The Biblical Times

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.