Introduction to Religion

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INTRODUCTION TO RELIGION

Mark Knockemus Northeastern Technical College

Introduction to Religion

Mark Knockemus Northeastern Technical College

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Licensing A detailed breakdown of this resource's licensing can be found in Back Matter/Detailed Licensing.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Licensing Licensing

1: How Do We Define Religion? 1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition 1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions 1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice 1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions 1.5: A Scholastic Definition 1.6: Licensing and Bibliography

2: The Development and Ideas of the Ultimate, the Absolute, the Holy 2.1: Telling Time 2.2: Early Indicators of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy 2.3: From the Numinous to Animism 2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship 2.5: From Animism to Theism 2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism 2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism 2.8: Nontheistic Religions 2.9: Licensing and Bibliography

3: Who Started It? Religious Founders, Developers, and Reformers 3.1: General Context 3.2: Religious Context 3.3: Personal background 3.4: Calling 3.5: Message 3.6: Legendary or Actual 3.7: Founders 3.7.1: Prophets 3.7.2: Sages 3.7.3: Incarnations 3.8: Developers and Reformers 3.9: Licensing and Bibliography

4: Myth and the Languages of Religion 4.1: Thinking about Human Time 4.2: The Global Age 4.3: The Modern Era 4.4: The Premodern Era 4.5: Myths 4.6: Archetypes 4.7: Licensing and Bibliography

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5: Scripture 5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? 5.2: Where does Scripture come from? 5.3: How is Scripture formed? 5.4: How do I read Scripture? 5.5: Licensing and Bibliography

6: Miscellaneous Doctrines and Teachings 6.1: What is the Self? 6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil 6.3: Licensing and Bibliography

7: Ritual 7.1: Commemorations, Festivals, Holidays 7.2: Rites of Passage 7.3: Worship Rituals 7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals 7.5: Licensing and Bibliography

8: Morality, Ethics, and Religion 8.1: Natural Law 8.2: Moral Reasoning 8.3: Deontology 8.4: Teleology 8.5: Licensing and Bibliography

9: Social Order, Government, and Religion 9.1: Case Study- the Caste System 9.2: Religion and Society 9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money 9.4: Licensing and Bibliography

10: Religious Experience 10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call 10.2: Licensing and Bibliography

Index Glossary Detailed Licensing Detailed Licensing

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 1: How Do We Define Religion? The basic building block in religious studies is the word religion, so we need to learn what the word means. Put differently, we need a definition of the word or concept of religion. Is it necessary at all to have definitions? Yes. The reason for this is that in order to think clearly, express our views clearly and communicate them clearly to others, the words that we use need to have a clear, unambiguous and consistent meaning. Even in ordinary life, being clear about exactly what we mean by words is important. A lot of quarrels can be avoided if people would simply make sure that they understand the same thing by the same word. Often our lives depend on it. If the manual for the new piece of electrical equipment says "Do not touch the wire with the red coating with your bare hands," you want to be very sure that you and the manufacturer understand exactly the same thing by the word "red." If his "red" is your "brown," you may be in deep trouble! However, the word "religion" is far more complex than the word "red." Usually, it would be quite in order to just point to something to make clear what the word "red" refers to. But it is more difficult with "religion." One cannot simply point to something. What is more, many people (including scholars) have very different ideas of what the word "religion" means. We could have just given you a definition of religion, but we deliberately do not do it. Let us rather investigate various kinds of definitions of "religion," take them apart and discuss them. This way you will be able to see how complex defining the word "religion" really is. First, let us distinguish various kinds of definitions before we try to arrive at a definition of "religion." 1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition 1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions 1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice 1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions 1.5: A Scholastic Definition 1.6: Licensing and Bibliography

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1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition Etymology involves using the different parts of a word, such as root and prefix, and their origins to gain a better understanding of the word in defining it. For example, the word etymology itself has two main parts: etymo and logy. Chances are you are familiar and already know the second part from different classes you have taken, such biology and sociology. Logy is from a Greek word that means "study of." To continue with our examples, bio means "life" while socio refers to "society." When we put everything together, biology means the study of life, and sociology means the study of society. The word religion has two main parts: re and lig. Re means the same thing in religion as in reread. When rereading, someone goes back and reads again. Re means "back." Lig is used in words such as ligament and obligation. A ligament connects or binds one bone to another bone, and obligations connect or bind us to one another. Lig means "connect" and "bind." In this use and understanding of etymology, religion means "to be connected or bound back." This emphasizes a unique characteristic of religion: it binds and connects participants not only to each other, but also to those who have also practiced that faith and since died. It reflects the timelessness quality of religion and the ability of religion to create a sense of social connectedness. This page titled 1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions As the word says, a narrow (or exclusive) definition includes a limited slice of experience in the word "religion" and excludes a great deal. A typical narrow definition is: "religion" means reading and believing in the Holy Bible. Why is this definition wrong? It is too narrow and exclusive; by doing so, this definition excludes genuine religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, that do not use the Bible as their scripture. A proper definition of religion needs to avoid being narrow, or exclusive. A broad (or inclusive) definition includes ideas and information that are not associated with religion; when this happens, it is called a functional equivalent. There are various examples for this definition. Have you ever heard someone say “I exercise religiously”? Why is this wrong? The speaker is confusing following an orderly routine for religion.

A poster of Chairman Mao, who led the Communist revolution in China. Notice the halo effect of light. In Communist countries, such as China and North Korea, state leaders are elevated to the position that religion holds in other countries, with statues in their honor and celebration of their birthdays. A similar example can be seen when people elevate celebrities and increasingly technologies to the same position. Why is this wrong? The person is using someone or something that is not religious as a religion. Another example of a typical broad definition would be: "religion" means people's search for ultimate meaning. The belief in God might be part of such a definition, but it would not be restricted to it. For example, someone may find his or her ultimate meaning on a golf course, and while there is nothing wrong with playing golf, it is clearly not a religion. This page titled 1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice Yet another way to define religion is to explore how someone becomes a member of that faith. Some religions, including Hinduism and Judaism, are called tribal religions because when someone is born from a Hindu or Jewish mother, he or she is a member of that faith. In other words, a tribal religion reflects it is an ethnicity, and its members share a culture and even genealogy. This is why in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, there are the long passages of "begats" since knowing one's bloodline is proof that one is a member. An open religion is not based upon birth but upon choice. This is when someone willingly decides to join the religion. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are all examples of open religions because the individual decides to join. It is not based upon birth. Want some examples? If a Christian wakes up one morning and announces at the breakfast table, "I am no longer a Christian," then he or she is no longer part of the Christian faith. It is based upon choice. However, if a Jew wakes up and makes the same announcement, he or she is still Jewish! All religions, however, allow for members of other faiths to join by converting. Thus, someone born a Hindu could convert to Christianity and become a Hindu-Christian. Notice the first part remains as it is based upon birth while in the opposite case, if someone who became Christian converts to Hinduism, he or she would just be a Hindu. This page titled 1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions A unique way some define religion is a series of answers to questions that have been asked throughout human history. In other words, all human being have asked themselves: - How do I live the right way? - What is my place in the world? - How do I pray? - What happens after I die? When the answers to these questions are gathered, they form a definition of religion. Of course, this understanding yields many different definitions as the answers to the questions will differ! This page titled 1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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1.5: A Scholastic Definition Before we move to a useful college-level definition, we need first to touch upon a few key terms: ultimate, mundane, and transmundane. Ultimate refers to when something or someone is the best and nothing can be greater than it. For example, if a youngster plays Pee-Wee football and is the best player on the best team, is that child the ultimate? Nope. After all, there is middle school football. So what if a middle schooler is the best player on the best team, is that teenager the ultimate football player? No! There is high school football, then college, then the NFL. Now, when a professional football player is voted the MVP, most valuable player, of the team that wins the Super Bowl, then he is indeed the ultimate football player...until the next season begins. With this understanding, many people refer to the Ultimate as God since in their beliefs, there is nothing greater. When something or someone is ordinary, it is called mundane. Many associate mundane with being boring, which fits. After all, if one work day is the same as the previous and the same as another, it can become boring or mundane. However, when we discuss transmundane, it is different! The etymology of trans is from Latin and means "across." For instance, a telephone transmits someone's voice across a distance. As a result, if something or someone is transmundane, there is nothing boring or ordinary about it! Instead, transmundane reaches across or beyond our understanding of the ordinary physical world. With this understanding, we can move to a definition of religion by Kent Richter, from his book Religion: A Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness: "Religion is a complex set of reasonably interwoven beliefs, behaviors, and experiences rooted in some notion of transmundane Ultimate Being." When you reread this definition, you will see elements of some of the other ways we can define religion. For instance, "interwoven" connects to the use of etymology to define religion while "beliefs, behaviors, and experiences" come from answers to the basic four questions we looked at earlier. Now that we have looked at defining religion, we can move deeper into discussing it! This page titled 1.5: A Scholastic Definition is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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1.6: Licensing and Bibliography Clasquin-Johnson, Michel. Textbook content produced by Michel Clasquin-Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. © May 11, 2015. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/ [email protected]. Richter, Kent. Religion: A Study of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press. First edition, 2016. Image: "Chairman mao guarded by group4 security" by Paul Keller is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ This page titled 1.6: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 2: The Development and Ideas of the Ultimate, the Absolute, the Holy Before we begin, you will notice the chapter title adds the new terms Absolute and Holy to Ultimate. These will be used interchangeably. After all, if something is the Ultimate, it is also the Absolute, meaning it is the "sum of all being" and transcends the concept of being. Likewise, we can use the Holy to bring a sense of sacredness, which connects to the scholastic definition of religion from last chapter because if something is sacred, it is not mundane but transmundane. Moving deeper into our study of religion, we will use Ultimate, Absolute, and Holy to mean the same idea; you will notice each is capitalized when used in this manner. 2.1: Telling Time 2.2: Early Indicators of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy 2.3: From the Numinous to Animism 2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship 2.5: From Animism to Theism 2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism 2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism 2.8: Nontheistic Religions 2.9: Licensing and Bibliography

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2.1: Telling Time People have certainly invented a lot of different calendar systems over the centuries, and that was fine as long as everyone stayed in his or her own society and culture, and had no contact with other societies, cultures, and religions. However, by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, business, politics, and just the basic need to communicate clearly with one another demanded a new system as the world became more and more connected. The need in the 21st century is even greater since we live in the global age, in which world wide communication is instantaneous and the level of interconnectedness between peoples of different nations and beliefs is very high. Traditionally, the abbreviations AD (Anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of our Lord") or BC ("Before Christ") were used to mark time. However, not only have we learned that the date of Jesus of Nazareth's birth was miscalculated, but also can we really require Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, as well as people of no particular religion at all to constantly have to refer to the Christian savior when they just want to make reference to a particular date in history? No. The new abbreviations that have, therefore, been used are CE ("the Common Era") and BCE ("Before the Common Era"). The dates themselves have not changed. The year 2000 CE is exactly the same as the year 2000 AD, but it is an appropriate way of marking time in our global age. Sometimes you will see the claim that CE stands for the "Christian Era", but that is quite wrong. In this book we will use CE and BCE throughout. As we begin our study of the development of the Ultimate, the Absolute, and the Holy, we need to remember the different ideas cover overlap in time. Also, none of these forms of religion are completely extinct. We still find evidence of the mindset that created them all in modern people today. The progression in the pages that follow from one understanding to another does not imply superiority. Later religions are not better than earlier religions; they simply reflect the circumstances in which they developed. Mere age (whether oldest or youngest) is not an important factor. When we study religion in this way - not judging whether a faith is right or wrong, or one understanding of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy is better than another - it is called the phenomenological approach. Moving forward we are not interested in judging or proving anything right or wrong; in the study of religion, we are all students and need to observe and avoid passing judgements of right or wrong. This page titled 2.1: Telling Time is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.2: Early Indicators of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy The story of religion is as old as humanity itself. Exactly when it started, we do not know, but it appears to be an element of life and culture before humans assumed the dominant role on Earth that we now have. For example, archeologists have found evidence of some manner of religion even in the prehistoric proto–humans, such as Homo erectus, in the Old Stone Age, which lasted from about 500,000 to 10,000 years ago. In caves near Beijing, China, a collection of human skulls was found with indications that the content had been removed. Did these early humans cut off the heads of their enemies as trophies? And did they eat the contents in order to obtain the vitality of the person? Or was the human brain simply a delicious meal? We do not know. Regardless, these actions raise questions. Similarly, all across Europe we can find evidence of ceremonial burial practices by Neanderthal people, Homo neanderthalensis, (100,000 – 75,000 years ago). Groups of Neanderthals buried their dead with gifts, such as shells and weapons, that clearly had value to the living. Why would someone bury a needed daily item with the deceased? While we can debate the answers, it is clear the actions of these hominids indicate they had a complex understanding of life and buried their dead with implements presumably to serve the deceased in the afterlife. Of interest, while Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis are not humans (Homo sapiens), they arguably had an understanding of and a belief in the afterlife. Scientists agree modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) have our origins in Africa, and from there spread to the rest of the world. Like the previous examples, researchers have found many remains of early humans, such as those of a child who was buried around 100,000 years ago at a place called Border Cave in northern Kwazulu–Natal, in Africa. A perforated shell was placed in the grave with the child. Did this mean that those long–ago people believed in some sort of life after death? Was the child given a favorite toy to play with in the afterlife? We will probably never know for sure. Regardless, it is clear that these early humans cared for their dead in very human ways. Just as the earlier hominids took care to bury their dead, so too did the first humans show a concern for the dead, and scholars believe this indicates that even today all religions will have certain features common to all humankind because we are all part of one biological species. For most of human history people used to live in small groups and hunted small animals, scavenged, and collected eggs and insects for food wherever they could find it. They were travelers and lived their entire lives outside. As such, they developed an understanding and appreciation of the physical world and the landscape that we today simply do not have. The word numinous is used to describe this understanding and appreciation. If something is numinous, it evokes a religious or spiritual quality. These parts of the world, such as the Grand Canyon or a mountain range, make us feel small and insignificant. They are beautiful and awaken within us a sense of awe while being threatening in their size and how they dominant the landscape. Many places throughout the world were frequented by these hunter-gatherers, which we know by the art they left behind. The majority of these are cave paintings that are inaccessible and difficult to reach, suggesting that these were not for decorative use but were rather symbolic and likely used in rituals. In other words, by drawing a successful hunt scene on the cave wall, they would have success with the hunt when next they went in search of game. It seems as if they were trying to record some sense of not only their daily lives, but also their experience with the numinous.

Cave art in northern Spain

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2.3: From the Numinous to Animism The next development of understanding the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy happened about 10,000 years ago when humans started to cultivate the land, and this resulted in larger groups living together in villages and society becoming more organized. Hunting became more organized and supplemented the diet of berries, grain and fruit, which the women and children gathered. Fishing also became an option with fish being caught with nets and bone hooks. For the first time, weaving and pottery were being practiced. People went from being hunter-gatherers to being farmer-hunters. Around this time, the understanding of the Absolute grew into a type of religion based upon animism, which is believing elements of the physical world, such as deer, bear, a rock formation, or a waterfall, have a spirit. These people held such parts of nature as the Ultimate and revered them as Holy, just as religious people today view scripture, such as the Koran or Bible, as Holy. Animistic faiths often use a shaman to contact the spirit world that lies beyond, or transcends, our known world.

Uluru is the famous rock formation in central Australia. The site and the surrounding area are scared to the Anangu, the indigenous people of the area. This page titled 2.3: From the Numinous to Animism is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship The idea of spirits inhabiting living creatures and objects in the world slowly began to evolve. Once people realized specific aspects of the world had a spirit, they realized human beings also have a spirit. This led to ancestor worship, the belief that one's departed family members' spirits are still active in the world and can influence their descendants' lives. As a result, the ancestors are venerated and often gifts of their favorite foods and/or drink are placed at shrines in the home.

