'Whose Bible Is It?" the title of the book that caught my fancy as i was rummaging through Lee Khai's book collection for something to read about the Bible and i could not have found a better work. Two thirds of my way through the book I have come to a good understanding of the History of the Bible from its beginnings. I might have mentioned earlier that i have decided to join a Bible Study Fellowship group of which Lee Khai is a very active participant. My intention is to understand all i can about the Bible and Christianity as a whole with deeper conviction as a student. I have decided to make it my next religion for my studies just as thoroughly as i did Buddhism.
my intention is also to have the right understanding of the relationship of the three religions of the 'Book' which includes Judaism, Christianity and Islam, where they meet and where they separate. It is no doubt in my mind that all three are of one root and that the Lord they worship is One and He is the Lord of their forefathers Abraham. It is with the hope that with a better understanding of Christianity I can have a better intuition in to the problems that has been plaguing these religions throughout history pitting one against another at the cost of untold human sacrifices and all in the name of the The one God. It is my responsibility as a thinking person with all the materials at my disposal to continue to dig into the soil of religious conflicts and in my own way help to bring the mergence of the differences that has caused these conflicts.
Raised as a Muslim I have been made to believe that Jesus was never crucifiedied on the cross and that the whole idea of the Holy Trinity as practiced by the Christians will always be the major concept that Muslims will never accept; Isa Alai i Salam was one of the Prophets of Allah. These are to me the two major differences that has made the two religions of Islam and Christianity to deviate from one another. To fully comprehend the truth one has to dig deep into history and study the scriptures. My approach towards these studies as I did of Islam and Buddhism is to be detached from making any judgment or bias towards one over another, but to purely come to my own enlightenment as the final thesis. After all what else is there to do in my old age? I can at least find something to write about. Keep my mind a little more occupied with something more worthy than watching Korean Drama Series on Youtube.
One of the questions that keeps haunting my mind as I read the Book written by Jaroslav Pelikan, Whose Bible is it has not thus mentioned anything about the word 'God' itself, like where does it originates from. Did Jesus who I understand converses in Aramaic ever used the word God or is it a later usage picked from some other root words of Grecko- Roman languages?
"The English word God continues the Old English God (guþ, gudis in Gothic, gud in modern Scandinavian, God in Dutch, and Gott in modern German), which is thought to derive from Proto-Germanic *ǥuđán.
Obsolete etymologies[edit]In 19th century scholarship, there were a number of alternative etymologies suggested. Morgan Peter Kavenaugh in The Origin of Language and Myths claimed that the word god was taken from the Buddha's patriarchal name of Gotama. John Campbell connected further theonyms, "I have shown elsewhere that the English word God, the German Gott, the Persian Khoda and the Hindustani Khuda are all derived from the same root as that which appears in Celtic Aeddon or Guydion, the Germanin Odin, Woden or Goutan and the Indian Buddha or Gotama."[2] The Reverend Henry Scadding D.D. and Henry Le Mesurier in his book Mer-cur-ius, or The Word Maker, also connected Lombard Guodan to Gotama Buddha.[3] The connection of Gwydion with Wotan (but not with god) is due to Jacob Grimm."
Wikipaedia.
You can do your own research on this, which actually is a very crucial element in the understanding of Christianity as far as I am concern...Oh my God! One seldom say, Oh my Elohim! Oh my Lord more likely. But the Muslim will only say Ya Allah! From the day he was born till the day he dies there is only One word, Allah! When you let out your final breath they say, you extol Allaaah! as the final sound of the last breath leaving your body whether you realize it or not. This surrendering you will to Him and you are no more, to be aware of this happening at the time and hour of its happening, to die with complete awareness of surrendering oneself to His will is the ultimate sacrifice one makes to Him. "Innalillah hi wa'inna lillah hi rajiun'" Form Thee i come to Thee I return, my Lord!.
When I was practicing Zen at the monastery in California I often wondered these questions about life after death or what really happens at the moment of death/ What happens to the brain, all the filed up information's, experiences, dreams and so forth when I am not more in control of my faculties? Am I fortunate if they put me under due to to some medical excuses and I die without the knowledge of it happening? Or would i be fortunate if i were to be rammed by a semi truck at a junction on Highway 666 ending my life instantly, no time to reflect or be frightened. Who do I call out to? My mother, my father! Never eally got to know them up close and personal and what about my Teachers and Gurus and Roshis, most I saw had their own to deal with. The Buddha?! Which one? Is there any? Are you not a Buddha? You are grasping, let go of the Buddha...I pray that my last breath be Allaaah hu Akhbar...The Lord is Great!
For the Christians my limited mind would say that it is believed that at the time of death a host of Angels would come to assit you towards the Light (of the LOrd).Or the devil with the pitchfork would be standing by grinning a welcome grin if you have been an unrepentant sinner in your life. Hard to say these things only the Good Lord knows what really lay in store for each of us when it is time to say farewell. By understanding the workings of the mind, by getting to really know who you are, (not as who you think you are), you can better learn how to die. To not be awaken at the moment of death is a waste of life itself. But what i am trying to say is when we have too many images and forms give to that which hold as One, then we have a problem of making choices even at the moment of death. Would Jesus be there and would he look like Willem Da Foe or Charleston Heston with a friendly smile saying, " Welcome to my Father's Home," we should be lucky.
"Oh my God, Oh my God!" Mahatma Ghandi uttered when he was shot six times at close range, he utteres it in Hindi, " O Ram! O Ram!" To the Mahatma, Ram is God, Ram is Allah! Ghandi lived life by the Bagavad Gita but he studied and practiced other religions. 'God is like water, no matter how you choose to drink it, as wine or water out of a golden goblet or a coconut shell, it is still water.'
Have you ever heard of the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead?' Now there is another perspective on images and death. Hindus they say has the most numbers of Gods and Deitites in their pantheon of Gods, who do you call in your moment of death? And for one who has been searching for an answer all these years exposed to all these religions and their images and forms what is to become of me at the end of the day? Will i be lost in a limbo of thoughts and images grasping from one to another for fear of the impending unknown while not forgetting the physical fear itself.
I got carried away sometimes when I write about religions ans such especially on the subject of death, but it has taken me into the evening. I borrowed a car to drive to Kuala Terengganu and thus far cannot find a ride to a wedding of one of the staff at MGTF. tomorrow, dont look like I can make it.
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