Insights into Ancient Religions and Philosophies
An historical survey
The aim of pre-axial religion is to promote
the stability of the tribe in an uncertain
natural environment.
Pre-axial religion is world-accepting,
concerned with preserving the cosmic and
social order. It provides a mythical
framework for bestowing meaning on the
basic realities of life- survival,
reproduction, social cohesion.
Ritual sacrifice to influence gods and spirits
Individual moral behavior is necessary to
ensure the stability of the clan. An immoral
individual can bring pollution and divine
retribution to the group.
For example, the sin of Achan in Joshua 7.
Or, the sin of Adam and Eve that affected all
of their descendants.
Good behavior brings prosperity to the
group,
12
“Honor your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land the
Lord
your God is giving you.” Ex. 20.12
The Upanishads,
composed from 800
BCE- 600 CE. There are
200, 14 of which are
most important. The
teaching is Monistic (or
pantheistic)- there is one
Reality- Brahman- the
impersonal absolute-
eternal, infinite,
unknowable. Everything
else is Maya- illusion. To
attain liberation
meditation (not sacrifice)
is required.
The real problem is
ignorance, the illusion of
individuality, which
keeps us bound in
Samsara (birth, death,
rebirth). The souls of
living things are like
drops in the great ocean
of Brahman, falsely
proclaiming their
individuality, and
selfishly promoting their
illusory goals.
Bhagavad Gita
Code of Manu
You have a right to perform
your prescribed duty, but
you are not entitled to the
fruits of action. Never
consider yourself the cause
of the results of your
activities, and never be
attached to not doing your
duty.
Perform work in this
world, Arjuna, as a man
established within himself-
without selfish attachments,
and alike in success and
defeat. For yoga is perfect
evenness of mind.
(2.47f)
Non-injury, truth, not
stealing, purity, control
of the senses- Manu
has declared this to
summarize dharma for
the four castes.
(10.63)
They live in wisdom
who see themselves
in all, and all in
them, who have
renounced every
selfish desire and
sense craving
tormenting the heart.
Neither agitated by
grief nor hankering
after pleasure, they
live free from lust
and fear and anger.
Established in
meditation, they are
truly wise. Fettered
no more by selfish
attachments, they are
neither elated by
good fortune nor
depressed by bad.
Such are the seers.
(Bhagavad Gita 2:
54-57.)
Yoga and meditation techniques are practiced
to gain control over bodily desires and to
realize the unity of the individual soul (atman)
with the Absolute (Brahman).
Indulging in bodily pleasures and immoral
conduct generates bad karma and traps the
soul in samsara.
Ethical conduct is only possible for those who
understand the illusory character of the
physical world.
He who is free from selfish attachments,
who has mastered himself and his passions,
attains the supreme perfection of freedom
from action. Listen now, Arjuna, and I will
describe how one who has attained
perfection also attains Brahman, the
supreme consummation of
wisdom….(18.49f)
First noble truth
Dukkha- To live is to suffer
Contact with a pleasant person or thing is
pleasurable. When such contact becomes
impossible, suffering and sadness results.
But if you have no attachment to that
person or thing, that is freedom/liberation.
Whatever is impermanent is dukkha.
The second noble truth
Noble truth of the arising of sorrow.
It is this thirst
(tanha) which produces re-existence and re-
becoming, and which is bound up with passionate
greed.... Thirst for sense-pleasures, thirst for
existence and becoming, thirst for nonexistence.
The origin of this “thirst” is the false idea of self.
Selfish craving for and attachment to pleasure,
wealth, power, ideas, opinions, and beliefs,
generates karma and keeps one bound to samsara.
Third noble truth:
there is
emancipation,
liberation, freedom
from suffering. to
eliminate dukkha,
one must eliminate
the “thirst” that is its
source. Nirvana, the
extinction of thirst.
Freedom from
conceit, destruction
of thirst, the
uprooting of
attachment, Nibbana.
The extinction of
desire, the extinction
of hatred, the
extinction of illusion.
