How Christianity can Survive the Times

Saint Augustine's writings are all on how to interpret the religious scriptures. A view of his that i find interesting, is an idea that I ended my previous post with. It is the idea that the reader can take what they want to from the writings such as the Psalms. It would seem that if two people each got a different understanding out of a Psalm, one of the would be right, and the other wrong. this is not so, according to Saint Augustine.

The writings were written with a subject and topic in mind historically, but Saint Augustine  says the original meaning is not the only correct interpretation. Any interpretation that keeps the basic concepts of 'loving God' and basically living a just and righteous life is acceptable. Not everything the scriptures say should be taken literally. For example, The Psalms that seem deplorable, or speak of evil, really hold a deeper meaning of how to live a just life, and it is up to the reader to search and find this meaning. It is inevitable that with so many readers they will come up with different meanings.

 I had never really thought of a religion in this way. It is able to transform along with the changing times and remain relevant, because people across different time periods will always be able to find meaning in the writings, and the conclusion they come up to will be justified as long as it follows the basic concepts according to Saint Augustine. This way of looking at Christianity will keep it relevant and applicable throught the changing times.