To Believe or Not To Believe

902 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the Langston Hughes poem

To Believe or Not to Believe The short narrative “Salvation” portrays the life of Langston Hughes at an early age confronted with the decision to “come forward” and be saved. His aunt’s church,“ held a special meeting for children, ‘to bring the young lambs to the fold’”(Hughes, 197). Throughout the story, he sits in his seat, his aunt Reed sobbing the whole time, congregation pressuring him to “come and be saved,” and waiting to see Jesus. Yet nothing ever happens-no “bright light,” no Jesus, nothing. The church is full of “a mighty wail of moans and voices”(198) waiting for Langston to get up and see Jesus. So he does. He cannot wait any longer and lies to the entire congregation, simply saying he was saved, but only to save from any further trouble. In the end, he never “sees” Jesus, keeps his lie a secret from his aunt, believes there isn’t even a Jesus, and is farther from the truth than ever. The story does have good logic. It is understandable if someone is completely turned off to the gospel because they were pressured or forced to accept Christianity. It is not that person’s fault if that do dislike the truth of the Bible. It is, however, the fault of whomever was doing the witnessing. They either did a terrible job presenting the gospel message, or they didn’t have any Scripture to back up their words. In Hughes’ case, the gospel presentation was the worst I’d ever heard: going from “a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold”(197). What a smooth transition. In my aunt’s case, she, too, was completely turned off to the gospel. At her husband’s funeral, two or three nuns came up to her and attempted to witness to her. Attempted mind you. What may or may not shock some people (however not surprising to me), was that they blatantly told my aunt that her husband went to hell. Again, this is at her funeral. I do not know if he did or did not believe in Christ as his Savior-I was too young at the time-but what an unfortunate way to let her know about the grace of God. It is no wonder she is still turned off to the gospel to this day.

Show More
Related

  • Langston Hughes Salvation

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    For a moment, imagine being in young Hughes’ place, and hearing, “Langston, why don’t you come? Why don’t you come and be saved? Oh, lamb of God! Why don’t you come?” (Hughes, 112), being whispered into your ear by your aunt as tears rush down her face. Would you not take the easy way out? How could someone at the age of twelve understand the torment that follows such an event? Hughes learned that night just what he had done, and what it meant, as he mentions in his essay when he says, “That night, for the last time but one- for I was a big boy twelve years old- I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn’t stop. I buried my head under the quilts, but my aunt heard me….I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, and that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me” (Hughes, 112). At the first moment he was alone in silence, he understood what he had learned, and what it meant. That not only did he lie to his aunt, and to the church, but in his time of need, no one was there to help. There was no God by his side as he knelt on the church

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Cartathia And Salvation

    1673 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story “Salvation” found his genesis from Langston Hughes ' childhood about the struggle to reconcile adult concepts with a childish mind. The metaphor applied in this narrative short story was “to bring the young lamb to the fold”. Other of symbolism was used in this short story as well like simile. The setting of this narrative story was a church, a revival, the

    Read More

  • Exodus And Exodus Similarities

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lee’s positive experience of the Christian religion, are the collection of the readings from Frederick Douglas, Peter Randolph, and the former slave interviewed by B.A Botkin on the recollections of their negative experience of the Christian religion. Frederick Douglas was an African-American social reformer, writer, and an abolitionist. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became the national leader for African American abolitionist movement in the fight to end slavery. He viewed Christianity in the negative plight because in his understanding it is the driving force to maintain the African American as slaves to their owners. According to the book in the section for Frederick Douglas’s reading the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, American slave” he stated, “that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes…I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For all slaveholders…religious slaveholders are the

    Read More

  • Commentary of Greg Garrett´s The Other Jesus

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The other Jesus”; a book that reveals the true meaning of being a Christian and gives another view on the characteristics on Jesus, Garrett shows the beauty of the Gospel and how it differs from other religions views on Jesus. In studying the Christianity of the American society he gives his own personal rendition of how this chase for the true meaning of Jesus started: “When, after twenty-five years of wondering, I came back to church, I finally encountered the Other Jesus. I discovered an authentic message of love and acceptance, the one that the Other Jesus seems to be exemplifying in the Christian Testament….I discovered believers who were trying to live lives that reflected the change this Other Jesus had wrought in them. I discovered people who practiced faith as well as preached it.” (Garrett. 8)

