Sura 85: The Towering Constellations

"Their only grievance against them was their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy, to whom all control over the heavens and earth belongs: God is witness over all things." (The Towering Constellations 85.8-85.9)


Sura eighty-five really highlights the all-powerfulness of Allah.  Likewise, it also shows Allah's dedication to protecting his believers.  This particular Sura stood out to me, amongst the rest because it wasn't like anything we've read before in search up until this point.  The Allah portrayed in this Sura seems more removed from the actions of mortals yet very stern in deciding an individual's experience in the afterlife.  In a sense Allah is portrayed in a paternal light looking out for his followers in the long run.  Although not providing immediate condolences or punishment for the persecutors of his followers, the Quran states, " For those who persecute believing men and women, and do not repent afterwards, there will be the torment of Hell and burning, (The Towering Constellations 85.11)"  My question for you, my fellow classmates is how would the Quran's description of Allah, their God/divine authority, compare to the other portrayals of "God" we've read about this year?

The Jinn- Sura 72

"Places of worship are for God alone-- so do not pray to anyone other than God" (Jinn 72.18)
The Jinn was a religious group of the time that overheard the Qur'an and immediately realized its truth and became Muslim. This chapter explains how God can never be escaped, and that those who submit to him should fear no "loss or injustice". This similarly relates to Christian teaching, as Christians believe that through Jesus, they too should fear no loss or injustice as the Lord will protect them. The above quote remind me of one of the Ten Commandments of Christianity: "Thou shall not worship idols." This is one of the worst sins an individual can commit in both religions. From my reading thus far, I have been finding many similarities between The Qur'an and The Bible. My question for the class is as follows. Has anyone else found these similarities? If so, do you think these two religions were influenced by each other through their creation?

Sura 4: Women

"Concerning your children, God commands that a son should have the equivalent share of two daughters"(Women 4:11).

This quote exemplifies gender inequality in the Qur'an, a problem that continues to occur in Muslim society today. Many of the most notable religious texts, including the Bible, contain passages that seen to demean women. Men were seen as the dominant and superior gender of the time these ancient texts were written, and it is often difficult to transfer over these texts to resound with women of religion today. This chapter of the Qur'an ends with the following quote: "a man is titled to twice the sharing of the female" (Women 4:176). This reiterates the fact that men were believed to have more value than women. My question for the class is as follows, keeping in mind that I am not familiar with Islam. Does the Qur'an demean women more than other religious texts, or are these passages simply a product of the time in which they were written, similar to other philosophical works from this time period? 

Livestock Qur'an

“If you find rejection by the disbelievers so hard to bear, then seek a tunnel into the ground or a ladder into the sky, if you can, and bring them a sign: God could bring them all to guidance if it were His will, so do not join the ignorant” (Livestock 6:28)

            This quote seems to be arguing that God has control of those who believe and him and those that do not. This is reinforced later in this book: “God leaves whoever He will to stray, and sets whoever He will on a straight path” (Livestock 6:28). I believe that this is included to provide comfort to Muslims who are exposed to people who argue that Islam is a myth. By telling Muslims that they are selected by God himself to be his follower, followers of Islam will be less inclined to listen to others that are opposed to Islam. This is also a unifying force for followers of Islam, the belief that God chose you and your fellow Muslims specifically provides a sense of community and security. This is similar to Yahweh choosing the Israelites as his people in the Old Testament; it was the unity that Judaism provided the Israelites that inspired them to leave Egypt.

            I do not have a lot of prior knowledge about the history of Islam so I would love to hear from others who do.Was there any event that occurs in Islamic history that was similar to the unification of the Israelites and their escape from Egypt?

Augustine's Praise

Uploaded late due to blog problems.

In book IX Augustine’s mother dies and Augustine tells a story from her teenage years.  Augustine’s mother would sneak wine from her parent’s cellar all the time and she got in a fight with one of their servants over it.  In the fight the servant basically called her an alcoholic and that really hit home for her.  She realized that what she had been doing was wrong and this led to her change in faith and why she keeps pushing for Augustine to convert.  Though Augustine’s mother came to this point by herself and the help of her parents, Augustine still thanks God entirely.  “Through one unwholesome soul you brought wholesomeness to another” (170, book 8 section 18).

            With Augustine’s sinful past it might make him feel safer knowing that there is a figure guiding all that he does, so he doesn’t slip up and go back down that lustful path.  Why do you think he is so adamant about thanking God for everything?

The Rule of Saint Benedict

"Place your hope in God alone.  If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself, but be retain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge." (Ch. 4 Pg.13)

This quote from the Rule of Saint Benedict reminds me a lot of something Augustine would say in his Confessions.  This quote accredits God with the good within an individual, and places the responsibility of sin and evil not with the nature of God, but with the free will of humans.  Both place significance on taking responsibility for one's own evil.  Both suggest God cannot be held accountable for one's own wrongdoing and sin as God is inherently good.    However my question to you, my fellow classmates is: what do you think Augustine would have to say about the guidelines St. Benedict is writing for religious communities to live by?  Would he promote the same values?  What would he criticize?    

