The Closing of Week 8

So ends Eighth Week.  And what better way to start Ninth week than with a day off tomorrow?

We are also ending our study of the Rastas.  I'm not going to lie, I really enjoyed reading about them.  Rastafarianism is such a new religion, that we can really see how it evolved, without the centuries of theology and politicking that shaped much of the Western religions.  We can see where they came from, what started it all, and how things have evolved (like from a "back to Africa" to a "free from mental slavery").  We can see how, like all symbols with religious origins, reggae got co-opted by secular institutions.  And, on a more personal level, I actually learned about the the beliefs of the Rastafari, which was a lot more interesting than I originally thought, with my superficial knowledge of what Rastafari was.

Rastas! Rastas! Rastas!

Man, I should really try and get these up earlier.  Sorry.

I'm quite happy with what I saw in the video.  It shows much of what we learned about Rastas in class.  From the dreads under their red (big color!) turbans, to houses painted in the colors of Ethiopia.  Even the how there is only a small amount of houses around goes back to what was said in the book about how they live in small communities.  And overall, they are all in an isolated spot, showing how they want to separate themselves.  And it is very easy to see how spiritual they are, from all of the Bibles, and how they seem to be constantly worshipping.  This is very much what I was expecting to see after our study of the Rastas.

Alright, now, on to the free blog!

We are Rastafari!

So begins the live CD of Bob Marley that I currently am enjoying.  We were talking late during the Friday class of how reggae music, even as a secular music for, still has  very close ties to the ideas of the Rastafari.  I think that it is such a nice change of pace, because of the way that I am used to hearing religious music co-opting as many genres as possible, like how we discussed christian music.  And when I went to church, I realized that many of the hymns were other songs, with just the lyrics changed.  So not only does Christian music take (or borrow from, whichever term you would like) the genre, but they sometimes even straight up take the songs of other genres.  So it's refreshing to know that they have their own sound, and that no matter who else borrows it, it will still always have a hint of Rastafarianism in it, no matter how drastically you change the lyrics.

Alright, I'm gonna go and enjoy the music some more, safe in the knowledge that its message is permanent.

Is Seven Lucky? Probably for Blogs.

Hey there, friends.  How has your weekend been so far?   Don't worry, it'll get better.  I mean, you're about to read my blog, how can it not?

The Kebra Negast paints a picture of an Ethiopia that is prosperous and great nation.  That it's empire was extended past where its borders had ever been pushed.  This contrasts greatly to how Ethiopia is nowadays.  In the PowerPoint, we saw a barren and rough terrain, and that Ethiopia has lost much of the power that it had once held.  And while it still has some respect, because of the rumor of the Ark of the Covenant is held there.  But while this is important, it does not do much to curb the third-world nature of the country.  The story, while to be taken with a grain of salt, of the Queen's ability to get Solomon to give her a son to rule Ethiopia, is able to hold Ethiopians together, and keep them going on.  

So that is that.  Peace out, hombres.  

Systems of Symbols

Good morning.  How has everyone's weekend been?  Good.  On to my blog:

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While there are lots of pictures within Christianity that can be considered to show a "system of symbols", I think that none does it better than that of the Rosary.  It is a symbol on both the physical and mental level.  The first distinguishing feature on the Rosary is the crucifix on the bottom.  Not only is it an symbol of Christianity (Catholicism in particular), it also is a reminder of the Catholic belief in Christ's suffering for the rest of humanity.  And then within the context of the Rosary, it means the "Act of Contrition" prayer.  The next most interesting part of it is the centerpiece, which can have a variety of engravings on it, all of which are symbols for different things.  Usually it has a Virgin Mary or a saint on it, to remind the owner of the qualities reflected in Mary or the saint.  Also, it means the "Apostles Creed" prayer in the Rosary.  Finally, each bead means a prayer within the Rosary, making the entire Rosary itself as a symbol of a pious person.

As an interesting post-script, I beat Ocarina of Time earlier this weekend.  Why is it that playing a game that's 10 years old is still more satisfying that playing most of the new ones?

Christianity, and Theology, and Philosophy, oh my!

Okay, here's the second post.  You can have it.  I didn't even want it anymore.  So there.

Reading On Christian Teaching has gotten me a lot more interested in the idea of theology over a core idea.  It's interesting how all religions have gained a theology, when there really is no need for it.  And what Augustine creates is a theology, for, as far as I know, a theology is a Religion (Christianity) plus a Philosophy (Platonism).  In the immortal words of John Dreher, "Augustine baptized Plato".  

I think it's safe to assume that Plato didn't take his ideas from Egypt, but that Augustine had probably read The Republic in the time after his conversation (or before it, but he didn't seem like that kind of guy).  And it's really not too hard to see how well Platonism and Christianity work together.  But my question is this:  Why does a religion need a theology like this?  Why does religion need to have a say in every aspect of life, as opposed to just the personal, spiritual part that it used to.  Don't get me wrong, and think I'm anti-religion.  I'm not.  What I'm against is the need for a theology.  It is the specific doctrines that a theology makes that breeds all of the hatred and fighting.  No where in the Koran does it say to hate Israel, no where in the Bible does it say to persecute non-believers, because neither of those are the important ideas of those books.  But when you create a theology, and use it to define your entire life, those unimportant ideas can be brought to the forefront.  And that's never really any fun.

That's all.  See you all on Wednesday.

Miller on St. Augustine On Christian Teaching

We'll just dive right in won't we?  I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm at the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, and you know how that is right?  Ganondorf can eat it.

On page 55 and 56 of On Christian Teaching, St. Augustine talks about the importance of a knowledge of history, and that it is needed to fully understand the Bible.  He brings up the two examples of Christ's age, and the accusation by the Platonic scholars.  He says that their ignorance to history had people thinking that Christ was 46 years old, and that he had taken his ideas from Plato.  He says that anyone who thinks this does not have the correct context, and stresses the importance of knowing what they would be talking about back then.

This point is extremely important when it comes to the Psalms.  So important, in fact, that we made sure to use it when we studied the Psalms.  We made sure that we knew what was going on when the Psalms were written, so as to know why specific Psalms were being written.  And while now we can pretty much just choose an interpretation and fit it to a Psalm, when they were written there was something in mind that they were commenting on.  And while our interpretations now may be a lot more eloquent and nice, without knowing the original meaning, you lose a core idea within the psalm.

Now, if you would excuse me, I have some Sages to awaken.