All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei

God is no more a supernatural entity than our own consciousness. Created in the image of God, imagine, if you can, that beyond the materialistic world, the human consciousness is more than a gray glob in our skulls. Like our own consciousness, there exists a higher intelligence in the universe that is not only conscious but also sentient and has the ability to physically manipulate elements on a cosmic scale. God has feelings for all of creation. God is creative and can express love and anger. God created the universe using mathematical principles and artistic structure seen in every minute part we can observe.

For science to dismiss religion is foolish. For religion to ignore science is foolish. God created humans to be wise, to learn, to seek knowledge, and to praise God for all the wonders we discover along the way.

Many of the things I am writing about are inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Unlike in ancient times, we do not need a middleman to teach us about God. If you truly believe in one God and the love God has for us, only ask and the Holy Spirit will speak to your heart and offer the best guidance you can find.

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right. Abraham Lincoln

Definitions

God – The one God is a higher intelligence, a single consciousness not dissimilar to our own, who, through the “Bigger Plan,” brought our universe and reality as we know it into existence. God designed physical laws and instilled order. To know the human consciousness exists is to know the consciousness of God exists, as we were made in God’s image.

gods – The term “gods” is applied to other beings or even other humans who are seen to possess more knowledge or powers than the receiver.

Homo primus – The first humans to build large civilizations on Earth from approximately 150 million years ago until now. They currently live in isolated settlements a few miles beneath the Earth’s and Moon’s surface.

Homo neanderthalensis – a devolved descendent of Homo primus who survived surface devastations in prehistory. They are known to have lived in Europe from about 400,000 years ago until 30,000 years ago. Their ability to survive and the strengths they gained made them the perfect model to rebuild human civilization. After being genetically modified through selective breeding, they were replaced by Homo sapiens.

Homo sapiens – The current version of humanity who has lived on the surface of the planet Earth for the past 30,000 years.

Bigger Plan Theory: Structure is required in order to create a universe in the midst of an infinite void. If one has access to an infinite amount of knowledge and infinite resources, it is theoretically possible to design a finite universe based on energy, motion, physical laws, and elements. Add to that life, which can replicate itself with nearly infinite variations based on a single base design. Set one creature apart that will oversee all that develops and is endowed with its own consciousness to think and create with a sense of love, morality, and free will. Let this reality develop and become more organized on its own; do not interfere with the seeds of creation.

Higher Intelligence Theory: A singular consciousness exists within the very fabric of the universe. It is purposefully motivated to produce new things by means of natural processes, to maintain structure, and to generate variety.

The Bigger Plan Theory

The “Bigger Plan Theory” is probably not the best terminology in relation to God’s plan. I use this term loosely to strongly relate it to the scientific belief in the Big Bang Theory. It is already accepted in much of the scientific community that everything we can observe has some type of structure to it. The structure, which is much more complex than is possible from a random explosion of a singular atom or through evolution.

There is much more proof for the Bigger Plan Theory than there is for the Big Bang. We can observe, analyze, and test the existence of complex structures in every part of our natural world. These complex structures could not have come about by accident. There is no one in human history who can claim credit for it. It undeniably supports the existence of another conscious being in the universe greater than our understanding who can influence outcomes in the natural world. This God like being is real, not supernatural, no more supernatural than our own consciousness.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. Psalm 33:6

In the Beginning

In the beginning, there was an infinite universe filled with dark matter and without light, it was one, all was in perfect balance. As we know it, time has not yet begun; for time to exist from a human perspective, we need a beginning. God, a single consciousness, a higher intelligence, existing beyond time and space as we know them, within and as that which is for all of eternity, saw the darkness and created the universe.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Genesis

In the scientific community, this is known as the “Big Bang,” a fracture within the otherwise infinite universe. In other words, God had a bright idea, and the seeds of creation started to grow. It was much more than a big bang. The finite universe we know and can see was structured with a “Bigger Plan”, an outline, so that it might grow into reality itself. The clock began ticking 13.7 billion years ago.

The universe that came about is a vast expanse of space that contains everything that has ever physically existed and will ever exist. The universe incorporates all of the observable elements, including galaxies, stars, and planets. Nobody really knows how big the universe actually is. The expansion that brought our universe into existence happened faster than the speed of light, as observed, through scientific studies. All matter that exists today originated at that point in cosmic history. The Earth and our solar system were still just dust clouds in the expanse of what we now call the universe. The seeds of creation were set in motion following “The Bigger Plan”.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein

Then There Was light

Then there was light, or rather, the illusion of light. Light is what our mind interprets based on the frequency of mechanical waves in dark matter. The universe was set in motion by the spirit of God. Light was created by the ripples of creation in dark matter. It took time for the light to spread itself into the newly created universe. The stars sing praise to God eternally; we hear their music with our eyes.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis

There is a widely held belief in the scientific community that electromagnetic waves are a mystical form of energy that is responsible for the transmission of light. The most significant distinction between electromagnetic waves and mechanical waves is that mechanical waves are disturbances that move through a medium, whereas electromagnetic waves do not need a medium to travel through, per se. The crux of the matter is that conventional scientific thought up until relatively recently held that space was an empty void consisting of nothing, which has since been disproved. However, improving science is much simpler in theory than in practice.

Contrary to what most scientists think, light is not some mysterious form of electromagnetic radiation from a photon particle without mass. Instead, light is a type of mechanical wave. Both sound and light are made of mechanical waves reacting within a medium. Sound waves, being much slower than light waves, require a denser medium to travel in. Light waves, on the other hand, can travel faster through much less dense dark matter, which could be made of axons or neutrinos. If it were not for dark matter, we would not see the stars. This strange relationship between light being waves and the particles that are moving in waves being dark matter that fill the space between everything else also explains a lot of the “spooky action at a distance.” More about that later on. Light is the frequency of mechanical waves in dark matter received by our eyes and interpreted by our brain, very similar to sound but at a much higher frequency.

Contrary to popular belief, photons are not light particles; since photons are described as having no mass, they cannot exist. Light is mechanical waves of particles that have a very low mass, possibly dark matter particles, axions, or neutrinos, all of which are smaller than electrons. The only particle of this size we have confirmed is a neutrino. The neutrino is a fundamental particle in particle physics that has a very low mass. The universe contains more matter consisting of neutrinos than any other type of particle.

For simplicity’s sake, we will stick with the contradictory term “dark matter,” which could be any of these small particles or a combination of many, much as air is a mixture of molecules that mechanical waves of sound travel through.

Based on the frequency of mechanical waves within dark matter, we interpret it in our minds as light. Much like sound waves travel through the air, which does not produce sound on its own, dark matter does not reflect or produce light on its own. It is the frequency of waves in dark matter that our minds interpret as light. Waves are made in dark matter when a star’s fires heat it up. We can see the stars because our eyes have evolved to be able to pick up on this mechanical wave frequency, which our minds then interpret as light.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Albert Einstein

Created To Serve God

The Bigger Plan contained all the basics of what it took for our universe to develop. But God saw that it needed guidance—a view from within the creation itself. So, God created angels from the light of the heavens to guide and oversee the development on Earth. They did not have free will as humans; their only purpose was to serve God and do his bidding in making sure creation evolved as it should.

According to the Bible, God created angels for one purpose: to carry out God’s will. They were made to do God’s bidding or to be God’s hands and feet on Earth.

The angels were present when God laid the foundations of the earth, and they gave thanks to God for the splendor and majesty of the work that God had done.

Angels are created beings. They are an entirely separate type of creature from humans. They are as different from us as we are from the animals. Angels are intelligent beings; they are emotional beings, and each has an individual personality and will. Angels can possess an existing physical form but for the most part exist without a physical body. But unlike humans, they have developed greater mental abilities, including telepathy.

Both good and evil angels are created beings, and they do not have limitless knowledge. They cannot be everywhere at once, and they are not as powerful as God. Satan (Lucifer) is considered a leader of the angels who went against God’s will to provide humans with forbidden knowledge—he is nowhere near as powerful as God.

However, angels are much more powerful than human beings and possess greater knowledge. Angels understand the religions of the world and even assisted in establishing some of them, and they believe in the prophecies of God. Even the fallen angels dwelling here, who went against God’s bigger plan, are not atheists; they know that God exists. Angels also understand humanity very well. They do not have to study the past, for they have experienced it. There are a limited number of angels, and they do not reproduce as we do.

Because of their longevity, we can assume that they have much greater knowledge and understanding of God and humanity than we do. Angels, like all created beings, are subject to the will of God. The good angels are mobilized by God to come to the aid of believers. We can read about them in scripture, folklore, and mythology. They do many other things as well, including praising and worshiping God. The angels rejoice in God’s works, and they serve God. They stand before God in God’s presence. They proclaim God’s judgments. They minister to humans and sometimes bring answers to prayers, messages from God, and knowledge. They watch humanity at work and suffer. They encourage and care for believers in God when they die.

The angels were not created in God’s image, as humans were, though it appears that they have or can take on physical form. The most important things we can learn from the angels are their submission to God and their right view of God.

Each of these angels is responsible for a unique set of tasks, with Michael serving as a warrior, Raphael as a guardian, and Gabriel as a messenger. But they all work toward the same goal, which is to serve God by assisting the people he loves and bringing glory to God in the process.

It is not known precisely where angels dwell, whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God’s pleasure that we should be informed of their abode.
Voltaire

Solar System

In accordance with the will of God and “The Bigger Plan” after the formation of the universe, our solar system began to coalesce into the planetary system that we call home approximately 4.5 billion years ago. This system is situated in the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

The spirit of God patiently observed as the details of the “Bigger Plan” came together. A dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust gave rise to the formation of our solar system approximately 4.5 billion years ago. When this dust cloud exploded, it caused the formation of a solar nebula, which is a disk of material that spins and swirls.

More and more material was drawn towards the center as a result of gravity. After some time, the pressure inside the core eventually became so high that hydrogen atoms began to combine and form helium, which in turn released a significant quantity of energy. Our sun was born at that moment, and it went on to gather more than 99 percent of the available matter over the course of its lifetime.

Additionally, matter located further out in the disk began to clump together. These clumps collided with one another, forming objects that became progressively more massive as the collisions continued. Some of them eventually grew large enough for their gravitational pull to shape them into spheres; these were the objects that eventually developed into planets, dwarf planets, and large moons. In other instances, planets did not come into existence; for example, the asteroid belt is composed of fragments of the early solar system that were never quite able to assemble themselves into a planet. Other, smaller pieces that were left over eventually evolved into asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and irregular, miniature moons.

Because of the way in which our solar system formed, the planets and other bodies in our solar system are ordered and arranged the way that they are today. When the sun was young and the solar system was young, the only material that could withstand the heat was rocky material. Because of this, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are all considered to be terrestrial planets. They are the first four planets in our solar system. They are all relatively small and have stony, solid surfaces.

During this time, the forms of matter that are most familiar to us, such as ice, liquid, and gas, began to settle in the outer regions of the young solar system. These components were drawn closer together by gravity, and the result was the formation of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn as well as the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.

The spirit of God, the Architect, saw that which had come together and was pleased.

Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. Albert Einstein

Formation of Earth

Over 4.5 billion years ago, in the vicinity of a young sun, a conglomeration of dust and gas coalesced to become the planet Earth. When the Earth was young, its atmosphere was nearly nonexistent. As the planet cooled, gases emitted by volcanoes on Earth were captured by gravity and formed the beginnings of an atmosphere.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so. Genesis

As a result of one final catastrophic collision with an object roughly the size of Mars, Earth attained its present dimensions with a single gigantic continent in the midst of the oceans. Because of its magnitude, this final collision, also known as the “moon-forming impact,” vaporized some of the rock and metal from both the proto-Earth and the impacting object, adding a great deal of material to the Earth. The disc of vapor that formed around the Earth and later solidified into the moon at that time, the moon would have filled the sky, only 14,000 miles from the Earth’s surface.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years; and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

The Earth we see now is a far cry from the planet that existed immediately after the impact that formed the moon. The early Earth was covered in a magma ocean, a layer of molten rock hundreds of miles deep melted by the energy released during the collision, whereas oceans cover much of the surface on the modern Earth. Water would only be present as a vapor in the air.

After the magma ocean cooled down enough to form a solid surface, the Earth’s atmosphere was refilled over time by water and other gases brought to the surface by comets and meteorites. The waters receded, leaving the land dry.

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

Plate tectonics, the shifting of Earth’s large tectonic plates, is triggered by the circulation of the mantle below the crust. Mountains and volcanoes formed as a result of collision and friction, and they released gases as a byproduct of the process.

Even though there aren’t very many comets and asteroids that make it through the inner solar system these days, there were a lot more of them when the sun, planets, and everything in between were younger. Collisions between these cosmic bodies likely deposited much of the water on Earth’s surface. Earth is divided into four major components: the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. It is also the only planet with an abundance of liquid water and the natural elements required for life as we know it.

Earth, the third planet from the Sun, is the only known habitable world. Earth is the only planet in our solar system we know of where water can exist in liquid form on the surface. The Earth is the largest of the four terrestrial planets closest to the Sun, and it is primarily composed of rock and metal like the other three.

The favorable conditions of the Earth’s temperature and chemical composition have allowed for the rapid proliferation of life. Most of Earth is covered in liquid water, making it one of the few planets where life is possible due to the temperature ranges over which these liquids can exist. Around 3.8 billion years ago, the oceans on Earth were a perfect place for life to emerge.

Earth is the only planet with just one moon within our solar system. When looking up at the night sky, the moon is the first and most obvious thing you’ll notice. The moon plays an essential role in making Earth a pleasant place to live. As a result, our planet’s wobble is reduced, which has reduced climate variability over thousands of years.

The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love. Sitting Bull

Evolution by the Bigger Plan

In the beginning the Earth was a violently churning environment. Volcanoes were erupting; earthquakes shook the very foundations of the earth itself. Thunderous roars of lightning tore through the skies. The oceans were constantly churning due to the proximity of our young moon. Over the next 700,000 years, an almost infinite number of chemical processes took place. Eventually, 3.8 billion years ago, the keys to life were brought together The Bigger Plan in this turmoil and began to combine into single-cell life forms. These led to more complex multicell structures.

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. Genesis

Life began in the oceans, and from there it spread to land and air. The higher intelligence that brought about the beginnings of our universe included a plan for life. It was built into the “Bigger Plan” from the beginning. Life emerged from chemical processes in Earth’s early oceans. Simple chemical precursors, such as water, carbon, hydrogen, and other elements, mixed and mingled until they formed complex polymers like DNA, RNA, and protein—the building blocks of life. The first life forms to emerge were plants.

Scientists are still looking for proof that chemical ingredients can spontaneously assemble themselves, become wrapped in a membrane, and divide. In other words, there is still a missing link between the chemistry of early life and its subsequent biology. Scientists fail to recognize that everything we see in nature required a helping hand, a higher intelligence, and a conscious God to bring into being.

Approximately 3.8 billion years ago, the first elements of the “Bigger Plan” started to come together to form the basics of life on Earth. The existence of carbon-based molecules, liquid water, and an energy source are all prerequisites for the development of life. It is not well understood how God specifically created life on Earth, but it is known that the conditions that are necessary for the formation of life do exist. The “Bigger Plan” included the building blocks of life as well as a blueprint for all life to grow and multiply from.

God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and thinks in man. Arthur Young

The God Process

God has shown a character of a hands-off approach to every religious event in scripture other than Genesis. a book written 2,000 years ago. The author is not confirmed, possibly by Moses, but no one is even sure about that. The early church needed written words to confirm how everything came about, they included the book of Genesis as part of the canonical accepted Bible.

When I look at the book of Genesis, I see a god portrayed as a magician. A supernatural entity that does not follow his own laws of creation shown everywhere else in scripture and in the natural world. Every element in the cosmos, be it a plant or an animal, a rock or a particle of matter or a wave of light, is subject to laws that it is obligated to follow and does not have a choice but to do so. Because the logic of God is embedded into the universe, we can be certain that the cosmos does not operate according to accident or chance alone. Nothing happens instantaneously as if by magic. Magic does not exist in that sense.

Everything abides by the laws of chemistry that are logically derived from the laws of physics, the majority of which can be logically derived from other laws of physics as well as the laws of mathematics. The most fundamental laws of nature only exist because God wills them to; they are the rational, orderly way that God upholds and sustains the universe that God has created.

If God did not want them to exist, then they would not exist at all. To sustain life, a certain chemistry is required. Chemical reactions provide the energy that powers our bodies, and these reactions are dependent on the laws of chemistry operating in a consistent manner. DNA is a very long molecule that stores information, including the information that makes up every living thing. If the rules of chemistry were different, there would be no way for there to be life on Earth as we know it. The laws of chemistry that God created were crafted in such a way as to make it possible for there to be life.

As we have seen, the laws of nature are dependent not only on other laws of nature, but also, and most importantly, on the will of God. Therefore, God devised the laws of physics in such a way as to ensure that the laws of chemistry would be accurate, thereby allowing for the possibility of life to exist. It is highly unlikely that any human being could have solved such a difficult puzzle given the circumstances. Nevertheless, God has accomplished this.

Because atheism and naturalism are incompatible worldviews, the atheist is unable to provide an explanation for these natural laws, despite the fact that he acknowledges that they must be true. As a result of the fact that God’s power was used to create the universe, we anticipate that it will be structured in a rational, in a timely and orderly manner and will adhere to a set of consistent laws.

Based on my understanding God never works as a magician. It is forbidden in scriptures and many religions to work magic. So why would God magically speak everything into existence in a combination of events over a short 6-day period and break his own laws. It does not make sense. My conclusion is the book of Genesis was an inspired work by a religious person who also had a creative side of his own. My God gave us a consciousness mirrored from his own existence to think, discover and to seek out knowledge. It is my belief that God has a plan for a reality that could grow on its own following a set of laws included in the “Bigger Plan” for all things.

This means that evolution as the source of life on Earth is true as long as it follows the laws written into nature by God. There are no contradictions if you recognize God is a conscious being similar to our own consciousness. We are the children of God. We were created in God’s image. But it did not happen in a day. It takes 9 months for a baby to grow and develop a consciousness, Jesus was no exception. If we followed the thinking of Genesis, then why everywhere in scripture and the natural world does everything take so much time. God does not break his own laws.

It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed. James Prescott Joule

Bigger Plan for Life

These basic organic molecules are the stuff of life. A rain of organic molecules, synthesized in the early Earth’s atmosphere, fell into the water. The genetic material for all known forms of life, RNA and DNA molecules, are merely very long chains of very simple nucleotides.

Natural Selection.

Reproduction is the process by which all living things copy their genetic material and pass it on to offspring. Because of this, the ability to replicate the molecules that carry genetic information is a crucial step in the development of life. Initially, this capability manifested as a self-replicating RNA molecule.