A shrine for the ancestors. Do you remember earlier when we mentioned none of these types of religion are extinct? Shinto is a religion still practiced today, and it combines animistic beliefs and ancestor worship, as well as pantheism (which we will cover below). Shintoism is still practiced today; many of its followers live in Japan. This page titled 2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.5: From Animism to Theism

Animism is not extinct. Above is Shaman Wilson Montez of Peru. When this was happening, people began to think of the Ultimate not as spiritual but as a god. They began to practice theism. Theism is from the Greek and refers to god or gods. The understanding of the Absolute moved from being spiritual, or not centered, to being fixed, to something that could be pointed to. After all, you cannot point to a spirit. Its nature is different than that of a god. When theism begins, it allows for the idea of a personal relationship with the Absolute. When thinking about theism, it is important to leave behind your own existing ideas. For example, when people today hear the word "God," they think of a deity that is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all knowing), morally perfect, eternal, etc... However, different theisms hold different understanding of god and gods. Of interest, early forms of theism were pantheism. Pan means "all" and "everywhere." The Greek god Pan was god of the wild. Pantheists believe god is in different parts of the world, such as a volcano or a river. For many of these farmer-hunter communities, their god was associated with their primary crop or their primary prey. For example, the Mayans of Central America worshipped the sun-god because the sun grew corn, their primary food source. Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest worshipped salmon while those in the Great Plains, bison. Some cultures, such as Egypt and Greece, combined human qualities with animal. In some places in Europe, sculptures also appeared, and these were often of pregnant females, which led scholars to speculate that people worshipped fertility goddesses in those areas. As mentioned previously, we should not think of these various pantheistic deities as many think of God today. Many had specific functions within the culture. Animism sounds a lot like pantheism, but it is different. Remember that with animism the Absolute is spiritual and inhabits something in the physical world, but with pantheism the Absolute is a god in the form of something in the world. For pantheists, god would be a volcano that threatens to erupt, a river that floods and nourishes the fields, or a bear that competes for resources. This page titled 2.5: From Animism to Theism is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism A number of crucial developments around 6,000 years ago led to revolutionary changes in society. The wheel was invented, and this led to a multitude of new developments. Now people were tilling the soil and domesticating animals, they were collecting herds and started plaiting and sewing.

The "Venus of Willendorf" While no one knows for certain when, where, or how it happened, polytheism, the belief in many gods began. Poly means "many." Just as a polygon has many sides, polytheism is the belief in many gods. Some scholars argue polytheism is the result of the number of growing cities and states that had developed in various parts of the world; people were traveling long distances, and there was some contact between these civilizations with the resultant exchange of ideas. Image a camel trader on a long journey who is given hospitality, food and lodging, by a family on his route. This family prays before meals and offers sacrifices to their deity. The camel trader likely would ask about this god, its powers, and effectiveness. He may even share his own god with the family. Then, he would continue to his destination, a nearby city full of other gods and goddesses. While bartering, our camel trader comes into contact with even more different deities, then he returns home, bringing these new gods and goddesses with him and weaving their worship into the existing patterns. Soon, the lines dividing worshipping these different gods and goddesses became blurred. For example, we know ancient Rome has its own pantheon of gods and goddesses, such as Jupiter, Apollo, and many others. When Rome conquered Egypt, the worship of Egyptian deities travelled back to Rome. Isis, the Egyptian goddess known for healing and for death rites, was incredibly popular, and the worship of Isis spread throughout the Roman Empire; soon Isis was worshipped from present day England to Afghanistan, as well as in Egypt.

The Egyptian god Horus has the head of a falcon and the body of a man. Another example of polytheism is Hinduism, the world's oldest, continuously practiced major religion. Some say there are 33 million Hindu deities! Each of the different Gods and Goddesses has a specific duty. Much like in our society, there are many different jobs.

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Representations of Hindu Deities This page titled 2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism As we continue our study of the development and understanding of the Absolute, we reach monotheism, the belief in one God. This happened around 700 BCE; a time in which there occurred such dramatic developments that the world has never been the same again. It is referred to as the Axial Age (the axle on which history turns) because it was so crucial in the history of the world. A large part of this is due to the development of writing and its spread. Monotheism is associated with the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are called Abrahamic faiths because all trace their roots to Abraham, feature Abraham as a father of faith, and mention Abraham in scripture. Many people today think Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship different Gods, but they are wrong. Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the God of Abraham. Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims have differing ways of understanding, naming, and worshipping the same God? Yes. This is true for the different Christian denominations. Regardless, they all indeed worship the same God; after all, in monotheism there is only one god -- God. This page titled 2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.8: Nontheistic Religions During the Axial Age, there was a unique development: a way of living that answered those four basic questions from chapter one (How do I live the right way? What is my place in the world? How do I pray? What happens after I die?) that did not involve believing in spirits or gods and goddesses. These religions are called nontheistic. (The prefix non means not. For example, nonstandard means "not standard.") In other words, there is no deity involved. Examples of nontheistic faiths include Confucianism and Buddhism. Many argue these are not religions but simply philosophies, or a way of life, since there is not a deity being worshipped. However, if we consider these faiths answer those basic questions, they indeed are religions. Furthermore, Dr. Noah Levin notes that nontheistic faiths are considered religions since they require some acceptance of a metaphysical view of the world, which often requires the acceptance of some truths to be accepted on “faith,” where our normal rational critiques might be suspended. In other words, a Buddhist has to make a "leap of faith" regarding certain aspects of the Buddha's teaching, just as a Christian has to make a similar leap with the teachings of Christianity. In Confucianism and Buddhism the teachings of Confucius and the Buddha are being followed and are considered that which is the Ultimate, not Confucius or the Buddha. Neither man ever made claims to be a deity, nor are they worshipped as such. Of interest, both Confucianism and Buddhism do not prohibit following another religion! For example, recently Zen Buddhism has gained popularity in Western countries, such as England and America, and Christians have adopted Zen Buddhist meditation techniques as part of prayer. Another example includes Shintos who also follow the teachings of the Buddha. In closing, our look into the development and understanding of the Absolute, the Ultimate, and the Holy was a lot like traveling through time and watching the growth and evolution of human culture and civilization. Remember that there is overlap with these developments and that the understanding of Absolute, the Ultimate, and the Holy continues today. This page titled 2.8: Nontheistic Religions is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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2.9: Licensing and Bibliography Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. Vintage, 1999. Clasquin-Johnson, Michel. Textbook content produced by Michel Clasquin-Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. © May 11, 2015. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/ [email protected]. Levin, Noah. (2019). "Philosophy of Religion, God, and Theology" in N. Levin (Ed), Philosohy of Western Religions: An Open Educational Resource. N.G.E. Far Press. Licensed under a CC - BY Creative Commons Attribution License. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Image: "Hindu Gods" by Elmar Bajora Photography is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: Korean culture-Jesa-02.jpg. CC BY 2.0 Created: 29 January 2006. Image: "Egyptian gods" by Insights Unspoken is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Image: "File:Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain-110113.jpg" by Yvon Fruneau is licensed with CC BYSA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0-igo Image: "Shaman Wilson Montez" by Howard G Charing is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ Image: "Uluru" by .Dwayne. is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: The “Venus of Willendorf.” © Wikimedia/Torunga Page CC BY-SA 3.0 2012. This page titled 2.9: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 3: Who Started It? Religious Founders, Developers, and Reformers 3.1: General Context 3.2: Religious Context 3.3: Personal background 3.4: Calling 3.5: Message 3.6: Legendary or Actual 3.7: Founders 3.7.1: Prophets 3.7.2: Sages 3.7.3: Incarnations 3.8: Developers and Reformers 3.9: Licensing and Bibliography

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3.1: General Context A religious founder generally operates in a multi–cultural society. In such a society population groups with culturally different backgrounds live next to each other or intermingle. Over a long period of time these cultures may come into contact with each other on a permanent basis. In such a situation cultures change because of the mutual influence between two or more cultures. Such a situation is known as acculturation. A religious founder often operates in a crisis situation. The latter could emerge from a process of acculturation where different cultures are exerting influence on each other to such an extent that the entire society finds itself in a situation of transition. Under such circumstances, cultural change may cause people to feel insecure and uprooted. Another possibility is that the crisis situation is caused by or is the result of oppression or war. A country’s territory might have been invaded by hostile forces, and the general population might suffer oppression and be forced into subservience to foreign powers. In the case of war, the constant or long term threat of enemy forces may cause great anxiety and uncertainty. This page titled 3.1: General Context is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.2: Religious Context In a crisis situation individuals and groups experience feelings of dissatisfaction, injustice, uncertainty, anxiety, and distress. These feelings can be so strong and intense that many would believe that the end of the world is near. Founders of religion always act in circumstances and times where strong end of time expectations are alive. A further aspect of the religious context of religious founders is that the societies in which they find themselves are always characterized by religious pluralism. This means that two or more groups of believers of different religious persuasions will be living together in one society. This situation can sometimes lead to a feeling of religious exclusivism where one group of believers close themselves off from other groups of believers because they see and experience their own religion as the absolute truth and the only way to salvation. On the other hand, it is possible that religious syncretism, joining positive elements of the religions present in that particular society in order to form a new religion with its own set of beliefs, doctrines, and practices, may prevail. If the general context and the religious context are taken together, one could then summarize by stating a religious founder operates in a society that is pluralistic both culturally and religiously and finds itself in a crisis situation. This crisis may be felt so intensely, that many may believe the end of the world is near and a new world and a new era have dawned. This page titled 3.2: Religious Context is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.3: Personal background When it comes to personal backgrounds there is no exact pattern that can be identified. Some religious leaders come from a royal background while others were part of the merchant class or earned their living through manual labour. What appears to be a common trend is that religious founders have had no theological training and no or very little formal school education. Followers often lay great stress on the fact that their founder was either illiterate or semi–literate. This fact becomes important in verifying the divine origin of the message that their particular founder came to reveal. The fact of illiteracy on the side of the founder increases for the adherents the divine nature and origin of the revelation concerned. This page titled 3.3: Personal background is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.4: Calling It would appear that religious founders often respond to a calling. This calling usually takes place either during puberty or early middle age. In the process of receiving and responding to the call, the recipient usually lives under harsh and lonely circumstances. A first reaction to turn the calling down because of unworthiness or inability appears to be common. Having received the calling, the founder–to–be goes through periods of intense doubt and subsequently withdraws from society to live in poverty and loneliness. Living on the edge of society is of great significance and normally enables the founders–to–be to gain new insights into the religious and social circumstances of their own societies and to the need that their societies may have for the revelation that they as founders have received and are called to share. Especially during this formative period, founders often do not stay on one place. They either move around by own choice or are forced by their opponents to leave a particular area. This page titled 3.4: Calling is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.5: Message A decisive factor in the career of the founder is the challenge to persuade others of the divine origin of their calling and message. Founders whose calling and revelation are to find acceptance therefore need to possess much charisma and carry with them a message of much significance. The understanding would be that the founder and his or her contemporaries are struggling with the same problems without being able to find satisfactory solutions. The claim by a founder to have been sent, therefore, needs to be acknowledged by others. The message of founders often reveal several common components. One such component is genuine empathy with and understanding of the spiritual and social circumstances of their constituencies. Explanations for the suffering that people are enduring and an indication of how people could escape their misery and experience life with new harmony, would constitute another component. A third component would be that the message contains a clear demonstration of human solidarity both from the side of the founder and of fellow adherents. This message is presented as universal and of eternal truth. Normally, these founders are strong critics of society, and their messages inevitably lead to the establishment of a new religious tradition. This page titled 3.5: Message is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.6: Legendary or Actual When we look at all the different religions in our world, we may well ask the question: who started them all? In some cases we know the answers, but in others not. This is because of how long ago the religion was founded and the historical record. As such, we can divide founders as either being legendary or actual. Legendary refers to a founder who may or may not have lived before the historical record. In other words, when we travel back in time thousands and thousands of years, we will eventually reach an era that did not have recorded documents. For example, scholars generally mark the founding of Hinduism between 2300 BCE and 1500 BC, which is a long time ago! So much so that the founder or founders of Hinduism are lost to history. The same is true for indigenous religions of North and South America, Africa, Australia, and so on. As such, any attempts at authenticating a founder fail. Another example of a legendary founder is Moses, who founded Judaism. (Some people may say that it was Abraham while others may say that it was Moses, but that is an argument for another day!) Why is Moses considered legendary? The only recordings we have of him are in scripture. There is no mentioning of Moses in any other known documents. Thus, we cannot authenticate him, and he remains legendary. Does this mean Moses never lived? No. In other to be actual, the person or persons need to be found in recorded documents other than scripture. Unlike legendary, actual founders are found in the historical record in addition to scripture. Why is this important? It means the person or persons are accepted as having actually lived. We have, for instance, multiple records of Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity; Muhammad, the founder of Islam; Confucius, the founder of Confucianism; and Siddhartha Gautama (or the Buddha), the founder of Buddhism. These founders exist outside of the scriptures of their respective faiths. Thus, we can call these founders actual. If a person says, "I don't believe in Christianity because the story of Jesus is fiction," or "I don't believe in Buddhism because the story of the Buddha is fiction," that person is speaking in error. These people lived just like Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Attila the Hun, and Cleopatra, just to name a few. They all have had their lives recorded in multiple documents. Now, if a person says "I don't believe in Christianity because I don't like the teachings of Jesus," that is his or her personal choice. This page titled 3.6: Legendary or Actual is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.7: Founders So what is a founder? A founder is a person or people who are regarded by their followers as the initiators of their religious community. Founders can be divided into three categories: prophets, sages, and incarnations. This page titled 3.7: Founders is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.7.1: Prophets A prophet is a man or woman who experiences a personal, divine assignment to proclaim the word of God. This is often referred to as a calling. It is important to emphasize the message a prophet shares is not from him or herself but God. Two religions founded by prophets are Judaism and Islam. Founders can be prophets, but not all prophets are founders. For example, there have been many prophets in Islam, such as Noah, Lot, Abraham, and many others. Even though these prophets were each called to share a message from or the word of God to others, they did not start, or found, a religion. The Prophet Muhammad is the founder of Islam.

Case study: the Prophet Muhammad Muhammad was born in Mecca about 570 CE into a respected merchant family of the Quraysh tribe. Mecca was at that time a very prosperous trading and religious center of the Arab world. His father died before he was born, and he lost his mother when he was only six. Muhammad was thus orphaned at an early age. He was raised by his grandfather and then by his uncle Abu Talib, by whom he was adopted. The Mecca of Muhammad’s youth was, of course, Arabian, and yet, through trade it came into contact with Byzantium, Ethiopian, and Indian cultural influence. These influences filtered through to other areas of life and caused Mecca and surroundings to find itself in a period of economic and political transition. By the time that he was forty, Muhammad increasingly isolated himself in the hills around Mecca for prayer and meditation. In about 610 CE, Muhammad had the first of many remarkable experiences. In a cave on the Hira mountain, the holy scripture of Islam was revealed to him. Upon returning from the mountain, Muhammad began sharing this message from God; in this message to the people Muhammad denounced paganism and the polytheism of Mecca and preached the one God, Allah. After a period in which Muhammad doubted his own sanity, he came to realize that the miraculous was happening: God, already known to Jews and Christians, had chosen him to be his final messenger to bring his revelation to the Arab people. Thus, the Prophet Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet of God. In subsequent years he came into contact with adherents of the so– called mystery religions, with Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. He consistently proclaimed that Allah was the only God to be worshipped and that he, Muhammad, was Allah’s messenger. By submitting to Allah, people would experience peace and a life totally dedicated to Allah’s service. This page titled 3.7.1: Prophets is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.7.2: Sages A sage is a very wise person, who develops a way of living and then shares it with others. Sages are similar to prophets in that both are human beings who are sharing a way to better themselves with his or her society out of compassion. In other words, both sages and prophets want to world to be a better place. They differ in that God is absent in the case of the sage. Founders can be sages, but not all sages are founders. For instance, Benjamin Franklin was the sage of colonial America; he was an inventor, scientist, diplomat, and helped draft parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. No one doubted his wisdom, but Benjamin Franklin did not found a religion. Examples of religions founded by sages include Confucianism, founded by Confucius, and Buddhism, found by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha.

Case study: Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

Statues of the Buddha in Thailand. The founding of Buddhism begins with the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. He was born 566 BCE somewhere in the northeastern corner of India, today known as Nepal, as a prince of the Sakya clan in Hinduism. In this part of India, there were different cultures and accommodated many religious traditions. Although the central religious system was Hinduism, it consisted of many different traditions, with the main common feature the fact that they all originated on Indian soil. At birth it was prophesied that he would become either a great king or a religious leader. Throughout his early life, Siddhartha's father sought to protect him from the sorrows of the world. He grew up in delightful palaces, was schooled in the noble arts and married a beautiful princess who bore him a son. However, while his son was still a baby, Gautama began to be disturbed by his sheltered life. Eventually, one day he got the chance to inspect the outside world. There he met, one after the other, an old man in the last stages of senility, a sick man afflicted by disease, a corpse being carried to the cremation ground and, finally, a shaven– headed, wandering religious beggar, clad in a simple yellow robe, but radiating peace and joy. Siddharta decided to leave his wife and baby son to search for peace and joy. This is called the Great Renunciation. For six years he tried various prescribed ways, including the life of an ascetic, which, at the end of this period, left him ill and starved almost to the point of death. He left his companions and went to meditate under a fig tree, determined not to stop before he found the answer. It was there that he reached Enlightenment and became the Buddha. Gautama's first disciples were his former five companions with whom he had spent most of his time during his quest. A few days later he had gathered a band of sixty–odd disciples. Thus was founded the nucleus of the Buddhist order of the monks, or sangha. For eight months of the year they would travel from place to place preaching, and then for the four months of the rainy season they would live in bamboo huts in great parks donated by wealthy followers. Gautama died at the age of eighty, having received no calling nor divine revelation during his lifetime, nor ever calling himself a deity. This page titled 3.7.2: Sages is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.7.3: Incarnations To best understand incarnations, we need to look inside the word itself. When we do, we find in and carn. The prefix in means "within"; for example, if you inhabit a home, you are within it. The root carn means "flesh." For instance, a carnivore eats flesh. With incarnations the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy is being enfleshed, or assuming human form. In other words, it is the divine in a human body. Two religions founded by incarnations include Hinduism, whose founder or founders have been lost to history, and Christianity, whose founder is Jesus of Nazareth.

