Posted: May 09, 2016 4:33 am
Well. This KIND of discussion about a subject like this, is problematic to me.
Not because anyone is necessarily making seriously false statements one way or another, but because the actual CAUSE of trying to make a declaration about whether or not someone like Moses is "real" or "myth," is coming from a very flawed motivation, and a very flawed point of view.
Ultimately, it really doesn't MATTER whether or not every detail of the story of Moses is accurate or not, or even if there was really ever a single person with that name who existed.
The stories which were collected together eventually into the Torah, and into what is now called the Old Testament of the Bible, were BOTH supposed to be accepted as HAVING TRUTH to them, and were supposed to be teaching tools at the same time.
There is a very long and complicated habit, so to speak, that humans have always indulged in, to purposely mythologize their own reality , sometimes even as it is happening.
This is NOT primarily done for the purpose of promoting lies. Quite the contrary, it is done to try to enhance the best qualities of the people involved, and encourage them to work to be even better.
In a very real way, the heroes of the ancient myths both did, and did not ever exist in reality. Moses may or may not have been a single real man, who did exactly all the listed things in the stories about him. But declaring that he never existed as a single person, ALSO doesn't have anything at all to do with defeating the PURPOSE of the mythology about him.
The reason why many religious people nod and smile as those hostile to the stories they tell indulge in this sort of discussion, is precisely because it DOESN'T matter. The lessons of their religion are not dependent upon factual proof that ANY of the described things ever actually happened in exactly the way that is described, and it's NOT because they are fans of self-delusion, either.
Essentially,and very ironically, this sort of anxious debate, really only takes place between the critics of a religion who don't actually grasp the point of it, arguing with the subgroup of FOLLOWERS of that religion who ALSO don't understand the point either.
Not because anyone is necessarily making seriously false statements one way or another, but because the actual CAUSE of trying to make a declaration about whether or not someone like Moses is "real" or "myth," is coming from a very flawed motivation, and a very flawed point of view.
Ultimately, it really doesn't MATTER whether or not every detail of the story of Moses is accurate or not, or even if there was really ever a single person with that name who existed.
The stories which were collected together eventually into the Torah, and into what is now called the Old Testament of the Bible, were BOTH supposed to be accepted as HAVING TRUTH to them, and were supposed to be teaching tools at the same time.
There is a very long and complicated habit, so to speak, that humans have always indulged in, to purposely mythologize their own reality , sometimes even as it is happening.
This is NOT primarily done for the purpose of promoting lies. Quite the contrary, it is done to try to enhance the best qualities of the people involved, and encourage them to work to be even better.
In a very real way, the heroes of the ancient myths both did, and did not ever exist in reality. Moses may or may not have been a single real man, who did exactly all the listed things in the stories about him. But declaring that he never existed as a single person, ALSO doesn't have anything at all to do with defeating the PURPOSE of the mythology about him.
The reason why many religious people nod and smile as those hostile to the stories they tell indulge in this sort of discussion, is precisely because it DOESN'T matter. The lessons of their religion are not dependent upon factual proof that ANY of the described things ever actually happened in exactly the way that is described, and it's NOT because they are fans of self-delusion, either.
Essentially,and very ironically, this sort of anxious debate, really only takes place between the critics of a religion who don't actually grasp the point of it, arguing with the subgroup of FOLLOWERS of that religion who ALSO don't understand the point either.