All Quotes By Tag: Bible

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3718 And [they] saw him from afar, and before [he] came close to them [they] plotted [against] him to put him to death. 19 And [they] said – [each] man to his brothers – “Behold: The possessor of the dreams – this one comes! 20 And now: Come and [let’s] kill him, and [we] will cast him in[to] one of the ground-pits, and [we] will say, ‘An evil living [creature] ate him’, and [we] will see what will be [of] his dreams!”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3721 And Reuven (Reuben) heard and [he] saved him from their hand, and [he] said, “[We] will not hit him [killing his] soul!” 22 And [he] said to them – Reuven (Reuben) – “Don’t spill blood! Cast him to this ground-pit that [is] in the desert, and a hand do not send [forth] against him!” in order [to] save him from their hand [in order] to return him to his father.”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3723 And [it] was when Yosef (Joseph) came to his brothers, and [they] stripped Yosef (Joseph) [of] his tunic – the striped tunic – that [was] upon him. 24 And [they] took him, and [they] cast him to the ground-pit, and the ground-pit [was] empty – there [was] not within it water.”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3725 And [they] sat to eat bread, and [they] lifted [up] their eyes, and [they] saw, and behold: A caravan of Ishmaelites [was] coming from Gil’ad and their camels bearing spices, and balsam, and myrrh going to bring down to Mitzraim (Egypt). 26 And Yehudah (Judah) said to his brothers, “What gain [is there] that [we] will kill our brother and [by our] covering [up] his blood? 27 Come, and [let’s] sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hand [let] not be [up]on him because [he is] our brother – our flesh [and blood] he [is].” And [they] heard – his brothers – [and heeded].”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3728 And [they] passed – Midianite people (merchants) – and [they] pulled, and [they] raised Yosef (Joseph) from the ground-pit, and [they] sold Yosef (Joseph) to the Ishmaelites for twenty [pieces of] silver, and [they] brought Yosef (Joseph) to Mitzraim (Egypt). 29 And [he] returned – Reuven (Reuben) – to the ground-pit, and behold: There [was] no Yosef (Joseph) in the ground-pit, and [he] tore his clothes.30 And [he] returned to his brothers, and [he] said, “The child [is] not there! And I – where do I go?!” 31 And [they] took the tunic of Yosef (Joseph), and [they] slaughtered a hairy-goat, and [they] dipped the tunic in the blood.”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 3712 And [they] went – his brothers – to shepherd the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Yosef (Joseph), “Are not your brothers shepherding in Shechem? Go and [I] will send you to them.” And [he] said to him, “Behold: [here] I [am]!”

“Chapter 8: Genesis 45 1 And Yosef (Joseph) could not control himself for all the posted-persons upon him, and [he] called [out], “Remove every man from upon me!” And a man did not stand with him in the confessing of Yosef (Joseph) to his brothers. 2 And [he] gave his voice in crying, and [they] heard – [all of] Mitzraim (Egypt) – and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Yosef (Joseph) said to his brothers, “I [am] Yosef! Does my father still live?!” And his brothers could not answer him because [they] were terrified from his face.”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 371 And Ya’akov (Jacob) sat in the land of the residence of his father in the land of K’na’an (Canaan). 2 These are the [descendents in the] genealogy of Ya’akov (Jacob): Yosef (Joseph) [was] seventeen years old, [he] would shepherd with his brothers among the flock [of animals], and he [was merely] a youth with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah (the women of his father), and Yosef (Joseph) brought their slander – [it was] evil – to their father”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 373 And Israel loved Yosef (Joseph) [most] from all his sons because a son of his old-age he [was] to him, and [he] made for him a striped tunic. 4 And [they] saw – his brothers – that their father loved him [most] from all his brothers, and [they] hated him, and [they] could not speak [of] him for peace.”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 379 And [he] dreamt again – a different dream – and [he] told it to his brothers, and [he] said, “Behold: [I] dreamt a dream again, and behold: The Sun and the Moon, and eleven stars [were] prostrating [themselves] to me. 10 And [he] told [the dream] to his father and to his brothers, and [he] rebuked him – his father – and [he] said to him, “What [is] this dream that [you] dreamt? Will [we most assuredly] come – I, and your mother, and your brothers – to prostrate [ourselves] to you to the ground?” 11 And [they were] jealous of him – his brothers – and his father guarded the matter [in his heart].”

“Chapter 1: Genesis 375 And Yosef (Joseph) dreamt a dream, and [he] said [the dream] to his brothers, and [they] increased more [to] hate him. 6 And [he] said to them, “Hear, please, this dream that [I] dreamt. 7 And behold: We [were] binding sheaves in the field, and behold: My sheaf arose and also [was] positioned, and behold: Your sheaves surrounded [mine] and prostrated [themselves] to my sheaf.”8 And [they] said to him – his brothers – “Will [you most assuredly] reign over us? Will [you] rule over us?” And [they] increased more [to] hate him over his dreams and over his words.”

“But if we are all God’s children, why does God spend so much time in history ordering one branch of his universal family to wipe out another branch? Why did his love for his Jewish children have to be expressed by the extermination of his Palestinian children? Why did he later abandon his Jewish children in favour of his Christian children and encourage his new favourites to torment their older siblings? Why did he order his Muslim children who worship him as One to persecute his pagan children who worship him as Many? Why is there so much violence in religious history, all done by groups who claim God is on their side?Unless you are prepared to believe that God actually plays favourites like some kind of demented tyrant, then there are only two ways out of this dilemma. The obvious one is to decide that there is no God. What is called God is a human invention used, among other things, to justify humankind’s love of violence and hatred of strangers. Getting rid of God won’t solve the problem of human violence but it will remove one of its pretexts.”

“So yes, religion has caused and continues to cause some of the worst violence in history. And yes, it has used God to justify it. So if we mean by God the loving creator of the universe, then either he doesn’t exist or religion has got him wrong. Either way, religion should make us wary. That doesn’t necessarily mean we should abandon it altogether. We may decide to stick with it but to do so with humility, admitting the evil it has done as well as the good. It’s up to us.”

“As we have seen so often in this book, religion may begin with mystical experiences but it always leads to politics. It starts with the voice heard by the prophets who are its chosen instruments. And what they hear always leads to actions that affect the way people live: with politics. Sometimes the politics are bad. People are persecuted for following the wrong faith or for listening to the wrong voice. Or they are forced to embrace the message announced by the latest hot prophet. So the history of religion becomes a study in different forms of oppression. But sometimes the politics are good. They are about liberation, not oppression. We saw good politics in the stand the Pennsylvanian Quakers made against slavery in 1688. And in the African American Church today the politics of Christianity are still about liberation. The tactics of Moses and the promises of Jesus are used to make the world a better place. Religion is no longer used as an opiate to dull the pain of injustice and inequality but as a stimulant to overcome it. That’s what keeps many people in the religion game.”

“I suppose that Christmas seems vexingly improbable in my mind because God did something for all of mankind that I’m too selfish to do even for myself. But isn’t that the exact reason why we need Christmas?”