Religious Texts

July 20th, 2016

Just as life brings about in us a range of emotions, so should the things we read. This is the point of any artful work. The work itself is a journey to be experienced.

Religious texts are often meant to be orated, performed, and for you to rend meaning from. If these texts were not tangible, they could not teach anything. These texts will bring discomfort, they will bring hope, they will bring fear – such is life. Religious texts are there to guide and teach, a look into the ways our forebearers figured out life. The wisdom is deep because a life filled with complexities needs such depth.

There are contradictions in religious texts as there are in life. These texts can also seem contradictory because situations change. New situations can call for new paths. Depending on context, some principles take precedence over others; yet none should easily be tossed aside. Often in these texts, what has come before is not cancelled by what comes after, but instead denote a circumstantial change. Religious texts often teach a way of life: providing a foundation. It is difficult to lead one’s life off of ever-changing circumstance. We all lead life from some form of standards, ethics, and morals: guidelines we have developed over the years. For many, this is what these texts provide.

© 2016 Austin Lochan Dodd