christianity and islam are religions in which scripture plays a crucial role in determining the core...

8/10/2019 Christianity and Islam are religions in which scripture plays a crucial role in determining the core values of the religion. Considering the issue of modernity, how

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Naina Fahima Hussain

Religion 211-Q

Dr. Florian Pohl

Oxford College of Emory University

3rd of December 2013

Christianity and Islam are religions in which scripture plays a crucial role in determining the core

values of the religion. Considering the issue of modernity, how should the content within scriptures

be interpreted into modern day perspective and way of life?

Religion is an abstract concept which can be roughly defined as a means of human practice and

belief in the existence of superior power such as God. 1 From our study of religion, it can be said that all

religions are made up of various sacred components such as prophets and deities, holy sites and objects,

and lastly, holy practices and moralities. Among these components are holy texts which are sometimes

referred to, as scriptures. The Torah, Bible and Qur an are the holy texts of Judaism, Christianity and

Islam consecutively. Apart from the central texts, there is the presence of a few other texts such as the

Talmud, Old Testament & New Testament and the Hadith in the Abrahamic religions which believers

use in addition to the holy scriptures to acquire the core values of the religion. In the Abrahamic religions

studied, sacred texts bear high importance in establishing the basic principles of the religion and are the

basis of conveying the message of God to believer. However, through years, the development of society s

behavior and knowledge through years have made it difficult to fully understand and interpret the content

within the scriptures in terms of modern day values.

The scriptures for Christianity and Islam were primarily written and acquired several centuries

ago. The world has changed and developed to a great extent since the period of time the texts were written

during. The way people think have also been modified since then. As a result, many of the content in the

1 Cunningham, Lawrence S. Kelsay, John; The Sacred Question: An invitation to the Study of Religions(Sixth Edition), Page 12 The Search for a definition of Religion


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second class citizens) 5. As a result, it is understandable that men were in charge of the household, which

would include their wife and children. However, in present day, as culture around the globe has changed,

it is now possible for any woman to find a job and pursue a career, in which way she would be able to

support herself and even her family if she wanted to, on her own. Therefore, one could say that modernity

is a result of social change. Even though most countries and societies have undergone social change,

many still choose to disregard the developments. Similar outlooks on the theme of women and equality

can be seen in the Qur an and other Biblical texts such as: The male shall have the equal of the portion

of two females. 6 This verse in the Qur an follows the same circumstances when discussing the topic of

inheritance as that of the Bible where the prevailing circumstances during the time in which it was

acquired did not allow women to work. As a result, it would make sense for the men to receive a greater

portion of the inheritance than women as they would need to support their own household. In present day

circumstances, I feel that it would be unfair for women to receive a smaller portion of the inheritance

because society has made them able to find work and support themselves if not her whole family.

However, this is something that I still see in my country, even in well educated households like in my

own family, where men are still given double the portion of the inheritance as compared to the female

members of the family.

The accounts of creation represented in the Biblical stories and the Qur an can also lead to

misinterpretation. Modernity has caused several amendments to be made to this world, which have

allowed us as humans to understand several concepts of this world through methods of science and

technology. Advanced technology creates conflict in finding a parallel between the biblical and Qur anic

myths and what has been discovered through scientific research. In Genesis 2, it is mentioned: The Lord

5 Scoggins, MD; The History of Women in Society ; Hubpages;http://mdscoggins.hubpages.com/hub/The-History-of-Women-in-Society; 9th December 2013 6 The Holy Qur an; Verse 4:11- English Translation- Surat i-Nisaa ;http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=4&verse=11; Date Accessed: 12th December 2013


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God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man 7

This is probably the beginning of the notion where many believers seek to believe that men are superior to

women due to the reason that the presence of a woman on earth is a result of the man (at least according

to the Bible). However, if we are to relate this verse to scientific information, it is not possible because it

is only a woman who can give birth to a child thus this verse remains unanswered. Therefore, in such a

context it is challenging to question the creation of humans on earth with the presence of scientific

information because then the insider of the religion has to question the Bible and as a result has to choose

between believing either what is presented to them through the Bible or interpret it as their own in terms

of what they know of the creation of the world and what they know from scientific knowledge.

