I'm reading an interesting book my friend Jane in Natchez gave me about an African prince who was mistakenly sold into slavery (Prince Among Slaves by Terry Alford)
Ibrahima has been a slave for a while, and they try to talk him into to converting to Christianity (he is a devout Muslim).
Here's the part that interested me:
"Prince speaks of the Christian religion with strong evidence of mature reflection," Griffin wrote about 1827. "I have conversed with him much upon the subject, and find him friendly disposed" toward Christianity. "[He] admires its [moral] precepts. His principal objections are that Christians do not follow them...He points out very forcibly the incongruities in the conduct of those who profess to be disciples of the immaculate Son of God."
"I tell you," Ibrahima said to him, "the [New] Testament very good law, you [Christians] no follow it; you no pray often enough, you greedy after money."
Eliz again: Ha! The Prince certainly nailed it.
3 comments:
I wonder if any Christians could name any moral precepts that are unique to Christianity...?
I think many Christians, at least the thoughtful ones, wonder about this, Steve.
And, of course, Christ himself was a Jew, and might certainly have some big objections to raise these days! What would he think about the strange acts committed in his name over the centuries/millenia since he drew in the sand with his stick?
Can any religious/philosophical/ academic group ever name any precept that is "unique" to them? It's all recycled stuff, whether for good or for evil. Built upon concepts and philosophies gone before, some lost in the mists of time/mythology.
Some of us get a certain amount of comfort from ritual, liturgy, and ceremony, even while intellectually aware that none of it will stand up to scientific investigation. But then...what if we were all asked to subject "love" to this same quantifiable laboratory testing, and asked to present clinical evidence that our "love" indeed exists?
Why do we love our spouses? Why do we remain with them? Because it's logical, verifiable, a new thrill each day? Nope. It's just a blind trust that there's something bigger going on than "is dreamed of in our philosophy, Horatio."
Hi Brenda, but, but there is plenty of physical evidence for love?
There are even physiological changes to us when we are in the presence of someone we love, increased pulse, pupil dilation, a tendency to talk crap and spill drinks ;) ... etc. and what about loyalty, affection, desire, sympathy, bearing gifts, surely these are all physical (testable & therefore scientific) indications of "love", admittedly they can be signs of other things too, but not a faith based one among them.
Its pretty clear when someone stops loving you too (unless they fake it I suppose); so I don't think love is based on blind faith on a higher purpose at all?
Why do we love our spouses, is a great question I bet you'd get many different answers to that one; none of them faith based though (or at least I can't think of any?)
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