Abrahamic Religious Parsimony

Biblical believers were either wrong then, or they're wrong now.

The story of the Bible is an illustriously infamous one.

Partially but wholeheartedly believed by Jews, revered by Christians and respected by Muslims, the Bible is a historical text that Abrahamics consider as the root of their faith.

However, atheistic scientists disagree with the historicity of the Bible, and they dispute its accuracy on many fronts. Meanwhile, Abrahamics disagree with pretty much everything modern science pronounces. For example, the Big Bang, abiogenesis, evolution, and moral relativism are all dismissed by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

However, there are some ideas Abrahamics consider to be true but not as described in the Bible or the Quran. In fact, upon closer examination, most, if not all, Abrahamics have bought into several beliefs that are diametrically opposed to their scriptures.

Truth-seeking

Religion can be a very touchy subject for many.

However, for the good of mankind and for the sake of looking a little deeper than the superficial, the prevailing religions of the modern day should be reassessed at the very least or labelled as toxic dogmatic propaganda at the very most.

First, it's important to note what Abrahamic scriptures claim parallel to the consensus in antiquity.

By comparing what people thought then with what people believe is true now, we can see that around 2,000 years ago, the predominant view was that reality operated within a geocentric cosmological model where the Earth is stationary and at the centre of the universe. People believed the luminaries (stars) orbit the Earth, as opposed to the Earth spinning on its axis, wobbling, and orbiting the Sun. It would seem the ancients conceived of a geocentric model with multiple references being made to geocentrism in the Abrahamic scriptures.

Examples from the Bible would include Genesis 1:6-7, 16-17, Joshua 10:13, Job 38:31, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalms 75:3, 93:1, 104:5, and 2 Timothy 3:16.

Meanwhile, from the Quran, even more verses point to geocentric model where the Earth doesn't move while the sky and the stars do: 6:96, 7:54, 10:5, 12:4, 13:2, 14:33, 16:48, 20:106, 21:32-33, 25:61, 31:29, 35:13, 36:38-40, 39:5, 51:48, 55:5 and 88:20.

All of the above references, in both the Bible and the Quran, strongly indicate that back when these books were first compiled, the social norm was to accept geocentrism. If those stories are historical accounts, the verses suggest that even the most prominent figures of ancient times were proud geocentrists.

Geocentric legacy

The leading lights of the Abrahamic faith, such as Moses, Abraham, Jesus, the Apostles and the prophet Muhammad, all believed in a geocentric cosmology.

In other words, people from the ancient past were all geostationary geocentrists and were proud of it. The world made sense to them. Their approximation of the world, including their model of reality, helped them build large stone structures that stand to this day.

So what happened? Why do today's Abrahamics believe in a heliocentric system? Wouldn't that necessarily mean their highly esteemed leading lights were wrong all those years ago? If that's the case, then it means prophets can make mistakes.

The notion that God's prophets could have been wrong about their conceptions of reality is rather unpalatable to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike; however, so is the notion that modern society, including its scientific consensus, has been fooled into thinking the Earth is a globe. 

So what gives?

The Unthinkable

If it's the case that we live in a geocentric system, then the prophets of yesteryear were correct! 

But if that's the case, it means most Abrahamic believers are wrong today. Most of them have taken to Science like ducks to water. They haven't accepted all scientific theories as fact, merely those supporting their biblical narrative. Therefore, all Jews, Christians and Muslims, as challenging as it is, must ask themselves the following questions: were the prophets wrong then? Or is society wrong now?

One of those two options is necessarily true. But whichever option they choose will lead to very uncomfortable connotations. 

If they believe people in the past were wrong -- then it means Abrahamic prophets are fallible and may have got many things completely wrong, as well as all the scriptures they promoted.

If they believe the people of today are wrong, including the scientific consensus -- then it means the entire world has been duped into believing false paradigms within the Natural Sciences, namely physics, geology, astrology/astronomy and cosmology.

It would mean reality as we know it is close to what's described in George Orwell's book 1984: a dystopic world where its inhabitants are misled about all aspects of reality for them to be easily controlled.

The salve of salvation

For religious people, the dilemma is hugely problematic.

Given that they take their view of reality on faith, they are torn between believing in ancient ideas that directly contradict modern atheistic theories. They either have to go with the contemporary crowd of atheists and thereby lose their religiosity or keep their religiosity and become geocentric flat-earthers.

Either option is daunting, especially in a world with so much ridicule for the geocentric view. As a result, many Abrahamics are trying to forge a third path: believing that atheistic concepts such as evolution and abiogenesis were actually designed and actuated by God.

Despite these ideas being mutually exclusive, religious people in the modern day are absolving themselves from their philosophical fallaciousness by groupthinking their way to self-security. Research conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s demonstrates this issue well.

In other words, they ignore valid scepticism and critique and remain in a trance of belief among their cohorts. This should be called out for what it is, and many words come to mind: conformity, groupthink, cultism, brainwashing, echo chamber, circle-jerk and hive-mind, to name but a few.

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Written by George Tchetvertakov