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Religion and Faith
Gabe Gillespie
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree”Albert Einstein
In the texts that have been read throughout the first semester
one of the biggest if not thee biggest theme was Religion and Faith.
Each book taking time in a different part in a different part of history
timing played a huge role in this in my eyes. For example, The
Odyssey was written by Homer before the spiritual beliefs of
Christianity and Catholicism were even born, faith in this piece of
early Greek literature takes shape as Zeus and the gods and
goddesses of Olympia, this is shown in the early in the text, Homer
writes “Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for
they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own
recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given Oh for shame, how the
mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but
it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond
what is given” ( 1.32-34) In this quotation the equivalent to god in
Greek Mythology, Zeus, is speaking about the lack of responsibility
taken by humans. In a lot of religions today people tend to put blame
on their god when things go wrong. Going forward in time we come to
the second text which is featured in Dante’s Divine Comedy, The
Inferno takes place in Florence, Italy right before the reformation
occurs, The Catholic Church really controlled the government, which at
this time was horrible, pope’s were hypocritical and greedy, they took
money, not for god, but for themselves. Dante’s vivid description of
hell depicts his thoughts on what was wrong with the Catholic church
and for people to grasp his words, he wrote the text in the vernacular,
Italian, as apposed to Latin used by monks. We understand that Dante
is Catholic from this" I’d utter words much heavier than these, because
your avarice afflicts the world: it tramples on the good, lifts up the
wicked. You, shepherds, the Evangelist had noticed when he saw her
who sits upon the waters and realized she fornicates with kings, She
who was born with seven heads and had the power and support of the
ten horns, as long as virtue was her husband’s pleasure. You’ve made
yourselves a god of gold and silver; how are you different from
idolaters save that they worship one and you a hundred?" (XIX. 103113). Dante is speaking with a pope who has sold forgiveness of sins
for personal profit. This shows us because the pope is the biggest
figure in the Catholic faith at this time other than god. The final text
read Albert Camus’ The Stranger features existential thoughts and
ideas, through a very simple text. Mersault, an Atheist, is a very
emotionless and very honest man hangs out with a group of friends
who are his opposites, and gets into trouble. This was written in preworld war Northern Africa. The part that struck me in the book was
while the magistrate was questioning Mersault, he pulled out a crucifix,
Camus writes, “Suddenly he stood up, strode over to a far corner of
his office, and pulled out a drawer on a file cabinet. He took out a
silver crucifix which he brandished as he came toward me. And in a
completely different, almost cracked voice, he shouted, "Do you know
what this is?" I said, "Yes, of course." Speaking very quickly and
passionately, he told me that he believed in God, that it was his
conviction that no man was so guilty that God did not forgive him, but
in order for that to happen a man must repent” (part 2.chapt 1.). The
magistrate who is a firm believer in god tries to get an atheist to
repent his sins so that he may be forgiven. Mersault would eventually
not repent due to his lack of belief and faith in a higher being. The
diversity of religion in these texts is really shown. Starting with The
Odyssey religion in Ancient Greek was just trying to make sense of the
world, due to a fairly young people there was a lack of knowledge in
society Zeus and thee other gods were everything and made sense of
the world. Going to The Inferno Dante used his text to address
problems he saw with the catholic church, he in some ways may have
caused the reformation and shaped society as we live today, religion in
this text really makes the book without faith or religion how is there a
hell? Now last but not least The Stranger backs up the idea of
existentialism, Mersault uses logic instead of faith, he takes life to an
extreme in many ways but he always stays true to his colors. Camus
used religion in this book to show holes in it and how commonly it is
used as a scapegoat, even though I share beliefs similar to other
charcters and do believe in god he uses logic in a deep way to present
his ideas. The books in many ways have similar concepts, but it’s the
authors and their surroundings that determined the religion and faith
used in the text. The authors themselves shared different beliefs.
“Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one
thing in his heart and speaks another.”(Homer) Homer is a believer in
what we know now as Greek Mythology. This quote above makes a
reference to Hades the Lucifer of Greek gods. In The Odyssey it is
clear that Odysseus is a believer in gods also Homer wrote “So much
for that. Your clean-cut game is over. Now watch me hit a target that
no man has hit before, if I can make this shot. Help me, Apollo” (XXI.
1-3) At this moment in the book Antinoos will finally be silenced,
Odysseus in this quote like Homer did in a separate quote references a
god but this time Apollo a very complex god. Through the text
Odysseus doesn’t really change his relationship with the gods is
consistent; he is befriended by Athena goddess of Wisdom, and is
hated by Poseidon god of the sea and oceans.
“Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories,
and still your eyes are on the ground.”(Dante) From this quote from
Dante you can see clearly he is a firm catholic believer. He believes in
a Heaven and a Hell. Even though the church most likely ruled him as
a heretic, he did what was right and necessary. Dante in his own book
showed this Dante writes “The time was the beginning of the morning; the
sun was rising now in fellowship with the same stars that had escorted it when
Divine Love first moved those things of beauty; so that the hour and the gentle
season gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeing that beast before me
with his speckled skin” (I.37-43) Very early on in the book Dante flexes his
beliefs. Dante references gods love and tenderness, in a way he is stating his
love for a god and setting up the fact that he isn’t critiquing god but the people
who are supposedly spreading his word and living a admirable life.
“I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out
there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there
is” (Albert Camus) Out of the quotes I used in this paper I found this
one the most interesting. Albert Camus who created such a unique
man in Mersault, an atheist, said this quote. In its own way this is very
existential. You see the difference I’m referencing when Camus writes
“the way he saw it, we were all condemned to die. But I interrupted
him by saying that it wasn’t the same thing and that besides, it
wouldn’t be a consolation anyway.”(Part 2. chap.5). Mersault, an
atheist, selects death over admitting something he doesn’t believe in.
In many ways that is admirable but at the same time it’s interesting to
me and adds to the story plot that Camus who may not be a atheist
wrote this book that seems to reflect his own ideas.
Through out these famous books, many ideas about faith and
religion are flexed. Going back to the quote “All religions, arts and
sciences are branches of the same tree” (Albert Einstein). these texts
and the religions and faiths shown truly back this quote up. In Ancient
Greek a lack of science may have lead the Greeks to their beliefs. In
The Inferno and The Stranger two very conflicting faiths are still
religions and belong on that tree as well. So interestingly enough the
differences in these books just might be what makes the religions and
faiths they are based on so alike.