Because of this, RNA became indispensable, taking on the roles of genetic information carrier, self-replicator, and basic metabolic regulator. These functions are now carried out by a wide variety of molecules (primarily DNA, RNA, and proteins), but in the RNA world, RNA was responsible for them all.

Due to self-replication, natural selection was able to take place. Some early replicators would have been better than others at copying themselves, leading to larger populations once a self-replicating molecule formed. These super-replicators would have proliferated until an accident caused the construction of a super-super-replicator, at which point the latter variant would have become dominant. The gradual accumulation of small changes in replicating molecules under continuous natural selection led to the eventual evolution of a stable, efficient replicating system.

A Cell Membrane.

A protocell’s internal environment could be different from its external environment, which was a huge benefit of the evolution of a membrane surrounding the genetic material. These encased replicators must have been so much more advantageous than “naked” replicators due to the presence of cell membranes. With this development, an organism similar to a contemporary bacterium could have emerged.

Development of Life

RNA had been the workhorse of life until recently. DNA (which is more stable than RNA) became the genetic material, proteins (which are often more efficient promoters of chemical reactions than RNA) took over basic metabolic reactions in the cell, and RNA was relegated to the role of messenger, transporting information from the DNA to the protein-building centers in the cell. The RNA world would have ended had these innovations been incorporated into cells, which would have easily outcompeted “traditional” cells with RNA-based metabolisms.

Multicellularity Evolution

Some cells stopped going in different directions after replication as early as two billion years ago, allowing for the development of specialized roles. For example, fossilized red algae date back 1.2 billion years and are the direct ancestors of all multicellular life on Earth.

Other developments, however, were also taking place. Microbes are capable of processing a wide variety of chemicals, but they lack the specialized cells required for complex bodies. Skin, blood, and bone cells are just a few examples of the many types of cells in an animal’s body, each of which contains organelles that perform specific functions. Microbes are single cells that lack organelles and a nucleus, which means that their DNA is not packaged.

A revolutionary change occurred when microbes learned to live inside other microbes and act as organelles for them. These symbiotic partnerships paved the way for the development of mitochondria, the organelles responsible for converting nutrients into energy. In addition, DNA began to be enclosed in nuclei for the first time. “Eukaryotic cells,” the new complex cells, featured specialized components that performed specialized roles essential to the cell’s survival.

There was a shift toward cell cooperation and communal living because of the obvious advantages of doing so. It is possible that larger groups of cells can better utilize nutrients or enjoy greater safety due to their larger size. When cells began to share a habitat, they developed a system where each member contributed in some way to meeting the collective’s needs. While other cells were responsible for producing digestive enzymes, others were tasked with making junctions to hold the group together.

Living Creatures

Trying to explain the origins of life is difficult. Science says it might have happened through evolution over millions of years. But no one is sure, and there is no evidence that it happened that way other than there is no other explanation that is logical. It is a common misconception that faith and science are incompatible with one another. But the truth is that every branch of science depends on a foundation of faith because it presupposes the unchanging and consistent nature of God’s natural laws.

Creationists and the Bible say it happened like magic by the power of a supernatural God; one day there was nothing, and the next, the Earth magically was teeming with a variety of life forms. This is impossible because it violates the rest of scripture and Gods natural laws.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” Genesis

My belief is that included in the “Bigger Plan” included the basic design for a variety of life forms. This eventually gave rise to humans, which God blessed with an image of his own consciousness. It gave early humans the ability to be creative and rise above all other life. The variety of life on Earth was very limited in the beginning. Everything in nature has its own time and place.

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Arthur Conan Doyle

In God’s Image

It is our anthropocentric view of ourselves that limits our vision to the possibility that Homo sapiens is not the original creation of man. God, in all his wisdom, gave birth from the elements of the Earth to the first sentient beings through his shared spirit in the form of man, Homo primus.

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”

The issue that is frequently debated in religious circles revolves around whether Adam was the first. Some believe there were other civilizations before Adam. The problem lies in defining who and when Adam was.

God created Adam and Eve right after he created the first animals, dinosaurs. Adam had the power to rule over all of creation. God shared knowledge of how the animal kingdom could be molded through genetics and selective breeding to provide for the needs of the early human species.

The first humans were brought into a prehistoric paradise. It was their wrong use of knowledge that corrupted that paradise and brought about a judgement from God that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Today, in mythology and ancient writings we have come to know the first humans as watchers, demons, angels, jinn, messengers, gods, and even aliens. The first humans to create civilizations were not Homo sapiens. For the sake of breaking free of scriptural references, I will refer to them as Homo primus. For millions of years since the destruction of paradise, their civilization has survived in isolation until present day in cavernous areas miles under the Earth’s crust, per se our own belief in fallen angels, hell and demons underground. If you find that hard to believe, consider how many tribal groups we know about who still live in isolation in the jungles.

When Homo primus civilizations lived on the surface, they never developed industry in the same way that Homo sapiens has. Instead, they adapted techniques for modifying nature itself to meet all of their needs in accordance with God’s will. This is the eventual direction any advanced civilization has to follow, including our own, if we are to survive. Without biodiversity, the planet’s ecosystem is not sustainable.

Original Jurassic World

Using the same tools in nature that developed life on Earth, Homo primus made genetic modifications, creating a world filled with diversity. Eventually creating new life forms became more of an art than a necessity. Originally, most animals that had developed through natural evolution per the “Bigger Plan” were small. Homo primus wanted bigger and better creatures to serve their needs.

As the early humans expanded into larger civilizations across the globe, they eventually improved their scientific studies into the evolutionary process, which had given birth to the first life forms. Using their knowledge, they modified existing life forms to create new versions of animals that better suited their needs.

Eventually, this got out of control. These ancient humans began to use animals and nature to fight each other. They genetically altered the smaller reptiles to grow into gigantic dinosaurs. This gave rise to creatures which could destroy entire cities.

Homo primus played a role in the evolution of life in a variety of shapes and sizes, from the terrifying Spinosaurus to the chicken-sized Micro raptor, which could survive in a variety of ecosystems. There was fighting among the Homo primus. They used the dinosaurs as weapons of mass destruction. It was an evil world of destruction, murder, and rage. Not all the problems Homo primus developed were intentional. Nature can be unpredictable when it comes to modifying genetic code and balancing predators to prey.

Dinosaurs were genetic mutations of God’s creations brought about by the first human wars. It explains all the mythology we have from the ancient texts of dragons and behemoths. There are still many references left in the Bible that refer to other humans or humanoid versions of angels. Various myths record this time as fallen angels, humans being expelled from paradise, mythology is often based on some truths. These truths were handed down to many generations until now.

You can read more about Homo primus, AKA Onci, with evidence how they lived in my book:

Who Were the First Humans on Earth? Earths Original Inhabitants, We Are Not Alone

Mass Extinction

God saw all that Homo primus had done and was not pleased. God warned Homo primus that he would destroy much of the life they created with a giant comet and floods that would cover the planet. They had to build an ark deep underground and take with them the seeds for life in the form of the smaller creatures that existed. Some of the Homo primus already living within caverns created on the moon expanded their presence there to save their civilization.

A massive comet that struck the earth 65 million years ago was responsible for the extinction of nearly all life on the planet. It is now believed that an impact by a comet or an asteroid that occurred approximately 65 million years ago near the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico was the primary cause of the mass extinction of more than 75 percent of the planet’s living organisms, which included the dinosaurs.

The mammals were small creatures that Homo primus saved at the time, and it appeared that they were able to survive the catastrophic impact without too much trouble. These mammals did exceptionally well after many of their larger foes, which included dinosaurs, were eradicated. The fact that humans are descended from such simple mammals suggests that our current position at the top of the food chain on Earth may be due to comets and asteroids colliding with the planet in the distant past.

Life brings death. Death brings life.

Living Underground

It took the planet nearly 10 million years to recover from the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Homo primus adapted to living underground.

There are many other animals that live underground, some in habitats that Homo primus developed and others naturally. There are numerous tales and legends that lend credence to the idea that there are beings that live beneath the earth.

Environment

Subterranean colonies of Homo primus can be found on every continent, and they hail from a wide variety of orders and families. Because of the unique challenges presented by life underground, the number of its inhabitants is extremely low. The absence of sunlight is the defining feature of underground environments. Temperature and relative humidity are two climatic values that are remarkably consistent: the former is the same as the annual mean temperature at the location where the cavity opens, and the latter rarely falls below 90%.

Obtaining food was difficult in the beginning because supplies were scarce and scattered. Due to the lack of sunlight, photosynthetic processes are inhibited, and the epigean environment is the sole source of nutrition (through percolating water, gravity, or passive transport by animals). Decomposing animals and bat guano are two of the most important food sources in caves, which in turn support dense invertebrate populations.

Biological Changes

Homo primus has adapted both morphologically and physiologically to the unique conditions found underground. Depigmentation, large eyes, and, in the extreme, anophthalmia are all examples of morphological adaptations. They also developed a thinner body structure due to the living conditions underground and a lower gravity.

Due to a lack of food when they first migrated underground and the inefficient use of energy, the body adapted by slowing its metabolism and cutting back on energy consumption. This is likely to be achieved through restraint, the elimination of hostile interactions, enhancements to feeding capability and food utilization efficiency, and ectothermy. This allows them to go longer without food, reproduce later in life, and have fewer offspring.

Biology and ecology

Stratigraphic barriers, such as cliffs and layers of rock, and fluvial barriers, like rivers and streams, prevent or impede the movement of the species. Initially, they had a hard time adapting to the wide variations in landscapes because their habitat and food supply were so patchy. Over time, they molded the environment to better suit their needs.

Impacts

The availability of habitat, food, and connectivity to other habitats, as well as oxygen, all severely impacted by floodwaters, made life difficult for their species in their first time underground. They were highly sensitive to changes in their environment and floods, which often accompany drops in temperature.

Second Creation – Restoration

This is how God brought about a restoration of the Earth after the great destruction. Following the “Bigger Plan” eventually life returned to normal on the Earth’s surface. Homo primus chose to remain isolated underground as their bodies had adapted to the subterranean environment completely.

Though limited mostly to living underground, Homo primus was able to interact with the surface environment on a limited basis. They repopulated the biodiversity on the surface and expanded it with a correct balance of prey and predators.

They became known as the watchers and were often confused with demons, angels, and even gods. Homo primus, through the will of God, molded Homo sapiens through evolution and genetic modifications into their likeness and, with the will of God, blessed early humans with the spirit of God. Homo sapiens eventually emerged as the dominant humanoid species on the surface around 300,000 years ago.

The original bodies of both species of humans differed anatomically. Homo primus had much bigger elongated skulls than Homo sapiens, who has a thinner-walled, high-vaulted skull with a flat and nearly vertical forehead. There are other variations between the two species, such as Homo primus having developed very large eyes, thinner body frame and almost grey colored skin due to the underground living environment.

Scientists sometimes use the term “anatomically modern Homo sapiens” to refer to members of our own species who lived during prehistoric times.

Homo sapiens has been communicating with Homo primus for nearly 6,000 years. It was Homo primus’s responsibility to establish a solid civilization and educate Homo sapiens about God’s will and how society should behave. Many messengers from Homo primus have delivered messages from God. We have developed a plethora of beliefs and religions as a result of varying interpretations of the messages delivered.

The Earth through nature lives eternally.
Glenn Madden

Early Humans

The species that you and all other living human beings on this planet surface belong to is Homo sapiens. During a time of dramatic climate change 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. Like other early humans that were living at this time, they gathered and hunted food and evolved behaviors that helped them respond to the challenges of survival in unstable environments.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

It all started in the Garden of Eden, as recorded in the Bible. Earth was still a dangerous place. Homo primus, per God’s will, established an area on the planet where Homo sapiens could live in perfect contentment, the Garden of Eden. Some of the Homo primus saw this as a limitation on the growth of Homo sapiens as a species and interfered. As the story goes, humans were expelled from the Garden of Eden for opening the Book of Knowledge. Homo primus had given Homo sapiens knowledge. It was this move that forced Homo sapiens to advance and find ways to survive.

Unlike every other human species, Homo sapiens does not have a true type specimen. In other words, there is not a particular Homo sapiens individual that researchers recognize as being the specimen that gave Homo sapiens its name. A lot of this confusion comes from the direct involvement of Homo primus in our species’ evolution.

According to the Book of Enoch, the watchers / Homo primus was to keep an eye on the human race. Soon after, they develop a lust for human females, and, at the urging of their leader, they turn traitor as a group in order to secretly teach humanity and procreate among them.

The true story has been lost to time as who the watchers really are. But we can see from the genetic history of DNA where the descendants of Homo primus existing on the surface, AKA Neanderthals, interbred with Homo sapiens.

Knowledge

Prehistoric Homo sapiens not only made and used stone tools, but they also specialized them and made a variety of smaller, more complex, refined, and specialized tools, including composite stone tools, fishhooks and harpoons, bows and arrows, spear throwers, and sewing needles. For millions of years, all humans, early and modern alike, had to find their own food. They spent a large part of each day gathering plants and hunting or scavenging animals. By 164,000 years ago, modern humans were collecting and cooking shellfish, and by 90,000 years ago, modern humans had begun making special fishing tools. Then, within just the past 12,000 years, our species, Homo sapiens, made the transition to producing food and changing our surroundings. Through the guidance of Homo primus, humans found they could control the growth and breeding of certain plants and animals.

This discovery led to farming and herding animals, activities that transformed Earth’s natural landscapes—first locally, then globally. As humans invested more time in producing food, they settled down. Villages became towns, and towns became cities. With more food available, the human population began to increase dramatically. Our species has been so successful that it has inadvertently created a turning point in the history of life on Earth.

Modern humans evolved a unique combination of physical and behavioral characteristics, many of which other early human species also possessed, though not to the same degree. The complex brains of modern humans enable them to interact with each other and their surroundings in new and different ways. As the environment became more unpredictable, bigger brains helped our ancestors survive. They made specialized tools and used tools to make other tools, as described above; they ate a variety of animal and plant foods; they had control over fire; they lived in shelters; they built broad social networks, sometimes including people they had never even met; they exchanged resources over wide areas; and they created art, music, personal adornment, rituals, and a complex symbolic world. Modern humans have spread to every continent and vastly expanded their numbers. They have altered the world in ways that benefit them greatly. But this transformation has unintended consequences for other species as well as humans, creating new survival challenges.

The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Assisted Development

The ancient civilization of Homo primus had split into two belief systems. Both believed they were doing the will of God. But the ones dwelling on the moon developed a belief that their civilization should only watch over and assist Earth when it was in trouble.

While the Homo primus that chose to dwell underground on Earth saw the same belief as a necessity to have a strong influence over what happened on Earth, following this philosophy, they assisted in the restoration and influenced a wide variety of life forms once the Earth was habitable again. Their influence was not restricted to fish, birds, animals, insects, and plants. They assisted in the adaptation and evolution of a bipedal humanoid creature called Homo sapiens that could eventually rebuild their own civilization for them.

Homo sapiens was endowed through the evolutionary control of Homo primus with many of the same characteristics that led to the dinosaurs needing to be destroyed. The primary needs of superiority, survival, and aggressiveness that made the age of the dinosaurs so evil were engrained into the genetic structure of Homo sapiens. The Amygdala region of the brain is named after the reptilian brain. It is the third and innermost region of the human brain. This is the most ancient part of the brain, and it’s the part that’s responsible for making decisions 90% of the time. The fight-or-flight response is under its control, and it operates according to its own set of guidelines, outside of the moral obligations of society. Furthermore, it is instinctively capable of processing information at lightning-fast speeds.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Mahatma Gandhi

It has been a battle between the two political parties of Homo primus. The first, conservatives, are those who feel they are following God’s will by mostly observing humans. The second group, the non-conservatives, is the Homo primus, who believe it is their responsibility to be in direct control to help humans build civilizations.

Aside from mostly theological interventions, the conservative Homo primus has remained invisible to humanity. They have the ability to communicate by telepathy.

On the other hand, the non-conservatives have been actively involved with humanity from the start. They have even taken humans as babies and trained them for interactions with other humans on the surface. Often seen as messengers, angels, and even gods, these modified versions of humanity, have delivered messages and even set up schools for teaching humanity advanced methods of survival.

It has not stopped with just survival; our current level of technology came from Homo primus. It took millions of years for Homo primus to develop their technological civilization. Modern humanity has reached similar levels in a mere 5,000 years. Even more incredible is the jump in technology over the past 100 years.

The mediation by the serpent was necessary. Evil can seduce man but cannot become man. Franz Kafka

Educating Humanity

God entrusted Homo primus with the task of observing and guiding humanity toward the creation of a new civilization. Not only did they assist with the evolutionary development of the final design, Homo sapiens, but the Homo primus has also been directly in contact with humans until now, influencing how our civilization develops.

The Homo primus who took refuge on Earth have been aiding humans since long before the rise of Homo sapiens. In ancient times they were seen as angels, messengers, demons, and even gods. In modern times their interventions include meeting with world leaders, including U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, convened in 1954 to prevent World War III from escalating. To avoid discovery, they have misled us to believe we have been visited by aliens.

Their most recent contribution has been to share with us the knowledge of genetic modification which led to their demise. Slow but steady advancement is evidence of the Homo primus’s participation. You can rest assured that scientists would have figured out how to create monsters if it were not for the advice and experience of the Homo primus. Dolly’s cloning in 1996 proved that the new technologies are not totally under our limited moral controls. Science historically has seldom restrained itself in testing new technologies as it has with genetics.

We can also thank the lessons the Homo primus learned from their own mistakes for helping us create an effective asteroid defense system. For the first time in human history, we were able to alter the path of a celestial body when NASA’s spacecraft intentionally crashed into an asteroid, nudging a rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit. The seven-year, $330 million proof-of-concept mission was also the first test of a planetary defense system created to prevent another catastrophe like the one that nearly wiped out all life on Earth 65 million years ago.

There are two ways to look at this. First, as the conservatives say, we could be going against the will of God by implementing such technologies. It was the will of God that sent an asteroid to wipe out the dinosaurs and force the Homo primus into isolation in the first place. The other view is from the non-conservatives, who believe God desires humanity to grow and expand its knowledge.

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two. John Cheever

Adapting the Environment

We humans are only now at a point where it’s remotely feasible to alter evolution and genetics. The central idea of the Jurassic Park films—to use recovered DNA to “genetically resurrect” an extinct species—may be getting closer to reality with a company that aspires to bring back woolly mammoths thousands of years after the last of the giants disappeared from the Arctic tundra.

By inserting DNA from one or more plants or animals into the genome of another species, scientists can now conceivably create entirely new species of animals. This makes it possible to make animals that are completely different from anything on Earth and are made to have only the traits that humans value.

This means that animals raised for food can be genetically modified to produce healthier flesh and meat at a faster rate, while also having less of an emotional response to the harsh conditions typical of today’s factory farms. Animals that have been modified genetically are also used to aid in the search for treatments for genetic diseases like breast cancer. Finally, the ability to clone endangered animals is helping wildlife management achieve its goals of preserving wild populations of the earth’s biological diversity and ensuring that the genetic information of endangered animals is not lost when the last of the species dies.

