Opinions of Friday, 9 October 2015
Columnist: Seshie, Stanley
The Believer or Unbeliever of a Holy Book
By Seshie, Stanley
I read an article "Who are using the true bible? Catholics or
Protestants". It was written by Apostle Kwamena Ahinful, and published
on Tuesday, 29th, 2015 on ghanaweb.com. He narrated the lead up to his
piece of how three men were engaged in a heated debate about the
Catholic bible that contained eighty-one different books as being the
true one or not, against the mainstream bible, containing sixty-six
books. From all indications, it is clear that the disagreement was
centered on the spiritual value and implications of the additional
fifteen books found in the Catholic version which is absent in the
non-catholic versions. Probably, according to the non-catholic in the
debate, this, like many things, will provoke the wrath of the biblical
deity, Jealous Hovah (Jehovah). Apostle Kwamena Ahinful concluded that
the sacred apocrypha books were worthy of inclusion in the whole array
of christian scripture and literature and hence the Catholics are
using the true bible. Far from any misconception, he does not mean
that non-Catholics are using the false bible.
Reading the article, I asked myself if there is the need for that
ensued debate at all in this generation of sustainable factual
knowledge. In that regard, this article is not about the spiritual
value and justifiable inclusion of the apocrypha books in the
mainstream bible resulting into the Catholic version thereof or not.
It is about the fundamental assumption that there is a book written
(literaly or inspired) by the Creator of this Universe. It is to
question that unsupported, unstated substratum necessitating the
disagreement, that the Creator of the Universe wrote the books making
the bible. In fact, it is to question all those encyclopedia of
superstition and expressed ignorance-filled books with scattered
uncertain moral precepts called holy books that claim authorship by
the Creator of this Universe. Finally, it is to ask, who is really
making mockery of the Creator, is it the believer or unbeliever of
these holy books. Let us move on.
What is a book? Is there any one collection of books that describe the
architecture of the Universe, the number of habitable spots and
creatures therein? Is there any one collection of books detailing how
the Universe works and the instructions to follow to make the maximum
use of it to our collective benefits as creatures? In sum, is there
any one collection of books that can reasonably be believed as
truthfully authored by the Creator as Manual for the Universe? The
only way to answer these questions is first to appreciate the
invaluable role of the invention of WRITING. As the existence of a
book of any kind is impossible in the absence of writing.
As a creature, Man is conscious of his limitations and mortality. And
above all, Man is conscious that he is a FORGETFUL BEING. Meanwhile,
like all creatures man equally reproduce and interact with the world.
Our interactions with the world result in the acquisition of
knowledge. This knowledge helps in coping with the complex world full
of existential challenges. Yet, when one dies, and no matter how
useful the acquired knowledge is, it is lost forever as the dead
neither talks nor ever comes back to life to teach us their acquired
knowledge. The oral medium was intrinsically and largely inefficient.
The realization of this self-evident truth behooves humanity to find
means of retaining any acquired knowledge.
The invention of WRITING fundamentally solved that seemingly
insurmountable problem of how to retain the acquired knowledge.
Writing, essentially gives humanity the verisimilitude and power of
unforgettability since it guarantees referencing. At least, at this
point we can now describe what a book is. A Book is meant for the
preservation and propagation of the acquired knowledge of the time, to
people in and beyond the immediate environment and generation. For
simplicity sake, let us say a book is good if the makeup ideas,
constituting the prevailing knowledge on the subject are of relevance
in that generation. And verily better if some of its ideas remain
crucial to subsequent generations. A reason to admit that no book is
absolutely useless.
Nevertheless, a book contains and proclaims the prevailing knowledge
of its generation, whether in its rudimentary or refined state, as the
unshakable fact. Meanwhile, since Man is inherently limited in his
interactions with the Universe at all times, therefore can never KNOW
all at once, subsequent generations usually find some of the
proclaimed "unshakable facts" as misrepresentations, fictions,
outright lies and falsities. In other words, the next generation
always find something amiss about the prevailing thoughts of the past
generations handed down via books. There is no known book immune from
this self-evident truth. Even books written in 21st century are not.
