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Religious Language

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 Religious Language
Janetius, S.T. (2008). Altering the Altar: Myth, Celibacy & Psychology, Mishil & Js Publishers, Thrissur, ISBN-
978-1517015169, Chapter One (pp01-07)

Religion originated gradually in human history. When people failed to comprehend various
phenomenons in their life as well as in nature, not able to find an answer to different existential and
eschatological questions, they started to mystify such occurrences. Rituals and customs started to
emerge when human beings failed to comprehend and rationalize the critical moments. Furthermore,
to be freed from such critical situations in life, people started to imagine such forces as supernatural
beings and began to worship them. As generations passed, this orientation became increasingly
intense and such explanations became an integral part of their life and living. Supernatural and
paranormal events were personified and elevated to superhuman status. By means of stories and
fables, people started to explain their relationship with the supernatural. Stories slowly became myths
and thus myths and fables came into existence to become the part of most primitive as well as
organized religions around the world.
The word myth derives from the Greek word mythos which means fable, tale, and stories of human
imagination. Mythos thus in religion indicates stories concerning Gods and superhuman beings. The
early Greek philosophers criticized and rejected myths as fictions and fabricated stories. Today myth
is understood as a traditional sacred narrative, transmitted orally from one generation to another. The
idea of sacred simply means the reflection in the human imagination of the archetypal ideas, often
identified with cosmic principles and powers which were revered as supernatural beings, gods, and
angels. Therefore, ‘sacred’ is the subjective human perception, understanding, and experience of
unidentified supernatural power, personified and understood as a real living being in a higher realm
of hierarchy and having significant influence and meaning inhuman life.
Religious language is mythical because in and through myths the essence of religion is explained and
the existence of supernatural is elucidated. Christianity is not an exception to this reality. Sin,
atonement and salvation are the core epitome of Christianity.

Christianity originates in the backdrop of Hebrew Judaism which believes in God’s creation of
human, the fall of human due to disobedience to the creator God and the continuing guidance of God
through leaders and prophets and the promise of a saviour to redeem them from slavery and
misfortune. From this religious and cultural milieu, Christian faith demands the acceptance that God
became human in the person of Christ. He entered into suffering and in some predetermined way
dealt with sin and evil by dying on the cross. To articulate these things, human mind however needed
some symbolic language which is anthropomorphic. The mystery of Hebrewonic faith and God were
explained through these symbolic stories and that is the origin of Judaic-Christian myths. Thus, myth
symbolically points to the limitations of time and history and conceptualizes and presents various
extraordinary events of life and history as supernatural interventions. It is, in fact, human intellect’s
incomprehensiveness of life mysteries that led the people towards the concept of supernatural
through mythical language. There is no meaning in eliminating myth in the hope of attaining a truth.
Religious language when interpreted metaphysically gives human beings a kind of abruptness in
distinguishing what is mythical and what is historical. Also, if religious language is not understood in
human historical experience, they become mere nonsensical words. So religious language is a highly
complex phenomenon.
Human intellect and knowledge are so limited that one cannot explain religious experiences without
myths. It is not to belittle myths as mere fabricated stories of superior imagination. On the other hand,
myths cannot be considered as accurate historical facts. If religious language is not expressed in a
mythical language it does not communicate the sacred knowledge. Since myths are an essential part
of all religious language, the mythical expression is the medium of understanding supernatural
beings and events as well as human religious experiences. In short, it is the expression of self in the
context of supernatural beliefs and also the subjective expression of human-god dialogue. All
religious systems have in common the embodiment of sacred beliefs, values, and behaviour, acquired
by human beings as far as their existence is concerned. A mythological approach is a basic form of
human thought process from which a human intellect can hardly step out. The religious concepts
could be explained in no better way than this and in fact, myth is the only means of understanding
the supernatural (Griffiths, 1982). Religion is transmitted and acquired by people partly through
conscious instruction and partly through imitation. This can be implied to myths too since they deal
with Gods, supernatural beings and their activities among human beings. There is a close relationship
between myths and rituals as they are knitted together to be the centre of every religion.