Case study: Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus from the Deesis Mosaic For Christians, Jesus is both the son of God and God, who became a man in order to save all humankind. Devout members of other religions, and even non–believers, admit him be one of humanity's greatest religious leaders; in fact, many Hinduism consider Jesus to be the incarnation of God, just as Christians. After all, if you remember from the previous chapter that Hinduism is polytheistic and has many deities. Surprisingly little is known about Jesus' life. Born a Jew in Judea, an occupied province of the Roman Empire, approximately 3 CE, it appears he had no formal school education. He also had no rabbinical training although, according to the Gospel of Luke, he functioned as a qualified teacher at the age of twelve. The Gospels in no way constitute his biography, but rather are a justification of faith in the resurrection and the Messiah, whose coming had already been announced by the prophets. Of Jesus the Galilean we know only that his public career began after he had spent some time on the banks of the Jordan, in the company of John the Baptist who announced the imminent coming of the Messiah, and baptized Jesus. After his baptism, Jesus spent forty days in the desert, in the manner of ancient prophets. Then, when he was about thirty years old, he began to preach in Galilee, accompanied by the twelve chosen Apostles. Rather than preach in the synagogues, Jesus preferred the open air, where the lowly, humble people gathered around him. He declared that it was for them, neglected or rejected as they were by Judaism, the official religion, that he had come, curing the sick and “casting out demons.” We do not even know how long this itinerant ministry lasted because, although the Gospel according to John speaks of three Passovers in a row, the other three gospels only mention one, which would shorten the length of Jesus' public ministry to one year. Nevertheless, Jesus went to Jerusalem where people were discontented with his preaching. In Jerusalem his teachings aroused the hostility of the Sadducee and Pharisee priesthoods because Jesus denounced their hypocritical nature and their interpretation of Judaic law. During his last supper with the Apostles, he celebrated the Passover. Then, accused of disturbing the peace and of blasphemy, he was arrested and brought before Jewish and Roman tribunals. He was condemned to the Roman punishment of crucifixion. This took place on the day of Passover, when Jesus was 34 or 35 years old. After a period of understandable confusion, the apostles, some of whom saw Jesus after his death, announced the Resurrection. It is at this point that the history of Christianity begins.

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3.8: Developers and Reformers What happens after a founder dies? As we have seen, a founder usually has a group of followers, such as the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, who continue the founder's teachings. Sometimes the teachings are expanded or explained; they are developed. A developer is not to be confused with a founder; a developer does not start a religion; instead, he or she helps it to evolve. Reformers are different from developers. The word reform is from a Latin word that means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong. Reformers often make significant changes to the religion, so much so that their actions result in denominations, or movements, of the faith. Developers and reformers are sometimes called secondary founders but are not to be confused with founders.

Case study: Paul of Tarsus, Martin Luther

Paul of Tarsus The principle developer of Christianity is Paul of Tarsus, also known as Paul the Apostle. Of interest, before his conversion, Paul was Jewish, Paul actually persecuted the early Jewish followers of Christianity. Then, he became one of Christianity's greatest teachers and helped it spread to a non Jewish, or Gentile, audience. Paul was educated and is credited with writing seven of the New Testament's 27 books. In these books, which were written as epistles, or letters, Paul is addressing early Christian churches and communities, helping them to grow, resolving disputes, and explaining Christian teachings. His letters became very influential and were shared with other Christian churches and communities. When the New Testament was being written, these letters and his explanations of Christian teachings were given prominence; thusly, his developments of Jesus of Nazareth's teachings were included.

A statue of Martin Luther The central reformer of Christianity is Martin Luther. After Paul's developments, Christianity continued to grow and spread for hundreds and hundreds of years, becoming the world's most popular religion. Then, in the 16th century, a Christian monk living in Wittenburg, Germany, began growing unhappy with the corruption in the Christian Church, such as the selling of indulgences, and additional problems that he saw. Remember the word reform's Latin meaning points to improving or amending what is wrong.

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Martin Luther sought to improve and amend what he saw wrong. Martin Luther made a list of these items, now called The 95 Theses, and nailed it to the door of the church in 1517. This act began what is now called The Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is arguably one of history's most influential figures. His act helped others to make their own proclamations, and resulted in the Christian Church dividing into Catholic and Protestant branches. Soon, there were other important reformers of Christianity, including John Calvin and King Henry VIII. This is why Christian churches today have names, such as Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and others. The case study above is focused on Christianity. However, other world religions have been developed and reformed. This, like Christianity, yields the different denominations, or movements; for example, Sunni and Shia are the two main movements of Islam. Judaism has several, including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed. Likewise, Buddhism has Mayahana, Theravada, Vajrayana, and Zen Buddhism. In case you are curious, we could continue this for other religions; the point is that after a religion is founded, it is developed and in many cases reformed. This page titled 3.8: Developers and Reformers is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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3.9: Licensing and Bibliography Clasquin-Johnson, Michel. Textbook content produced by Michel Clasquin-Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. © May 11, 2015. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/74b59824- [email protected]. Meredith, Susan, et al. The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions: Internet-Linked. EDC Pub., 2005. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Image: "Bangkok buddha" by @Doug88888 is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Image: "De apostel Paulus, SK-A-3353.jpg" by Rijksmuseum is marked under CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en Image: "Jesus from the Deesis Mosaic" by jakebouma is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Image: "Martin Luther" by dbking is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ This page titled 3.9: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 4: Myth and the Languages of Religion 4.1: Thinking about Human Time 4.2: The Global Age 4.3: The Modern Era 4.4: The Premodern Era 4.5: Myths 4.6: Archetypes 4.7: Licensing and Bibliography

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4.1: Thinking about Human Time Imagine the line above as a timeline of modern human beings, Homo sapiens sapiens. The dot at the far left is estimated to be between 160,00 and 90,000 years ago. Moving to the right is one vertical line, then another. Today, we are in the small space between the arrow on the right and the vertical line immediately before it. This page titled 4.1: Thinking about Human Time is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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4.2: The Global Age This era in human history, the one we currently live in, is known as the global age. The global age began with the invention of the internet. The internet changed how people lived their daily lives. We live with advanced technologies and are globally interconnected to a very high degree that has never been seen before. More specifically, it changed how people communicate and how communication is recorded. When something happens in the 21st century, such as a high school football game or a wedding, chances are it is being digitally recorded. Then, the recording is shared on social media, as an attachment to a text message or an e-mail, or it may be posted to YouTube. In fact, if something cannot be found on YouTube, Wikipedia, or another online platform, many will say it did not happen. Likewise, people use e-mailing and text messaging when communicating to such a degree that writing a letter has become a rarity. We talk with each other, certainly, but communicating digitally has become incredibly popular and almost the rule. In fact, 16 million text messages are sent each minute worldwide, and 23 billion text messages are sent each day, which is greater than the total population of the planet! And this usage is only increasing!

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4.3: The Modern Era

One of the famous examples of the Renaissance: da Vinci's Vitruvian Man If we move to the left on the timeline beyond the global age and the invention of the internet, we enter into the modern era. The vertical line that begins the modern era is the Renaissance, which began approximately 600 - 700 years ago in Europe. The word renaissance means "rebirth" and refers to the rediscovery of classical knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome that was lost when the Roman Empire fell. In the Renaissance, just when the internet was invented, daily life changed. Scientific inquiry, mathematics, philosophy, and knowledge were valued much more than before. In addition, how people communicated and recorded communication in the modern era was very different from how people do so now, in the global age. If we begin at the vertical line that represents the internet and move further left, we have a world without the internet. Before the internet, people would take pictures of that high school football game or wedding, as well as share the news with others by writing a letter. We talked a lot more before the internet, too. Folks would share stories of the game winning touchdown of that football game and the funny speech the groom made at the wedding. Instead of watching videos on YouTube and streaming television shows on NetFlix or Hulu, and listening to music on Spotify, people watched television and listened to the radio. However, just as there was a world without the internet, the same is true regarding television and radio. Before they were invented, people had to rely upon newspapers, magazines, and books, as well as people sharing news by word-of-mouth. As we continue moving further to the left, going hundreds of years in the past, we find the invention of the printing press, which allowed for the rapid production of pamphlets, newspapers, and books. This page titled 4.3: The Modern Era is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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4.4: The Premodern Era Then, we move even further to the left and deeper into the past when we move beyond the vertical line marking the Renaissance. We have now entered into the premodern era. It is easy to see that the vast majority of human history, over 95%, is in our premodern past.

Illuminated Manuscript Before the printing press, there were books, but they were handwritten and copied one from another, word by word, page by page. Books were rare, as was literacy. In fact, only the ruling and priestly classes were literate for much of the premodern era. The village sporting event or a local marriage wasn't recorded on paper because paper, books, and literacy were the exception, not the rule. As such, news and the recording of most things was done by word-of-mouth, being passed from one person to another. As we continue to travel further back in time, we encounter scrolls as the method for recording and preserving communication and knowledge, then clay tablets, then...nothing! In other words, we reach a time that has no method of written communication; everything relied upon word-of-mouth. Talking was the original method of preserving and transmitting information. The time of humanity that relies upon the spoken word for recording, transmitting, and preserving knowledge is known as the oral tradition, which is the vast majority of human history.

Portion of a Dead Sea scroll This page titled 4.4: The Premodern Era is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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4.5: Myths The oral tradition took the form of what we call today myths. Before we continue, we need to discuss the term "myth" and its meanings. In contemporary society, people use "myth" to refer to an idea or belief that is known to be false, yet it is widely believed. For example, "My cousin thinks Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster are real, but I don't believe in those myths." It is important to remember in the context of religious studies, this is not the definition of "myth." A myth can take the form of a story, song, or poem that tells us about important persons in the history of that culture or religion, and about important events in their lives. Myths tell us, for example, how a culture or religion believes the world was created, why there is evil, sickness and death, and how these things can be overcome. They may describe things that really happened, or they may not. Or they may have happened, but not exactly in the way the myth describes them: that is not important. What is important is that the basic story became so important in the minds of the believers it took on a central place in their lives. It became one of the most important reasons why they belonged to that culture or religion at all. This is important to know because the five major world religions began in the premodern era: Hinduism (between 2300 and 1500 BCE), Judaism (approximately 2000 BCE), Buddhism (approximately 480 BCE), Christianity (approximately 30 -33 CE), and Islam (approximately 610 CE). To people living in our global age, learning this can be a shock. After all, today people often use the word “myth” to mean an untrue story or false rumor, as mentioned earlier. For example, if one person asked: “Is Friday the 13th an unlucky day?” another person might answer: “No, that is just a myth.” To approach understanding myth, let us use etymology, as we have with other terms. For the ancient Greeks, the word mythos (μῦθος) was simply a story. It was not important whether the story was true or false; what was important was the fact that the mode of speech was that of a story: the oral tradition. The Greek word "logos" (λόγος), does not mean "word" as many believe. It means a rational explanation or analytical statement. These two words, mythos and logos, point to two different kinds of speech, corresponding to two different ways of thinking. One was not considered more important than the other; they were just different. Put the two words together: mythos + logos = mythology. And “mythology” is the explanation or the analytical study of myths. A good way to think about myths is that they lie beyond proof. In our global age, we are driven to fact check and verify everything. For example, we can count the number of people at that high school football or measure the calories in the wedding cake. Myths lie beyond proof because they cannot be proven true nor can they be proven false. These stories may or may not have happened: that is not important. The ideas and truths they represent are important because they reflect truth and timelessness. This is why they have been preserved for thousands and thousands of years and are the foundation for many world faiths.

The recording and passing of myth A good way to think about myths and how people in our premodern past recorded and passed them on is to think about a family reunion or gathering that happens once a year, such as on Thanksgiving or another holiday. The different generations of the family all come together to eat and, more importantly, to talk. News is shared of recent events, such as a new family member's job promotion, and the older family members, such as great grandfather, are given center stage to retell important events in their lives, such as fighting in the Gulf War. In addition, stories are retold from great-great grandfather and others who have died. The children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren hear these stories each year. When great-grandfather dies, do his stories die with him? No. His stories are remembered and repeated by those who remain. They live on. But what happens to the telling and retelling of these stories? If you were to record your great-grandfather's stories and compare them year after year, you would find each telling and retelling is different. Likewise, after his death, when his son or grandson would retell the story, it would change again. However, the core truths would be the same: his serving in the war, experiencing battle, showing courage, and surviving against the odds. The same is true for myths in our premodern past. Each telling and retelling of that story or poem would be different. Little details would change. However, the core truth of the story would not change. In case you are curious, myths are also the basis for classics of the ancient world: The Iliad and the Odyssey, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and many others. These works all derived from our premodern past and the oral tradition, and each contains the mythology of its culture. And if you are wondering were there differences when these epics were collected and finally written down, you are correct!

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Types of myth Scholars have found there are many different kinds of myth, including creation myths, foundation myths, and end-time myths. Creation myths tell us about the creation of the world. Creation myths usually start with the creation of the world, but they usually go on to tell how human beings were created soon afterwards. This is still considered to be part of the creation myth. In Judaism, for example, there is a well known creation myth that the world was created by God in seven days. You will find it in Genesis 1 in the Bible. A variation of the same myth, which is read less often, is found in Genesis 2. Most religions have creation myths; in ancient Scandinavia, it was believed that the world emerged from "a grinning gap" when three gods killed a giant and created the world from his body. In Hinduism, creation is the work of Brahma, the Absolute, who dreams the world into existence. Hinduism recognizes three aspects of the supreme god Brahman (collectively called the Trimurti), and these are often pictured and worshipped as separate gods, even though technically speaking they are not. Brahma creates the world. Vishnu keeps the world going, and Shiva is responsible for the destruction of the world. This destruction is not seen as a bad thing: it is only because the old is destroyed that there is room for Brahma to create new worlds!

Creation of the animals from Islamic text Not all religions take creation myths seriously. In Buddhism, there are a number of such myths, but none of them is considered very important, because in Buddhism it is the present that matters, not the past. Buddhists do not focus on who created the world, but they do focus on how they should react to the world in which they find themselves. So even though Buddhist creation myths exist, and one can go and read them, they are not the central point of that tradition. Other religions disagree: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, for example, are unanimous that it makes a great deal of difference whether or not the world and everything in it was created by God. But let us take a look at two other kinds of myth. Foundation myths (or origin myths) describe the foundation of the religion itself. In religions that have historical founders, this involves the founder's life and works. For Christianity, this is the life of Jesus; for Islam, the life of Muhammad; and so on. Even in religions that do not have a single historical founder, certain individuals take on such an important role that we can see their life

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stories as foundation myths. In Judaism, for example, the story of the life of Abraham or Moses is central to what it means to be a Jew. In Hinduism, the life of Krishna plays the same role. End–time myths (or eschatological myths) are the other side of the creation myths. They describe the end of the world. Some religions, like Hinduism believe that ours is just one in an endless succession of worlds. As one world dies out, a new one is created to take its place. Such religions do not have end–time myths in the true sense of the word, though they may have stories that tell the details of the recreation of worlds. Other religions, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, say that the world was created at a specific time, and that it will end at a specific time, and that this will be for keeps: no new world will be created afterwards. The details of this event vary from one religion's end–time myth to the other.

The Language of Myths When we talk about language and its use, we can divide it into connotative and denotative language. We use both types every day. Connotative language deals with the implied, or figurative, meaning of a word. If you have ever checked the mail on a hot summer afternoon and stepped back inside to announce, "It's burning up outside!", you used connotative language. After all, nothing was actually burning or on fire. That is just an expression to let people know it is really hot outside. Denotative language deals with the literal, or dictionary, meaning of a word. If you have ever gone outside on a cold winter's day, found your birdbath frozen and stepped back inside to announce, "It's freezing outside!", you used denotative language. Why? It is really freezing. If not, there wouldn't be ice in the birdbath. Everyday we move freely between connotation and denotation when we talk, and our listeners are able to discern the meaning. However, in the premodern past, things were different. The stories and poems used in making myths were built with connotative language, just as stories and poems today. Any time a simple phrase such as "is like" is used, it is connotative in nature. For example, if someone was to say, "the warrior stood like a mountain," the speaker conveys not only the size, but also the sense of someone being steadfast and unmoving in battle. Part of connotative language involves symbols and symbolism. Broadly, symbolism is a system that uses known objects to help explore and understand something much bigger and often hard to truly comprehend. Our lives are built with symbols and often it escapes our notice. For example, married couples exchange rings, and the wedding ring is a symbol of their marriage. Using symbolism, we have to take the qualities of the known, the wedding band, and use it to help understand that is is larger and unknown, marriage. A wedding band is a circle, which is different from a line in that it has no beginning or ending. This represents how the love in a marriage is endless and transcends time. A wedding band is also made of gold or silver, which represents the great value of a marriage. Wedding bands are also given as gifts during the ceremony; this represents that love is a gift and cannot be earned. This is how symbols and symbolism works. In religious language and usage, several symbols can also be identified. These symbols play an important role in conveying information and messages of a religious nature. Religious symbols often serve as a binding factor in the sense that they create a feeling of solidarity and community between followers of that particular religious tradition. There are a few that will immediately be recognized as religious symbols:

Star of David The Star of David is a case in point because this symbol, recognized by all Jews as referring to the religion of Judaism, serves to create a sense of identity and belonging. Religious symbols have come to represent certain things.

