What is Reading Religiously?

Abstract

To suggest that an activity called ‘religious reading’ is possible, or is a concept worth taking seriously, is itself a risk that inspires all sorts of presuppositions and prejudices. Objections to the value of discussing such a venture can range from the conservative argument that the issue has already been decided (religious reading is what believers do with their sacred texts) to the liberal assertion (any ‘existential’ reading of any text that addresses matters of ‘ultimate concern’ is religious) to the radical rejection (in a world in which religious belief is no longer plausible it is pointless to speak of religious readings unless to describe objectively the phenomenon of what believers do) to the deconstructive position that in a world without authoritative ‘presence’ religious discourse, including reading, must be redefined along with all other modes.2 I would like to play with the possibility of religious reading precisely because it appears to be such a pointless and undecidable issue. Its very perceived gratuitousness hints at the likelihood that a most significant complex of irresolutions and anxieties is hidden in the dismissal of the question.