|
|
89 of 108 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An important, thought-provoking, but flawed book., June 26, 1999
God is Red, by Vine Deloria, Jr., is an important, thought-provoking book that should be required reading in religous studies courses. However, there are several shortcomings that should be pointed out:1. He tends to lump Jews and Christians together in discussing the problems of the so-called "fall" story in Genesis, and the concept of "original sin." Judaism does not have a doctrine of original sin. The morning prayers in the Jewish prayer book include the following: "My God, the soul you have given me, she is pure." 2. Many Christians also do not subscribe to the doctrine of "original sin/original guilt," especially as propounded by Augustin of Hippo. Nor is the notion of personal salvation from an inherited state of sin the only Christian theological position. Salvation and redemption are more complex concepts about which there is a broad range of theological definition. Mr. Deloria's opinion that the validiity of the Christian religion depends critically on treating the "fall" as a historical event is a narrow view. It may be the most prominent stream of Western theology--and certainly the one that has in confronted native peoples with claims of superiority and demands of conversion, for which it justly deserves condemnation--but it is by no means the universal Christian theology or spirituality. 3. Mr. Deloria has set up one theological position as a counterpoint to his argument. He should read more broadly in theology--e.g., the Eastern Orthodox churches, whose theology is substantially different from that of most Potestants and Roman Catholics. 4. There are many "dispersed" peoples in the world, who long ago lost any connection to a specific sacred place. That does not necessarily mean that they are spiritually adrift. I have a varied ancestry covering different countries, cultures and religions. I have no spiritual connection to one sacred place. If I can't know the place under my feet as sacred, and realize the holiness of the earth, trees, grasses, rocks, waters, birds, animals, etc. around me, then I would have little connection to creation indeed. And I agree with Mr. Deloria that a religion whose "connection" is solely with history and the time-dimension is one bereft of real spiritual rootedness. Despite the criticisms mentioned above, this book presents a powerful challenge to some deep flaws in inherited Christian doctrine, and any religion that attempts to base itself on abstract, "universal" concepts divorced from the reality of creation. The "Native view of religion" is perhaps the most viable antidote, and Mr. Deloria presents the rich truths embodied in American Indian tribal religions with clarity and forcefulness.
|
by Vine Deloria
by Vine Deloria
