Lecture 12Outline of Last Lecture I. Five Confucian VirtuesII. Confucianism: Later DevelopmentsIII. DaoismIV. Daoism: LaoziV. Daoism: Laozi and Daodejing VI. Daoism: Problem and SolutionVII.Daoism: Wu WeiVIII. Daoism: ZhuangziOutline of Current Lecture IX. World Religions Pie/World Relgions By PopulationX. Standard Classification SchemeCurrent LectureXI. World Religions Pie/World Religions by Populationa. Monotheistic Traditionsi. Chrisitanity: 2.5 Billionii. Islam: 1.7 Billioniii. Sikhism: 30 Millioniv. Judaism: 15 MillionPHIL 1101st Editionb. Total Monotheistic Population= about 4.5 billoioni. largest population of adherents in the worldii. 55% of self-identified religious people in the worldXII. Standard Classification Schemea. can group religions by their doctrine of Godi. Non-theistic1. belief system that does no equate the “divine” with a God or godsa. Example: Confucianismii. Polytheistic1. belief in more than one god/goddessiii. Monothesitic 1. belief in only one godiv. Henotheistic1. belief in multiple gods/goddesses unified under one divine being v. Pantheism1. belief that divine is identical with the natural or material worldXIII. Fluid Boundariesa. Categories are not exclusive of one another:i. Example: Hinduism has polytheistic, and monotheistic strainsii. Example: Buddhism is “non-theistic” but nevertheless recognizes many divine beingsb. Monotheism can blur into other categoriesi. Pantheism1. some monotheistic traditions identify God with the“all”ii. Non-theism1. mystic practices in Christianity, Judaism, and Is-lam avoid labeling God as “exisiting”a. “what we worship as God is part of a projec-tion of our own wishes”2. Via negativa: language can only describe what God is notXIV. Monotheism: Beyond the “Big 3”a. Egypt: The Atenist Revolutioni. Akhenaton: 1350-1334 BCE1. before rise of Israelii. Consolidation of religious cults-- to the worship of the sun god (Aten)iii. Established himself as the sole intermediary to Aten1. eliminating priesthoodiv. Earliest known monotheistic religious community. Sub-sequent histor of Aten cult unclear after Akhenaton’s death1. at right: Akhenaton in worship of Atenb. Sikhismi. Guru Nanak (1469-1539)ii. Developed Punjab from monistic strains of Hindu prac-tice1. 30 MM adherents worldwide, concentrated in Asiaiii. Social Dimension: unification of peoples through elimi-nation of religious boundaries:1. “There is no difference between a temple and a mosque, nor between the prayers of a Hindu and a Muslim.”2. Reduce emphasis on distinctive ritualc. Mul Mantrai. One supreme being, the eternal reality, the creator, without fear and devoid of enimty.XV. Continuing Innovationsa. Bahai Movementi. Originates in Iran in the 19th century as variant of Islamii. develops as an independent montheistic religion1. 7.5 mm aherents worldwide: divided mainly be-tween Africa and Asia2. Perhaps the fastest growing religious movement inthe worldiii. Social Dimension1. oneness of God underlies oneness of humanity2. Oneness of humanity an ethical imperative in re-sponse to GodXVI. Monotheism: A Preliminary Summarya. There are more than three monotheistic religionsi. 3 most prominent monotheistic religions originated int he Near Eastii. Other monotheisti practices originated in South Asiab. As a religious impulse:i. has engendered diverse expressions across time, place, and cultureii. continues to emerge in new religious formsiii. Often marked by aspirations for religious social reformsc. The label is insufficient to describe a particular mentalitiy or institutional structureXVII. Monotheism in Judaism, Christianity and Judaisma. If Monotheism admits diversity in culture, geography, and doctine, what shapes its particular character in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?b. Proposal:i. lets look beyond the label “monotheism” as identifying the number of gods.ii. lets lok at the conceptions of “godness.”c. Hypothesis:i. all 3 traditions understand God as a “Person”XVIII. Doctrinal Dimension: God as a Persona. What makes a person, a “person?” What is “personhood?”i. willii. intentioniii. valuesb. A person is a moral agenti. who makes choicesii. who strives to realize purposesiii. who engages with other persons to these endsc. Let’s apply that to the concept “God”:i. where might one look for JCI for will, intention, values, choices exercised by God?XIX. God as Person: Creatio ex Nihiloa. JCI all identify the origin of the natural world in act of “creatio ex nihilo”= “Creation from nothing”b. Several Overlapping Claims:i. God is the sole source for everything that exists. Noth-ing else is co-eternal with Godii. The physical universe is a product of God’s will. It re-sults from God’s decisions.iii. The physical universe reflects God’s intention and de-sign which is shaped by God’s purpose.iv. The physical universe depends on God for its existence, its nature, and its purpose.XX. Ethical Dimension: Creation and Moral Imperativea. In JCI, the divine realm and physical universe are sharply dis-tinct and hierarchically related. XXI. Sin, Evil, and the Moral Imperativea. If God Deisnged creation with a purpose, then humans have a purpose, then humans have a moral responsibility to bring that purpose to fulfillmentb. failure to fulfill that purpose=sinc. evil is a result of human sind. evil results in distortion of God’s purpose for creatione. Evil is the primary religious problemXXII. Moral Question: How Does One know God’s Purpose?a. In Asian tradition:i. observing natural phenomena is the means to learning about hte human place, and what humans should do.ii. Karma: implies that moral consequences are the naturalresult of fulfilling or transgressing moral dutyb. In JCI:i. natural order points to divine will, but it does not em-body itii. remember: the natural and divine ordersXXIII. How do you know another Person?a. A few truths about knowing others:i. a person can’t be known only by observationii. knowing a person is always partialiii. some element of a person always remains a mysteryiv. you only know a person through that person’s disclosureXXIV. Revelation and Monotheisma. Forms of Revelation:i. Oraclesii. Visionsiii. Dreamsb. Most Important; Scripturei. =revelation that the believing community has approvedii. =revelation that is publicly held by the