--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Religion is concerned not with genuine…" description: "\"“Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with sacred history, which does not course through time like a river. Rather, sacred history is li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/reza-aslan-2665_dig-deep_religion-is-concerned-not-with-genuine-h_1065179.png" --- # Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with… ![“Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with sacred history, which does not course through time like a river. Rather, sacred history is like a hallowed tree whose roots dig deep into primordial time and whose branches weave in and out of genuine history with little concern for the…” quote by Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/reza-aslan-2665_dig-deep_religion-is-concerned-not-with-genuine-h_1065179.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/reza-aslan-2665_dig-deep_religion-is-concerned-not-with-genuine-h_1065179.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/reza-aslan-2665_dig-deep_religion-is-concerned-not-with-genuine-h_1065179.png) > ““Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with sacred history, which does not course through time like a river. Rather, sacred history is like a hallowed tree whose roots dig deep into primordial time and whose branches weave in and out of genuine history with little concern for the boundaries of space and time.”” [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sacred history is timeless, rooted in mythic origins, while genuine history flows like a river through time. **In simple terms:** Mythic past versus real events. Key Takeaway Recognize both myth and fact. Themes myth time history religion Mood contemplative analytical Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - theological study - cultural analysis - personal belief Key Concepts sacred narrative chronology spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How do myths influence your worldview? - Can sacred narratives coexist with history? A Different Perspective Myths can obscure factual understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dig deep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dig-deep/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-sacred-1957366/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Concerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-concerned-2622319/) [River Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river-sacred-2622320/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Sacred History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred-history-936011/) [Space and time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-and-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“History is sacred—like a nature hike. ‘Leave only footprints, take only memories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rysa-walker/history-is-sacred-like-a-nature-hike-leave-only-footprints-take-only/) [Rysa Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rysa-walker/) > [It will take an unprecedented act of courage, on a grand scale. You may have to do something virtually unknown in the annals of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/it-will-take-an-unprecedented-act-of-courage-on-a-grand-scale-you-may/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [History is a sacred kind of writing, because truth is essential to it, and where truth is, there God himself is, so far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes-saavedra/history-is-a-sacred-kind-of-writing-because-truth-is-essential-to-it/) [Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes-saavedra/) > [“All that we call sacred history attests that the birth of a poet is the principal event in chronology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-that-we-call-sacred-history-attests-that-the-birth-of-a-poet-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There’s a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, and from its origin, it has meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/there-s-a-long-and-sacred-history-of-the-use-of-x-to-symbolize-the/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Mythology can be defined as the sacred history of humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-hausman/mythology-can-be-defined-as-the-sacred-history-of-humankind/) [Gerald Hausman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-hausman/) > [The history of religions reaches down and makes contact with that which is essentially human: the relation of man to the sacred. The history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mircea-eliade/the-history-of-religions-reaches-down-and-makes-contact-with-that/) [Mircea Eliade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mircea-eliade/) > [“What we see in these passages is God meeting people, tribes, and cultures right where they are and drawing and inviting and calling them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/what-we-see-in-these-passages-is-god-meeting-people-tribes-and/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [“Mythology can be defined as the sacred history of humankind. This is different from what we call "history." Mythical stories, when you trace them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-hausman/mythology-can-be-defined-as-the-sacred-history-of-humankind-this-is/) [Gerald Hausman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-hausman/) > [...it becomes clear that, given our diversity, no single religion satisfies all humanity. ... And since the majority does not practice religion, I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/it-becomes-clear-that-given-our-diversity-no-single-religion/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [As far as the matters of religion are concerned we know for sure that only Islam is the true religion in the eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakir-naik/as-far-as-the-matters-of-religion-are-concerned-we-know-for-sure-that/) [Zakir Naik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakir-naik/) > [Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/where-questions-of-religion-are-concerned-people-are-guilty-of-every/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I want nothing to do with any religion concerned with keeping the masses satisfied to live in hunger, filth, and ignorance. I want nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/i-want-nothing-to-do-with-any-religion-concerned-with-keeping-the/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [Science may have come a long way, but as far as religion is concerned, we are first cousins to the !Kung tribesmen of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-donahue/science-may-have-come-a-long-way-but-as-far-as-religion-is-concerned/) [Phil Donahue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-donahue/) > [... so far as religion is concerned, argument is adjourned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/so-far-as-religion-is-concerned-argument-is-adjourned/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## More by Reza Aslan > [“Despite two millennia of Christian apologetics, the fact is that belief in a dying and rising messiah simply did not exist in Judaism. