On a late Monday evening, Jennifer Knust, a professor from Boston University, held a lecture hypothesizing the possible actions of a person from a well-known passage of the Bible. This lecture was brought to my attention through the religion course I am taking this semester in order to broaden my knowledge on different religious practices. Knust focused on the story of Noah and his son Ham, who “saw the nakedness of his father,” and her lecture provided different interpretations to the meaning of this quote (Genesis 9:22). Though I was raised in the Catholic religion, I admit that I possess little knowledge of the religion as a whole. Even many facts that most people take as common knowledge were either left out of my education or lost in my memory over time. My personal lack of awareness of the Bible and this particular passage made the event all that more interesting. I had never heard this story of Noah and his son, and therefore was never able to consider the different ideas brought forth by Knust but I found them fascinating. I knew that different people had their own interpretations of the Bible, but I was never exposed to the deep analysis and critical thinking that these interpretations required. I kept my mind open to these new ideas and each hypothesis seemed as possible as the next. Furthermore, the connections Knust made with other passages emphasized how much detail is included in the Bible itself.
The enthusiasm of the audience displayed the importance of religious beliefs to certain individuals. After the presentation was over, many of the listeners were eager to contribute their ideas or questions. Some people questioned a few ideas, some brought up points that further enhanced them, while others provided comments that were deep and thought provoking. I left the lecture with a new outlook that I had slowly been formulating with the help of my course on religion: members of one religion do not all need to agree on every aspect of its scripture. There is always room for individual ideas that are just as important as the next.