Jan M. Long
Abstract
As meaning-seeking creatures, our transitory passage through this world conveys the urgency of understanding the nature of the human condition. What has emerged over time are a variety of sacred narratives that people find meaningful, even though universally encumbered with problems. The task of this article is to develop some of the key process details of the author’s book, titled, The Sacred Hill We Climb. It seeks to assess some of the tools that can build credibility into such a narrative. Because the sacred category has a narrow grounding to the perceptual world, there is wisdom in engaging it in a prudential way, even while many true believers quite readily proceed categorically—offering up defining concepts of truth and error (or a darker contrast of truth and heresy). Because a great portion of the sacred landscape is weakened by its non-perceptual features, process is elevated in importance if a credible belief is to be advanced—one that can guide on the appropriateness of categorical thinking. It therefore gives thought to reason differentiating knowledge from opinion, fact from fiction, and certainty from uncertainty. We find facts and knowledge elevating certainty on what can be termed a ‘process hierarchy.’ By way of process, we can assess some ideas as being more certain and therefore credible than others, even if ambiguities remain. It is a method that can apprise us as to what is knowable regarding the sacred, and the degree to which we can be certain about the things we may hold as true and dear. It is a conversation that invites both the believing and non-believing communities to a discussion on the sacred hill we climb.
Full Text: PDF DOI: https://doi.org/10.15640/ijpt.v12p2
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