The Modern-Day Alexandria: The Death of...?
This is a philosophical statement from Witness 2 on the death of ________ in the end times. We want to give a huge shout-out to an anonymous donor who has supported this ministry and helped many, many people in Jesus's name. They know who they are!
“A book is a loaded gun." - Fahrenheit 451
Introduction:The Modern-Day Alexandria
For those who do not know, there was a great historical event called "The Burning of the Library of Alexandria." The truth is that the burning of this library is mostly a mystery with many theories as to why and how it happened, and of course, conspiracy shrouds it all. While I am not here to fully investigate this mystery, and I leave that up to the readers, I would like to walk you through parallels of the burning of the Library of Alexandria to the decadent, destructive society that is burning truth today.
While libraries still exist, they are dying. It is claimed that the internet has a monopoly on knowledge now, and we will go back into that point in a moment.
Before I do, the 80s and 90s were likely the epitome of libraries for adults, families, and people from diverse walks of life. When people talk about 80s and 90s nostalgia, this is part of it - that warm feeling of entering a neighborhood library, feeling safe, peaceful, and alive...and even, perhaps, learning.
The other night I was reading to my son, and I looked and saw the timestamps from when the books used to be checked out manually. I think the last one was in 2007. Something broke my heart about it. We did, by the way, get this book from the library.
Again, this is not to say libraries are entirely dead, and I will dig deeper to this thought in a moment.
What, then, was destroyed in recent times? What have we lost? What has been gained? What is this devastating fire upon the modern day Alexandria?
Where is Wisdom?
While many things have been destroyed and lost, there is something that is most important of all that has been extinguished in the fire. It is what the Bible tells us to search for and to have: Wisdom. Wisdom is personified as a female in the Bible:
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Proverbs 4:7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
It may cost all you have, but that is how important it is.
The internet was, at first, perceived as a highway to wisdom, but the truth is, it has destroyed wisdom.
You see, the problem with the internet is that it has actually made us think and understand less, and there is something called "The Google Effect." According to this article:
"Around 370 B.C., Plato wrote that his teacher Socrates fretted that writing things down would cause humans to become ignorant because they wouldn’t have to memorize anything. (Ironically, the only reason we know this is because it was written down in Plato’s “Phaedrus,” still available today.)...
Participants apparently did not make the effort to remember when they thought they could later look up the trivia statements they had read,” the researchers wrote, and they believed that this is what was happening to the rest of us every day with Google. 'Because search engines are continually available to us, we may often be in a state of not feeling we need to encode the information internally. When we need it, we will look it up.'"
This is just one example of the problem with the internet. People have stopped memorizing information, which is a key component to understanding. You cannot, for example, do a difficult math problem with the order of operations if you haven't memorized your math facts. Memorization is NOT evil as some education systems have portrayed, but it is an important facet of understanding and gaining wisdom. See "Bloom's Taxonomy" for more information on the levels of learning, and how memorization is always foundational. In another post, I can discuss how Common Core removed memorization intentionally from its standards, but that is for another post:
The other issue with the internet is that while some are still using it to read books, there seems to be an actual problem where people are losing their ability to read books.
The Bible is a book for a reason. God has put all the wisdom man needs in one book. Books are important, and they are discussed all throughout the Bible.
That means that God, as your master teacher, expects YOU to read a book every day to have understanding, or wisdom - the Bible.
That also means that God respects books and wants us, as humans, to explore wisdom through other books if necessary.
What happens if people stop reading books?
Now, one can argue books did not always exist, and I understand that; however, the point of this post is that for a large part of history, especially since the Bible, books have been the key to wisdom. In fact, the Bible was the first book printed!
Books emerged as the main source of wisdom for years following, many of them even becoming fundamental to understanding the Bible itself.
In schools, students read books to learn empathy, thematic concepts, and learn lessons in history. For example, books like Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, 1984, Lord of the Flies, The Giver, and so on are all classics that warn of various dystopian societies, yet very few students are studying these anymore.
And they will probably never read them. And they will not understand the quote referenced at the beginning of this post. And they will not be willing to listen to us about what is to come.
Books become part of our souls. Online, you just have snippets of information. You have details. You have images. You have conversations. However, you rarely get the full picture. It's all so quick. It's muted. It's half-hearted. It isn't the full, in-depth understanding that a book can provide. It is lacking soul. In fact, a book could represent a soul, and perhaps that is why "our books" are read in Revelation.
Furthermore, that is why "cherry-picking" Bible verses is so dangerous. It doesn't give you the full context, yet people do it all the time.
In the same way, people do not want to read our books that are free. They want to cherry-pick what we say, but they do not want to investigate and UNDERSTAND what we say to gain wisdom.
They want entertaining videos. They want reels. They want fast information. They want it quick. They do not want to take the time it takes to gain the wisdom and understanding.
And it takes time.