    Read More

  • Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Rhetorical Analysis

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1741 a Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards, delivered a sermon to a congregation in Enfield, Connecticut. He moved many people and helped them to become saved and trust in Jesus Christ. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, - which is the name of the sermon by Jonathan Edwards- the author uses each rhetorical appeal to connect with his congregation. The whole purpose of Edwards’ sermon was to try and get all the unsaved men in his congregation to trust in Jesus Christ as their savior and be converted. He was a very persuasive man who successfully reached out to his congregation by digging down deep and coming in contact with many people’s personal lives and making them think long and hard about why they are lucky enough to wake up every morning. In his sermon, Jonathan Edwards uses the three rhetorical appeals- ethical, emotional, and logical- to reach out to his congregation and try and help them to see why they should trust in Jesus Christ.

    Read More

  • Go Tell It On The Mountain

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    In James Baldwin’s 1952 novel “Go Tell It On The Mountain” the characters in the novel each embark on a spiritual journey. Baldwin has dedicated a chapter to each member of the Grimes family, detailing their trails and tribulations, hopes and aspirations, as each one’s quest to get closer to God becomes a battle. I have chosen the character John because I admire the fierce struggle he endured to find his spirituality. I will examine how he’s embarked on his quest and prove that he has done it with integrity and dignity.

    Read More

  • Hazel Faults Journey

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a child, Hazel Motes is indoctrinated in religious fundamentalism by his grandfather, “a circuit preacher, a waspish old man… with Jesus hidden in his head like a stinger” (9). Time after time young Haze hears the searing sermon of his Bible-thumping grandfather who, in front of a crowd, would point to his grandson, “that mean sinful unthinking boy,” and pronounced him “redeemed”: “That boy had been redeemed and Jesus was not going to leave him ever…. Jesus would have him in the end!” (10). Understanding Jesus as the “soul-hungry” devourer, as “something awful,” the boy very early comes to the conclusion that “the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin” and, at the age of twelve, decides to follow the preacher’s calling like his grandfather. Furthermore, Haze’s mother, with “a cross-shaped face” reinforces the fundament- alist piety in her son by equating the boy’s germination sexuality with sin. Her chilling question “what you seen?,” to the shame-faced boy who just had a peek at a naked w...

    Read More

  • Flannery O’Conner: Deep South Scribe

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dead at the age of thirty nine years young, Flannery O’Conner lost her fight with lupus, but had won her place as one of America’s great short story writers and essayist. Born in Savannah, Georgia, within the borders of America’s “Bible Belt”, she is raised Catholic, making O’Connor a minority in the midst of the conservative Protestant and Baptist faiths observed in the Southern United States. In the midst of losing her father at the age fifteen, followed by her diagnosis and struggle with the same physical illness that took him, as well as her strong unwavering faith in the Catholic Church are crucial components of O’Connor’s literary style which mold and guide her stories of loss, regret, and redemption. Flannery O’Connor’s writings may be difficult to comprehend at times, but the overall theme of finding grace, sometimes in the midst of violence or tragedy, can be recognized in the body of her works. O’Connor’s stories are written about family dysfunction, internal angst towards life or a loved one, and commonly take place on a farm, plantation or a family home in the American South. Her stories of ethical and moral challenge blur the boundaries between her Catholic faith and values, which also include the values of the other religious faiths surrounding her in her youth, simply writing of the pain and struggles which people from all walks of life commonly share.

    Read More

  • Question and Answer on Christian Gospel and Culture

    537 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some may reject the Christian gospel because of a cultural taboo to how they was raised. People in some cultures feel if they believe in God that they will be rejected by family and friends. However some will reject the gospel simply because they have committed a sin. Even though you have sinned does not mean you are not loved. It is hard for some to grasp the idea of there being a higher power out there. Some j...

