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UNSURE...NEED ADVICE
Hey everybody,
I have a problem that I'm not really sure what to do about. As many of you know, I am an English major. As an English major, I am required to read many different genres and types of writing...so what is the issue?
Sometimes, I am required to read things that speak against religion (mostly, against any religion in general, but a lot of the time it's against Christianity). I generally try to avoid any classes in which I know the material will contain something like this, but it's hard to do that. Some other classes are about the Bible and other Christian writings but they have weird interpretations and such...for example, there is a class that I might have to take that has the following description:
Three Gospels, published in 1997 by the late, accomplished novelist and short story writer Reynolds, is an introduction to the Gospels of Mark and John followed by An Honest Account of a Memorable Life, Price’s own apocryphal re-telling of the Gospel story. The course will introduce students to the radically different approaches that the two earliest scriptural Gospels took to the same subject matter. The final paper will be the student’s own composition of a Gospel apocryphon about the “memorable life.”
Is it a sin to take a class like that or to even write something like the teacher described above? Is it a sin to read anything that speaks against God? Is it a sin to try and compare anything (such as a literary character or passage) and link it to the Bible?
Your comments and ideas about this are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I have a problem that I'm not really sure what to do about. As many of you know, I am an English major. As an English major, I am required to read many different genres and types of writing...so what is the issue?
Sometimes, I am required to read things that speak against religion (mostly, against any religion in general, but a lot of the time it's against Christianity). I generally try to avoid any classes in which I know the material will contain something like this, but it's hard to do that. Some other classes are about the Bible and other Christian writings but they have weird interpretations and such...for example, there is a class that I might have to take that has the following description:
Three Gospels, published in 1997 by the late, accomplished novelist and short story writer Reynolds, is an introduction to the Gospels of Mark and John followed by An Honest Account of a Memorable Life, Price’s own apocryphal re-telling of the Gospel story. The course will introduce students to the radically different approaches that the two earliest scriptural Gospels took to the same subject matter. The final paper will be the student’s own composition of a Gospel apocryphon about the “memorable life.”
Is it a sin to take a class like that or to even write something like the teacher described above? Is it a sin to read anything that speaks against God? Is it a sin to try and compare anything (such as a literary character or passage) and link it to the Bible?
Your comments and ideas about this are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Comments
I do not think it is a sin, but it can be dangerous. If one is unsure of his or her faith, these kind of classes can really mess your head up, I have personally seen this with many people. I actually enjoy reading books by atheists, evolutionists, and even books by heretics. The only reason I like to is so I can know it and have an answer for it in case someone speaks on it. I think it would be a good idea to let your FOC know about this that way if there is anything that kind of confuses you, he can answer it for you. Dont worry too much about it, just remember that the majority of what your being taught is being taught from the minds of men and not God.
I agree. The best way to respond to these types of criticisms is to be familiar with them. We have nothing to hide, we simply answer their criticisms the best way we can.
If you're worried about your own faith (as reading nothing else but anti-religionist literature can give you a very skewed view of things) then I would recommend you pick up some Christian apologetics literature which is currently very strong. For this course for example, you could look up one of the many books on New Testament Scholarship which demonstrate the historical reliability of the Gospels. Can't think of any titles for now except 'The Case for Christ' (not very comprehensive, but useful) and 'Contending with Christianity's Critics' which has a section dedicated to this.
One of the best criticisms of secular humanism I have ever read (well I haven't finished it yet actually) is 'Can Man Live Without God?' by Ravi Zacharias. He talks in detail about the failings of the secular worldview and does it very well.
God bless
epchois_nai_nan, thank you for the wonderful suggestion of books...I have read St. Athanasius and St. Basil the Great as well as a little bit of St. Cyril of Alexandria. I have a list of books written by the Fathers of the Church that I am going through LOL but I will definitely look into the ones you gave me as well. Again, my issue isn't really that I'm worried about my faith per se, I'm worried about what I'm doing being a sin...and the guilt I feel when I read such things. Refer to the paragraph above this one for my concerns.
a good start is to preface each answer with 'according to Mr... in the book...., Christianity is...'
this means you just quote him without agreeing with him, and you will pass the exam without sin.
if you need to go deeper and debate the issue, there are 2 options:
1. choose an easier subject and pass the exam! i realise you don't always have this option.
2. debate the author from a Christian perspective in order to enlighten your teacher and accept this may affect your marks, if there is an anti-Christian bias in your class.
in all debates, be sensitive and not rude about the author and those who agree with him, and work hard so your work is a good standard.
in my schooling i did a combination of the above, and it worked well in evolution class, but 'badly' in religious education class as our teacher was a fanatical athiest and always gave me fairly low marks. i considered it an honour to 'suffer' (in a very small way) for my faith.
may God guide you, it is good you are thinking deeply about these issues.