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Dec. 28, 2005 There is no faith that is able to move mountains, whether from God or from another source. The only way to cast a mountain into the sea would consist in awesome earthmoving procedures that, at the present time, would hardly be worth the while. If the Himalayas, the Andes or the Rockies, largely useless natural formations, could be demolished and hauled away, perhaps millions of square miles of arable land would be made available to feed hungry people. So the ability to move mountains would definitely be beneficial if it were feasible. I covered the monumental labors involved in moving a mountain in an article I posted on November 30, 2005, and although the mood of the article was faintly jocular, its arguments are quite valid. http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/nov/article410.html I simply cannot understand why so many Christians that I have met in the past few decades always get around to the subject of the faith that can move mountains, when no Christian that I have ever met has been capable of moving even a tiny clod of earth through sheer faith. The only thing a Christian can do to move a clod of earth is to do the same thing a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu or anyone else might do. He may reach down and pick it up or he may kick it, but in no way will he be able to command that clod to cast itself into the sea and have the clod obey. So why would he say that faith can move mountains? The completely erroneous notion that faith can move mountains probably started with the idle promises of the Gospel According to St. Matthew, Chapter 21, Verse 21. The faith that moves mountains didn’t come from anywhere, because it doesn’t exist. The false claim that faith can move mountains came from the Gospels. There’s a difference. The fact of the matter is that the authorship of the so-called Gospel According to St. Matthew is unknown. The name of Matthew was added in the late second century to an otherwise anonymous text of the late first century. How can anyone possibly surmise that it is the word of God without even knowing its provenance? Many books in existence around the world claim to be the word of God. Why should the Gospels be accorded the honor of being regarded as the only true word of God? Considering the Gospels divinely inspired is merely a matter of submitting to the traditions and peer-pressure of communities dominated by Christians. When the average Christian approaches the Bible, he thinks he knows, even before he reads the first page, that what he is about to read is the word of God, infallible and inerrant. He thinks this only because he has been told as much time and time again, by parents, friends, relatives and teachers, and because he has read it in magazines and newspapers and heard it on television and radio. Were he to read it without advance coaching from any of these voices of authority, while reading texts of other religions as well, for comparison, he might come to entirely different conclusions as to which was the true word of God, or, if he had a head on his shoulders, he might realize that all religions are a mere mishmash of legends, sermonizing and speechifying, with little true merit. It would be far better to read a book on electronics, computer technology, anatomy, chemistry or physics. Then he might learn something worth knowing. The mere fact that millions want to continue with the same old legends, sermons and speeches doesn’t make them true. It only reflects woefully upon the intelligence of the millions. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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