As I read Book Three of On Christian Teaching I found Augustine’s point about lust and love to be interesting and pertinent to our lives today. In a society that sells sex, lust is everywhere. Do we, as a whole, have the ability to read the Bible without letting our own wants and desires be justified through the texts?
Our culture is vastly different than the culture Augustine was a part of. When reading this book, I understood him to be saying that times change and so some things within the Bible become obsolete or non-applicable. Well when do we know when this is the case? I think it is a matter of follow the basic laws the Bible lays out. Not everyone is Christian, but for those who are, what are the important teachings we should follow? I think the love of God and the love of neighbor are good starting points. I think that a basic rule that should be followed by all religions and all people in general is “Thou shall not judge.” I know it is not an actual commandment, but it is a good rule to follow. People who do not follow a religion and even those who do, do things we may not agree with, but it is not our place to judge anyone’s choices.
So to answer the question in the intro to my post, it does not matter. It is not for us to determine whether people’s intentions are good or corrupt. Whether they are made from love or lust. It is for a higher power to decide if the person believes in a higher power.
BethAnn - I think you bring up some interesting points. Certainly, if everyone followed the rules love God and love your neighbor and no one judged, the world would be an ideal place. However, of course, we are human and the world doesn't work that way. I think to say that we shouldn't judge others' religious practices would be a mistake. For example, if there is a religious group killing and torturing people in the name of a religious belief, I think it would be the right thing to step in and help; because we need to love our neighbor and not let them suffer. Now, of course we shouldn't judge a group because they do something "weird" or something that goes against our own beliefs, but at some point there is a time to cross that line.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea here, but would like to see you stick with Augustine a little more. Give us a quotation from him and let us see how you interpret it. I sense above that you move very quickly from a question raised by Augustine to a statement as to how you view the question. But show me how to work with a thinker like Augustine.
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