The Light

The story of Kebra Negast shows that God had a special purpose for the nation of Ethiopia. It seems as if things just fell right into place and as if things were destined to work out the way they did. The merchant saw King Solomon’s wisdom and the Queen just so happened to love wisdom and wanted to learn.  It seemed as if God had laid down a path for the Queen to follow.

Solomon was a great man. He was very wise and well respected. He was a follower of the lord and the Queen of Ethiopia also became a loyal follower of the God of Israel. The Queen had the child of this well renowned king. After reading about the dream that King Solomon had of the light shinning over the land of Ethiopia it was clear to me that the Lord claimed that land as his, and the child that the Queen was to bear was the light. It showed that Israel was now not the only kingdom with God’s blessing, and this gave Ethiopia special significance. 

Conceptual Blending

Conceptual blending is an interesting idea. It is not one that is known to be related to religion, but when you try to understand religion and faith by apply some of the information of conceptual blending it all makes sense. In conceptual blending there are two ideas that are put together to create a new blended idea. In religion there are many ideas that are taken such as human actions and God. These two concepts are brought together and they can help to create this idea of religion.
In religion conceptual blending is used a lot. The bible is a prime example of this. There are many examples in the bible of human actions being compared to odd things. At first glance they may not make sense. Augustine might argue that when the bible say odd things like killing babies that it is to be taken figuratively. This is a form of conceptual blending. You have your input or your ideas that are blended together to create a new reality or idea. This idea of killing babies doesn’t literally mean that we should do so, rather it means that we should kill all evil ideas. After the metaphor of killing the babies is taken away the new blended idea comes forward.
Conceptual blending is a tool that most religions use. It is key to faith and explanations of certain things such as the bible. This tool is important to the study of religion because it allows people to grain a lot of insight in to the world of religion.

Love is the Key

The love for God and your neighbors is a reoccurring theme in book three of St. Augustine’s book. It is interesting because this love for God and our neighbors is something that one needs to develop in order to fully understand the bible according to Augustine. One of the things that happen when you fully love God is that you trust in him and you trust his word. This faith in God and his truth is what allows a person to believe in the bible and all that it says without prejudice.
But, one has to wonder whether or not this love for God and faith in his truth really allows you to understand the bible or whether it blinds you to what is really there. When you have faith in God and his truth you are believing in something that cannot necessarily be proven. It is a blind faith. This might actually hinder a person from asking questions that should be asked. Or it might give you an insight into the true meaning of some bible verses. It may also give a person more faith in the bible because not all things that God does can be explained just like the bible. So it seems that love and trust in God are the keys to fully understanding the bible according to Augustine. But this may not be in the way that a person seeking all truth might want. So it is up to you to take Augustine’s route or the route of a person that wants all the facts.

Augustine's take on the Psalms

After reading Book Two in Saint Augustine’s book I find it easier to understand the purpose of the psalms and how they are read and interpreted. In the beginning of book two, Saint Augustine speaks of symbols and how they have great meaning to people. He speaks of different ways that symbols take form and how they can be interpreted. He speaks of music being a form of a symbol. The psalms were written to be used in song, making them a powerful symbol. This helps me to understand the power of the psalms during this time of a symbol of religion.
Also St. Augustine speaks of how there are different levels of belief and understanding in a religion. He speaks of the knowledge that one can gain when they are in the third stage. He says that when a person is in the third stage he understands the scripture and has a reading knowledge of it. I feel that, as a person that is not really religious, we have a reading knowledge. But the person in the third stage also has a belief in the truth of the religion and the word. With this belief the religious person will be able to read the bible without prejudice and will be able to believe it. This helps me understand how it is religious people are able to believe and have faith in what they are reading without passing little to no judgment on it. Overall, reading book two was helpful in understanding the importance of the symbolism used in the psalms and in understanding the religious people’s faith in the bible.

Is God a Lover or a Fighter?

In Psalm 18 God is presented as a warrior. But in many other psalms and in many other books in the bible the Lord is presented as a loving God. In many places in the bible God is shown as being patient and forgiving. But, if at any time you sin against God you are condemned and so too are your children. So is God a lover of all his creations, or is he a fighter and enforcer of his laws?
If the Lord loves all his creations and wants them to prosper then why would he condemn them? Why would he choose sides and help one of his children to destroy the other? In Psalm 18 it seems as if God has chosen a side. He is helping to destroy this other person and it seems as if he has declared war against his enemy. But how could his creation be his enemy? How could he love all yet destroy them? Many religions believe that there is favoritism, but this is contradictory to the teachings of the bible.
The majority of the books in the bible present evidence of God being more of a lover than a fighter. And although there is a lot of evidence of this there are still historical events that show God as more of a fighter than a lover. Now with the addition to the bible which is the New testament it gives people another way to be on God’s good side. In the past before the New testament it seems like God was more of a fighter but now with the hope of being saved in present day he is more of a lover.

An angry God

The image of God in Psalm 18 is that of a very scary God. The idea of God as a fighter is not seen very frequently in the bible. The Lord is usually portrayed as being very loving, patient and forgiving. I feel that it is problematic for this idea to have been taken from other religions because I feel that it does not match that of the God in the rest of the bible. There are not many instances were the Lord declared full on war on somebody.

            It seems that the God in Psalm 18 is angry and destructive. It almost contradicts the image of God through out the rest of the bible. I would not want an angry destructive God that would declare war on his own people. God has become angry in other books of the bible and has destroyed people be he was really portrayed as being extremely destructive. He was compared to a volcano in the way that he got angry and the destruction that he created. I feel that this is not the purpose of a God and it is a very scary thought.

Is the bible obsolete

The bible consists of multiple books that were written thousands of years ago. The majority of the books with the exception of Revelations and maybe a few other verses were written about that a particular point in time. For example the book of Psalms was written during a time when there was war. Since the majority of the books in the bible were written about a particular time in history it could be said that the bible no longer applies to present day.
But why is the bible not obsolete? Many people argue that some of the rules in the bible are in practical for this time. One example, of a rule that wouldn’t be as practical today would be having premarital sex. In the past if a person was to engage in premarital sex, particularly a woman, she would have no chance of getting married because it would unacceptable. And the woman would need a man in this society in order to provide for her. But in this day and age females are independent and can provide for themselves and so it is socially acceptable for people to engage in premarital sex. But although I don’t agree with all the rules in the bible and although I feel that it is partially out dated, I don’t believe that the bible is obsolete. Since the bible is written in a manner that draws it to be interpreted. This allows humans to still feel like the bible can give them guidance thousands of years later.