TEXT E In my early childhood I
received no formal religious education. I did, of course, received that ethical
and moral training that moral and conscientious parents give their children.
When I was about ten years old, my parents decided that it would be good for me
to receive some formal religious instruction and to study the Bible, if for no
other reason than that a knowledge of both is essential to the understanding of
literature and culture. As lapsed Catholics, they sought a group
which had as little doctrine and dogma as possible, but what they considered
having good moral and ethical values. After some searching, they joined the
local Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Although my parents did not
attend Meetings for worship very often, I went to first Day School there
regularly, eventually completing the coarse and receiving an inscribed
Bible. At the Quake School, I learnt about the concept of the
"inner light" and it has stayed with me. I was, however, unable to accept the
idea of Jesus Christ being any more divine than, say, Buddha. As a result, I be
came estrange from the Quakers, who, though believing in substantially the same
moral and ethical values as I do, and even the same religious concept of the
inner light, had arrived at these conclusions from a premise which I could not
accept. I admit that my religion is the poorer for having not revealed word and
no supreme prophet, but my inherited aversion to dogmatism limits my faith to e
Supreme Being and the goodness of man. Later, at another Meeting
of Worship, I found that some Quakers had similar though not so strong
reservations about the Christian aspects of their belief. I made some attempt to
rejoin a Meeting for Worship, but found that, though they remained far closer to
me than any other organized religious group, I did not wish to become one again.
I do attend Meeting for Worship on occasion, but it is for the help on deep
contemplation which it brings rather than any lingering desire m rejoin the
fold. I do believe in a "Supreme Being" (or ground of our being,
as Tillich would call it). This being is ineffable and not to be fully
understood by humans. He is not cut off from the world and we can know him
somewhat through the knowledge which we are limited to--the world. He is
interested and concerned for humankind, but on man himself falls the burden of
his own life. To me the message of the great prophets, especially Jesus, is that
good is its own reward, and indeed the only possible rewards that ark intrinsic
in the actions themselves. The relationship between each human and the Supreme
Being is an entire personal one. It is my faith that each person
has this unique relationship with the Supreme Being. To me that is the meaning
of the inner light. The purpose of life, insofar as a human can grasp it, is to
understand and increase this lifeline to the Supreme Being, this piece of
divinity that every human has. Thus, the taking of any life by choice is the
closing of some connection to God, and unconscionable. Killing anyone not only
denies them their purpose, but corrupts the purpose of all men. (553) The author argues that ______.
A.we must seek great comprehension of our own inner lights B.humans must always seek to increase the number of inner lights, hence, population increase is desirable C.the unique relationship between each person and his inner light makes him more divine than those without an inner light D.faith is essential to life, especially faith based on these most divine persons who are often called prophets