{"id":1639,"date":"2011-01-31T11:58:47","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T11:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardlittledale.wordpress.com\/?p=1639"},"modified":"2011-01-31T11:58:47","modified_gmt":"2011-01-31T11:58:47","slug":"book-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2011\/01\/31\/book-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Book of the Dead…"},"content":{"rendered":"

…or book of the living?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As a child I was fascinated by the rites and rituals of ancient Egypt.\u00a0 At one time I could have \u2018picked out\u2019 any one of a catalogue of gods from their pictures and told you about their particular roles.\u00a0 Like many little boys, I relished the details of the whole mummifying process, and my eyes shone \u00a0when I went to visit the Tutankhamen exhibition at the British Museum with all its breathtaking treasure.\u00a0 Today ancient Egypt has come to London again, with a spectacular exhibition at the British Museum entitled: <\/a>Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead<\/a>.<\/em> John Taylor, curator of the exhibition, writes \u201cThe Book of the Dead isn\u2019t a finite text \u2013 it\u2019s not like the Bible, it\u2019s not a collection of doctrine or a statement of faith or anything like that \u2013 it\u2019s a practical guide to the next world, with spells that would help you on your journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a \u2018practical guide to the next world\u2019, there is a kind of painful irony to all this.\u00a0 Whilst the few undisturbed ancient remains lie sleeping under desert sands, not far away the streets of modern Egypt are in ferment.\u00a0 A practical guide for the next world would seem like something of an indulgence when the current one is in such a state.\u00a0 The ancient civilisation which brought us chariots of gold and masks of lapis lazuli has turned into a modern one where police officers fire live rounds on angry protesters, and fighter jets swoop low over the city making the windows rattle.\u00a0 For many in Egypt, a year which started with the unimaginable violence of worshippers murdered at church has only got worse.<\/p>\n

So, if the Bible is not a \u2018practical guide to the next world\u2019 like the Book of the Dead \u2013 what is it?\u00a0 Is it maybe a \u2018practical guide\u2019 to this world instead?\u00a0 Certainly the creative and imaginative ways that radio, television, printed media and churches are marking its 400th<\/sup> anniversary for Biblefresh<\/a> year would make you think so.\u00a0 We must beware, though, of treating the Bible like a recipe book.\u00a0 If Christians in Egypt could have turned to the relevant verse and found a ready solution for their nation\u2019s ills they would have done it by now, I\u2019m sure.\u00a0 It has to be studied, contemplated, explained and absorbed \u2013 none of which is a quick process.<\/p>\n

Maybe one thing which makes it a book of the living, rather than a book of the dead, is that God provides people to interpret it. \u00a0In Isaiah 30 there is a verse which is either deeply heartening or extremely intimidating for preachers, depending on your state of confidence:<\/p>\n

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity<\/em><\/p>\n

and the water of affliction<\/em><\/p>\n

your teachers will be hidden no more (v.6)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bible is undoubtedly intended to act as a ‘guide for this world’ but preachers, the Spirit who inspires them, and the people who listen to them with discernment are all part of the deal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image: British Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…or book of the living? As a child I was fascinated by the rites and rituals of ancient Egypt.\u00a0 At one time I could have \u2018picked out\u2019 any one of a catalogue of gods from their pictures and told you … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,117],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}