The Idea
The marvelous is not presented here as narrative ornament or passing fantasy, but as an element that participates in forming religious sensibility and in understanding symbols. Human beings do not engage with the sacred through reason alone, but also through images, metaphors, and scenes that leave an imprint on consciousness and open the way to receiving religious meaning.
Focused Formulation
The marvelous and the literary-imaginative dimension: they contribute to: understanding religious symbols
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim serves the book’s argument by broadening the tools for understanding religion. Instead of reducing it to doctrines and rules, it highlights the imaginative and literary dimension as part of the formation of meaning. This means that religious symbols are not well understood if they are isolated from the domain that gives them their appeal and their affective power.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in rejecting the narrow conception that confines religion to abstract demonstration. The marvelous helps form collective memory and a shared imagination, and therefore helps stabilize symbols. This illuminates an important aspect of reading Arkoun: that understanding religion also passes through the study of its imagined image and the way it exerts influence.
Brief Evidence
The marvelous is not presented here as narrative ornament or passing fantasy, but as an element that participates in forming religious sensibility. Human beings do not engage with the sacred through reason alone, but also through images, metaphors, and scenes that leave an imprint on consciousness. Thus the marvelous contributes to opening the way to receiving and understanding religious symbols.
Reading Questions
- Why is rational understanding alone insufficient to explain the power of religious symbols?
- How does the marvelous contribute to making religious meaning more firmly rooted in consciousness?
Documentation Level
High: the claim appears in a clear place in the book’s material.