On other cultures' "Gods"

[Crystalline]

Hi! This is my first post here, and to be honest I was looking for a little guidance. As well as studying the bible to further my understanding of the divine, I also like to look at the “gods” of other cultures to try and see how, in their flawed way, they tried to understand Him.

I don’t make moral judgements based on the teachings of these “gods”- I just like to use the way they were portrayed as a philosophical tool to further my knowledge. I like to think that I’m trying to find where they went wrong, looking at my own faith, and ensuring I don’t make the same mistakes.

I’ve been told that this study is a very non-Catholic thing to do, and that upset me greatly- I don’t see how learning about other religions as an intellectual and philosophical exercise can damage my faith. What I have seen is that it allows me to defend and promote Catholicism and Christianity in a more effective way when I debate with those who do believe in these human-created “gods”.

Do you think I’m doing something wrong here?

 

[stbruno]

I attended a Catholic nursing school…and one of the items we needed to study was world religions and how it affects the care of the patient. Without it, I wouldn’t understand how Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, Seventh day Adventists…Hindus etc. regard health care…I think it is important to learn about our neighbors. We are not embracing their faith, merely finding out what makes them tick, and that can only be a good thing from my standpoint.

 

[tcay584]

Crystalline:

Hi! This is my first post here, and to be honest I was looking for a little guidance. As well as studying the bible to further my understanding of the divine, I also like to look at the “gods” of other cultures to try and see how, in their flawed way, they tried to understand Him.

I don’t make moral judgements based on the teachings of these “gods”- I just like to use the way they were portrayed as a philosophical tool to further my knowledge. I like to think that I’m trying to find where they went wrong, looking at my own faith, and ensuring I don’t make the same mistakes.

I’ve been told that this study is a very non-Catholic thing to do, and that upset me greatly- I don’t see how learning about other religions as an intellectual and philosophical exercise can damage my faith. What I have seen is that it allows me to defend and promote Catholicism and Christianity in a more effective way when I debate with those who do believe in these human-created “gods”.

Do you think I’m doing something wrong here?

Whoever told you that educating yourself is non-catholic needs a bit more education himself. What a lame thing to say. Ask this person to point out where in the catechism it prohibits learning about other religions. I can see how, if your faith is new and not yet well rooted, other religions can give misleading information about your faith that might cause it to waver. However, if you know your faith well enough, I think it’s great to learn about others and the differences between them. Keep up the studies!
Regards,
Jennifer

 

[stubiegirl]

I go to Franciscan University (clearly an orthodox Roman Catholic college) and we have a course entitled World Religions. Furthermore, St. Paul says that we are to be all things to all people. AND “catholic” is defined as universal. I share your interest in learning about other religions and it is a very compassionate thing to do. It allows you to understand where people are coming from and show that you respect them as a person enough to find out about what they believe in.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

If you are always in the Catholic box, you have no idea what the Catholic box even looks like. Stepping out and looking at Catholicism from a different viewpoint helps us understand where we fit among the rest of the world population.

I vote no, it is not a problem to study other religions. I might recommend you start with Alan Watts. He was a priest in Church of England, then went Buddhist for a while, then secular. His own beliefs are not “quite” Christian so if you can get over that, he’s a great speaker on comparative religions – especially comparing eastern to western religions.

PM me if you want more details.

Alan