This application of cutting-edge technology is not free of criticism. Some people worry that by tinkering with the genetics of farm and research animals, we are undoing millions of years of evolution. When scientists alter the DNA of just a few organisms in an ecosystem, it has the potential to throw the entire system into chaos, leading to the extinction of countless species of animals that evolved in isolation and in harmony with their specific habitat. There are those who believe animals should have the right to life, or at least the right to live without having their natural abilities diminished or their genetics tampered with.

These are the same people who believe that all of the world’s biodiversity crawled out of a pool of water and split into all of the varieties we have, including ourselves. Evolution defining all of life om Earth is a joke of cosmic proportions, but no one is laughing. Humankind’s anthropocentric way of thinking does not allow for any consideration that humans were not the first intelligent species on Earth, even when it is staring us in the face.

Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing. Herodotus

Science of Biodiversity

The history of human manipulation of life through selective breeding spans millennia. Selective breeding, is when organisms with desirable traits are chosen and mated in the hope that their offspring inherit those traits, is responsible for many of today’s domesticated plants and animals. Most people are familiar with the modern dog, which evolved from Eurasian gray wolves at least 15,000 years ago through selective breeding and domestication.

Genetic engineering emerged as its own discipline in the middle of the 20th century, when scientists had already discovered the DNA double helix and were beginning to experiment with ways to change its genetic material.

CRISPR and other gene editing methods have since been developed by scientists, allowing for more specific and targeted alterations to an organism’s DNA. Using gene drives, these innovations also make it possible to theoretically spread modifications throughout an entire breeding population, even in the wild.

Gene drives are DNA fragments that have been modified by scientists to change the inheritance of specific genes and, by extension, traits. The odds of a given gene being passed down from parent to child are roughly half and half. Using gene drives, that likelihood can rise to over 95%. Some environmentalists are looking into how they can employ this technology to better safeguard endangered species.

A crisis in biodiversity is unfolding on a global scale. Scientists estimate that every year tens of thousands of animal species disappear forever. The Living Planet Index reports that since the 1970s, nearly half of all known species have vanished from the planet.

Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.
Carl Sagan

There is no relief in sight from these worrying tendencies. Population and economic growth, widespread habitat destruction, invasive species, wildlife diseases, and climate change all contribute to an already stressful situation.

We need fresh ideas if we are going to be able to save the planet’s variety of life. The rapid advances in biotechnology tools that have accompanied the Fourth Industrial Revolution have already been put to use in medical and agricultural systems, most notably in the care of crops and domestic animals. When compared to Moore’s Law, which saw the processing power of microchips double every two years while prices dropped by half, the rate of advancement in biotechnology is even more rapid.

The cost of sequencing a genome has dropped from $100 million in 2001 to under $1,000 today, as shown by the Carlson curve above. We have advanced not only to the point where we can read biological code more quickly, but also to the point where we can write and design within it.

The following are nine cutting-edge biotechnologies in development or currently available to the public that could save the planet.

Biobanks

Biobanks are warehouses for biological samples that are used for research and as a backup resource to protect genetic diversity. San Diego’s Frozen Zoo, the Frozen Ark projects, and various seed banks are all good examples. Tissues, cell lines, and genetic information obtained from samples provide a foundation for rehabilitating and repopulating endangered species. The collection of biological samples from endangered species must continue on a regular basis to make this possible.

Ancient DNA

Extracted DNA from artifacts or archaeological sites can be thousands of years old, making it what is known as “ancient DNA” (aDNA). Since DNA deteriorates rapidly with age, most aDNA is derived from samples that are less than 50,000 years old and are found in colder climates. The horse’s DNA has been extracted and it has been dated to between 560,000 and 780,000 years old, making it the oldest specimen ever discovered with recoverable DNA.

The use of aDNA for conservation purposes is promising because of the information it can provide about evolutionary and population genetics, as well as the identification of harmful mutations that have accumulated over time. As an added bonus, this method may help researchers bring back “extinct alleles” that were lost due to population decline in species with declining or fragmented populations. Even the possibility of reviving once-vital extinct species and restoring their former ecological roles in the wild is within reach.

(P.S., I’m afraid there will be no dinosaurs. “You can’t clone from stone.”

Genome Sequencing

In order to better understand the genetics of a species and to lay the groundwork for potential genetic engineering, high-throughput genome sequencing yields a reference genome. A number of projects are working to sequence all of Earth’s life forms in order to compile an unprecedented database of the planet’s genetic diversity. Some well-known examples include the Avian Genomes Project, the Fish-T1K (which aims to sequence the transcriptomes of 1,000 different fish species), and the Genome 10K.

Inexpensive population studies can be conducted with rapid sequencing tools, despite their lower coverage compared to a reference genome. They can aid in the management of fish and wildlife resources and the success of restoration projects. It is possible to use genomic evaluations of populations to guide translocations and corridor planning for species that are widespread but endangered, like the jaguar.

Genome sequencing technologies have advanced to the point where scientists can pinpoint the genes responsible for traits like disease resistance and adaptability.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics, the study of how biology can benefit from data processing, big data, and AI, yields novel scientific insights that can direct and improve conservation efforts. It paves the way for studies in genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics, which examine DNA, proteins, and RNA. Faster analysis of the genetic bases of adaptation, resilience to environmental change, and relatedness in wild species is now possible thanks to rising computing power.

Genome Editing

In the past five years, advances like CRISPR have made genome editing much more precise and accessible. The ability to precisely stimulate latent disease resistance is a welcome tool for wildlife managers. Resistance to new diseases can also be “knocked in” via genetic traits from another species. Genome editing has the potential to hasten the maturation of coral reef ecosystems, making them more resistant to the effects of rising sea temperatures and increased acidity.

Gene Drive

A major global threat to biodiversity, especially on biodiversity-rich small islands, is the introduction of non-native pest species such as rodents, feral pigs, and insects. Conventional methods for eliminating non-native invasive species typically involve the use of potent biocides that can have harmful side effects. The possibility of aid from modern genetic tools.

A gene drive is the widespread transmission of a single gene or variant of genes. To combat the spread of invasive rodents, for instance, scientists could use a gene drive to convert an island’s rat population to males only. As this technology develops, it may become possible to make these characteristics modifiable, regional, and reversible.

The elimination of disease is another potential application of gene drive technology. Eliminating mosquitoes as a vector for diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and zika virus in humans and in wildlife such as avian malaria appears feasible at this time.

Gene drives are an innovative technology that could drastically alter the world if used properly. Gene drive technology is controversial because of the high rate at which the drive is passed down from generation to generation. Several types of gene drive are currently in development, each employing a unique strategy to limit the drive’s impact to the intended population.

Reproductive Technology

The animal husbandry industry is increasingly making use of genomics, assisted reproductive technology, and cloning to produce high-quality bulls for use in cattle breeding and elite polo and show jumping horses. For severely threatened species or those that have experienced a population bottleneck, cloning from cryopreserved tissues offers hope for a new generation of genetic diversity. Several mammal species, such as the North American Black-footed Ferret, the European Bucardo, and the African Northern White Rhinoceros, have been given new hope thanks to cloning. Although cloning is currently impossible in birds, an inventive workaround involving primordial germ cells has been demonstrated in domestic chickens and can be developed for wild birds.

Double Stranded RNA

Fungal diseases are spread accidentally through global trade and travel, threatening ecosystems and species without natural defenses. The emergence of cutting-edge genomic technologies has provided a toolbox for transmitting resistance to disease and reducing the virulence of infection. In particular, dsRNAs, which are short double-stranded RNAs, are becoming an important tool in the treatment and prevention of disease.

The commercial sector has invested heavily in the development of this technology to combat a wide range of fungal diseases that pose a threat to agricultural output. To regulate specific pathogenic species with minimal collateral damage, dsRNAs are a promising new tool. A fungal pathogen known as White-Nose Syndrome has caused a catastrophic decline in bat populations across North America. There is hope that this technology will help these bats make a full recovery.

Synthetic Alternatives

Overexploitation of natural resources for industrial, commercial, and consumer uses is a persistent cause of or contributor to species extinction. The use of synthetic biology has opened up new avenues of production that can eventually replace the need for wildlife by-products. For instance, the unique protein extracted from Horseshoe Crabs and used in the safety testing of injectable drugs and vaccines could be replicated in a lab.

Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.
Evo Morales

Created in Gods Image

The ego of humanity places itself above all else. It has been one of the failures of our society. Anthropocentrism refers to a human-centered, or “anthropocentric,” point of view. In philosophy, “anthropocentrism” can refer to the point of view that humans are the only, or primary, holders of moral standing.

We have the audacity as a species to say that there is no proof of God, so there must not be a God. The scientific method is incapable of establishing either that God does not exist or that God does exist. Only the natural world is investigated and attempted to be explained by science, without any consideration of God. By trying to explain away religious beliefs such as creationism, science has established itself as the accepted religion of many.

Explaining the emergence of something as complex as consciousness from a simple gray, jelly-like lump of tissue in the head is, arguably, the second most difficult scientific problem to explain after God. However, despite the inability of science to conduct a thorough analysis of human consciousness, it does acknowledge its existence. There are many phenomena that science has yet to fully define, and consciousness is no different.

How much of a leap of faith is it to go from the unknown nature of the human mind to the possibility that a higher intelligence permeates the fabric of the entire universe? We bear God’s likeness because of this, after all. a sentient mind encased in a corporeal form. Aren’t matter, dark matter, and energy all interconnected in the same way that defines the universe? And if a relatively simple organism like ours can become conscious, how likely is it that the universe we live in isn’t itself conscious? God’s physical nature is accessible to our senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste. It’s plain to see how God rewards or punishes our efforts to take care of the planet through natural laws per the “Bigger Plan”. A written record and testimony attest to our ability to talk to God. It seems more likely to me that God exists than that we humans are just walking around with a big ball of gray goo in our brains. Since we were made in God’s likeness, we can only begin to grasp God by first comprehending ourselves. In this book, we will examine the many facets of human nature in an effort to better comprehend the God in whose image we were made.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

In the Image of God

That God made humans in his image doesn’t mean he has a human body; rather, it proves that God’s likeness can be seen in human beings’ ability to think consciously, their innate morality, spirituality, and intellectual prowess, and, last but not least, our freedom of will and ability to create exercised through the physical body we inhabit. To this end, humans are a reflection of God’s divinity because of the extraordinary qualities they are endowed with and capable of developing. Humans are unique among animals because of their rational make-up, ability to focus inward, freedom to explore new ideas, potential for self-actualization, and ability to transcend themselves.

Many people, however, are unable to transcend their materialistic assumptions and hold that God consists of a single all-powerful deity. An all-knowing but nonetheless corporeal being who sits on a throne somewhere and doles out punishments while playing God. That’s the lesson we’re all unwittingly given in Sunday school. Fantastic brief works written for kids that aim to condense God, creation, and the universe into a few words. This has been the downfall of our entire culture. That everything, including God, can be reduced to a few simple concepts.

To say that humans are made in God’s likeness is to recognize the special qualities of human nature that allow God to be seen in individuals. Because of this, it is possible to view humans as co-creators or even co-destroyers with God, depending on how they choose to interpret their role in the universe.

To truly love God, one must love all of God’s creation as well as one’s fellow humans. As a moral consequence, this follows from the belief that humans were made in God’s likeness.

The human image of God can be better grasped by comparing it to non-Godlike things. This would include creatures that, as far as we know, lack the capacity for self-awareness and the ability to reflect on and develop their moral or spiritual beliefs.

The ability to think things through and act independently sets humans apart from every other species. Because of this liberty, a person can feel whole and at peace, which can pave the way to fulfilling one’s potential and taking part in a sacred reality.

But just as the myth of the Fall (Adam and Eve) shows, the same freedom that makes humans in God’s image can also manifest itself in alienation from God. One of the most pervasive myths about human nature is the idea that we have the freedom to ignore or reject the spiritual and moral similarities we share with God. It’s possible to ignore and actively fight against your innate capacity and desire to love yourself, other people, and God. Jesus’ life and teachings suggest that the quest for wholeness or one’s “essential” can be interpreted as an attempt to create an image of God in one’s own life. Only those of us who accept our own innate divinity as a result of our ancestry and choose to act on that belief can truly call ourselves God’s children.

However, as God’s physical creations, we are sometimes unable to see these realities and instead look for God in a purely material sense. The greatest failure to grasp God can be seen by searching the term “God” on Google. There is no such thing as defining God. But the first step in almost every faith is to clarify who or what God is. The majority of humanity has always yearned for a tangible deity they could experience with all their senses. Whenever we run into problems locating this God, we conclude that he does not exist. That’s what the scientific method reveals. It escapes our attention that God’s creation extends far beyond the material world just like our own consciousness.

In the Image of Man

Making a deity in human likeness. When we try to comprehend God by comparing God to ourselves, we are engaging in anthropomorphism. One of the greatest sins committed by humanity is the worship of idols. Attributing human qualities to deities is the original meaning of the term, but it has since been applied to other non-human entities, such as plants and animals. This literary device is widely employed in religious writing, but its function is not always crystal clear.

The Greek words for “man,” (anthropos) and “form.” (morphe) are the origin of the concept of anthropomorphism. The theological concept of “anthropomorphism” describes the act of imputing human qualities to God. Typically, this involves attributing human traits and bodily features to God.

Most religious texts agree that the Creator is responsible for such uniquely human abilities as speech, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. God’s actions, feelings, and appearance are all described using language that is more commonly associated with humans. This is so because the religious texts were composed by humans for the benefit of humans.

The ability to partially understand the unknowable, know the unknowable, and comprehend the incomprehensible is a significant benefit of using anthropomorphisms. However, we are human, and God is divine; therefore, no human expression can fully do justice to describing the divine. Because God gave us only human minds, hearts, bodies, and minds, we can only understand other human beings, human language, human emotions, human traits, and human knowledge.

Anthropomorphisms can be perilous, however, if we think of them as a safe way to describe God using only human terms and characteristics. This could unintentionally cause us to underestimate God’s infinite majesty, compassion, and love. Followers of various faiths are counseled to read their sacred texts with the realization that God reveals to us only a small portion of His glory, since that is all that human minds can grasp from the written word.

God without man is still God. Man without God is nothing!

Redefining God

In the beginning, God created science. It is evident that the universe we can observe was organized by a higher intelligence. God is no more a supernatural, mystical being than our own consciousness is. If you take scripture and mythology as stories based on truth, it is evident that science and religion agree with each other. God created humans in his image. When the flesh and bones are removed to examine humans’ abilities to create, love, and learn, our consciousness, our very soul, is revealed. We were created in the image of God.

To say that our God is supernatural is to say that human consciousness is supernatural. “Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence “. The evidence has been observed, analyzed, and documented that the universe and nature are more than just random chance.

God is the planner, architect, master artist, and designer of a universe and all that is within, which can evolve on its own into a masterpiece. Part of God’s plan is free will. This allows for the universe to develop itself within guidelines we recognize as natural laws, physics, and even evolutionary processes.

There have been a number of books and articles published in recent years that would have you believe that science has now somehow disproved the existence of God. Their authors argue that since we have so much information about the workings of the universe, there is no longer any need for God because we are able to explain all of the workings of the universe without the need for a creator.

And indeed, we have gained a tremendous amount of comprehension as a result of scientific research. The total amount of knowledge held by humans roughly doubles once every few years, if not less. It may be hard to believe, but physicists and cosmologists can now assert that they know what took place in our universe just a few microseconds after the Big Bang. This is something that was previously thought to be impossible.

In the field of chemistry, our knowledge extends to the most intricate reactions that can occur between atoms and molecules.

In the field of biology, our understanding extends to the inner workings of living cells as well as the entirety of our genome.

However, the existence of higher intelligence that guided the formation of our universe cannot be discounted by the vastness of the knowledge base. The more we learn through science, the more evidence we have of a higher intelligence involved with how the universe and all that is within it came about into a complex structure of which we still know very little.

God does not play dice with the universe.
Albert Einstein

Missing Time

It defies logic to think that God would have created plants, birds, fish, and animals at least 150 million years ago, then wait 149 million years before creating man, the one creature that was to be placed above all others in importance.

You have to make a choice between believing that the universe was created in seven days and that it is only 6,000 years old or that God does not operate on the same time scale as we do and that it took millions of years to occur as the scientific community has observed. The latter explanation, that evolution is part of God’s Bigger Plan, is the one that I choose to accept as true.

According to the Bible, all of the land was gathered in a single location at one point in time. Pangea is the name given to this continent in scientific literature. This eventually fractured into the continents that we are familiar with today. During this time period, whole species were being born, becoming extinct and disappearing. The age of the universe, according to the assertions of creationists, can be traced back no further than 6,000 years to the moment when it was created.

The events that took place do not seem to fit with what is described in the Bible, as much as I, along with everyone else, would like for it to be accurate. I don’t think that God just magically snapped his fingers, and everything happened that way in such a short amount of time. That’s just not how God works. When God decided to destroy the world with a flood, it took him 40 days and 40 nights to do so. There was a yearlong requirement for Noah and his family to remain inside the ark. Why wouldn’t God just let the flood happen over the course of one day?

This is due to the fact that God does not operate in such a manner, and he never has. God operates in accordance with the natural laws that he established for the universe that he created. It is impossible for natural events such as the creation of the universe and everything in it to take place in just seven days, unless you believe in some kind of all-powerful magician.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 2 Peter 3:8

Rules to Live by for Better Life

Do not worship God for others to see. Rituals are good to keep the forgetful from forgetting, but it is better if you can remember God in your heart every second you live. Rituals often become a sin of pride.

Be careful with your giving. To give in expectation of a reward is wrong. To give freely without thought is wrong. Only a wise man understands when to give and when not to. A fool is quickly without money himself.

Without belief in God, then God does not exist for you.

Meditation

The way you start your day is crucial to how it goes overall. Numerous people today are among the many who, upon arising, check their phones for messages, emails, and social media sites. After waking up, I devote the first hour to getting ready for the day by eating breakfast and meditating. When you meditate, you go deep within yourself, past your thoughts, to where they originate, and pure consciousness resides. You will emerge feeling revitalized, replete with vitality, and ready to take on the world.

In the practice of meditation, we can learn to accept uncomfortable emotions like worry, fear, and anger, which can have a profoundly restorative effect on our mental health. The healing process is left to our bodies’ inherent abilities.

Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.
Saint Francis de Sales

There are various techniques of meditating, find what works for you. These are the steps I use for meditating:

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa

Freedom of Spirit

I frequently have the sensation that my spirit has become detached from my body in the few moments in the morning just before I am fully awake. Before the stresses of everyday life start to get to me, this is the part of the day when I experience the greatest sense of calm and connection to the greater cosmos. At this very moment, everything appears to be within my grasp.