Annihilation of the
false idea of “self.”
Fourth noble truth
The way that leads
to the stopping of
suffering: the
eightfold path.
Following the 8-
fold path leads to
the perfection of
Ethical conduct,
Mental discipline,
and Wisdom
Right views
(intuitive insight:
seeing things as
they really are,
awareness of the
triple truth- all
existence is
suffering and
impermanent, there
is no permanent
self or soul).
Right thought
. Selfless renunciation or
detachment, thoughts of love and non-
violence directed to all living things.
Ill-will, hatred, violence, result from lack of
wisdom.
Right Speech
-
Truthfulness, no slander,
profanity, abusive speech, or idle talk.
Right Conduct-
avoid killing, lying, stealing,
sexual misconduct, intoxicants
.
Right Livelihood-
butcher, tanner,
astrologer, psychic (forbidden jobs).
Right Effort-
the
energetic will to
prevent evil thoughts
and to produce good
thoughts.
Right Mindfulness-
To be attentive to
bodily activities,
mental states,
feelings. Awareness
of their nature,
arising, and
disappearing.
Right concentration
Discard passionate
desires and
unwholesome
thoughts; suppress
intellectual activity,
develop tranquility
and ‘one-
pointedness’ of mind
all sensations
disappear, pure
equanimity and
mindfulness remain.
To abstain from taking life
To abstain from taking what is not given
To abstain from sensuous misconduct
To abstain from false speech
To abstain from intoxicants as tending to
cloud the mind.
Fundamental virtue:
Jen-
“humanity,”
“goodness,” “benevolence.”
My teaching contains one thread that runs
through it all.... What did he mean? Our
Master’s teaching is simply this: loyalty and
reciprocity.
(
Analects
, II.15.)
Is there any one word that can serve as a
principle for the conduct of life? Confucius
said: Perhaps the word ‘reciprocity’: Do not
do to others what you would not want
others to do to you.
(
Analects,
XV.23.)
[The Master] has
broadened me with
culture, restrained me
with ritual
(IX.10).
The Master said,
Courtesy not bounded by
the prescriptions of ritual
becomes tiresome.
Caution not bounded by
the prescriptions of ritual
becomes timidity, daring
becomes turbulence,
inflexibility becomes
harshness.
(VIII.2)
He who does not tread in
the tracks [of the
ancients] cannot expect
to find his way into the
inner-room
(XI.19).
He who can himself
submit to ritual is good.
XII.1
The Master never talked
of prodigies, feats of
strength, disorders, or
spirits.
(VII.20.)
If you let people follow their feelings they will
be able to do good.... Humanity,
righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are not
drilled into us from outside. We originally have
them with us.... Therefore it is said seek and
you will find it....
(6A.6)
Man’s nature is naturally good just as water
naturally flows downward....Now you can strike
water and cause it to splash upward.... It is the
forced circumstance that makes it do so. Man
can be made to do evil, for his nature can be
treated in the same way.
(6A.2)
Human nature is essentially evil- ritual,
teaching, and training are required to harness
natural passions.
Desire for gain------strife.
Envy and hate-------injury/cruelty.
Passions--------------Excesses, disorder.
To give reign to man’s original nature and to yield
to emotions will assuredly lead to strife and
disorderliness, and he will revert to a state of
barbarism. Therefore, it is only under the influence
of teachers and laws and the guidance of the rules
of decorum that courtesy will be observed. From
all this it is evident that the nature of man is evil
and that his goodness is acquired.
(Ch. 23).
Tao- way, path, road: natural, eternal,
spontaneous, nameless, indescribable,
impersonal, and unkind.
Taoist virtues: quietism, pacifity, simplicity,
spontaneity, non-action (
wu wei
)
The highest good is like water, Water
benefits all things generously and without
strife
. (8)
It was when the great
Tao declined that there
appeared humanity
and righteousness. It
was when knowledge
and intelligence arose,
that there appeared
much hypocrisy.
