I am writing from a place that is a long way from the halls of fame. Working through two video clips, "the god delusion" and "the virus of faith" Eminent scientist Richard Dawkins produced the clips several years ago. There has been some reviews done on
THE FORBIDDEN INSTRUCTION BOOK
By Neil RidingTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Neil Riding
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-4506-7Contents
Preface..............................................viiChapter 1. The Work Begins...........................1Chapter 2. Mary Sleeps...............................3Chapter 3. The Earth Became Void.....................6Chapter 4. Go One Further............................13Chapter 5. Segregation...............................15Chapter 6. The Dark Places...........................18Chapter 7. Murder....................................22Chapter 8. Windows...................................25Chapter 9. The Rest..................................27Chapter 10. Ephraim and Manasseh.....................33Chapter 11. 'Sandy Claws'............................38Chapter 12. 'Ishtah'.................................41Chapter 13. The Paths of the Sea.....................46Chapter 14. The Cycle Ends...........................49The Book.............................................55Boot 'em Out!........................................65
Chapter One
THE WORK BEGINS
At the beginning of his work, Richard Dawkins introduces the theme of—the elephant in the room—yet this is easily missed. It's easy to pass-by those words without even noticing; perhaps in part due to the way we process information. For me, the elephant in the room becomes apparent after a second look. He then continues on with; "in Britain our government wants to restrict our freedom to criticize religion. Science, we are told should not tread on the toes of theology, but why should scientists tip toe respectfully away? The time has come for people of reason to say; enough is enough, religious faith discourages independent thought, it's divisive and dangerous."
After the brief introduction—the title page, then the main story begins, with the mysterious world of religion. "If you want to experience the medieval rituals of faith, the candlelight, incense, music, important-sounding dead languages—nobody does it better than the Catholics. And if we can retain our faith against the evidence, in the teeth of reality, the more virtuous we are."
Now is the opportunity for someone to say, "We should all take a look at (their) Book, to see where it actually stands on these strange practices and medieval rituals." I commence with our world's well-known and much loved, annual tree-ceremony.
Starting with Jeremiah: Chapter 10 and verse 2. "Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the (signs of heaven); for the heathen are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, (with the axe). They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it; that it move not." (KJV)
This is describing one of the ancient pagan customs, a ritual that was around before the modern churches and was later adopted by them. Disguised as their "most popular holiday" the tree-ceremony is still practiced each year by the faithful followers (and non-followers alike). The "signs in the heavens"—that were frightening the superstitious—were in fact the onset of the winter solstice, (the shortening of the hours; of sunlight). In their mind something needed to be done, to bring back the sun, and make their world safe from harm. The Instruction Book clearly informs the church and the devoted followers that such practices are worthless. This "Tree Ceremony" also includes a "shadycharacter" who hangs around shopping malls each year. (He appears again in one of the concluding chapters).
Chapter Two
MARY SLEEPS
The following section of the video takes a look at the wonder associated with Mary. The video goes on to show the faithful followers gathering (at a "religious" site). (4:42) "Daylight reveals more of this shrine, where a myth is perpetuated that a virgin who gave birth, (Christ's mother Mary), appeared here, once, to an impressionable young girl. The faithful make the pilgrimage here because they believe that terrible afflictions can be cured, by dragging their poor bodies up to a pool of water, (where Mary made her miraculous appearance)." Then follows; "Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakeable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time. Catholics believe that Mary was so important that she didn't physically die, instead, her body shot-off into heaven when her life came to a natural end, of course there's no evidence for this."
Here we arrive at his most important point—and the very thing that most people would overlook. These words should grab your attention. This is the part where he points out to viewers that there is a huge discrepancy between The Book, (which the religions claim to follow), and their actual religious beliefs! "Even the bible says nothing about the way Mary died. The belief that her body was lifted into heaven emerged after the bible was completed. Made up, like any tale and spread by word of mouth, but it became established tradition." He then goes on to explain how that tradition became a decree that Roman Catholics must now believe. To consider this, the following questions might be asked.
Was Mary a vital part of their religion? Did Mary float on up to heaven when she died? Is it appropriate to pray to Mary as a mediator?
The Book provides some simple answers (as follows). Bear in mind, what is recorded in the Book cannot be later removed or disregarded, cannot be `back dated' to suit some man-made ideal.
Acts: 1:14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers (KJV)—In this verse we see that they weren't praying to Mary, she was their equal. Also—Matthew: 2:11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped—Him. (KJV).
