Questioning Assumptions: Rethinking the Philosophy of Religion by Tom Christenson

Author:Tom Christenson [Tom Christenson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-22T08:03:00+00:00

The interesting thing is that all three of these stories (the Genesis creation story, Jesus' birth story, and the story of Sunita's calling) can function to inform our understanding of the world, of other persons, and of our own character without being believed in the first sense. I may be transformed by one of the stories that Jesus tells or by one of the dialogues that Plato writes about Socrates, without any concern for whether the story is true. It is the Socrates who Plato writes about who inspires me. It is the Buddha whom Nhat Hanh so vividly pictures from whom I learn. It is the Jesus of Mark's Gospel who opens my eyes. In all three of these cases, the historical Socrates, the historical Buddha, and the historical Jesus are of very secondary interest. Even avowed works of fiction can inform our vision of life, personhood, and the world without our once forgetting that they are works of fiction.

One could read Joyce Cary's novel The Horse's Mouth (1944) as a something to be believed. Were we to do so, we would want to pursue certain questions: Was there really a British artist named Gulley Jimson? Did he live in a rundown leaky houseboat on the Thames? Was he in constant trouble with the law? Did he and his works finally get recognized as a national treasure at the same time as he was living in poverty in the shadow of the institution that honored him?

Or one could read the novel as a vision-shaping story. In this case, the questions change: Is it possible to have one's eyes opened, one's senses awak ened, to the awesome character of the world? Do most of us go through life in a sleep-walking state, barely aware of the world around us? Why does that seem to be so? Why would humans choose such a life? Is being an artist a noble calling, one worthy of emulation and honor, or is it a psychological malady to be avoided, if possible, at all costs?

One can read the Exodus narrative from the Hebrew Scriptures as a something to be believed. Were we to do that, we would focus on certain questions: Is there any historical evidence to suggest that the ancestors of the Hebrew people were, as a nation, slaves in Egypt while Ramses was Pharaoh? Is there evidence of a series of plagues visited on the Egyptians at this time? Did Ramses die from drowning while attempting to cross the Red Sea in his chariot? Was there someone named Moses who, being of Hebrew birth, was raised as part of the royal family of Egypt? Did the Hebrew people wander for forty years in the wilderness before they were led into the "promised land" of Canaan?

Were we to read the same narrative as a vision-shaping story, we would focus on other questions: How does having been a slave shape one's view of slavery? Or one's view of being an oppressed minority? If this is

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