RE: Paranoia in christians
August 18, 2014 at 3:47 pm
(This post was last modified: August 18, 2014 at 3:49 pm by Michael.)
Plum. A reasonable case can be made that it didn't happen earlier because ordinary folk couldn't use the bible in their struggles, as it was not generally available to them. Cromwell and his New Model Army were working from the bible, that all men were equal (well, nearly equal for Cromwell as he still insisted that only those with land could vote, but other Puritans in the 'Putney debates' were calling for one man one vote; though it was, of course, literally one 'man' in those days).
Or looking at it from another angle, those indigenous people who did not adopt the bible, such as American natives, never made the progress that other groups, such as the negro slaves, made by working with, rather than against, the bible. Blacks in America are nearly totally emancipated; their native American brothers and sisters still effectively live under Apartheid in the 21st century; 2nd class citizens in their own land.
European and American history in the 17th to 19th century turned around the newly available English language bible. We can't look at those centuries through secular spectacles; that is such an anachronism.
IMO, of course.
Or looking at it from another angle, those indigenous people who did not adopt the bible, such as American natives, never made the progress that other groups, such as the negro slaves, made by working with, rather than against, the bible. Blacks in America are nearly totally emancipated; their native American brothers and sisters still effectively live under Apartheid in the 21st century; 2nd class citizens in their own land.
European and American history in the 17th to 19th century turned around the newly available English language bible. We can't look at those centuries through secular spectacles; that is such an anachronism.
IMO, of course.