Job 14:10. But man dies, and wastes away: man gives up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decays and dries up: So man lies down, and rises not: they shall not awake, (not raised out of their sleep). This statement from the past leaves no doubt. Also; (future)—I Thessalonians 4:16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (KJV).
Also; 1 Corinthians 15:22; For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
From these quotes it's easy to see that Mary would be better-off sleeping, like all the others, rather than ending up in the wrong-place, at the wrong time!
I Timothy 2:5; for; there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind (KJV). If the Book claims a total of one mediator then what can they do. How can they make that sentence go away?
Almost everyone has heard of "The Lord's Prayer." In the first few verses it plainly states the words "on earth" (as it is in heaven). The original Mary loved to read the book; she would have known that verse. Hoping to see God's kingdom, "on earth;" (at some future time). Mary would not have wanted to be floating around in space, or in some other dimension if she was praying; "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, `on earth.'"
Another serious problem (for the truth) is the timing of the events. We can see that there was a time when there was nothing special about Mary; then a time when she was believed to have floated on up to heaven; then a time when that news became "official." So, would you please consider the (imaginary) conversation between (the then) self-made pope and the author of the original Book—Something like this perhaps; "Well we sort of told everyone; that you will forget all that `sleep in the dust' stuff, and go dig up Mary's bones and have her floated-on-up-to-heaven. Oh, by the way, could you back-date the float-on-up-to-heaven part of the process (to suit the fairy story we made up)."
If we can get past such obvious nonsense (from the church) and accept the idea that Mary sleeps to this day; then the question arises, "Who is this Catholic—Mary?" or "Where did she come from?"
Chapter Three
THE EARTH BECAME VOID
The next section (of Dawkins' work) focuses on the age of the earth itself. Comparing religious beliefs with accepted science; such as the fossil record. You might be inclined to see this as simply another `advertisement for evolution'. Please think back to the introduction, this work is not about promoting `the theory of evolution'; it's about `the elephant in the room' (false religion). Another point I would like to make, is that evolution is not under any threat from religion, none whatsoever, as you can see from the following quote. "Even if all the data point to a designer, such an hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not naturalistic." [Todd S.C. (6752): 423, 30th Sept. 1999].
The point being made (by Dawkins) is that, the religions of this world promote the idea of a `young earth'—an impossible place created instantly—and only a few thousand years ago, which of course flies in the face of scientific evidence. Dawkins points out that the fundamental religionists believe that the book of Genesis describes a designer—who fashioned the earth in just six days. I hope the reader will easily see that this religious theme is just another counterfeit.
To complete this chapter properly, I would need to commence with a great deal of material taken from different sections of the Book, (here a little—there a little, as instructed). I would also need to delve into various definitions of words and phrases, however with that approach you may lose interest. For the benefit of the reader I have taken a step back from the detail, to give a plain statement of what the first verses actually portray. I have then taken another step back to give the all–important timing of these events.
You should consider that the earlier versions of the Book (before the translation to English), would have been much more obvious in their meaning, certain words and meanings were `lost in translation.' The workers already had a world-view; (they `knew' what it was all about), and they would have been under pressure to `get-it-right,' (whatever `right' may happen to be). In some cases getting it right was the very thing that led to errors. An example of unwanted changes comes from the NIV® text, where in two places the word "eagles" was changed to "vultures," perhaps because it was near the word carcass (actually body), however the original word is eagles, the translation was reviewed by fifty scholars and still these errors remain. When you read on from the word eagles, a few verses later in Matthew, the reason for the use of eagles becomes obvious. In Luke, if you read the earlier section you can see that, He was talking about `one being taken and the other left.' Then He was asked; "where." In the answer given, the Hebrew word (soma) was used; def: "the body" (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application. Properly translated the verse in Luke 17; is plain "where the whole body of living humans are gathered the eagles will also gather." see: Matthew; 24:28, Luke: 17:37. Note; the word "eagles" appears more than thirty times throughout the Book.
The first verse (page one of Genesis) and the second verse are about two different eras. Neither of them refers to the beginning of time (the big bang). If you would like to understand more about the beginning of time; I can recommend "A brief history of time" by Stephen Hawking, it's a terrific story (and easy to follow).
The first verse refers to an era that began approx. Three billion years ago! The second verse refers to another era that began only six thousand years ago. You may be thinking—"how on earth could he work that out?" Well I say to you, read the information I have provided and then think—"how on earth could it mean anything else?"
