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Literacy Bible
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Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know List Price: $15.99 Sale Price: $4.42 Used From: $2.82  |
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Everything You Need to Know About the Bible’s Most Important Stories. |
The Importance of Stories
Long before the advent of a written history, the elders of ancient civilizations used stories to teach the new generation. The lessons might have related to the values of the society, their particular version of how they came to be, their purpose on the earth, or methods of obtaining food or a spouse.
The most well known of the ancient stories were the civilisation's particular version of how Earth came into existence and how they came to be here on earth. These are known as the great Creation Stories. Every civilisation had an explanation for what the Earth sun, moon and stars were, along with more intricate details of the place of fire, water, animals and humans in the ecosystem.
The Creation Stories of various civilizations include the Stories from Genesis in the Bible (the writer here makes no value judgment on the veracity of the account in Genesis, merely acknowledging it was part of Jewish oral history before the actual writing of the Bible), to the Dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines, along with the whole gamut in between. These two examples are used as "bookends" because the Stories in Genesis have been printed and distributed more than any other literary work, whereas much of the Australian Aboriginal account has yet to be even collated in one place, let alone set down in writing.
Over time, the stories were written down for ease of teaching. During this period, the Bible Stories, Aesop's Fables, Homer's Epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, along with countless other classics were recorded on stone, paper, papyrus or some similar form.
As literacy became more prevalent and written works were used for teaching purposes to a greater extent, the long, detailed stories were stripped of their emotional content and reduced to their bare essence. For example, the Seven Days of Creation in Genesis was reduced to what is now known as "the Big Bang Theory". People slowly turned away from the richness of meaning behind the Creation Stories from each civilisation and sought after clear and concise explanations for the same questions.
Inevitably, the time came when history "textbooks" were written. Often these give merely the facts of a time, place or period. It was about this time that a clear separation between "stories" and "facts" emerged.
In the era when Voltaire and Rousseau were loudly proclaiming the supremacy of Reason and their theories regarding the absolute importance of being able to prove something for it to be real, the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson were quietly spinning their "Fairy Tales", which were often so fantastic that they stretched the bounds of believability.
Nevertheless, what child has not heard the story of the Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the Lion and the Mouse, or the tale of Snow White? What adult would not prefer to listen to a fairy tale or a fable over a list of bare facts teaching the same message.
Essentially, what we often associate as "history" is merely the moral of the story. It is the message, for example, that if you habitually lie, you will not be believed when you do tell the truth. Would you prefer to here an explanation of that line, or hear the story about the Boy who Cried Wolf?
To summarize, one cannot separate facts from stories. Stories have been used for millennia to teach the new generation. The next time you read a fact, realize that there is a story behind it. Indeed without the story, there would be no fact as the fact is the essence of the story. You be the judge of the importance of stories.