(18)
Banish sageliness,
discard wisdom, and
the people will be
benefited a
hundredfold. Banish
humanity, discard
righteousness, and the
people will return to
filial piety and paternal
affection
....
Embrace
simplicity, reduce
selfishness, have few
desires.
(19)
Wu-wei
- non-purposive action, action
without intention.
The sage manages
affairs without action, carries out teaching
without speech.
Act by no-action, then nothing is not in
order.
With the nameless uncarved wood there
shall be no desire. Without desire there is
quietude. The world shall be self ordered.
Judaism: Divine command ethics
1.
You shall have no other gods but me.
(Ex.
20.3; Deut. 5.7)
2.
You shall not make a sculpture or any
image.
(Ex. 20.4; Deut. 5.8)
3.
You shall not take the name of Yahweh in
vain.
(Ex. 20.7; Deut. 5.11)
4.
Remember and keep holy the day of rest.
(Ex. 20.8; Deut. 5.12)
5.
Honor your father and mother.
(Ex. 20.12;
Deut. 5.16)
6.
Do not kill.
(Ex. 20.13; Deut 5.17)
7.
Do not commit adultery.
(Ex. 20.14;
Deut. 5.18)
8.
Do not steal.
(Ex. 20.15; Deut. 5.19)
9.
Do not bear false witness.
(Ex. 20.16;
Deut. 5.20)
10.
Do not covet.
(Ex. 20.17;Deut. 5.21)
Archeological evidence indicates that early
Israelites worshipped Baal, the goddess Asherah,
and another goddess known as Anat-Yahu, in
addition to Yahweh. Statues of cherubim were part
of the Jerusalem cult in the kingdom periods. The
prophets who demanded worship of Yahweh alone
in the 8
th
and 9
th
centuries may have inspired the
first commandment.
The commandments reflect the concerns of a
settled community, not a tribe of wandering
nomads.
Ex. 21.7
If a man
sells his daughter
as a female slave,
she is not to go free
as the male slaves
do.
Ex. 21.17
He who
curses his father or
his mother shall
surely be put to
death.
Ex. 21.20; 22:29
Lev. 19.19
You
shall not breed
together two kinds
of your cattle, you
shall not sow your
field with two kinds
of seed nor wear a
garment upon you
with two kinds of
material mixed
together.
You may multiply your prayers, I shall not
listen…. Take your wrong-doing out of my
sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good,
search for justice, help the oppressed, be just
to the orphan, plead for the widow.
Isaiah
1.15-17.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed
instruments.
24
But let justice run down like water,
And good conduct like a mighty stream
. (Amos 5)
A sovereign God (who is wise, just, and kind)
issues commands. If we follow them, all goes
well. If we don’t, judgment and retribution
may follow.
Psalm 61:11–12: “Once God has spoken;
twice I have heard this: that power belongs to
God; and loving kindness is Thine, O Lord, for
Thou dost recompense a man according to
his work.”
Wisdom literature is not based on revelation,
it consists, rather, of observations about
human behavior that the reader may verify
from her own experience.
11.8; 13.24; 15.5 cf.13.1; 23.29-
35;11.22;25.14; 26.11;27.15
Comparisons help one order their experience
and find order in the confusion of daily life.
26.27;23.29;24. 30-34;16.25; Act and
consequence. Virtue profits 10.2
The historical Jesus
The Christ of faith
Little can be known
with certainty about
the life and teachings
of Jesus. The accounts
found in the gospels
were written 40- 70
years after his death by
unknown members of
the early Christian
community.
Contemporary New
Testament scholars
study both canonical
and non-canonical
gospels to find the
voice print of the
historical Jesus, as
distinguished from the
Christ of faith created
by his followers.
You won’t be able to observe the coming of
God’s imperial rule. People are not going to
be able to say, “Look, here it is !”or “Over
there!” On the contrary, God’s imperial rule
is right there in in your presence.