Just now, I went to the very edge of the universe that we know about and looked into the nothingness that lay beyond. After having the sensation that the void was expanding into infinity, I looked down and saw galaxies of stars whirling around beneath my feet. To put it another way, it stood out like a beacon of hope in the midst of a sea of nothing. When I gave myself permission to unwind and clear my spirit, I was able to hear heavenly music that resonated with every part of my being. Hearing the music brought a sense of complete calm and contentment to my entire being. I got the idea in my head that maybe I could make something out of this nothing, and in my spirit’s eye, I saw a huge yellow flower growing out of the void where there was previously nothing. Its pedals opened up, revealing a pool of sweet nectar in the center of the opening. I had a fleeting thought that I was a bee flying into this massive flower and feasting on the nectar it contained. Then, in the time it takes to blink, it was gone completely.

Immediately prior to my awakening, I was aware of a presence. It was all around me and in every direction at the same time, and yet it was also a component of me. I felt my pride diminish. In the presence of something that could only be compared to the spirit of God, I felt as though my very soul needed to bow down. I was only able to get a sense of what was there. If I were forced to put it into words and compare it to the real world, I would say that I was standing in front of an electric fence that was humming in the darkness with an incredible amount of power. However, that in no way comes close to capturing how I felt. It was as if my very soul had shattered into microscopic pieces; I was exposed to the world with not a shred of clothing on, and every molecule of my soul was on display.

After that, the feeling of being drawn back into my body jolted me awake, and I realized that it was time to get the day started. The act of waking up gave me the impression of being confined. I have returned to my body at this point, but I can only daydream about the freedom that I have just abandoned. This is something that I have been doing for as long as my memory serves me. Even though it’s probably just because I have a vivid imagination, there are times when I find myself questioning whether or not this description accurately describes who we are. a spirit that was made in the image of God and has the ability to be free and create anything that our hearts desire.

In spite of my limited experience, I was able to glean some useful truths. In the course of my research for this book, I came across a number of debates and comments from religious and scientific sources regarding the beginning of the universe. In the philosophical discussion that takes place, one camp maintains that if the universe had a beginning, then it is logically necessary for there to be a God. On the other hand, assuming it has no end, what then? The holy spirit will, as it always does, lead me to the solution to any profoundly philosophical problem that arises in my mind, including this one. The reality, as I discovered it, is that both of these ideas are correct. There are limits to what we can observe and know about the universe. It is extremely likely that God’s will was behind its formation 13.7 billion years ago. However, the portion of the universe that can be seen through our telescopes is only a small portion of the total. In my vision, I saw a vast expanse of nothingness that extends beyond the confines of our physical universe and, quite possibly, into infinity. Therefore, it all depends on how one defines the universe. If everything that is considered has infinite physical and temporal characteristics, then it can never have a beginning or an end. However, the need to establish limits is inherent to human nature, and it is a requirement for all scientific endeavors. The human mind is not capable of comprehending a universe that is infinite, without beginning or end, and that always has been and always will be.

The 7 Commandments

These are the basic commandments that cover all aspects of how we can show respect to our one God and how we should accept and respect other people. Each one of these could be broken out into a book of its own, but there is no need if you believe in God, the Holy Spirit will be provided as your guide how to live your life.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei

How to Pray

Prayer is not about doing rituals because your religion says so. Prayer is not about other seeing you praying. Prayer is supposed to be your private time to talk with God. Look to God as your friend, teacher, and personal therapist that listens to your very word.

Prayer is not about asking God for handouts; Prayer is not asking God for help. Prayer is about communicating with God. When you believe in God you will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and in most cases, it will provide you with the wisdom to understand your situation. It might also give you guidance out of the situation. The more you believe the more powerful the help you receive will become.

It is best but not always necessary to find a quiet place for prayer. You can speak to God from your heart as you are walking down the street, at work or play. Talk to God all times of the day from your heart. When you feel afraid, worried, lonely look to God for guidance. If you need help pray to God. But keep in mind that God is all wise and sometimes a prayer unanswered is the true gift we need.

God does not answer prayers of want, yet just as God provides for the birds in the trees, God will provide for your needs.

For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. Saint Teresa of Avila

Mind, Body, and Soul

When discussing health and wellness, we have a tendency to focus primarily on the physical aspects of these topics. The extent to which you exercise, the kinds of foods you consume, and the total number of calories you consume have emerged as the most important factors in determining your overall health. However, this is only one piece of the puzzle.

• . Your beliefs, thoughts, and actions are all products of your mind, which includes both your conscious and unconscious thought processes.
• . Your five senses are able to take in the world around you thanks to your body, which is the part of you that is responsible for carrying you through life and keeping you alive.
• . This intangible aspect of who you are, which some people refer to as your essence, is known as your soul or spirit. If you are a follower of a particular religion, you might find it simple to make a connection with the idea that you have a soul. If you are not religious, you might discover it through activities such as spending time by yourself in nature, practicing yoga or meditation, or engaging in other spiritually enriching pursuits.

The mind, the body, and the soul are intricately connected on a profound physiological level. This is true despite the fact that these physical factors are undoubtedly significant. The term “mind-body-soul connection” refers to the way in which your thoughts and feelings can have an impact on your physical well-being, as well as the way in which your physical well-being can have an impact on your thought processes.

The central idea that underpins the mind-body-soul connection is that each of us is comprised of more than just our thoughts. In addition, we are our physical selves, our feelings, and our spiritual selves… All of these factors come together to create our identity, decide our health, and shape who we are as individuals.

When you take a look at your personal belief system, there is a good chance that you will discover aspects of the mind-body-soul connection that are already in place. Today, a strategy known as “mix and match” is effective for many people. This strategy involves combining traditional medicine with complementary nutritional therapies, as well as including physical activity, meditation, and religious practice in one’s routine. You are not required to “go all in” with one or another of these options.

I put my heart and my soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process. Vincent Van Gogh

Know Your Self

Having a firm grasp on who you are is the foundation upon which you can build a happy and rewarding lifestyle. It was the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates who famously declared that one should not lead an unexamined life. In response to a question about what all the philosophical precepts boil down to, he simply said, “Know yourself.”

Knowing oneself refers to a specific kind of knowledge that is typically of an emotional or psychological nature. Your future self-knowledge could encompass a vast array of possibilities.

Finding the Right Career

It’s not uncommon for people to devote their entire lives to achieving the goals of another person. While your parents may represent this societal imposition on you, the vast majority of us simply go with the flow.

We have only a few years to really figure out what it is we want to do with our lives. Then, at any stage of the process, we have to get a job so that we can pay the bills and appease society’s demands for our productivity.

We can’t achieve our goals if we don’t know what they are, and we can’t figure out what to do with our lives if we don’t know how to make money, so we put ourselves in a prison from which it may take years, if not decades, to break free if we don’t know who we are.

After twenty-five years of life, that’s where I landed. I had worked my way up to assistant manager at a major retailer and was expecting to be promoted soon. Although my salary was high relative to my age, I felt unhappy in my position. Not coming from a wealthy background, I assumed I had no choice but to accept my predetermined path in life. Things started shifting one day. When I arrived at work, I found my manager completely wasted. For some reason, that made me worry that it would actually be me who had to deal with that situation.

That very day, I began contemplating my future and making preparations to pursue the kind of work I would find most fulfilling. Electronics and computer work had always been a fun hobby for me. My current job required me to work 80 hours per week, leaving me no time to pursue higher education. As a result, I joined the Navy. The following year, I attended a naval electronics school in Pensacola, Florida. A Top-Secret clearance was even granted to me. Groton, Connecticut was chosen as the site for additional submarine training as part of the program.

In the years following my discharge from the Navy, I worked as a technician for arcade and video game systems. Although the pay wasn’t stellar, I had a good time doing it. I knew that if I wanted to improve my employment prospects, I would need to further my education. So, I enrolled in Piedmont Technical College’s Electronic Engineering program. After finishing college, I got a great job working for a Pfizer subsidiary, where I got to travel the world and set up process control systems. I’ve also launched an e-commerce website and furniture store. For both of these, I continue to be actively involved. After a while, I decided to leave Pfizer and have been self-employed ever since.

I credit the vision I had of my future self, as the drunk old broken man, for where I am now. With careful consideration, I crafted a career and personal life that brought me joy.

That is to say, it is not crucial to learn absolutely everything about oneself. Here, we will zero in on the most important aspects of knowing oneself: those that deal with the person’s deepest, most fundamental psychological characteristics. One of the most compelling arguments for the value of introspection is that it can lead us to a more fulfilling and joyful life.

Without an understanding of who you are, you are more likely to make mistakes and pursue unrealistic goals. Informed by accurate information about ourselves, we can make better decisions about how to interact with others and how to shape our lives.

Finding a Partner

You should think about more than just your career when conducting a life review. Choosing a life partner is one of the most significant decisions we will ever make. It’s likely that divorce rates would drop significantly if more people took the time to examine the underlying dynamics of their relationships.

Because we don’t know what we want, we settle for partners who aren’t a good fit and end up unhappy. I am speaking from considerable experience. I won’t go into detail about my divorces from my two ex-wives here.

We often describe our ideal mate with lovely, generalities like “kind,” “fun to be with,” “attractive,” and “up for adventure” when we’re just starting out on the hunt for love.

It’s not that these sorts of wants are inherently wrong; it’s just that they’re not nearly specific enough about what it is that each of us, individually, will need to avoid perpetual misery.

There aren’t that many healthy people in the world, so a good partnership is more likely to be between two mentally ill people who have learned to live with each other peacefully despite their differences. Bonny and Clyde are a terrible illustration of this. Yet, they went to their graves happy, knowing they had loved each other deeply.

Self Psycho Analysis

We’re all slightly insane in our own ways. We are distinctly neurotic, unbalanced, and immature; however, the specifics of this are unknown to us because we are never strongly encouraged to investigate them. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for everyone to identify and understand the specific manifestations of our own madness. There is a need for them to catch up on their own neuroses. We need to learn the origins of these, the effects they have on their targets, and, most importantly, the types of people who either inflame or calm us.

Any potential partner should be immediately alarmed by the mere suggestion that we are not too difficult as people. Where exactly the issues will arise is an open question. Maybe we’re not great at explaining what’s going on when we’re worried; maybe we have a hidden tendency to explode with anger when someone disagrees with us; maybe we can only unwind when we’re hard at work; maybe we’re a little bit awkward around intimacy right after we’ve had sex. These kinds of problems, compounded over decades, lead to disasters, so knowing about them in advance allows us to protect those who are most equipped to handle them.

The trouble is, it’s not simple to learn about our own neuroses. It may take a long time and circumstances that we have never encountered. Prior to marriage, we rarely take part in dynamics that serve as an accurate mirror of our disturbances. When our ‘difficult’ sides start to show in less serious relationships, we often place the blame on our partners and call it quits. Friends, as is to be expected, don’t have any interest in getting to know the real us. The couple just wants to go out and have a good time. As a result, we fail to see our own unattractive attributes.

When we’re by ourselves, we don’t have anyone to vent to, so we don’t realize the full, concerning extent of our rage. Or, we work tirelessly without realizing, because no one is ever calling us to come for dinner, that we use work maniacally to gain a sense of control over life – and that we might cause hell if anyone tried to stop us.

When we’re alone at night, all we can think about is how nice it would be to snuggle up with someone, but we never get the chance to confront the part of ourselves that shies away from closeness, the part that turns cold and distant if it ever fears becoming too committed to one person. Being single has its perks, and one of them is the delusional belief that one is a breeze to get along with. No wonder we can’t tell who to keep an eye out for; we have such a rudimentary grasp of our own personalities.

Stuck in a Rut

Unconscious longings and emotions pose serious threats to our more palatable self-perception. If we took the time to get to know ourselves, we might find that our romantic or professional interests run counter to what our culture expects of us. As a result, we tend to “resist” learning too much about ourselves in various respects. It destroys the momentary calm to which we have become accustomed.

Rewards of Self Knowledge

Naturally, each person’s knowledge is unique to them. However, we can still determine the nature of our knowledge. In many ways, knowing oneself is not as much a matter of agreeing with a series of assertions. Instead, it’s a collection of skills that help one take care of themselves, despite their flaws and needs. The mature, self-aware individual…

Have a reduced propensity to place blame on external factors. In spite of their best efforts, they continue to experience disappointment, irritation, and anxiety. However, true insight into oneself acknowledges the full scope of responsibility. Because it’s counterproductive to take your frustrations out on someone who isn’t responsible for causing them in the first place.

They are self-aware enough to pick jobs that suit them, they don’t waste time trying to get ahead, and they’re resilient enough to take criticism without becoming overly stressed.

They might experience slightly fewer panic attacks if they realized that anxiety is almost always the root cause, rather than any actual danger. Knowing oneself deeply reduces these worries.

Because envy typically stems from not having a clear idea of what one truly needs, they would be less likely to experience feelings of envy.

They spend less time worrying about money because they are more disciplined savers and pay closer attention to the things that truly matter to them.

They are less likely to mistake a random person they see on the subway or at a restaurant for their ideal soulmate because they do not engage in wild projection.

They have a knack for saying sorry, in no small part because they are aware of the fact that they can be very irritating to those around them. They are able to consider the possibility that they may be wrong without becoming defensive.

They have a talent for making others feel comfortable and at ease. Because they are self-aware enough to question their own actions and motivations rather than blindly proclaiming their own opinions. Furthermore, they are slow to assume that others share their views. They can identify widely with different kinds of people because they can pick up on many different aspects of their own experience at different stages of life.

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So, it is incumbent on me to know myself, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms. Khalil Gibran

Day of Reckoning

We are presently living the day of reckoning our fathers created for us. Climate change, disease, war, or all of these are symptoms that we inherited and are now exacerbating. People living right now have the chance to change how our children will live.

Whenever I see a problem before me, I seek knowledge from the Holy Spirit and always get answers. Just as the ancient text writers of scripture were inspired, we all have that ability if we believe in God. Yet it raises a question for me about how writers supposedly wrote about future events in Revelation and other scripture when no man can see the future.

I know the voice of the Holy Spirit probably better than my own. I never fail to get answers to questions concerning past or present situations. But when I ask about the future of humanity or even my own, there is a complete silence.

We can see the near future based on current events if they do not change course. Since the dawn of the industrial age, humankind has changed the planet’s atmosphere to the point that it is heating up and melting the ice caps. Our encroachment on animal habitats has driven many species to extinction. We have upset God’s delicate balance in nature. If we do not fix it ourselves, God might fix it by reducing the number of humans on the planet.

I understand this is as it should be if the future is not yet written. No one can know the future; only possible outcomes are possible if we do not change our ways. But humanity, just like myself, can change the future starting today.

If the animal kingdom had a religion, it would perceive humanity as the destroyer of worlds, the incarnation of Satan.

Science Screwed up

Science has proven to be wrong more than religion. The only difference is that religion has God to blame and since God is perfect religion is never wrong, not in their books anyway. When science gets it wrong some poor old dude with funny hair smoking his pipe gets blamed. His only recourse is either come up with something new beyond the limits of imagination or spend the rest of his life and his legacy being the joke at parties.

Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth. Jules Verne

God is not Supernatural

Science labels God as supernatural, dismissing any possibility that God exists or does not exist. Science does not believe in or disbelieve in God. With God being defined as “supernatural,” there is simply no proof He exists.

I have another way of looking at this. Humans were made in the image of God, according to the Scriptures. This does not mean God was a human. Just like God, the human consciousness has never been verified, yet we believe it exists. First, we have to define what you believe humans are. I believe that humans are more than the sum of our physical bodies. Our mind, our consciousness, and our very soul are what make each of us think and understand who we are as humans. not our physical bodies. It is what separates us from the animal kingdom.

If our consciousness is in the image of God, then it only leads to one conclusion. As humans are in our bodies, there is a higher consciousness that exists within and is a part of the universe. This consciousness has the ability, beyond our comprehension, to manipulate elements in the known universe for designed outcomes. The evidence can be observed, analyzed, and documented in the complex structures of all that exists in reality as we know to support the existence of God.

The supernatural is the natural not yet understood.
Elbert Hubbard

Earth Center of the Universe

One of the earliest mistakes made famous was the Earth is at the center of the universe proposed by Aristotle around 300 BCE. This theory was confirmed and supported by some of the greatest minds that ever lived for nearly 2,000 years. Even the Catholic church supported it, as it confirmed to them that mankind was Gods special creation. It was not until 1600 CE that Galileo at risk of losing his head, challenged the church and science, did the view change.

With the reformation that happened in the 1500s combined with new scientific discoveries the Catholic church began to lose its superpower on the world belief system. Science started to take over that power as the leading authority of how all things exist in reality.

For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner … on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. … That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that. Carl Sagan

Evolution

It was in 1859 that Darwin published his book, The Origin of Species. It was then that science started the process of removing the supernatural from our basic belief system.

Evolution is a natural process where life adapts to the environment, which can be verified in the fossil records. Somehow, evolution was extrapolated to propose that all life evolved from chemicals and single cells, eventually evolving into multicellular animals.

There is absolutely no proof of this.

An idea about how something operates in nature that has been subjected to extensive testing through observations and experiments designed to prove the idea to be correct or incorrect can be referred to as a theory. There is no way to observe or verify the evolution of life from the beginnings, so we cannot determine whether or not it occurred. In addition to this, after more than twenty years of research in a variety of high-tech laboratories, no one has been able to successfully replicate even the fundamental components of living things.

We can only observe, over time, how animals change in response to the conditions of their environment. The process of selective breeding can also cause animals to develop new characteristics. However, none of this has anything to do with a fish transforming into a giraffe or a monkey into human beings.

It is common for evolution to be taught in a way that is misleading because it suggests that the diversity of life began as a result of an accidental combination of natural processes. Another one of science’s many blunders, and probably the most significant mistake since we were taught the Earth was the center of the universe. It is not any more acceptable to present mythology or the supernatural as fact than it is to do the same with scientific theory that has no means of validation.

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? Milton Berle

House Built in Sand

Science has yet to define clear answers to some of the greatest questions of all. Science cannot agree on the origins of the Big Bang. Science cannot agree on how life began. We do not have a clear understanding of how gravity works. We attribute the light we perceive everything from to a mysterious force called electromagnetism which supposedly is made of photon particles which are invisible and have no mass. How can a particle exist if it has no energy or mass? We know so little of what we do not know yet. When you start to look at the foundations of science it falls down like a house built on sand.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Light is Mechanical Waves

Science, as it always does, must put a face to what they cannot see. That is where the idea for dark matter comes from. It has been observed that the universe is expanding faster than expected. There can only be one answer for finite minds thinking in a finite way: there must be some internal force pushing it all apart. But here is another perspective. The universe was created in an infinite space filled with dark matter, which is far less dense than the matter the universe is made of and what we see. The universe we can see is expanding to take the path of least resistance, just as a smoke-filled balloon explodes in the air.

