Well, today’s an important day.
I bought a Bible.
I’ve resisted ‘til now, because I’ve seen so many otherwise perfectly decent people ruined by one. But I don’t want to start off by writing about the narrow-minded prejudice that is the Scylla of Christianity, nor the cloying sentimentality that is its Charybdis. I just want to explain that I needed an excuse to splash my cash, and that not even the threat of losing my soul has been sufficient up until now.
I’m starting to study again. The course I’ve chosen is an ‘A’ level (college level) course in Philosophy. One of the units is philosophy of religion, which, with the typical parochialism of the west, compounded further by the typical parochialism of western philosophers, actually means philosophy around Christianity. That’s fortunate, because that’s what happens to interest me, and the Bible I bought I can justify as necessary educational resource.
And that’s how I intend to treat this Bible: not as a sacred text, God’s word, holy writ. Just as window on what people, long ago, thought about God, so that I can compare and contrast it with what we think now, and see how the various notions of religion developed, and try to decide whether any, or some, or all, of them have any purchase on the complex social environment we inhabit today. If this sounds like a journey that might interest you, you’re welcome to come along.
I’ll be honest: I’m going to need some encouragement.
Enough, for now.
I bought a Bible.
I’ve resisted ‘til now, because I’ve seen so many otherwise perfectly decent people ruined by one. But I don’t want to start off by writing about the narrow-minded prejudice that is the Scylla of Christianity, nor the cloying sentimentality that is its Charybdis. I just want to explain that I needed an excuse to splash my cash, and that not even the threat of losing my soul has been sufficient up until now.
I’m starting to study again. The course I’ve chosen is an ‘A’ level (college level) course in Philosophy. One of the units is philosophy of religion, which, with the typical parochialism of the west, compounded further by the typical parochialism of western philosophers, actually means philosophy around Christianity. That’s fortunate, because that’s what happens to interest me, and the Bible I bought I can justify as necessary educational resource.
And that’s how I intend to treat this Bible: not as a sacred text, God’s word, holy writ. Just as window on what people, long ago, thought about God, so that I can compare and contrast it with what we think now, and see how the various notions of religion developed, and try to decide whether any, or some, or all, of them have any purchase on the complex social environment we inhabit today. If this sounds like a journey that might interest you, you’re welcome to come along.
I’ll be honest: I’m going to need some encouragement.
Enough, for now.