The Differences Between The Rule of Saint Benedict and Confessions

While reading the prologue to The Rule of Saint Benedict, I noticed a few differences between this book and the book we just read, Confessions. The first difference is between good and evil.  In Confessions, Augustine is trying to find the origin of evil and he is frantically searching for the answer. He ends up deciding that "all that [God] created is good" and that for God "evil does not exist" (Augustine 148). However, in The Rule of Saint Benedict, Saint Benedict is talking about God and he says "In his goodness, he has already counted us as his sons, and therefore we should never grieve him by our evil actions" (Saint Benedict 3). Saint Benedict believes our actions can be evil. While both Augustine and Saint Benedict agree on God's goodness, they disagree on evil. Another difference I noticed is when Saint Benedict is talking about believing in God "With his good gifts which are in us, we must obey him at all times that he may never become the angry father who disinherits his sons, nor the dread lord, enraged by our sins, who punishes us forever as worthless servants for refusing to follow him to glory" (Saint Benedict 3). Saint Benedict is saying that if we do not obey and believe in God, then God will punish us. All throughout Confessions, Augustine is writing about how he has defied God throughout his lifetime and does not believe in him and yet, God still loves him and is leading Augustine to him. Both of these outlooks on God are very different. Which one do you believe to be true?

Augustine's Conversion

"I went on talking like this and weeping in the intense bitterness of my broken heart. Suddenly I heard a voice from a from nearby--perhaps a voice of some boy or girl, I do not know--singing over and over agian, 'Pick it up and read, pick it up and read.' ... No sooner had I reached the end of the verse than the light of certainty flooded my heart and all dark shades of doubt fled away." (pg 156,  Book 8, section 29)

The story of Augustine's conversion is an incredible event. He hears voices, reads a passage, and is suddenly convinced. It is reminiscent of Paul's conversion from the new testament, with voices telling him what to do, and a sudden moment of clarity. This moment is certainly the climax in the storyline of Augustine's faith journey. It is surprising that two of the biggest superstars of the church at their various times had such sensational conversions. It prompts one to wonder if this amazing vision and conversion actually happened to Augustine, or if this is sensationalized in order to keep reader's interest and gain credibility. It would be quite a let down to this story of his long journey to hear that he just keeps working on it, and it is a slow but rewarding process. As Augustine is an important figure in the church, it would seem more fitting for him to have an incredible and dramatic conversion story. However, a slow and difficult conversion would seem to resonate more with readers of the day, who may not have been able to devote their entire life to this process, but would like to find God anyways. I think that part of Augustine's narcissism that is shown throughout the book that he must have a fantastic conversion story, because he is not a normal person and does not deserve a normal conversion. Do you think that this conversion story was real, or greatly enhanced for readers' interest and Augustine's image?

The Confessions: Books 4-6

My Fellow Searchers,

In Books 1-3 the narrator argues that God is all-encompassing and perfect, and even claims that babies sin despite their lack of self-awareness. This is contradicted in Book 5, section 10, when he states that "It still seemed... that it is not we who sin, but some other nature within us that is responsible". How can it be that it is not the person who sins, but something inside of the person, even though God is supposedly in everything? It seems to me that the narrator is arguing that either God is responsible for our sins or that everyone inherently has evil within themselves, which contradicts the claim that everything that God creates is perfect and good. Such a bold claim shows just how much the narrator had changed from the point in his life when he made this claim and when he wrote The Confessions, because he goes from having essentially unchristian views to being a very righteous and religiously proper Bishop. Now that you know my thoughts on this quotation I would like to ask what each of you what your reactions were?

The Confessions: Books 1-3

Dear Class,

 

"Who is there to remind me of the sin of my infancy (for there was: no one is free from sin in your sight, not even an infant whose span of earthly life is but a single day); who can remind me of it?" (7,11.)

In book one of Confessions, Augustine makes the claim that all human, even at birth, have the capacity for sin.  He argues this claim with examples of greed for a mother's milk, an infant's tantrums, and jealous glares of "livid fury."  It is hard to believe that humans during infancy can be held to the same level of responsibility for their sins as adults.  Infants do not have the same sort of moral compass or conscience developed as adults, adolescences, and even children. Thus, how is it that Augustine justifies that infants can be held to the same level of responsibility for their sins as those who are more mature?  Sin in my opinion require some sort of awareness of one's surrounding and some sort knowledge of what is perceived as "right or wrong."  If one is lacking such awareness how can they be held to the responsibility of their sins?  I think making the accusation Augustine is trying to make is a bit far fetched.  Sinning without knowledge of what sin even is...  My question to you my fellow classmates is if you agree with Augustine's assertion that no one is free from sin, even from the moment in which you are born?  

