Arrogance of absolute truth claims October 22, 2008
Posted by relsdork in God, bible, christian, church, religion, scripture, struggle.Tags: christian, comparative religious studies, evangelism, God, religion
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Mankind has endlessly been struggling to understand God, so I think it quite offensive and arrogant to shove one’s personal religion in the face of someone who is quite happy with their own. Really, if a Muslim came up to you and read you some stuff from the Quran and told you that you were stupid for being a Christian and that your morals were bankrupt and would land you in hell unless you were willing to claim Mohammad as the paramount prophet, how responsive would you be?
Also, I think it’s ridiculously naive to think that any of us, especially those of us who are not fluent in the original languages of the Bible, can truly understand its message, especially now that we are some 3500 years after much of it was written and completely absent of the Bible’s original context. Of course we have endeavored to find the historical context of these writings, but so little is available to us. Even for those scholars who can read Koine Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, it’s incredibly difficult to discern what kinds of intricacies and poetic structure was used in scripture, what kinds of allegory, puns, metaphors, etc. that simply don’t translate into English or the year 2008.
One of my goals as a Christian is to faithfully embrace the mystery that is God. While I seek to understand scripture as fully as I can (I am majoring in Comparative Religious Studies, learning Ancient Greek, and intend to enter seminary), I will never be able to define God or God’s will in any kind of certainty… I can only have faith. Therefore, I should be respectful of whatever faith claims other people have, so long as they are not damaging anyone, imposing themselves on others, or interfering with my faith practice.
Hi R,
I have been reading the blog of a Muslim who does whale/ wail (sp?) on Christians similar to the manner you describe. Certainly one’s approach will affect how we respond to them, but it shouldn’t deter us from examining the message. That would be to succumb to the argument “ad hominem”: attacking the person, not dealing with the argument.
We can discuss faith claims with others as long as we respect their right to hold their own beliefs. But that doesn’t mean that their beliefs – or ours – are correct. We have to test any belief against evidence, as far as we can. Being somewhat negative, I use Pascal’s Wager as a way of determining what’s worth investigating. Losing your soul in hell – worth investigating. Reiterative returns until we get to nirvana: not as much worth it.
Do you think that the Bible does have a (n overarching) message – a metanarrative? What do you think about the Bible as the word of God, or containing the words of God, or people’s experience of God, or ..?
If the Bible was people’s experience of God, then we might expect to find some similiarities here and there. If the Bible is God’s word, we should expect – assuming our picture of God includes power and consistency at least – that the deity can convey His (I use the pronoun in consistency with the Bible) will et cetera. Sure, the Bible has been translated, but to assert that the message has been changed beyond recognition is a rejection of God’s ability to preserve it – if God claims that ability. Jesus certainly seemed to think so.
Discovering constant themes that run through the books of the Bible isn’t difficult. The books themselves often give idea of the context; in any case, the essential message of the Bible, whether you agree with it or not, is clear enough: in a medium-sized nutshell, we are cut off from God, courtesy of Adam and Eve as our exemplars, and choose to live as we want, not as God says. The result is that after death, God says “your will, o human, be done”, and He grants us ultimate independence of Him to make our own world. The law of Moes shows us God’s standards and how we constantly fail.
But God wants to rescue us from that fate, and so provides a way for us to return to Him. To trust the finished work of Christ at Golgotha is to be dependent on God’s word, the very thing Adam – who is blamed for the Fall – chose not to do.
And reading in the original languages – I can grope my way in Greek, and my Hebrew is becoming slightly less abominable – you can see wordplays and connections that most English translations don’t – or can’t – pick up. The start of the letter to the Hebrews for instance is full of alliteration using the letter “p” (or pi, which is Greek to me and I suspect to others).