The "Good Word"?

On Christian Teaching

On Christian Teaching does give some insight on how to read the Psalms. I believe St. Augustine would be upset with how we have been interpreting the Psalms. St. Augustine suggests that in order to fully understand the true meaning of Christianity, one must look at Christian history from beginning to end. In other words, we cannot read the Psalms and only the Psalms and expect to gain any truth from God's words. One must look at the Psalms in context of the entire Bible in order to fully understand the meaning of the Bible.
In a way St. Augustine is right. It's really hard to micro manage one part of the Bible without considering the context. However, asking people to memorize the Bible is pretty ridiculous. I'm way to busy to even consider that task. I don't think people need to memorize the Bible in order to gain it's worth, but I do agree, however, that while reading people should consider the context in which it was written. Also, one should be aware that interpretation of one person may be different than another persons.

Just remember...

So I know this blog is a little late coming, but I think it's still worth taking a look at. While reflecting on the psalms I am beginning to understand the origin of the psalms and the historical events in which they were derived from. It's so interesting that these stories are told through the eyes of one man's interpretation. Again, i'm going to talk about interpretation. I don't have a lot to say about this topic that I haven't already emphasized, but one thing to take away from this blog is to remember that just because it's interpreted differently doesn't mean that the various interpretations are wrong. But one should remember the historical context in which it was written.

God...armor and battle helmet included?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gfZnWVoqZ8


So when I read Psalm 18, the overall theme of sinners who do not repent eventually being punished is clearly present in this psalm. It is very interesting when the psalm describes God as "letting loose His arrows and scattered them, lightning bolts shot, and He panicked them (Psalms 55)." In reference to the question being asked....yes, this is terrifying. This psalm is describing the power that God has, however, there is another underlying message that I think may be a bit more pressing. Along with the Sparticus-esque God being portrayed, the psalm also describes the speaker as having God be a foundation in order to "battle" evildoers. The psalm states "and who the Rock except our God? The God who girds me with might and keeps my way blameless, makes my legs like gazelle's, and stands me on the heights, and trains my hands for comba, makes my arms bend a bow of bronze. You gave me your shield of rescue (Psalms 57)." I'm sure people during the time that the Psalms were written most likely interpreted the physical fighting for what they believed was just. However, if you asked someone today how they would interpret the psalm, the answer may be a bit different. In order for religion to be applicable to today's society, one may approach this psalm more metaphorically. For example, maybe the God that throughs lightning bolts and makes the Earth shake is merely a representation of power. Maybe having the earth shake and God battling is a representation of how a person may feel without God. These are not my view points, I'm merely looking at this from as many view points as possible. And referring back to God being someone's "Rock" in battle, could be viewed as having God as a foundation in order to make decisions in life that will lead a person to Heaven (again not necessarily my opinion, just another way to look at things).

Interpretation Part II

So in my last post, my main talking point was primarily focused on interpretation. Going throughout the week, I kept asking myself how many different people interpreted the events that occured throughout history and interpreted and made them relevant to their own personal beliefs. I mean think about it...depending on what people are/were looking for in terms of divinity they could've have interpreted anything as being divine. I think it's so interesting that so many religions spawned off some of the same historical events. How can one person or a group of peoples' depiction of religious events or figures create relgions that appear to be unrelatable.

Although I may be taken a negative approach thus far to this topic, I'm actually in favor of interpretation. Isn't spirituality used as a guide to interpret a person's world and events in order to make their world a more predictable safe place? Many religious figures interpreted what was going on around them and applied religion to in order to explain things. People who were confused found comfort in believing in a higher power and felt safe by doing so. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that spirituality should be personally relevant to your own world and own personal situations in order to make sense of it all. However, that being said I believe it is ignorant to respond negatively to other's personal interpretation of faith.

