[...]Review: Eat, Pray, Love « Natural Christian Parenting[...]…

You made a lot of good points in this comment- very challenging and thought-provoking, and that’s always a good thing.

I’m wondering- how exactly do you make the leap that “interpretation” must mean that we can interpret the Bible however we want? I’m not sure I understand that. I believe that we are meant to interpret the Bible with a correct understanding of its literary, historical and contextual setting. That means there are “wrong” interpretations- because if you don’t take any of those things into account, you will misunderstand the text.

Also, I do think it’s important to note that not everything in the Bible (in fact, a fair amount of the narrative portions of the Bible) are *descriptive* rather than *prescriptive.* They tell us what happened and why, but are not meant to tell us that this is how we should be living. I’m not sure if you were saying that or not, but I felt it important to note.

Finally, I have to respectfully disagree with you that the Bible shares nothing new. Although it may not give scientific cures or specific technical details of the creation of the universe, the Bible shares that we are saved by God’s grace through no effort of our own (Ephesians 2,) and that we can do nothing to earn or change his love for us. This is completely counter to the previous understandings of religion in history. Also, the Bible teaches us to love and forgive our enemies. That’s not “obvious” to me, honestly- I’d be more likely to stay angry and seek revenge!

I’m not trying to persuade you to change your views- I just really enjoy lively discussion on topics like this. I hope that’s okay!

Seems obvious to me, and anyone who actually uses critical thinking, that this book is like all the other religious texts. It was written by human beings who were trying to make sense out of a world they didn’t understand. They got a few things right, but a LOT wrong (e.g., the bible tells you HOW to own slaves, but it doesn’t tell you that it’s WRONG to own them…that’s a pretty simple test of its veracity). There’s nothing in there that people of that age wouldn’t have already known. No DNA explanation. No “big bang” details. No startling revelations about penicillin or vaccines. Nothing useful except the rather obvious stuff. And there’s plenty about killing foreigners, incest (look up Lott, and read beyond the pillar of salt stuff…shocking!), homophobia, subjugation of women, etc.

I sometimes wonder whether any Christians have actually READ their bible.

Yes, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma are Hindu deities. And Zeus is obviously a mythological Olympian. However, I just wanted to make sure others knew that God is not limited to the English language. He has many names in many languages.

In Sunday School I’m sure we were all taught the Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I think this is something that we should all keep in mind. I’m sure nobody here wants people to argue about whether or not we’re Christians or have found the “right” path to God, so why are we doing it to others?

If you look at the teachings of most religions (i say “most” because I am no expert on ALL religions), they teach the same values: love, forgiveness, honesty… all good qualities we aim to possess as people. Looking at the Abrahamic faiths are not all of these present? One might argue that Islam does not possess these, but look again. Christianity is more closely related than the majority of people realize. I know this book does not talk about Islam, but I feel it’s necessary for us to recognize that although there are differences in religions they do share mainly the same message: love, love, love.

Jesus was accepting of all people. Sinners, tax collectors, lepers… everyone was invited to dine at His table. Let us not be too quick to judge Liz and her path to peace unless we would like to have ours examined by others as well. I’m sure believers of other faiths would have just as much to say about Christianity as we have to say about their faith.