Beliefscapes are like pictures or
paintings we call “landscapes.” Instead of seeing trees, mountains,
rivers, animals, etc., we are able to see belief models. Beliefscapes
reveal belief models that exist at the subconscious level of the brain, an invisible
environment that we are usually unaware of at the conscious level.
The
brain uses belief models to make distinctions between
things and assign meanings to them. Without belief models, the conscious
level could not function as it does. Image life in world where meanings do
not exist.
Creating
a beliefscape begins with these two steps.
1.
Define
the immediate context for the words we are reading.
2.
Identify
“things” in that context. A “thing” is an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give
a specific name to.
Let’s
create a beliefscape for the first verse in Genesis. Below are translations
from different versions of the Bible. The “things” in the verse are
underlined.
●
In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth. (King
James Version)
●
In the beginning God created heaven,
and earth. (Douay Rheims
Bible)
●
In the beginning of God`s preparing
the heavens and the earth. (Young's Literal Translation)
Take
a moment to consider what these “things” mean to you.
●
God –
●
heaven –
●
heavens –
●
earth --
Below
is a literal translation of the Hebrew words the translators above worked with.
At the beginning of a
god creating
the solid
dome-like structure and the dry thing.
The
meanings of the underlined things are below:
●
a god – The god is not named. The Hebrew word elohiym refers
to a type of entity (a god); it is not the name of a specific god.
●
solid dome-like structure – This is the thing the god made and
placed beneath the surface of a shoreless body of deep water. It created a
barrier that divided the deep water into “two separate bodies of water.”
The solid dome-like structure was named “heavens.”
●
dry thing – The water inside the solid dome-like structure gathered
in one place -- a place that had previously been covered by water became “a dry
thing.” The dry thing was named “earth.”
How
did your beliefscape compare to the ancient beliefscape? If there
is a difference, you have not be able to understand the wisdom the ancient text
was created to teach. But now that you are aware of the ancient beliefscap take
another look at the translation you normally read -- and if you pay close
attention to the English words -- you will be able the see the ancient beliefscape
in them.
So,
did the ancient beliefscape above make it possible for you to see
something that was invisible before? Seeing the ancient belief models behind
the English words in our Bibles make it possible for us to learn from ancient lessons
that have been invisible.
Thank
you for exploring with us. Please share and discuss it with others.
Jim Myers
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