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Evolution is a major "law" of creation and it produces significant variety in the "out years" . . . so there shouldn't be any surprise that our spiritual evolution has spawned so many different religions despite the fact that there is only ONE God. The diversity of human culture and socialization means that there will necessarily be a diversity of beliefs about the human purpose. But, since the consciousness of God exists, it would be accessible to us all. Consequently, sincere seekers of our purpose are likely to come to very similar conclusions. If we explore the "spiritual fossil record" we can see the pattern of that development and perhaps . . . as I posit here . . . the origin of the main religions that are dominant today.
Culture, personal and social understanding will necessarily color the details and the explanations, but the essentials should be very similar since they would all have the same source of inspiration. Gerald Berry has noted that,
. . . It is an interesting pastime to trace parallels in the beliefs of peoples who had no outside contact with each other. These parallels seem to indicate that certain things are basic, one might almost say innate, in the make-up of humankind.
An academic explanation would be boring, time consuming and unfruitful . . . so I will use a controversial scriptural prophesy as the basis for this explanation of origins. Normally, I am not a big fan of scriptural prophesy except where it predicts the pattern of our spiritual evolution . . . as with the predictions of Jesus.But usually scripture is for spiritual enlightenment . . . so the use of scripture for worldly interpretations is simply too suspect, IMO. However, In looking for scriptural support for this general idea of a universal source for religious beliefs, I found what I believe is a significant passage in the prophesy of Daniel.
The prophesy of Daniel is repeatedly referred to in discussions of the end days. One of Daniel's dreams, the one about the four beasts, remains essentially unexplained (if you exclude Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome from contention as the secular kingdoms) because despite its successes Rome did NOT devour the whole earth (and the world has not ended). Since no other secular "kingdom" has yet dominated the world, the vision must refer to things unfulfilled so no reasonable symbolic relationships could be attached to any other secular kingdoms . . . or at least I am positing that for controversy and discussion.
I believe that secular contemporaneous historical analysis is a common misuse of scriptures which are created for our "spiritual" edification . . . not our worldly education. Secular historicity is really a pointless exercise. Scriptures are primarily created to aid our consciousnesses in understanding our God and our ultimate purpose . . . not to provide an anthropological description of our past! Our consciousnesses are on a spiritual quest, not a secular one. We shouldn’t be looking for the secular significance of what is written. We should seek out the spiritual significance. Since Scripture is dedicated to revelations of religious significance rather than secular significance, this seems eminently reasonable to me.
It is easy to draw symbolic spiritual connections to Daniel’s dream using the main religious faiths that have emerged and persist even to this day.
From Daniel 7:2, the origin of the beasts,
. . . And behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.
Thus, the origin of the beasts is heaven, a logical source of religious beliefs.
From Daniel 7:4,
. . . The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.
This could be a reference to Judaism (the lion of Juda) from whom the wings of eternity were plucked and the heart of Jesus was given to her in crucifixion.
From Daniel 7:5,
. . . and behold another beast like a bear stood up on one side: and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.
This is likely a reference to Islam, (the bear of Persia) and the rows of teeth are the offshoots of it. Indeed, the holy war or Jihad that established Islam "devoured much flesh."
From Daniel 7:6,
. . . After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had upon it four wings as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it.
The four heads immediately bring to mind Brahmanism (the leopard of India). Originally five heads were assigned to Brahma, but one was destroyed by Siva. The four heads symbolize the main offshoots of it. Brahmanism was a decidedly uncharitable religion. So the power that was given to it was probably the Taoist philosophy, or the way of life which stresses charity. The wings most likely symbolize the capability of each offshoot for flight into heaven as a result.
From Daniel 7:7,
. . . After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet.
This could be Roman Catholic Christianity, (the Iron of the industrial revolution) and the eating and breaking in pieces, could signify the splitting into various "Protestant" sects that it is undergoing during its spread throughout the world.
From Daniel 7:23,
. . . The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth which shall be greater than all the kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth.
I await the condemnations and assignment to damnation so typical of some of the "loving" believers of their respective Gods in this forum.
Evolution is a major "law" of creation and it produces significant variety in the "out years" . . . so there shouldn't be any surprise that our spiritual evolution has spawned so many different religions despite the fact that there is only ONE God. The diversity of human culture and socialization means that there will necessarily be a diversity of beliefs about the human purpose. But, since the consciousness of God exists, it would be accessible to us all. Consequently, sincere seekers of our purpose are likely to come to very similar conclusions. If we explore the "spiritual fossil record" we can see the pattern of that development and perhaps . . . as I posit here . . . the origin of the main religions that are dominant today.
Culture, personal and social understanding will necessarily color the details and the explanations, but the essentials should be very similar since they would all have the same source of inspiration. Gerald Berry has noted that,
. . . It is an interesting pastime to trace parallels in the beliefs of peoples who had no outside contact with each other. These parallels seem to indicate that certain things are basic, one might almost say innate, in the make-up of humankind.
An academic explanation would be boring, time consuming and unfruitful . . . so I will use a controversial scriptural prophesy as the basis for this explanation of origins. Normally, I am not a big fan of scriptural prophesy except where it predicts the pattern of our spiritual evolution . . . as with the predictions of Jesus.But usually scripture is for spiritual enlightenment . . . so the use of scripture for worldly interpretations is simply too suspect, IMO. However, In looking for scriptural support for this general idea of a universal source for religious beliefs, I found what I believe is a significant passage in the prophesy of Daniel.
