Seeing as Augustine wrote his entire book about reading the bible, I would like to use this opportunity to discuss why scripture is so central to many religions. Obviously, Augustine sees it as communication from God through people. I do agree with his theory that everything in the bible could be interpreted as one sees fit, whether it be from his perspective, which focuses on love, or from a completely different one, like a violent one.
I think that most people, especially christians, place too much of their faith in the scripture. They use it to structure their worship services, and their lives. Since the bible was neither written by God or any other deity, I think that people take it a little too seriously. As much as I think that religion shouldn't be based on some stories written by men more than 1,000 years ago, the chances of people disregarding it completely are slim, since it has become so important to them.
But the largest problem, by far, is how much the bible contradicts itself. Many people, especially fundamentalists, use scripture to back up their political beliefs. They assert that God has spoken through the bible, saying that gay marriage is a sin, or that abortion is evil. However, the quotes that they use can be interpreted so many ways, and I'm sure its possible to find multiple scriptures that oppose said views.
All in all, I know that there are important messages in scripture, I don't think that it is important enough to base an entire religion on. I find it surprising that the majority of people on this planet believe, so strongly, everything that they read in that book. And overall, I think that Augustine has a good view of reading the scripture, and interpreting it so that it agrees with the idea of God's eternal love. Even if I don't agree with him, it is still a positive message, and people could believe a lot more destructive things than what he suggests.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment