Sunday, January 30, 2011

Psalms to Solomon

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon
As regards a test of reasonableness, i have chosen to limit my responses to these chapters. Even though the Bible is, in its entirety, alleged to be the inspired word of God, the words in these chapters are basically men's words and praises; it's conceivable even that the Lord, for reasons of Its own, could allow certain of these explanations and praises to be less than divine truth. Perhaps i should hold fast to the same set of standards for each and every word in the Bible, but these allowances will mitigate the protests of those who might say "but that's men speaking, not God".
Psalms 40:6
Subject: commandments, divine. Problem: contradiction of other such commandments (cross-reference the books of Moses, Proverbs 9:2, or Isaiah 1:11-14).
Proverbs 3:5
Assuming the existence of a supreme, benevolent being, this verse could be reasonable. However, the second part of this verse seems a dangerous philosophy. Indeed, many tyrants throughout history have committed untold abuse, because people have been willing to offer the blind loyalty this verse commands. Even if such loyalty were given to a benevolent being, is it credible that a god would give Its creatures the ability to make moral judgments, but then command that they ignore this capacity? Such belief involves an enormous logical circle. If abandoning one's insight is the path the Lord wishes, mustn't one choose to follow such a path? But wouldn't one have to use their own insight to make such a choice? And wouldn't they then have to discard that decision, because it was based upon them, not the Lord? The Lord asks for that which cannot be given.
Proverbs 16:29
The Lord of the Bible has been a God of quick and severe violence. But now we have the testimony of this verse. Either account of holy truth, this one or the earlier, could be reasonable. But to have the Lord be an advocate of both violence and non-violence, is not reconcileable. The only thing we can say with any degree of assurance is that the Lord could be anything, except that which It is not (and we probably can't even say that).

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