Keep in mind that a vacuum is not nothingness. The vacuum of space is filled with matter, both dark matter and the matter we can see.

Like light, sound acts on your ears through the mechanical movement of air molecules. The pressure at your ear can change by anywhere from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz per second, giving audible sound a wide spectrum. Pitch is what you hear when you hear a certain frequency. On the other hand, it is estimated that the range of frequencies for visible light is between 400 THz and 700 THz. To the human eye, different frequencies produce subtly different tones of color. You can observe the influence of mechanical actions on the eye by closing your eyes and rubbing them softly. You should see lights.

Water has been used to test how sound travels. Low-frequency signals are absorbed more slowly by the ocean than high-frequency ones. This means they can go further without going undetected. Something similar happens to light. Whenever light hits a denser medium, it slows down. You can see this in water, glass, and even diamonds. The depths of the ocean are black because light cannot manipulate the denser structure of water to generate high-frequency waves. This disproves the notion that light is simply photons. If it were the latter, there would be no limits to how deep light would go in the ocean.

From our perspective, it is all about how the mind interprets the incoming data. In contrast to our ears, which receive sound, our eyes evolved to perceive the frequency of light. Synesthesia is a mysterious condition that affects about 4 percent of the global population. People with synesthesia have the ability to associate one or more senses with another sense, such as hearing a sound and seeing a particular color or reading a word and seeing a particular hue.

Another relationship between light and sound can be observed when bubbles pop in a liquid. When a bubble pops in a liquid, it can produce a flash of light, which we now know is thanks to quantum mechanics. Sonoluminescence is a process in which small bubbles are made and held in place in a liquid by an ultrasound wave. When the bubbles pop, they make light waves.

In another study, a sound wave with a frequency about 100,000,000 times higher than what humans are capable of hearing was sent through a piezoelectric material and converted into electrical signals. Light waves with a terahertz frequency were emitted from the electrical signals.

Light is only our visual perception of the mechanical waves of very small particles at high frequencies. Photons are nothing more than waves of dark matter.

Photons have no mass according to physics because photons do not exist as particles themselves, partially right there. Photons are only our visual perception of the mechanical waves of very small particles at high frequencies. It is all about how you define photons. In reference to light directly, photons do not exist as particles of light because light is a frequency that our eyes interpret as light. If we redefine photons as particles of dark matter, then they do have mass, which is beyond our current ability to measure. Just like sound moves particles of air, light is the wave within dark matter. Sound is what our mind interprets based on the mechanical frequency of waves in the air.

Speed of light Not Constant

Einstein proposed many theories based on his perspective at the time. As we learn more, we find that the formulas become distorted. For example, we now know that photons particles of light can be affected by gravity. This would not happen if they had no mass, which is the accepted belief. But rather than accept that we were wrong about the speed of light being constant, which would destroy everything we have confirmed in physics, we declare that speed of light is relative or that space and time can be bent to fit our own definition of reality.

This one is a bit tricky to explain. First imagine you are standing on the front of a freight train traveling at 50mph. You throw a baseball forwards at 100mph which is in then moving faster than the train. That means the ball is traveling at 150mph. But not according to Einstein. Nothing can ever go faster than the speed of light. To compensate for this flaw in the math Einstein came up with the Theory of Special Relativity.

Imagine two people on a train playing ping-pong as an additional illustration of the theory of relativity. The train is heading north at a speed of approximately 30 meters per second. When the ball is hit back and forth between the two players, it gives the impression to the players that the ball is moving north at a speed of approximately 2 meters per second and then moving south at a speed of approximately 2 meters per second.

Now picture someone watching the ping-pong match while standing next to some railroad tracks. It will seem as though the ball is moving at a speed of 32 meters per second when it is moving in a northerly direction. If you hit the ball in the opposite direction, it will still appear to travel north, but at a speed of 28 meters per second (30 meters per second minus the 2 meters per second). The ball always gives the impression of moving in a northerly direction to an observer standing by the side of the train.

The end result of this is that the speed of the ball is dependent on the position of the observer in “relative” space. It will be different for those who are riding the train as opposed to those who are standing on the side of the railroad tracks.

Anyway, it starts getting weird from this point. Per the mathematic formulas if you exceed the speed of light, it will create time travel. Please keep in mind this works great on Star Trek but in the commonsense world there is no such thing as time travel. If you were on a ship that could travel faster than the speed of light what would happen is, you could observe the past because you would get ahead of light that was created at your current time frame. For example, our nearest star is four light years away from Earth. We can view it in our telescopes. But the light we are viewing occurred four years ago because that is how long it took for the mechanical waves of dark matter to arrive at our location.

In the real-world speed of light is not constant, it varies depending on conditions, even in a vacuum, which is not empty. It’s related to what the light is passing through. Water, for example, has the effect of significantly slowing down light as it passes through. There is no such thing as nothing even in the vacuum of space. The original idea of light being a constant in the universe was based on vacuum of space is nothing, empty and void of matter. Science recently proved that to be wrong.

Light travels at approximately 300,000 kilometers per second in a vacuum, which has a refractive index of 1.0. For the most part this rule holds up in space because the density of space is consistent in areas that are filled with dark matter. This rule changes when light is exposed to extreme gravity wells, filtered through a cosmic gas cloud, or the atmosphere of some celestial object.

Light slows down to 225,000 kilometers per second in water (refractive index of 1.3) and 200,000 kilometers per second in glass (refractive index of 1.5). In a diamond, with a rather high refractive index of 2.4, the speed of light is reduced to a relative crawl (125,000 kilometers per second), which is about 60 percent less than its maximum speed in a vacuum. All of this make perfect sense if you accept my idea of light being mechanical waves of particles, we are not able to fully analyze.

All of what we know about time and space is based on space being empty and void and the speed of light being constant. But now we know that space is not empty; there is something called dark matter that fills all the space in between other matter.

If waves of light and particles can speed up and slow down, then everything we know about physics and reality as we observe it is wrong. Light is a theoretical illusion made from waves of dark matter particles.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Albert Einstein

We know that light can be stopped. That is what happens in a black hole. Since the particles are not reflected back to our eyes, we perceive a black hole. In actuality, it is just an incredible dense mass with such large forces of gravity that it absorbs electromagnetic radiation and particles of photons. Imagine a blackhole as a lake filled with ripples that is instantly frozen. Near a black hole, the perception of time slowing is extreme. From the viewpoint of an observer outside the black hole, time stops. For example, an object falling into the hole would appear frozen in time at the edge of the hole. But in reality, the light we perceive from photons is being stopped from moving, like the ripples on a frozen lake.

Sound, which travels much slower than light but is also based on waves of particles, is easier to analyze and understand. Just as light is diffracted in water, sound is slowed by physical barriers.

One definition of sound is that of a mechanical wave that can be heard as it moves through the air or another medium. It emerges from a vibrating object. When a body vibrates, the surrounding medium (water, air, etc.) also vibrates, resulting in audible sound.

Although both light and sound are waves of energy, there are significant differences between the two types of waves. The speed of sound is much slower than that of light. The speed at which light waves travel is nearly a million times faster than that at which sound waves can travel.

If you can imagine that the universe is made of infinite particles, then imagine it like ripples on a pond. Comparably similar sound moves in a denser medium such as water or air, but the ripples are not capable of traveling through space, which is much less dense. Light, on the other hand, is capable of traveling through space, or I should say the ripples in space exist the same as the ripples in water, just extremely faster due to less resistance.

When traveling from one medium to another, the speed of a wave will change. It could be a water wave moving from a deep pool to a shallow one, or it could be a light wave moving through air and into glass. Denser media slows down the propagation of waves. At the bottom of the dense ocean, light is stopped in its tracks, and the depths of the ocean are completely black.

Time is a marching army, it never stops, it never slows. It is only our perception of time which we base on light being a constant that changes.

Higher Intelligence

God does not exist as a supernatural being as is written in scriptures of so many religions. God does not exist as a loving supernatural Father sitting on a throne in some mystical heaven handing out judgements to the good and bad. The one true God, a higher intelligence beyond our imagination does exist. The consciousness of God existed before the universe. It was through this consciousness that the universe was structured and came into being as we have observed. Mankind’s consciousness was made in the image of this consciousness.

God did not create the universe as we know it in seven days. For God there are no timelines as we know them. God set about a “Bigger Plan” that incorporated all of the laws of physics and other laws of nature we have observed. God set into motion the Bigger Plan that led to the Big Bang and even evolution. One of these fundamental laws is what keeps the planets spinning and our feet firmly planted on Earth. This higher intelligence brought about our consciousness in his own image. It is what makes us think as we do, it is what allows you to read this and either agree or not agree. You have free will.

Anyway, you get the idea. I got sidetracked from my initial train of thought, and that is why the scriptures are written in such a way to create doubt or just total disbelief. We have free will, creative ability, and our own sense of morality as conscious beings created in God’s Bigger Plan in God’s image of consciousness. Using that free will, we write about what we believe, often inspired by our own morality. Morality is a more complicated set of laws. Without morality, we would be nothing more than a wild animal. When it comes to writing about God, almost everyone does so from an anthropomorphic perspective. It makes it easier to relate to a God if we can create some sort of relationship we do understand. To describe God, we attribute human characteristics.

So, all of the scriptures ever written are true from the view of the person writing them. God created all things; God is all things. But for the less philosophically thinking individual, it gets confusing. How can God, who is a loving God, allow death and suffering? The answer is simple: nature was built upon a simple law of cycles of life and death by this higher intelligence in the universe that we call God. We live in and are part of that natural environment and cannot break that law. We develop a strong belief in these laws when we are born, and that makes them hold true.

Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Garth Brooks

This is where the confusing part comes from, because true belief is based on physical reality. It is possible to sway that belief slightly. Jesus proved that, and so have many more believers throughout history. To overcome that belief, you must be certain that it is possible. Then you can perform miracles and bend reality in ways that are consistent with God’s will. Our consciousness was made in the image of God. If we truly believe, then we can do some pretty amazing things.

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Jesus

There are various aspects of science that the general population think we have answers for. These questions cannot ever be answered without concluding the universe had some form of help in its most complex design and structures.

Evolution Theory: There is no physical evidence that evolution is responsible for first life or biodiversity.

Big Bang Theory: The Big Bang theory has no foundations as it does not include where the source originated.

These are just two of the biggest examples of many where science expresses observed results as theory without knowing the source that initiated the actions.

What is more likely:

Scenario 1: Through random chance the universe popped into existence from a single atom. Keep in mind the Big Bang Theory is misleading title for what astronomy has observed. From what has been observed the original Big Bang, the expansion into the universe we know happened at faster than speed of light timing “impossible”. There was no center point as in an explosion. Basically, one day there was no universe. The next on a cosmic timeline it was just there. That is the scientific accepted view, called the Big Bang Theory.

Scenario 2: The universe has a consciousness with the ability act on its own thoughts. The universe is filled with dark matter, similar to the grey matter that fills our heads. With a single thought this higher intelligence is able to transform this energy into matter as we perceive it, galaxies, stars, planets, etc.

Quantum physics has observed similar actions taking place. In the quantum world, matter can materialize out of nothing. According to the Schwinger effect, (charged) particles and their antiparticle counterparts can be “ripped” out of the quantum vacuum, empty space itself, in the presence of sufficiently powerful electric fields.

Occam’s Razor, Essentially, when faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest is likely the correct one.

Intelligence is Unique

If you studied religion, you would find not only in the Bible but also in other studies that humanity is unique in the universe. Supporting scientific evidence of this can be found, or rather not found, in our 100-year search for other intelligent life.

First off, before I tell you the odds of this based on science, let me give you, my version. Life getting started on Earth was a fluke of evolution within a natural environment perfect for life, or we had a helping hand. As you know, my choice is the latter. It took 700 million years before the simplest forms of life began, and 3.7 billion before animals got a start on Earth. Like I said, this took place in the perfect environment. Now figure the universe is only 13.7 billion years old; the odds are not good based on common sense for life to fill the universe, and I do not care how many possible habitable planets exist.

If all those odds are not bad enough, then we have to beat the odds that the aliens are going to be using the same crude methods of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) communication that we have used for the past 100 years. Logically, at least to me, it makes a lot more sense to be communicating using light waves. OK, so if they were shouting back at us using EMR, we should have heard them by now. Our nearest neighbor is only 4 years away as EMR travels. Nothing, the universe has been silent for more than a century.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Do other intelligent species exist, or are humans the only sentient beings in the universe? For the past fifty years, this question, which can be summed up by the Drake equation, has remained one of the most intractable and uncertain in science.

Recently discovered exoplanets and a more comprehensive approach to the question allow us to assign a new empirically valid probability as to whether or not any other advanced technological civilizations have ever existed, as shown in a new paper.

It also shows that we are not the first advanced civilization in the universe, unless the chances of advanced life evolving on a habitable planet are extremely low.

Additionally, the terms “pessimism” and “optimism” are defined for the first time in the context of assessing the probability of technologically advanced extraterrestrial life in the paper published in Astrobiology.

Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester and a coauthor on the paper, said, “The question of whether advanced civilizations exist elsewhere in the universe has always been vexed with three large uncertainties in the Drake equation.” It has long been estimated that there are somewhere around a trillion stars in the universe. The number of planets around each star, the frequency with which life could develop into sentient beings, the potential longevity of any given civilization, or the likelihood of its eventual demise were all unknown quantities to us.

Frank says, “Of course, we have no idea how likely it is that a technologically advanced intelligent species will evolve on any particular habitable planet.” Our method, however, allows us to determine how small that probability must be for ours to be the lone civilization in the cosmos. By the way, that’s the line of pessimism. If the true probability of the emergence of a technological species and civilization is greater than the pessimism line, then such an occurrence is more likely to have occurred in the past.

If no other examples of complex life have been found in the entire universe or even in our own Milky Way galaxy, which contains 100 billion stars, then Frank and Sullivan calculate how unlikely it is that such life exists.

Rather than asking how many civilizations may exist now, we ask ‘Are we the only technological species that has ever arisen?’
Woodruff Sullivan, University of Washington

Finally, what does this mean? If the odds of a civilization developing on a habitable planet are less than about one in 10 billion trillion, or one part in 10 to the 22nd power, then Frank and Sullivan conclude that human civilization is likely to be unique in the cosmos. This is determined by applying the new exoplanet data to the universe’s 2 x 10 to the 22nd power stars.

“One in 10 billion trillion is incredibly small,” says Frank. “To me, this implies that other intelligent, technology producing species very likely have evolved before us. Think of it this way. Before our result you’d be considered a pessimist if you imagined the probability of evolving a civilization on a habitable planet were, say, one in a trillion. But even that guess, one chance in a trillion, implies that what has happened here on Earth with humanity has in fact happened about a 10 billion other times over cosmic history!”

Smaller volumes see fewer extreme numbers. If the odds against a technologically advanced species evolving on any one habitable planet are greater than one in sixty billion, then it is likely that such a species has evolved on a planet in our own Milky Way galaxy.

However, Sullivan notes that the full Drake equation, which calculates the odds that other civilizations are around today, may offer solace to the pessimists if those numbers seem to give ammunition to the “optimists” about the existence of alien civilizations.

The Kepler satellite and other searches have led us to the startling realization that about 20% of stars have planets in “habitable zones,” or regions where temperatures are mild enough to support life as we know it. This constrains one of the three major unknowns.

Keep in mind that taking scientists at their word means they are only including what they can observe. The percent of the universe we can really see is only 4%. which means the 20% is only from the observable 4%.

The third major question, Frank said, is how long civilizations might survive. “The fact that humans have had rudimentary technology for roughly ten thousand years doesn’t really tell us if other societies would last that long or perhaps much longer,” he explained.

Figure 1 This artist’s conception of a planetary lineup shows habitable zone planets with similarities to Earth: from left, Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-452b, Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f. Last in line is Earth itself. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

However, Frank and his coauthor, Woodruff Sullivan of the University of Washington’s Astronomy Department and Astrobiology Program, discovered that by simply broadening the question, the need for that term was eliminated.

“Rather than asking how many civilizations may exist now, we ask ‘Are we the only technological species that has ever arisen?” said Sullivan. “This shifted focus eliminates the uncertainty of the civilization lifetime question and allows us to address what we call the ‘cosmic archaeological question’—how often in the history of the universe has life evolved to an advanced state?”

That still leaves massive unknowns in determining the likelihood of advanced life evolving on habitable planets. In this section, Frank and Sullivan do a 180 and ask the opposite question. They don’t just take a stab at estimating the likelihood of intelligent life arising, but instead account for the improbability that ours would be the only advanced civilization in the history of the observable universe. Frank and Sullivan then determined the threshold between our Universe and those in which other civilizations have existed as experiments.

Frank Drake, an astrophysicist, came up with an equation in 1961 to predict how many advanced civilizations might be spread throughout the Milky Way galaxy. The Drake equation has stood the test of time as a dependable research framework, and advancements in space exploration have expanded scientists’ understanding of many factors. For some parameters, however, such as L, the expected lifespan of other technologically advanced civilizations, we can do no better than speculate.

Recent studies by Adam Frank and Woodruff Sullivan provide a new formula for estimating the number of technologically advanced civilizations that have emerged throughout the history of the observable universe. The equation developed by Frank and Sullivan is inspired by Drake’s but does away with the variable L.

Their case depends on the newly discovered number of planets and the fraction of those that are in the “habitable zone,” where liquid water and thus life could exist. Frank and Sullivan can use this to define their own number, which they will call Nast. N*, the total number of stars, multiplied by fp, the fraction of stars that form planets, and np, the average number of planets in habitable zones of their stars, yields Nast.

A is defined as the “number of technological species that have ever formed over the history of the observable Universe” in what they call the “Archaeological-form” of the Drake equation.

In their formula, A=Nast*fbt, A is defined as the product of Nast, the number of habitable planets in a given volume of the Universe, and fbt, the probability that a technological species will evolve on one of these planets. The volume under consideration may be anything from the local neighborhood to the entire cosmos.

“The universe is more than 13 billion years old,” said Sullivan. “That means that even if there have been a thousand civilizations in our own galaxy, if they live only as long as we have been around—roughly ten thousand years—then all of them are likely already extinct. And others won’t evolve until we are long gone. For us to have much chance of success in finding another “contemporary” active technological civilization, on average they must last much longer than our present lifetime.”

“Given the vast distances between stars and the fixed speed of light we might never really be able to have a conversation with another civilization anyway,” said Frank. “If they were 20,000 light years away then every exchange would take 40,000 years to go back and forth.”

Frank and Sullivan argue that the new result has profound scientific and philosophical importance even if there are currently no other civilizations in our galaxy to communicate with. “From a fundamental perspective the question is ‘has it ever happened anywhere before?’” said Frank. Our result is the first time anyone has been able to set any empirical answer for that question and it is astonishingly likely that we are not the only time and place that an advance civilization has evolved.”

