asherah] the goddess of the Zidonians [Sidonians]…” (1 Kings 11:5)
Solomon also built altars in high places for Chemosh, the tribal god of the Moabites, and Molech/Moloch, the tribal god of the Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:7)
While this was perfectly fine at the time, it pissed off the redacter known as the Yahwist who later decided Yahweh was the only “real” god.
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE COMMENTSIn the comments I have been accused of not interpreting Bible verses “spiritually.” My response:
Please do give us your “spiritual” interpretation of satanic commandments to stone girls to death for being raped (Deuteronomy 22:23-24) and for fathers to sell their daughters as sex slaves with an option to buy them back if they don’t “please” their new masters (Exodus 21:7-11). Did the Holy Spirit inspire these satanic commandments? As a member of the Trinity, did Jesus approve them? He must have, since they ended up in the Bible … unless the Bible was written by evil-minded men. As it so obviously was.
There is no “spiritual” or enlightened way to read such evil bible passages. The only thing Christians can do is complain bitterly when they are pointed out, attacking the messenger rather than being honest about what the Bible says so clearly.
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