(1) Here's a quote from the Greek philosopher and poet Xenophanes of Colophon (570 – 480 BC) about how humans imagine gods in their own likeness:
“The Ethiops say that their gods are flat-nosed and black,
While the Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair.
Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw,
And could sculpture like men, then the horses would draw their gods
Like horses, and cattle like cattle; and each they would shape
Bodies of gods in the likeness, each kind, of their own."
(2) There are many ways to look at a religious text from a nonreligious point of view: as simple stories, as historical records, as expressions of a particular social structure or historical context, as mythologies which reflect basic archetypes of human thought or human nature, as weapons of one class or sex against another, and so on. This can sometimes feel like an exercise in "debunking," or showing that the text cannot really be taken the way a religious person might take it--namely, as the revealed word of God. But believers who wish to accept a text as God's word also have to develop their own interpretation, or accept someone else's, and these interpretations can look at the same text and draw diametrically opposed conclusions. The interpretations then can become part of a new religion or social movement, often in opposition to the "official" religion. A text with ambiguities, levels of symbolism, and contradictions makes this possibility much more likely.
One example is the way both sides in the 19th century debate over slavery in the U.S. used Biblical sources, and the story of the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt and their liberation under Moses became a powerful set of symbols in the political struggle.
Another example that I think is really fascinating is the interpretation that some Gnostic groups gave to the story of Adam and Eve. Gnosticism refers to a number of religious groups that arose in the early centuries A.D. and drew from different existing religions and texts, including the Bible. As best I can make out, they saw the material world as evil and the need for a secret knowledge (gnosis) which would let us break out of the prison of matter and reconnect with the source of our spiritual being, which is a god outside of the material world. As some Gnostic groups read Genesis, Yahweh/Elohim was actually a lesser and evil god, creator of the material world. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the "gnosis," and the serpent was the hero of the story by helping Adam and Eve break with the demiurge and gain the knowledge necessary for liberation. Gnosticism was largely suppressed as a heresy by the early Christian church, but has reappeared in various forms in medieval and modern times. One version in popular culture is in the trilogy by Phillip Pullman, of which the first book, the Golden Compass, was recently made into a movie.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Great Idea, Great Blog for Great Books
I love knowing that you guys are meeting and discussing. I've been spending all my time on art and graphic design. www.jeannelafferty.com
Nice to know that I can check in here every so often to see what's under discussion. Who knows? Maybe you'll all be unlucky and I'll come back to the club.
Warmly,
Jeanne
Nice to know that I can check in here every so often to see what's under discussion. Who knows? Maybe you'll all be unlucky and I'll come back to the club.
Warmly,
Jeanne
