The Biblical Times Peter van
der Veer
April 1986
This idea to interpret the Christian
Bible came during an extremely uncomfortable encounter with a group
of very aggressive religious fanatics.
Another motivation was injustice.
Religion has been used for leniency with criminals.
So for the first time, I picked up a
copy of the Christian Bible and read it. My reaction was not one of
“looking up” in awe at it but the absolute opposite, I looked
“down” at the ancient simplicity.
The origins of the Christian Bible need
to be put into perspective:
it is selections from found notes
compiled into a single volume.
And they're notes written at a
time when an ignorant majority maintained the world was flat,
inert, at the centre of the universe and if anyone was to venture
too far, they would fall off the edge.
The Christian Bible is basic notes for
life's lessons. It is simple psychology for simple people.
“God” as a constant theme, subject
or protagonist is an ancient substitute for today's understanding of
the world around us. “God” simply means the nature of things; why
and how things exist while for humans it is our will, our goals, our
reason to exist and the like. So when we encounter the saying “one
all seeing God”, it simply refers to the manifold aspects of normal
brain function – cognition, memory, conscience and so on.
“God” is not a deity at all. No
such thing exists. What does exist however, is the psychological
connectedness between all humans from “good” to “bad” and
everything in between – our spirituality. Today our understanding
of intangible connections: forces, bonds and the like is highly
sophisticated compared to thousands of years ago. Today we are
cognisant of genetics, metaphysics and psychological projection. We
do not need reminders of the simple known while being told at the
same time that it is an insurmountable religious mystery.
So the saying “only one God” should
only serve as a simple reminder that we only have one brain, it is
best not mistreated as it will always work according to its accrued
contents.
“Thy should be done on earth as it is
in Heaven” - simply means that what is surrounding us right now is
our thoughts which we have projected via our instinctive actions.
“God maketh man in His own image”
has nothing to do with a deity's manufacturing efforts, it is simply
our own biology: our genetic code followed by our choices summed up
in the adage “what we think we become”.
“The Hereafter” is not some
mysterious distant unknown, it's the here and now – our children
before us. They're the hereafter: Their inherent genes combined with
their interpretations of our teachings will naturally become the
future.
“The Holy Trinity”: “From the
Father (or Mother) to the Son (or Daughter) the Holy Spirit” has
nothing to do with any deity at all. It's today's common knowledge of
basic genetics, family bonds, conditioning, psychological
transference and so on. It's the spiritual beings we (and all
animals) are. Yet, according to Christian teaching, it is the great
“Mystery of Faith” central to Christian worship.
And for the antagonist,“The Devil”,
the same psychological principles apply: a simple warning for simple
people against negative thoughts and deeds. For the Greeks it was
“Pandora's Box”.
Christianity's insistence of a deity
must surely be the greatest hoax and intellectual insult in Western
History.
To worship an “unknown” and
deliberately sustain it as a mystery while damning its own faithful
while also condemning “outsiders” is not a religion, it's a form
of gangsterism.
A mystery can be maintained
indefinitely providing ignorance is maintained and context and logic
are prevented. Anyone who has a literal belief of these writings
today must surely be psychologically impaired. Only the most
intellectually feeble minds jump to literal conclusions of what they
read, yet this has been the practice for all who have followed this
religion throughout its two thousand year history. In addition, this
unthinking mentality is too often covertly aggressive: With it is the
consistent implication that there is something seriously wrong with
non-believers. This is a sinister undercurrent society can well do
without. It is the seed of all human conflict.
Yet, despite the intellectual
wretchedness of this religion, to be in a great Cathedral or Basilica
can be the most spiritually exhilarating experience. One's whole
being tingles with excitement. And that is where such a religion
needs to concentrate its purpose – to have faith in fellow humans
and mutually share spiritual aspirations. I believe the established
houses of worship need to continue, but it is the subjects of worship
conducted within them which need urgent reform. Some of the ancient rituals are
absolutely beautiful. They need to be continued but in other forms;
changed from the current negative mystery preoccupations and martyr worship into
positive attitudes that honour mankind and inspire the religion's
faithful into aspiring and thinking for themselves.
The entire Christian religion can be
eclipsed in a single sentence such as one from Anthony Storr:
“Social and political forces
originate with the individual”. Such a statement is both absolute
humility and yet personal responsibility at the very same time. It
should be above every entry to every house of worship as the basic
philosophy of the religion. To take such step would see Christianity,
at last, take a massive positive step towards helping world peace.
Human consensus has put the world into the state it is in now and it
will be again only human consensus that will be able to improve it.