I ask this because if someone now were to sit down and write books and letters similar to the books of the bible and people were going to begin living their lives as the books said they should , and create a religion out of it, people would think they were insane.
People would not believe them and would push them aside.
So were people so desperate for a religion change back then that they latched on to whatever they could?
For example, they could do away with many of the laws in the OT just by saying they believed in Jesus. Seems like a great workaround if you wanted to eat pork, etc. etc.
2006-08-15 03:22:30 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, they believed what the people in power told them to believe. When the power shifted, they believed something else.
2006-08-15 03:27:23 · answer #1 · answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religions spring up for a reason. When a society reaches critical mass, one of two things must happen.
1) They implode and the society is destroyed. Think Rome.
2) They explode and separate into new social structures.
Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism are products of a social explosion. An evolutionary leap, if you will. Christianity did not start out as a true religion, it was a political issue. The Hebrews wanted someone to free them from the Roman Empire. They wanted the Messiah that the OT talked about. So they created one.
If the logical path is followed, religion will give way to spirituality. The outward belief in a Thing to the inward belief in self-responsibility. It is an ancient, primitive belief that everything that happens to us comes from an outside influence. People blame God or the devil, instead of asking what WE could have done to prevent it. The trend, if one studies the history of religion, is to begin seeing that we are responsible to what happens to us, not an outside source.
2006-08-15 03:38:10 · answer #2 · answered by ninusharra 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pork was unhealthy to prepare back then, as were many other foods. Off topic. :-)
There have been many, many religions in the world since humans first appeared on earth. Only some have survived, including the Christian religion.
I don't believe people were desperate for anything they could latch onto. They believed what they saw to be true, what helped them live better lives, and what made the most sense to them. People nowadays do the same.
2006-08-15 03:33:14 · answer #3 · answered by *babydoll* 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no I think that people believed because it was convenient and it explained a lot of the reasons things were the way they were, since science wasn't anywhere close to where it is today. Anyone who has ever lived through a tornado or seen up close the power of a volcanic eruption where lava spits up out of the earth and burns entire forests can testify to the unimaginable power of nature. Well all that power was given to God. It also served a very good social purpose. Without the threat of eternal life in a fiery pit called hell, people would have likely lived in anarchy, stealing, pillaging, raping and whatever they wanted to even more than they arleady did.
2006-08-15 03:39:52 · answer #4 · answered by Hans B 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's not just people of 2000 years ago. People throughout human history have always sought out some meaning in this life. Usually this has lead to some realization of God. This is called evolutionary religion. At the same time, God knows our limitations so he periodically sends us information about himself and his creations through various means such as prophets. This is called revelatory religion. The plan is that the revelatory material is used to enhance the evolutionary understanding of God and upstep our progressive spiritual development. The problems occur when groups of people crystalize their religions, dogmatize and ritualize them and prevent them from growing as their adherents continue to grow.
You are correct that new revelation is frequently met with skepticism if not outright derision and dismissal, mostly by the established religions. This is exactly what happened to Jesus 2000 years ago when he endeavored to bring an enhanced revelation of our Paradise Father to mankind. This is what is happening today to the Urantia Book, the fifth epochal revelation of God to mankind, and to people who believe it.
2006-08-15 03:41:16 · answer #5 · answered by Agondonter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely. Religions are created to explain that which cannot yet be explained. I find that it makes more sense to be patient and look forward to scientific discoveries for answers as to how the Earth formed, who our ancestors are and what else is out there in our universe. Giving my life to an imaginary God who sent his child to Earth to be murdered seems like desperation.
2006-08-15 03:36:49 · answer #6 · answered by Kathryn™ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Jewish religion has to do external rights and rituals as prescribed in their worship. The Christian Church does not have to perform the external rites and rituals of the Jewish Church or follow the Mosaic Law in form.
“Cease to inquire in thyself…’What good shall I do that I may receive life eternal?’ Only abstain from evils as sins and look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach and lead thee”.
Emanuel Swedenborg
from the APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 979
2006-08-15 03:30:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Old testament and its laws and rules were not set aside, as many mistakenly believe, with Jesus. Some of the strictures were changed with the advent of Jesus.
Why? Because as humans we must have examples, proof and evidence. God set down rules. Humans wouldn't follow them. We have proof of this. So, He absolved us of our shortcomings through jesus.
2006-08-15 03:28:25 · answer #8 · answered by wiregrassfarmer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would put my trust in anyone who could and did walk on water. How about you? He is still doing miracles today.
2006-08-15 03:30:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
religion is ****. It is a money making scam or it is to make people shut up about things. So listen fatty. Religoin is **** up.
2006-08-15 03:33:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