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Humanity is divided by geography, language, and culture-that our views on spirituality are also divided should not come as a surprise. Our interpretation of the world is shaped and limited by what we can understand through our language. Since there is no universal language, there cannot be a universal religion.

Even non-religious concepts are lost on some cultures due to an insufficient means to translate them. Look at 'love' for example. How many ways do we have to explain love? When we were in grade school, we revealed to a sweetheart that we 'like liked' them. Later, we move to professing our 'love' for someone. But we also claim to 'love' pizza, a certain television show, a sunset, a song, our parents, our family pet, ourselves. That solitary, blanket term must be understood to reflect different aspects of the idea of 'love,' but the word is the same. This easily causes confusion. The Greeks had an ample store of words to use to represent different types of love. Romantic, brotherly, sexual, and sacrificial love each boast a unique word-hence the Greeks could get specific. But when we read translations from Greek, the truest meaning is regrettably lost on us.

Is it blasphemous to entertain the idea that somewhere along the way, religious writings in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Hindi, the meaning of a certain teaching could have been innocently altered due to translation or interpretation? Some would argue that a divine text would have been dictated by a higher power that would not allow a margin for error. But a Christian bible found in a modern church is a far cry from the Torah and original New Testament, each written at a different time in a different language. Perfect translations are difficult, even before one takes into account that there have been hundreds of translators over the years interpreting the primary documents.

Now, language is only a small part of the issue. Times change. People change. Politics change. Cultures change. A society will reinterpret a text to apply to their specific time and place. Is that so bad? I don't think so. Without reinterpretation of old concepts, there would have been no Christianity. Christ was not setting out to begin a new religion in his name. He was out to reform Judaism by expanding, revisiting, and illuminating issues that were relevant at the time. The same can be said of Islam. A new context, a new visionary, a new doctrine. The seeds are the same, the flowers are different. That seems to be one of the most beautiful and special parts of human spirituality-that it is a living, breathing, and changing thing. Sometimes it gets off track, and sometimes an individual will take it upon themselves to readjust it, making the whole religion more accessible through smaller, specialized sects.

Learn more about this author, Andrew Browers.
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