The prophesy of Daniel is repeatedly referred to in discussions of the end days. One of Daniel's dreams, the one about the four beasts, remains essentially unexplained (if you exclude Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome from contention as the secular kingdoms) because despite its successes Rome did NOT devour the whole earth (and the world has not ended). Since no other secular "kingdom" has yet dominated the world, the vision must refer to things unfulfilled so no reasonable symbolic relationships could be attached to any other secular kingdoms . . . or at least I am positing that for controversy and discussion.
I believe that secular contemporaneous historical analysis is a common misuse of scriptures which are created for our "spiritual" edification . . . not our worldly education. Secular historicity is really a pointless exercise. Scriptures are primarily created to aid our consciousnesses in understanding our God and our ultimate purpose . . . not to provide an anthropological description of our past! Our consciousnesses are on a spiritual quest, not a secular one. We shouldn’t be looking for the secular significance of what is written. We should seek out the spiritual significance. Since Scripture is dedicated to revelations of religious significance rather than secular significance, this seems eminently reasonable to me.
It is easy to draw symbolic spiritual connections to Daniel’s dream using the main religious faiths that have emerged and persist even to this day.
From Daniel 7:2, the origin of the beasts,
. . . And behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.
Thus, the origin of the beasts is heaven, a logical source of religious beliefs.
From Daniel 7:4,
. . . The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.
This could be a reference to Judaism (the lion of Juda) from whom the wings of eternity were plucked and the heart of Jesus was given to her in crucifixion.
From Daniel 7:5,
. . . and behold another beast like a bear stood up on one side: and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.
This is likely a reference to Islam, (the bear of Persia) and the rows of teeth are the offshoots of it. Indeed, the holy war or Jihad that established Islam "devoured much flesh."
From Daniel 7:6,
. . . After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had upon it four wings as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it.
The four heads immediately bring to mind Brahmanism (the leopard of India). Originally five heads were assigned to Brahma, but one was destroyed by Siva. The four heads symbolize the main offshoots of it. Brahmanism was a decidedly uncharitable religion. So the power that was given to it was probably the Taoist philosophy, or the way of life which stresses charity. The wings most likely symbolize the capability of each offshoot for flight into heaven as a result.
From Daniel 7:7,
. . . After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet.
This could be Roman Catholic Christianity, (the Iron of the industrial revolution) and the eating and breaking in pieces, could signify the splitting into various "Protestant" sects that it is undergoing during its spread throughout the world.
From Daniel 7:23,
. . . The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth which shall be greater than all the kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth.
I await the condemnations and assignment to damnation so typical of some of the "loving" believers of their respective Gods in this forum.
There is only one God and we should be looking for the similarities not the differences among us. Like the blind men touching different parts of the elephant and coming to separate conclusions . . . we need to stop the arrogance of our convictions about God. Primarily because . . . whatever else you want to believe . . . God exists . . . and all existence and life is one with God. Stop the petty squabbles and violent atrocities.
There is only one God and we should be looking for the similarities not the differences among us. Like the blind men touching different parts of the elephant and coming to separate conclusions . . . we need to stop the arrogance of our convictions about God. Primarily because . . . whatever else you want to believe . . . God exists . . . and all existence and life is one with God. Stop the petty squabbles and violent atrocities.
It's strange that you say we should stop the 'arrogance of our convictions about God...' when the only people that sentence could apply to is believers. right?
(i mean wouldn't it be a little less arrogant to say 'believe what you want' and not shove the 'God exists' part down someone's throat?)
I agree with you that we should be looking for our similarities.
It's strange that you say we should stop the 'arrogance of our convictions about God...' when the only people that sentence could apply to is believers. right?
(i mean wouldn't it be a little less arrogant to say 'believe what you want' and not shove the 'God exists' part down someone's throat?)
Wrong. You have your God . . . you just give it the name Nature and ascribe total indifference and purposelessness to it. It is no less a God to all existence.
But the trick is: is Existence with the humanly conscious reality, or does existence include all of the named (already named: that is every single existing object) Objects independently of Us (the thinkers NOW)? Then at conclusion must God exist for all of the Creation, or may He exist for ALL Existence essentially prior?
Last edited by tgnostic; 03-23-2009 at 12:10 AM..
Reason: grammar
Wrong. You have your God . . . you just give it the name Nature and ascribe total indifference and purposelessness to it. It is no less a God to all existence.
I have my GOD? I ascribe total indifference and purposelessness to it?
It is no less a God to all existence? What on earth are you talking about?! It's like jibberish..
You know, so far you have used lots of words but have basically said nothing. Very similar to politicians and priests. I think its interesting how you think you know anything about me. I have my God?
Try to say something intelligent that make sense, and I do my best to help you out.
But the trick is: is Existence with the humanly conscious reality, or is existence include all of the named (already named: that is every single existing object) Objects independently of Us (the thinkers NOW)?
to me it seems like it would include everything..? I don't understand your point...
It's all the definitions for the creator, God. So often the argument is used we must define God, as if he were made up for each one of us in advance, and we wouldn't speculate about ominpotence, omniscence ourselves? Bu thank you for the lesson on Daniel: it seemed enlightening for the Human aspects of our faith in the broad sense of lights from the awareness we see ourselves in common with our fellowman.
It gets confusing, and the idea of having permanently labeled objects is Muslim as well as Mahayanan Buddhist.
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