St. Augustine

            Many of the things that we read in class do not always seem to apply to our current lives, and it can be very hard to pull things and relate to them well. Often, when we read something that was written strictly for people from such a different time, it is hard to overlook the cultural differences and we end up missing the important teachings that it might offer. When reading texts from writers like Aristotle, we often focus on the societal differences and do not pay attention to what is still able to apply to us. In St. Augustine’s confessions, I found his words to be very relatable. While you are able to tell that he is in a different setting, I had little trouble connecting with what he had to say.

            One thing that I found very to be very true was Augustine’s thoughts on the hunger that plagues all of humanity. On page 51 and 52 Augustine says that his “heart was sighing for you (God)” and “hungry for you (God)”. He continues to describe how “they” gave him their best illusions of satisfaction, but he was consistently left unsatisfied. Augustine does a very good job of describing the constant pursuit that we, as humans, are in for something to fill the void that only God can fill. We reach out to the world for the best that it has to offer, and while these things may seem filling, “it would have been better to love the sun, which is at least real to the eyes” (52). As St. Augustine describes it, these things are only pleasing to the eyes and are really only empty illusions. I found it applicable how he discussed this struggle and said that we should instead be pursuing a relationship with God.

            In contrast to some of the other readings such as that of St. Benedict, I found it interesting how Augustine compared good works to the offerings of the world, considering them insufficient in the end. In texts like St. Benedict’s rule, deeds were focused on and even described as enough to determine our faith. Overall, Augustine seemed to value a relationship with God much more than he did good works. He states that only having God in your life is enough to satisfy the hunger that we have, and good works will follow that relationship rather than determining it.

            I found it very refreshing that St. Augustine offered words that were very easy to apply to my own life, and I liked his view on the hunger that we all have. It was different from our other readings, and I could relate to his feelings on many subjects, and I found his Confessions very interesting.

Saint Benedict

            I have always wondered how monks’ lives fits along what most people would consider a “Christian” lifestyle. I don’t have very much experience with them either, and I do not know much about what they actually believe. All that I knew prior to this reading was that I thought of them as people that were very devoted to a belief and isolated themselves completely in order to fully pursue that belief. Following the reading, I found that this is somewhat true, but I gained a new understanding of to what extent they went to achieve this.

            It was easily seen that those following St. Benedict’s Rule thought extremely highly of total humility. They would completely separate themselves from the world, resist speaking when possible, and assumed other postures of submission, and this sounded very extreme to me. The Rule obviously highlighted rules and guidelines for them, but there also seemed to be an unnecessary focus on them. Laws are clearly important, but they cross into hurtful when they take away from some of our most important goals. For those that spent their entire life away from others unlike them and spoke only when spoken to, it doesn’t seem to me like they are doing much in the way of furthering the Kingdom of God. While humility does stand out to others and shows a certain devotion, I do not think that many people are reached without being spoken to. Spreading the Word of God is necessary as a follower of Him, and I do not see how this could really be accomplished in this manner.

            Another thing that I found conflicts with was the Rule’s constant emphasis placed on the works that people do. On page 2, Benedict states that “If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way, unless we run thither by good works”. In this statement and throughout the piece, works are claimed to determine one’s holiness. However, in the Bible Jesus states that He is the only way to get into heaven. Our faith is not determined by our actions, but rather our relationship with God. While this relationship will inevitably result in good works, I think that St. Benedict took this connection too far and traced the faith back to the deeds.

            While the Rule outlined by St. Benedict does seem like it has righteous intentions, I think that it misses the mark in some ways. It limits people from building relationships with others which often lead to the sharing of faith. Also, works are focused on as proving our worthiness to God, but we are not, in any way, worthy of Him without his grace. 

The Quran

            In my life, I have had little experience with the Quran or Islam in general. Having grown up as a Christian, not much thought was really ever given to their beliefs. The only other time that I have learned about it was in a high school history class, and the teacher had us all read a passage and guess what it was from. It was some story that is also in the Bible, but I can’t remember which. Everyone in the class thought that it was from the Bible, but the teacher revealed to us that it was, in fact, from the Quran. Even as I read the passage, I thought that it was some strange translation of the Bible or something, as it sounded very much like it and contained a shared story. Until now, that was really one of my only experiences with the Quran, and all I remember is that it seemed very similar in at least the part that we read.

            In this reading, one thing that stuck out to me throughout was how God is referred to and described. In the fifty seventh Surah, it says that “He is the dominion over the heavens and the earth…has the power to will anything…and has full knowledge of everything”. This is very similar to the way that we view God as Christians: all-knowing and powerful. We believe that there is one God above all else, which is also how the Quran describes God. Also, as Christians, we believe and depend on God’s grace and compassion, which is also a trait given to God in the Quran. God is called “the dispenser of grace” and compassionate in the fifty seventh Surah. This quality is one that I would consider central to Christianity, and it is interesting to see that it is also a defining characteristic of God in Islam as well. It’s surprising how similar the core beliefs about God are between Christianity and Islam, and I think that most people would not expect how comparable these things are.

            Another similarity that I found was that of how the concepts of heaven and hell are described. In the Quran, the separation of grace and mercy from suffering defines eternity. Those who did not pursue God will spend eternity separated from his mercy. This is similar to the belief that we hold as Christians as well, as those that do not follow God will be eternally divided from him. I thought that this was very unanticipated as well, and that Islam and Christianity both define eternity in a very similar way. The separation from God is what lies before those do not follow him in both religions.

            While I do not have very much experience with the Quran in general, it is always astounding how similar it is to the Bible. The way that it defines God’s characteristics continues to remind me of it. Also, this time reading it I got to see how similarly it refers to eternity, and I found that equally surprising. While there are very clear differences, I am always intrigued by how similar some of the values are.