Let’s look at this book – for that is what it is, a book. What separates it from all others though, is that it unashamedly claims to be the Word of God. That is, a message, or messages from the one who created everything in the Universe has found its way to its pages… this ‘claim’ alone, whether you believe it or not, is one of the central reasons why it is the world’s bestselling book, and has been for generations. Plot Synopsis The Story starts with all creation and the creation of Man, and then after that, God created Woman. It then progresses to the fall of man (with the intervention of Satan and the realization of Good and Evil), who chooses himself over his creator, severing that bond and welcoming sin, and death, into the world. His descendants then strive to rule the world and each other. But the story continues, focusing on an array of people and their unique walk/lives and relationship with God. God though (the creator of it all), is angered by his creation’s choice of disobedience, and the subsequent slavery to sin and death. Despite that, God still loves the world, so much so he sends his only son. The plan is to reunite his people to himself and break the bondage that sin has over his people. Enter Jesus (A coming which was prophesized). The son of God would then be beaten, tortured and crucified, killed… a man, who was without sin, who was pure, would carry the weight of sin on himself. An ordinary man, who was born in Heaven, would form the crux of existence, as his death and subsequent resurrection would break the hold that sin has over this world, forming a spiritual gateway to reunite Man with his creator. Target You. It’s for every man, woman and child walking this earth. Another reason it’s a bestseller – because it has such wide appeal. Bottom Line “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…” – you’ve heard that line countless times that it’s almost become a religious cliché. What’s really at the centre of it though, is the coming together of two different worlds – a material one, and a spiritual one. In the Beginning (another cliché) these two worlds were very close (God and Man had open conversations, the world was a beautiful Eden), but then came the fall, and the separation. Ever since, God has tried to find a way back for us, as we in turn have tried to find the answers to the existential questions we have about ourselves. As the bible says, Man was never intended to have to deal with death, sin was never part of creation, women were never meant to experience pain in childbirth… every pain we endure is thus simply echoes of the pain felt in that fateful moment when man disobeyed God (*** The First physical wound experienced in the Bible is by Adam, when God removes his rib to form Eve - yet there's no record of pain being felt, and the healing was instantaneous - because God did the healing himself***). Hence the two worlds have separated – the material world held ransom to sin and slavery (ruled by Satan), and God’s quest to free Man… and aid him in the realization that he is not of this world, to reawaken his spiritual existence. In a stunning move (call it the checkmate move) God sacrificed his only beloved son. (when Jesus is hanging on the cross he screams “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” – this marks the first time the son addresses his father as ‘God’, indicative of the separation. God turned his back on his son for that moment, so that we (mankind) may be reconciled with our spiritual father). But Satan has no hold over Jesus (heaven’s own), and a material death of his fleshly body does not (cannot) hold. As a book, this is a fantastic story, when you think of it in a finite sense, with authors and writers that compose stories, books, bestsellers etc.one has to wonder, who could conceive this story, who came up with such a work, with such daring portrayals and claims. Well, it wasn’t one man or woman, it was many (over 40 authors – there were incomplete gospels that weren’t included, as well as number of anonymous authors), and it was written and compiled over a period of over 1500 years. It truly is a special book – I almost said ‘one of a kind’ but then my thoughts turned to the Torah (focussing on the narrative of the Jewish people) and Quran (the central religious text of Islam and greatest piece of literature in the Arabic language) … the fact that these three books/manuscripts/compilations are so similar is a staggering thought. Are they plagiarized – copies of one another just taken with different meanings and interpretations, and emphasis on different events? What’s certain is that they have far more similarities than differences. (The one glaring difference is the regard or emphasis placed on the life of Jesus – he is central to the Bible, but a bit-part player, almost cameo in the other two by comparison). But back to the Bible (which doesn’t have one spelling error in any copy I’ve seen) – since I don’t speak Hebrew/Aramaic or Arabic unfortunately – it must be said that it warrants a read simply because of the questions it poses of oneself (whether you’re willing to accept the answers it offers, is up to you.) The fact that it can be used as a daily devotional guide and life study book is also indicative of its influence and power – and it’s hard to argue against the fact that this book has power – even if its just in a material sense. (My grandmother, a woman well into her 80’s still faithfully attends weekly Bible study – this just exemplifies the fact that it has a lasting impression and that it does offer practically an unending fount of deep information. One could study this book your entire life, read it multiple times, and still find new meaning in it, daily – in fact, some say that performing this act will lead you to a better life, by applying something simple like the 10 Commandments to your life, and meditating on scripture. These practices have proven to have a profound effect on the individual and those around them. Truth be told it’s hard to write a book review on the bible because it is so vast and even prophesizes/predicts events yet to come (and lets not forget to mention that this book has proven quite reliable in that approximately 80% of the prophesies foretold in the Bible, have been fulfilled - to the letter - whilst the remaining prophesies reach further into our future!), but for an individual, if you’ve read this book, whether from beginning to end, or just jumping in in the middle somewhere (another unique feature), it might benefit you to review what you’ve read, as you would any other book. There are of course boring bits – this book does of course cover life, and the lives of many people, even some mundane bits, but that’s also part of the beauty, because it translates to everyone, to everyday life. In the Bible you’ll find beggars, Kings, prostitutes, fishermen, taxmen, farmers, murderers, doctors, philosophers, Angels, talking animals, carpenters, scholars, prophets, Demons, soldiers… people from every walk of life… many people, many generations, the creation of the world, and even a message of unconditional and undeserving Love. So, whether you believe that all these people were indeed onto something or that it’s just a collection of wild, outrageous and sometimes brutal stories collected and compiled over centuries (who or what drove so many people to write about this with such conviction, to be translated into so many languages and in varying versions et al.), you cannot deny it truly is fully worth its status as the world’s bestselling book, and why it's often referred to as the “Holy Bible” – the only book in the world claiming to be the actual ‘Word of God’. This is not a book about religion, its a book about reclaiming and restoring a lost Love; sacrificing everything and going to war for your true love. It may not look it, but war and love are on two sides of the same coin in this book, as they are in most books. Its a fight, a war for your heart... the message is, God wants you back, in his embrace. Humanity is often referred to as the 'bride of Christ', destined to join him in heaven; so the story effectively is about a man who sacrifices himself (appears as payment/exchange/ransom) to set free his captive, yet unfaithful love from the shackles of death. (There is no conceivable rating for such a book – it kind sets the standard) Question: if it indeed be true, if this is in fact the Word of God... what then, at the very least it should not be ignored. And, if this book is a work of fiction, then it is a fantastic piece, but since all art (since fiction is art) imitates life, what does this book say about reality? Mark Twain (notable fiction writer/author) said Truth is stranger than fiction, well for those who believe this to be a work of fiction... then I shudder to think of what truth lay as seed of inspiration for this work. Either way, plenty of food for many a deep thought!
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[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
WRITING
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