RELI 1000 Lecture 7 Current Lecture Lord Krishna Lord Krishna is considered the eighth avatar or incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu Krishna is believed to have defeated numerous dragons and monsters Kali Hindu Goddess Kali the Goddess of Destruction Dissolution She is known for destroying ignorance helps those who strive for knowledge of God Her name means The Black One Calcutta is named in her honor Dualism The sacred often manifests as dualism two co equal often co eternal powers A Dualism as harmony Chinese Yin and yang the world universe is a balance of two complementary forces Yin female shadowy moist soft Yang males light dry hard Nature and humans operate through the interplay of these forces e g Light darkness heat cold male female The interaction produces harmony Yin and yang Symbol B Dualism as Cosmic Struggle Sacred power is depicted as good vs evil or light vs darkness Good light always triumphs in the struggle E g Egyptian religion Re the sun god represents life and truth Apophia the serpent of darkness Zoroastrianism founded by prophet Zoroaster Zarathustra born around the 7th BCE 1000BCE Iranian ancient religion Ahura Mazda OhrMazd the wise lord of light Angra Mainyu the bad spirit satanic daeva is constantly in the struggle with Ahura Mazda The world is divided between good evil powers moral right wrong beginning at creation end Ultimately Ahura will triumph over Angra Mainyi evil Radical Dualism Gnosticism A religious philosophy movement in the Greco Roman World that believed in Gnosis secret knowledge Believed that a Demurge a being who is inferior to God created the world The human soul is a spark of the divine from heaven imprisoned in a mortal material body These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute The soul can be saved from its horrible state through acquiring gnosis knowledge Gnosis will free it so it can return to heaven Christian Gnostics reject the Genesis account of creation arguing that God had nothing to do with this bad world Church condemned them as heretics excommunicated Manichean Dualism Founded by Mani a Mesopotamian teacher Viewed the world as ruled by two opposing powers Light associated with the soul Darkness associated with matter One day the darkness attacked the light causing the two to mix Pure souls got defiled in the process Souls can be freed from this darkness its material prison Zoroastrian Manicheanism Influence Zoroastrianism Manicheanism and gnosis influenced Western religions Judaism Christianity and Islam E g Philo a renowned Jewish Philosopher once said God created the world by means of two divine powers one the creator of good the other the creator of evil Heresy Scrolls from the Dead Sea Caves at Qumran describe two spirits that were created by God 1 The prince of Darkness 2 The prince of Light Together they rule the world Christianity St Paul St John s teachings indicate Gnostic Manichean influence St Augustine 354 430 CE a renowned Christian Church father was influenced by Manicheanism A converted to Manicheanism for 9 years before converting to Christianity His teachings have shaped Catholic teachings today Pantheism Monism Pantheism A belief that all existing things are in some sense divine Monism A believe that there is only one divine being or reality All things are simply modes or appearances of the one being reality Hinduism is a good example here Brahman is in everything Atman Human soul is part of Brahman Monotheism Belief in the existence of one God the creator who lives in the sky heaven This belief is associated with emerging faiths of ancient Israel Note some indigenous religions claim to be monotheistic because of a belief in a high God creator of the universe Judeo Christian Muslim God The Judeo Christian God is said to have emerged from protests to polytheism He is described as a personal God everlasting eternal creator wise benevolent and one who intervenes in human affairs He is a jealous God who demands exclusive worship Judaism God appears to Moses on Mount Sinai to renew and seal make the covenant given to Abraham with Israelites The exodus event from Egypt covenant with Israelites Ex 3 414 20 3 5 24 14 Christianity Islam God incarnates in the form of a human being Jesus God appears to Prophet Muhammad through angel Gabriel Other Examples Egyptian Monotheism Pharaoh Amenhotep IV 1375 BCE worshipped the sun God Aton Aton was later elevated to a high throne as other gods were suppressed Amenhotep IV set up a new priesthood He changed his name to Ikhnaton profitable to Aton He declared Aton as the Only God whose powers no other god possessed Aton s attributes were the Creator sustainer and ruler of the world At Amenhotep s death Egypt reverted to polytheism Sigmund Freud argues that Moses was influenced by belief in Aton Controversial attributes of God This God is transcendent God s ways are not our ways mysterious not fully knowable God is infinite he created the world as an act of love Omniscience God is all knowing Omnipotent God is all powerful able to do all things Panentheism God is inherently immanent within the entire natural world God exists and interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond as well Note Panentheism is different from pantheism which states that God is synonymous with the material universe i e God is analogous with the individual God experiences change as the world changes God does not fully know or cannot alone determine the future Religion and the Origin of Social Order How did the world come into being Cosmogony an account of the emergence of creation of world order Every religion explains how the world came to be