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Crescent Moon and Star When one for instance see a crescent moon with a star in it, depicted on paper, cloth or even on a wall, there is not the slightest doubt that that symbol represents the religion of Islam.

Eight-Spoked Wheel Similarly, a picture or drawing of the eight–spoked wheel reminds us of the Buddha and his teachings of the eightfold path and thus becomes a symbol of Buddhism.

AUM The AUM sign, which is actually a written syllable in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages and which is used as a chant during meditation, has become widely accepted as a symbol for Hinduism.

Crucifix In Christianity, the cross, whether on paper, made from wood in differing sizes, as jewelry and so on, serves as a symbol of the death of Christ. Jesus Christ, so Christians believe, died on the cross for the sin of humanity. In fact, the plain cross is a simplified

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version of the crucifix, which shows a more or less realistic representation of the crucified Jesus. In other words, a cross is a symbol of a symbol!

Alpha and Omega The letters Alpha and Omega, being the first and last letters respectively of the Greek language, have also become Christian symbols. According to the Christian New testament, Jesus of Nazareth referred to himself as the “Alpha and the Omega.”

PBUH In the case of the Prophet Muhammad, one could also say that the letters PBUH behind his name, especially in Muslim writings, are symbolic because they refer to the words “Peace Be Upon Him” which is the English rendering of the original Arabic. Symbols of a religious nature are of course not confined to formal religious acts or institutions. At the top of the building in Washington, USA, that houses that country's Supreme Court, a row of the history's lawgivers have been sculptured. with Moses and the Ten Commandments in the middle. In this case, Moses is depicted as a symbol of law and justice. A religious symbol has thus been used in a secular context Symbols are of course not just represented in drawings, sculpture or wood but very much also by actions. From the adherents’ perspectives, of course, these activities are more than symbolic: they are deeply meaningful activities that connect them to the most important aspects of their religion. An example of a symbolic action would be a worshipper entering a Roman Catholic church dips his or her finger into Holy Water and makes the sign of the cross: forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. This instance also involves an additional symbol: the Holy Water serves as a symbol that reminders worshippers or their baptism. This page titled 4.5: Myths is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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4.6: Archetypes When we study different mythologies, or grouping of myths, we can begin to find archetypes, which are recurring symbols, as well as patterns in myths. For example, the mountain is common to Greek, Jewish, and Christian mythology, representing a source of power and authority: the Greek gods lived on Mount Olympus; Moses receive the Ten Commandments, also called The Law or Torah, on Mount Sinai, and Jesus of Nazareth delivered his most important sermon on a mountain, the Sermon on the Mount. Archetypes do not mean that all mythologies are the same. Some scholars say archetypes occur because they reflect human beings share a common thought process or interpretation of natural events, regardless of when we live. Others argue archetypes reflect a common thread running through all human history.

Case Study: Archetypes in Creation Myths This myth of creation comes from the Boshongos of Central Africa: In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One day Bumba, in pain from a stomach ache, vomited up the sun. The sun dried up some of the water, leaving land. Still in pain, Bumba vomited up the moon, the stars, and then some animals: the leopard, the crocodile, the turtle, and, finally, some men. This is the creation myth of the Yoruba people of Nigeria: A long time ago, Olurun lowered a chain from the sky down to the Earth, which at that time was all water. He sent his son Obatala down to Earth with a chicken, some dirt and a palm nut. Obatala used the chicken to spread dirt until there was dry land. Obatala planted the seed and started the first kingdom, Ile–Ife. He was the kingdom's first ruler, and all of the Yoruba are his descendants. Anyone familiar with the creation story found in Genesis will quickly see the similarities: in the beginning there is darkness, chaos, and disorder. The Ultimate brings not only life into existence, but order and meaning. Water gives way to land under divine influence. Humanity is the absolute and purposeful creation of the Ultimate; it is not accidental. Are there differences? Certainly! Still, once we become aware of symbols and archetypes, it is easy to see the similarities throughout myths. This page titled 4.6: Archetypes is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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4.7: Licensing and Bibliography Clasquin-Johnson, Michel. Textbook content produced by Michel Clasquin-Johnson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. © May 11, 2015. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/ [email protected]. Mellenthin, Jessica and Susan O. Shapiro. Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. View online at https:// www.oercommons.org/courses/mythology-unbound-an-online-textbook-for-classical-mythology/view Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Princeton University Press, 1968. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Image: "Internet Tethering" by renatomitra is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Image: "Illuminated Manuscript, Duke Albrecht's Table of Christian Faith (Winter Part), The Trinity (Throne of Grace), with Albrecht of Bavaria, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.171, fol. 1r" by Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts is marked under CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/cc0/1.0/ Image: "The Dead Sea Scrolls - Psalms Scroll" by On Being is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Image: "Vitruvian Man" by absoluteSteven is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: "Turkish version of the Wonders of creation, The lion king surrounded by his subjects, Walters Manuscript W.659, fol. 267b" by Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts is marked under CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/cc0/1.0/ Image: "Jewish Star; Star of David" by Alex E. Proimos is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ Image: "File:Islamic-Symbol.png" by DonovanCrow is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 Image: "Read the text. A symbol of the eight fold path 'Arya Magga' (the noble path of the dhamma) in early Buddhism. An intricate representation of the Dharmachakra, or Buddhist eight spoked Wheel. Dhamma or Dharma" by saamiblog is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Image: "Ohm-symbool / AUM" by dietmut is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: "Switzerland-02284 - Entrance Crucifix" by archer10 (Dennis) is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Image: "Chi Rho and alpha omega" by Leo Reynolds is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ This page titled 4.7: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 5: Scripture

The Holy Koran When people think about a specific religion, what often springs to mind first is the scripture of that faith. For example, the Koran for Islam; the Holy Bible for Christianity; the Tanahk, or Hebrew Bible, for Judaism; and so on. However, we simply don't stop and ask ourselves some basic questions about scripture that we need to, such as what makes scripture scripture? Where does it come from? How is it formed? How is it read? and many others. The answers to some of these questions are surprisingly simple, while others are not. 5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? 5.2: Where does Scripture come from? 5.3: How is Scripture formed? 5.4: How do I read Scripture? 5.5: Licensing and Bibliography

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5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? Scripture is a book, but not all books are scripture. The contents of the world's scriptures vary, including beliefs, practices, teachings, prayers, conduct of behavior, and even history. As a result, we cannot say the contents make scripture scripture. Instead, what makes scripture scripture are the words - and sometimes even the physical form of scripture, the actual book - being held with reverence and sacredness by the followers of that religion. For instance, Muslims hold the Koran with such reverence and sacredness that they must be in a state of purity to touch it. To answer our first question of what makes scripture scripture, if there are not followers who hold scripture with reverence and sacredness, then scripture is not scripture. It is just a book. Without followers, you cannot have scripture or even a religion. This page titled 5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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5.2: Where does Scripture come from? When asked "where does scripture come from?", the common response of "From God" is incorrect. If you reflect upon chapter 1, the statement above would be an example of being too narrow, or exclusive, since it fails to take into account scriptures of nontheistic faiths, such as Buddhism and Confucianism. The Buddha and Confucius were sages and never claimed to be divine. In fact, they even discouraged followers from idealizing them. Another reason why that statement is incorrect is that it ignores facts such as, for Christianity, the Apostle Paul writing a third of the New Testament and Jesus of Nazareth having written none at all!

A collection of Buddhist scriptures in a Tibetan monastery Thus, to properly answer the question "where does scripture come from?" we have to say, "it depends." For sage-based faiths, such as Buddhism and Confucianism, scripture comes from their teachings, which were oral. These were part of the oral tradition in our premodern past, and they were collected and repeated for many, many years before being written and becoming scriptures, the Three Baskets and the Analects, respectively. Scriptures of sage-based religions are often called wisdom writings since the teachings they contain come from a sage and do not involve the divine. Considering the theistic faiths of Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, each likewise began in the premodern era as part of the oral tradition, were collected and repeated for years and years and years before being written and becoming scripture. As such, we can say these texts are inspired, as well as revealed, by the Holy. The many Hebrew prophets, such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, were inspired by and proclaimed the word of God, and just as with the Buddha and Confucius, their words were part of the oral tradition before becoming scripture. One example of scripture being revealed by God is John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, the last book of the Holy Bible. John of Patmos had its contents revealed to him by God. Regarding the Koran (also spelled Quran), the scripture of Islam, it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Jibril, who commanded him to "Recite." Muhammad then repeated the words of the angel Jibril, which were recorded as scripture. Of interest, the word Koran itself literally means "recitation" and reflects the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. This revelation continued for more than twenty-three years. Thus, the scripture of Islam does not pass through the oral tradition; it is the direct word of God. This page titled 5.2: Where does Scripture come from? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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5.3: How is Scripture formed? As the discussion of scripture continues, we need to introduce a new term: canon. (Please note the spelling! Do not confuse canon with cannon, which is a type of artillery.) A canon is a body of scripture everyone agrees upon as accepted, authentic, and complete. When a canon is being formed, it is known as an open canon, content is being added and removed. Those items that did not make it into the canon are called noncanonical. When complete and finalized, it is called a closed canon. When a canon is closed, no one would even think of adding or removing from it. The process of forming the canon is known as canonization. To help the paragraph above be less abstract and dense, let us consider the following case study...

Case Study: the Canonization of the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth lived, conducted his ministry, was crucified, and according to Christian teachings, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven around 30 - 35 CE. Just as when he was alive, people began to tell stories about him and to share his teachings after his death. As covered in the previous chapter, this is known as the oral tradition, the formation of myths. These stories were told, retold, and retold again with changes being made with each telling, as is expected with anything that is part of the oral tradition. This continued for decades until the first generation of eye witnesses, his disciples and close followers, began to die about thirty years after Jesus' death. Then, an unknown author recognized the importance of writing a narrative of Jesus' life and his teachings and wrote today what is called The Gospel According to Mark around 65 - 75 CE, roughly thirty to forty year after Jesus' death. (Though many claim the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, an associate of Paul and Peter, this view is not held by scholars. In fact, the gospel itself makes no claim of authorship, just like the other gospels found in the New Testament. They are all anonymous. For the sake of clarity, we will still refer to the Gospel According to Mark as such and its author as Mark.)

Papyrus 46, one of the oldest New Testament papyri, showing 2 Corinthians 11:33-12:9 However, before Mark could write his gospel, he first had to gather the different teachings and stories people told about Jesus by listening. He likely had heard many already. He kept some stories and rejected others. With this seemingly simple act, the formation of what we call today Christian teachings and the religion of Christianity itself began. The canonization had begun by his collecting myths, those stories told and retold for decades as part of the oral tradition. Then, he either wrote his gospel or had someone write it for him; after all, in the ancient world being literate was rare. About ten percent of the population was literate; this would be the ruling and upper classes, and since Jesus of Nazareth associated himself with the poor and rejected in Jewish society, the fact of a literate follower makes it even less likely. Mark's gospel was written in Greek, as were all the other gospels and all books in the New Testament. Of interest, not all events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth were included in the Gospel According to Mark. This is partly explained by the continued role of the oral tradition to early Christians, as well as the need to only record important teachings and actions. In other words, the gospels were not written to be read like a biography of a president or a celebrity that listed every minute detail of his or her life. In addition, it is important to restate at this time the religion today we call Christianity was still forming and growing; as such, its teachings at this stage are referred to heterodoxy, which is from the Greek and can be translated as "different teachings."

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When Christians gathered in the first century CE and heard Mark's gospel read and reread, something amazing happened: it did not change! Unlike before when relying upon something from the oral tradition, a text remained the same with repeated readings. This led to the idea of books being more authoritative than the oral tradition. Soon, other gospels were written, and these, as with Mark's gospel were copied and copies made from those. They began to spread throughout the Roman Empire for decades. By approximately 100 CE, the end of the first century, there still was no New Testament; however, certain books were emerging as being more authoritative and respected than others. For example, the first mentioning we have of the gospels of Mark and Matthew is around 130 CE when Papias, the bishop of Hieropolis, refers to them in his writings. This is important as it reflects the recognition that some books were more highly regarded, valued, and authoritative than others. Then, around 140 CE early leaders in the Christian church and Christians themselves recognized the need for a consistent set of texts. By this time, many different accounts of Jesus' life and teachings were being read at worship services and gatherings of Christians, some very different than others. These early collections were heavily influenced by the beliefs of the collectors, who often edited books and even left others out of their collection. This continued for decades. By about 200 CE the four gospels (today known as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the letters of Paul the Apostle, and other books of the New Testament were generally accepted as being authoritative. In addition, others were also included, such as The Shepherd of Hermes, Clement, and the Letter of Barnabas. At this point, we need to remember Christianity was still developing and was slowly moving from heterodoxy, "different teaching," to orthodoxy, "straight teaching." During this time there were many debates and disputes about Jesus' teachings and about Jesus himself. The canonization continued through writing, collecting, editing, evaluating, disputing, and debating for decades and decades. The process of canonization was generally guided by a few basic ideas: consistency was one; books that presented widely different views or teachings were frowned upon as being odd. Utility was important. After all, in a new religion the followers need useful advice on what to do, how to pray, and so on. Age was of primary importance. The older a text was, the better. Slowly, the canonization continued.

Constantine Then, on October 27, 312 CE the Roman general Constantine experienced a world-changing event on the eve of the Battle of Milvan Bridge; the armies were preparing for battle when he had a vision of a cross, which led him to fight under the protection of the Christian god. The next day Constantine's forces won the battle, and Constantine began his conversion to Christianity. Some scholars argue when he was emperor, Constantine realized how immense the Roman Empire was and how he needed to unify it as much as he could to make his rule more secure. Constantine knew Christianity was a rapidly growing religion in the empire, and soon he learned how the differences in teachings, or heterodoxies, specifically the nature of Jesus, could divide his new faith and possibly the empire. Today, this teaching of Christianity is called the Holy Trinity, the belief held by Christians that Jesus is three persons in one: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. However, in the fourth century CE, this was a point of debate; some believed Jesus was not divine. Others held Jesus was completely divine, and still others something different. Each group of Christians had its own texts that reflected these beliefs. As a result, Constantine in 325 CE called for a meeting to be held: the Council of Nicea. Many today think the New Testament was canonized at the Council of Nicea: they are wrong.

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The Council of Nicea The council confirmed and asserted the teaching of the Holy Trinity. As such, this aspect of Christian teaching became orthodox, and any other teaching was declared to be heresy, a belief that is contrary to orthodoxy. Afterwards, those who believed or taught Jesus was not three persons in one were labeled heretics. The Council of Nicea unknowingly accelerated the New Testament's canonization since it helped to clarify and develop Christian doctrine and teachings. For example, just a few decades later, in 367 CE, Bishop Anthanasius, in his Easter letter to the Christians of Alexandria, Egypt, listed the 27 books that today are contained in the New Testament, so believers would not be deceived by heretical gospels. Then, in 397 CE, the Council of Catharage pronounced no other readings were allowed in churches other than those listed by Athanasius and officially labeled that list in his Easter letter as scripture. Any book not on Athanasius' list was judged to be noncanonical since it was not part of the canon, and the New Testament's canonization was complete: it was now a closed canon. It is important to remember books initially considered to be part of the New Testament around 200 CE, such as The Shepherd of Hermes, Clement, and the Letter of Barnabas listed earlier, were in 397 CE noncanonical, as were others, including The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Thomas, and many others. We know of this because these noncanonical gospels are widely available today even though they are not part of the New Testament nor do they reflect Christian teachings. The canonization of the New Testament took more than 300 years, a fact many today are unaware of. Another key fact to be aware of is the Christian faith is older than the New Testament. The above case study illustrating the movement from the oral tradition to scripture is also true for Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Of course, each religion has its own set of key players and events in its canonization. It is important to note that Islam is not included in this list. In other words, the Koran was not canonized and came before Islam. It is not a faith that rose from the oral tradition. This page titled 5.3: How is Scripture formed? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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5.4: How do I read Scripture? Many people are not aware all reading of scripture is based upon interpretation; scripture cannot be read literally. This is true for many reasons. For those scriptures that have their roots in the oral tradition, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity, we have to remember myths were recorded orally using connotative language, which contains figurative language. We use connotative language every day, as we looked at in the previous chapter. It even appears in popular expressions, "Love is a battlefield," and films, such as in Forrest Gump, "Like is like a box of chocolates." Literally, these statements are false, but when we interpret them, or look at their figurative meaning, they are true.

