I could write a better bible

Weston Bortner
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I could write a better bible

Imagine if you will if I was living in a time before science found evolution and the big bang and I started a new "religion" started with this story:

 

I was walking down the road that traced along the woods, when I came across an old house.  It looked abandoned, but there was an old box on the lawn. Upon further investigation, I found that this box contained a bundle of papers and documents. Several of them were pages of a journal of a man by the name of Nathaniel Durant, a poor farmer who went missing a few years ago.

Reading the old diary pages, I discovered what had happened to Nathaniel Durant. He had, shortly before going missing, been chasing after his dog, Rover (who had been chasing a squirrel), trying to catch him to bring him back home. However, Rover went far ahead of him and disappeared. While trying to find him, Nathaniel got lost in the woods.  He tried to go back home, hoping that Rover would be able to find his way back, only to find that he couldn't find his way back. He spent two days wondering the woods, trying to get back to his little farm.

But as he roamed, strange things began to happen. He soon found fruits growing from trees. Fruits that he had never seen before. Some good looking, some that didn't look safe to eat at all. He encountered animals in the woods that he had never seen before. He saw a reptilian bird, a shark like dolphin in the river, massive insects, any bizarre creature you could imagine. He managed to avoid being killed, but was eventually cornered by a pack of wolves that were as large as (and had features like) bears! Before they could attack, a giant woman, dressed in green, with long glowing green hair, appeared and chased away the "wolves".

Nathaniel describes this "woman" as a giant, but incredibly soft spoken and gentle creature. She speaks kindly to the frightened farmer, retrieves his dog (who she had found earlier), and takes Nathaniel back to the real world. Nathaniel is told that he entered a rip through time into a place where no human was supposed to go. Before she disappears, she tells the farmer that it will not be the last time that they will meet. Then, leaving massive footprints from her boots, the "woman" turns and goes back into the woods and vanishes. Nathaniel takes the dog back inside and calls the police, but by the time they arrive, the boot prints are gone!

The next journal entry of Nathaniel takes us a week later. Nathaniel has begun slacking off on the duties of his farm, he has not talked to many people, and he is terrified to go back into the woods. Eventually, while cooking dinner, the green clothed girl appears again. She is nowhere as colossal as their first encounter, but she is still immensely tall. Nathaniel describes her as tall as an angel! She introduces herself as Agria. She tells Nathaniel that she is a goddess, the one who created planet Earth, in fact. She proves her divinity by making Rover address Nathaniel in English.  Nathaniel asks what Agria wants and why she is engaging him. She explains that Nathaniel has seen what he was not meant to see and that the Goddesses are now worried that their cover of secrecy (or Ordo Visum) has been blown. She tells Nathaniel that the Order Dea Altissimi (Goddess of the Highest Order) will appear to him shortly. Nathaniel asks about his experience in the woods and Agria explains that the "Mundus Exinani" (Empty World) that Nathaniel encountered was where the Goddesses exist. Agria, in the Mundus Exinani, creates new animals and manipulates the flow of nature. It is here where the first species of Earth where created before being let loose onto the Mundus humanum (Human World). She tells Nathaniel that she has been using her powers to control nature to continue to modify and change her creations for "millions of generations".

Nathaniel's next journal entry (written mere moments after the events of which they narrate) tells us that he was, days after his second encounter with Agria, is met by not only the green goddess, but another one, a woman in a dressed all black: suit, pants, dress shoes, etc. Even her eye color is complete black. Her  long hair, however, is a brilliant white. She carries a chain pocket watch of such vibrant gold that its shine is "that of a miniature star!" She amicably introduces herself as Temporace. She informs the farmer that she is the highest of the Goddesses because of her remarkable invention. Temporace, a very very long time ago, created time. Her invention had a dramatic effect on the world, causing a massive rupture of materials to burst into existence. Temporace explains that everything that is in Nathanial's world is a result of her invention, since all other goddesses must use her work to create their own. Stars, planets, galaxies, and life are all byproducts of Temporace's work:

 

For you see, dear Nathaniel Durant, everything that you see around you

could not be if time did not allow it. For anything to be, all you need is a

very simple thing: a little time.