Frank and Sullivan claim that there is a real-world use for their findings. We can ponder, as humanity faces its sustainability and climate change crisis, whether or not other civilization-building species on other planets have experienced a similar bottleneck and emerged victorious. In Frank’s words“ We don’t even know if it’s possible to have a high-tech civilization that lasts more than a few centuries.”

As a result of this new finding, scientists can use everything we know about planets and climate to model the interactions of an energy-intensive species with their home world, safe in the knowledge that a large sample of such cases has already existed in the cosmos. Given our findings, it seems likely that evolutions similar to ours have occurred frequently throughout Earth’s history. Many other cases are likely to involve numerous energy-intensive civilizations coping with feedbacks on their planets as their populations expand. We can start investigating the issue with simulations to learn what factors contribute to the development of stable societies and which do not.

If we were really smart, we would be looking a lot closer to home, like right under our feet. The Earth has been producing animal life for 800 million years. We can only see evidence of how advanced life existed in the past few thousand years. If an intelligent civilization developed along a line of natural development, coexisting with nature rather than being destructive to it as we are, there would be little if any evidence left. I take that back.

There are myriads of evidence left; we are just too stupid to see them. Instead, we attribute the large variety of plants, animals, insects, birds, and fish to the evolution of chance.

In any case, my impression is that Homo Sapiens is not the first sentient advanced species to exist on Earth. The evidence can be found in our religious scriptures, mythology, and other historical records. We are not alone; they are still here.

People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. Albert Einstein

Complex Reality

Throughout the course of the 19th century, scientific inquiry achieved significant victories over deeply ingrained religious dogma. In the 1800s, discoveries of Neanderthal fossils in Belgium, Gibraltar, and Germany demonstrated that humans were not the only hominids to occupy earth. In addition, fossils and the remains of animals and plants that have since become extinct demonstrated that flora and fauna evolve over time, live for millennia, and then sometimes die out, ceding their place on the planet to species that are better adapted to its conditions.

The then-emerging theory of evolution, which had just been published by Charles Darwin in 1859, received substantial support from these discoveries. And in the year 1851, a French physicist named Leon Foucault, who was self-taught, provided conclusive evidence that the earth rotates, as opposed to remaining stationary while the sun revolved around it. He did this by employing a unique pendulum whose circular motion revealed the planet’s rotation. The “young earth” hypothesis was completely demolished by geological findings made over the course of the same century. Some theologians had estimated that the earth was only thousands of years old by counting generations back to the biblical Adam. However, modern scientific research has shown that the age of the earth is actually billions of years, not thousands. These discoveries have all shown that literal interpretations of Scripture are incorrect.

However, contemporary science, which began in the beginning of the 20th century, has not demonstrated that there is no God, contrary to what a number of commentators currently assert. The study of science is an incredible and wonderful endeavor because it teaches us about life, the world, and the cosmos.

On the other hand, it has not explained how or why the universe came into existence, nor has it described the events that took place before the Big Bang. The theory of biological evolution has not provided us with the slightest understanding of how the first living organisms emerged from inanimate matter on this planet or how the advanced eukaryotic cells, which are the highly structured building blocks of more complex life forms, ever emerged from simpler organisms. Both of these questions are essential to our ability to comprehend how life began on this planet. It also does not explain one of the most perplexing questions in scientific research, which is how consciousness first emerged in living things. Where does the ability to think symbolically and be self-aware come from? What is it about the human mind that enables it to comprehend the intricacies of fields as diverse as biology, physics, mathematics, engineering, and medicine? How is it that humans are capable of producing such magnificent works of art, music, architecture, and literature? The scientific community is still a long way from solving these perplexing puzzles.

But the persistent question of the fine-tuning of the parameters of the universe is much more important than these conundrums. This question asks, “Why is our universe so precisely tailor-made for the emergence of life?” (Why is our universe so precisely tailor-made for the emergence of life?) This question has never been answered to anyone’s satisfaction, and I don’t think that a satisfactory scientific answer will ever be found to it. Because the more we delve into the mysteries of physics and cosmology, the more intricate and incredibly complex the universe appears to be. To explain the behavior of even a single subatomic particle using quantum mechanics requires reams and reams of extremely advanced mathematics. Why is it that even the smallest particles of matter are so incredibly complicated to understand? It would appear that even the simplest-appearing component of nature has a complex “wisdom” or structure, as well as a tangled blueprint for how it should be put together. And as we broaden our perspective to include the entirety of the cosmos, the gravity of the situation only increases.

We know that the birth of our universe was kicked off by a massive explosion of energy that occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The nature and origin of this energy are completely baffling to us, and science doesn’t have the slightest clue as to what caused it. Then, all of a sudden, as if by magic, the “God particle,” also known as the Higgs boson, which was discovered two years ago inside CERN’s powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, miraculously came into existence and gave the universe its mass. What led to this occurrence?

Because of this, the masses of the elementary particles that made up the mass, such as quarks and electrons, had to have their masses and electrical charges fall within immeasurably narrow bounds for the next step to take place. Because, from within the primordial soup of elementary particles that made up the young universe, all of the quarks suddenly clumped together in threes to form protons and neutrons, with their electrical charges set precisely to the exact level that was required to attract and capture the electrons, which then began to circle nuclei that were made of the protons and neutrons. Again, as if by a magic hand. To allow for the formation of early light atoms, it was necessary for all of the masses, charges, and interaction forces in the universe to be in the exact amounts that were required. Larger ones would then be cooked in the nuclear fires that are contained within stars, which would provide us with carbon, iron, nitrogen, oxygen, and all of the other elements that are so essential for the emergence of life. And eventually, the extremely complicated molecule known as DNA, which is responsible for the reproduction of life, would be formed.

Why did everything that was necessary for our existence come into being so that it could be created? How was it possible for all of this to take place without some unknown external power to direct the intricate dance of fundamental particles that was necessary for the formation of all of the components that are required for life?

Based on only one of the hundreds of parameters that make up the physical universe, the brilliant British mathematician Roger Penrose has calculated that the probability of the emergence of a universe that is conducive to the existence of life is equal to 1 divided by 10, raised to the power 10, and then raised to the power 123. This is a number that is as close to zero as anyone could possibly have conceived it to be. Your chance of being struck by lightning or winning the lottery ten times a day are much higher.

The atheists in the scientific community have been working feverishly to provide an explanation for this perplexing mystery by proposing the existence of a multiverse, which is an infinite collection of universes, each of which has its own parameters. The conditions in some universes are not conducive to the existence of life; however, given the magnitude of this putative multiverse, there must be at least one universe in which everything is just as it should be. If the formation of a single universe requires an enormous amount of the power of nature, then one can only imagine how much more potent that natural force would need to be in order to birth an infinite number of universes. Therefore, the purely hypothetical existence of multiple universes does not provide an answer to the question of God.

The incredible precision with which the universe was designed provides the strongest evidence to date for the existence of a higher intelligence, an imminent, creative being—one that many people refer to as God. Without strong scientific evidence to the contrary, it is possible that such a power is needed to force all of the cosmological, physical, chemical, biological, and cognitive parameters that we need for our existence into the way they are now.

Understanding the world, knowing our place in it, and being amazed by the wonder of life and the vastness of the cosmos we live in are universal human drives that show up in both scientific inquiry and religious belief.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller

Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics is the religion of science. Quantum mechanics is a kind of fuzzy logic with firm mathematical formulas that kind of bends the mind when it comes to thinking in terms of reality. In some ways it is more supernatural than the idea of a supreme God.

Scientists and philosophers remain divided over what quantum physics reveals about the nature of reality, despite the field’s tremendous success. Questions of whether the theory is a mathematical model or a description of the world as it is at its core. The philosophical questions that have arisen from physicists’ attempts to recHomo primusle the theory with reality is a strange but necessary consequence of their pursuit of truth.

In quantum mechanics, a particle’s wave characteristics are described by a wave function, a variable quantity. The probability of a particle’s presence at a particular location and instant in space and time is proportional to the magnitude of the particle’s wave function at that location and instant.

Nothing we normally encounter can prepare us for the tiny world of microbes. Until we actually see someone or something, the idea that they could be in two places at once completely escapes us. They exist in a single location, regardless of our ability to locate it. Similarly, we don’t presume a cat locked in a box is both dead and alive until we open the box to check. Quantum objects, from atoms and subatomic particles to something as large as a cat, typically exhibit duality. Until we take a closer look, these objects are in what is known as a superposition of states, each of which has a different probability. We can expect to find them in one of these states with a certain probability when we repeatedly measure their position or some other physical property.

Are these superpositions of states real, or is this way of thinking just a mathematical trick we invented to describe what we measure with our detectors? This is the central question that still haunts or inspires physicists. Taking a stance on this question entails committing to a particular worldview and interpretation of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics, it must be emphasized, functions splendidly as a mathematical theory. It does a fantastic job of describing the experiments. Because of this, we are no longer debating the validity of quantum mechanics. The question is whether it accurately describes physical reality, and if not, we need more information to fully grasp how nature functions at the subatomic level.

States of Thinking

The nature of quantum mechanics is hotly contested, despite the fact that it does work. This is far too brief an introduction to do the subject justice. It is my intention to provide a taste of the gravity of the situation. There are varying points of view and complex arguments. But in its broadest sense, the schools can be categorized along two distinct worldviews, both of which are reliant on the quantum world’s star player, the ubiquitous wavefunction.

Those who believe the wavefunction accurately describes the nature of reality are on one side. The philosophical term “ontology,” which refers to “the stuff that makes up reality,” is where the term “ontic interpretation” comes from. The superpositions described by the wavefunction are considered to be a part of reality by adherents of the ontic school, even though the wavefunction itself does not describe anything tangible like the particle’s position or momentum.

Those who argue that the wavefunction does not exist stand in the opposite corner. Instead, they view it as a mathematical framework for understanding experimental results. In philosophy, this way of thinking is referred to as the epistemic interpretation. According to this theory, the rules of quantum physics provide a fantastic description of the outcomes of measurements taken as objects and detectors interact and people read the results, which are the only way we can figure out what goes on at the quantum level. The wavefunction doesn’t have to be taken seriously in any way. Possibilities, or the range of values that could result from a given measurement, are all it represents.

Due to its insistence that we do not know what the wavefunction is, only what it does, this school of thought is sometimes unjustly referred to as the “shut up and calculate approach.” What this means is that we pragmatically describe what we don’t know as superpositions of possible states, which coexist before a measurement is made. When a system is measured, it quickly settles into only one of its possible states. It’s strange to say that something that’s curled up and scattered across the universe suddenly settles into a single position (a position that lies within what is allowed by the Uncertainty Principle). It’s strange to think that the act of measuring could be used to characterize the particle’s current state. As a result, the measurer may be a factor in what ends up being the case. However, the theory is sound, which is the most important consideration in the real world.

Forks in the Road

The ghost of scientific objectivity lurks at the heart of the ontic vs. epistemic debate. The idea that observers could play any role in determining the nature of reality is strongly rejected by onticists. Is it possible for an experimenter to tell where an electron actually is? Instead, the Many Worlds interpretation, an alternative ontic school, holds that any and all possible outcomes occur whenever a measurement is taken. The only difference is that these possibilities also exist in parallel universes, and we can only directly access one of them. The idea here is inspired by Borgean philosophy and holds that any act of measurement splits the universe into parallel universes, each of which represents a different possible outcome of the experiment. Since all possible outcomes are actualized simultaneously, there is no need to discuss the collapse of the wavefunction.

Sadly, observers from other worlds cannot access these numerous worlds. Many Worlds experiments have been proposed, but there are significant challenges to overcome, such as the difficulty of achieving quantum superposition of macroscopic objects in a controlled setting. The probabilities of the various possible outcomes of the experiment are also unclear. An observer can only win in one of several possible universes when using a quantum device to play Russian roulette, for instance. Who here would volunteer to be the test subject? That’s not something I’d do. Despite this, many people believe in Many Worlds.

In contrast, other ontic approaches involve elaborating the quantum mechanical description with additional features, such as the presence of a causal universe. For instance, David Bohm proposed including a pilot wave in the quantum mechanical prescription, whose sole purpose would be to steer individual particles toward the expected results of experiments. Since this pilot wave acts everywhere at once, it is nonlocal, which is the physics term for a phenomenon that must be accepted as the price of experimental certainty. This has been inconceivable to many, including Einstein.

Nature of Reality

On the epistemological side, there is an equal range of possible understandings. In this regard, the Copenhagen interpretation is the most popular. The paper argues that the wavefunction is not a physical entity but rather a convenient metaphor for describing what really matters: the results of experiments. There is a lot of room for disagreement when it comes to defining the boundary between classical and quantum physics, the nature of the observer, and the impact of the observer’s mind on the act of measurement and, by extension, the definition of the physical properties of the object under study.

Quantum Bayesianism, or QBism to give it its more common acronym, is the last epistemic interpretation I will discuss here for reasons of space. QBism, like its name suggests, places emphasis on the agent’s role. As the agent makes predictions about the future, it is assumed that his or her knowledge and beliefs about the world reflect the probabilities in quantum mechanics. In this view, superpositions and entanglements are not states of the world but rather expressions of an agent’s perception of the world. Therefore, they are not as mysterious as they may initially seem. An agent’s actions in the world are now responsible for the quantum weirdness that occurs.

QBism is often criticized for being overly dependent on the role of a single agent within an experiment. This runs counter to the typical scientific pursuit of universality that is independent of the perspective of the observer. This criticism, however, rests on an unrealistic view of science, as Adam Frank, Evan Thompson, and I argue in The Blind Spot, a book to be published by MIT Press in 2024. This perspective originates with an explanation of the world beyond the scope of human experience. Perhaps this is what the strangeness of quantum mechanics has been trying to convey.

What is Important

Quantum physics’ stunning discoveries have opened our eyes to a universe that confounds and delights our wildest imaginings. As it has done for the past century, it keeps us guessing.

In reality we know nothing, for truth is in the depths.
Democritus

Quantum Creation

No student of quantum physics would ever believe the old adage, “You can’t get something from nothing.” When you have nothing more than a vacuum and you manipulate it in the right way, something will appear. When two particles collide in the void, sometimes new particle-antiparticle pairs are created. If you take a meson and try to separate the quark from the antiquark, new particle-antiparticle pairs will be ejected from the void. Furthermore, in theory an electromagnetic field strong enough can rip particles and antiparticles out of the vacuum itself, even in the absence of any initial particles or antiparticles.

It was once believed that only the highest particle energies, such as those achieved in high-energy particle physics experiments or in extreme astrophysical environments, could produce such effects. In early 2022, however, electric fields strong enough to enable the spontaneous creation of particle-antiparticle pairs from nothing were generated in a relatively simple laboratory setup by taking advantage of graphene’s unusual properties. One of the fathers of quantum field theory, Julian Schwinger, predicted 70 years ago that this should be possible. The Schwinger effect has been proven, shedding light on the universe’s mysterious ability to create matter out of emptiness.

The Standard Model particles’ interactions are described in detail, including the three fundamental forces predicted by Quantum Field Theory. When gravity is factored in, we get the observable Universe we know and love, complete with all the known laws, parameters, and constants. There are still unanswered questions about things like dark matter and dark energy.

(Credit: Contemporary Physics Education Project/DOE/SNF/LBNL)

In the real world, it’s impossible to make “nothing” work. At the most fundamental level, everything can be broken down into unbreakable units called quanta. Quarks, electrons, muons, taus, neutrinos, and their antimatter counterparts; photons, gluons, and the heavy bosons W+, W-, Z0, and the Higgs; and all of their counterparts are all considered elementary particles. However, even after removing everything, the resulting “empty space” isn’t actually devoid of physical features. To begin with, quantum fields persist even when no particles are present. The quantum fields that permeate the Universe are as much a part of it as the laws of physics that govern it.

Furthermore, the effects of the long-range forces of electromagnetism and gravity will remain regardless of how far away we move any sources of matter. Space cannot be “entirely emptied” in any real sense with respect to gravitation, but we can make clever setups that guarantee that the strength of the electromagnetic field in a region is zero.

(Credit: Christopher Vitale of Networkologies and the Pratt Institute)

When a mass is placed on a blank, three-dimensional grid, the ‘straight’ lines bend at an angle determined by the mass. To infinity and beyond, the curvature of space around a point mass remains constant.

But there is an experiment that can be done to show that empty space isn’t truly empty, even in the case of the electromagnetic force, even if the electric and magnetic fields within a region of space are completely nullified. Clearly, something is present in this region of what a physicist might call, from a physical perspective, “maximum nothingness,” even if you create a perfect vacuum free of all particles and antiparticles of all types, and where the electric and magnetic fields are zero.

To use this area, simply install a pair of conducting plates in parallel. Even though their mutual gravitational attraction would seem to be the only force acting between the plates, the plates actually attract at a much higher strength than what gravity would predict.

Steve Lamoreaux proved the existence of the Casimir effect in 1996, 48 years after it was first calculated and proposed by Hendrik Casimir.

(Credit: Emok/Wikimedia Commons)

When two conducting plates are placed side by side, the Casimir effect causes certain electromagnetic modes to be blocked inside the plates while remaining unblocked on the outside. Therefore, the plates attract, as Casimir predicted in the 1940s and Lamoreaux experimentally confirmed in the 1990s.

In a similar vein, in 1951, Julian Schwinger, who was already a co-founder of the quantum field theory that describes electrons and the electromagnetic force, provided a complete theoretical description of how matter could be created from nothing by simply applying a strong electric field. In the 1930s, Fritz Sauter, Werner Heisenberg, and Hans Euler all independently proposed the idea, but it was Schwinger who did the hard work of quantifying exactly under what conditions this effect should emerge; hence, it is most commonly referred to as the Schwinger effect.

Standard theory predicts the presence of quantum fluctuations in the vacuum, which would be the excitations of any and all possible quantum fields. Due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, it is impossible to know the values of the following quantities simultaneously with infinite precision:

Although the uncertainty principle is most commonly stated in terms of the first two entities, its other applications can have equally profound consequences.

(Credit: Maschen/Wikimedia Commons)

The uncertain connection between location and motion is a central theme in quantum mechanics. The degree to which one can be known accurately increases as the other becomes less so. When one quantity is measured precisely, its complementary quantity is guaranteed to have a larger margin of error.

Remember that any force can be described in terms of a field, with the force experienced by a particle equal to the product of the particle’s charge and some property of the field. Particles, depending on their charge and (sometimes) their velocity, can feel a force when they move through a field’s non-zero region of space. As the force exerted by a field increases, so does the amount of “field energy” present in that region of space.

There is always some amount of field energy present in any given region of space, even if there are no other fields present. If quantum fields permeate the entire universe, then the energy content of any given region at any given instant in time is subject to uncertainty due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

The greater the uncertainty in the amount of energy in that region, the shorter the time period we are looking at. When extrapolated to all possible quantum states, we can get a sense of the fluctuating fields and the fluctuating particle-antiparticle pairs that come into and out of existence as a result of the various quantum forces at work in the Universe.