(Luke
17:20-21)
[T]he Father’s imperial rule is spread out
upon the earth, and people don’t see it.
(Thomas 113.2-4)
Celebrate
Love, and forgive
Just remember, John the
Baptist appeared on the
scene, eating no bread
and drinking no wine,
and you say, “he is
demented.” The son of
Adam appeared on the
scene both eating and
drinking, and you say,
“There’s a glutton and a
drunk….:Lk.11.20.
Love your enemies,
and do good, and lend,
expecting nothing in
return. Your reward
will be great, and you’ll
be children of the most
high. (Q; Luke 6:35)
Forgive, and you will
be forgiven. (Q; Luke
6.37)
Civil disobedience
Generosity
When someone slaps you
on the right cheek, turn
the other as well (Q:
Matt. 5.39)
If someone sues you for
your coat, give him the
shirt off your back too.
(Q: Matt. 5.40)
When anyone conscripts
you for one mile, go
along two.
(Q: Matt. 5.41)
If you have money,
don’t lend it at
interest. Rather, give it
someone from whom
you won’t get it back.
(Q: Thomas 95.1-2)
Give to everyone who
begs from you (Q;
Matt. 5.42)
If someone sues you for your coat, give him the
shirt off your back to go with it. (Matt 5.40)
Don’t let your left hand in on what your right
hand is up to. (Matt. 6.3)
It’s not what goes into a person that can defile;
it’s what comes out that defiles. (Mark 7:15)
You see the sliver in your friend’s eye, but you
don’t see the timber in your own eye. When
you take the timber out of your own eye, then
you will see well enough to remove the sliver
from your friend’s eye. (Thomas 26.1-2)
I will tell you what your Lord has made
binding on you: that you shall serve no
other gods besides Him; that you shall
show kindness to your parents; that you
shall not kill your children because you
can’t support them...; that you shall not
commit foul sins, whether openly or in
secret; and that you shalt not kill-for that is
forbidden by God-except for a just cause.
(Sura 6:150)
Do not argue with the
followers of earlier
revelation otherwise than in
the most kindly manner-
unless it be such of them as
are bent on evildoing- and
say: “We believe in that
which has been revealed to
us from on high, as well as
that which has been
bestowed upon you: for our
God and your God is one
and the same, and it is unto
him that we all surrender
ourselves. 29.46
5.49
Vie with each other in
good works, for to God you
shall all return and he will
resolve for you your
differences.
2.256
There shall be no
compulsion in religion.
The ink of scholars is
weighed on the
Day of
Judgment
with the blood of
martyrs and the ink of
scholars outweighs the
blood of martyrs.
Hadith
(1) Confession:
There is no god but God and
Muhammad is his messenger.
(2) Prayer- ritual prayer five times a day.
(3) Almsgiving: charity for the needy.
(4) Fasting during Ramadan, no food or water,
sunrise to sunset.
(5) Pilgrimage to Mecca (once, if possible).
Submission to the will of Allah
The ethical teachings of the world’s great
religious traditions are based on assumptions
about the nature of God or Ultimate Reality.
What evidence can be provided for the truth
of these assumptions?
How is it possible for humans to acquire
knowledge of the will of God or the nature of
Ultimate Reality?
How do we respond to the phenomena of
religious diversity?
Explore the ancient beliefs and teachings of pre-axial religions, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita. Discover how these philosophies emphasize individual moral behavior, selflessness, and the quest for wisdom and liberation through meditation.
