Peter Costello
Even for those who, as they say these days, ‘are not religious’, reading the New Testament is an experience which few set themselves to have. I also believe people should, in this day and age, have some acquaintance with the Torah and the Quran, and try to understand what they mean to Jews and Muslims, both a revelation and a source of law, if only for reasons of cultural knowledge.
Recently I remarked to a friend who is more religious that I am that I was surprised that Premier Netanyahu did not seem to recognise the words of the parable of the Good Samaritan. “But should he read the New Testament?” he replied, “it’s not his scripture”. But that I feel is the wrong idea.
If one is trying to fully understand what monotheism means, just as a matter of general knowledge, one should try to know about all the religions derived traditionally from Abraham. But perhaps this is a counsel of perfection, in a very imperfect world.
But then it is up to readers in Lent to try to alter that situation to arrive at a deeper understanding of what they claim to believe, by understanding these other two faiths.
Understanding that Jesus was a religious Jew – one who paid the Temple Tax indeed – and that many of the first Muslims were former Christians, makes this a tangled history. But one cannot make a judgement on others until you know how what they believe impinges on what you believe