The Power of Interpretation

"Interpretation"...what an interesting word. Interesting especially when discussing Psalm II (both new and old versions). To early Americans reading about "heathens" and how God's people will take land they see on the coast from the heathens. The early Americans could have viewed the "heathens" as the Native Americans. Someone in class today brought up an interesting point of interpreting the Book of Psalms in a way that plays in the advantage of a situation. This could very well be relevant to the early Americans. Think about it...you arrive in a brand new place, and in order to explain your surroundings and world more clearly (aka. purpose of religion) you revert to a passage from Psalms that seems to depict an "exact" explanation of your situation.
This exemplifies that power of interpretation. Because religion is something that has been present since the Paleolithic age, religion has to be able to adapt and be applicable to the current world. I am not suggesting that this is a bad thing to do or that adaptation is wrong, in fact, I feel it is necessary to constantly reexamine the historical clues and scriptural evidence that has been given to us in order to try and explain our current world. But one cannot deny that different interpretations can lead to skew what historically happen and possibly, in a biblical context, lead to misconceptions about what God wants and what God's people are supposed to do. Hence, this shows the power of interpretation by man on the supernatural.

Personal Faith

My faith as a Christian has transitioned over the years. By transitioned, I mean that I used to be Catholic than became simply a non-denominational Christian. This is mostly because I felt disconnected with God when I went to church...as odd as that sounds. I don't know if it was the structure of the church (which is a discussion for a different day) or other things, but I truly feel my relationship with God is personal. I know that religion is meant to bring communities together like we have discussed in class. I do not disagree with this statement, however, by distancing myself from the Catholic church, I feel a greater connection with my spiritual life now than ever.
Along with the my own personal connection with God, I often times do not feel the need to express my opinions on Christianity or feel the need to "prove" that God exists. I know that spiritual guidance has helped me stay strong in situations and helped me make the right decisions. And that's good enough for me.

Mounds as Symbols

When reading the "Indian Mounds of Wisconsin", and more specifically, the EFFIGY mounds, I began to notice how the mounds played an integral part of the Native Americans lives. The mounds themselves are an actual physical symbols that possibly represent the Native Americans belief in higher spiritual power and/or afterlife. One important thing to note in regards to the effigy mounds creating conceptions of a general of existence is that the mounds were built in order to bring the community together. While reading I noticed that activities such as hunting, gathering, etc. were necessary to for group survival. The text also states that the mounds (or ceremonies that took place in/around/near the mounds) also involved the community aspect. By having the mounds be an intricate part of the community aspect of the tribes, this suggests that the thought of afterlife and a higher power would also be an intricate part. These symbols that could possibly represent things of higher realms by Native Paleolithic people suggest that the entire community respected theses mounds. Although researchers are fairly certain that the mounds are of ceremonial purposes, there is always room for speculation. As I am beginning to realize in this course, the evidence found for the paleolithic people is always up for debate. Rarely is there solid evidence. However, that being said, a lot of the evidence in "Indian Mounds of Wisconsin" have strong suggestions that these facts are indeed facts. It is always good to examine what we have been given as people of present to hypothesize what occured in our past.

Religious or Spiritual? Same or Different?

When thinking about religion, many times automatically think of church and/or establishment. People often ask me if I'm "religious". Most of the time I respond with "no, but I do consider myself very spiritual." I guess I always tended to view religion as going to church, reading the bible, having communion, things like that. I was brought up Catholic, however, I consider myself a non-denominational Christian. I think this is partly due because I maybe didn't agree with some aspects the church/establishment entailed in my eyes. This is not a rip on the Catholic Church by any means, I just didn't feel comfortable and found it hard to make a spiritual connection with God. Although we're discussing in class the community aspect of faith and religion, I find my own personal connection with God to be a greater asset than the community aspect. Again, I want to reiterate that this is my own personal experience and do not hold judgements or criticisms of those who are of different faith or of different view points. I guess, it's difficult sometimes to find people to discuss religion with in a non-threatening, judgemental setting. Maybe that's a reason why I took this course...to understand other people's view points and to have an open discussion where people are free to express there thoughts and opinions. I understand that this course is meant to observe the effect of religion on many societies, but hopefully I will gain perspective on my own personal view on spirituality and/or religion.