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Presentation Transcript
The aim of pre-axial religion is to promote the stability of the tribe in an uncertain natural environment. Pre-axial religion is world-accepting, concerned with preserving the cosmic and social order. It provides a mythical framework for bestowing meaning on the basic realities of life- survival, reproduction, social cohesion. Ritual sacrifice to influence gods and spirits
Individual moral behavior is necessary to ensure the stability of the clan. An immoral individual can bring pollution and divine retribution to the group. For example, the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. Or, the sin of Adam and Eve that affected all of their descendants. Good behavior brings prosperity to the group, 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Ex. 20.12
The Upanishads, composed from 800 BCE- 600 CE. There are 200, 14 of which are most important. The teaching is Monistic (or pantheistic)- there is one Reality- Brahman- the impersonal absolute- eternal, infinite, unknowable. Everything else is Maya- illusion. To attain liberation meditation (not sacrifice) is required. The real problem is ignorance, the illusion of individuality, which keeps us bound in Samsara (birth, death, rebirth). The souls of living things are like drops in the great ocean of Brahman, falsely proclaiming their individuality, and selfishly promoting their illusory goals.
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself- without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind. (2.47f) Non-injury, truth, not stealing, purity, control of the senses- Manu has declared this to summarize dharma for the four castes. (10.63) Bhagavad Gita Code of Manu
They live in wisdom who see themselves in all, and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart. Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger. Established in meditation, they are truly wise. Fettered no more by selfish attachments, they are neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad. Such are the seers. (Bhagavad Gita 2: 54-57.)
Yoga and meditation techniques are practiced to gain control over bodily desires and to realize the unity of the individual soul (atman) with the Absolute (Brahman). Indulging in bodily pleasures and immoral conduct generates bad karma and traps the soul in samsara. Ethical conduct is only possible for those who understand the illusory character of the physical world.
He who is free from selfish attachments, who has mastered himself and his passions, attains the supreme perfection of freedom from action. Listen now, Arjuna, and I will describe how one who has attained perfection also attains Brahman, the supreme consummation of wisdom .(18.49f)
First noble truth Dukkha- To live is to suffer Contact with a pleasant person or thing is pleasurable. When such contact becomes impossible, suffering and sadness results. But if you have no attachment to that person or thing, that is freedom/liberation. Whatever is impermanent is dukkha.
The second noble truth Noble truth of the arising of sorrow. It is this thirst (tanha) which produces re-existence and re- becoming, and which is bound up with passionate greed.... Thirst for sense-pleasures, thirst for existence and becoming, thirst for nonexistence. The origin of this thirst is the false idea of self. Selfish craving for and attachment to pleasure, wealth, power, ideas, opinions, and beliefs, generates karma and keeps one bound to samsara.
Third noble truth: there is emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering. to eliminate dukkha, one must eliminate the thirst that is its source. Nirvana, the extinction of thirst. Freedom from conceit, destruction of thirst, the uprooting of attachment, Nibbana. The extinction of desire, the extinction of hatred, the extinction of illusion. Annihilation of the false idea of self.
Fourth noble truth The way that leads to the stopping of suffering: the eightfold path. Following the 8- fold path leads to the perfection of Ethical conduct, Mental discipline, and Wisdom Right views (intuitive insight: seeing things as they really are, awareness of the triple truth- all existence is suffering and impermanent, there is no permanent self or soul).
Right thought. Selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and non- violence directed to all living things. Ill-will, hatred, violence, result from lack of wisdom. Right Speech profanity, abusive speech, or idle talk. Right Conduct sexual misconduct, intoxicants. Right Livelihood astrologer, psychic (forbidden jobs). Right Speech- Truthfulness, no slander, Right Conduct- - avoid killing, lying, stealing, Right Livelihood- - butcher, tanner,
Right Effort energetic will to prevent evil thoughts and to produce good thoughts. Right Mindfulness To be attentive to bodily activities, mental states, feelings. Awareness of their nature, arising, and disappearing. Right Effort- - the energetic will to prevent evil thoughts and to produce good thoughts. Right Mindfulness- - To be attentive to bodily activities, mental states, feelings. Awareness of their nature, arising, and disappearing. the Right concentration Discard passionate desires and unwholesome thoughts; suppress intellectual activity, develop tranquility and one- pointedness of mind all sensations disappear, pure equanimity and mindfulness remain.
To abstain from taking life To abstain from taking what is not given To abstain from sensuous misconduct To abstain from false speech To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind. To abstain from taking life To abstain from taking what is not given To abstain from sensuous misconduct To abstain from false speech To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind.
