(!) Why Scriptures of the World Still Matter
by William Jackson
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What should I do?
We often take for granted the means by which we orient ourselves in the
world surrounding us. The way we get our bearings becomes second nature.
The brain processes information using a variety of complex strategies to
record, reshape, and use information. Storytelling is one such strategy.
Ever since language began, people have used narrative to organize human
experience, to orient life in the cosmos. Narrative is part of humanity's
brilliance.
Narrative in its broadest sense means not only stories, but also the
recital of accounts, information, and teachings, including
scriptures--the framework of worldviews as told in the words of
authoritative texts. In this sense scriptures--Hebrew, Christian Muslim,
Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, and others--are largely narratives. Each master
narrative is a scenario orienting people to some sort of order. Today we
can see how the narratives that govern lives can be critiqued from a
culturally relativistic perspective. In this pluralistic age some people
may choose for themselves the narratives by which they live their lives.
Is the use of narrative a strategy we should out-grow? For the six
billion people on the planet now, the debate is far from over. Scriptures
are examples of narrative par excellence--they tell origin stories, they
offer expositions of teachings, injunctions, lyrics, and wisdom. Why is
narrative in all its many forms so ubiquitous? Where is a coherent life
that is not shaped by some story? Scriptures can be seen to function as
"attractors," dynamic system patterns channelling human energies,
reminding people of their place in the scheme of things. They channel the
passions. It is possible that the predisposition to create order through
narratives is hardwired into the brain, as some researchers say the
capacities to learn language are.
At their worst, scriptures can be used to promote unthinking, irrational
behavior. At their best, sacred narratives serve as revered repositories
storing religious wisdom. They help articulate the reasons of the heart.
Thus they seem to mirror life and generate order. They provide
recognizable structures (enduring answers about life's meanings) yet
allow some flexibility for new inter-pretations and applications as needs
arise. They store information about ideals and make the meanings
available and applicable to a great variety of situations by different
people over the centuries. They are kept relevant by commentaries, new
translations, and adaptive reiterations.
Though in the past century in the West some old notions were shaken as
science grew and new information (such as the age of the earth) was
discovered, we are still learning what it means to be a person, still
gaining a better understanding of what the earth is. Therefore, we need
to update our understanding of the role of the scriptures that, for so
long, have oriented so many human lives. We need to assess anew the
importance of scriptures, their meaning in human life. We need to
understand better the processes by which we elevate them to authoritative
positions, and what is involved when they are lowered or lessened in
status. Perhaps because modernity treated scriptures shabbily,
fundamentalists now uphold them with a vengeance; the pendulum swings
both ways.
By all accounts, even the most secular or cynical, scriptures have been
and still are very important in human history. Yet the term "scripture"
is an umbrella term sheltering a crowd of different examples--wherever we
turn in this field we find variety and surprises, not uniformity. A
Buddhist's concept of "scriptures" is different from a Christian's.
Though we know more now about history and anthropology, have more and
better translations from original languages, and may be in closer contact
with others, each discovery brings more questions to explore.
Fortunately, an impressive array of scholars is researching scriptures at
IU. These faculty members represent a rich spectrum of diverse views,
findings, and foundations for promising future work in this area.
Common to all these researchers' projects is an awareness of how
scriptures shape believers' identities. Scriptures offer a royal road of
inquiry into the worlds of self and meaning, which humans have arrived at
in their adventurous wanderings on the planet. As Islamicist William
Graham writes: "What is ultimately significant about scripture as a
concept and a reality is its role in expressing, focusing, and
symbolizing the faith of religious persons and their communities around
the globe, both for the faithful themselves and for the outsider who
seeks a glimpse into another world of faith and discourse." These IU
scholars inquiring into issues of scriptures help us to see ourselves
better and to understand other segments of humanity--to glimpse the
common features and the differences.
In this time of accelerated change, of devotion to science and technology,
The Macintosh Bible is often cited, but the Holy Writ of the past is
still very much alive. With all the research the modern age has
accumulated, people still feel growing pains of alternating pride of
knowledge and power, and dismay at ignorance and chaotic change beyond
control. Humans continue to face mysteries in the universe that were
already long in existence when our ancestors first appeared on the scene.
W. C. Smith, a scholar of comparative scriptures, noted that "our
inherited conceptions of the human in relation to the world must for our
day be enlarged . . . . What we have in scripture is one more clue to
help us wrestle with the puzzle . . . . Scripture's role in the past
poses a challenge for the future: how may we hear the voice of the
universe, however finitely, and find ways to think about it, and to talk
to one another about it, and to be motivated to order our life so that we
may live in tune with it."
Global communications, international scholarship, and translations have
set the stage for greater understanding, but for all the high-tech
sophistication, the glut of information, the texts on the World Wide Web,
and the ability to travel, people generally have not come to terms with
issues of the nature and importance of scriptures. Despite our savvy, the
nature of scriptures--their power and vitality to inform lives, shape
thoughts, expressions, and behaviors--is still hard to grasp. Sometimes
inspiring, sometimes appalling (as when used to justify bigotry,
violence, slavery, etc.), scriptures are dynamic, changing the shape of
lives and history in ways still only partly understood.
The constellation of scholars represented here, when we consider their
efforts and concerns as a whole, offer us a challenge. They set us on the
path of wondering: "What is a civilization-founding scripture, and how
does it remain significant? How can we begin to better under-stand the
implications of scripture's global pervasiveness? What new awareness of
common bonds and possible cooperation might grow out of respectful
encounters with the sacred texts of others?" In any case, these scholars
remind us that story is essential, it is part of what makes us human. The
unfolding story of humanity, including the revelations of science, is far
from over.
*******************
The article above is presented, not because I necessarily AGTEE with all
that it says...but to have those who value their own Scriptures to
consider WHY...as well as trying to answer the questions this article
raises.
--
Pax Christi,
• Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian
Jesus is my Shepherd and He knows I'm Gay
http://Ninure-Saunders.tk
My Yahoo Group
http://Ninure.tk
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
http://www.MCCchurch.org
The Bible Site - help provide free scripture
http://www.thebiblesite.org
To send e-mail, remove nohate from address
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