Christ

A much needed release...

Jeremy Brayton — Sun, 30 May 2004 17:37:00 GMT

This is another Christian/religious post. It's written for my benefit only but if you get something out of it, good. I'm going to start using descriptions to mask the long content rather than try to keep the Christian posts separate. It's way too much work to do all of the stuff I was doing, so hopefully I won't piss anyone off by doing it this way.

The Bible through the eyes of a...

Jeremy Brayton — Wed, 26 May 2004 18:21:00 GMT

I started a series of posts I'm placing in the Christ category. I will not syndicate these posts or put them anywhere on the main site. Why? I don't want to feel like I'm forcing you to read it. This way, you can enact free will and choose to read it for yourself.It's not much but it's a start that I plan on keeping up with. I've been brewing over these ideas for a while, so be sure that I'll produce a lot more when time permits.

If you would like to read the premise as well as the 1st installment, you can start here: http://geekswithblogs.net/jbrayton/archive/2004/05/26/5402.aspx

The Bible through the eyes of a Programmer: Part 1

Jeremy Brayton — Wed, 26 May 2004 15:56:00 GMT

I originally thought this idea might be a form of blasphemy. I mean who really needs someone to give them a basic understanding of the Bible in terms they can understand? Anyone can come up with these analogies and fit them into their own profession, so I'm not really doing anything spectacular or new.

I just happen to think that the reason the 1st century church was so impactive is that they told the Gospel in terms that people understood. If they were talking to a lawyer, they spoke in terms the lawyer could understand, the same for a doctor, peasant, Roman guard, etc.

This is an attempt to put the Bible in basic terms that any programmer living today could grasp. My logic is often flawed and this is by no means a substitution for the Bible.

Life
An Operating System. Version 1.0. It has a GUI as well as underlying components that no one sees. The GUI is the part of the OS that we all use. The GUI is basically everything we see, touch, smell, hear, taste, etc and everything that makes up the 'known' universe. There is also an API that humanity can use to access 'low level' functions. God designed the OS with us in mind and made certain provisions. One of the many provisions is that He has limited capability under normal circumstances. God can't just do anything He wants, He has to be 'invited' by us to participate (think Remote Assistance).

God
Architect. God made everything and designed it all. It is truly a perfect system with no flaws. There are no bugs in his work, period. Everything has a design and follows a function that God created.

Humanity
End Users. We are also small time programmers in the sense that we use the API to facilitate certain functions but in general we aren't programmers at all.

The Bible
User Manual and API Specification. I firmly believe that every word in the Bible is exactly what humanity needs to function in Life OS. If you have a question that isn't answered in the Bible, chances are that the answer really isn't something you need to function in life. The User Manual is written in simple terms so that everyone can have a basic understanding. It's not geared towards a particular group of people, but for humanity as a whole. The User Manual is not incredibly technical but it can get pretty specific at certain points particularly dealing with the API specs.

Prayer
This is basically use of the API of the Life OS. It isn't really the API itself but what us humans use to interact with low level functions of the Life OS. There is a correct way to use each API call as well as a wrong way. There isn't one general 'master' way of doing things, each individual API specification has to be handled in exactly the manner defined. The User Manual has clear specifications on how to effectively use the API yet many of us are still using it incorrectly.

This is a system that once it's in place, can't be tampered with. God has the ability to unmake everything but He doesn't. Why doesn't He? From my perspective, Life is a complete failure yet God still keeps it around for some reason. The reason is something I'll never know but if God hasn't unmade us yet, then something right must be happening.

There's a lot to life that I'll never quite grasp. There's a lot to life that I don't even want to know about and there's a ton of questions I have. I save those questions for when I die and I can ask God directly but for the time being they'll continue to be unanswered. I don't denounce my Christianity because of it, even though they are some pretty important questions. I just realize that there's a time and place for everything and that time and place is not now. It may not be ever, but it's definitely not now.

This is not a substitution and hopefully not even a supplement to the Bible. I've decided to share these ideas for the sole purpose of helping others help themselves. I get excited when I come up with really good analogies that help the Bible make sense and I know you will too once you start to understand it better. Hopefully these posts will help you in your studies and maybe help you understand that people of this world are different and there is no set way of communicating the Bible to them.

I leave you with perhaps my favorite Bible passage from perhaps my favorite writer Paul:

1st Corinthians 9 19-22

19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

The Bible through the eyes of a...

Jeremy Brayton — Wed, 26 May 2004 15:03:00 GMT

I've had this plaguing question that resonates with me. I don't remember when I first became aware of it, only that I continue to ask myself the question on a daily basis:

What were the 1st century church doing differently than we are now?

Their techniques were far different than ours are now. If you don't think so then you need to reread the Gospels and Acts. It's obviously clear that something was different then.

It could be the fact that the Romans held power and controlled practically everything everyone did then. They were the world power. They made the rules and everyone followed. I guess this was a very good brewing ground for Christianity to sprout it's roots.

The writers of the New Testament had no clue that any of their work would be published. They thought that the Pentateuch was sufficient to understand Christianity. Why? Because I don't hear accounts of them running to publish their work. In fact most of the New Testament wasn't included in the Bible until some 600 years later. There is a very good reason for this, but a reason you won't really hear about because I don't think anyone knows it for sure.

No one in this time period owned the Bible. If your family had a copy, you were very wealthy because the scrolls needed to print the Bible weren't cheap. It was a sort of status symbol that very few people actually owned. Also very few people actually knew how to read, so even if you were fortunate to get a copy you probably couldn't understand it.

How were the first church communicating the need for Jesus Christ? Through spoken word. These people literally went door to door but they weren't giving out Bibles. They weren't handing out fliers. These people were actually being let in the door and in most cases actually convinced the people that Jesus Christ was the answer. How did they sell this? They didn't. Jesus Christ isn't something you have to sell, nor can you market Christianity (yet companies actually are, go figure).

This still doesn't answer the question though. Honestly I can't give you the correct answer unless I built a time machine and saw it for myself. I can only speculate and with my speculations I am spawning a series of posts.

Why I'm doing this
I came to a conclusion that the Bible can be explained in a more clear manner by putting it in terms professions can understand. The Bible as it exists now is basically written for farmers, fishermen, etc. The analogies and parables often speak in words that any farmer (even today) can understand clearly. What about the other professions? Are we left out? No. You just have to dig deep to put the analogies into terms you understand.

This in no way will be a substitution for the Bible. There's nothing like reading the Bible and understanding exactly what's been said. This is an attempt to try to help you logically fit the pieces together. That way when you read scripture for yourself, you can twist the analogies into terms you can better understand. Once it clicks in your head, you'll be able to understand a lot more than just one verse. You'll then be able to read everything and understand it a lot more clearly and come to your own conclusions. I will never try to put thoughts in your head, only you can do that.

My first installment will be pretty simple because it's a profession I am in myself: Programmer/Coder.