There is a gradual development in the evolution of myths from the early primitive societies to the
modern times of philosophical and scientific insights. The myths of different stages of human history
shows a gradual development in their creation, content and context. In the early myths, human
beings were wrestling with the mystery of their own being and were trying to find an answer to its
apparent contradictions. The cosmological myths of creation and fall belong to this category. Latter, the
myths were focused on various eschatological issues. The cosmogonies found in different religions might
be the primitive myths that narrate how the world began. They were systematically followed in the
course of time by the anthropogenies1 that narrate the origin of human beings. The myths of the golden
age and the paradise concepts depict human beings as pure and uncorrupted by malice. The change
of human beings from the original state of purity to the present situation of sin and evil was narrated
by the myths of fall. To give human beings a hope of restoration soteriological2 myths came into
existence, taking the form of saviours and redeemers.

The myths of the incarnation of God to save the people from evil forces is found in almost all the
religions. For example, Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism have incarnation stories. The numerous
stories God’s incarnation in various forms in avatars3 of God is unique to Hinduism. Similar stories
are also seen in many primitive as well as developed, organised religions. Even when human being’s
quest for the supernatural was not satisfied with these myths, human mind created the human
destiny in eschatological myths. Thus, from the time of antiquity to this day of scientific inventions,
myths exist as a medium to explain human being’s inability to comprehend their own origin and end;

1
Anthropogeny means the evolution or genesis of the human race; the sequence of events involved in the evolutionary
development of a species or taxonomic group of organisms.
2
Soteriology comes from two Greek terms soter meaning saviour or deliverer and logos meaning word or matter. In
Christian theology, it is used to refer the study of Biblical doctrine of salvation.
3
The avatar theology is a very popular concept in Hinduism. It is also one of the major philosophical and theological
differences between Saivism and Vaishnavism, two major divisions in Hinduism. According to this theology, God Vishnu
intervenes in the society when evil flourishes beyond control. The following verse in Bhagavad Gita 4:7, ‘to deliver the pious
and to annihilate the miscreants as well as to re-establish the principles of righteousness, I manifest myself, millennium after
millennium’, is the essence of avatar theology. Accordingly, God or the essence of god assumes some coarser forms, animal,
human or a monster to save the human beings. Dashavatara (ten avatars of Vishnu) is the most accepted concept in popular
Hinduism; the ten avatars are: Matsya-fish, Kurma-tortoise, Varaha-boar, Narasimha-half man and half lion, Vamana-
dwarf, Parashurama-warrior with an axe, Rama-prince of Ayodhya, Krishna-son of Devaki, Buddha-founder of Buddhism,
Kalki-white horse. Some authors see Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in the progression of Dashavatara.
it is a search for truth in a different expression. Therefore, it is correct to say, ‘myth is a tale which is
applied to somebody or something but which not factually relevant except that it stimulates some
specific attitude in the listener’ (Hebblethwaite, 2008).

But this view is opposed by many other scholars on the basis that every ritual, ceremony is initially
based upon a myth and, myths are descriptions of rituals that constitute the essential part of every
religion. Rituals often fade away but myths survive because myths have a longer lifespan than rituals
(Leeming, 1999). Folklores, superstitions, ballads and the many forms of modern religious literatures
are considered devalued myths of ritual origin. Both rituals and myths are essentially expressive and
symbolic in nature, and without them no religion can exist. Though rituals are more directly
instrumental than myth, it is the myth that makes dogmas intelligible by presenting them in terms of
human action and language. Thus, myths in religion play a crucial role which is very essential for the
survival of every religion. For example, the fantastic stories of Gods in Indian Epics and Puranas are in
fact, of little importance to an outsider. However, the mythic figures and the related stories are
extremely significant to a religious person. As Bede Griffiths Points out, ‘they are all symbols of
ultimate reality’ (1982).