The beginning of Matthew's Gospel from the Ethiopian gospels One example of why scripture reading is based upon interpretation and the use of connotative language is the popular story of David versus Goliath, found in the Hebrew Bible. It recounts a battle between the Hebrews and the Philistines. This battle, like all conflicts in antiquity, were recorded and transmitted orally. As such, figurative language was used, and when the story moved from the oral tradition to scripture, these elements remained. For instance, the word "like" is used to make a simile and is seen in 1 Samuel 17:7 in describing Goliath's weapon, "The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam..." In other words, those eye witnesses were familiar with weaving and the beams used in weaving; Goliath's spear was a lot like one of those beams: it was enormous! It is important to note this use of figurative language in no way detracts from the validity of this story and that Goliath had a giant spear. Figurative language was simply the best way for the audience to understand it. Another reason why the reading of scripture is based upon interpretation is that of translation. When translating from one language to another, sometimes a direct literal translation is not possible. For example, Spanish "de nada" translates into English as "you're welcome." "De" means "of" and "nada" means "nothing," so literally it means "of nothing." However, the expression is used to show thanks. For instance, imagine a friend does you a favor, you say, "thanks," and your friend shrugs her shoulders and says, "Oh, it's nothing." This is the connotative meaning. The English expression used is "you're welcome." Most of the time translation issues like the above do not really matter, but sometimes they do. We can look at Christianity for some examples where translation issues can raise readers' interest and further demonstrate all reading of scripture is based upon interpretation. Take the following passage from the gospel according to Matthew, "'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel'..." (1:23). This verse is used to help explain the Christian teaching known as the virgin birth: Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin, and Jesus' father is not Mary's husband, Joseph, but God. This verse in Matthew is from the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 7:14. When one reads the verse from Isaiah, however, one finds "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman will conceive, and bear a son..." What? There is a big difference between a virgin giving birth and a young woman giving birth! How did this happen? The book of Isaiah, as all books in the Hebrew Bible were written in Hebrew. In the Hebrew text, the passage uses the term "almah," which means "young woman." When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the language of the New Testament, "almah" became "parthenous," which means "virgin." Of interest is that most English translations of Isaiah today translate parthenous as "young woman" and not "virgin" as that scribe did hundreds of years ago.

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Another example of translation issues is the name Jesus itself. Jesus of Nazareth was born and given a Hebrew name, as all Jewish children living in Judea in the first century CE were. The New Testament was written in Greek, then translated into Latin, and much later into English. If we take the name "Jesus" in English and find its Latin counterpart, we find "Iesus," spelled with an i. When we move from Latin to Greek, "Iesus" becomes "Iesous." Moving from Greek to Hebrew, "Iesous" becomes "Yeshua." When Jesus of Nazareth was born, he was not name "Jesus" but "Yeshua." If we translate "Yeshua" directly from Hebrew to English, it becomes "Joshua."

An opened Midrash Because reading scripture is based upon interpretation, over the years secondary scripture develops. Secondary scripture seeks to answer questions that followers of the religion naturally have when reading passages of scripture. In addition, some secondary scriptures also contain guidelines and rules for that faith. Secondary scripture is part of all religions. For example, Islam has the Hadith, which is a secondary revelation that allows Muslims to interpret the Koran. Judaism has Midrash and Talmud, which are collections of commentaries and teaching on the Hebrew Bible. And then the different denominations of Christianity have their own; for instance, the Methodist Church has the Book of Discipline, and the Roman Catholic Church has the Catechism, and so on. While secondary scriptures are common, creeds are not. Not all religions have a creed. The word creed comes from the Latin term, "credo," which means "I believe." A creed develops as a religion forms its core beliefs and teachings, and it is an easy way for the followers to remember them and to share them with others. One example of a creed is The Apostles' Creed from Christianity: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living, and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Another example of a creed is the Shahada of Islam: "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of God." In closing, the story of scripture is very rich and detailed as it contains answers to many questions that followers of a religion never even thought to think to ask! This page titled 5.4: How do I read Scripture? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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5.5: Licensing and Bibliography Brodd, Jeffrey, et al. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford University Press, 2019. Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: a Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press, 2016. Hamilton, Adam. Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today. HarperOne, 2014. Meredith, Susan, et al. The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions: Internet-Linked. EDC Pub., 2005. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. HarperSanFrancisco, 1997. World English Bible: Old Testament and New Testament. 1997. Image: "Quran 1" by Themeplus is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Image: "Holy scriptures" by thriol is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ Image: P46. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...p?curid=612499 Image: "NYC - Metropolitan Museum of Art - Marble portrait head of the emperor Constantine I" by wallyg is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: "Rome - Council of Nicea" by History Maps is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Image: "Illuminated Manuscript, Ethiopian Gospels, Incipit Page of Matthew's Gospel, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.850, fol. 5r" by Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts is marked under CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/cc0/1.0/ Image: "Midrash open" by Richard M. Rubin is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ This page titled 5.5: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 6: Miscellaneous Doctrines and Teachings

In this chapter we will encounter the different doctrines and teachings of various religions, and just as with scripture, these assorted beliefs are often what many people think of with religion, such as karma with Hinduism and Buddhism. These teachings are also misunderstood by people outside of the respective faiths. It is important for us to learn these doctrines and teachings as they are the truths, often philosophical in nature, these religions teach and want followers to believe. 6.1: What is the Self? 6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil 6.3: Licensing and Bibliography

This page titled 6: Miscellaneous Doctrines and Teachings is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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6.1: What is the Self?

A good beginning question is to address, "what is the Self?" In other words, what makes you you. What makes one identical twin, for instance, different from his or her identical twin? This is an effective example to begin since it immediately discounts appearance; a person's Self is not concerned with facial features, height, weight, hair color, and all the different elements we focus upon when looking in the mirror or meeting someone. The Self is not the body. In addition, the Self is not those physical characteristics commonly used to identify ourselves and prove that an individual is in fact that actual person: a face on a driver's license, a finger print used to open an iPhone, a sample of DNA, or a scan of the iris. A person's body in all its many varied characteristics, therefore, does not define that person nor does is it the individual's Self. Moreover, when people think of the Self, they are confusing the Self with the empirical self. The empirical self includes that aspect of being which makes human beings different from animals: reason and having a conscience, that inner voice that guides us in decision making. The empirical self is also an individual's beliefs and the totality of one's choices as he or she goes through life and follows or fails to follow one's conscience, as well as all the memories created therein. However, the empirical self is not the Self. If the body is not the Self, and if the empirical self is not the Self, then just what is the Self? The answer depends upon where the specific religion falls: the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; or those that originated in India and Nepal, Hinduism and Buddhism.

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A painted archway depicting Genesis 2:7 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston Beginning with the Abrahamic faiths, the Self is understood to be one's soul. In other words, if we have identical twins who (we have to stretch the truth and us our imagination here...) have the same appearance, finger prints, DNA, and even made the same choices in life, their souls would be different. In the faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, what makes you you is your soul. The doctrine is traced to scripture. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all hold man was created from the earth then brought to life by the breath of God: "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature" (Genesis 2:7). This results in the teaching that human beings are created in the image, or likeness, of God, which is also known by the Latin term Imago Dei, image of God: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). Please be aware Imago Dei does not mean human beings resemble or look like God. This is not the case. A good way to understand the difference is to take a selfie with your cell phone. You made an image of yourself. But is that an accurate representation? No. An individual has height, weight, and width; after all, we live in a three-dimensional world, and when we add time, it is truly four dimensions. Look back at your selfie; it is two dimensional. It is an image of you but really does not even come close to truly resembling you. After all, it changes you from a four dimensional being to a two dimensional image. The same is true for Imago Dei - being created in the image of God. In this understanding, the Divine has dimensions of being which are utterly beyond our understanding. After all, in the Abrahamic faiths, God is the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy and cannot be made finite and limited by our understanding. This is a good way to understand Imago Dei and how one's soul is one's true Self. The Abrahamic faiths all teach that after death, one's soul either joins with God in the afterlife or is damned. Though the terms differ, such as Heaven and Paradise, or Hell and Jahannam, the concept is the same. It is important to note the Self in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam only has one life on Earth; it is not reborn.

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Om: Signifies the essence of Brahman, the Ultimate Moving to Hinduism and Buddhism, the answer to the question "What is the Self?" changes since the doctrines and teachings are different. In Hinduism, the Self is known as Atman, or one's innermost soul. One's Atman comes from Brahman, which is the Absolute, the Ultimate. Brahman is ultimately without or beyond attributes. Souls emerge from Brahman and exist separately from Brahman before returning back to Brahman. While the terms are not synonyms, it is helpful to think of the soul as one's Om: Signifies the essence of Brahman, the Ultimate Atman, one's true Self, and the Atman comes from and ultimately seeks reunion with Brahman, the Absolute. Here we can see parallels between the Abrahamic faiths and Hinduism; in all the Absolute or actions of the Absolute result in the creation of the Self in individuals. Please note that important and significant differences prevent us from saying the understandings of the Self in these different faiths is the same.

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The Buddha as flame In the case of Buddhism, however, there is neither an Ultimate of Brahman nor an eternal soul, Atman. The Buddha did not teach the Self was something permanent and lasting, seeking reunion with the Ultimate. Instead, he understood the Self as a flickering flame. Imagine a burning candle. The flame is the Self while the candle is the body. The fame is never constant as it burns: it flickers and, as we will see shortly, can jump from one candle to another. Later, the Buddha's teachings of the Self changed as he realized that since the Self had no aspects of being eternal, it is truly self -not Self, essentially denying the existence of the Self. A good way to understand this concept is the difference between Self and self. Capitalizing Self is a way of expressing its importance. This is actually an expression of ego. In addition, the Buddha believed and taught there is no permanent core of self since one's personality and aspects of one's being are constantly changing. A good way to understand this teaching is to write down your age, then subtract five or ten years, and think about how different you were then compared to now. Don't just concentrate upon physical elements, which are part of your empirical self, after all. Think about how your personality has changed, as well as your likes and dislikes. With this in mind, we can see how the self really is impermanent and always in flux.

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The transmigration of the soul in Hindu art Hinduism and Buddhism both teach after death, one is reincarnated and given another life. This is also called the transmigration of the soul. It is important to remember this concept is not part of the Abrahamic faiths. For example, neither Moses, Jesus, nor the Prophet Muhammad taught after this life one is granted another. In Hinduism, one's Atman moves into an embryo to be reborn. While in Buddhism it is a bit tricky since the Buddha taught there is no self. It is best thought of as one's essence leaving one's body to be reborn. Reincarnation is viewed as a negative force, which many readers find confusing. After all, who wouldn't want to have another chance at life since one has grown so wise after decades of maturity? However, this is not true and overlooks the fact that the self or Atman is not to be confused with the empirical self. All that knowledge and all those memories will be lost. In addition, stop and reflect upon the emotional, physical, and mental suffering involved with the first few years of life: the terror of being born, learning to walk, being potty trained, going to a new school as a child; then consider the angst of puberty and being a teenager! The list continues. Both Hindus and Buddhists seek to stop the endless cycle of life, death, rebirth, and more suffering. This page titled 6.1: What is the Self? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil

Adam and Eve in Paradise, Peter Wensel All world religions are concerned with addressing the question of why the world is full of evil and suffering. When they do, it is known as theodicy; the word is a combination of two Greek terms: theos, meaning god, and dike (pronounced "dicey"), meaning justice. Thus, a good working definition of theodicy is "divine justice." Philosophies and theologies that attempt to explain suffering and evil are known as theodicies, and they differ depending upon if it is a monotheistic, polytheistic, or nontheistic faith. One key difference is the monotheistic, or Abrahamic, faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are concerned with how evil and suffering entered the world while Hinduism and Buddhism are not. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam address the question of how evil and suffering entered into the world with the shared story of the Adam and Eve being tempted, being disobedient, and then falling into a sinful state, which results in being separated from God and evil entering into the world: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15); “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12); “I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and Thou shalt not find them thankful” (Sura 7:16-17). However, differences emerge with their respective theodicies afterwards. Judaism stresses entering into a covenant with God. For example, God promised to make Abraham the father of a great people while Abraham and his descendants must obey God. In return, God would guide them and protect them and give them the land of Israel. When entering into a covenant, each party makes a promise. When someone breaks the covenant with God by being disobedient and not keeping the promise, the individual removes him or herself from the protection of God, thus suffering punishment. The result can be found in Leviticus 26:14-16, “If you will not listen to me…if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease." Thus, suffering occurs for violating the covenant with God. Christianity refers the fall of Adam and Eve as original sin. As everyone is a child of Adam and Eve, everyone is born with the stain of sin, resulting in a natural tendency to be disobedient and choose evil over good. Any parent can share countless stories that serve as examples of this concept; for instance, imagine it is little Johnny's third birthday, and a chocolate cake is bought for the birthday party two hours away. The cake is put on the kitchen table, and little Johnny is told one thing: "don't touch the cake." What happens when mom and dad leave the kitchen? Everyone knows! Like Adam and Eve, little Johnny cannot resist the temptation. Original sin, as well as all sins, is removed by the Christian ritual of baptism, which we will discuss in a future chapter. Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth defeated the powers of sin and death through his death and resurrection. Thus, those who experience suffering may understand it will soon cease. Many Christians view suffering as an opportunity to grow in virtue and in faith.

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Islam, however, does not teach the concept of original sin. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they repented and asked for forgiveness. God then forgave them. They had to suffer the result of their disobedience by living a mortal life on earth, yet their relationship with God never changed, and God remained accessible. Islam teaches humans are born without sin and with a desire to please God, yet everyone has free will, which causes people to be disobedient at times. Still, God is always willing to forgive. Returning to idea of disobedience exhibited by Adam and Eve, many Muslims consider suffering a test to see if one will continue submitting oneself to God. Moving to Hinduism and Buddhism, the teachings change as their respective theodicies are not concerned with how evil and suffering entered the world. In Hinduism, there are malevolent gods/goddesses whose actions sometimes result in evil and suffering. In addition, both Hinduism and Buddhism share the teaching of karma, which is widely misunderstood as "you reap what you sow" and is confused with reciprocity. For example, imagine a thunderstorm hits your neighborhood one night, and the next morning branches were blown down and cover everyone's lawn. Before you begin clearing your front yard, you see your neighbors working on theirs, and you decide to help. Your neighbors then help you clean your yard. Chances are if you don't help your neighbors, they won't help you. This is reciprocity and works on many levels in families, workplaces, and so on. However, reciprocity is a part of human nature and is not karma. Karma literally means "action," "work," or "deed." It is the sum of one's actions in this and in previous lives which serve as antecedents deciding one's fate in this and future lives and should be thought of in terms of cause and effect. A good image to think of is a very still pond. When you drop a pebble into it, ripples extend, slowly expanding. Eventually, the ripples reach the edge of the pond and bounce back and return to the center, where you first dropped the pebble. One's karma as far as one's present life is concerned is deemed to have been set by the choices one has made and the merit one has accumulated in previous lives. It is important to note reincarnation, also known as the transmigration of the soul, is part of this process, and without it, there can be no karma. As such, when followers of an Abrahamic religion imply the effect of karma in their lives, they do so in error since Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not teach the idea of reincarnation.

