The Diminishing Bible
I’m sorry God but I don’t believe the bible offers much value anymore. Many chapters of it are completely ignored by its followers and it has merely become a source of cherry picking to justify any position on any subject. Western doctrines have been significantly influenced by literature other than the bible. Judeo-Christians (those who follow the Old and New Testaments) uphold traditions or longstanding viewpoints as being biblical yet there’s no reference to those things in the book at all. Traditions are fine but it’s probably worth knowing where these influences originated rather than simply treating them as representative of the divine word of a deity. The bible becomes a moot point if much of its contents are disregarded especially while manmade constructs from other literary works are held aloft as part of their doctrine. How much value can the bible hold if its contents are abandoned? How much so, then, has Western Judeo-Christianity doctrine been influenced by literature outside the bible?
There are quite a few things in the bible that are no longer followed. Animal sacrifices and burnt offerings seem to have fallen out of favour somewhat. The biblical persona, Abraham, was prepared to kill his own son at God’s command, yet modern Judeo-Christians don’t feel they even have to sacrifice the fatted calf as a sin offering. Priests who sin are instructed to sacrifice a young bull[1] although if the Roman Catholics had obeyed that instruction there would have been a worldwide beef shortage for centuries. There are also stipulations for God’s chosen people to ensure they don’t eat unclean pork, oysters or shellfish but have God’s permission to chow down on crickets, locusts, and grasshoppers.[2] Stoning is generally frowned upon in the modern era, and I’m not in favour of bringing the practice back, but the bible is quite clear on the many reasons worthy of execution by stoning; two of which are for cursing your parents[3] or worshipping a deity not of the bible[4]. So why are God’s instructions in the Old Testament so readily ignored? If much of the requirements are now ignored, then perhaps it would be prudent to dismiss the bible altogether. Who decides which Bible verses still apply and which verses should remain in the societal period for which it was written? Modern Judeo-Christians seem happy to use the bible to justify certain positions but then also decide so much of it is irrelevant. Which verses carry more weight than others? How many sections of the bible can be ignored until the book is largely devoid of value? It hardly seems like it’s the divine word of god.
Let’s then consider the practices that are external to the bible yet still dictate behaviour and doctrine; not eating animal flesh on Good Friday. Fish on Good Friday relates primarily to Roman Catholicism’s tradition of Lent although many sacred days, even prior to Roman Catholicism, had also decided the consumption of fish was a feature of celebrations. It was also a pursuit to encourage revenue growth in the fishing sector. Eating fish on Good Friday is not a biblical requirement. It’s merely a longstanding tradition of the Roman Catholic church that has permeated wider society.
The Roman Catholics also advanced the concept of Purgatory. Purgatory is said to be an intermediate place, after death but prior to heaven, where the soul is purified of sin. Some humans have lived such a good earthly life they’re allowed immediate entrance to heaven; so too do the souls of those living out their purification in earthly life because they have lived in abject poverty, torment or disease. For the rest of us, there’s Purgatory until we’re cleansed. For centuries the Roman Catholic church exploited people’s grief by selling “indulgences” to the family left behind. These indulgences bought a soul’s route out of Purgatory and onto heaven; the more indulgences purchased, the faster the soul moved on. This financial exploitation was eventually outlawed but was significant in the Protestant Reformation as it formed part of Martin Luther’s salvation documents early in the 16th Century. Purgatory is not a belief upheld by the Protestant denominations. Most people now acknowledge that entry to heaven can’t be purchased but there are still some bible passages[5] that have been interpreted as justifying Purgatory in the Roman Catholic doctrine. It remains limited to the Roman Catholic faith as part of their Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
In fact, Purgatory is a matter mentioned by Dante Alighieri in his poem, Commedia [The Divine Comedy] published around 1320. People often know it by one of its chapters, Dante’s Inferno. This work of fiction intertwines history, Greco-Roman mythology, and Christian theology while incorporating the seven deadly sins, a new interpretation of salvation via Christ, pursuit of heaven, and a highly descriptive vision of hell. This literature has had a profound effect on the perspective of salvation, redemption of the soul, and punishment in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy has been recognised as one of the most influential literary pieces of all time and has fundamentally impacted the Christian evangelical message. Many modern Judeo-Christians may not comprehend the monumental effect of Dante’s work upon their modern doctrine although they are likely to faithfully embrace his fictional concepts nonetheless.
Another literary work that significantly impacted the doctrine of Judeo-Christianity was John Milton’s Paradise Lost published in 1667. This poem utilised Christian theology to depict Milton’s mythical view of the sinful fall of mankind, humanity’s struggle with good and evil, and to describe a satan (Hebrew word שָׂטָן is a generic noun meaning adversary or accuser). Milton’s poem implied that a satan, called Lucifer, was a shapeshifting serpent in the Garden of Eden that tricked Eve into eating forbidden fruit and was a fallen angel who then descended into hell. Paradise Lost is considered one of the most esteemed pieces of literature to be written originally in English. Additionally, it was published relatively soon after the translation of the bible from Greek and, therefore, was able to influence the wider religious perception of Lucifer and the happenings in the Garden of Eden. Once again, not a biblical text but considerably influential upon modern Judeo-Christian dogma. Many modern Christians would be surprised to think that much of their views on the devil were taken from a fictional poem rather than anything described in the bible.
The modern evangelical message promotes a simplistic soul-saving-exercise of praying to accept Jesus Christ as the lord and saviour of your life; that is apparently the ticket to heaven. This concept of salvation through Jesus Christ, rather than religious rituals at church, was suggested in The Divine Comedy. Dante also created an in-depth description of heaven and hell that isn’t a biblical concept. Dante’s poem has given much weight to these eternal rewards and punishment in today’s Western dogma. This post-death pursuit renders the bible of little value when a ticket to heaven is not clearly outlined in text and the waters have been muddied by works of fiction.
There can be no disputing that the literary giants of Dante and Milton substantially affected the Judeo-Christian religion despite being works of fiction and decidedly not borne of the divine. The longevity of the Roman Catholic church has meant that many of their internal Catechism decrees have become ingrained in the wider Protestant dogma although not necessarily founded upon a biblical source. Many practices and rituals, ordered by God and stipulated within the bible, have been abandoned in the modern era. This seemingly leaves the bible as a take-it-or-leave-it book and a pick-and-choose text that exists more as a companion to The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Any book loses its worth and its moral tale as more and more chapters are dismissed. I would suggest that the abandonment of so many biblical instructions, alongside the propensity to shape dogma by the literary works of others, inherently renders the bible with a value very much diminished in the year 2023.
[1] Leviticus 4:1-12
[2] Leviticus 11
[3] Leviticus 20:9
[4] Deuteronomy 17:2-5
[5] Matthew 12:32, Zechariah 13:9