-Temporace, in Nathaniel's Third Diary Entry

 

She goes onto explain her concerns that Nathaniel now knows the truth, and seeks to find a solution from the farmer revealing to the world their intelligent designers. Nathanial tells her that he will keep silent if she, Temporace, will answer some questions about reality. Temporace hesitates, then agrees, with one stipulation: Nathaniel will not be able to speak what he knows.

 

Whenever you shall try to share the wonders that you

have learned, your tongue will betray you,

unable to articulate the secrets within.

-Temporace, in Nathaniel's Third Diary Entry

 

Nathaniel agrees to this, shaking hands with the Goddess Temporace. He is given a day to prepare his questions.

The next bundle of pages were Nathanial's fourth diary entry. In it, he records the dialogue that he had with the Goddess of Time. Nathaniel asks Temporace a variety of questions. His first question is about the Bible and the religions of the worlds. Temporace replies that she knows no divine claim in the holy books of the humans that she would regard as true. In fact, she finds them ridiculous.

 

The very notion of any Goddess or God demanding

worship and prayer is one that is highly absurd. What purpose

does it serve me to have a simple creature surrender itself

to me? What good does it do to answer the prayer of a people?

Answer too many and they grow dependent, ask to little

and we are uncaring. Even taking a light approach is futile

as selective answering is a sign of toying.

Temporace, in Nathaniel's Fourth Diary Entry

 

Nathaniel then asks about suffering in the world. Temporace replies that while her invention (time) is the most beautiful thing, she regrets that she "cannot deny that it is the cause, the creator, of so many horrible things in the world." She says that time creates all things, good and bad, productive or destructive. It is this imbalance that causes the suffering. Nathaniel notes this contradiction and accuses Temporace of not being all powerful, too weak to stop the effects of time. Temporace replies that tampering extensively with time could cause it to collapse on itself, thus destroying the universe that she created. She then brushes aside the "all perfect" aspect of divine beings, saying "No being could claim to be virtuous if it was perfect and made no mistakes." Nathaniel then accuses her of not being all good for allowing suffering. Temporace responds:

 

How can one be "all good" and do the right thing? If I were

to intervene and save multitudes of men then your planet would overrun itself.

If we were to intervene with the natural functions that occur, such as the movement 

of the lands across the seas, then the Earth would cease to function. In order

for things to continue through time is that some will be subject to suffer.

I concede that, perhaps, that I am not benevolent in the sense that

I do not stop all suffering, but hear me when I say that I, nor Agria nor

any other goddess, do not allow the suffering without the greatest sorrow.

Temporace, in Nathaniel's Fourth Diary Entry

 

Nathaniel then asks about morality. Agria answers this one. She explains that when she discovered that she might be able to create creatures that resemble the goddesses by using material from monkeys, she labored to increase their intelligence. She reveals that the goddesses have been impressed and pleased with the behavior of the humans. Temporace says any creature that could find morality without being told what it was are truly virtuous. However, she and Agria acknowledge that human behavior is corrupt and that they are evil as well as good.

 

Nathaniel then asks the Goddess of Time her opinion about the claims of atheists who say that there is no god. Temporace answers:

 

The non-believer is a God's best ally and creation.

For what creator wants her creation not to think for themselves,

look onto themselves with sympathy and care,

and help maintain the well being of the world they were created in?

Temporace, in Nathaniel's Fourth Diary Entry

Nathaniel's final question is about the fate of human life. Agria sadly explains that the time that was used to create the Earth will eventually destroy it. She expresses concern that humans are not long for Earth:

 

My greatest fear is that my dear creations, my dear mortal humans,

will be the cause of their own undoing.

