As discussed in class on Wednesday, Psalms and other religious texts and scripture have been able to survive generations and even centuries by the idea of interpretation. Where once a verse or chapter was framed in a historical context, referring to something that actually happened, subsequent generations have taken the same words and applied symbols to them. In doing so people have been able to make the ideas presented in religious texts eternal. They take something specific and make them more into themes that can often be generalized and made versatile for many different occasions.
Psalm 44 is a great example of how text written about a certain event can be interpreted and generalized into something different, and what consequences that may cause. The narrator of the psalm refers to a "time of yore" when God disposed of nations and then, apparently, to the present when God has "neglected and disgraced" them, and let their enemies gain victory. Yet despite of this neglect they stayed true to God and are waiting for him to rise again to help them. The actual event the "time of yore" alludes to is the "conquest of the land of Canaan in Joshua's time". A present day religion could easily interpret this idea of a victory long ago and a subsequent defeat of the present to pretty much any war or conflict that they have had or are having. This may include anything from the Crusades to the modern turmoil in the middle east. What I find particularly interesting about the possible interpretations is the consequence it may have. If a religion believes that in victory or defeat they are doing the right thing by sticking to their beliefs and thus to the fight, it makes perfect since that conflict between religions is so common and lasts so long. If they are victorious its because God helped them, and if they are suffering in defeat its because God is in a sense challenging them and soon he will rise again to help.
I like your sentence: "In doing so people have been able to make the ideas presented in religious texts eternal." I think you are getting at an important change that happens once written texts get introduced. Where oral communication speaks to a specific context, written texts take on an "eternal" aspect that can be re-applied to different situations. In effect these texts seem to be always talking to a contemporary situation. That is what I like about studying religion is the creativity in that changeover..
ReplyDeleteAh, you have struck a chord on the harp of modern religion. The transformation of textual interpretation throughout history is as both interesting and disturbing to me. Even very specific historical accounts can be twisted into an interpretation that validates the actions of a religious group.
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