What
would you do if you discovered that something you believe – and a lot of other
people believe -- is wrong? I created the BHC Guideline to help us navigate
through situations like this.
My belief system will be large enough to include all
of the facts,
open enough to be tested,
and flexible enough to change when errors or new
facts are discovered.
When
I created this guideline over 25 years ago, I had one goal in mind – discovering
the truth. Beliefs are memes
– information in the mind of an
individual – that are not sensory
perceivable, unless a person reveals them to others. Facts are sensory
perceivable and can be examined and measured by anyone. Beliefs are an
essential requirement of life, because no one has all of the facts about
everything. However, if we are committed to finding the truth, there will be
many times that we uncover facts that prove some of our beliefs are wrong. It
is at those moments we discover whether we are really committed to finding the
truth or not -- we will either change our
beliefs or ignore the facts. However, there is something that you must
understand about the power of our belief systems. Our beliefs have the power to
change what we actually see with our eyes.
At the Hanover Institute in Germany in
the late nineteenth century, an experiment was conducted. Subjects were asked
to put on goggles that had inverting lenses, which, when the subjects looked
through them, the world appeared upside down.
The purpose of the experiment was to see how they responded to this
unusual situation. Would the subjects respond by learning how to adjust to
"upsidedownness?" It would seem
that these goggled subjects would have a great deal of difficulty trying to
walk down steps or negotiate street crossings.
How did the subjects deal with the
upside‑down‑vision problem? Amazingly, even
though some took a short time while others took many hours, they all who ultimately
reported to the experimenters that the world was right side up. Their solution
was simple: Turn the information right side up!
Somehow they were able to unconsciously search out the vision‑control
mechanism inside their brains and "click the switch" that turned the
information 180 degrees around!
To put it another way, when confronted
with the choice of creating new rules to deal with the upside‑down information
or keeping the old rules and altering the images they saw, the subjects subconsciously
kept their old rules and changed the data.
This
simple experiment is a very powerful demonstration of our subconscious ability
to manipulate the physiological information coming into our minds. Who would have guessed that memes (beliefs) could
dramatically alter sensory input? Memes
are so powerful they can even make us even see things that are not there.
An avid scuba diver quite often dove to
the depths of 100-150 feet to check out fish traps he had off the coast of
Miami Beach. Because that area is well
trafficked by expensive yachts, lots of garbage is strewn along the ocean
floor, especially beer cans. His problem
had been caused by the fact that when he saw Budweiser beer cans down at the
150‑foot level, he clearly saw their red labels. Why did that bother him? According
to the physics of light the color red cannot penetrate through 150 feet of
water. All that you have left at
that depth are green and the few other colors far toward the ultraviolet end of
the spectrum. The color red cannot be seen at that depth! That is what bothered him -- he knew he shouldn't be seeing red, but he
was. So, how was he able to see a
color that could not be seen? He saw the
red label because he knew the correct model of the Budweiser beer can. That is, he knew the color it was supposed to
be, and, in order to make what he was seeing fit the rules, his mind literally
added the unseen colors.
In
the two examples above, the people involved in the experiences had memetic
models that produced a set of rules for how something should look. When the
data from their own eyes didn’t agree with those models, their minds subconsciously
altered the data to make it conform to their models. In other words, they literally
saw their beliefs instead of the facts. Billions of Bible readers have done,
and still do, the same thing. When they read the words of their Bibles they see
belief models they have been taught, instead of what the words actually say – like the words of Exodus 20 being the story
of the Ten Commandments or the serpent in the Garden in Eden being Satan.
What would you
say if I told you that the Four Versions of
the Ten Commandments I have been writing about are not “THE” Ten
Commandments?
I bet that triggered a lot BS alarms.
Beliefs that have hardened into “traditions” over many centuries are very difficult
to correct. Think about all of the books that have been written, stone
monuments that have been made, Supreme Court cases that have been tried, etc.
that claim the words of Exodus 20 are the Ten Commandments. As you read this
series of blogs, don’t let your mind trick you by replacing the facts with the BS
models you have been taught. In this series of blogs we are going to follow
Moses up and down Mt Sinai until he receives two tablets of stone with the Ten
Commandments. Or, to put it another way, we are going to let the Bible tell its
own story – regardless of whatever BS we
might have stuck in our brains.