Agria, in Nathaniel's Fourth Diary Entry

 

She then goes on to explain that the sun will cause the ultimate end of the world. Agria reveals that she hopes that other goddesses will be able to replicate her work to create many more Earths in the future. Nathaniel runs out of questions, but is now terribly anxious to tell everyone what he knows. Temporace senses this and reminds the farmer of their deal. Nathaniel then tries to appeal that cursing him will violate his free will. Temporace hesitates, but then replies that it is for the best that she make an exception, lest the human race found out the truth about the creators. Temporace tells Nathanial that she fears that if mankind finds out about them, only chaos will arise as they try to find out if the creators are the God from the Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, Torah, etc. But, then, Agria suggests instead, since Nathaniel lives alone, that they take him with them back to the Mundus Exinaini. Temporace and Nathaniel agree to the idea, and Nathaniel is whisked out of the human world and becomes a sub-God below the Goddesses.

Nathaniel's mother, Ruth, however, after a police investigation of the matter, finds the journal of Nathaniel Durant, and reads it. She finds the material from the diaries to be so profound that she believes that her son must have communicated with a deity of some sort. She writes a "To Whom It May Concern Letter", which was also found in the box on Durant's front lawn. The letter shows a Christian woman, and therefore a skeptic of Durant's remarkable experience, rejecting her faith for what Durant's diary contained...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now, if a bible like that had existed, I probably would have some faith in faith.

 

 

Our job on this Earth, is to take care of each other. Something that we have ultimately failed at doing, hence why we are so miserable.


harleysportster
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Hey

Hey. I like that. A better story of creation than the Bible.


Weston Bortner
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Thanks, Harley. I call this

Thanks, Harley.

 

I call this "bible" the Opera Deae. Latin for "The Works of the Goddesses".

Our job on this Earth, is to take care of each other. Something that we have ultimately failed at doing, hence why we are so miserable.


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Omg. I love it! 

Omg. I love it! 

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


Weston Bortner
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Humorously, I'm considering

Humorously, I'm considering writing this a legitimate story. Kind of a more sophisticated Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Our job on this Earth, is to take care of each other. Something that we have ultimately failed at doing, hence why we are so miserable.


Answers in Gene...
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 Heathen! Apostate! 

 Heathen! Apostate!

 

Everyone knows that the jolly green giant is a dude!

 

Seriously, his name is Jim and the valley is LeSueur Minnesota.

 

Google it! I dare you!

NoMoreCrazyPeople wrote:
Never ever did I say enything about free, I said "free."

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Weston Bortner
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Answers in Gene Simmons

Answers in Gene Simmons wrote:

 Heathen! Apostate!

 

Everyone knows that the jolly green giant is a dude!

 

Seriously, his name is Jim and the valley is LeSueur Minnesota.

 

Google it! I dare you!

Did you just call Agria a dude!? How dare you! She is your creator and you will show her some RESPECT, damn it!!!

Our job on this Earth, is to take care of each other. Something that we have ultimately failed at doing, hence why we are so miserable.


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It's good as a fantasy or

It's good as a fantasy or magic-realism story, or just plain modern myth. It would clearly be better than any ancient holy book.

However, as it depends on the idea of faith, i.e. believing without good evidence, it is still ultimately prone to corruption and exploitation as one irrational Agrian (or whatever) argues with another irrational Agrian about some fine point of interpretation.

Since both parties, A and B, fundamentally disagree, and since they both rely on faith to resolve the conflict of opinion, the only results can be stalemate, one side dominating the other through force, or mutual destruction.

Any 'better bible' that I would actually consider endorsing would have to at minimum: a) Admit that it is completely fictional, not pretend it's real and mysteriously unfalsifiable, b) promote non-violent dialogue, reason, and evidence-based reasoning as being probably the best way to resolve conflicts of opinions, c) explicitly renounce 'faith' as a negative thing, not positive.