Witness 1 and I didn't write these books in a day. We had years of wisdom stored up to be shared with the world. How did Witness 1 and I gain all this information? We both read thousands of books. It's the truth. That is why we can write on nearly any topic, any time. That is why we are The Two Witnesses. We can debate anyone on anything. We have gained enough wisdom. Of course, there is always more wisdom to be gained, and we continue to seek it by reading books, writing books, researching, and of course, going to Jesus Christ Himself - the ultimate source of wisdom.
That isn't to say that articles and such are not valuable. They are, but even then, most people barely can read articles. They skim. They can barely hold their attention. They have been trained to get key information without depth. People are not reading the press anymore. They only read the headlines. Gen Z isn't reading - books are dead. People cannot finish articles anymore.
People are now operating like animals. I do not know how to word it any better. They are going through the internet, reacting, not thinking, and not allowing their mind to understand - to obtain wisdom.
They are gathering endless knowledge. They can give you key points. They can give you basics. However, they understand almost nothing in any sort of depth.
So, then what are Witness 1 and I to do? What are we to do when people won't read our books or articles, but they don't want to believe us? They do not want to read what we present, and they want to say we are wrong. Is it fair?
Our books and articles are well-researched, well-cited, entertaining, and well-organized. They fit academic writing standards but are still written informally enough to not bog people down.
[Sidenote: Did you notice how Trump writes in Boomer speak to appeal to Boomers? I'll write more on this later.]
Yet, most people who come across our site cannot be bothered. So, what can we do?
There's nothing really...though this post won't end hopelessly...
We can't force people to want to seek wisdom. Wanting to seek wisdom is an inner desire that was the fire that was extinguished with the internet.
You see the internet increased something - but it wasn't wisdom. It increased entertainment, shopping, pornography, hatred, and really, all the sins mentioned in the Bible. Ultimately, it didn't really help society become anymore wise or better in any way.
To go back to my thesis, the internet is the fire that destroyed the desire to read books and gain wisdom. This is the Modern Alexandria.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, they are burning books, but in our society, they don't have to do that. Nobody wants to read them, so there's nothing to hide anymore. Nobody cares.
"They" don't care that Witness 1's "More Rational Worldview" - the truth about 9/11 - one of the best books of our time - is online. Why? Well...because how many will actually read the whole thing and gain wisdom? Luckily, people do, but it is not much in contrast to the amount of time people spend on lies and delusions.
Sure, that one is longer, but what about my short book "The Great Delusion"? It's not long. It could be read in a day. It's an easy read. Yet, I ask people to read it all the time just for some foundational knowledge on why we believe what we believe, and they refuse.
What can we do for a generation that doesn't care to seek wisdom?
Little.
Still, I am not hopeless. In fact, I believe in the power of writing and pleading with people - and prayer of course!
There is an interesting satirical work called "A Modest Proposal", in which after the author witnesses the amount of starvation and devastation in a community, he "proposes" that people eat children to solve the problem.
He is "joking" of course, but the book outraged so many people that it actually changed minds!
So, I will continue to write, and I won't give up.
I beg readers, please read our works, read our blog posts, and give our community a chance.
https://discord.gg/qXQfjU5mHv
Do you want to gain wisdom? Then it is time to seek it. It is time to try reading books. It is time to stop watching endless videos. Yes, videos can have value, but there is nothing like reading a good book.
First, read the most important book, the Bible, and join our daily Bible study in our discord:
Here is the perfect verse from Ephesians 5 today:
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Finally, I would like to end with a dream.
The other night I had a dream that Witness 1 found a book called, "The Prayer Rocket." He said that the guy who wrote it was full of wisdom, and I should call him. So, I did.
When I called him, the man was very nice. He was depicted as a large sort-of stereotypical Italian man, who was a chef of a restaurant. He was, indeed, wise and kind. However, when we were on the call, he actually started asking me for wisdom and help. He wanted to know about what to do with the people who did not appreciate or respect him. I said, "Separate the wheat and tares" or something along those lines.
There are two meanings to this dream.
First, wisdom will not always be what you expect. It will not always come from places you expect. It might even come from a woman, writing a blog post daily, pleading with readers to believe what she writes and seek wisdom.
To summarize, wisdom won't look like what we want it to or come from where we expect. In fact, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.
Finally, the separation of wheat and tares is happening now - whether people realize that or not. God is sorting people out, and I believe our ministry is gathering the wheat. If you are wheat and you are seeking wisdom, please join us.
First, though, you might have to read some of our books. You might actually have to put some effort in, and then, maybe it will all start making sense.
I have a modest proposal. It's nothing like asking people to eat children.
However, for the end times, it is the most extraordinary task.
Could you try reading one of our books you haven't read yet? For our avid readers, we are proud of you.
Could you, then, come and check out my blog posts each day? You may gain some insight and wisdom.
I pray you do in Jesus's name.
Have a beautiful night, full of wisdom, in Jesus's name.
Elisha aka Witness 2