A Buddhist dharma wheel in Tibet The forces of karma keep the endless cycle of life, suffering, death, and rebirth turning. This idea is often represented as a turning wheel. Samara is the condition of being caught in the endless cycle and is bad. A person wants to stop the wheel from turning and be released. However, samsara continues because of one's own selfish cravings, wrong thoughts, and ignorance. For instance, imagine you drive home from work or running an errand. You step out of your car, lock the doors, and begin to walk inside. You hear a car honking and turn towards your neighbor's house and see him stop in his driveway with a brand new car. You turn to look at your own car, and suddenly you see it differently: it is old, worn-out, covered in scratches and dents. It is not worthy to be driven by you. But just the moment before, the car was fine and went without notice, but now? You are filled with the selfish desire and craving to buy a new car because you believe having a car better than your neighbor's will bring you happiness and fulfillment. Instead? You spun the wheel of samsara. You unlock the door to your house and open a nearby laptop to browse car

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selections. A pop-up add appears of an incredibly fit and half-naked person. You gaze at this person just like as you did your neighbor's car. And the wheel of samsara spins faster! The wheel of samsara is kept turning by actions such as the above, as well as karma from past lives. The goal is to move from ignorance to knowledge, generate merit, and stop the endless cycle of samsara. In Hinduism, this is known as moksha. Moksha is experienced when one is still living and is not to be confused with other concepts, such as Heaven or Paradise. When a person achieves moksha, he or she reaches a state of self awareness to such a degree that all elements of ego, greed, hatred, and so forth are eliminated. When this person reaches the end of his or her current life, the individual's Atman is liberated and returns to Brahman, the Ultimate. Turning to Buddhism, there are similarities. Like Hinduism, Buddhism is not concerned with how evil and suffering entered the world. The Buddha illustrated this by telling a story of how a young man shot by a poisoned arrow is foolish to be concerned about what kind of arrow it is and where it came from; the real concern is to remove the arrow and stop the poison. The Buddha sought and taught a deliverance beyond all of the pain, suffering, disease, and ego-centeredness that plagues human life and characterizes samsara while seeking an attainment of the pure bliss of atonement with an ultimate, unconditioned reality transcending all definite reference and finite description. Evil and suffering are explained by the Buddha as the product of ignorance, attachment to the pleasant, and antipathy toward the unpleasant. A problem, in short, between you and yourself, a failure to realize what you ultimately are. Like samara, Buddhism also teaches the concept of karma and its role in keeping the wheel of samsara turning. A difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is found regarding liberation from samsara. The ultimate goal is Enlightenment, which is deliverance from having to continue in the cycle of life, suffering, death, and rebirth. Like moksha, it is experienced in one's own lifetime. When one reaches Enlightenment, the individual reaches nirvana, a state of bliss and freedom from attachment and ignorance so pure that it cannot be explained because of the limitations of language. It is neither an aspect of personality or, like Heaven, a place. Though we can find parallels in these different doctrines and teachings, it is important not to freely exchange or equate terms of one faith with another. Still, we can see all major world religions address common questions, such as what is the Self? what happens when I die? as well as, how do I deal with suffering and evil? This page titled 6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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6.3: Licensing and Bibliography Armstrong, Karen. Buddha: A Penguin Life. Lipper/Viking, 2001. Branson, Beau. Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Brodd, Jeffrey, et al. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford University Press, 2019. Cannon, D. Six Ways of Being Religious. ,1996. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/facbooks/1 Meredith, Susan, et al. The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions: Internet-Linked. EDC Pub., 2005. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. World English Bible: Old Testament and New Testament. 1997. Image: "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." by Aristocrats-hat is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: "Self Portrait 6" by C Searle is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: "IMG_9719 Life FP13" by ArturoYee is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Image: "OM, computer generated image - Png file, Attention only the maximum original size is in png format" by MAMJODH is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Image: "Buddha" by iProzac is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Image: By Copyrighted to Himalayan Academy Publications, Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii. Licensed for Wikipedia under Creative Commons and requires attribution when reproduced., CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? curid=1857377 Image: "Rome - Adam et Eve au Paradis Terrestre, par Wenzel Peter" by Nicolas Vollmer is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Image: "Tibet-5443 - Dharma Wheel," by archer10 (Dennis) is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ This page titled 6.3: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 7: Ritual To begin our discussion of ritual, we first must define the term in the context of religious studies as many people confuse ritual with routine, or a repeated action. The confusion when using ritual results from the fact that rituals are repeated actions; thus, people think every routine or repeated action is a ritual, but it is not. A ritual is any kind of formalized, regularized behavior that includes symbolic importance beyond the action itself that is performed in accordance with specific occasions or conditions. Rituals can be secular, or not bound by religion, as well as religious and help us to express abstract concepts, to build community, and to help the participant gain a full sense of being in a right relationship with the Ultimate, the Holy. As with the term myth, many people use ritual when they should use routine. For example, "My daily ritual includes walking the dog, eating breakfast, showering, and dressing for work." The previous sentence misuses ritual because those actions lack symbolic importance beyond the actions themselves. In other words, walking the dog or eating breakfast simply is walking the dog or eating breakfast. An example of a ritual is saluting the flag or putting your right hand on your chest where your heart is when singing the national anthem. Why is this a ritual? Saluting the flag may look like the person is keeping the sun out of his or her eyes, but it means something deeper. Likewise, putting a hand over the heart during the national anthem is not a sign of heartburn or indigestion. It means something more than act itself. Both actions indicate reverence and respect. Another common ritual is shaking hands when you meet someone for the first time or see a friend you have not talked to for a while. When you shake hands, you are showing the other person your hand is empty; you are not holding a weapon. The same is true for the other person. In addition, when shaking hands, the other person is near you, much closer than normal. You hold hands with the other person, which shows affection. As can be seen, rituals are part of our daily lives and often escape our notice. Rituals also include social events, and they are often observed collectively. In several traditions, rituals also serve to create a sense of belonging and community. For example, when the father in a Hindu home performs domestic religious rituals, he is doing it on behalf of his entire family. In observing the Jewish Sabbath, the family joins together in celebrating a sacred meal, such as the Seder. Moving to Islam, when Muslims perform the ritual prayer in the mosque or go on pilgrimage, they do so collectively as the umma or community of Islam. For some Buddhists, proper performance of yoga can serve with meditations, which can help to increase compassion and love. 7.1: Commemorations, Festivals, Holidays 7.2: Rites of Passage 7.3: Worship Rituals 7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals 7.5: Licensing and Bibliography

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7.1: Commemorations, Festivals, Holidays Some rituals are used to commemorate certain important historical event in the life of a particular religious tradition. For example, when Hindus light lamps during the festival of Diwali, they commemorate the triumphant return of Rama, and their lamps serve to guide him back from exile to the city of Ayodhya. In Judaism, Jews commemorate the liberation of their ancestors from Egypt annually by eating the Passover meal. Regarding Islam, during the pilgrimage in Makkah (Mecca), Muslims commemorate several important historical events, such as those that took place in the lives of Hagar, Ishmael, and Ibrahim (Abraham). Moving to Christianity, when Christians meet on Christmas eve or Christmas morning, it is customary to tell, or read from scripture, the story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Many commemorations become festivals within the tradition of the religion, such as Christmas and Easter in Christianity. Of interest, as a religion grows and becomes more influential, these festival, though religious in nature and origin, can become secular holidays and are even celebrated by people who are not a member of that specific faith. Historical commemorations, including those mentioned above, can also be secular in nature. For example, the Fourth of July is celebrated as Independence Day in America, and almost every city or town has a fireworks display that evening. This is an attempt to recreate, as well as a symbolic representation, of the cannon fire, noise, and explosions of the many battles during the Revolutionary War. Historical commemorations, both religious and secular, allow participants to recreate and relive important events in their history. Examples of seasonal rituals above include Passover and Easter. Seasonal rituals connect the participants to their premodern past, in the time when early members of that faith or country lived. These are connected with agriculture, and, like historical commemorations, can be secular, such as Thanksgiving in America, which occurs after the fall harvests, and food is abundant.

Case Study: Passover, the Seder Meal, Easter, Communion Many are familiar with the story Moses being called by God through the burning bush to go to Egypt and free the enslaved Hebrews. The Pharaoh of Egypt refuses to release them, so a series of nine plagues punish Egypt: swarms of frogs, lice, insects, livestock dying, and others. With each visit Moses makes to Pharaoh, he requests to free the Hebrews, only to be rejected time and again. The last and climatic plague is the death of the firstborn males of Egypt in one night, "You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Yahweh says, Israel is my son, my firstborn, and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” (Exodus 4: 22-23). In it, the angel of death passes over Egypt at midnight, slaying every Egyptian firstborn male. Moses had earlier ordered the Hebrews to perform a ritual that will protect them from the slaughter. The ritual consists of two parts. Each family is told to sacrifice a lamb. The lamb will then be eaten as a family meal, and its blood will be smeared on the door posts to mark the house, "They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, with unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs..." (Exodus 12: 6-8). This was done so the angel of death knows to pass over that house; this is how the name Passover came about. (The term passover works in Hebrew and in English as above but not all languages.) In addition, each family is to eat unleavened bread. So according to Exodus, this Passover ritual was established on Israel’s last night of slavery while the angel of death passed over the dwellings that were marked with blood.

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Illustration of smearing the door posts The above connects to preexisting springtime ritual practices. One would be characteristic of when the Hebrew people were nomads: the sacrifice of the first lamb born in the spring to God in order to procure favor and continued blessing on the flocks for the spring. The other would be characteristic of agriculture: it would be an offering of the very first barley that would be harvested in the spring. It would be quickly ground into flour and used before it even has time to ferment, to quickly offer something to God to procure favor for the rest of the crop. These rituals are associated now with events in the life of the new nation of Israel, rather than being grounded in the cycles of nature. The blood of the sacrificial lamb protected the Hebrews from the angel of death, and the bread now is said to have been eaten, consumed in unleavened form because the Hebrews left Egypt in such a hurry. They had no time to allow the dough to rise. So the ritual of Passover itself carries deep symbolism of the Hebrews before they were enslaved in Egypt. That original Passover meal is kept alive today with the Seder Meal, a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery in ancient Egypt. This story is in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. The Seder itself is based on the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" (Exodus 13:8) Traditionally, families and friends gather in the evening to read from scripture containing the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, recite special blessings, and sing special Passover songs.

The Seder Meal The Passover Seder Meal is performed in much the same way by Jews all over the world and contains six symbolic foods, each of which has special significance to the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Thus, the participants recognize and recreate the experience themselves. The six items on the Seder plate include bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Ancient Egypt. Charoset, a sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts, represents the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. A vegetable other than bitter herbs, usually parsley but sometimes something such as celery or cooked potato is dipped into salt water or vinegar. A roasted lamb or goat bone, symbolizing the Passover sacrifice is also on the plate along with a hard-boiled egg, symbolizing the festival sacrifice offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and was then eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.

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A loaf of bread and a chalice of wine Moving from the time to Moses through many years, we reach the first century CE. Passover has grown to become a major Jewish festival, and thousands of people would go to Jerusalem to celebrate it, have the Seder Meal, and worship at the temple. Around the year 30 CE, among the thousands of Jewish people in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover was Jesus of Nazareth and his twelve disciples; they also were to have their own Passover meal, but Jesus changed the ritual, and in doing so establishes another, "As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed it, he broke it and gave to them, and said, 'Take, eat. This is my body.' He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many'" (Mark 14: 22-23). Notice the word covenant, which we covered in the previous chapter.

Receiving communion This meal is known as the Last Supper and is the root of the Christian ritual of communion. When Christians celebrate communion, the bread is used to represent the body of Jesus and the wine his blood. Thus, the participants are entering into a covenant with God through the ritual of communion, which is a recreation of the Last Supper, which was a celebration of the Passover meal, which was instituted to escape the plague of the death of the firstborns. Reflecting upon the definition of the term ritual, we can see the above case study is rich in depth, symbolism, and meaning. It is much more than a routine and is a strong example of why rituals are performed: to express abstract concepts, to build community, and to help the participant gain a full sense of being in a right relationship with the Ultimate, the Holy. Transformative Rituals are a unique type of ritual in that the participant is changed by the Ultimate, the Holy during the ritual. A good example of a transformative ritual is baptism in Christianity. The word baptism is from the Greek noun baptisma, meaning "washing". In some denominations, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word "christening" is reserved for the baptism of infants. As with communion above, baptism has its roots in Judaism, where it was a ritual washing but not a transformative ritual. Baptism is a ritual of admission and adoption, with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally. The Gospels report that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist.

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Early Christian painting of a baptism The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed, either totally submerged under the water or partially, standing or kneeling in water while water was poured on him or her. While John the Baptist's use of a deep river for his baptism suggests immersion, pictorial and archaeological evidence of Christian baptism from the 3rd century onward indicates a normal form was to have the candidate stand in water while water was poured over the upper body. Other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead, a method called affusion.

Baptism in Russian Orthodox Church Even though the many Christian denominations perform it differently, including age of the individual and practice, baptism is recognized as a need-ed ritual. Some denominations perform infant baptism by sprinkling or poring water over the forehead, while others fully immerse an adult. Regardless, for Christians the participant is changed through baptism; within the ritual, one experiences rebirth into Christ, as well as a washing away of sin. Christians believe baptism cleanses one from sin and truly changes the state of the person from an alien to a citizen of God's kingdom, and that baptism is not a human work; it is the place where God does the work that only God can do.

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7.2: Rites of Passage Rituals also signify transition from one phase in life to another; these are known as rites of passage, and the world's major religions recognize the the Absolute, the Holy is present at these moments. Birth is the first rite of passage, as one leave the mother's womb and enters into the world. Of interest, some birth rituals are a requirement for followers of a religion, such as male circumcision, for Judaism. Birth rites may not always be performed at birth; some are performed during infancy or near its end and sometimes physically marking the child. Many birth rites are associated with blood and/or water, as well as pain. This is meant to recreate within the participant the act of birth, representing one's mother's experience when she gave birth: blood, water, and pain were all present. Religions also observe coming of age rites that guide young people from their childhood to adulthood and serve to initiate them in this new stage of life. There are marked by an initiation rite, which may be the crowning of a long and complex preparation, sometimes in retreat. These are generally held when the participant reaches puberty, and the body transitions from the body of a child to that of an adult. After undergoing the coming of age rite, the individual is recognized as an adult by the community. Of interest, coming of age rites are losing their importance in our global age as they are being replaced by secular rituals, such as receiving one's driver's license or a Sweet Sixteen birthday party.

Case study: Bar and Bat Mitzvah Bar Mitzvah, for boys, and Bat Mitzvah, for girls, are Jewish coming of age rituals. Bar (‫( ר ַב‬is a Hebrew word literally meaning "son," while bat (‫( תַב‬means "daughter." Mitzvah (‫( הָו ְצ ִמ‬means "commandment" or "law." Thus bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah literally translate to "son of commandment" and "daughter of commandment."

Reading from Torah is part of the ritual According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys become 13 years old, they become accountable for their actions and become a bar mitzvah. A girl becomes a bat mitzvah at 12, according to Orthodox and Conservative Jews, and at 13, according to Reform Jews. Many congregations require pre-bar mitzvah children to attend a minimum number of prayer services at the synagogue, study at a Hebrew school, take on a charity or community service project, and maintain membership in good standing with the synagogue. Prior to reaching bar mitzvah, the child's parents hold the responsibility for the child's actions. After this age, the boys and girls bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics, and are able to participate in all areas of Jewish community life. Traditionally, the father of the bar mitzvah gives thanks to God he is no longer punished for the child's sins. In addition to being considered accountable for their actions from a religious perspective, the individual may be counted towards a minyan (prayer quorum) and may lead prayer and other religious services in the family and the community; these are activities reserved for adults. Thus, the child becomes an adult after going through this rite of passage. Marriage is the next rite of passage and occurs when people make the transition from being single to forming a union. During the actual wedding, rituals feature prominently. Things like entering into a formal marriage contract, the exchanging of vows and rings,

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and the giving of gifts may be some of the rituals that take place. It is quite often only the bridal couple and the officiating pastor who are actively involved although in some traditions close relatives also play an important role. Weddings, in fact, show us how persistent religious rituals can be. People who long ago stopped believing in a religion may still look for a priest or minister to marry them. Even if they do not use a religious official to perform the actual ceremony, the order of events in the wedding, for instance, walking down the aisle, kissing the bride, are a shadow, a memory of the religious ritual it used to be.

