Between Us – From Generation to Generation
By Rev. Clyde Grubbs, November 7, 2024
All ancient religions were once new. Ancient innovators of those once-new religions borrowed ideas from even older religions, blending old ideas with new
ideas to create a new religion. Scholarly sleuthing exposes this ancient borrowing.
For instance, the ancient religion of the Jews, when that religion was new, borrowed ideas from even older religions in Sumeria, Akkadia, Babylon, Egypt, and Persia: the bible’s garden paradise, the forbidden tree, the ethics of the ten commandments, the baby set afloat in a basket upon a river, the world flood, afterlife beliefs, and more, were borrowed ideas. Some of these ideas were inscribed on the most ancient form of writing, cuneiform, thousands of years before the Bible was written.
As another example of borrowing, Christianity, when it was new, borrowed ideas from the older religion of the Jews and ideas from the religions of the Greeks and Romans. Borrowing is part of every religion’s story. However, only some know how much their religion has borrowed from others.
There are reasons for this lack of awareness.
First, borrowing happened so long ago that evidence is partial. Most ancient religions died, and time erased the ancient paths of connection between the dead religions and current living religions.
Second, religious authorities may reject the notion of borrowed ideas. A religion’s uniqueness and possibly legitimacy is at stake. No revealed religion acknowledges borrowed ideas from preexisting non-revealed religions.
Nowadays, religions segregate people into societies of specificity and keep them apart. Wouldn’t it be helpful to admit the connecting threads between religions, to cinch those strands together and acknowledge the debt one religion has to another?
Nothing ‘holy’ is wholly novel. Religion, like human life itself, is constantly evolving, continuously adapting to new social and historical challenges, and yet continuing ancient wisdom and practices from generation to generation. Join at least 15 other people who have come to the bible study I facilitate on the second Sundays of the month from 12:15-1:15PM to learn more. In November, we will meet on November 10th! Continue to read Genesis and Exodus in your bible version.