That is why updating books in the light of current knowledge is very
crucial if close-to-truthful knowledge is what one wishes to
disseminate. For instance, if anyone in this 21st generation still
believes that human blood sacrifice save lives, then such a person is
shockingly ignoring all medical knowledge of blood. In other words
blood sacrifice to Jealous Hovah or Allah and other similar Deities as
practiced in the past and handed down via these holy books to us are
false and pure superstition. These "unshakable facts" of generation
can reasonably and demonstrably be debunked as falsities and lies with
contrary evidences in our own. The Bible, Quran, Veda and other
ancient manuscripts claiming divine authorship are replete with these
claimed "facts of generation" but not of the Universe. It is
impossible for the Creator of this Universe to pass on a knowledge
that would later found to be false and pure lie in all practical and
theoretical considerations. And they are indeed false and outright
lies stemming from the understandable temporary ignorance of that
generation. That is knowledge of man and man only. Whilst others will
certainly find ours in the coming generations, we can equally use the
wisdoms of the ancient world to expose the myopic nature of some of
very cherished modern knowledge.
Well, believers usually mount defenses like these are religious books.
By that, they mean just like a science book where you read about
science, mathematics in mathematics books, economics in economic book,
and so forth, you read religious things in holy books. Yes, in holy
books you read holy things like talking snake, talking donkey (Disney
Channel) forbidden fruit ( nonexistent), bloodless vegetables
sacrifices to please and beg God for sins of men (useless) and animal
blood sacrifices to please and beg God for sins of men (twice
useless). Also human blood sacrifice to please and beg God for sins of
men (horrific and thrice useless), God sacrificed for God to please
and beg God for sins of men (horrific and forever useless) and killing
other human beings because they are not children of Jealous Hovah or
Allah, so must be made at all cost else Jealous Hovah or Allah put
them in hell as well as other exclusionist hence divisive teachings.
Of course, I have not forgotten about love your neighbour as yourself,
feed the poor, help the needy among others.
Remember no book is entirely useless. So the immediate teachings are
good and worthy of emulation. Nonetheless, reading those laudable
teachings in an ocean of conflicting teachings reveals and confirms
the human origin of the holy books, defeating their manual claims as
from the Creator of the Universe. What a holy book. What a holy manual
where love-oriented teachings for unity are dwarfed by hate-oriented
teachings for division attached to the Universe by the Creator. No
wonder the Mideast is the most peaceful place on Earth as the children
of Jealous Hovah and Allah are reflecting the true teachings of their
manuals.
Talking of manuals, in our technological world almost everyone is
conversant with manual of a particular electrical device. A manual
reveals not only the beauty of the machine and its intricate working
instructions, but also and more importantly the intelligence of the
maker. In the same vein, the immensurable Universe reveals nothing
than the intelligence in its architecture and working via its
instructions (laws of nature), and one expects the same intelligence
to permeate its Manual, if there is one. Any disparity in the
intelligence revealed in the Universe and, that of a book claiming to
be its Manual calls into question the claim. A question that should
not just be washed away for fear of hell or faith in heaven, two
non-existent places, though.
To believe any of these books as the Manual attached to this Universe
by the Creator is to ignore the understandable expressed ignorance and
superstitious claims saturating them as well as denying the
possibility of ever being exposed to new factual knowledge in the
succeding generations. It is not the unbelievers of these so-called
Manuals that are making mockery of the Creator. It is the believers of
these paltry, superstition and ignorance-filled as well as bloody
books called Bible, Quran, Veda and other holy books. Therefore, the
belief that the Bible (whether Catholic or Non-Catholic version) or
Quran or any other is authored by the Creator as Manual attached to
the Universe is nothing than Society's Commonly Approved Myth called
SCAM.
Email: [email protected]
Whatsapp: 0508951323
Facebook: Stanley Seshie