Please don't ignore this because it's so extended. Please I'm trying to learn as best as I can even if its detailed and dumbed down.
I’ve been thinking for some time now, why has mental evolution become stagnated in the posture of religionist’s? The facination with ancient Egyptian thought and its plethora of mystery schools around the ancient world is breath taking. The achievments of the Egyptians and Greeks have astounded me all my life with their mathmematical, scientific, astronomical, and philosophical contour yet, an obvious gap is discernable. Particualrly dealing with the Egyptian mystery systems, there were two distinct categorizations of its degrees-the greater light and the lesser light. The former dealt with the inner-mysteries by the student and the later dealt with the exoteric dimmensions of reality.These dualistic pillars were designed to transcend one from the shallow end of the pool[sort a speak] into the more abysmal portion of ones understanding. Through tedious research, what was thought to be just another religious organization was really a university of the higher arts-science, math, astronomy, music, etc..veiled in superstitious garment, a facade to detract the ones who weren’t worthy of higher accredations.Those initiates who never penatrated the "Greater Light" [and reasons vary] remained stringent in the exoteric interpretation of what was revealed in the "Lesser Light". I look at believers as neophytes [beginners] who have never evolved from the "Lesser Light" yet have gained more militant might, more monetary appropriation’s, and have won the popularity contest regarding the sufficiency of just-belief [this was why Europe fell into the dark ages for 200yrs b/c of their refusal to accept the validations for the scientific community through religious hate crimes].
My question is, what has prevented religionist’s from seeking the "The Greater Light" [reason] being that, when we indulge in the historicity of Christanity in particular, the reason for its infantile perspective in modernity was that it abrogated the very aspects then, that it denies today? It would seem that the definition of insanity comes to mind...doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result.
I'll make it shorter by In other words, why do religionist’s literalize mythology instead of indulging in the deeper allegorial and metaphysical interpretations of their theology which would lead to more reasoned based reality? Is it easier to believe in aspects that have nostalgic like elements than to comprehend what’s behind the curtain [even though it might be boring...lol]?
The idea intended is to exemplify the facade of exoteric religion as it relates to its esoteric counterpart. My point is that mystery [especially pertaining to nature] breeds fear when not properly understood, especially in the mind of primitive man. What was once seen as demon possession was explained by medical conditions later. What was once perceived as spirit was then understood as various levels of energy manifesting itself. What was once seen as god’s wrath upon man was explained through methodological naturalism. These examples are what I mean by "greater light" and "lesser light". The latter dealt with the literalism of ocular perception and the former with a deeper mathematical, scientific, astronomical, etc...explanation that went beyond just the surface understanding [this concept was mentioned in my post by the way].
Spirituality is not a matter of intelligence or lack thereof...proponents of systematic theology would disagree with you such as Karl Rahner, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, even Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) just to name a few.
Atheists attempt to see God from the perspective of man: empirical evidence, yet not one theory of consequence related to the existence or non existence of God has been proven, beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore I say atheism leads to little so can theism Atheism is not the central theme nor a theme at all for that matter concerning this post; its actually systematically theistic in posture.
My point is simplistic and coherent with asking the question, what makes religionist stagnant in acquiring a more thorough understanding of life instead of leaving it up to a mystical apparition where you gotta have faith becomes the scapegoat. Personally, I believe it is man’s own lethargic behavior that prevents him from mastering himself, not that we are incapable of such a feat by not accessing a subjective phantasmic spectacle.
As written in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, "man, know thyself".
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The biggest part comes from believing the Bible is the exact word of God, then deciding what to take literally and how to interpret it. People are not taught the different bibles, different writers that were left out by the Council of Nicea. They are not taught all the items that should be obeyed that are uncomfortable these days. They are not taught that their preacher has only "interpreted" God's word and they should find their own answers within. People are not taught that in those days of the Bible, people learned through stories, because nobody could read or write, the message was taught, but we now take things literally, pull bits and pieces out and define the most separatist parts to differentiate one believer from another.
