Nothing can come of nothing.

Post date: Oct 25, 2016 2:15:02 PM

While reading the two excerpts for today, I couldn't help but notice how similar Muhammad's life story's form was to Augustine's Confessions. Both stories in their conversion to God were centered around the idea of words. Augustine was to "pick up and read" Muhammad was to "Read!" or "Recite!"

This idea that one knows God through what is read is interesting showing how much both religions revolve around the written Word, the eternal word of God. In a way this gives a stabilizing force to a religion as it has actual written sources to consult in times of need, but it also shows the reliance and crutch of written religion. If it isn't understood in context, people who follow a book religion can misinterpret the meaning of the Word and do harm.

In a similar way, Aslan points out how interdependent culture and religions are. Describing mythology not as falsehood but as a way to give meaning to something regardless of its history is a refreshing way to look at the stories that make up religion. His writing also lays out the idea that no thought, no religion, and no culture can come from nothing - there will always be an outside influence and logical progression to historical and cultural progress - whether or not we can see it. Religions do not pop out of no where, the culture would need to have elements and ideas found within the religion already present in order for said religion to take hold. Nothing exists in a vacuum and we cannot forget that. Culture just as much as "divine" intervention shapes the progress of a people's belief.

I also like the framing of monotheism as the main reason for the clash between Christianity and Islam. In a way, it's very true. If a religion or culture only has one way, one God, one Truth then it cannot tolerate or accept a different way of life - or see it as equally valid. With polytheistic or "henotheistic" religions, there is room to share a world with different views. By restricting ourselves to one way - any dissent or difference can lead to violence because the religion offers no other course, unless of course we ourselves change it.

The idea that early faith is different from religion and its institution is very true. Early belief has the ability to fluctuate and expand and be reinterpreted. It is new to the world and therefore malleable. Once something becomes fixed, through written word or institutional law, it has much less leeway and therefore is more likely to settle into one form. This creates conservatism of thought. Everything within culture does this, especially things as important as religion.