Its fictional message can nevertheless apply to the real world if it provides tools (such as logic and science) which can be independently tested and verified.

And it doesn't require lying about its fictional nature, just as we don't need to believe in Mr. Spock and the Enterprise in order to get some rather quite meaningful messages out of a fictional story.

We don't need to embrace full-on belief to gain these benefits. It is enough to temporarily immerse ourselves in suspension of disbelief such as when we read a novel or watch a movie.

I have a somewhat similar story idea which I'm planning on eventually doing, and I'm going to try this method:

-- Guy receives technologically generated message (a 'vision') from a character in a 'potential future'. (In the story, the message is actually a real message, sent from a real future.)

-- Due to the limits of physics, quantum theory, and thermodynamics, no *actual* information can be transmitted into the past from the future (no *actual* time-travel, even of a simple message).

-- The guy realizes that this 'message from the future' is 100% indistinguishable from a temporal lobe seizure which sparked his imagination to make him believe the experience was real.

-- Accepting that he cannot legitimately claim that the message is authentic (reasoning based on what he learns during the vision), he decides to write the story as a fictional story (about a guy who receives a vision from the future, etc. etc.) and decides never to claim that it is an actual true message, only his own speculations about possible futures he imagines.

-- Over time, he admits to himself that he does not actually have good reasons to believe that it's a real message (even though, technically according to MY fictional timeline, it really was real).

-- So, he does the right thing and admits his ignorance, even to himself.

-- And yet, he still finds value in the message, as a story warning of a potential future catastrophe.

-- Since, again, there is no actual time travel, there is no actual possibility of time travel paradoxes either. By sending a true message into the past, the 'potential future' has effectively ceased to exist as an actual potential future (in other words, if you can perfectly predict the future, you can perfectly avoid it, too, and so no predicted future can ever actually turn out to be 100% the same as the prediction itself).

-- So, the guy is left with exactly the situation we find ourselves in today (as imaginers of possible futures). Our visions of the future can seem real and good, but we have no guarantee that we're correct, and so we must resort to challenging our own assumptions, testing our guesses, and essentially using science to strive for those good futures we can imagine, while avoiding those bad futures we can imagine.

Basically, it's a get-out-of-jail-free card for writing modern myth (in the form of science fiction), without having to pretend that I'll get anything even close to an accurate prediction. But at the same time, I can write mythical tales about the possible good and bad futures, as they suit my needs as a writer. It's an anti-bible prophecy: This might happen! (But it might not, and in fact, I'm not even sure it will be anywhere close to the mark; but it makes sense to me, so you might want to take a listen. Oh and by the way, anyone who takes this as an actual prophecy is a moron.)

Faith is not praised in any way. In fact, it's explicitly rejected (repeatedly, in the stories embedded in the 'message from the future'). The message is: The imagination is a wonderful thing, and can even help us make the world a better place in the real future, as long as we don't pretend we have god-like prophetic abilities, and regularly perform sanity checks on our own beliefs.

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Weston Bortner
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The real reason I would

The real reason I would write this 'bible' is to make a fake religion and then, as a joke, make apologists for it and argue with the real religions. I would do this to show real fundamentalists just how hard they're working to defend something that is completely ridiculous.

Our job on this Earth, is to take care of each other. Something that we have ultimately failed at doing, hence why we are so miserable.


Wonderist
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Ah, I see. You were

Ah, I see. You were literally meaning it's a more sophisticated FSM religion. In that case, sounds great! I love the FSM as a concept for refuting religion, and I also enjoyed the mechanism (rip in the universe) and the characters of the goddesses in your story.

Have you ever read Roger Zelazny? You would probably get a kick out of his Lord of Light.

Also, I recently read a kind of alternate history that throws Abrahamic religion on its head (and, actually, Hindu and Buddhist as well): Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

Neither of these are precisely what you're attempting here, but the characters of the gods/heroes are 'down to earth' so to speak, as your goddesses are.

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