Leviticus
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Leviticus is the rule book for the Jews. I summarise these rules below:

  • Animal sacrifices must be burnt whole, they must have no defects and must be arranged in a certain way, draining out the blood first.
  • Grain offerings must be ground into flour and have olive oil and incense added.
  • If the grain offering is turned into bread, then there's a special way to cook it.
  • Fellowship offerings have to be treated in a slightly different way, and this is also dependent on the type of animal offered.
  • There are special rules regarding offerings for unintentional sins.
  • There are certain occasions where it is necessary to make offerings during legal proceedings and they are listed.
  • There are special offerings if you fail to pay your Temple tax on time.
  • There are regulations about the role of priests during these offering ceremonies.
  • There are special regulations for ordaining a priest.
  • There are more special rules for priests.
  • There are certain animals that may not be eaten.
  • Women must be purified after childbirth.
  • There are pages of regulations regarding skin diseases.
  • There are special laws regarding mildew on clothing and houses.
  • There's a chapter on unclean bodily discharges.
  • There are laws regarding "the Most Holy Place" in the Temple and who may enter it.
  • There's the scapegoat law (to transfer sins to the goat).
  • There are laws on the sacredness of blood.
  • There are laws about forbidden sexual practices.

There is a brief area of the book that agrees with the teachings of Jesus – verses 19:1 to 19:18; there is advice like "do not take advantage of anyone." In 19:18 there is even the second commandment of Jesus, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Unfortunately the next line is, "Do not cross-breed domestic animals." The crucially important commandment has been buried in endless pages of pointless laws.

The book continues with more laws:

  • There are penalties for disobedience.
  • There are specific religious festivals that must be observed.
  • There are rules about the type of oil that goes into the temple lamps.
  • There is an example of 'fair' punishment (24:10-16) – A foreigner visited the Israelites, got drawn into a quarrel and cursed the Old Testament god. They took him to Moses and he judged that the foreigner should be stoned to death. So much for their own commandment, "thou shalt not kill." After this, the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" law is established.
  • There are regulations on money and loans.
  • There are regulations on the release of slaves (which incorrectly implies that slavery is acceptable).
  • Finally there are rules for special gifts to the Old Testament god.

I will now draw a comparison with modern day church:

  • The church should be a cross shaped building with a high altar (the Most Holy Place) and a high place for the minister to stand while he delivers his sermons.
  • The church building should be decorated with lots of imagery, particularly stained glass windows.
  • The church building should contain rows of uncomfortable wooden pews.
  • The church building should have a bell in a tower.
  • A church building is generally named after a Saint.
  • There will be two church services on a Sunday, one in the morning and one in the evening.
  • The church service should take place as follows:

    • The organ plays in the background as people enter.
    • The minister and assistants enter and everyone stands in respect.
    • There is a hymn.
    • First Bible reading.
    • Second Bible reading.
    • There is a hymn.
    • The Nicene creed is read.
    • The Lord's prayer is read.
    • Everyone says "Peace be with you" to everyone else.
    • There is a hymn.
    • There is a sermon from the minister.
    • There is a hymn, during which Temple tax (the Collection) is collected.
    • There is Holy Communion.
    • There is a hymn.
    • There is the final blessing.
    • There is tea and coffee afterwards.

  • There are special rules and regulations about carrying the Holy Communion bread and wine.
  • There are special rules about the clothing of the minister and the assistants.
  • Love your neighbour as yourself.
  • There are special rules about the ordination of ministers.
  • There is a hierarchy of ministers, with an Archbishop or Pope at the top.
  • There are traditions that surround special ceremonies. For example, Easter requires the purchase of Easter eggs for family members, and Easter day is carefully calculated from moon cycles. It is ironic that Easter eggs are produced from cocoa beans; half the world's cocoa beans come from the Ivory Coast which uses child labour.

  • Other special days include:

    • Christmas day
    • All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day
    • The Feast of the Annunciation
    • Ascension Day
    • Candlemas
    • Corpus Christi
    • Epiphany
    • Holy Week
    • Lent
    • Mothering Sunday
    • Pentecost
    • Feast of the Assumption
    • Feast of the Immaculate Conception

  • A variety of denominations each have their own special regulations to make themselves different from everyone else (in fact there are over 30,000 different Christian denominations and cults).
  • Certain denominations chant certain things at certain times.
  • Monks have extra special rules to keep them busy, otherwise they would have nothing to do all day.
  • Catholicism includes the concept of purgatory, and Catholics pray for the dead.

    I have hidden the second commandment of Jesus in the list of rules above. Did you notice it? Here's how it should really be:

    1. Love the Lord with all your strength, heart, mind, body and soul.
    2. Love your neighbour as yourself.

    The second commandment of Jesus is buried in Leviticus 19:18, which has parable-based significance. In 1918, the First World War ended. Wars like this are a consequence of burying the teachings of Jesus into rules and traditions such as those found in the Church.