Apparently, Moses was high on psychadelic drugs when he recieved the Ten Commandments from God on mount Sinai, according to Benny Shanon at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Interesting how of all the civilisations and religions on Earth that used psychotropic drugs in their ceremonies, Judaism, and its spinoffs Christianity and Islam, are amongst the few ancient ones that do NOT use narcotics as part of the ceremonies.
Some people will suggest anything to make a name for themselves disputing what happened in Judeo-Christian history, won’t they?
Interesting how of all the civilisations and religions on Earth that used psychotropic drugs in their ceremonies, Judaism, and its spinoffs Christianity and Islam, are amongst the few ancient ones that do NOT use narcotics as part of the ceremonies.
Hmmm. . .not that I know one way or the other about what Moses might or might not have been smoking as he wandered around in the desert, but remember that even according to the Bible there was no Jewish religion (much less Christian or Islamic) at that point in history. It wasn’t until after Moses got all the instructions together that a formal Jewish religion was made. Up until then, they probably were heavily influenced by the Egyptians at the very least, having lived in Egypt for so many generations. So who knows what sorts of odd things the Hebrews were doing up until that point?
But they were still “Israelites”. Still collectively a group apart from the Egyptians.
And apparently they were mostly “up to” slavery then.
I read the article someplace else…and I was confused about where in the bible he meant when people “saw sound”. It could be a very relevent tidbit, if I knew what verse/chapter/book that happened in.
But they were still “Israelites”. Still collectively a group apart from the Egyptians.
And apparently they were mostly “up to” slavery then.
Oh, certainly. But up to that point they only had the most basic understanding of how to worship God. All those rules in Genesis and Leviticus and so on came after Moses led them off into the desert. So until then, they were left with only the most vague idea of how to go about worship, and they would have been surrounded by a very large, powerful, and well-organised Egyptian religious institution. I would be very surprised if the Israelites didn’t take on some of the Egyptians’ practices just because there was nothing saying not to and it seemed like a good idea.
But they were still “Israelites”. Still collectively a group apart from the Egyptians.
And apparently they were mostly “up to” slavery then.
I read the article someplace else…and I was confused about where in the bible he meant when people “saw sound”. It could be a very relevent tidbit, if I knew what verse/chapter/book that happened in.
Well, I pulled out my Bible, and checked the concordance in the back, and found no reference to seeing sounds. I could probably ask my father-in-law, since he’s a pastor and I think he knows his Bible backwards, forwards, and inside-out. Unlike me. *sigh*
“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
Amazing how complicated a theory becomes when you try to explain your way around an occurance. Most of these theories start with the premise, “There cannot be a God, so….”
In my opinion, any time you immediatly disregard any possibility of one theory, you are no longer doing “pure” science.
But they were still “Israelites”. Still collectively a group apart from the Egyptians.
And apparently they were mostly “up to” slavery then.
I read the article someplace else…and I was confused about where in the bible he meant when people “saw sound”. It could be a very relevent tidbit, if I knew what verse/chapter/book that happened in.
Well, I pulled out my Bible, and checked the concordance in the back, and found no reference to seeing sounds. I could probably ask my father-in-law, since he’s a pastor and I think he knows his Bible backwards, forwards, and inside-out. Unlike me. *sigh*
My mom has one of those exhausting concordances. Next time I’m over I’ll have to take a look.
Most of these theories start with the premise, “There cannot be a God, so….”
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the argument “There has to be a God, therefore…”. It’s very popular among the proselytizers. Usually it’s along the lines of “The universe exists, therefore there had to be a God to create it, therefore God exists”, but sometimes they get a bit more involved with it. The ‘Perfect Being’ argument seems to be a favorite among those capable enough to even understand it, though it’s just as fundamentally flawed.
I guess what’s so strange about the ones saying “There cannot be a God…” is that they are TOTALLY willing to believe an event to have taken place. But they will do everything they can to prove it was total randomness. I guess I sort of feel like, either believe it or don’t. But don’t get all nutty trying to convince everyone that squirrels exist b/c a T-rex stepped on a caterpiller.
“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
Amazing how complicated a theory becomes when you try to explain your way around an occurance. Most of these theories start with the premise, “There cannot be a God, so….”
In my opinion, any time you immediatly disregard any possibility of one theory, you are no longer doing “pure” science.
I love how his premise is “There IS no God, but this event DID happen…”
If you don’t believe in God, I’m a wee bit shcoked you believe the events described in the Old Testament/ Torah. In my opinion you take it all or leave it all.
