(June 9, 2013 at 1:00 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Following the story of the Bible, why would God have no involvement in the world, then all of a sudden participate in life in...the desert? With a populous that was uneducated? Wouldn't it make more sense, if God were to reveal himself to anybody, that he would show himself to the people that were educated in the world at this time? The Chinese? The Mayans?Theorethically life sprang from this region. And....
Imperial communication: 522-486 BC
Many different tongues are spoken in the Persian empire, from Egypt to India. But all the official messages travelling on the imperial roads are in one language, Aramaic. This Semitic tongue, deriving from a tribe in northern Syria, first spreads through Assyria. Then Babylonian merchants carry it further afield until, by the 6th century, it is in general use as a Lingua franca throughout Mesopotamia.
As a language for the Persian civil service, Aramaic also has a practical advantage. It uses the Phoenician alphabet, a language to which it is related. So its letters can be written on papyrus (easily portable) instead of needing to be pressed with a cuneiform stylus into wet clay.
Read more: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plai...z2Vw8CcTWJ
(June 9, 2013 at 1:00 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Why would he involve himself with these people? After nearly a hundred thousand years of not doing anything (assuming we're taking the Bible metaphorically) and then suddenly in the last two thousand years, interacting with the people of the middle east, sending Jesus to them? Why? Why them?
Obvious answer: because they wrote the Bible. But I'd like a Christian point-of-view. Why were they chosen?
There is much in the Bible about God's "chosen people"...
But I would suggest that this was the passage way to the East. Rome pretty much owned the world at that point. So there was a whole lot going on in this region. And it was pretty much the "civilized world".
Communications was about to go world-wide in the next millenium. Seems like a good time for that to happen.
And the story had to transcend the times. I mean lets face it: much before that and Jesus would be writing His message on cave walls; and in modern times they would be trying to sign Him to a contract.
It seems to me that Jesus' time was perfect for His message.
Again, as for the Jews being the chosen people?
Personally, I think its because of their nomadic nature. They are a people without a home! Jesus' says: "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Whether being persecuted throughout history was the result of being the "chosen people"? I don't know. But there seems to be a correlation.
And through history, they were not only at odds with humans, they were at odds with God! And still are...with both!
Quis ut Deus?
