Augustine

As I was reading through Augustine's look at the Bible and how it should be read and interpreted, there were several arguments that I thought were particularly pertinent to the discussions we have been having about Religion as a whole. There is often confusion between what should be read literally and what should be looked at allegorically, or in the words of Augustine, "figuratively". Augustine makes a point that we as humans are likely to look at the severity of sin in our society not according to the amount of "lust" it has, but by our own standards. In Augustine's opinion, this goes against the practice of really looking at and analyzing the scriptures of the Bible. I can also see how this would be a potential conflict in the basis of religious belief in Christianity. As we have mentioned in class several times, we see religion through a "religious lens". That lens goes through shifts and changes overtime. I also feel like this lens can change for each individual person, therefore altering their own individual perception of the religious texts. That is why we get so many diverse interpretations of what is considered a sin, what sin is a greater sin...etc. This individual lens is also effected by the social implications of the culture and/or time that they are looking at the text and applying to the world around them. As Augustine says, "men of their own time and place tend to blame and condemn, and regard as commendable and praiseworthy, only such actions as are acceptable within conventions of their own society". I think that this is a very true statement. Many people take the Bible stories and filter them through their societal lens, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think we definitely need to do this with these biblical texts, especially today when we are so far removed from the lifestyle that existed back then. It can also potentially lead astray, as people can misinterpret and take figurative text for literal text. This is where we see Augustine's lines between love/lust and literal/figurative interpretation. Augustine attempts to take these blurry lines that become apparent when one looks at the text and begins to interpret.