Just in the last couple of centuries, certain vocal elements in the world of religion have promoted the idea that in order for religious texts to be authentic, they must be literally true. This relatively new idea causes people to look at these writings in a narrow way. For example, in the Hebrew scriptures such readers must accept or reject the reality of the serpent in the garden, the parting of the sea, or the collapse of the walls of Jericho. Or, to give a few more examples, in the Christian Scriptures they struggle with virgin births, healing miracles, or resurrections.
The inevitable upshot of this literalistic approach is to create a split between one-dimensional believers and reactionary atheists, largely because it leaves no room for complex or paradoxical (luke-warm?) understandings. So, the only remaining choices are to believe it all or reject it all. I know many people who practice a deep spirituality but consider themselves atheists, having rejected the full acceptance of the predominant religious view. Fortunately not all religion operates that way. Many religious traditions value the paradoxical in their search for deeper understandings of the truth.
For the sake of this post, I want to look at a similar potential dichotomy regarding fiction writing. Seen in a superficial way, fiction might simply be the product of the author's imagination with no relationship at all to truth. Some people caught in the literalistic perspective have also relegated "myth" to the ash heap of "perhaps interesting, but made-up stories."
Though I have studied theology for almost four decades, my recent experience of writing a novel based on the biblical Moses gave me some new perspectives on the "truth" of mystical revelation and on the qualities of relationship with divine spirit. I have come to believe that "Community of Promise" illuminates the truth, even though there is not one shred of historical evidence for most of the story.
I have been so impressed by the process, that I want to encourage everyone at least to read good fiction, or better yet, to write it. For the record, it is clear to me that fiction does not have to be overtly religious to shine the light of deeper understanding on human reality. We can be of great help to one another by using our fiction to illuminate hidden corners of truth that other approaches overlook.
Wayne Gustafson
"The Promised Land is within and among us."
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Excellent points.
ReplyDeleteIn my photography, many times I am trying to capture something, and eliminate other things. The image that is created could be called "real", but it isn't. The distortions that I can create with the lens, the white balance, the depth of field are all used to create the illusion of something that I want to portray. Many times the image looks much different in the photograph than it does to the naked eye.
In doing this I'm trying to highlight something interesting that I see, that the world may pass by.
I'm not sure if writing does similar things, but photography is helping me to see things in a bigger way.