Religion: A 4,000-Year “War for the Right to Interpret”

In the early days of human civilization, religion was like a chaotic “startup competition.”

Initially, our ancestors were timid:

  • They called the thunder ‘father’
  • They called the rain ‘mother’

And thus, the primitive worship of “animism” was born.

Later on—

  • The ancient Egyptians deified their pets (jackals, cats)
  • The ancient Greeks raised a group of “superpowered giant babies” on Mount Olympus

Zeus and his family, instead of doing anything productive, spent their days cheating and bickering.

But eventually, a more efficient and monopolistic business model emerged:

Monotheism

This logic is extremely self-consistent—
There is only one “Big Boss” in heaven, so there only needs to be one “CEO” on earth.

And the founder of this monopolistic enterprise was—
Abraham (also known as Ibrahim)

I. A Family Feud: A Soap Opera That Changed Geopolitics

All major world-changing events may have initially started because—

The first wife couldn’t have children.

Abraham was a successful entrepreneur, but his first wife, Sarah, was infertile.
So:

  • He had his first son with his maidservant Hagar: Ishmael
  • Later, his first wife miraculously became pregnant and gave birth to a second son: Isaac

To avoid a family inheritance dispute, Hagar and her son were exiled to the desert.

This “struggle between the legitimate and illegitimate sons” became the most expensive family separation in human history:

  • Isaac (the legitimate second son)
    → Became the ancestor of the Jewish people
    → And his descendants later included Moses and Jesus

  • Ishmael (the illegitimate first son)
    → Became the ancestor of the Arab people
    → And his descendants included the Prophet Muhammad

A Miraculous Scientific Coincidence

Modern genetics (Y-chromosome haplogroups) has surprisingly corroborated this legend:

  • Jewish people are predominantly J2
  • Arab people are predominantly J1

These two genetic groups did indeed share the same “dad” 4,000 years ago.

It turns out, the earth-shattering conflict in the Middle East today is, in essence, just two brothers fighting over the family inheritance.

II. Product Iteration: The History of “Re-skinning” from 1.0 to 3.0

Although the family split, the underlying code for all three brothers is the same.
The evolution of the three major religions is essentially the continuous upgrading of the same software.

1. Judaism | Bedrock Edition 1.0

  • Core is the Old Testament
  • A VIP invitation-only product
  • The Jewish people consider themselves God’s “exclusive beta testers”
  • Arrogant, exclusive, and generally doesn’t accept new users

2. Christianity | International Promotion Edition 2.0

Jesus appeared.

As a “spokesperson for God,” he transformed the product from “Jewish-exclusive” to “globally universal.”

⚠️ Key Point:
Jesus himself never wrote a single word.

What we see as the New Testament are the “memoirs” written by his followers decades later.
This means:

From its inception, Christianity has been a history of interpretation.

3. Islam | Ultimate Patch Edition 3.0

Muhammad believed:

The previous two versions were ruined by “product managers.”

So he directly released the final revised edition—the Quran.

A grand “localization” scene:

  • Abraham → Ibrahim
  • Jesus → Isa
  • Mary → Maryam

The logic is simple:

My older brothers misinterpreted the scriptures, so I’m here to set the record straight.

III. The Art of Interpretation: How Did Polygamy “Disappear”?

Since the script is roughly the same, why do people live so differently?

The text is dead, but the right to interpret it is alive.

Take “polygamy” as an example.

Many people think it’s a “perk” of a certain religion, but its originator is Judaism.
In Exodus 21:10, God even thoughtfully provides a “concubine guide”:

“If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.”

King Solomon married 700 wives, and God didn’t fire him.

So why do Christians practice monogamy now?

  • Christianity’s “survival instinct”
    → In order to spread the faith in the monogamous Roman Empire, they simply used their power of interpretation to forcibly change the rules.

  • Judaism’s “going with the flow”
    → It wasn’t until around 1000 AD that polygamy was formally abolished.

The scripture didn’t change; the ‘CEOs,’ in order to adapt to the market, offered a breach-of-contract interpretation of a millennia-old agreement.

IV. History’s Reversal: Who Were the Real Fundamentalists?

Today’s social media narrative is:

  • The West = Open
  • The Middle East = Conservative

But 1,000 years ago, this was a major plot twist.

1. Veiled Christians

1 Corinthians 11:6 makes it very clear:

“For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short.”

In medieval Europe—

  • A woman going out without being properly covered = impure
  • Christianity was closed-minded and ignorant
  • Busy burning scientists at the stake

2. “Silicon Valley” Baghdad

Meanwhile, the Muslim world was a beacon of civilization:

  • Translating Greek philosophy
  • Inventing algebra
  • Extremely tolerant of non-believers

As long as you paid a small tax (protection fee), everyone was a good brother.

Back then, London was like modern-day Afghanistan,
and Baghdad was the New York of its time.

V. Martin Luther: The “Disintermediation Revolution” of Religion

In the 16th century, the reason Christianity could reverse course and become secular was due to a true business revolution.

The Roman Pope at the time:

  • The world’s largest middleman
  • To get into heaven, you had to buy indulgences

Martin Luther couldn’t stand it anymore:

“All believers are priests.”

Direct disintermediation.

It was equivalent to—
Abolishing the monopoly of physical stores and allowing users to connect directly to the server (God).

The effect of this move was immediate:

  • Thought began to be liberated
  • The Pope was no longer the supreme law
  • Science, reason, and the Industrial Revolution began to take root

VI. Conclusion: The Text is a Corpse, Interpretation is the Soul

Today, the proportion of Protestants in developed countries continues to decline, and churches have become backdrops for weddings and social events.

It’s not that the scriptures have lost their power, but that—

the right of interpretation has completed its secular mission.

Looking back at this 4,000-year family drama, you’ll find:

  • No religion is inherently extreme
  • And no doctrine is inherently modern

All the conflicts are, in essence, a—

war over the right of interpretation

Whoever can “mod” the text to keep up with the times gets a ticket to modern civilization;

Whoever clings to the corpse of the text
will turn themselves into a pained, living statue.

History is not a cycle, but an infinite war of interpretation.