Fundamental virtue: Jen- humanity, goodness, benevolence. My teaching contains one thread that runs through it all.... What did he mean? Our Master s teaching is simply this: loyalty and reciprocity. (Analects, II.15.) Is there any one word that can serve as a principle for the conduct of life? Confucius said: Perhaps the word reciprocity : Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you. (Analects, XV.23.)
[The Master] has broadened me with culture, restrained me with ritual (IX.10). The Master said, Courtesy not bounded by the prescriptions of ritual becomes tiresome. Caution not bounded by the prescriptions of ritual becomes timidity, daring becomes turbulence, inflexibility becomes harshness. (VIII.2) He who does not tread in the tracks [of the ancients] cannot expect to find his way into the inner-room (XI.19). He who can himself submit to ritual is good. XII.1 The Master never talked of prodigies, feats of strength, disorders, or spirits. (VII.20.)
If you let people follow their feelings they will be able to do good.... Humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are not drilled into us from outside. We originally have them with us.... Therefore it is said seek and you will find it....(6A.6) Man s nature is naturally good just as water naturally flows downward....Now you can strike water and cause it to splash upward.... It is the forced circumstance that makes it do so. Man can be made to do evil, for his nature can be treated in the same way. (6A.2)
Human nature is essentially evil- ritual, teaching, and training are required to harness natural passions. Desire for gain------strife. Envy and hate-------injury/cruelty. Passions--------------Excesses, disorder. To give reign to man s original nature and to yield to emotions will assuredly lead to strife and disorderliness, and he will revert to a state of barbarism. Therefore, it is only under the influence of teachers and laws and the guidance of the rules of decorum that courtesy will be observed. From all this it is evident that the nature of man is evil and that his goodness is acquired. (Ch. 23).
Tao- way, path, road: natural, eternal, spontaneous, nameless, indescribable, impersonal, and unkind. Taoist virtues: quietism, pacifity, simplicity, spontaneity, non-action (wu wei) The highest good is like water, Water benefits all things generously and without strife. (8)
It was when the great Tao declined that there appeared humanity and righteousness. It was when knowledge and intelligence arose, that there appeared much hypocrisy. (18) Banish sageliness, discard wisdom, and the people will be benefited a hundredfold. Banish humanity, discard righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and paternal affection.... Embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires. (19)
Wu-wei- non-purposive action, action without intention. The sage manages affairs without action, carries out teaching without speech. Act by no-action, then nothing is not in order. With the nameless uncarved wood there shall be no desire. Without desire there is quietude. The world shall be self ordered.
Judaism: Divine command ethics 1. You shall have no other gods but me. (Ex. 20.3; Deut. 5.7) 2. You shall not make a sculpture or any image. (Ex. 20.4; Deut. 5.8) 3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh in vain. (Ex. 20.7; Deut. 5.11) 4. Remember and keep holy the day of rest. (Ex. 20.8; Deut. 5.12) 5. Honor your father and mother. (Ex. 20.12; Deut. 5.16)
6. Do not kill. (Ex. 20.13; Deut 5.17) 7. Do not commit adultery. (Ex. 20.14; Deut. 5.18) 8. Do not steal. (Ex. 20.15; Deut. 5.19) 9. Do not bear false witness. (Ex. 20.16; Deut. 5.20) 10. Do not covet. (Ex. 20.17;Deut. 5.21)
Archeological evidence indicates that early Israelites worshipped Baal, the goddess Asherah, and another goddess known as Anat-Yahu, in addition to Yahweh. Statues of cherubim were part of the Jerusalem cult in the kingdom periods. The prophets who demanded worship of Yahweh alone in the 8thand 9thcenturies may have inspired the first commandment. The commandments reflect the concerns of a settled community, not a tribe of wandering nomads.
