Seasons of the Soul

Regarding Bible Accuracy

There is considerable interest in a new revelation about Jesus and Judas that you may have heard about. A lost gospel of Judas has been located that shows Judas actually did the bidding of Jesus by seemingly betraying him in order that a prophecy would be fulfilled. This has fueled deep debate and consternation, as we have believed the story of Judas being betrayer as unassailable.

There are also two new books that have been released recently that examine the Bible in depth, with unsettling discoveries that call for reflection. 

In the book, Misquoting Jesus, author Bart D. Ehrman, a deeply devoted fundamentalist Christian and biblical scholar, found that the Bible had been changed throughout the years by incompetent translators, capricious power mongers, and for political purposes. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative view of the Bible. Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origin of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes—alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible.

In Michael Baigent’s new book, The Jesus Papers, he delves into similar arenas of investigation, but uncovers evidence of a cover-up  designed to keep a powerful church in control of how people viewed Jesus and the subsequent Keepers of the Faith.

More books and revelations will probably be forthcoming as investigators are on the trail of  “truth”, and in this some may become disillusioned or distraught. However, the reminder to us is that truth is not in the details, but in the spiritual sustenance we receive through teachings that make us better human beings. As we  release attachment to the need for our stories to be the exact Word,  we can put our attention where it needs to be—on unity within ourselves, to one another, and most importantly, in God.
From Seasons of the Soul print edition  2006

Joseph Campbell's Ten Commandments for Reading Mythology

1. Read myths with the eyes of wonder: the myths transparent to their universal meaning, their meaning transparent to its mysterious source.
2. Read myths in the present tense: Eternity is now.
3. Read myths in the first person plural: the Gods and Goddesses of ancient mythology still live within you.
4. Any myth worth its salt exerts a powerful magnetism. Notice the images and stories that you are drawn to and repelled by. Investigate the field of associated images and stories.
5. Look for patterns; don't get lost in the details. What is needed is not more specialized scholarship, but more interdisciplinary vision. Make connections; break old patterns of parochial thought.
6. Resacralize the secular: even a dollar bill reveals the imprint of Eternity.
7. If God is everywhere, then myths can be generated anywhere, anytime, by anything. Don't let your Romantic aversion to science blind you to the Buddha in the computer chip.
8. Know your tribe! Myths never arise in a vacuum; they are the connective tissue of the social body which enjoys synergistic relations with dreams (private myths) and rituals (the enactment of myth).
9. Expand your horizons! Any mythology worth remembering will be global in scope. The earth is our home and humankind is our family.
10. Read between the lines! Literalism kills; Imagination quickens.
~Joseph Campbell Foundation