Brad asked:

Do you know of any work or references of the examination of religious symbols being defined as
working religious devices? If so, by who and what were their findings?

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Paul Tillich, then at Harvard, has a useful little essay entitled 'The Meaning and Justification of
Religious Symbols' in Religious Experience and Truthedited by Sidney Hook (New York University
Press, 1974). It is hard to find a work on symbolism which is broad and straightforward, or not
pushing some line like Theosophy or Thomism. Basically, his findings are that in order to understand
the nature of religious symbols we need to understand the nature of symbols generally. Characteristic
of symbols are that they point beyond themselves. They participate in the reality of that which they
represent. They cannot be created at will. They are not therefore allegories or metaphors. A symbol
symbolises with that which it symbolises, thus revealing it. Symbols have various functions and
effects e.g. are integrating or disintegrating. Any of the works of Henry Corbin — e.g. the work on
Avicenna — define religious symbols and show how they work in particular contexts. The study of
symbolism always brings you into a living milieu.

Matthew Del Nevo

www.sicetnon.com