If I were given the responsibility and privilege to become a living book, the only existing record of a past document, I would choose to be Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Although Walsch touches on most new age ideology, the most resounding message that he shares is the importance of valuing personal experiences over the opinions of others.
In a world in which all past knowledge is passed down from the recollection of others, it is common to take the words that we read as truth. We trust those that we hold in authority to be more knowledgeable than ourselves. In no other context do we do this as readily as in religious studies. In organized religion we are expected to unquestioningly embrace the presented value systems even when they don’t resonate with us. Critical thinking is not encouraged.
Conversations with God is presented as a dialogue between Walsch and God. Throughout this conversation Walsch is encouraged to ask questions of God. He is prompted not to follow the dogma that is generally held as truth by his religious teachers, but rather, let his experience dictate his beliefs.
If one’s experience and another’s interpretation of scripture causes internal conflict then it is the other’s interpretation which should be critically examined and questioned. Walsch’s God emphasizes the importance of critical thinking by stating, “In fact, you have placed so little value on experience that when what you experience of God differs from what you’ve heard of God, you automatically discard the experience and own the words, when it should be just the other way around.”
According to Walsch, religious teachings are inadequate in leading one to righteousness, for the mere fact that they are the interpretation of another. We would do better to place value on our own interpretations and embrace that which resonates as truth to us, individually. He believes that feelings are a much more reliable purveyor of truth, since words are actually only symbols to which we have assigned meanings. Words are not things; they are only representations of our thoughts or ideas of a thing.It would then follow that experience is the ultimate authority.
In a world in which all past knowledge is passed down from the recollection of others, it is common to take the words that we read as truth. We trust those that we hold in authority to be more knowledgeable than ourselves. In no other context do we do this as readily as in religious studies. In organized religion we are expected to unquestioningly embrace the presented value systems even when they don’t resonate with us. Critical thinking is not encouraged.
Conversations with God is presented as a dialogue between Walsch and God. Throughout this conversation Walsch is encouraged to ask questions of God. He is prompted not to follow the dogma that is generally held as truth by his religious teachers, but rather, let his experience dictate his beliefs.
If one’s experience and another’s interpretation of scripture causes internal conflict then it is the other’s interpretation which should be critically examined and questioned. Walsch’s God emphasizes the importance of critical thinking by stating, “In fact, you have placed so little value on experience that when what you experience of God differs from what you’ve heard of God, you automatically discard the experience and own the words, when it should be just the other way around.”
According to Walsch, religious teachings are inadequate in leading one to righteousness, for the mere fact that they are the interpretation of another. We would do better to place value on our own interpretations and embrace that which resonates as truth to us, individually. He believes that feelings are a much more reliable purveyor of truth, since words are actually only symbols to which we have assigned meanings. Words are not things; they are only representations of our thoughts or ideas of a thing.It would then follow that experience is the ultimate authority.
Conversations with God absolutely has its critics, those who would argue that there is but one interpretation of scripture. Theirs. As I see it, this is the exact argument that Walsch presents. There is but one interpretation-- yours. That which you hold as true
I believe that this is a crucial message to pass on throughout the ages, as a reminder that each person has the innate right to decide their own truth.
I believe that this is a crucial message to pass on throughout the ages, as a reminder that each person has the innate right to decide their own truth.