Hindus cremating their dead on the Ganges River As with birth, all major world religions recognize the Holy, the Absolute is present at death. Deathrites include the many rituals involved and address care and burial of the deceased, as well as care of the living family members and friends. Some faiths administer death rites to those who are mortally injured or terminally ill. The idea of separating from a loved one is prominent before, during, and after funerals. Added to the idea of the funeral rituals, is also the idea that after this event has been properly experienced and the rituals properly performed, the persons concerned should be re–integrated in society so that life can go on. This page titled 7.2: Rites of Passage is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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7.3: Worship Rituals Moving to the religious act of devotion or veneration, we move to worship rituals. Generally speaking, these can be broadly divided into liturgical or non-liturgical services. The word liturgical comes from the Greek word leitourgia, and means "work of the people." Liturgical worship services stress traditions and follow a pre-established order. For example, in the Roman Catholic Church, the scripture readings, their order, and all the prayers are determined in advance. In fact, they are common to all Roman Catholic Churches. The opposite of liturgical is non-liturgical worship. These services are not as rigid and do not follow any predetermined guidelines and emphasize spontaneity. This page titled 7.3: Worship Rituals is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals To close our discussion of rituals, we must address their downfalls and problems. Some rituals may be so complex the participants fail to understand the symbolism and meaning behind them. Also, some rituals may be performed so often the individual views it just as a habit or routine action and not a ritual. In these cases, the ritual should not be performed until the participant is made fully aware of the meaning or approaches the ritual with needed amount of reverence and respect. Another problem of rituals is that they can be misused by the participant for a reason other than what they were created for. A good example is the ritual of fasting, which is common to all major world religions. Fasting is a time to focus not on worldly pleasures, such as food and drink, but on the Holy. It is also a time of bodily purification. Too often comments such as, "I'm so glad my church is going on a two day fast. I need to lose weight!" Fasting has nothing to do with going on a diet or losing weight. To approach the ritual of fasting in this mindset is wrong. In addition, the commercialization of the religious festivals is another problem with rituals. The Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas are good examples. Recognizing these religious festivals by spending hundreds of dollars has become almost a required act throughout not only the United States but much of the world today. Many say such actions are harmless. However, not only do they contribute to our culture's sense of greed, they also conflict with Jesus of Nazareth's teachings. After all, Jesus taught his followers to "Sell everything you have and give to the poor..." (Mark 10:21), not to buy a trunk load of material possessions and baskets full of chocolate. Furthermore, some rituals, such as Easter and Christmas, have become altered over time. For instance, most of the celebrations associated with Easter are from pagan traditions. The Anglo-Saxons, a group of people who lived in northern Europe, worshipped Eostre, who was the goddess of spring and who helped the sun return after the long, dark winter. According to Anglo-Saxon mythology, Eostre once saved a bird that was unable to fly because its wings had frozen in winter by turning the injured bird into a rabbit. Since this rabbit had once been a bird, it could continue to lay eggs! Eggs are an archetypal symbol of fertility, partly because chickens rarely lay eggs in winter. It was common for Anglo-Saxons to give each other the gift of an egg in spring when chicken resumed their laying. When Christianity was expanding and the Anglo-Saxons were converted and became Christians, they retained their pagan traditions. A similar story exists for the Christmas tree. It is truly ironic when Christian churches perform these pagan rituals today. Lastly, rituals are the basis for many superstitions. For example, the number twelve is viewed as a perfect and holy number within Judaism and Christianity and occurs 187 times in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament combined. For instance, regarding Judaism, Jacob had twelve sons; there were the twelve tribes of Israel, and the temple priest's breastplate had twelve precious jewels. In Christianity, there were the twelve disciples and later the twelve apostles. When one adds to that which is considered perfect and holy, it is considered an abomination. Thus, thirteen is an unlucky number. In closing, rituals - though they are performed repeatedly - are much more than routine acts. They help to form the fabric of a community while binding it to the Holy. This page titled 7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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7.5: Licensing and Bibliography Branson, Beau. Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Brodd, Jeffrey, et al. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford University Press, 2019. Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). (Yale University: Open Yale Courses), http:// oyc.yale.edu (Accessed 13 July 2021). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA. Michel Clasquin-Johnson, Learning about Religion. OpenStax CNX. May 11, 2015 http://cnx.org/contents/ [email protected]. "Passover Seder," "Baptism," "Rites of Passage." Project Gutenberg. World Heritage Encyclopedia. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License CC BY SA 3.0. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. World English Bible: Old Testament and New Testament. 1997. Image: Illustration of smearing blood on door posts. Licensed under CC BY NC ND 4.0. Image: Seder Meal. Robert Baker. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. I m a g e : P h o t o b y J a m e s C o l e m a n < a h r e f = " https://unsplash.com/@jhc? utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText"> I m a g e : P h o t o b y D a v i d We b e r < a h r e f = " https://unsplash.com/@davidernstweber? utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText"> Image: Early Christian painting of a Baptism - Saint Calixte Catacomb - 3rd century, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image: Baptism in Russian Orthodox Church, Mossir. Licensed under CC BY-SA, 2005. Image: Hindu funeral pyre. Greg Willis. Licensed under CC BY-SA, 2009. This page titled 7.5: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 8: Morality, Ethics, and Religion

Is cheating immoral, unethical? Both? Is it ever acceptable to lie in order to protect someone from harm? Is selfless generosity really possible, or are we humans always in one way or another motivated by selfish concerns? Should loyalty to family, friends and one’s immediate community take precedence over one’s duty to obey the law? Such questions, which belong to the rich and complex domain of moral and ethical reflection, are no doubt familiar sorts of questions, even if there may seem to be no clear way of answering them with more than a shrug of the shoulders and the assertion that “it all depends….” The terms morality and ethics are closely related and often used interchangeably as both are concerned with the exploration of the broad rules which define, regulate and constrain our social lives, as well as with the more abstract consideration of moral evaluation itself. However, we cannot confuse morality and ethics with law. All exist to influence behavior, but laws result in mandatory compliance whereas adhering to a moral or ethical code is voluntary. In addition, some laws, such as those allowing abortions, are clearly immoral. Thus, our discussion will not include civil laws. We can, in general, define morality and ethics as the concern for what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. Although we are presently dealing with religion and with religious morality and ethics, we need to say, that of course one does not need to be religious in order to behave in a responsible way. However, religion does not have a monopoly on moral behavior. People who do not adhere to a particular religion or who do not believe in a Supreme Being or in the Divine are quite capable of leading responsible lives; as such, they are often referred to as being ethical, not moral. Their motivation to do so, may differ from those whose moral conduct is inspired by their particular religious beliefs, but their concern to be morally responsible people may in no way be less serious or well–intended. We can therefore say that there is indeed something like secular ethics alongside religious ethics. However, here we are occupying ourselves with ethics as a dimension of religion. Religious ethics are the moral principles that guide the followers of the different religions and that set the standard for what is and is not acceptable behavior in accordance with their respective beliefs. Particular features of religious ethics may be the concern over the causes or origin of evil and the concern over the consequences of evil behavior. 8.1: Natural Law 8.2: Moral Reasoning 8.3: Deontology 8.4: Teleology 8.5: Licensing and Bibliography

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8.1: Natural Law Where does morality come from? Human morality comes from natural law, which is the belief that everything in nature has a purpose, including human beings. Our purpose is to live a good, happy life with the least amount of pain and unhappiness. In other words, we shouldn't and generally don't purposefully cause ourselves pain and misery. Therefore, any action which works against that purpose for one's self and that also prevent a fellow human from living a good, happy life are thus unnatural and immoral. Natural law can be seen in the moral code of all religions, as well as in civil laws. For instance, "I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness," is one of the Five Precepts of Buddhism and reminds of the law of public drunkenness. Another example includes, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13) and another of the Five Precepts of Buddhism: "I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures." Likewise, murder is a crime since killing another person doesn't follow natural law since it causes harm and prevents another from living a good and happy life. The examples above show how morality, ethics, and law can all fit in the same circle, but this is not always the case as some religions contain moral principles and teaching unique to that faith. This page titled 8.1: Natural Law is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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8.2: Moral Reasoning The process in which an individual tries to determine the difference between what is right and what is wrong in a personal situation by using logic is known as moral reasoning. To make such an assessment, one must first know what an action is intended to accomplish and what its possible consequences will be on others. People use moral reasoning in an attempt to do the right thing. People are frequently faced with moral choices, such as whether to lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, or whether to take an action that will benefit some while harming others. Such judgements are made by considering the objective and the likely consequences of an action. Moral reasoning is the consideration of the factors relevant to making these types of assessments.We can divide moral reasoning into two main branches of thought: deontology and teleology. This page titled 8.2: Moral Reasoning is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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8.3: Deontology

The Ten Commandments Deontology involves moral reasoning by conceiving of morality as a list of rules, and the rules carry the authority. Using deontology, questions the rules is not encouraged. Of interest, all major world religions have some type of deontological list, and for these faiths the authority for morality comes from the Absolute and is known as divine command. Judaism, for instance, has Torah, a list of 613 laws plus the Ten Commandments that Jews must follow to keep the covenant with God. Christians, however, don't follow Torah yet do observe the Ten Commandments, as well as Jesus of Nazareth's Sermon on the Mount, where in outlines proper behavior for his followers. In the case of Muslims, the Shari'a or Islamic Law, controls religious, moral, and political behavior. Islamic Law is quite comprehensive: it covers what Muslims are allowed to eat, how they should dress, and so forth. In some Islamic countries, this system of law serves also as the civil law of the land. But in countries where Muslims are in the minority, they have to obey both the secular civil law and the Islamic system. Hindus follow The Laws of Manu, which details the caste system that results in duties and rules in daily life. We will look in depth at the caste system in a future chapter.

The Sermon on the Mount For a faith founded by a sage, it is different since sages, such as Confucius or the Buddha, were not deities. Thus, we cannot call their respective list of rules or principles divine command. Instead of appealing to God's authority, the sage appeals to the individual's virtue. Buddhists follow the Five Precepts: "I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures," "I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not freely given," "I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct," "I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech," and "I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants

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which lead to loss of mindfulness." Many readers should recognize parallels of the Buddha's Five Precepts to the Ten Commandments. This does not mean the Buddha was Jewish. Instead, it reflects the importance of natural law as a source for morality. This page titled 8.3: Deontology is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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8.4: Teleology A very different approach to moral reasoning involves using teleology; it conceives of morality by looking at what is accomplished, the result, by thinking and reasoning through the situation. In nearly all the world's religions, personal morality begins with this simple concept: treat others as you would like them to treat you. This concept is known as the Golden Rule and is perhaps the most basic of personal virtues. When an individual fails to treat others as he or she would like them to treat him or her, it is caused by being self-centered and appealing to one's ego. Virtually all religious traditions reject egoism or self-centeredness although they understand it in somewhat different ways. Yet all basically agree the ego that insistently asserts the centrality and priority of its immediate interests at the expense of the interests of others - especially the interests of others within the group - ought not be as it is: its centrality is a false centrality and the priority of its interests is a false priority. The different religious traditions generally take egoism to be the center of most, if not all, of what is wrong with the world, and systematically set out strategies to overcome it - whether to transform and redirect the ego, to dissolve the ego, to harmonize the ego with otherwise competing interests in the encompassing social and natural order of things, or to merge the ego with a larger, cosmic self. To pursue one of these strategies, of course, is no guarantee that members or even leaders of these traditions succeed in overcoming egoism. Virtue, in this connection, is said to be an ideal state of "selflessness." Of course, the different faiths all have their own version of this universal message, but in essence the same directive applies: Buddhism: "...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" (Teachings of the Buddha) Christianity: "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31) Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" (The Analects) Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you". (Mahabharata) Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." (Number 13 of Imam "Al– Nawawi's Forty Hadiths.") Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." (Talmud) In closing, the philosopher Immanuel Kant believed the essential, rational function of religion was to serve as a foundation for the practice of universal morality and social justice. The implication was that, were religion to be involved in anything else, especially anything at odds with that function, it would be a corruption of that essential function and would in that measure merit criticism and reform. This page titled 8.4: Teleology is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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8.5: Licensing and Bibliography Abumere, Frank Aragbonfoh, Douglas Giles, Ya-Yun (Sherry) Kao, Michael Klenk, Joseph Kranak, Kathryn MacKay, Jeffrey Morgan, Paul Rezkalla, George Matthews (Book Editor), and Christina Hendricks (Series Editor). Introduction to Philosophy. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Branson, Beau. Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Brodd, Jeffrey, et al. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford University Press, 2019. Frey, William and Jose Cruz-Cruz. Moral Exemplars in Business and Professional Ethics. September 17, 2013. Provided by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/content/m14256/latest/. License: CC BY. Introduction to Philosophy/What is Ethics. Located at: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introdu...to_Philosophy/ What_is_Ethics. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike. Michel Clasquin-Johnson, Learning about Religion. OpenStax CNX. May 11, 2015 http://cnx.org/contents/74b59824- [email protected]. Prentice Examines Roots of Ethical Decision Making. Provided by: University of Texas. Located at: http:// www.texasenterprise.utexas.edu/article/prentice-examines-roots-ethical-decision-making. License: CC BY-SA: AttributionShareAlike Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. World English Bible: Old Testament and New Testament. 1997. Image: The Ten Commandments. Lolo425, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. Image: “Tyrel Shares the Cheating Love with RJ.” Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Image: "Sermon-On-The-Mount-Carl-Heinrich-Bloch-19th_C" by ideacreamanuelaPps is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. This page titled 8.5: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 9: Social Order, Government, and Religion

What role does religion play in ordering not only its own organization but the overall society? How is this influence seen? What does religion say about equality? When we address questions such as those above, we are are dealing with the intersection of religion and social order, which is how a society organizes its populace according to ranks and privileges. A privilege is a special right or advantage granted or available only to a particular person or group in a society; it is not to be confused with a right. For example, Americans have a right to a free, public education, which is available to all citizens. A good example of privilege is Great Britain's royal family. British citizens may work as hard as they might, yet they will never be granted the rights and advantages of the royal family. Of interest, the royal family did nothing other than being born; these privileges were granted to them upon birth. This is what privilege refers to. Social order determines how people in a society behave, what roles they play in life, what jobs are available and open to them, what property they can own, and many others topics. 9.1: Case Study- the Caste System 9.2: Religion and Society 9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money 9.4: Licensing and Bibliography

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9.1: Case Study- the Caste System Perhaps the best example of how religion can influence a society's social order is the caste system, or jatis, in Hinduism. There are four main castes, with subcastes within each, that represent a person. The highest caste, the Brahmins, represent the head, and is the caste of priests, scholars, and academics. The Kshatriyas represent the arms; as such, this caste is for warriors and the ruling class. The thighs move the body, and this caste is Vaishyas, which is the business community: merchants, craftsmen, skilled workers, and so on. The Sudra represent the feet; this caste is for farm workers, unskilled laborers, or servants of the upper castes.

A member of the Sudra caste Those who do not have a caste are the Dalits, or Untouchables. They perform all the lower-order work and are subordinate to all, including street sweeper, cleaning up human and animal waste, and so forth.

A Dalit cleaning a sewer The caste system in ancient India was used to establish separate classes of inhabitants based upon their social positions and employment functions in the community. These roles and their importance, including the levels of power and significance based on patriarchy, were influenced by stories of the gods in the Rig-Veda epic. The castes formed a social stratification, characterized by the hereditary transmission of lifestyle, occupation, ritual status, and social status. In other words, caste is determined by birth. An important aspect of caste is reincarnation and karma. Those in a lower or middle caste can rise to the next caste not in this lifetime

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but by generating enough good karma to reach it in a future life. An individual’s position in the caste system is thought to be a reflection of accumulated merit in past lives, or karma. Caste, or jati, identified an individual’s occupation and imposed marriage restrictions by limiting availability to schooling, job training and so on. Marriage was only possible between members of the same caste or two that were very close. In addition, not every religious practice can be undertaken by all members of society. Jatis also determined a person’s purity level. Members of higher caste had higher purity levels, and if contaminated by members of lower social groups, even by touch, they would have to undergo extensive cleansing rites. This is why those without a caste were called Untouchables. The caste system survived for over two millennia, becoming one of the basic features of traditional Hindu society. Although the Constitution of India, the supreme law document of the Republic of India, formally abolished the caste system in 1950, some people maintain prejudices against members of lower social classes. Many today recognize caste inequality is a form of an inequality trap, driven by social structures that persist over generations. We know that it is a strong predictor of inequality and poverty, and the lowest castes continue to be disadvantaged relative to the broader population. Though there is a declining gap in educational attainment at the primary-school level, there are persistent disparities by caste at higher levels of education and in labor markets. As the 21st century continues, caste and its effects are eroding, yet it still exists as a form of prejudice and social classism. This page titled 9.1: Case Study- the Caste System is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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9.2: Religion and Society Countries that use religious guidelines to such as degree that they are intermingled with civil laws as known as religious states. The number of religious states in the 21st century is few, and most are Islamic countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. However, most countries, such as the United States, are not influenced by religion to such a degree. Such countries are called secular states, meaning religion is removed from government and laws, and citizens are free to worship as they please or not at all, if that is their choice. Today, the number of secular states far outnumbers religious states. Religions also use social order to differentiate those within the community, as well as those without. For example, Judaism uses the term Gentile, which literally means "nation," in reference to anyone not born into the Jewish faith, while Islam uses Dhimmi in reference to a non-Muslim person living in an Islamic country; it literally means "protected person." Moving to gender, all major world religions give women lower status than men, which is reflected in numerous passage of scripture. Although organized religion, as part of human society, cannot escape being involved with the economy, and cannot really function without money, we need to understand that there has always been an uneasy relationship between the world of religion and the world of material things. We will give just a few examples. For religion, hand in hand with the problem of money, has always been the question of increasing one’s money. The problem of lending money at interest, especially at an exorbitant rate, occurs in several religious traditions. This practice is known as usury. In Islam, the term used for usury is riba which literally means "increase". Riba is regarded as the opposite of zakah or the giving of alms, and is regarded as unacceptable individual profit–making at the expense of one’s fellow human being. Islamic banks have been established to allow Muslims to store their capital safely while not gathering interest. This does not mean that Muslims cannot invest their money in, for instance, a building, and sell it at a profit later. That is acceptable. What Islam objects to is "money making money" just by sitting in an account and not demonstrably helping the community.

