Arbitrary Readings?

Abstract

Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been the keepers of a precious corpus of texts for many centuries. In most cases, they were oral traditions prior to written codification. The religious communities added chains of interpretations to the scripture, which sometimes also gained a high status. In Judaism, the Talmud gained nearly divine status. So have the sayings of the Prophet and his Companions, hadith in Islam, as well as the church fathers of Early Christianity. Nevertheless, history continues and the great religions rightly are hermeneutic communities. In every time, they start a new interpretation of the old texts. That is the common method of renewal. Clifford Geertz saw it in Moroccan Islam, where he observed a peculiar mixture of radical fundamentalism and determined modernism, as seen with so many modern movements: “Stepping backward in order better to leap is an established principle in cultural change; our own Reformation was made that way” (Geertz 1968,69). It often looks as if some believers take the step backward only for the leap itself. What begins as a rediscovery of the scriptures may develop into a deification of them. Upon closer examination, a simple return to the past or a reinvention of a pure and true tradition is not possible. The global religions work through this mixture of modernization and reinterpretation of old texts.