Quantum field theory visualization depicting hypothetical particles existing in a void. (Most notably, for the powerful interactions.) This vacuum energy exists even in empty space, so what seems to be the “ground state” in one region of curved space will appear differently from the perspective of an observer in a different region of curved space. This vacuum energy (or a cosmological constant) must exist so long as quantum fields do.

Let us now imagine amplifying the electric field. What happens if you crank it up to an unbearable level?

Starting with the simpler scenario, suppose a certain type of particle, a meson, already exists. Mesons are composite particles consisting of one quark and one antiquark bound together via the strong force and the exchange of gluons. There are six types of quarks: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top. Anti-quarks are simply the polar opposites of these particles.

There are two possible opposite charges for the quark-antiquark pairs inside a meson: +2/3 and -2/3 (for up, charm, and top) or +1/3 and -1/3. (down, strange, and bottom). When an electric field is applied to this type of meson, the end with the positive charge and the end with the negative charge will be attracted to the field in opposite directions. With a powerful enough field, the quark and antiquark can be pulled apart far enough to create new particle-antiparticle pairs in the void. This results in the production of two mesons rather than one, with the extra mass being created using the electric field energy that tore the meson apart (via E = mc2).

(Credit: The Particle Adventure/LBNL/Particle Data Group)

When a meson like the depicted charm-anticharm particle has its constituent particles pulled apart by an excessive amount, it becomes energetically favorable to rip a new (light) quark/antiquark pair out of the vacuum, thus producing two mesons where there was once one. This can happen if the electric field is sufficiently strong, and the lifetime of the mesons is sufficiently long; the energy to create the heavier particles comes from the electric field.

Now, with all that in mind, let’s imagine we have access to an electric field stronger than anything we could create on Earth. Something so powerful that it would be the same as if you took a full Coulomb of charge, or about 1019 electrons and protons, and concentrated them into two tiny balls, one with a positive charge and the other with a negative charge and placed them only a meter apart. In this part of space, the quantum vacuum will have a very strong polarization.

When positive and negative charges are highly differentiated, this is referred to as strong polarization. If the electric field in a given region of space is strong enough, virtual particle-antiparticle pairs of the lightest charged particles (electrons and positrons) have a certain probability of being separated by a large enough amount due to the force from the field that they can no longer reannihilation one another. Instead, they materialize into true particles and syphon power from the underlying electric field, thereby ensuring that energy is conserved.

This results in the creation of new particle-antiparticle pairs, and the corresponding weakening of the external electric field due to the energy expended in their production (via E = mc2).

A visualization of QCD shows how, due to Heisenberg uncertainty, particle/antiparticle pairs temporarily emerge from the quantum vacuum for extremely brief intervals of time. The interesting thing about the quantum vacuum is that it implies that empty space isn’t so empty, but is filled with all the particles, antiparticles, and fields in various states required by quantum field theory, which describes our Universe. When you add it all up, you’ll find that the zero-point energy of empty space is greater than zero.

This is known as the Schwinger effect, and it has never been observed in a controlled environment. Actually, the only theorized locations were the environments surrounding (or even interior to) black holes and neutron stars, which are the highest-energy astrophysical regions in the Universe. But even this is still a matter of speculation given the vast cosmic distances that separate us from even the nearest black holes and neutron stars. On Earth, we have only succeeded in creating electric fields of this strength in laser facilities, and even with the most powerful, intense lasers and shortest pulse times, we haven’t come close.

Most of the time, when you have a conducting material, only the “valence electrons” are free to move and contribute to conduction. However, if you were able to generate sufficiently powerful electric fields, all of the electrons would be compelled to participate in the current. In January 2022, scientists from the University of Manchester used a complex and ingenious setup involving graphene, a super strong material made of carbon atoms bound together in geometrically optimal states, to achieve this property with a relatively small, experimentally accessible magnetic field. They observe the Schwinger effect, which in this quantum system produces something akin to electron-positron pairs.

(Credit: K. Kumar and B. C. Yadav, Advanced Science, Engineering and Medicine, 2018)

Graphene’s exceptional electronic band structure is just one of its many fascinating features. Both holes and electrons are able to emerge and flow because the conduction and valence bands can overlap at zero band gap.

Among the many peculiarities of graphene is the fact that flat sheets of the material act like a two-dimensional structure. By reducing the number of (effective) dimensions, many of the degrees of freedom found in three-dimensional materials are removed, leaving far fewer options for the quantum particles within, and reducing the set of quantum states available to them.

By applying an electric field to a graphene-based structure called a superlattice — where multiple layers of materials create periodic structures — the authors of this study induced the aforementioned behavior, where electrons from lower, completely filled bands join the flow as part of the material’s conduction.

When this happens, the material exhibits a wide variety of previously unseen exotic behaviors, including the Schwinger effect, which was observed for the first time. However, it only generated electrons and holes, the condensed-matter equivalent of positrons where the “missing” electron in a lattice flows in the opposite direction of the electron flow. This additional process of spontaneous production of electrons and “holes” was necessary to explain the observed currents, and the details of the process agreed with Schwinger’s predictions from as far back as 1951.

(Credit: Max Pixel)

Despite the vast number of possible atomic and molecular configurations, the properties of any given material are determined by the particular configurations actually present in that material. Graphene, a single-atom sheet of the material depicted here, is the hardest material known to humanity, and when combined with another such sheet to form a superlattice, the resulting structure exhibits many unusual and counterintuitive properties.

Quantum analogue systems, in which the same mathematics that describes an inaccessible physical regime applies to a system that can be created and studied in a laboratory, are among the most potent probes we have of exotic physics and one of the many ways we can learn about the Universe. Extreme properties of graphene, such as its ability to withstand spectacularly large electric fields and currents, allowed the Schwinger effect to emerge for the first time in any form: in this specific quantum system. When we first saw the spectacular characteristics of our superlattice devices, we thought, ‘wow… it could be some sort of new superconductivity,'” said Dr. Roshan Krishna Kumar, a coauthor on the paper. Although the response is very similar to that which is commonly observed in superconductors, it was quickly determined that the strange behavior was not superconductivity but rather the province of astrophysics and particle physics. It’s intriguing to see connections drawn from seemingly unrelated fields.

Electrons and positrons (“holes”) are created from thin air when electric fields rip them out of the quantum vacuum. This is just one more example of how the universe proves that the impossible is possible.

 

Dark Matter

No one is absolutely sure what dark matter is made of. But most likely, it is something like neutrinos or some other very small particles. Like the air we breathe, these particles do not reflect light in the visible spectrum, so they have no color. I guess someone thought it was “dark matter” because it supposedly fills the space between stars and when you look at the night sky you see black. I do not know, but names have come about for things even stupider, like a big bang that has no center point of explosion.

Another hypothesis, dark matter, the unidentified substance thought to account for 85 percent of the universe’s mass, may be formed from hypothetical particles called dark photons. Dark photons, unlike regular photons, have mass, albeit an extremely tiny one, twenty orders of magnitude smaller than that of an electron.

The existence of “Dark photons” may provide an explanation for the unexpectedly high temperatures observed in cosmic intergalactic filaments when compared to predictions made by the Standard Model of physics.

In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers propose that “Dark photons” hypothetical particles that may make up dark matter, may be responsible for the increased temperatures observed in cosmic intergalactic filaments compared to those predicted by the Standard Model of physics.

The Lyman Alpha field of cosmic filaments is the focus of the Hubble Space Telescope’s Cosmic Origin Spectrograph. The spectrograph’s observations indicated that the filaments were hotter than what was predicted by Standard Model simulations.

Dark photons may be converted into low-frequency photons via interaction with the hypothetical particles, warming up the “cosmic web” even in sparsely populated regions.

In a press release, study co-author and astrophysicist Matteo Viel said, “Usually, cosmic filaments have been used to probe small scale properties of dark matter, while in this case, we have used for the first time the low redshift intergalactic medium data as a calorimeter, to check whether all the heating processes we are aware of are sufficient to reproduce the data.” We found that this is not the case, and instead there is a gap, which we explain as a result of the dark photon’s contribution.

The new study could be the first observation of effects of dark matter outside of its gravitational effects, and it was conducted by researchers from the University of Nottingham, Tel Aviv University, New York University, and the Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe in Trieste.

The study follows the recent detection of extremely high-energy particles by Chinese and Russian neutrino observatories investigating the strongest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, GRB 221009A.

As an explanation for their arrival, scientists have proposed that the energetic particles were transformed into “axion-like particles.” Lightweight axion particles are a possible component of dark matter, the substance thought to constitute the vast majority of the universe. Additionally, the particles may explain a troubling quark property.

According to Quanta magazine, the strong magnetic fields surrounding the imploding star that caused the gamma-ray burst may have altered a high-energy photon into a particle similar to the axion. After interacting with magnetic fields in our galaxy, the particle would have been transformed back into a photon.

Additionally, the study coincides with the current run of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, where physicists are using the ForwArd Search ExpeRiment (FASER) to detect thousands of neutrino collisions. Researchers are hoping to find evidence of dark photons in FASER’s data, which would demonstrate the non-gravitational interactions of dark matter with regular atoms and other matter in the universe.

Neutrinos

Of all the elementary particles in the universe, neutrinos may be the strangest. Sometimes known as “ghost particles,” these mysterious little packets of energy have no electrical charge, have almost no mass and come in at least three distinct varieties. New research is bringing science closer than ever to understanding the nature of neutrinos, from their size to their fundamental properties.

Extremely minute particles called neutrinos, is hundreds of thousands of times lighter than the next lightest particle, which is the electron. Further, they can be found just about anywhere. Every second, your body is bombarded by trillions of neutrinos, most of which come from the sun. However, they are so small and electrically neutral that they have very little contact with your tissues.

Although theoretical physicists have known about neutrinos for nearly a century, they still know surprisingly little about them. In 1930, renowned physicist Wolfgang Pauli was trying to solve a seemingly impossible paradox. Pauli’s contemporaries had observed beta decay, the disintegration of certain radioactive atoms, and noticed a discrepancy in the numbers. Some of the energy released by the decaying atom appears to have been lost completely, rather than being dissipated as electrons.

While it is true that energy cannot be created or destroyed, this discovery contradicted the first law of thermodynamics. Pauli proposed a “desperate remedy” to this problem by postulating the existence of a new type of small, chargeless fundamental particle that was emitted alongside the electrons and made up for the lost power. An elementary particle called a neutrino was conceptualized.

Finally, in 1956, an experiment confirmed the existence of Pauli’s neutral particle, though its size remains unknown. Calculations suggest that neutrinos have an extremely small mass.

Experiments are being conducted in the hopes of shedding light on such mysteries as the formation of black holes, the origin of matter, and the nature of dark matter (which may simply be a fourth, not yet detected neutrino called a “sterile neutrino”).

Electromagnetic Radiation

Another largely misunderstood scientific concept is Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR). It is widely accepted as a form of massless, wave-moving energy that extends from extremely long radio waves to extremely short gamma rays. The misconception is how it is portrayed as an almost magical quality. Without any mass.

Since the particles that produce EMR waves of mechanical energy are too small for us to weigh or observe with our current technology it is assumed to be massless and not mechanical in nature. In actuality EMR is mechanical waves of energy in the form of particles similar to neutrinos.

There is more in Heaven and Earth than meets the eye.

Only a small part of this spectrum, called visible light, can be detected by the human eye. Both a radio and an x-ray machine use distinct parts of the electromagnetic spectrum for their detection capabilities. The full range of the electromagnetic spectrum is put to use by NASA’s scientific instruments in their exploration of the Earth, the solar system, and beyond.

Electromagnetic energy is used whenever you tune your radio or television, send a text message, or heat something in a microwave. Each and every one of your waking hours requires this power. Your entire way of life would collapse without it.

FM and AM radio are two types of radio waves. Microwaves, when extended to their full length, are about the size of a baseball, and are used in microwave ovens. Infrared rays are much more compact, with a length roughly equal to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Human and animal bodies emit infrared radiation, which is heat energy.

Our Protective Atmosphere

Our Sun is a complete-spectrum energy source, and it constantly bombards Earth’s atmosphere with electromagnetic radiation. A variety of higher energy waves can be harmful to life, but the Earth’s atmosphere shields us from them. Ionizing radiation includes gamma rays, x-rays, and some ultraviolet waves with enough energy to eject electrons from atoms. When organic matter is subjected to these high-energy waves, the atoms and molecules are changed, and the cells are damaged. These alterations to cells can be beneficial, as in the case of using radiation to kill cancer cells, or harmful, as in the case of sunburn.

Atmospheric Windows

Several gases in the Earth’s atmosphere reflect or absorb electromagnetic radiation; these include water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone. Visible light is an example of a type of radiation that is largely transmitted through the atmosphere. Spectral regions with wavelengths that can penetrate the atmosphere are called “atmospheric windows.” The best wavelength for transmitting satellite communication signals is a microwave because it can penetrate clouds.

Our atmosphere plays a crucial role in preserving life on Earth and keeping the planet habitable, but it is of limited use when trying to learn more about the origins of high-energy radiation in the universe. Higher energy light sources, and even some lower energy light sources like quasars, require instruments to be positioned above Earth’s energy-absorbing atmosphere in order to “see” them.

Gravity

According to physics, gravity is the “mysterious” force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. The force of gravity keeps all of the planets in orbit around the sun.

Newton’s 1st 2nd and 3rd laws

In the first law, an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it. In the second law, the force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. In the third law, when two objects interact, they apply forces to each other of equal magnitude and opposite direction.

Since I hate “mysterious” forces, I have a slightly different view of things based on the law of motion. Imagine the universe: galaxies and solar systems are all spinning. Each entity has its own direction, creating centrifugal forces from all directions at once. So instead of Earth spinning us off into space, we are held in place by the external force of the spinning solar system within the spinning galaxy within the spinning universe. It is all perfectly balanced to maintain gravity as we know it. The same analogy can apply to the moon around the Earth, the Earth around the sun, and so on. Artificial gravity on a space station is generated in the same way.

From another perspective, imagine spinning a top on a spinning merry-go-round. It has to fight two separate forces. Its own centripetal force keeps it upright, while the force from the merry-go-round spin’s centrifugal force will cause the top to be forced in another direction at the same time.

Centrifugal force is an outward force apparent in a rotating reference frame. It does not exist when a system is described relative to an inertial frame of reference. All measurements of position and velocity must be made relative to some frame of reference.

Centripetal force is the component of force acting on an object in curvilinear motion that is directed towards the axis of rotation or center of curvature. Centrifugal force is a pseudo-force in a circular motion that acts along the radius and is directed away from the center of the circle.

Several physical principles, such as angular momentum, inertia, momentum, centripetal force, potential energy, kinetic energy, torque, friction, and gravity, can be seen in action in the spinning tops. To get the top spinning, you apply a force known as torque, which transforms the potential energy stored in the top into motion.

Replicator

A replicator is a machine that can produce and reuse materials in the Star Trek universe. If we are to take Einstein’s equations literally, then we should be able to solve all the world’s problems with a replicator. If you need clothes, you just shovel in some dirt, convert it to energy, then reconvert it into whatever you need—food, clothes, water, anything, per Einstein. All the patterns would be stored in a supercomputer. Who knows maybe one day we can even have transporters, “beam me up Scotty”?

E = mc2. “Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.” On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing.

In reality, if we look at how nature works, it is not far from the truth. Animals die, trees grow, animals eat plants, and the cycle starts over. Life is a perpetual recycling machine.

Religion Superpower

Unlike science, religion has its own sort of superpowers. The biggest reason religions are successful is because of their walls. The rules that make them the religion that they are, is also the reason many people reject religion. Some people, like myself, are just not good at following too many rules.

These are just a few of the ways religion remains strong and how they contribute.

My upbringing in Christianity taught me that you must attend church on Sunday and are not permitted to work on Sunday. I was taught not attending church was called backsliding, and I had the feeling I was committing a sin by not attending church. This was all a psychological principle built into the religion. There is no commandment from God to attend church. Various religions have their own rules that help build and hold their flocks faithful to their specific belief systems.

I am strongly religious, one might say, yet I follow no religion. God lives in the hearts of believers, and I commune with God all day, every day. I am not saying religious organizations are bad. They contribute immensely to the stability of society through fellowship and learning. Most people need the companionship of others.

The vast majority of people in the world follow one of a few main religions. Some of these are Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. They make up about 83% of the population. The twelve religions listed here represent the world’s most influential spiritual practices. However, the average person may not be familiar with the diverse religious practices practiced around the world because of the varying degrees to which various faiths are represented in local communities.

If you really want to be closer to God, study all religions. Pick one that is near your home which most closely matches with the beliefs you hold dear. Attend their services often in order to learn more and develop friendships within your community.
Trust the Holy Spirit

True Word of God – Holy Spirit

God never wrote a book on paper, and neither did Jesus, who knew the will of God more profoundly than any other messenger God sent to us. Nor were the words of God ever transcribed. God, in his infinite wisdom, allowed inspired people to write because even our petty arguments build our faith in the one God and increase our understanding.

Many humans have been inspired but never compelled to write about their understanding of God. The true word of God was never written in any book. Instead, God, in all his wisdom, knew mankind would forever and always confuse the written words of other humans, so he sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us in learning more and to be able to get inspiration from others who were inspired, to allow each of us to know the truth of God. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Wisdom: Additionally, the gift of wisdom enables us to observe the hand of God at work in our own lives as well as in the wider world. The marvels of nature, the occurrences of history, and the highs and lows of our own lives all take on new significance when viewed through the lens of a wise person. The issues pertaining to making decisions about the truth and having the ability to see God in his entirety We regard God as our Father and each other with the respect they deserve. Lastly, having the ability to recognize God in every person, thing, and place

Understanding: Through comprehension, we gain an understanding of how we ought to live in order to be followers of the ways of God and the lessons taught by the messengers. A person who possesses understanding is not perplexed by the many contradictory messages that our culture sends about the appropriate way to live one’s life. The bestowal of understanding enables a person to perfect their speculative reason in order to better apprehend the truth. It is the gift that enables one to understand principles that are self-evident.

Counsel: Because we have the gift of counsel and the ability to exercise sound judgment, we are able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, and we always choose to do what is right. A person of sound judgment abstains from sin and exemplifies the principles that have been communicated to them by various messengers. The sharing of information that makes it possible for a person to answer God’s call to believe with wisdom and contentment

Fortitude: We are able to overcome our fears and become willing to take chances as believers in one God because we have been given the gifts of fortitude and courage. A person possesses courage when they are willing to stand up for what they believe to be right in God’s eyes, even if it means they will be rejected by others, verbally abused, suffer physical harm, or even die as a result of their actions. People who have the gift of courage are able to maintain the mental fortitude that is necessary for both doing good and enduring evil, particularly with regard to those aspects of either doing good or doing evil that are challenging.

