Would Doctor Who's Tardis (Time Machine) Cure Mankind of Christianity and other Religions?

by OnTheWayOut 24 Replies latest jw friends

  • OnTheWayOut
    OnTheWayOut

    ....or of any beliefs that require faith in an unseen God or gods?

    If humans could go back and see the primordial soup struck by lightning (or whatever it was that actually started it) and could personally observe that there were primitive man-like creatures that spread across the world coming out of Africa (or whatever really happened) and that there wasn't a Garden of Eden ever or a worldwide flood ever.... .....would that allow some of the most staunch believers to put aside their beliefs?

    If men could go back and look for Jesus and see what he really was (or was not or even if he was at all) and others could do the same for Abraham, Buddha and Confucious and Mohammad and Joseph Smith and C.T. Russell, etc. , would that allow them to see that these were just men (or not at all men) who were not what we thought they were?

    OR: would they just say it was all smoke and mirrors?

  • tec
    tec

    OTWO - LOL - gotta love Doctor Who. I think this is an extremely hypothetical question, and since no one really knows how they will react in a hypothetical situation, then the answers are only a guess... but I'll play.

    If humans could go back and see the primordial soup struck by lightning (or whatever it was that actually started it) and could personally observe that there were primitive man-like creatures that spread across the world coming out of Africa (or whatever really happened) and that there wasn't a Garden of Eden ever or a worldwide flood ever.... .....would that allow some of the most staunch believers to put aside their beliefs?

    I consider myself a staunch believer, but evolution or whatever scientific reasons that have been concluded about the development of the earth in no way conflicts with my belief in God as a creator. Science belongs to God. So whatever science says happened -and scientists are always learning new things- then that is the means God used to create. As for the Garden of Eden and the flood, etc - these could be real or allegory; it makes no difference to me. The message is what counts.

    If men could go back and look for Jesus and see what he really was (or was not or even if he was at all) and others could do the same for Abraham, Buddha and Confucious and Mohammad and Joseph Smith and C.T. Russell, etc. , would that allow them to see that these were just men (or not at all men) who were not what we thought they were?

    Assuming that things happened far differently than recorded? I think reactions to this time-travel thing would totally depend on the person - I think some would claim smoke and mirrors, and some would change their beliefs according to what was found. Others would hold their faith and wait for something to explain the discrepancy.

    Small changes from sight to the written word would not bother me in the least. I expect that this did happen, but without actually affecting the truth.

    On the other hand, OTWO, what if that time travel machine showed that everything written about Jesus is true? (or any of these other men) Would non-believers then claim smoke and mirrors themselves? Or would they follow the same pattern that I just outlined?

    Tammy

  • shamus100
    shamus100

    OTWO,

    No, no, nooooo!!!! You're one of those....

    NOOOOO!!!!!

  • yknot
    yknot

    I love Doctor Who....(kids watched pirated Matt Smith last night!)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________

    I don't think so....... only because you are working off the assumption you wouldn't find a 'Creator' in traveling back in time.......

    I would love for there to be a time machine in which humans to travel, love to have this put to bed once and for all.........

    Until they do, many will continue to choose faith...... many will continue to question.

    Both have equal value........it is good to have counter balances.

  • mindmelda
    mindmelda

    You're watching the wrong Scifi...LOL. Watch Battlestar Galactica and it's prequel Caprica, where a whole human universe where Christianity is unknow is explored. People are still finding stuff to kill and extort and be pretty nasty to each other over.

    Oh, they have religion...people have always had some kind of religion, Christianity is just one of the relatively newer expressions of it.

    You really need to read Joseph Campbells "The Power of Myth" or watch the PBS multi part presentation of it, if you haven't.

    Campbell, a professor of mythology discusses in depth why people need their myths...it's not because they're real, for crap's sake!

    Western culture and the Christian churches owe as much to Greek and Roman myth as they do to Jewish fairy tales! So, making Christianity or the Bible the only culprits here is a bit limited.

    Campbell reaches the conclusion that there is a lack of effective mythology and ritual in modern American society. He finds nothing that compares with the powerful puberty rituals of primitive societies, for example. It's his claim that the exclusion of classical studies from the modern educational syllabus has led to a lack of awareness of the mythological foundations of western society's heritage. This, combined with an increased materialism and emphasis on technology, has led to modern youth in New York, becoming alienated from the main stream of society and inventing their own morality, initiations and gangs.

    It's been suggested that science fiction, TV characters, sports stars and comic book heroes, cowboys, and more recently, cops and firemen, doctors have become the basis of mythology in our modern day. Star Wars and Star Trek have the central theme that all good religions or myths need...the hero's journey. We read the life of a hero and look to him as a pattern for our own lives and build a mythos around that figure. Christ is just one of many, really, but one that has dominated Western belief for some time.

    Maybe it's just time for new heroes and new gods...but we're kind of stuck with looking somewhere outside of ourselves for inspiration and spiritual fulfillment, it's apparently part of human psychological makeup.

    Reading this book and Campbells other ones changed my life, literally. I was able to put belief and religion in some sort of psychological, historical, personal and social perspective for the first time and see it for what it is and was.

    It's not all evil...it's not even all religion, it's just part of being human to want to believe in being part something bigger and more meaningful than everyday mundane existence.

    That doesn't mean it has to be real at all...in fact, knowing that it isn't is probably a lot healthier!

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    I have thought of the hilarious expression on Russell's face if he were brought to the 20th century and see that things are continuing as they ever have, with his precious 19th century events long forgotten by most people, and him seeing how his WTB&TS has transmorgified into the organization it is today. Rutherford I think would be nonplussed; I doubt he believed his drivel as much as his followers did.

    BTW, I am loooving this new series of Doctor Who. I think Matt Smith is totally brilliant as the Doctor (after so disliking him initially; my cousin and I call him the "foot doctor" because he's so ugly compared to Tennant) and I like Amy Pond too. The last episode had some problems but both are stronger than the average RTD-era episode. I've tuned my sister and my niece and nephew onto Doctor Who too, and I am mailing them episodes as soon as they air.

    The new theme music sucks tho.

  • shamus100
    shamus100

    Watch Battlestar Galactica and it's prequel Caprica

    NOOOOOOO!

    I'm never talking to you guys again. No more monkey kisses. You're on the list...

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    shamus....You'd love to learn that I did once a literary (intertextuality) analysis of common motifs shared between episodes in Series 1 and 2 of Doctor Who. I never posted it anywhere on the net tho. I just shared it with fellow linguist Whovian geeks like meself.

  • garyneal
    garyneal

    I've pondered that question myself, OTWO. Here's another one, what if an alien came to our planet and explained everything about our origins. Perhaps even going as far as explaining how Christ came to be and what he did. Perhaps they can produce Him saying He's one of them.

    Well, we all know what will happen, right?

    Some will believe and adjust their beliefs accordingly.

    Some will think, "We were right all along." (The Jesus is an alien crowd comes to mind.)

    Diehard fundamentalist will decry it as all false and speak vehemetely against the aliens.

    Militant fundamentalist will probably try to assasinate the alien(s).

    People who were never Christians will either be perplexed or think that it is all a hoax conjured up by the alien(s) or by the government.

    To your question, I don't know but I think people will redefine their beliefs, reinterpret them in some way. Sure many will abandon and some will stubbornly deny the evidence or even explain it away much like they do now.

  • mindmelda
    mindmelda

    Shamus...here's a version of Star Wars you might actually enjoy!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiRExOMOoKg

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