Download Great Religious Traditions

Great Religious Traditions
Understanding different explanations of the
meaning of human existence
Classification of religions
by Dr. Sarvepalli Radakrishnan
1. Religions which need visible idols to worship, primitive animism
the lowest kinds of religion.
2. Religions which need incarnations (Vishnu and Christianity)
1. Religions which believe in a personal God- Islam, Judaism,
Christianity and Hindu bhakti sects - superior religion)
4. Philosophic Hinduism – the most sophisticated religion invented
by men, which believes in impersonal God (the highest)
PLURALISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – 1
CORINTH
POSEIDON (NEPTUNE) – Isthmian Games Cenchrea & Lechaion
APOLLO (PHOEBUS) – Apollos, Phoebe
DIONYSIUS (BACCHUS) – Drunkeness 1Co.5:11
APHRODITE (VENUS) – Sexual Immorality 1Co.6:15-20
AESCLEPIUS (Healing) – 1Co.12:12-27
EPHESUS
CYBELE, ARTEMIS (DIANA) (“ololygia”) 1Co.13:1
– Refusing to marry Childbearing 1Tim.2:12,15 Acts 14:12
LYSTRA
JOVE (JUPITER) HERMES (MERCURY) – Barnabas, Paul
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PLURALISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – 2
ROME
MARS (ARES) – AREOPAGUS, Dionysius
CASTOR & POLLUX – Acts 28:11
TYCHE (Fortune) – Tychichus, Syntyche, Eutychus
(Cynic Philosophy) – Diogenes 1Co.6:13
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PRIMAL RELIGIONS, FOLK RELIGION & SYNCRETISM
Many areas mix folk religion with nominal Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity
• The world is full of spiritual forces, mainly hostile.
• These religious views colour the whole life of society
• There are prescribed rituals for every situation
• There are experts in the performance of these traditional rituals.
• There is a seasonal round of rituals and festivals
• There is usually a supreme God, who is not hostile
• There is usually much fear of spirits, especially spirits of the dead
• There are usually sacred places, things and words and taboos or forbidden things
• It is possible to covet and tap the power of others
• Even though the old religions have been supplanted by a universal faith the old folk
beliefs tend to linger on, especially in relation to healing, sickness, childbirth and funerals.
(e.g. halloween, mistletoe, holly, Christmas trees, May Day hobbyhorses)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THREE MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS
all originate in Western Asia and believe in One Creator God revealing Himself
TEACHING
JUDAISM
HOLY BOOK
1400 BCE Moses/prophets
Ethnic for Jews
Hebrew language
CHRISTIAN
Old/New Testaments
33 CE
Universal for all nations Every Language
ISLAM
622 CE
Aims to become
Qur’an
GOD
Yahweh
Father/Son
JESUS
NOT Christ
Image of the
Holy Spirit
Invisible God
Allah
Great prophet
Arabic Language
Universal. Muhammad is prophet of God whose teaching supersedes all other revelation.
Most religions would appear to be human
inventions (following WW2 no less than
100 new religions were registered in Japan
for Tax relief purposes) –shown in
diagram starting on earth out into space.
The Christian view however is that the
unknown God revealed himself to the
patriarchs, to Moses and the prophets and
then supremely and finally through Jesus
Christ. Christians accept the Law and
Prophets (OT) as genuine revelation from
God, but do not accept the Q’uran as
genuine revelation – if we did we would
be Muslims! Some human speculations
are very old – but are equally not
convincing as revelation. So in evangelism
the issue is always: what do you think of
Christ? Is He only a great prophet or, as
Christian believe, the image of the
invisible God?
THE INDIAN MONISTIC TRADITION
Religion
Date
Origin “Gods” Salvation
Scope
HINDUISM Ancient Anything
Indian
(Vedas)
Many
pan- apoly-
Escape Rebirth
(mukti)
Anyone
BUDDHISM 500 BCE Siddharta
THERAVADA
Gautama
(Hinayana)
(Sutras)
Total
reality
After many
rebirths
Bikku
(monks)
Syncretism Boddhisatvas ‘instant’
Anyone
MAHAYANA
SIKHISM
1500 CE
Guru Nanak Monotheist
(Granth Sahib)
Harmony
with God
Punjabis
CASTE 4 varnas (colours) and castes (100s of jatis)
born into as result of karma (performance in earlier lives).
