Religious Paradoxes: The Quest for Universal Truth
In every doctrine one can see an attempt to approach a universal revelation, with each belief system appearing as a unique step in this endless search. Religious traditions, despite their strongly expressed dogmas and ritual images, contain that spark of truth which attracts millions of people worldwide. It is precisely the excessive categorical assertion of their own exclusivity that gives rise to a sense of absurdity: every devotee of their faith is convinced of the correctness of their interpretation, even if its symbolism or imagery appears absurd from a rational perspective. Visual and ritual elements, which sometimes resemble, in their expressiveness, fairytale or caricatured images, become not so much a proof of truth as a counterpoint to its pursuit, evoking emotional resonance and provoking questions about the essence of faith. Ultimately, in studying the diversity of religions, we understand that each is merely one of the stages in humanity's striving to know the higher, and the categorical nature and paradoxical symbols remind us of the complexity and multifaceted nature of this path.
How can the essence of various religions be interpreted, and what leads to the perception of their absurdity?The main idea in interpreting the essence of different religions lies in understanding them as stages or phases in approaching the truth—each containing some element of truth, but at the same time possessing characteristic dogmas which, when asserted categorically, are often perceived as contradictory or even absurd. One author notes:"So, we can say that none of the religions is completely false. They all carry an element of truth, serving as a phase or step towards the truth. Of course, there are notions and representations in various religions that the Christian consciousness rejects. For example, the idea that earthly life has no value, which developed in the depths of Indian religions. We do not accept such a concept, but we do not consider that the mystical experience of India or its entire religious tradition is false." (source: link txt, page: 163)At the same time, the sense of absurdity arises precisely because the diversity of religious dogmas and ritual images leads each faith to assert the exclusivity of its truth, despite the fact that representatives of all religions possess the same subjective certainty in their correctness. As another author writes:"This multitude of various religions, often excluding one another and always claiming that the truth belongs only to them, first of all makes one doubt that any of them contain truth. Logic is powerless when it comes to matters of faith, and subjective certainty is clearly insufficient. After all, all the representatives of these different religions have the same subjective certainty, yet they consider only their own truth to be genuine. In other words, they only acknowledge objective significance through their subjective states." (source: link txt, page: 158)Moreover, the vivid and often absurd symbols or images inherent in some religious cultures can evoke in the observer a feeling of absurdity. For example, the image of a phallic cult or an unusual symbol compared to a childish rhyme serves as an additional visual counterpoint to the seriousness of the proclaimed dogmas:"Phallic cult." I looked at it—it was lying on its back, its goat-like beard raised towards the sky—and suddenly it appeared to me not as Pan, but as the devil. For no less than a second, I felt the same as people did when burning witches; yet it was the sense of monstrous absurdity that saved me." (source: link txt, page: 190)Thus, the essence of religions can be interpreted as humanity's attempt, through various traditions, to approach a universal revelation or truth. However, the excessive categorical assertion of the exclusivity of one's own faith, as well as the presence of images and rituals which seem incompatible or even absurd from a rational viewpoint, leads many to perceive religion as something absurd.