The Wisdom of Ancient Texts and Sacred Scriptures
The Wisdom of Ancient Texts and Sacred Scriptures
Many assume that books have only been around for approximately 500 years. However, the oldest known written text is a stone tablet from Sumerian civilization, dating back to 2900 BC. The Egyptians were able to preserve texts on papyrus paper which has been discovered in many Egyptian sites dating back to 3000 BC. In fact, ancient philosophers and theologians had already developed a library of extracts called apocryphal literature and made them into scrolls because it was more portable than papyrus texts. These scrolls included wisdom quotes like "Know the truth but make no assumption." You'll find these wisdom quotes read or referenced throughout literature's history on different subjects like philosophy or religion.
In addition to the aforementioned texts, most of the Bible may have been written before Jesus Christ was born. The oldest manuscript of the New Testament (the oldest copy is a Codex Vaticanus, dated to 325 AD), contains a book of Revelation from around 100-300 AD. The book of Esther is mentioned in the Talmud as being written by Abraham, Moses and other great men (Abraham was around 2000 BC). The Book of Job dates back to 3200 BC and was written on stones or clay tablets. Many say that Buddha himself wrote many teachings after he attained enlightenment which people still practice today in his religion or philosophy called Buddhism. Confucius was 500 years older than Buddha. So, it can be said that books and libraries were quite prevalent in the past.
The majority of sacred texts point out the wisdom of being kind, loving and generous to others. One should treat others as one wishes to be treated. For example, in Islam, during Ramadan meals are provided for free at local mosques during each day of fasting for a community meal. In Christianity, Jesus forgave those who crucified him and taught his followers to always forgive others unless they asked for forgiveness as well. Charity was abundant in ancient times because people respected and admired those who could provide such acts of kindness (which was very difficult to do back then). The Old Testament states "Do not steal" and "Do not covet." In addition, you find characters in the Bible that have compassion for so-called strangers like the Samaritan woman. You will find references of people helping others in the story of Jonah as well.
The New Testament also says, "Blessed are the meek." This is a direct quote from Jesus himself. His followers were to always be kind to others because it would ensure their happiness and peace. There are many examples in the Bible where Christ took care of his disciples on several occasions when they needed help (he even cured people who had leprosy). Jesus never used money for his preaching but instead used his own body, clothing and spirit. The story of Joseph is another one where he takes a slave girl and raises her status to that of his own daughter-in-law. One must be respectful to all because you never know who they may be and what kind of story they could have.
Books are meant to educate us with the truth about ourselves, society, our surrounding environment and how we can make the world a better place. Books are written for this purpose as well as entertainment. Without books there would not be as many scientific breakthroughs or inventions in the world today such as electricity, cars, robotics, computers etc… Books also contain information about how to protect ourselves from various predators such as wolves or hyenas. We also find all kinds of animals from sharks to frogs, cats and horses in them.
So, what's it all about? Well, books are told from many different perspectives such as the voice of an author's or book's characters. Most books are written by people who have experienced some life events or situations. The character will then tell a story in order to educate readers on a particular subject. Some say that our imagination is an important tool because then we could become the characters in the book and how they understand things from their perspective. The idea is to learn more about life and human nature through stories since they can be very entertaining too.
The world is always changing. Every day new inventions are being created and people are bonding more every year through social media. Books have always been around to keep us current on the latest news or to teach us about history past. You can even find books written by animals too! For example, a frog found a dry leaf from an acacia plant and began making a call like everyone else in the jungle (this book was written in Venezuela).
So what do you think of this idea? Are books really that important to our lives? Is it better to be knowledgeable or ignorant to things outside of ourselves? Please leave your comments below.
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Posted in memory, philosophy, religion, science and technology, schools (education), social media, technology and society | Tagged : ancient books, apocryphal literature, Aristotle, Bible lands alone library of Alexandria (BALA), Book of Job, book of proverbs (bible verse), Books are not obsolete!, being kind to others & always forgiving others. . . , Buddhism,Books in the past, Christianity,Confucius (Chinese philosopher),Dictionary of World Biography (book), Egypt, Exodus 23:12 & Leviticus 19:18 (prophecy in the Old Testament), eye witnesses account of the life and death of Jesus Christ, eyes wide open!, faith and doubt about something,Fiction (magazine), first ever invention in human history?,free online educational websites for kids?, George Washington Carver's cucumber ointment recipe(s) that were not an ointment at all! originally made by him to treat a burn. . . , God, Hiram Abiff (bible character), Homer's Odyssey or Iliad, human anatomy, I have seen the best minds (in my opinion) of my generation destroyed by madness, Islam and Christianity are the two big religions in Judaism | Comment on this post
I had time to research more about Jacob Frank. Yes, he was a religious leader for many years in Poland. Many people thought he was a great man and learned from him. He died around 1791 and had several wives including some from other religions. A lot of his followers were women because he preached that if you control a woman she will do things that you want her to do (like babies). Jacob believed in reincarnation also.
Conclusion: I don't know really if books are obsolete but they do have different purposes nowadays. The internet is one of the best inventions ever created besides some other medical devices. It allows you to research stuff from all around the world with an easy to use search engine.