Verse one: The beginning of generating an atmosphere for the first time. (See note about "shawmayim" the arch in which the clouds move).
Verse two: A time much later when the earth had decayed into a state of chaos, covered by an atmosphere (that was fouled); and spinning out of control, a time when the whole earth was covered in darkness.
The book doesn't say, verse one—then a gap of three billion years—then verse two, however, getting these two verses right is the only way the rest of the book can possibly make sense. There is much more to be explained. Try to keep in mind at this point that I am not trying to prove that the Book is some kind of science text-book, it is not. I am simply trying to show that anyone who takes a simple approach—without any preconceived ideas—can find a different meaning to what they have been told; (for all those years).
The key to verse one is found by looking up the original Hebrew word for 'the heavens' shamayim {shaw-mah'-yim}'dual' of an unused `singular' shameh {shaw-meh'}; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve). Popular opinion has all people from BC labeled as "flat-earth" people; yet the Hebrew language envisaged `a higher ether' as well as revolving celestial bodies.
For verse two, the key to understanding rests with simple words like "was" and "void" and so on. I'll start with void (because that's the easy one). Many readers over the years have assumed that `void' meant nonexistent, but you can see that it really means `used-up.' One example of this would be the old thick-cardboard railway tickets that were used for country rail travel. When you reached the final destination an attendant would punch-out the word `VOID,' (so that it couldn't be used again). As you can see, that did not mean that the ticket had not existed in the past, merely that it was now unusable! Now for the slightly more difficult "was", The Hebrew word used is "hayah {haw-yaw}" to exist, i.e. to become or come to pass. So if we show the verse differently (using original meaning) we see, `and the earth became'—in place of—`and the earth was,' very little effort is required to make sense of the original text as it was intended.
Now for slightly more difficult—And `the spirit of God' moved upon the face of the waters. Well what exactly is "the spirit of God." In this case it is simply referring to a being or `something' that moves along—like a `probe' or a `messenger craft,' Humans will send probes to the moon to check the shape of the moon surface, in particular to find out if one `side' of the moon is flattened. Humans have sent a `messenger craft' to the planet Mercury, (to take photos); posted on NASA's `Messenger' web site. So as you can see, something "moving upon the face of the waters" may have seemed a bit far-fetched (to previous generations), by today's standards however; with a steady diet of science-fiction movies combined with real images from space; a being or craft from another dimension is not that hard to contemplate.
There must be more evidence to show that the first verse describes a different `era' from the rest of page one. Understanding the remainder of page one hinges on a simple use of the word `after' so it should be easy, but first some obvious differences between the two eras. The start of the book of John goes back even further (before verse one) so that's a good place to begin the explanation. John also explains that there were two beings, which should be a wake-up for those learning about a triune; or a `trinity' of beings. John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God; all-things were made by Him; and without him was not anything made (KJV) Now those few sentences can cause some confusion, but it doesn't have to. The name used is a family name. For example suppose a man's surname was Smith and his son's name was Bill Smith and the two of them designed and built a device; (while working together as a family). You would be able to say—"At the beginning (of the project); was Bill; and Bill was with Smith; and Bill was Smith; and he was with Smith from the beginning.
For two beings to design and release a three dimensional universe they would need to already have existed in another dimension, (perhaps the fifth or sixth dimension). We may contemplate (but never actually see); the second dimension, and since we have dibs on the third and fourth; (i.e. we do `time' calculations on the movement of stars). In other words; they would have already existed in a place where time (as we know it) was not that critical, (mainly because it hadn't started yet).
Now; for some detail about verse one. The following is a question asked of a man named Job, it seems at first to be confusing; and even a tad far-fetched, until someone is willing to apply some critical thinking. Job 38:5. Question; "Who hath laid the measures thereof, if you know? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (KJV). This is a question put to Job in a language that he could understand, but Job knew it was not about a building site. It was in fact a question about the earth itself. Now the last part of the question doesn't seem to mean much, and yet there are three critical points to consider.
These `stars' or `angels' (millions of them) were individually created beings, (not male or female like Man-kind), and they were already in existence before the earth was made.
They were all happy and in a state of co-operation, so there was no deception at that time, no liars.
The earth must have been a finished product and must have been pleasing to look at, so they would all shout for joy. In short, the earth must have been made beautiful and ready to occupy, (not at all like the one described in verse two-which was billions of years later.)
(Continues...)
Excerpted from THE FORBIDDEN INSTRUCTION BOOKby Neil Riding Copyright © 2012 by Neil Riding. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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