Helping the Homeless The question of usury has long been a thorny issue for relationships between Christians and Jews, because Church or Canon Law prohibited Christians from charging each other interest in 1179 CE. However, it said nothing about Christians borrowing money from Jews and paying interest. Jews, on the other hand, were permitted to charge interest from Gentiles (non–Jews) if no other means of survival was available. At the same time, the Christian authorities refused to allow the Jews to farm or trade for a living. Thus, Jews became the money– lenders of Europe, and were much hated and persecuted because of it. This page titled 9.2: Religion and Society is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money Christianity: The New Testament tells us that the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil (I Tim. 6:10). Jesus also referred to the problems that material riches can bring and said, with reference to the hereafter, that it will be a terrible time for rich people because they have had their good times in this life (Luke 6:24). Judaism: According to the Hebrew Bible one should not charge a fellow Israelite any interest on money lent to him or her (Leviticus. 25:36). The Hebrew Bible also says that the wealth of rich people can cause them to imagine that they are protected against everything. Islam: When the rich people of Makkah felt that their income was being threatened by the new religion that the Prophet Muhammad brought, they started making life difficult for him. Perhaps this explains the ambivalent attitude towards money we find in Islam. Buddhism and Hinduism: The Buddha turned his back on the riches that could have been his, in his quest for enlightenment and deliverance. In this, he was acting in terms of an ascetic tradition that was then already ancient, and that survives today in Hinduism. The last area of a religion's impact upon social order and society deals with economic equality. The monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach that wealth does not follow one into the afterlife, and, as such, it shouldn't be valued. Riches are viewed as a distraction, can cause greed, and even can keep one from the afterlife. For example, Jesus of Nazareth said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Furthermore, all Jews, Christians, and Muslims are concerned with economic equality, which is why their faiths give guidance in giving alms to the poor. Moving to Hinduism and Buddhism, we can see a shift. Hinduism is not concerned with economic equality. Various Gods and Goddesses can influence one's wealth, and worshipping and praising these deities can result in economic blessings. Hindus are called to give alms to the poor, but unlike the monotheistic faiths above, acts of charity are performed to generate good karma. The same is true for Buddhism regarding such acts. This is sometimes called the doctrine of good works. The Buddha taught his followers, like Jesus of Nazareth, to renounce wealth and not let it guide one's decisions. The Buddha went further in his teachings, stressing that wealth contributes to ignorance and, thus, samara. Looking within faiths, we can find evidence of order and its influence. An effective example can be seen looking into Christianity and the difference regarding religious order of the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations. The Catholic Church has a strict hierarchy: it has at the top of the hierarchical structure the Bishop of Rome, better known as the Pope. Catholics look to him for authentic interpretation of the Christian teaching, but he is also the full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church. The body of officials that assist him in the governance of the Church is known as the Roman curia. The Pope is elected by Cardinals (priests who are senior even to bishops and archbishops) from all over the world, but only those who are less than 80 years old. They are isolated from all outside contact (traditionally in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican) and they stay until at least two–thirds of them can agree on whom to choose. The ballot papers are burned in a fireplace, and depending on whether white or black smoke comes out of the chimney, the crowds waiting outside will know whether a new Pope has been chosen. Under certain circumstances, such as when the Pope solemnly and officially as the pastor of the (Roman) Catholic Church defines a matter of faith or morals,he is considered to be infallible (no possibility of being wrong exists). This is called speaking ex cathedra (from the cathedral). Normally this will, however, involve previous discussions and debates with the Bishops of the Church – not every chance remark a pope makes is infallible! Pope John Paul II made such a declaration in his work Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, in which he determined that women would not be allowed to become Catholic priests. Only another pope can now overturn this decision, and until then it is binding on all Catholics. All of men in the positions discussed are ordained, meaning they received the sacrament of holy orders after lengthy study, including a doctorate degree. Below the priest is a deacon, then the laity, or members of the congregation. A Catholic cannot declare himself to be pope, a cardinal, or even a priest. He must apply, be accepted, study, and be ordained. Very different are Protestant denominations. They feature pastors who may or may not have been ordained, thus allowing a member to declare him or herself a pastor without any religious education and start a church. In addition, the laity in Protestant churches have a much greater role than in the Catholic Church, which follows Papal decrees. In Protestant denominations the congregation makes many important decisions, including the hiring and firing of their pastors.

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In Tibetan Buddhism, we find a similar structure to Catholicism. Junior monks are superior to laypeople, but the smaller number of senior monks have authority over the juniors, and a very small number of lamas (very senior monks) are even more powerful, but only within their own organization. And so it goes, until we come to the Dalai Lama, who is the supreme head of all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike the Pope, however, he is not regarded as infallible. Religious order also influences Islam, with different caliphs and ayatollahs.

The 14th Dalai Lama As can be seen, religions greatly impact not only their followers but society in general. This page titled 9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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9.4: Licensing and Bibliography Boundless World History. Authored by: Boundless. Located at: https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/ boundlessworld-history-textbook/. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike. Brodd, Jeffrey, et al. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford University Press, 2019. Clasquin-Johnson, Michel "Religion and money." OpenStax CNX. Apr 15, 2015 http://cnx.org/contents/ 50af901f-489e-4ade-85ad1c58d19b2b3a@1. Clasquin-Johnson, Michel "Who is running things?" OpenStax CNX. Apr 12, 2015 http://cnx.org/contents/ dd02d791-6709-42b8b639-9984b60eb211@1. Joshi, Shareen; Kochhar, Nishtha; Rao, Vijayendra. 2018. Jati Inequality in Rural Bihar. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8512. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/...le/10986/29985 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Image: Castes in India. Giveaway285. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Image: "Chittorgarh" by Evgeni Zotov is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/. Image: "Dalit Cleaning Sewers" by Bobulix is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ Image: Dee, Gary. "Helping the Homeless." This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Image: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (c) Minette/Wikimedia CC BY 2.0, 2014 This page titled 9.4: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW 10: Religious Experience Religious experience is concerned with the inner events, feelings, and/or emotions that reflect one's unique relationship to the Holy. The topic of religious experience in the 19th and 20th centuries has developed into means of showing how experience of God or other divine things could bypass the strictures of human cognition or categories of human culture. When discussing this topic within religion, we can use the term epistemology, which is best understood as how one knows what one knows about the Holy and whether these experiences yield claims about the truth of religious beliefs. 10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call 10.2: Licensing and Bibliography

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10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call A commissioning experience is also known as the prophetic call. This occurs when the Ultimate or an agent, such as an angel, appears to the selected person. Examples of commissioning experiences occur in all of the monotheistic faiths. There are many such events in Judaism, with the calling of Moses, perhaps, being the most well-known. As recounted in Exodus 3, in the Hebrew Bible, Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law and came to Mount Horeb when, "the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up...God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am" (2, 4). In Christianity, the Annunciation, or the announcement to the Virgin Mary by the angel Gabriel, is another example of a commissioning experience. As found in the beginning of Luke's gospel, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary, a virgin living in Nazareth, and "The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.' Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.'...'I am the Lord’s servant,' Mary answered. 'May your word to me be fulfilled.' Then the angel left her" (3: 28-31, 38).

The Annunciation by Luca Giordano A third example can be found in Islam when the angel Jibril (the Arabic variant of Gabriel) appeared to the Prophet Muhammad, calling him to spread the word of God while sharing with him the first of many of God's revelations that would soon become the Koran.

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"Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation" by Hafiz-i Abu It is important to note that in these three examples -- as well as in all commissioning experiences -- God calls upon the prophet. As such, prophetic calls are estatic events because the knowledge the person gains comes from outside him or herself. In other words, how these various figures know what they knows about the Holy did not come from within their persons but from the outside, from God. Very different from such estatic events as the prophetic call are enstatic events.

Enlightenment

The Buddha Awakens to the Four Noble Truths The enlightenment of the Buddha is an example of an enstatic event. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family, but after witnessing an old man, a man suffering from an illness, a corpse, and a monk, Gautama became convinced life was full of suffering. He renounced his title and wealth and became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in order to understand and overcome suffering. After years of struggling, while meditating beneath a tree, Gautama finally understood how to be free from

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suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Following this epiphany, Gautama was known as the Buddha, meaning the "Enlightened One." The above is an enstatic event because how the Buddha knows what he knows did not come from an exterior source, such as with God and the prophetic calls discussed earlier. It arose within himself. The mystical experience is a subset of religious experience that is usually characterized as involving direct, unmediated experience of God or other divine things. Mystical experiences are ineffable, supra-rational experiences that cannot be put into words, and they are considered to be cross-culturally identical. Mystical experiences have therefore been claimed by some to be the common core of all religious traditions. For such mystics, how they know what they know cannot be explained or put into words. This is different from enstatic experiences, such as Enlightenment, because the Buddha was able to take his interior experience and teach it to others, helping them to overcome suffering. This page titled 10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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10.2: Licensing and Bibliography Armstrong, Karen. Buddha: A Penguin Life. Lipper/Viking, 2001. Branson, Beau. Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Meagher, Gerard. “The Prophetic Call Narrative.” Irish Theological Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 2, Apr. 1972, pp. 164– 177, doi:10.1177/002114007203900204. Richter, Kent E. Religion: a Study in Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Oxford University Press, 2017. Richter, Kent E. Understanding Religion in a Global Society. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. World English Bible: Old Testament and New Testament. 1997. Image: "The Annunciation." By Luca Giordano. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. Image: "Muhammad's Call to Prophecy and the First Revelation." By Hafiz-i Abu. Met Museum. Public Domain. Image: "The Buddha Awakens to the Four Noble Truths at Vesakha Full Moon Day." Creative Commons 2.0 Generic license. This page titled 10.2: Licensing and Bibliography is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus.

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Index D dire

Glossary

Sample Word 1 | Sample Definition 1

Detailed Licensing Overview Title: Introduction to Religion (Knockemus) Webpages: 80 All licenses found: CC BY 4.0: 97.5% (78 pages) Undeclared: 2.5% (2 pages)

By Page Introduction to Religion (Knockemus) - CC BY 4.0

3.7.3: Incarnations - CC BY 4.0

Front Matter - CC BY 4.0

3.8: Developers and Reformers - CC BY 4.0 3.9: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

TitlePage - CC BY 4.0 InfoPage - CC BY 4.0 Licensing - CC BY 4.0 Table of Contents - CC BY 4.0 Licensing - Undeclared

4: Myth and the Languages of Religion - CC BY 4.0 4.1: Thinking about Human Time - CC BY 4.0 4.2: The Global Age - CC BY 4.0 4.3: The Modern Era - CC BY 4.0 4.4: The Premodern Era - CC BY 4.0 4.5: Myths - CC BY 4.0 4.6: Archetypes - CC BY 4.0 4.7: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

1: How Do We Define Religion? - CC BY 4.0 1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition - CC BY 4.0 1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions - CC BY 4.0 1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice - CC BY 4.0 1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions - CC BY 4.0 1.5: A Scholastic Definition - CC BY 4.0 1.6: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

5: Scripture - CC BY 4.0 5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? - CC BY 4.0 5.2: Where does Scripture come from? - CC BY 4.0 5.3: How is Scripture formed? - CC BY 4.0 5.4: How do I read Scripture? - CC BY 4.0 5.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

2: The Development and Ideas of the Ultimate, the Absolute, the Holy - CC BY 4.0 2.1: Telling Time - CC BY 4.0 2.2: Early Indicators of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy - CC BY 4.0 2.3: From the Numinous to Animism - CC BY 4.0 2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship - CC BY 4.0 2.5: From Animism to Theism - CC BY 4.0 2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism - CC BY 4.0 2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism - CC BY 4.0 2.8: Nontheistic Religions - CC BY 4.0 2.9: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

6: Miscellaneous Doctrines and Teachings - CC BY 4.0 6.1: What is the Self? - CC BY 4.0 6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil - CC BY 4.0 6.3: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0 7: Ritual - CC BY 4.0 7.1: Commemorations, Festivals, Holidays - CC BY 4.0 7.2: Rites of Passage - CC BY 4.0 7.3: Worship Rituals - CC BY 4.0 7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals - CC BY 4.0 7.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

3: Who Started It? Religious Founders, Developers, and Reformers - CC BY 4.0

8: Morality, Ethics, and Religion - CC BY 4.0

3.1: General Context - CC BY 4.0 3.2: Religious Context - CC BY 4.0 3.3: Personal background - CC BY 4.0 3.4: Calling - CC BY 4.0 3.5: Message - CC BY 4.0 3.6: Legendary or Actual - CC BY 4.0 3.7: Founders - CC BY 4.0

8.1: Natural Law - CC BY 4.0 8.2: Moral Reasoning - CC BY 4.0 8.3: Deontology - CC BY 4.0 8.4: Teleology - CC BY 4.0 8.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0 9: Social Order, Government, and Religion - CC BY 4.0 9.1: Case Study- the Caste System - CC BY 4.0 9.2: Religion and Society - CC BY 4.0

3.7.1: Prophets - CC BY 4.0 3.7.2: Sages - CC BY 4.0

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9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money - CC BY 4.0 9.4: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

Back Matter - CC BY 4.0 Index - CC BY 4.0 Glossary - CC BY 4.0 Detailed Licensing - CC BY 4.0 Detailed Licensing - Undeclared

10: Religious Experience - CC BY 4.0 10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call - CC BY 4.0 10.2: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

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Detailed Licensing Overview Title: Introduction to Religion (Knockemus) Webpages: 80 All licenses found: CC BY 4.0: 97.5% (78 pages) Undeclared: 2.5% (2 pages)

By Page Introduction to Religion (Knockemus) - CC BY 4.0

3.7.3: Incarnations - CC BY 4.0

Front Matter - CC BY 4.0

3.8: Developers and Reformers - CC BY 4.0 3.9: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

TitlePage - CC BY 4.0 InfoPage - CC BY 4.0 Licensing - CC BY 4.0 Table of Contents - CC BY 4.0 Licensing - Undeclared

4: Myth and the Languages of Religion - CC BY 4.0 4.1: Thinking about Human Time - CC BY 4.0 4.2: The Global Age - CC BY 4.0 4.3: The Modern Era - CC BY 4.0 4.4: The Premodern Era - CC BY 4.0 4.5: Myths - CC BY 4.0 4.6: Archetypes - CC BY 4.0 4.7: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

1: How Do We Define Religion? - CC BY 4.0 1.1: Using Etymology for a Definition - CC BY 4.0 1.2: Narrow and Broad Definitions - CC BY 4.0 1.3: Defining based upon Birth and Choice - CC BY 4.0 1.4: Defining as Answers to Questions - CC BY 4.0 1.5: A Scholastic Definition - CC BY 4.0 1.6: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

5: Scripture - CC BY 4.0 5.1: What makes Scripture "Scripture"? - CC BY 4.0 5.2: Where does Scripture come from? - CC BY 4.0 5.3: How is Scripture formed? - CC BY 4.0 5.4: How do I read Scripture? - CC BY 4.0 5.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

2: The Development and Ideas of the Ultimate, the Absolute, the Holy - CC BY 4.0 2.1: Telling Time - CC BY 4.0 2.2: Early Indicators of the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy - CC BY 4.0 2.3: From the Numinous to Animism - CC BY 4.0 2.4: From Animism to Ancestor Worship - CC BY 4.0 2.5: From Animism to Theism - CC BY 4.0 2.6: From Pantheism to Polytheism - CC BY 4.0 2.7: From Polytheism to Monotheism - CC BY 4.0 2.8: Nontheistic Religions - CC BY 4.0 2.9: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

6: Miscellaneous Doctrines and Teachings - CC BY 4.0 6.1: What is the Self? - CC BY 4.0 6.2: Suffering and the Problem of Evil - CC BY 4.0 6.3: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0 7: Ritual - CC BY 4.0 7.1: Commemorations, Festivals, Holidays - CC BY 4.0 7.2: Rites of Passage - CC BY 4.0 7.3: Worship Rituals - CC BY 4.0 7.4: Complexity and Problems of Rituals - CC BY 4.0 7.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

3: Who Started It? Religious Founders, Developers, and Reformers - CC BY 4.0

8: Morality, Ethics, and Religion - CC BY 4.0

3.1: General Context - CC BY 4.0 3.2: Religious Context - CC BY 4.0 3.3: Personal background - CC BY 4.0 3.4: Calling - CC BY 4.0 3.5: Message - CC BY 4.0 3.6: Legendary or Actual - CC BY 4.0 3.7: Founders - CC BY 4.0

8.1: Natural Law - CC BY 4.0 8.2: Moral Reasoning - CC BY 4.0 8.3: Deontology - CC BY 4.0 8.4: Teleology - CC BY 4.0 8.5: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0 9: Social Order, Government, and Religion - CC BY 4.0 9.1: Case Study- the Caste System - CC BY 4.0 9.2: Religion and Society - CC BY 4.0

3.7.1: Prophets - CC BY 4.0 3.7.2: Sages - CC BY 4.0

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9.3: Religious Attitudes towards Money - CC BY 4.0 9.4: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

Back Matter - CC BY 4.0 Index - CC BY 4.0 Glossary - CC BY 4.0 Detailed Licensing - CC BY 4.0 Detailed Licensing - Undeclared

10: Religious Experience - CC BY 4.0 10.1: Visions, Voices, and the Prophetic Call - CC BY 4.0 10.2: Licensing and Bibliography - CC BY 4.0

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