Notes from the Balcony

Ongoing comment and dialogue on being a new church in a new world - A Blog by John Montgomery

[The Bible] is not, for a start, a list of rules, though it contains many commandments of various sorts and in various contexts. Nor is it a compendium of true doctrines, though, of course, many parts of the Bible declare great truths about God, Jesus, the world and ourselves in no uncertain terms. Most of its constituent parts, and all of it when put together (whether in the Jewish canonical form or the Christian form), can best be described as story. This is a complicated and much-discussed theme, but there is nothing to be gained by ignoring it. - N.T. Wright

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Religious Gibberish #1


Sometimes an interfaith encounter can reveal more about one's own tradition than it reveals about the other. Recently, I made visit to a local Hindu temple and had the chance to participate in another's "puja." Such encounters are alway enlightening. (he-he!) One of the first things that one notices is that the ceremonies are conducted in Sanskrit, an ancient language that only the priests know. To most adherents, it is gibberish - I suppose it is the gestures that count. But sitting in a local congregation, I am struck at how similar is the mix of un-demythologized tangled metaphors that are used both in our ritual life, our creeds, and holy conversation - most of which is the repeating of pious language that in familiar but generally not understood.


No comments:

Powered By Blogger