Wednesday 29 October, 2008

Idolatry and 'scriptures'!

Exodus 20:4-5a says, "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them..."
What is prohibited by this is idolatry. Idol is anything which doesn't have life, and which can't change, which is stagnant. By implication it also means that God can't be defined. No man or religion can bring him under any definition. He should be transcending every definition at every time.
Now every so called 'Scripture' is some kind of idolatry, because first, they attempt to put all revelation within their particular book and say it is closed. For example, the Catholic Church taught that revelation stopped with the last apostle. By this they seem to dare say to God, 'shut your mouth.' This may be a necessity for religions to control its sheeps.
Then again they advocate literal meaning to the writings! Though it was God who 'spoke' or 'inspired', it was put down in human language which keeps growing and the meanings change in course of time. This is besides the contextual differences and importances.
To bring only some books at the exclusion of others is another attempt at being selective on revelation. Also the attempt at official interpretation against lay interpretation amounts to monopoly in God's affairs by the few in the hierarchy.
So, in spite of having only selected number of books, it should allow free interpretation to keep the word alive and active. Rather than authority of persons or institutions, it should be the competence of persons like the scientific temper that should be the consideration for interpreting.
Though 'gods' are products of religions, they should be freed to be real and authentic. If Jesus had to die to become Christ, all the more so the church should die to become the Kingdom of God which Jesus came to preach and bring in.

No comments: