Secularization and the Loss of Love in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2013, Vol 4, Issue 4
Abstract
In this paper, I place Bunyan’s popular Pilgrim’s Progress into a cultural context infused with, and informed by, a change from a sacred to secular preunderstanding. I discuss the ways that Bunyan wrestles with these changes in light of Taylor’s work on secularization, and theorize that Bunyan’s text reveals how the sacred and secular imaginaries were able to merge through a shared embrace of an economic system of rationalization. Additionally, and more tragically, both ideologies share a disdain for love in its vulnerable, intimate, and material forms that has led us to desire security instead of attending to a more humble (but powerful and enriching) need for assurance. I conclude by discussing Adorno’s discussion of love and Auschwitz as a warning still necessary in our 21st century secular age.
Authors and Affiliations
Daniel Boscaljon
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25338
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel4040669
- Views 311
- Downloads 13
The Laughter of Fools: The Relevance of Wisdom in Today’s World
This paper explores different facets of the character type of the fool in the book of Proverbs and looks at his primary characteristics in the context of some of the main themes of Proverbs. Particular concerns are wit...
The Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief: Assessing Spiritual Crisis Following Loss
Following the death of a loved one, many grievers endorse spirituality as a source of both solace and strain. Studies show that some grievers struggle significantly with both their relationship with God and their faith...
Validity and Reliability of a Revised Scale of Attitude towards Buddhism (TSAB-R)
The empirical properties of a revised 24-item instrument called the Thanissaro Scale of Attitude towards Buddhism (TSAB-R) designed to measure Buddhist affective religiosity are described. The instrument was tested on...
The Effect of Prayer on Patients’ Health: Systematic Literature Review
There is increasing interest regarding prayer in healthcare. Prayer is an activity related to spirituality and religion. Positive outcomes have been identified regarding spirituality in health. This study aims to inves...
A Commentary on Michael King. “The Challenge of Research into Religion and Spirituality.” Journal for the Study of Spirituality 4 (2014): 106–20
King’s publication based on a key note presentation at the 2014 British Association of the Study of Spirituality (BASS) conference, a well written and thought provoking paper, leads us to consider the contribution of t...