Паремиология. Рубрика в журнале - Евразийский гуманитарный журнал
“God and the Devil are in the details” secularized religion in modern Anglo-American proverbs
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Many proverbs of the Bible, both from the Old and New Testament, continue to be current today without people necessarily recalling their origin. There are also many older folk proverbs that refer to God, the devil, faith, prayers, and other religious matters with the most well-known being “God helps those who help themselves.” Realizing that modern life has become more secularized, it is of interest to study modern Anglo-American proverbs that concern themselves with this topic. The best known are doubtlessly “God is in the details” and its variant “The devil is in the details.” Quite a few of the almost sixty proverbs presented here refer to God as a rather pragmatic force that helps to deal with everyday life, to wit “God can make a way out of no way.” Folk wisdom has also come up with proverbs commenting about prayers and praying that look at this activity in quite a realistic fashion, as for example “When you pray, move your feet.” There is no sainthood in these proverbs, but some of them contain didactic messages as well as calls for humility, as can be seen from such texts as “Trust in God, but lock your door” and “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Of course, there are also parodistic anti-proverbs like “Love your neighbor but don’t get caught” that have gained proverbial status in a society with less taboos. In general, the religiously informed modern proverbs stress worldly mores, they tend towards secular pragmatism, they contain solid wisdom, and they express their worldview in meaningful imperatives. They reflect modernity and show that either God or the devil are in the details as life’s journeys move forward.
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