Augustine's View on Sin

My fellow classmate,
Augustine, in his Confessions, makes an interesting argument that, despite going to Catholic school my whole life, I have not heard. In book 2, he, in essence, is saying that sin is people's attempts to emulate God. People sin and commit crimes to keep or gain status and in this way, it is an attempt to become more powerful. The other way sin is a way of copying God is that Augustine says that God is the ultimate good of each form of a sin. For example, on page 40, in section 13 of book 2,  he says "Envy is contentious over rank accorded to another, but what ranks higher than you?" He does this with many of the sins we commonly hear about and attributes God as the ultimate master of them. In this way, he claims, sinning is nothing but trying to copy God by doing as much as we can, but not being good enough to reach the ideal that God set. He then explains that these all are just trying to get something, whether it be physical, or just pleasure, but then says as long as we turn to God, we don't have to sin as we have no worry of losing things and needing to gain more.
I did a fair amount of paraphrasing in this, and please feel free to correct me if you think I misunderstood something. I feel like this view of sin is almost opposite to the way we see sin now. Sin is presented as the thing that drives us farther away from God. Augustine claims, rather paradoxically, that it does this because sin is attempting to become more like God. I do not really grasp how God can be seen as the master of each sin and that be good. Emulating God, living life in a way that would be worth of God is undoubtedly a good thing, but in this passage, I read it as Augustine saying the way to do this is through sin. Please tell me what you think about this. Did I simply take a passage and isolate it, giving it different meaning? Or is this a legitimate paradox and contradiction to the common way of viewing sin? What do you think?

Sinning in childhood

Dear Class, 

I would like to point out the quote in book one, section 19: "Is this boyhood innocence? No, Lord, it is not; hear me, dear God, it is not. These same sins grow worse as we grow older...it was only the small stature of a child that you mentioned with approval as a symbol of humility..." In this quote, Augustine asserts that children must hold responsibility for their crimes in the same way adults do. He clarifies that adult punishments are only larger because their crimes are typically more severe after all children aren't capable of real crime in most cases. I struggle with this idea because I am convinced one can't "sin," or commit a crime without knowing what they are doing is actually wrong. My evidence of this is that in a court of law people are tried differently based on their age. Augustine, throughout the three books, holds himself fully accountable for everything he ever did, said or thought but my question is, though this may seem responsible, is it fair? 

The Confessions: Books 1-3

"The only innocent feature in babies is the weakness of their frames; the minds of infants are far from inncocent" (20).
St. Augustine begins The Confessions with his life as a child and infancy in general. He describes infancy as a miserable period in which humans are unable to properly express emotion and thought, and have little to no physical power. It is hard to determine sinful nature in babies as they are incapable of much expression, yet the Bible teaches that sin occurs even when an infant cries or demands attention. He continues on to explain how most of childhood revolves sinful nature; boys even indulge in sinful nature while in school. It was common practice during this time to wait to be baptized until one was older, as youth was seen overall as the most sinful stage of life. In my opinion, it is impossible to judge babies based on their nature after birth. They need time to mature before they can be judged as sinful creatures. My question for the class is as follows: Do you not believe adulthood to be just as sinful, if not more so, than that of youth? What is your opinion on the judgement of infants as sinful even before they can form logical thought?

Antony vs. The Average Joe

"...How great Antony, the man of God was.  Who from his youth to so great an age preserved a uniform zeal for the discipline, and neither through old age was subdued by the desire of costly food, nor through the infirmity of his body changed the fashion of his clothing, nor washed even his feet with water, and yet remained entirely free from harm,"(93).  

The life of Antony was one one of seclusion and characterized by strict discipline.  It was very different in comparison to the lives of those who lived at the same time period. The quote above shows the discipline of Antony throughout his life, and the result it had in the end.  Because of his devotion to living his life in accordance to God, his life is often regarded as prosperous and virtuous.  The life of Antony is "a sufficient pattern of discipline." My question to you my fellow classmates is, how might this recount of the life of Antony who lived a life of very strict discipline, appeal to the masses about who did not live by such a strict adherence to a life of simplicity, moderation and devotion to God?

What made monastic life appealing?

The reading guide encouraged us to think about "what might make the monastic life appealing?" Most people would not enjoy a life of such intense seclusion so what makes it appealing to those who devote their life to monastic religious practices? "...but to keep all his desire and energy for perfecting his discipline." I believe that this short piece of "Life of Antony" best answers why some people are drawn to monastic life. The people that devote their life to secluded discipline of a religion are already very serious about their religion and perfecting their discipline. This means that the opportunity to devote "all their desire and energy to perfecting the discipline" would be very attractive for such a person. What other reasons do you think could possibly attract people to monastic life?