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/despite-two-millennia-of-christian-apologetics-the-fact-is-that/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Should I act violently in defense of my religion, absolutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/should-i-act-violently-in-defense-of-my-religion-absolutely/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Religion doesn't make people bigots. People are bigots and they use religion to justify their ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/religion-doesn-t-make-people-bigots-people-are-bigots-and-they-use/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Scattered across the Roman Empire, it was only natural for the gospel writers to distance themselves from the Jewish independence movement by erasing, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/scattered-across-the-roman-empire-it-was-only-natural-for-the-gospel/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“There is a term for this phenomenon—politicomorphism, or “the divinization of earthly politics”—and it is, to this day, one of the central features of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-is-a-term-for-this-phenomenon-politicomorphism-or-the/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Obama has been the single worst president in modern American history in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/obama-has-been-the-single-worst-president-in-modern-american-history/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [There's no question that homophobia is rampant among the world's 1.5 billion Muslims - but that doesn't negate the fact that there are huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-s-no-question-that-homophobia-is-rampant-among-the-world-s-1-5/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Well, to be clear, I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament and fluency in Biblical Greek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/well-to-be-clear-i-am-a-scholar-of-religions-with-four-degrees/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“There would be no more record of who was rich and who was poor. Everyone in this new and divinely inspired world order would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-would-be-no-more-record-of-who-was-rich-and-who-was-poor/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [My biography of Jesus is probably the first popular biography that does not use the New Testament as its primary source material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/my-biography-of-jesus-is-probably-the-first-popular-biography-that/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/the-islamic-reformation-is-already-here-we-are-all-living-in-it/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Pilate, as the histories reveal, was not one for trials. In his ten years as governor of Jerusalem, he had sent thousands upon thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/pilate-as-the-histories-reveal-was-not-one-for-trials-in-his-ten/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Is it possible that Jesus, unlike 98 percent of his fellow Jews, was literate and educated? Yes, it's possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/is-it-possible-that-jesus-unlike-98-percent-of-his-fellow-jews-was/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“The choice between James’s vision of a Jewish religion anchored in the Law of Moses and derived from a Jewish nationalist who fought against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/the-choice-between-james-s-vision-of-a-jewish-religion-anchored-in/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Paul's portrayal of Jesus as Christ may sound familiar to contemporary Christians—it has since become the standard doctrine of the church—but it would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/paul-s-portrayal-of-jesus-as-christ-may-sound-familiar-to/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) [Explore all 154 Reza Aslan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) ## More Dig deep quotes > [“Personally, I’m a mess of conflicting impulses—I’m independent and greedy and I also want to belong and share and be a part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/personally-i-m-a-mess-of-conflicting-impulses-i-m-independent-and/) [Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/) > [Go get your shovel and we'll dig a deep hole. To bury the castle, bury the castle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramore/go-get-your-shovel-and-we-ll-dig-a-deep-hole-to-bury-the-castle-bury/) [Paramore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramore/) > [Folks may not be familiar with Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs, but they live with the effects of PBMs almost every time they go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-tuberville/folks-may-not-be-familiar-with-pharmacy-benefit-managers-or-pbms-but/) [Tommy Tuberville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-tuberville/) > [I like characters with problems. I like to understand them... To play alcoholics, fetishists, strange girls, you have to dig deep within yourself. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-trintignant/i-like-characters-with-problems-i-like-to-understand-them-to-play/) [Marie Trintignant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-trintignant/) > [You dig deeper and it gets more and more complicated, and you get confused, and it's tricky and it's hard, but... It is beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-cox/you-dig-deeper-and-it-gets-more-and-more-complicated-and-you-get/) [Brian Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-cox/) > [“Through my willingness to train every day and to dig deep in the after-class ukemi sessions, over time I earned the respect and friendship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-holiday/through-my-willingness-to-train-every-day-and-to-dig-deep-in-the/) [Linda Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-holiday/) > [To mend a broken heart sometimes you gotta be a archaeologist, you have to dig deep and search for what still remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-degroff/to-mend-a-broken-heart-sometimes-you-gotta-be-a-archaeologist-you/) [Brian DeGroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-degroff/) > [“From this point forward, you don’t even know how to quit in life.” ~ Aaron Lauritsen, ‘100 Days Drive”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-lauritsen/from-this-point-forward-you-don-t-even-know-how-to-quit-in-life-aaron/) [Aaron Lauritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-lauritsen/) > [You know, the benefit in life is to say, 'Maybe you made a mistake, let's dig deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/you-know-the-benefit-in-life-is-to-say-maybe-you-made-a-mistake-let-s/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [In this digital world, web shows are a total game changer. 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Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-b-jones/) > [I need to have people doubting me, because that's when you dig deep and find out what you're made of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-peavy/i-need-to-have-people-doubting-me-because-that-s-when-you-dig-deep/) [Jake Peavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-peavy/) > [“I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/i-struggle-with-enormous-discrepancies-between-the-reality-of/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) [Browse all 322 Dig deep quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dig-deep/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with sacred history, which does not course through time like a river. 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