Why do we place such importance on the writings of the ancients? What do they have to say that could possibly have relevance to life today? Why does it matter what people who have been dead for thousands of years believed about anything, let alone God or a Savior or how weather patterns worked?
Why are ancient philosophers more important than the philosophers of today?
The Ancients
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_Jason Bourne
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Re: The Ancients
harmony wrote:Why do we place such importance on the writings of the ancients? What do they have to say that could possibly have relevance to life today? Why does it matter what people who have been dead for thousands of years believed about anything, let alone God or a Savior or how weather patterns worked?
Why are ancient philosophers more important than the philosophers of today?
Harmony,
Are you having a faith crisis? First the thread about Jesus being a fraud and now this one.
Just curious.
Last edited by Lem on Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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_Gazelam
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Is this a serious question Harmony?
How can we place faith in a God that is inconsistant?
The same God that speaks to president Hinkley is the same God who spoke to Joseph Smith, is the same God who spoke to Peter, is the same God who spoke to Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Seth, and Adam.
It shows that the plan of salvation is the same, and if we accept their writings, we can put our faith in the modern prophets.
Also we can expect that if the ancients made contact with God, then we can as wel by following their example. And the funy thing is, it works. I know from personal experience.
Gaz
How can we place faith in a God that is inconsistant?
The same God that speaks to president Hinkley is the same God who spoke to Joseph Smith, is the same God who spoke to Peter, is the same God who spoke to Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Seth, and Adam.
It shows that the plan of salvation is the same, and if we accept their writings, we can put our faith in the modern prophets.
Also we can expect that if the ancients made contact with God, then we can as wel by following their example. And the funy thing is, it works. I know from personal experience.
Gaz
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato
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_Fortigurn
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Re: The Ancients
harmony wrote:Why do we place such importance on the writings of the ancients?
Too big a question. People place different importance on the writings of 'the ancients' for a wide variety of reasons.
What do they have to say that could possibly have relevance to life today?
I believe there's a lot there about raising children, personal relationships, penology, environmental sustainability and conservation, health and hygiene, and cosmology which is of value to us today. In fact on a number of those issues there's excellent instruction of the kind which modern society still hasn't managed to grasp.
Why does it matter what people who have been dead for thousands of years believed about anything, let alone God or a Savior or how weather patterns worked?
Why are ancient philosophers more important than the philosophers of today?
The issue you've overlooked is that it is believed these 'ancients' were in direct communication with God. That would make their writings of greater value than the writings of philosophers today.
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_Gazelam
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The issue you've overlooked is that it is believed these 'ancients' were in direct communication with God. That would make their writings of greater value than the writings of philosophers today.
Well stated.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato
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_harmony
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Why would you assume that the ancients I refered to were the ancient Jews? Why is the wisdom of ancient Eastern teachings less valuable? Or ancient Native Americans? Or ancient Muslims? Or any other ancient?
What can ancient man tell modern man, that modern man needs to rely on the ancients for their wisdom? Modern science has debunked several of the ancient myths (young earth, global flood, evolution of man) yet we still hold onto the myths, the stories. Thousands of years worth of myth still impact global policies, still cause wars, still shorten lives. Tales of an itinerant sheepherder that are thousands of years old are still allowed to influence justice and mercy.
The Jews were essentially given their reservation in 1949. We call it Isreal now. We supposedly were giving them back their native lands, yet we displaced thousands of people who lived there and who had lived there for a long time. We in the US stole hundreds of thousands of acres of lands owned by Native American Tribes, but we don't give it back now. What is the difference? That we accept the ancient myths of the Jews, but we don't accept the ancient myths of the NA Tribes? Injustice is injustice. If we displaced thousands of people to give ancient Isreal back to the Jews, why do we not hold ourselves to the same standard with NA tribes?
Why do we still hold onto the ancient myths, when we know that many of them were based on that which turned out to be false? When we know that many of them were based on the conditions of the time, not eternal principles? When we know that much of their wisdom was really ignorance of how the world really worked?
What can ancient man tell modern man, that modern man needs to rely on the ancients for their wisdom? Modern science has debunked several of the ancient myths (young earth, global flood, evolution of man) yet we still hold onto the myths, the stories. Thousands of years worth of myth still impact global policies, still cause wars, still shorten lives. Tales of an itinerant sheepherder that are thousands of years old are still allowed to influence justice and mercy.
The Jews were essentially given their reservation in 1949. We call it Isreal now. We supposedly were giving them back their native lands, yet we displaced thousands of people who lived there and who had lived there for a long time. We in the US stole hundreds of thousands of acres of lands owned by Native American Tribes, but we don't give it back now. What is the difference? That we accept the ancient myths of the Jews, but we don't accept the ancient myths of the NA Tribes? Injustice is injustice. If we displaced thousands of people to give ancient Isreal back to the Jews, why do we not hold ourselves to the same standard with NA tribes?
Why do we still hold onto the ancient myths, when we know that many of them were based on that which turned out to be false? When we know that many of them were based on the conditions of the time, not eternal principles? When we know that much of their wisdom was really ignorance of how the world really worked?
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_harmony
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Re: The Ancients
The issue you've overlooked is that it is believed these 'ancients' were in direct communication with God. That would make their writings of greater value than the writings of philosophers today.
Why do you assume that? When I look at the scriptures, I don't see any greater wisdom or communication with God. I see men, doing exactly what men do today, trying to figure out their world. And much of what they wrote was incorrect, based on their knowledge at the time, knowledge which has grown considerably since then. When I look at the writings of ancients whose writings aren't accepted as scripture, I don't see any more or any less wisdom than those who claimed to speak for God. Much of what we still have is not scripture, Fort. Were those men in direct communication with God?
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_Benjamin McGuire
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