The notion of history as an accumulation of empirically verifiable facts and dates is wholly a product of the modern world...For the ancient mind history was not about uncovering facts, it was about revealing truths. The gospel writers were far less interested in writing about exactly what happened, if you will, than writing about what it meant. Reza Aslan, author of Zealot This was a wonderful interview that I think gets at the best and most productive way to consider religion. Though the topic here is Jesus, this perspective is, in my opinion, equally valid when it comes to religion generally. As Aslan points out in this interview, ancient writers were totally uninterested in quoting people correctly or accurately recording exactly what happened. They were interested in conveying truths as they understood them. Living up to our modern historical or journalistic standards of accuracy would never have even occurred to them. The teachings of Jesus, Buddha, and all the others (whether they were particular men or an amalgamation of characters and ideas condensed into one person over time - it doesnt really matter) invite us into an exploration of ideas, concepts, ethics, etc. that goes beyond who really lived when/where or really did or said what. Im so not interested in inside baseball debates between various theological camps about which texts are accurately quoting and/or interpreting (fill in the name of your preferred religious figure here), as if we can ever know whether someone who never wrote anything down and has been dead for 2000 years or more is being quoted or interpreted correctly; as if these people (founders and subsequent writers alike) werent just as much a product of their times as we are of ours.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 23:29:16 +0000
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