The Fundamental Story
As a child in the Pentecostal church I was encouraged to accept the bible as the literal word of God. It was true, I was told from the pulpit, every word of it inspired by God, and great enthusiasm was shown in recounting stories or evidence to ‘prove’ it correct.
They were better at so doing than others – I was taught of the two creations of Man, neatly solving the riddle of ‘who did Cain marry’ and of how the Pyramid at Giza was a confirmation of the message of Christ – I was always a little hazy on that one but there was something about a line inscribed along the wall that corresponded exactly to the British inch.
Other stories included the British-Israel theory – how the Ten Lost Tribes migrated first East, then North and across to England, forming new nations as they went. How the Tribe of Dan became Denmark and how after the Romans, all the conquerors of England were remnants of the Lost Tribes, making Britain a ‘pure’ Israelite race.
Then there was the story of Jacob’s pillow, how the stone of Jacob (from the Ladder Dream) came across from Israel to Ireland, then to Scotland to finally rest under the Queen’s throne in Westminster, proving beyond doubt her relationship to King David, the ruler promised by God that there would always be a descendant of his on the throne of Israel.
It’s a wild mix of reality and fantasy, with wish-fulfillment making up for any short comings in the evidence. I wondered about things – if a million Hebrews wandered across the desert for forty years, I could understand God providing their food and water, but where is their waste? How come archaeologists hadn’t found a trail of poop and other discards, bones of sheep, goats and cattle, or even of people who died along the way?
April 4th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Brilliant!