Essay Example on Role of Religion in British Literature

Introduction

Despite belonging to two different categories, religion influences British literature significantly. The two are fields without boundaries since they are not limited to space and time. The commonalities between the two categories make them interdependent and intertwined in such a way that one might consider them as one body. Notably, religion influences literature on various fronts such as providing a mythological context in which most British literature is based (Chaudhary 70). Firstly, religion influences literature by providing an atmosphere of wonder, mystery, obedience, and recognition of the interest of supernatural beings in human affairs. Literature focuses on explaining, justifying, reconciling, and interpreting various phenomena in the world (Chaudhary 70). Therefore, each of the above functions can borrow context from religion and culture to expound on the reasons for a specific occurrence. Notably, most medieval poems often reflect an atmosphere filled with religious notions such as mystery and submission.

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Moreover, since religion is a critical element of a community's culture, it often influences the context in literature. The British are mainly Christians; therefore, most British poems often reflect a rich Christian tradition. For instance, most heroic codes in British literature will be based on Christian values such as strength, honor, and courage similar to those depicted by Jesus Christ and other characters in the bible (Chaudhary 74). A poet will always try to resonate with their audience’s background or beliefs while creating different characters for their work. Moreover, the notion of good and evil explained in the Christian religion also manifests in British literature. For example, most poems and novels will reveal the bad to be associated will evil while the good is related to God.

Strongest Religious Message

The poem “The Dream of the Rood” written by an unknown author in the eighth century has the strongest religious message. The poem is a narration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It starts with the author narrating their vision about the cross on which Christ was crucified. The poet outlines the magnificence and heroism of the cross throughout the poem. In the second part, the character of the cross is personified allowing it to have its own emotions and thoughts. The rood explains its journey from its tree to being mistreated, mocked, and tortured together with Christ. The cross and Christ become one, persevere pain, and refuse to fall to gain victory for the sake of humankind. Lastly, just as Christ resurrected and was glorified in heaven, the cross was adorned with silver and gold and honored more than all trees similar to how Jesus is glorified above all humans.

Readers can learn various religious aspects from the poem. Firstly, they can learn about the passion of Christ, His journey, and sacrifice to save humankind. The poem outlines Christ as the protagonist on His journey to crucifixion together with the cross, which was filled with pain, mockery, and torture. The appeal to pathos in the poem allows readers to resonate with the pain in which Christ and the cross persevered to comprehend the sacrifice given for their redemption. Secondly, readers can learn various virtues from the poem. Christianity adores values such as sacrifice, perseverance, and courage. Through the cross's narration concerning how it endured torture, mockery, and manhandling by its enemies yet it remained motivated by Christ's endurance teaches Christians not to give up, and seek strength in Jesus amidst their troubles. Additionally, the poem shows that resilience often leads to victory and success just as Jesus and the cross were adored after the pain. Secondly, the passion of Christ and the cross teaches readers about service to others. In this case, just as Jesus and the Cross persevered pain for the redemption of the world, readers can learn going an extra mile for the sake of those in need is service to God.

Literature in Teaching Religion

People can learn about religion from British literature as much as they can from the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible contains texts and historical contexts that guide people towards the ideal methods to worship God, have faith, and be righteous. On the other hand, British literature borrows various elements from the bible such as virtues, bigotry, eternity, use of scripture, holiness, and institution and personal-oriented religion (Snead 708). Notably, literature combines the scriptures with emotions and other literary tools that make a narration more appealing and comprehendible. In this case, people can learn more about the meaning of a given bible excerpt compared to reading the holy book alone.

Conclusion

Noticeably, often people require biblical interpretations to understand the various meaning in the Holy Bible to prevent them from making misinformed decisions. In such a situation literature aids simplifying the biblical context to a form that readers can get acquire the intended biblical message more readily (Ziolkowski 112). For example, reading about the crucifixion from the Bible gives an account of Christ's passion vividly; however, a reader may fail to grasp most virtues portrayed since biblical texts lack explanations and pathos. However, reading the same excerpt from the poem enables readers to resonate with the narration and reflect on their lives to identify whether they have the same values as the biblical characters.

Works Cited

Chaudhary, Shahzad Latif. "Glimpses of Religion in English Literature." American International Journal of Contemporary Research, vol. 3, no.12, 2013, pp.70-76.
http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_12_December_2013/12.pdf

Jennifer. "Religion and EighteenthCentury Literature." Literature Compass, vol. 5, no,4, 2008, pp. 707-720.

Ziokowski, Eric. “Religion and Literature: History and Method.” Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and the Arts, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-112.