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Why would God need the murder of his son to accept humanity? Why is such a gruesome murder celebrated by so many Christians all across the world? And what does all this have to do with the Easter Bunny and eggs? Join me in the first of three teachings on how the cross has been misunderstood and how to responsibly understand and apply it today.
Tony, I am slowly moving thru the Episodes. Initially, I struggled with #6 – the flood. I listened to it at least 3 times before I finally googled it and found from Wikipedia that the Genesis flood narrative is the Hebrew flood myth. It got me interested and I moved on to #8 – the Exodus which, per Wikipedia, is the founding myth of Israel. Per NOVA interview with Carol Meyers, she suggested that people have recorded events of their past thru mnemohistory or memory history – so that the Moses of the Bible is larger than life. From theTorah.com, I found that the Torah focuses on memory not history. Wow, that really undoes my faith in the OT. For years, I have struggled to reconcile the OT God with the NT Jesus and now I get it – these stories are written in the language of the people at that time because how can a Christlike God ask us to do this: Ps 137:9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
I really enjoy these episodes as I verify them with the Internet. I am now at #11. Keep them coming, Tony as each is opening up my mind to a brand new world, brand new understanding.
The phrase mytho/ poetic has been a phrase that has brought a lot of healing for me. These stories were not written for a solid historical account but an artistic, epic narrative that helped shape a group of people. Who knows what this Moses character was truly like? Who knows what elements are epic story telling or literal possibility? It’s too easy to get caught up in those unknowns. The beauty is not that it did or didn’t happen but that these kinds of experiences happen. We experience life, death, and resurrection or re-birth. We leave slavery. We walk in the new. This kind of reading helps us move away from slavery and into a real sense of freedom.