Words in a book are limited. Definitions limit us. God cannot be found in a book. I think you have a valid argument.
I read your entire question. First l would ask if you've ever read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. If you did, you would find that the Bible has allegorical elements as well as literal elements. Even Jesus said that concerning "Communion". He said that the bread and wine "represented" His body and blood, it was not literally, as some disciples misunderstood. Now concerning ancient Egyptian insight and knowledge, God blessed them with certain abilities and resources. The problem is that these blessings were suppose to guide them into an appreciation of the "True" God. As a people, some embraced God but as a nation most worshiped demons as god. Concerning demon possession. Some mental illness may be purely medical but make no mistake about it some of these cases are demon based. The fact that these people can be marginally treated by medicine is not suspicious.
The same physical buttons pushed by the spirit demons are some of the same buttons the doctors are addressing with medication.
A spiritual cure would be more effective but some simply do not respond to the spiritual element. Also, my question to you would be do you believe God exists or not? It sounds to me like you do not!
As i understand it, the reason goes back to the changeover from nomadic life to agrarian life.
With nomads a man had to do all things so a man became known as a warrior due to his skill and became a shaman due to his insight.
While in the agrarian society there was specialisation and training from childhood. This means that the son of a warrior would become a soldier without experiencing battle. His teaching to the next generation would be good but would miss the fundamental truth. In the same way a Priest would be the son of a Priest and teach others even though they had not had the mystical awakening.
Thus each generation saw a rise in the percentage of people who 'knew' but did not understand. Thus were unable to teach truth to all.
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Good observations.
First, I agree with the other answerer that thinking is not for everyone. Philosophy is deep and complex. The person must be equipped with good reasoning tools, objective data, sufficient brain power, and lots and lots of time to study, analyze, and reevaluate positions. It is a lifetime process. Most people just do not have the resources for it and they concede to "trusting the majority". And currently the majority still follow religions.
Second, spirituality is about finding inner peace when facing the deepest fear of death. Beliefs stemmed out of this fear and hope for eternal existence. And, religions are cocktails of beliefs, supernatural constructs, and dogmas that fulfill most people's spiritual needs.
The bottom line is religions do give most people their spiritual needs of inner peace. That's all that matters to them. Analyzing deeper only scares and confuses them so they don't even try. The annoying part is when they push their beliefs onto others. And the ugly part is when they condemn others to death and even act on that.
Thinking is not for everyone. And those who don't like to think through religious/metaphysical questions for reasons of fear or apathy or need to focus the brain elsewhere, just want to be handed some pablum and go about their lives. Unfortunately, this leads to situations where the uncritically accepted religion handed to them family or friends, starts running up against other belief systems. Now the nonreligious thinking is forced into a compare and contrast quandary that leads to more fear. As a knee jerk reaction to that fear of diversity and cosmopolitanism, the retrench deeply into their received religion, angrily growling when anything different approaches.
Truthbearer is the delusional one. The other guy was asking for proof, silly. Of course oxygen and wind exist, it's been proven scientifically. You need oxygen to survive, if it didn't exist, neither would you. Even based on your Christian beliefs (guessing that's your religion) you don't even represent what your Bible teaches correctly. Why even answer with such ignorance? A person can be an honest seeker and still be Atheist. It's what they've "decided" to be truth.
It is due to the fact that there are many unworthy teachers and not enough sincere students.
I didn't read all that, but your short, simple question is really the heart of the matter isn't it? I think that people are afraid of fear itself, and would rather have an explanation outside of themselves.
For man to know himself is for man to know God ! It is by knowing God, that man knows himself ! It is within this knowledge of God, that humans arrive [become] acquistioneers of his or her human potential, as God enables them through His love, grace and mercy and he or she responds to it !
ICEBERG WARNING!!
Hidden underneath the tip is one massive block of frozen text.