This is going to be much shorter than normal because I feel silly exerting myself when no one seems to read it anyways! lol
So, I've been reading this book by Karen Armstrong called "A History of God." It follows the development of the three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.
The historical insights provided by this book are priceless. I never read the Old Testament with such attention to the different backgrounds of the names of God and Jewish practices. I did not know that many of the Jewish practices and myths had their foundations in the pagan religions of that era. For example, it is unlikely that Abraham believed in only one God. He might have only worshipped one particular god, El Shaddai, (El of the Mountain, one of the common names for the Canaanite god) but that is not the same thing as monotheism, which is believing in only one god.
Abraham had faith in one god, which was a very pragmatic faith, a faith that brought him success, not a faith based on theological suppositions about only one God existing. This God has his beginnings as a tribal deity that murders other peoples and is brutally partial towards the Jews. Only later does he develop a compassionate front towards others.
I really could go on and on about this book, but it's almost overwhelming how much information is packed into its pages! Plus, I'm rather tired and growing somewhat delirious right now. ;)
I hope you all are doing well and enjoying this last month of summer! (I'm in Wisconsin right now, visiting my great-grandmother since I had a few days off work. Next week my cousins are coming up from Tennessee, so that should be fun.)
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hey sav! i promise i'm reading, even if i don't always comment. :) That book you're reading sounds really interesting! I hope you're having a great time in wisconsin & have a great time with your cousins!
ReplyDeletep.s. when you're free, we should have another chat this week. :) miss you!
i'm reading too! sorry i don't always comment and haven't posted in a while. i'm a little unmotivated lately. haha. i love reading your posts, though. they're very insightful and i can tell that you're really trying to wrestle through/learn more about some of the questions you have rather than just accepting things blindly.
ReplyDeletehope you have a fun vacation! can't wait til you're back in ann arbor soooon!
p.s. have you thought at all about doing ocr? i know you aren't up for cold evangelizing and all that...but neither am i. ocr last year helped me to understand the view of the gospel preached at hmcc more fully, gave me an opportunity to have a lot of my questions about those beliefs answered, and helped me to understand and clarify what i believe more. aside from all that, it was also really cool to just be able to help freshies get acclimated to the campus and meet a lot of new people AND get to see old friends before all the school craziness officially starts. so yeah...just something to pray about...
hey sav! :) just like lizz and shelby, i've been reading too! i just... haven't been posting ><
ReplyDeletei also really want to encourage you to think about ocr :) it's a really good opportunity to think through what it is you believe about Christianity and also to learn what HMCC might have to say about some of the questions you've been having. it may seem kind of paradoxical, but having to sit down and explain what you believe to someone else actually gives you a lot more insight into what you really do believe. plus like lizz said, you'll also get to help other freshmen leaving home for the first time to find books and move in and things like that. hahaha i remember going into ulrich's with lizz last year to help freshmen buy books. it was honestly overall a lot of fun :) AND i can swipe you guys into north quad when you come back!! hahhaha, you'll be the first people to see it :D so yeah, it's a really great opportunity and you should really think about it :) it's not too late to sign up!