Reflection: Religion in History

Reflection: Religion and History

            Religion has been an integral part of history since the beginning of time. There has been a long time battle between historians and religious figures regarding just how much religion had to do with history and the development of societies.  Strayer notes, “The implication-that religions are at least in part a human phenomenon-has been troublesome to some believers.” (195, Strayer) Humans have been developing since the beginning of time, and what that means is up for discussion and the center of so much religious and historical controversy. 

            Historians can argue that history has been traced by evidence from each era. Evidence, to a historian is tangible. What is not tangible is the personal experiences of such religious figures throughout history, like Mohammad and Jesus. “How could such experiences be verified, when even the biographical details of the lives of the Buddha and Jesus are difficult to prove by standards of historians? (p. 195, Strayer) Strayer points out that historians rely on facts, artifacts, and hard evidence to document a historical landmark. The word of mouth and perceived personal experiences may be expressed, but there is not necessarily a way of verifying that they actually occurred.

            While there may not be any hard evidence of such personal experiences with the Divine, a religious response to such speculation would be of course these events actually happened and the mere act of questioning such events is insulting. “These religious traditions have justified the vast social inequalities and oppressive states of human civilizations, but they also have enabled human beings to endure the multiple sufferings that attend human life and on occasion they have stimulated reform and rebellion.” (p.196, Strayer) The author points out that religion, and the very act of having something to question and explore, has provided and continues to provide the human race with the strength and purpose to continue to evolve as a species and civilization. Without religion history would not have evolved as it did, and some of the civilizations would have ceased to exist. 

            These two conflicting viewpoints are very controversial amongst historians and religious groups. While religion has been present throughout history, it is hard to imagine our society evolving the way that it has.