BRAHMINS – Aryan priests sacrifice, gods among men, recite
vedas
KSHATRIYAS –Aryan warriors fight, nobles holding secular
power
VAISYAS – other Aryans, peasant, landowners, merchants,
bankers
SUDRAS – Dravidians serfs and artisans, and other servants
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUISM
1. VEDIC PERIOD 2000-600 BCE synthesis of Aryan polytheistic
sacrificial system with pantheistic monism
2. PANTHEISTIC PERIOD 600 BCE- 300 CE Reaction (Buddhism,
Jainism) & Renaissance (Bhagavad-gita)
3. MONOTHEISTIC (Puranic) PERIOD 300-1200 CE development
of Shaivistic & Vaishnaistic Bhakti movements
4. MEDIAEVAL Period 1200-1750 CE Moghul emperors
(Muslims) in Delhi, attempted syncretisms of Kabir &
Nanak (Sikhism)
5. MODERN PERIOD 1750- CE British in Delhi! (Christians
in south 1500yrs) must come to terms with Christianity
(i) refusal – Arya Samaj (ii) syncretism – Brahmo Samaj
(iii) counter attack – Ramakrishna (1843-86);
Vivekananda (1863-1902); Ghandi (1869-1948);
Radakrishnan (1888-1975)
HINDUISM is not a single coherent religious system but a collage of religious practices
found anywhere in India. However the vedas and upanishads provided a source of religious
speculation about the character of the universe and its relation to Brahma.
ABSOLUTE PANTHEISM – everything there is is God.
MODIFIED PANTHEISM – God is the reality behind nature.
VEDANTISM: MODIFIED MONISM God is to nature as mind to body
ABSOLUTE MONISM – only God is a reality, all else is illusion (ADVAITA)
Sankara (9th C. CE) taught that Brahman=Atman, and liberation is through knowledge
(jnana) Individual consciousness is illusion (maya) as also is worship of God (bhakti) .
VISISHTADVAITA ( QUALIFIED THEISTIC MONISM
Ramanuja (11th C. CE) taught that Brahman does not equal Atman. Liberation comes from
above by devotion and love for God (bhakti) God is to the world and souls, what soul is to
body. Salvation is by grace and surrender (prapatti) baby monkeys have to cling to mother
or fall off, while the baby kitten is carried by the mother.
Madhva (13th C. CE) taught that Brahman does not equal the world or Atman. Liberation
comes through devotion (bhakti) to Vishnu.
One wonders how much influence there was from Syrian Christians in the south of India.
Siddharta Gautama (the Buddha) was born in a palace,
as a kshatriya. (c.563-483 BCE )
He challenged the priestly power of the Brahmins by
advocating ahimsa (non-killing) thus making it impossible
for them to offer sacrifices, so they became redundant as
sacrificing priests. Gautama’s teaching spread throughout
India.
The Bhagavadgita was a successful Hindu counter attack:
the prince Arjuna influenced by the Buddhist teaching of
ahimsa refuses to fight as kshatriya’s were supposed to do.
His charioteer who is Krishna in disguise argues him out
of his pacifism. First, the enemy are only an illusion
(maya) and in any case if they are killed they will be
reincarnated and return to life. This was so successful that
Bhuddism was almost entirely eliminated in India.
BUDDHA- DHAMMA
“the eternal truth of the awakened one”
Theravada
mahasanghikas
“teaching of the ancients”
c.484 BCE
“members of the great community”
c. 1st century BCE
Hinayana (derisory)
mahayana
“small vehicle”
Elitist, exclusivist
very few reach Nirvana
one day monks may be saved
“large vehicle”,
Universalist, popular
very many gain Nirvana
Instant Salvation for lay people
BUDDHA- DHAMMA – 2
“the eternal truth of the awakened one”
relentless self-effort
Boddhisatvas share
merit basic original ‘middle way’ developed rituals,
mantras
Gautama is a holy man
Buddha is ‘God’
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THE VARIETIES OF MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Mahayana in China and Japan: celibacy and rejection of
the world did not easily blend with ancestor worship (no
descendants) or materialism (ascetic denial). N.B.
Japanese forms of Buddhism arose first in China
Pure Land sects – Ta-riki salvation by confessing faith in Amida,
lord of light. Honen (1133-1212CE) repeated Namu Amida butsu as
many times as possible, Shinran (1173-1262 CE) said once was
enough. Enter “right established state” (assurance, state of grace)
Zen – Ji-riki, no ‘hooben’ (accommodation) teacherstudent,salvation by self effort – meditation (Chinese Ch’an) KoanRiddles- clap with one hand, zazen – seated meditation.
Nichiren – nationalistic , gave rise to Sookagakkai (cf British
Israelism). Lotus sutra – ‘namu kyoo renge kyoo’
This diagram
reminds you that
basic beliefs are
rarely simple, and
that in the course of
Chinese history
there are many
varied “religions”
that have influenced
Chinese thought.
The original basic
worldview of the
Japanese was
Shinto (“way of the
gods”), but the
ethics and the
philosophy which
Shinto lacked were
supplied by two
Chinese imports –
Confucianism and
Buddhism.
Great Religious Traditions
The End
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