Introduction
The interpretation of the term salvation can take different dimension depending on certain aspects such as one’s background or age. Children, for instance, have their own understanding of religion and salvation as explicated by Langston in his literal understanding of the term salvation.
His inadequate understanding of the term resulted to an unwilling salvation process as a way of pleasing church members and his friend, which left him doubt on whether he received the real salvation. This document, therefore, is going to, extensively, analyze Hughes’s salvation scenario, in order to achieve a clear understanding.
Thesis
In as much as it is fundamental to embrace salvation by accepting the lord almighty (Jesus Christ) as the sole savior, liberator or protector of all beings, it is also necessary to analyze and understand the process through which individual receive salvation as exemplified by Langston Hughes’s salvation experience.
Analysis
By analyzing the article on “salvation” by Hughes, it is undoubtedly clear that Hughes never received salvation, despite being part of the salvation prayers held at the church. However, several factors contributed to Hughes’s situation of never receiving salvation, which includes his misunderstanding of the salvation process.
Hughes understood the term salvation in a literal perspective, instead of getting the deeper meaning of the term. He thought that when one receives salvation, he or she must physically observe Jesus Christ coming to his rescue. His understanding followed various explications by his aunt and other elderly individuals, whereby they claimed that one must see and feel the presence of Jesus Christ while receiving salvation.
In addition to his limited understanding ability, her aunt’s inadequate explanation of salvation also significantly contributed to Hughes’s literal thoughts of the salvation process. Hughes’s aunt should have given a detailed explication so that Hughes comprehends salvation process adequately and not in a literal perspective.
This would have helped Hughes to receive salvation in a comfortable and acceptable manner, rather than to act in pretense. Moreover, it would have also helped the young lad to not to, unwillingly, deceive the entire congregation that he wanted to receive salvation.
Conversely, it is also not fair to, completely, blame her aunt’s description, since Hughes was young and could not adequately understand the inner meaning of the salvation process. Whether Hughes’s aunt could have deeply explained the meaning of the salvation process or not, it is highly likely, that Hughes could have misunderstood the whole process. This is because of his tender age, which limits his understanding capacity.
Aside from the factors that contributed to Hughes misunderstanding of the salvation process, it is also clear that Hughes’s decision of receiving salvation had some influence from the church congregation and his friend. This, therefore, meant that Hughes decision of receiving salvation was not his own will, but rather a way of pleasing the congregation and his friend. In other words, Hughes never received real salvation.
Conclusion
Hughes is a young lad who misunderstood the salvation process thus making him question whether he received salvation. He argues that he never literally saw Jesus Christ in the process of getting salvation; thus, he never received salvation. His misguided thoughts about salvation, however, are due to a number of reasons.
Some of the aspects or factors include his tender age and his aunt’s inadequate explanation of the term salvation. His limited capacity of giving the term a deeper meaning also played a central role in Hughes’s misunderstanding of the term salvation.