Mark Twain's assault on Christianity

I don't know how many people have read this, but the great American author Mark Twain grew to be a vehement atheist in his old age. He wrote "Letter's from the Earth", a great polemic-style deconstruction of Christian mythology. The entirety is available here.

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm

I especially like this because it argues purely from the bible's own logic and story, rather than basing it on scientific grounds. He focuses on analyzing the implications of the bible rather than if it is literally true, which I feel represents a possibly higher form of critique.

"God had warned the man and the woman that they must not eat of the fruit of a certain tree. And he added a most strange remark: he said that if they ate of it they should surely die. Strange, for the reason that inasmuch as they had never seen a sample death they could not possibly know what he meant."

Oh that's fantastic, never even occurred to me. That would make a great midrash:

"If you eat from this tree you will die," said god.
"We'll what?" asked Adam.
"Die."
"Not following you here."
"It's poison. Your heart would stop beating."
"So?"
"You need your heart to live."
"I do?"
"Yes."
"What happens if I'm not living?"
"You die."
"Oh, that again. You never really got around to explaining it."
"It's like if you stab an animal."
"Stab?"
"Do something violent to it."
"What's violent?"
"Oh, for ****'s sake. Do you know what reverse psychology is?"
"No."
"Wonderful. Don't listen to the snake."

I'm not sure I follow that. Considering everything else around them "died" except for them, it stands to reason that Adam and Eve just by powers of observation would have understood that "dying" would mean something like "cease to exist".

What I never understood is that it is "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and it is said by the serpent and the subsequent happenings that "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil", yet, it appears to me that a people that have no concept or understanding of good and evil...can't really be expected to find not obeying God "evil" or "wrong", so I don't see how by any meaning of the word just they could be held accountable for their naive actions.

... now, this seems to me like a severe fault in writing, the author obviously not have thought that his characters would be very different from him, and he just assumed that people he defined as "not knowing good from evil" would know good from evil. Bit silly.

Originally posted by RE: Blaxican
I'm not sure I follow that. Considering everything else around them "died" except for them, it stands to reason that Adam and Eve just by powers of observation would have understood that "dying" would mean something like "cease to exist".

Did other things die in Eden?

Originally posted by Bardock42
What I never understood is that it is "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and it is said by the serpent and the subsequent happenings that "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil", yet, it appears to me that a people that have no concept or understanding of good and evil...can't really be expected to find not obeying God "evil" or "wrong", so I don't see how by any meaning of the word just they could be held accountable for their naive actions.

... now, this seems to me like a severe fault in writing, the author obviously not have thought that his characters would be very different from him, and he just assumed that people he defined as "not knowing good from evil" would know good from evil. Bit silly.

I've heard it explained that they had to leave the garden not because God was just pissed that they did something wrong, but because once they knew what they did, they simply couldn't stay any more.

I've also heard that the garden of Eden is more parable than an absolute dictation of the events exactly as they occurred.

I'm still on the fence about which I believe.

Originally posted by TacDavey
I've heard it explained that they had to leave the garden not because God was just pissed that they did something wrong, but because once they knew what they did, they simply couldn't stay any more.

I've also heard that the garden of Eden is more parable than an absolute dictation of the events exactly as they occurred.

I'm still on the fence about which I believe.

Eh you can make stuff up about anything. All I can tell is that the literal meaning of the story is ****ed up.

Originally posted by TacDavey
I've heard it explained that they had to leave the garden not because God was just pissed that they did something wrong, but because once they knew what they did, they simply couldn't stay any more.

I've also heard that the garden of Eden is more parable than an absolute dictation of the events exactly as they occurred.

I'm still on the fence about which I believe.

No, God was pissed they disobeyed a command, hence the punishment of death (mortality) for Adam and Eve(humanity). Eve(womankind) also was awarded the special punishment of pain during child birth and Adam(mankind) with the punishment of having to toil all his days.

IMO, it's just a parable, as most of the magical stories of the Bible are. Jonah and the fish, the Deluge etc.

Originally posted by TacDavey
I've heard it explained that they had to leave the garden not because God was just pissed that they did something wrong, but because once they knew what they did, they simply couldn't stay any more.

I've also heard that the garden of Eden is more parable than an absolute dictation of the events exactly as they occurred.

I'm still on the fence about which I believe.

"And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”"

Wow, how noble.

You do know what is said about knowledge. Proverbs

Originally posted by alltoomany
You do know what is said about knowledge. Proverbs

Like I said, not sure I believe that to be true. But it isn't just making stuff up. This is coming from Biblical scholars who study stuff like this all day everyday.

I love his books but I had no idea about his views on Christianity and I don't favor them at all. I had read other books that nonchristians wrote and even through they are always enjoyable it does not mean that I argee with them on there views.

Originally posted by TacDavey
Like I said, not sure I believe that to be true. But it isn't just making stuff up. This is coming from Biblical scholars who study stuff like this all day everyday.

Even biblical scholars can make stuff up.

Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
I love his books but I had no idea about his views on Christianity and I don't favor them at all. I had read other books that nonchristians wrote and even through they are always enjoyable it does not mean that I argee with them on there views.

Originally posted by King Kandy
Did you read the whole link?

Most of it.. Mark Twain had some mind, a little twisted, although needed.

He never let his schooling inerfere with his education

Mark Twain's "Little Bessie":

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainbes.htm

Miscellaneous atheist writings:

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainwp.htm#THOUGHTS

Yes I did.

Originally posted by Bardock42
Even biblical scholars can make stuff up.

That's true, but you can't go around saying "maybe they made it up" to the oppositions view. That's not a logical approach.

Originally posted by TacDavey
That's true, but you can't go around saying "maybe they made it up" to the oppositions view. That's not a logical approach.

So many literary analysis jokes . . .