Source:
http://horizons.free.fr/seikatsu/eng/thoughts/religion_holy-bible.htmI read
The Holy Bible in China, Japan and South Korea from July to December 2007 to better understand international events, and Western cultures and countries through their religious background. I selected the
King James version because it is a famous and respected reference. I will continue with main texts from Buddhism, Judaism and Islam between 2008 and 2012 to quickly extend my grasp of other sizable populations and of more diverse contexts.
Although born in a country with Christian values, I had never read
The Holy Bible before because its length and style were daunting and I assumed I knew its content. In 2007, I read it in detail, although I quickly forgot the family trees. Globally, the book matched my expectations but three passages shocked me because they conflict with French values.
First, in the
Exodus, God asks Pharaoh to free people from Israel but prevents him from complying then punishes him by killing Egyptian babies. These actions are deeply unjust.
| {Exodus, 4:21} | And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. |
| {Exodus, 4:22} | And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: |
| {Exodus, 4:23} | And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. |
Second, in the first letter to
Corinthians, equality between men and women is discarded, in favor of men.
| {1 Corinthians, 11:6} | For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. |
| {1 Corinthians, 11:7} | For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. |
| {1 Corinthians, 11:8} | For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. |
| {1 Corinthians, 11:9} | Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. |
Third, in the first letter to
Ephesians, slavery is acclaimed.
| {Ephesians, 6:5} | Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; |
I thought the roots of the French motto "
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" were Christian. Reading the
Holy Bible shows it is much more about modernity.
As a complement to
The Holy Bible, I read several
Biblical apocrypha:
- The Book of Enoch (translated from Ethiopic by Richard Laurence, London, 1883)
- The First Book of Esdras
- The Second Book of Esdras
- The Greek Additions to Esther
- The First Book of the Maccabees
- The Second Book of the Maccabees
- The Book of Tobit
- The Book of Judith
- The Wisdom of Solomon
- The Book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus)
- The Book of Baruch
- The Epistle (or letter) of Jeremiah
- The Book of Susanna (in Daniel)
- The Prayer of Azariah
- The Prayer of Manasseh
- Bel and the Dragon (in Daniel)
I recommend the
Book of Enoch for its description of the events leading to the flood, the
Book of Judith for its interesting apology of treachery, and the
Book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) for its dense and detailed listing of values and rules. Most
Biblical apocrypha are available on the web site of
The Project Gutenberg but the
Book of Enoch should be found elsewhere, for example as the
1883 translation by Richard LAURENCE.
I travelled to 沖縄 (Okinawa, Japan) for the first time on 25-29 March 2008 to give a talk at the 22nd International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications in 那覇 (Naha) with Christian. We drove nearby to discover the landscapes, relax on the coast, and reach great coffee shops and restaurants. The climate was so warm at night that I barely slept without air conditioning.