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find, By Flannery O Connor

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature has been a medium for getting messages across for centuries. Various authors from Aesop to Shakespeare have used writing as a vehicle to get a message across to their audiences. All of these authors are widely respected and admired for their works. One author who transcends her peers and breaks away from traditional secular teaching is Flannery O’Connor. She is widely known for her usage of Christian themes to get across a message of our worlds need for a savior in Jesus Christ. Her style of writing is unique in that she conveys spiritual messages in everyday, fun-to-read stories. This is important as it creates a medium in which she can spread the gospel in a clever manner. Image books stated, “Her expert craftsmanship, her uncanny ability for characterization, the depth and intensity of her morality-combined in strict discipline-make her one of this generation’s most respected authors” (Books, Image 1). Flannery O’Connor uses various themes to get across a religious message, but the two that have a large impact are grace and suffering. The themes of grace and suffering can be seen in her short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “The River”, and “The Lame Shall Enter First”. The themes of grace and suffering in Flannery O’Connor’s short stories are used to represent Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins.

    Read More

  • slave religion

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...hing “bad” happened they found a way to rejoice in the suffering. The Puritan believers were selfish with sharing their faith. A plantation missionary stated that sharing the gospel to slaves would “promote our own mortality and religion.” However the gospel and religion the masters shared with their slaves did not remain the same. The slaves were able to apply their faith to their lives, their work, and their future. The faith the slaves possessed was rich in emotion and free from preexisting regulations. In this class we focus on the many faces and interoperations of Christ that change with the seasons of history. The slave faith represented in Jupiter Hammon’s poem shows a high level of integrity and selfless, personal application of faith. The emotion and need for Christ the slaves had during this time created a new realm of relationship in the evangelical era.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Salvation By Langston Hughes Salvation

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Hughes was thirteen he attended a revival with his Aunt it was his turn to "see Jesus," his entire community and church all waiting expectantly for the moment when he was finally saved from sin. Unfortunately for Hughes, salvation did not occur. His fellow peers that he would be delivered, to Jesus convinced him. He was so caught up in the idea that when it did not happen, and when it did not, he felt like an outcast amongst his religious community. People crying, and praying for him at his feet, Hughes did not want to be the reason for all the madness happening around him. He stood up and acted as if his salvation had come to him, although deep within he knew it had not. "My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices” (Hughes 111-112). Influenced by the wales and the cries, Hughes started to feel as if he was the problem, that something was wrong and it was up to him to fix it. As the congregation prayed for him alone, and his aunt cried and prayed by his feet, a wave of social pressure came to him at once. To stop the crying, and the constant praying there was only one thing to be done, although he knew he was never actually saved, he stood to his feet, and the religious community and church all rejoiced as they

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes and Religion

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Goodbye Christ.” Meyer, 898-99. Meyer, Michael. A. ed. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. “Langston Hughes (1902-1967).”

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Uncle Toms Cabin

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stowe wrote of how the human soul is “poor” and “helpless”, but that through Jesus Christ it becomes “powerful” and “glorious.” Stowe described how Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows a parallel to Jesus Christ in how he lived in the lowest poverty and that no man was so poor and lowly that he was undeserving of the love from Jesus. Stowe detailed the American laws against African Americans in how they can “do nothing possess nothing acquire nothing but what must belong to his master.” Stowe concluded her preface by speaking of the day of reckoning and how Christ has regarded every sorrow of the African American

    Read More

  • My Big Sister, My Role Model

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ollowing in my sister's footsteps, I began learning from her experiences. We tread lightly around the subject of the religion these days. Thankfully, there are no wild debates at the dinner table on holidays. We respect one another's beliefs and agree to disagree about them. She often tells me, "You should come to my church!" when I call her seeking sisterly advice or needing a sympathetic ear. I have attended her church and admire how she's strengthened her parish and community. That's more inspirational to me than any Sunday sermon - as she is one who sincerely lives in the word, even when it's difficult for her.

    Read More

More about To Believe or Not To Believe

Open Document