Due to the presence of modernity in the current world, it is hard to justify many aspects of the

scriptures in the Abrahamic religions since religious scriptures were written several centuries ago. The

fundamental problem with the modernity and the interpretation of the scriptures is that there is no

authority to justify which verses and which portions of the scriptures should and should not be interpreted

into present day values at the end of the day, you are your own authority when deciding what you

choose to interpret the verses of the Qur an as (which is also another roadblock to the interpretation of the

scriptures). This means that one can choose to interpret the entirety of the particular scripture they are

looking at and still manage to remain religious but, in the process many of the values of the religion itself

tends to disappear due to the wrong interpretation as there is no limit or barrier to the extent to which the

scriptures can be clarified to fit the values of modern era. Yet, Christians and Muslim believe in a verse:

Scripture interprets scripture 8 where, the scripture such as the Qur an and the Bible are supposed to

explain what is said in verses within what is provided in the scriptures. However, in some cases, like in

the case of the Qur an, where it sometimes is difficult to interpret scripture (due to the fact that many

7 The Holy Bible: Genesis 2:22 ; http://biblehub.com/genesis/2-22.htm; Date Accessed: 10th December2013 8 Biblical Hermeneutics: What does it mean that Scripture interprets Scripture? ; (Discussion Thread);http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/79/what-does-it-mean-that-scripture-interprets-scripture; Date Accessed 14th December 2013


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believers lack understanding of Arabic), one is to seek the help of the Hadith, Sahabas (companions of

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)), and Tabi uns (who help in the development of Islamic thought and

philosophy). 9 In conclusion, the interpretation of scriptures based on modernity can be a complicated

issue as there exists no limits of interpretations. The excessive interpretations of scripture can lead to the

belief of something that the religion does not agree upon and therefore, it would be better to not be a

believer of the religion than to practice contrasting values which the scriptures do not represent. Due to

the complications arising with modernity and religious scriptures, it is understandable as to why a large

population of people are moving away from religion or adapting to new religious movements. This is also

perhaps why there are different sects and divisions between religions such as Protestantism in

Christianity, Shi is in Islam and several new religious movements that have been introduced to following

a certain religion but incorporate their own values and values from other religions such as the Baha i

faith.

Word Count: 1557

9 Patheos- Holding the conversation on Faith: How to Muslims interpret theQur an? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2013/06/how-do-muslims-interpret-the-quran/;Date Accessed: 14th December 2013


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Bibliography:

1. Bible Gateway; Ephesians 5:22-33 (New International Version) ;

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A22-33&version=NIV; Date

Accessed: 12th December 2013

2. Biblical Hermeneutics: What does it mean that Scripture interprets Scripture? ; (Discussion Thread);

http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/79/what-does-it-mean-that-scripture-interprets-

scripture; Date Accessed 14th December 2013

3. Cunningham, Lawrence S. Kelsay, John; The Sacred Question: An invitation to the Study of

Religions (Sixth Edition), Page 12 The Search for a definition of Religion

4. The Holy Bible: Genesis 2:22 ; http://biblehub.com/genesis/2-22.htm; Date Accessed: 10th

December 2013

5. The Holy Qur an; Verse 4:11- English Translation- Surat i-Nisaa ;

http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=4&verse=11; Date Accessed: 12th December 2013

6. Oxtoby, Williard G., Hussain, Amir; World Religions: Western Traditions, Page 107; Oxford

University Press , 2011, Canada

7. Patheos- Holding the conversation on Faith: How to Muslims interpret the

Qur an? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2013/06/how-do-muslims-interpret-the-

quran/; Date Accessed: 14th December 2013

8. Religion Facts, The Hadith , http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/texts/hadith.htm, Est. 2004, Date

Accessed: 12th December 2013

9. Scoggins, MD; The History of Women in Society ; Hubpages;

http://mdscoggins.hubpages.com/hub/The-History-of-Women-in-Society; 9th December 2013

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