The
Exploring Biblical Heritages Skills I described in my previous email (CLICK
HERE) affect much more than how people read their Bible. Exploring Biblical
Heritages Skills affect the realities of those using
them.
Realities are produced
by the brain.
They determine how individuals
view their world
and assign meanings to
what they see.
Today
science knows that believing is a biological process. What that means is human
organs function according to the DNA that created them. Hearts pump
blood, stomachs digest food, and brains ingest information provided by sensory
organs – especially eyes and ears. The brain creates belief
models from information it receives and then assigns values to its belief
models.
The brain uses its most
valued belief models to create
and then “live stream” the
realities we experience as life!
For
more information about this process click on The Brain: Our Reality
Generator. In light of the above information, when new information
caused change to the values assigned to my belief models – my reality also changed.
One
of the most dramatic changes in my reality happened when I first applied Exploring
Biblical Heritages Skills (EBHS) to the Hebrew text of the Garden
of Eden Story in Genesis 3. I had heard this story all of my life and
remember coloring pictures in Sunday School related to it. Let me share my
experience, beginning with Genesis
3:1b:
“And he
said to the woman . . . .”
●
Exploring Biblical Heritages Skills (EBHS): Who is the “he”?
●
My Old Belief Model:
The “he” is Satan.
●
My Old Reality:
This is a story about a war between God and Satan over the
souls of all humans. Satan created evil.
●
EBHS:
Genesis 3:1a says, The “he” is a snake; a beast of the field
made by Yahweh.
●
My New Belief Model:
“He” is a wild animal made by Yahweh.
●
My Updated Reality:
This is a story about whether two humans will act together and
do acts of TOV like God, or act as individuals and do
acts of RAH like wild animals. The man created evil.
My
old Belief Model about Satan came from a doctrine created in the 5th
century CE by Augustine, a Roman Catholic Bishop. The history
of the Hebrew text of Genesis can be traced back to the 5th
century BCE. For almost 1,000 years, the story had no connection to
Satan. Today, Augustine’s doctrine is part of the realities of over 2.5 billion
Christians. Even more important than Augustine’s doctrine, is the loss of the
original meaning of the English words good and evil
in that story.
TOV (good) is defined as “acts
that protect lives, preserve lives,
make lives more
functional, and increase the quality of life.”
RAH (evil) is defined as “acts
that destroy lives, harm lives,
make lives less
functional, and decrease the quality of life.”
●
In
my old Reality, “good” and “evil” were “catchall
terms” that meant different things to different people.
●
In
my updated Reality TOV and RAH are “concrete
acts” that have measurable effects on human lives.
Once
I understood the meanings of TOV and RAH,
I immediately saw their connection to the teachings of the Jewish Jesus in
Matthew 25.
●
One group of people did acts of TOV – They gave food
to the hungry, gave drinks to the thirsty, gave shelter to a stranger, gave
clothes to the naked, visited the sick and went to see those in prison.
They will enter eternal life.
●
The other group of people will enter eternal punishment
– They chose not to give food to the hungry, chose not to give drinks to the
thirsty, chose not to give shelter to a stranger, chose not to give clothes to the
naked, chose not to visit the sick and chose not to go see those in prison.
Exploring
Biblical Heritages is about much more than just Bible studies. It is about examining
the belief models that effect billions of lives today – including your
life. It is about valuing human lives in our everyday decisions and
actions. It provides concrete ways to make lives safer and better in a
world in which those things are desperately needed.
Please Help Fund Exploring Biblical Heritages
By Making a Year-End Donation Now.
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do not include advertisements in our emails or require subscriptions
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Biblical Heritage
Center
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Shalom
and Thank You!
Jim
Myers
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