The whole of western society has based it's morals and spiritual beliefs on the hallucinations of an "acid freak".
I would not be surprised. Just because he was tripping off his nut, does not mean "GOD" did not speak to him

Classic Liberal wrote on Mar 5^th, 2008 at 3:30pm:


How do you know he wasn't, Hallucinogens open the mind, maybe even made him more suseptible to "GOD'S" communication.
Not that I believe he was, but it's not an unrealistic theory.

Classic Liberal wrote on Mar 6^th, 2008 at 4:08pm:


Who says the bible is an accurate historical reference?

Of course....it is not pssible that the bible could have ever been doctored to favour the "churches" opinion was it?

The Bible has a very complex history. Most Biblical scholars will say that much of the Bible was written around the time of Persian occupation, just after the release of the Jews from Babylon.

There is some Babylonian influence and a lot of the writings show strong traces of the Polytheism that was prevalent in the sparsely populated and largely illiterate population of the area before it became monotheistic under Persian Zoroastrian influence. Some books were written about 400 years after the period that they were supposed to represent, as a reaction to the later Greek desecration of the Temple. Daniel is an example of this. David and Solomon were probably fictitious. Some parts of the OT were clearly embarrassing because of their obvious links to past religions, and were excised from the OT. An example is the Book of Enoch, which makes for some extremely entertaining reading. (I don't mean that as a criticism - It is totally fascinating.)

The New Testament is even more of a 'mess', and was a struggle between the Gnostics and various other branches of Christianity. There is a considerable Gnostic influence in John for example. Decisions on which Gospels to keep and which to throw out were largely determined at Nicaea in 325 CE (that's where we get the Nicean Creed). Up until then there were many warring factions of Christianity, some of which were  weirder than others.

There are some suggestions that Paul of Tarsus (Saul) was an epileptic, and it has long been the opinion of most Biblical scholars. A large proportion of the NT is really the Gospel according to Paul. The whole mysogenistic side of Christianity is really a result of his personal character.

Various Christian groups, such as the Jehovah Witnesses have made their own attempts to remove the Zoroastrian, Greek and Roman Mystery religions' influence on Christianity, with various degrees of success.

As an outsider looking in, I think the people who originally put together the first books of the Old Testament were genuinely trying to come to grips with cosmology - with the feeling of awe that I still get when I look at a dark sky in a quiet bushland setting. Most of us just don't have enough quiet times in our lives to appreciate that sort of thing. I'd recommend that you try it sometime. Just get away to some remote outback location and sit outside and watch the clear sky for a few hours in total peace. You'll find yourself there, and get an inkling of what the writers of the Bible were thinking.

These guys were trying to express what many people of different cultures have tried to express for thousands of years. The original writings became elaborated with each retelling, and when they were finally written, they probably bore very little resemblance to the original musings.

I don't think drugs had much to do with the writing of the Bible. I do think that it's an amazing example of the influences of human nature through the ages. We still have our primitive prejudices  tribalism and all the other baggage.  Not a lot has changed.