Is God only a word?
Every Sunday, all over South Africa and the world a preacher will take to the pulpit and use the Bible to explain issues of life and death to his congregation. They will peer down into the “Holy Bible” and then invite the faithful, who have remembered to bring one sitting dutifully on their laps, to open at the designated scripture reading.
They will use the scriptures in their sermon with abandonment, fervour and strong emotion to explain precisely what God desires, demands, requires, and needs from his humble, loving and obedient servants. You will be told how to behave; some things will be called "sin" and other things will be permitted. Most listeners will assume that every thing in the sermon or all most every thing is the “will of God” for their lives and is good, righteous and true.
A good question would be to ask people why do they believe and then follow what is preached with out hesitation - why do they allow the words preached to affect them so much? Firstly it is not because of anything related or found in the real world, nor is it because they have personally encountered the miraculous (supernatural). It is only because quotes have been made from the Bible, therefore it must be true. So the Bible scripture quoted by the clergy man is taken as if it is a message from the very throne of God himself and therefore the sermon is to be believed as if God is speaking directly to you.
In Christianity the Bible is thought to contain God’s wisdom and as such it teachings are superior to common sense, rational inquiry, logical reasoning, and the laws of physics. Words have been given more importance and power than the natural world unfolding all around us – they have become as if they are magical and more important than any thing else on earth. However without a language these words would have no power over you. The first thing, missionaries did when they arrived in South Africa and realised that the local natives had no written language, was to create a written language and translate the Bible into it, so that local tribes could read and thereby come under the “power” and control of the “Words of God”. When you read the Bible in your language you think God is talking directly to you.
If you think I am not making sense ask yourself this question; why do the faithful always quote from the Bible and go bananas when it is disrespected. Soon as you ignore what was written thousands of years ago; it is as if war has been declared and mobilisation to the defence of the Bible takes place, because with out the Bible there is nothing else to point to for authority or legitimacy. They need to read it, quote it, meditate on it, chant it , over and over again till it becomes stored in their “hearts” and minds so that they can tirelessly argue and defend the "truth" of the Bible sometimes even to the death, because without it they have nothing.
So religions exist in the sacred texts and if all language, books and words where to disappear tomorrow from the face of the earth there would be no religion left on earth in any text and it would slowly die out. One of the ways Christian heretics where overcome was to eliminate their sacred texts. All religions in competition with Christianity in the early days had their sacred texts burnt and the religion died out. Only the Christian (Catholic) Bible was protected and kept but when Luther changed that during the reformation a new type of Christianity was born based on the new Protestant Bible giving legitimacy to oppose the Pope. So you need a sacred text if you want to start a new religion. Joseph Smith did this with the Book of Mormon.
The Bible and all other sacred books are just books of words and religion exists because language exists and when language is removed religion dies. There would be no reason to believe in any religious claim or teaching if we had not first heard it or read it from the Bible.
With out language Christianity or any other religion would not exist. The Bible is the most translated, printed and read book in the history of mankind. Thanks to organised religion ensuring that the “word of God” is read by every one on earth. With out this ability to point to and quote verses from the Bible, using language, where else does religion and its teachings exist.
If religion is based on words, which it is, we can therefore logically deduce that they have been artificially created by man, for with out language, the Bible would not exist and with out the Bible, Christianity and God would not exist. Therefore God is a word.
They are only words and words only have power over you if you give them that power. So here is my challenge to the faithful believer : >
“Where is your God outside your particular sacred text and a believers hopeful and wishful imagination”?
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