In every religion, creation and fall, salvation and glorification themes are narrated and pictured in a
dramatic language. The Hindu myths that grew out of the mystical experience of the Vedic seers and
people of that time, the Jewish myths that evolved around the people of Israel and their belief that
they are the chosen people of God, the Christian myths that came out of the personal experience of
the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth after the crucifixion and the empty tomb, the creation stories of
Kabunianism4 among the lesser known Cordillera Mountain indigenous peoples in the Philippines are
part and parcel of the specific religions even today. Therefore, myth is an indispensable factor in an
organized as well as indigenous tribal religions. There can be no religious language that can exist
independently of a myth.
In Greek philosophy, myth has been rejected by sophists, however, Aristotle gave myths the status of
poetry. Modern day rational sciences consider them as an outdated piece of literature. Science, reason
and technology have evolved to dominate the modern thinking whereas myths, superstitions,
supernatural events and stories confuse the modern mind. Contemporary philosophical anthropology
takes a completely unmythical view of religion. The faith expressions of ancient people that sprung
from their cultures differ profoundly from that of modern people. A great challenge today is how to
pass on to the younger generation an understanding of all that religion means in language and faith
expression that will have relevance to their life. Transferring the symbolic discipline of faith
expressions to definitions of reality would sound as if opening the whole equation of faith to ridicule.
People should go deep into the religious expressions of the past, to understand its central message.
For, yesterday’s truth is today’s deception, and today’s mystery may be a revelation tomorrow.
Imagination and creative thinking are important distinguishing features of humans and they
differentiate humans from animals. These give individual unique identity to every human being
without which humans alienate themselves from their individual as well as social identity. Without
imagination, reason alone cannot sustain human intellect. It is through myths, fables and folklores
human creativity and imaginations are expressed. It is true that myths often change, evolve and
found reborn again and again in different forms in religious language and they satisfy the inner quest
of human beings.

4
The Cordillera indigenous communities in the Northern Luzon Islands in the Philippines, generally called Igorots, have
their own unique religion and cosmology. The supreme God is often identified with the sun and lives in space, referred to as
Kabunian, and their religion is called Kabunianism. The doctoral research done by the author is published as Kabunianism
and Pneumasomatic Sickness by Amazon (ISBN: 9781514286036).
 Myths may seem outdated today to many people due to the fact that many of the myths originated in
a time and culture in which supernatural causation was accepted without any question. Divine and
religious visitants were expected in the individual life and also various natural phenomenon were
interpreted as divine social interventions. Even tribes and people thought that they are specially
chosen by a universal God; their enemies are god’s enemies. The earth was considered the
playground of Gods from above and demons from below. All these thinking were universally
accepted, unquestionably understood before scientific inventions and technological developments.
Today no sensible rational person holds such a view and they are alien to scientific approach and
outlook. Humans are proud of their reason, like to be more free to choose and act and responsible for
their actions. Modern psychology and other human sciences do not depict human beings as a playing
object in the hands of gods and goddesses. As against divine determinism, existential philosophy
understands and explains human beings as responsible creatures with full freedom to choose and act.
Belief is no more a blind commitment and adherence to a list of humanly formulated dogmas
proclaimed as divinely originated absolute truths, but a constant search for truth. In this regard an
atheist who searches for truth may truly be called a spiritual person because they are atheists or
agnostics perhaps only in their search for good and evil and their yearning to find ultimate truth. In
the understanding of John Macquarrie (1977), ‘it is the application of free will to form the future that
distinguishes human beings from other beings… it is through free responsible decision that human
beings become accurately themselves’. Human being’s quest for a meaningful existence is the highest
aspiration and motivation today. This quest has spread wide in the field of religion, the scriptures too,
which results in various exegeses of the scriptures in the West, especially of the Bible. Can this quest
be quenched fully? Can religious language become intelligible to modern human mind? It is a great
challenge today.

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