About the Author
Mike holds a Bachelor of History and a Law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He has been involved in online marketing since mid 2005. This article is copyright 2006. Permission to use this is granted on the condition that you link back to http://www.aesopresources.com
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Greatest Hits List Price: $18.98 Sale Price: $5.99 Used From: $5.95 |
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CD Amy Grant Greatest Hits by Grant Amy |
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Brad Stine: Tolerate This! List Price: $13.96 Sale Price: $4.44 Used From: $3.19 |
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The Forecast Sale Price: $0.01 Used From: $0.01 |
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14 songs. 2006 Enhanced CD on Curb / Word Distibution. Enhanced extras are Grey: BarlowGirl and Fearless: Building. |
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The Animated Stories From the Bible: Ruth Sale Price: $3.80 Used From: $2.61 |
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When Naomi and her daughter-in-law are both widowed, Ruth refuses to leave the older woman, and is rewarded when she meets and falls in love with Boaz. |
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The Animated Stories from the Bible: Joseph's Reunion Sale Price: $7.17 Used From: $2.26 |
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Producers: NEST Entertainment Number of tapes: 1 Studio: NEST Entertainment Run Time: 30.0 minutes Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item ASIN: B000F3RE0G Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #17,848 in Video (See Top 100 in Video) #69 in Video > Special Interests > Religion & Spirituality > Bible |
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Amish Grace List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $7.17 Used From: $6.99 |
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Features include: •MPAA Rating: PG•Format: DVD•Runtime: 88 minutes |
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The Catholic Bible Concordance $35.95 The first and only concordance for the RSV Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) of the Bible. Containing over 15,000 words and 300,000 entries, this exhaustive reference has listings for both editions of the RSV-CE. As easy to use as a dictionary, keywords and passages make Scripture accessible to people of all walks of life. ''An exhaustive reference tool"over 15,000 words and 300,000 entries '- An alphabetical listing of every word in the RSV-CE '- Passages listed for both the first and second editions of the RSV-CE '- Swiftly locate passages on any topic '- As easy to use as a dictionary ' - Entries show context for easy comparison of verses '- Key words and passages make Scripture accessible to people in all walks of life ' - Biblical literacy with a faithfully Catholic perspective ''???An invaluable tool for Christians in all walks of life. It will speed the research of scholars... It will be a grace to lay people as they pray and ponder the Scriptures, and will empower preachers"priests and deacons"as they prepare their homilies.???' " Scott Hahn , Author, Rome Sweet Home |
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Inside the Bible $17.95 This book is a popular introduction to each of the 73 books of the Bible designed to help the reader grow in the knowledge and love of God's Word. The introduction to each book includes the time frame and author, the theme, a summary of the contents and some comments about the context in which it was written, the theology of the book, an outline, and a prayer taken from the book. Fr. Baker provides quick access to essential information the daily or occasional reader of sacred scripture should find helpful. The book may also be of help to more advanced students who wish to refresh their memory of a particular book of the Bible. By carefully reading Inside the Bible one can have a thumbnail summary of each book of the Bible at his fingertips. "Many Catholics revere the Bible without reading it. They find themselves paralyzed, not knowing where to start reading. Fr. Kenneth Baker comes to the rescue. In brief synopses of the 73 books he guides new readers through the threshold and shows them how they can move forward on their own. Inside the Bible will transform almost-readers into avid readers of the sacred text." "Karl Keating, Author, What Catholics Really Believe Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. , is the editor of Homiletic and Pastoral Review and author of the 3-volume series Fundamentals of Catholicism . ' |
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The Bible and the Qur'an (Book on CD) $23.95 Read by Chris Knufke 'A Catholic missionary examines differences between the Bible and the Quran. |
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Catholic Study Bible $9.95 The 12th volume in this very popular study Bible series based on the Ignatius Bible, the Revised Standard Version edition. Each volume in the series contains numerous Bible study helps and tools that include insights from the Church Fathers, topical essays, word studies and charts, maps, study questions and a cross-reference section.' |
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Walking the Bible $24.95 This beautifully shot PBS special offers valuable insights into the roots of the Biblical narrative. Both a heart-racing adventure and an uplifting quest, it presents one man's epic journey "by foot, jeep, rowboat and camel"through the stories of the first five books of the Bible. From crossing the Red Sea to climbing Mt. Sinai, to considering the burning bush, Bruce Feiler's inspiring odyssey will bring you back to the world of the major Biblical characters. |
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The Animated Stories From the Bible: Ruth Sale Price: $3.80 Used From: $2.61 |
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When Naomi and her daughter-in-law are both widowed, Ruth refuses to leave the older woman, and is rewarded when she meets and falls in love with Boaz. |
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The Animated Stories from the Bible: Joseph's Reunion Sale Price: $7.17 Used From: $2.26 |
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Producers: NEST Entertainment Number of tapes: 1 Studio: NEST Entertainment Run Time: 30.0 minutes Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item ASIN: B000F3RE0G Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #17,848 in Video (See Top 100 in Video) #69 in Video > Special Interests > Religion & Spirituality > Bible |
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