Where did gods come from? An ancient thought experiment: 15Imagine a father overcome with grief at the untimely death of his child. In his grief, he makes an image of the child. The person who was once a corpse he now honors as a god. He passes it on to those under his authority, along with certain mysteries and special ceremonies. 16As time goes by, his godless custom becomes tradition. Eventually, his custom becomes law, and rulers order the people to worship these carved images. 17These rulers, moreover, lived far away from most of their subjects. So because the people couldnt pay their respects in person, they imagined what the ruler looked like and made an image of their honored leader. By their diligent efforts, they were thus still able to shower the king with their flattery. 18But the artists desire to be recognized for his work also incited the fools to an ever greater intensity of worship. 19Perhaps out of a desire to please the person in power, the artist makes the most of his artistic skill to fashion an even more beautiful and perfect image. 20The masses, charmed by the objects workmanship, now begin to consider the object worthy of their worship, where not long before they had only honored the person as a human being. (Wisdom of Solomon 14:15-19. Common English Bible, Kindle Edition)
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:56:57 +0000
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