Most religions live from a narrative that shapes their relationship with the divine other, God or the gods, and with the human other, the stranger.
Interpretation
Religions often create stories that define how followers relate to both God and other people.
In this quote, Timothy Radcliffe highlights the fundamental role that narratives play in shaping the beliefs and relationships within various religions. These narratives not only influence how individuals perceive and connect with the divine, whether it be God or multiple gods, but also dictate their interactions with others, especially those who are different from themselves. By focusing on these stories, religions forge a sense of identity and a moral framework guiding their followers’ lives.
In practice
This quote could be used in a lecture on religious studies to illustrate the importance of narratives in faith.
Many demons are in woods, in waters, in wildernesses, and in dark poolly places ready to hurt and prejudice people; some are also in the thick black clouds, which cause hail, lightning and thunder, and poison the air, the pastures and grounds.
A man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who, in desiring attaining himself, helps others to attain.
The green revolution has an entirely different meaning to most people in the affluent nations of the privileged world than to those in the developing nations of the forgotten world.
all I wanted to do was sneak out into the night and disappear somewhere, and go and find out what everybody was doing all over the country.
I came to terms with not fitting in a long time ago. I never really fitted in. I don't want to fit in. And now people are buying into that.
Everyone who's in America spends the first few years not experiencing it. The person is frightened by the newness of the place and doesn't see things. Her emotional universe becomes the entire universe. And then when she thinks of home, her distance in space can seem like a distance in time.
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