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by Sean O'Leary.
True Scripture version of the Book of Exodus is online at Amazon (KIndle), Barnes & Noble and dozens of other international e-book platforms.
In popular culture and for casual Christians, the Book of Exodus is best known as the rollicking saga of the ten plagues, the Red Sea crossing and escape from Egypt. But there is far more to this astoundingly rich and complex piece of literature than the story line. Exodus is the seminal charter myth of Judaism. As such, it establishes the many cultural principles that define the Hebrew people and their relationship with their national deity. Indeed, even before the Passover, the Ten Commandments, the golden calf party and a fearsome divine extravaganza at Mt. Sinai, the reader has been given a clue concerning the metamorphosis of the ancient Canaanite god El into Yahweh, the personal god of the Israelites. The purpose of the True Scripture Series is to make the Bible easier to understand and enjoy for believers and non believers alike. Most people learn their Bible stories in Sunday School, confirmation class or weekly church service, which significantly limits the material to which they are exposed. While many take comfort in various inspirational passages, very few people indeed have read the entire book. In popular culture and for casual Christians, the Book of Exodus is best known as the rollicking saga of the ten plagues, the Red Sea crossing and escape from Egypt. But there is far more to this astoundingly rich and complex piece of literature than the story line. True Scripture condenses what is actually written in the Bible into concise* and entertaining prose, including all of the surprising, amusing and sometimes disturbing details found in the original. The format is based on three levels of scholarship so readers may drill down to whatever level of investigation they choose.
Kindle reader not required*. Link HERE to purchase.
Barnes and Noble (Nook reader not required). Link HERE to purchase.
Global distributor of digital content for libraries & schools. Link HERE to purchase.
Site offers free e-reader download. Link HERE to purchase.
The purpose of True Scripture is to make the Bible easier to understand and enjoy for believers and non believers alike. Most people learn their Bible stories in Sunday School, confirmation class or weekly church service, which significantly limits the material to which they are exposed. BUT NOT HERE!
Step back and think about this: YHWH creates this new species, humans, but is immediately disappointed in them. But who created them? It did. So he destroys most of them and starts over. But with the same species.
A couple of millennium or so later, he finds this Iraqi herder and choses him. He and his descendants become God's chosen people. But God is immediately disappointed in the chosen because they just won't listen. So he is constantly warning and threatening them. But who created them and who chose them? He did.
This is what you believe to be true: The Canaanite god El creates this very strange universe and then a new species. He gets aggravated and destroys most of them. At some point for no particular reason he identifies a morally challenged Arab and gives him land hundreds of miles away. He forgets about them for about 400 years. Then, God changes his name to YHWH, and sends a couple of million of them to Canaan, where they wipe out the indigenous inhabitants.
After a lot of unnecessary suffering, the descendants of the herder occupy the land and establish a small kingdom, which splits in two. Soon the kingdom is conquered by Assyrians and most of the chosen are deported forever. The remaining kingdom is conquered multiple times and eventually they are also deported. God sends them back to Jerusalem and they are conquered by Greeks and Romans. Then God forgets about them for a couple of hundred years.
Then God concludes that the only way to save humanity is to have one of his personalities impregnate a mortal woman so that her son can be tortured and killed. This happens and his son promises to return and straighten things out. Then nothing happens for a couple thousand more years. And that's where things stand now.
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