YAHWEH
ELOHIYM
Now
let’s read 19:1 - 20:21.
In the third
month after the sons
of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the wilderness of
Sinai. For
they traveled from
Rephidim and came to the wilderness of
Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there before the mountain. (Ex. 19:1-2)
Trip #1
And Moses went up to the ELOHIYM. And YAHWEH called
to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob,
and tell the sons
of Israel: ‘You
have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I
bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore,
if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a
special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall become for
Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which
you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” (Ex. 19:3-6)
And Moses came
and called for the elders of the people, and he put before them all these words
which YAHWEH had commanded him. And
all the people answered together and said, “All that YAHWEH has spoken we will do.” (Ex. 19:7-8a)
Trip #2
So Moses brought back the words of the people to YAHWEH. And YAHWEH
said
to Moses,
“Behold, I come to you in a darkness of clouds, that the
people may hear when I speak with you, and may be faithful to you forever.” And Moses told the
words of the people to YAHWEH. And YAHWEH said to Moses, “Go to the people and set them apart today
and tomorrow; and
let
them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day.
For on the third day YAHWEH will come down upon Mount Sinai in the
sight of all the people. You shall set boundaries for the people
all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the
mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely die. Not a hand shall
touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with
an arrow; whether
man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds long,
they shall come near the mountain.” (Ex. 19:8b-13)
And Moses went down from the mountain to the people. Moses set the people
apart, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, “Be ready for
the third day; do not come near your wives.” And it came to pass on the third
day, in the morning, that there were thundering and lightning, and a thick
cloud on the mountain; and the sound of shofar was very strong, so that all the
people in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to
meet the ELOHIYM, and they
stood at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was completely in smoke,
because YAHWEH came down upon it in
fire and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain
trembled exceedingly. And it was the sound of the shofar long and became louder
and louder. Moses spoke, and the
ELOHIYM answered him by a voice. And YAHWEH came down upon Mount Sinai, to the head of the mountain. (Ex. 19:14-20a)
Trip #3
And YAHWEH called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And YAHWEH said to Moses, “Go down and warn
the people, lest they break through to see YAHWEH,
and many of them fall. And also, the priests, those approaching to YAHWEH, shall separate themselves lest YAHWEH burst forth among them.” And Moses
said to YAHWEH, “The people cannot
come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the
mountain and set it apart.’” And YAHWEH
said to him, “Away! Go down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do
not let the priests and the people break through to come up to YAHWEH, lest He burst forth among them.” (Ex. 19:20b-24)
And Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. (Ex. 19:25)
The Giving of the Traditional Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-17
Make sure to note that Moses is standing at the base of the mountain with
the people and is not on the mountain. Nothing is said about two stone tablets.
When
the words traditionally called the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) were
given, Moses was standing at the base
of the mountain with the rest of the people. There have been no references to
two stone tablets or anything called the “Ten Commandments” in this context. Take another look at Exodus 19 & 20 in your Bible. The tablets of stone aren't there -- yet everyone projects them into that account!
Our goal is to let the biblical texts tell their own stories, but to do this we must be aware of traditions like this one which have the power to make us believe that words are in the account that simply aren't there. We will continue our search for the real Ten Commandments in the next part of this account.
Our goal is to let the biblical texts tell their own stories, but to do this we must be aware of traditions like this one which have the power to make us believe that words are in the account that simply aren't there. We will continue our search for the real Ten Commandments in the next part of this account.
Let us know you read this and if you like information like this -- go to our Facebook page by clicking here and
– “Like” it. Also share it with others
who want accurate information about the words of the
Bible.
Invest in our work by making a donation today -- especially if you just discovered that the Ten Commandments aren't where your believed they were -- click
here.
No comments:
Post a Comment