Ex. 21.7 If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do. Ex. 21.17 He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Ex. 21.20; 22:29 Lev. 19.19 You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle, you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed nor wear a garment upon you with two kinds of material mixed together.
You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen . Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1.15-17. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24But let justice run down like water, And good conduct like a mighty stream. (Amos 5)
A sovereign God (who is wise, just, and kind) issues commands. If we follow them, all goes well. If we don t, judgment and retribution may follow. Psalm 61:11 12: Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God; and loving kindness is Thine, O Lord, for Thou dost recompense a man according to his work.
Wisdom literature is not based on revelation, it consists, rather, of observations about human behavior that the reader may verify from her own experience. 11.8; 13.24; 15.5 cf.13.1; 23.29- 35;11.22;25.14; 26.11;27.15 Comparisons help one order their experience and find order in the confusion of daily life. 26.27;23.29;24. 30-34;16.25; Act and consequence. Virtue profits 10.2
Little can be known with certainty about the life and teachings of Jesus. The accounts found in the gospels were written 40- 70 years after his death by unknown members of the early Christian community. Contemporary New Testament scholars study both canonical and non-canonical gospels to find the voice print of the historical Jesus, as distinguished from the Christ of faith created by his followers. The historical Jesus The Christ of faith
You wont be able to observe the coming of God s imperial rule. People are not going to be able to say, Look, here it is ! or Over there! On the contrary, God s imperial rule is right there in in your presence. (Luke 17:20-21) [T]he Father s imperial rule is spread out upon the earth, and people don t see it. (Thomas 113.2-4)
Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you ll be children of the most high. (Q; Luke 6:35) Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Q; Luke 6.37) Just remember, John the Baptist appeared on the scene, eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, he is demented. The son of Adam appeared on the scene both eating and drinking, and you say, There s a glutton and a drunk .:Lk.11.20. Celebrate Love, and forgive
If you have money, don t lend it at interest. Rather, give it someone from whom you won t get it back. (Q: Thomas 95.1-2) Give to everyone who begs from you (Q; Matt. 5.42) When someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other as well (Q: Matt. 5.39) If someone sues you for your coat, give him the shirt off your back too. (Q: Matt. 5.40) When anyone conscripts you for one mile, go along two. (Q: Matt. 5.41) Civil disobedience Generosity
If someone sues you for your coat, give him the shirt off your back to go with it. (Matt 5.40) Don t let your left hand in on what your right hand is up to. (Matt. 6.3) It s not what goes into a person that can defile; it s what comes out that defiles. (Mark 7:15) You see the sliver in your friend s eye, but you don t see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend s eye. (Thomas 26.1-2)
I will tell you what your Lord has made binding on you: that you shall serve no other gods besides Him; that you shall show kindness to your parents; that you shall not kill your children because you can t support them...; that you shall not commit foul sins, whether openly or in secret; and that you shalt not kill-for that is forbidden by God-except for a just cause. (Sura 6:150)
Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in the most kindly manner- unless it be such of them as are bent on evildoing- and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us from on high, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you: for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto him that we all surrender ourselves. 29.46 5.49 Vie with each other in good works, for to God you shall all return and he will resolve for you your differences. 2.256 There shall be no compulsion in religion. The ink of scholars is weighed on the Judgment martyrs and the ink of scholars outweighs the blood of martyrs. Hadith The ink of scholars is weighed on the Day of Judgment with the blood of martyrs and the ink of scholars outweighs the blood of martyrs. Day of with the blood of
(1) Confession: There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger. (2) Prayer- ritual prayer five times a day. (3) Almsgiving: charity for the needy. (4) Fasting during Ramadan, no food or water, sunrise to sunset. (5) Pilgrimage to Mecca (once, if possible). Submission to the will of Allah
The ethical teachings of the worlds great religious traditions are based on assumptions about the nature of God or Ultimate Reality. What evidence can be provided for the truth of these assumptions? How is it possible for humans to acquire knowledge of the will of God or the nature of Ultimate Reality? How do we respond to the phenomena of religious diversity?