Knowledge: We have been given the gift of knowledge, which enables us to comprehend the meaning of God. The dissemination of information is only one aspect of the gift of knowledge. When you need it or seek answers to questions in life, the Holy Spirit will speak answers to your mind. I constantly seek advice from the Holy Spirit while writing this book. The Holy Spirit does not dictate words to me any more than God dictates words for the messengers to write. It leads my heart in the right direction, and sometimes I might stray from the path by mistake.

Piety: We have a profound respect for both God and the church because we have been given the gift of reverence, which is also sometimes referred to as piety. A person who reveres God is one who acknowledges our complete dependence on God and approaches God with a spirit of humility, trust, and love. Piety is the gift that enables us to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit by rendering worship and performing our obligations to God in his role as our Father.

Respect and awe for God: We are made conscious of the splendor and majesty of God as a result of receiving the gift of reverence for the Lord. A person who is filled with wonder and awe is aware that God is the perfection of everything it is that we look for, including perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love. The fear of becoming estranged from God is the source of this gift. As opposed to a “servile fear,” which is the fear of being punished, such as the fear that a child has of upsetting his or her parent. Also known as having the knowledge that God possesses all power. The fear of the Lord is the first step toward gaining wisdom because it helps us to put ourselves in the proper perspective with regard to God; namely, that we are the limited, helpless creatures, while He is the limitless, all-powerful Creator.

I have felt this many times. It is like standing on the edge of an ocean that stretches into infinity. It is a feeling that you are insignificant in comparison to God’s power. There really is no way to describe the feeling accurately. It is like nothing else; it is not really a fear but a feeling of being in the presence of some being infinitely greater than you are, and yet God allows you to exist.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
Bible John 14:16-17

Religious Beliefs

If you ever wished to go down the rabbit hole with Dorothy, just talk scripture with someone who believes every word of a religious book written by humans is inspired by God. Inspired for a religious zealot means commanded, controlled, without the free will of self-thought.

Better yet just peruse the internet for subjects like “how Jesus prayed to God if he was God”. There is an argument for every scripture, even if they contradict one another. Personally, I have read all of the scriptures in most religious books several times, and one thing I have learned is to trust the Holy Spirit to speak the truth to your heart.

Do not trust another person’s interpretation of an interpretation of an interpretation of a dead man’s writings that was censored and controlled by an authority assigned by the interpreters.

Islam started off in the right direction. Muhammad was instructed that the Quran was never to be translated. This led to two failures: first, many non-Arabic speakers learned the words but never bothered to learn the Arabic meanings of the words. Second, eventually it was translated and interpreted into multiple meanings.

Beliefs and rituals differ greatly from one culture to another, and they also evolve over time. Not only do different cultures have different gods, spirits, and supernatural forces, but they also have different numbers of religious practitioners, rituals, and approaches to interacting with these beings.

Any system of values and rituals devoted to a supernatural power, be it forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demons, can be considered religious. It can be challenging to determine where the line between the supernatural and the natural lies, especially because some cultures do not draw such distinctions. Most societies, however, do. Mystical power, defined as influence that transcends material and social realities, is a shared religious concept. Therefore, “mystical power” can be seen as an umbrella term for the supernatural.

Religion has been found in all of the cultures that have been analyzed, despite the fact that there are many differences in the ways in which it is organized and practiced from one culture to the next. The reasons why religion permeates every culture have been the subject of extensive research.

Religion serves a variety of purposes and has repercussions, not only for individuals but also for societies. Explanations can be found in various religions. The practice of a religious faith can be both soothing and terrifying.

Religion serves as a unifying force that is essential to the functioning of society. In America during the 19th century, a comparison was made between religious and secular communes. This comparison provided evidence that supported the hypothesis that religion acts as a unifying factor. By a significant amount of time, religious communes outlived those that were motivated by secular ideologies (such as socialism). It’s possible that the fact that religious communes have more than twice as many requirements as secular communes is what makes them so much more successful in the long run. Taboos on certain foods and fasting are part of the requirements, as are restrictions on material possessions, marriage, sexual activity, and communication with the outside world. It would appear that a greater investment on the part of individuals not only demonstrates a higher level of commitment on their part, but also increases the likelihood of in-group loyalty and cooperation. Others, however, point out that despite the fact that religion may contribute to the integration of society, it can also contribute to the disruption of society.

One common explanation for the existence of religion is that it aides’ humans in coping with stressful situations, anxious situations, and uncertain situations. In the face of uncertainty, Sigmund Freud came to the conclusion that religion provides people with a sense of assurance. The human race will never be able to overcome the inherent limitations that come with dying. If people find that turning to religion helps them psychologically cope with potentially harmful or unpredictable circumstances, then religious unbelief in God ought to grow as people experience greater existential security. However, higher levels of economic development, reduced income inequality, increased redistribution, and improved healthcare all contribute to higher levels of skepticism in populations.

Religion not only serves many functions, but variations in religion are also predictive of many aspects of social and cultural life. These aspects include the type of property held, the craft specialization, the political hierarchy, and the communities that are based on kinship. Archaeologists are able to infer the existence of religion in bygone societies by looking at material objects and buildings associated with religion. Religion is also associated with physical objects and spaces.

Common Ground

Often, language barriers and information lost in translation prevent us from seeing how values and beliefs are shared between major religions. It is not that they copied each other; it is that there is only one source, one truth. For example, Allah is the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims. Yet many non-Arabic-speaking Christians think that Allah is the name of a new God in Islam. In actuality, Islam and Christianity both worship the same God, and many of their fundamental beliefs are the same.

Even in various religions that have more than one God, there is often a hierarchy, almost always leaving one supreme being above all others. This could be interpreted as, say, Christianity and angels. I some religions angels would be lesser gods. Religion is often based on one person’s spiritual understanding, philosophy, or messages delivered by another being. If you start to study all the religions, you can start to see that even named gods have the same characteristics as other religious gods.

After his ascension to heaven roughly two thousand years ago, Christians, Muslims, and Baha’is all hold the belief that Jesus will return again in a future event known as the Second Coming (also known as the Second Advent or the Parousia).

Zoroastrianism is believed to be one of the oldest religions. Central ideas of Zoroastrianism are believed to have shaped the development of Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism. In fact, Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic faith to promote the ideas of individual responsibility for salvation, judgment after death, a messiah, an end-time, and a heaven and hell.

Many followers of the world’s five major faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism) hold to the idea that a part of their identity survives physical death, even if it is given a different name in each of these traditions. But each has a unique and different conception of where it came from and where it’s going.

Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Love your neighbor as Yourself.

Zoroastrianism 1500 BCE

It is possible that the Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy owe something to Zoroastrianism’s distinctive features, such as its monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, and conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons.

The Persian prophet Zoroaster (also spelled Zarathustra or Zartosht) founded the monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism between 1500 and 1000 BCE. Belief in a single, all-powerful deity named Ahura Mazda (Lord of Wisdom) who is responsible for the universe’s creation and maintenance is central to Zoroastrianism, which also stresses the importance of good thought, good word, and good deed as means of expressing one’s faith.

Mazdayasna (which literally means “devotion to Mazda”) is another name for this faith, as is Mazdaism. This worldview evolved from the ancient Persian polytheistic religion, which revered Ahura Mazda as the supreme deity among many others and, like later Zoroastrianism, viewed life as a battle between the forces of good and evil.

The Zoroastrian faith was practiced by the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE), the Parthian Empire (247 BCE – 224 CE) and reached its zenith under the Sassanian Empire (224 CE-650 CE) (224-651 CE). The Sasanians established Zoroastrianism as the official religion of the empire, but they also fostered a sect of the religion known as Zorvanism, which is now considered a heresy. A number of Zoroastrian holy sites were either destroyed or converted into mosques after the Muslim Arab Invasion of 651 CE, and the religion was outlawed. However, Zoroastrianism managed to survive, and its teachings are still followed today, albeit by a much smaller number of people than before.

Early Origin

It is likely that the polytheistic faith of the early Persians was already developed in some form prior to their arrival in the region of Iran sometime around the 3rd millennium BCE, and that it was subsequently influenced by the Elamites and people of Susiana who were already established there. According to the followers of this religion, the spirit-deity Angra Mainyu was in charge of the evil forces that threatened humanity, and he was assisted by a legion of gods led by Ahura Mazda.

Life’s meaning lay in deciding to adhere to Ahura Mazda’s teachings and avoid falling into Angra Mainyu’s traps. Before listening to the whisperings of Angra Mainyu, who convinced the first couple created by Ahura Mazda, Mashya and Mashynag, that he was their creator and Ahura Mazda was their enemy and a deceiver, they had lived in peace and harmony with all things in the paradise Ahura Mazda had created for them. Because of their lack of faith in their true lord and their acceptance of false teachings, they were banished from paradise and doomed to a life of hardship and strife, but their offspring still had a chance at happiness so long as they remained faithful to Ahura Mazda.

Due to the lack of a canonical scripture, little is known about the practice of this religion or how its rituals were carried out. However, some aspects of the religion were preserved in later Zoroastrian writings, and we know that there was a priestly class (later known as the magi) and that the gods were worshipped at outdoor shrines called Fire Temples, altars on which the fire of the god was always kept lighted. There were no gods, and no elaborate rituals were performed like those in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The clergy of ancient Persia were among the country’s wealthiest and most influential citizens because of the practice of offering sacrifices to them in exchange for their mediation with the gods. These offerings likely took the form of food, grains, and precious objects. There were two types of priests in this society, the karpans and the kawis, and both had personal and political motivations to preserve religion as it had always been understood.

Zoroaster

Noble Persian parents Pourusaspa and Dughdova brought their son Zoroaster into this world. The fact that Zoroaster was able to start school at a young age rather than having to work suggests that his father, Pourusaspa, belonged to the priestly class because his son would become a priest and sons usually followed their fathers’ profession. Although we know that he had two older and two younger brothers, nothing else about his family or early life is known.

At the age of 15, he had already begun his career as a priest, most likely as an assistant to an older clergyman, and by the time he was 20, he had already moved out of his parents’ home. It is likely that Zoroaster was required to take part in the ritual slaughter of animals for sacrifice as part of his training to become a karpan priest, and that this experience left such a bad taste in his mouth that he later explicitly rejected the practice.

We don’t know what he did with his twenties, but we do know that at the age of 30, he had a vision at a religious festival honoring the rites of spring (likely the New Year celebration known as Nowruz). Before him, a brilliant image of an ethereal being appeared on the riverbank; this being introduced himself as Vohu Mahah (“good purpose”) and claimed to have been sent by Ahura Mazda himself to deliver a message: the priests were worshipping false gods because they had failed to understand the divine truth; there was only one god, Ahura Mazda, who did not demand blood sacrifices but only ethical behavior. Zoroaster was tasked with spreading this new knowledge, and he appears to have gotten right to work.

The New Truth

Unfortunately, the good news that Zoroaster shared was not met with the same enthusiasm by others as it was by him. The priests turned their back on him, his life was in danger, and he had to run for his life. But he continued to preach the newly revealed truth, praying constantly for direction from Ahura Mazda. The Avesta, the central section of the Zoroastrian scriptures, was composed largely of his prayers and questions to the god.

A king named Vishtaspa eventually invited him to his court, where he entertained the king with a theological debate between himself and the king’s court priests. The Avesta claims that after Zoroaster refuted their arguments and demonstrated the truth of his revelation, Vishtaspa had him thrown in jail because his actions threatened the status quo. Zoroaster was released from prison and given another audience with Vishtaspa after he performed a miracle on the king’s favorite horse, which had been paralyzed. According to Zoroastrian mythology, the first convert was the king Vishtaspa.

Zoroaster and his early followers did not preserve their teachings in writing. According to legend, his teachings were recited in rituals for generations before they were committed to writing. It is unclear how the religion spread after Vishtaspa, but by the time of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), the ruling class of that empire were Zoroastrians, so by that point it had already achieved widespread acceptance. According to later works from the Sasanian Period, Zoroaster was murdered by a priest of the old religion, or he died of old age at the age of 77 while still preaching his faith.

The Vision

The river vision and God’s persistent answers to Zoroaster’s prayers were the cornerstones of his new religion. On these five tenets, it was based:

The Avesta does not explain where Angra Mainyu and other evil forces come from if an all-good, omnipotent deity created the universe. The Avesta appears to make assumptions about its readers’ knowledge, rendering such an explanation superfluous. Angra Mainyu’s origin was likely another aspect of the old religion which he kept, as evidenced by Zoroaster’s prayers and admonitions, which imply that the original audience was familiar with it.

Until the nineteenth century CE, the question of whether or not an original explanation for the problem of evil had been given and lost or simply assumed was not raised explicitly. It had been suggested in the past, most notably by Zorvanism, which resolved the issue by making Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu coequal in power and both created beings, but traditional Zoroastrians rejected this dualism.

A solution to this conundrum was proposed by German Orientalist Martin Haug (l. 1827–1876 CE). According to Haug, Angra Mainyu was not a deity but rather an emanation of Ahura Mazda, the negative-energy discharge from the creative act, which gained consciousness from the creative act but possessed no real power. If there is no such thing as evil, then all that Angra Mainyu could do is try to disrupt and distort the great plan of Ahura Mazda, and this disruption is what people call “evil.”

Life & Afterlife

The concept of free will was fundamental to the religion. If you followed Ahura Mazda’s teachings, your life would be full; otherwise, you would be mired in dishonesty, conflict, and confusion. To put one’s faith into action in accordance with the fourth of the Five Principles, which states that “goodness is apparent through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds,” a person must first decide to do so.

Though there is evidence of subsequent conversion efforts by Zoroastrians, the faith is said to have spread because of the good deeds of believers who upheld three central principles:

A good and fruitful life, as well as eternal rewards, await those who follow these principles in daily life. An individual’s soul (urvan) is sent by their higher spirit (fravashi) to earth at birth so that they can learn about the world and make moral decisions based on their observations. Upon passing away, the soul was believed to linger near the body for three days before being judged by the gods. To ward off evil spirits and protect the soul during this time, a dog would be brought into the room.

After the three days were up, the urvan and its fravashi made their way to the Chinvat Bridge, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead, to meet the two dogs who guard it. The canines would cheer the arrival of a righteous person and condemn the wicked. At that point, the Holy Maiden Daena, who stood in for the deceased’s moral compass, would welcome the spirit. The righteous would see a lovely young woman in her, while the unjust would see an ugly old hag. The newly arrived soul would be comforted by Daena before she led it onto the bridge, where the angel Suroosh would stand guard.

For the righteous spirit, the bridge would broaden and become inviting, but for the condemned, it would narrow and become difficult. After death, Suroosh would lead the spirit to the angel Rashnu, the just judge of the dead. To await the end of time and the day of resurrection, when they would be reunited with Ahura Mazda, souls whose good and bad deeds were balanced were sent to Hamistakan, a kind of purgatory. Those who had lived their lives in accordance with the light were taken to the paradise of the House of Song, while those who had not were cast down from the bridge into the House of Lies, where they would be tormented in the dark and, no matter how many others were around them, would always feel completely alone. Paradise had four tiers, the highest of which was the presence of Ahura Mazda himself, and hell had four tiers, the lowest of which was total obscurity.

But even in the lowest circle of hell, one’s punishment would not last forever. A messiah, the Saoshyant (“One Who Brings Benefit”), would eventually arrive and usher in the Frashokereti (End of Time), at which point all souls, no matter how deep in hell they may be, would be gathered to Ahura Mazda in a joyous reunion before Angra Mainyu was destroyed.

Rituals & Scripture

The yasna service was a sacrament where followers of Ahura Mazda would publicly declare their devotion to the god. The yasna was performed to testify to asha (truth, order), to fight the lie (druj), and to fortify the faith of those who would stand up to the forces of evil. The yasna emphasized the importance of being aware of the presence of unseen spirits, both good and evil, the ahuras (good) and daevas (evil), in one’s environment, and responding appropriately.

Water, representing wisdom, was one of the first things created, and fire, the sacred element, was always used in these rituals. In the presence of the sacred flame, rituals were performed at an altar called a Fire Temple, where the sacred words were recited and prayers were offered. The ritual of ab-zohr, meant to cleanse the world’s water supplies and atone for wrongdoing, was performed at the end of the service in honor of water.

Because public displays of grief were frowned upon, no elaborate funeral service comparable to those in other cultures were held. Zoroastrian funerals reflected the religion’s emphasis on moderation and respect for the dead. A dog was brought into the room where the deceased was being cared for (a sagdid; “glance of the dog”) to ward off evil spirits and, more practically, to make sure the person was truly dead and not just in a coma. After the ceremony was over, the body was cleaned and packed up so that it could be removed from the home. Because burial was thought to be unhealthy, bodies were instead left on structures known as Towers of Silence. After the various scavengers had finished picking through the corpse, the bones were buried.

These ceremonies were carried out in accordance with the canon of writings that constitutes Zoroastrian scripture, tradition, and doctrine. The primary sources are:

The Gathas, Yasna (liturgical texts), and Visperad (prophetic writings) are all found in the Avesta, which also includes 17 hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself (a separate part of the Yasna). Kosrau I codified and updated what had been written during the reign of Shapur II (309-379 CE) (r. 531-579 CE). Some branches of the Avesta hold that the Vendidad is the ecclesiastical code, while others reject it. The Denkard is a compilation of beliefs and customs, and the Bundahisn discusses cosmology and cosmography.

Suppression & Legacy

Even though the ruling houses of the various empires had adopted Zoroastrianism during the centuries these ideas were passed down orally, they did not impose their religion on their subjects. Cyrus the Great envisioned a society in which people could practice their religions freely without persecution. His successors, the Parthians, upheld this ideal, and the Sasanians, who made Zoroastrianism the state religion, also fully embraced this principle.

The so-called “heresy” of Zorvanism, an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, emerged during the Sassanian Period. Zorvanism held that Time (Zorvan) was the supreme being and Ahura Mazda was a created entity. Time was the ultimate ruler in this vision where the gods Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu fought like brothers over who was more powerful. Despite the Zoroastrians’ central value of free will being threatened by the Zoroastrian belief that Time could not be appeased, there is no evidence that Zorvanites were persecuted.

Christians in the 4th century CE were the first to challenge this level of religious tolerance by extinguishing sacred fires in temples and preaching against Zoroastrianism as a false faith. The Muslim Arabs who invaded in the 7th century CE would have been able to do much more, but they lacked the population and political power to do so at the time. Zoroastrian texts that may have addressed the origin of evil were lost when Fire Temples, shrines, and libraries were destroyed and Zoroastrians were forced to convert to Islam, flee their homes, or continue the faith in secret.

Zoroastrianism is still widely practiced today because it was able to survive, both in Iran and among the Parsees of India (where refugees from the Muslim Invasion fled). Despite early Christians’ and Muslims’ rejection of and attacks on the faith, its central ideas shaped the development of Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism. In fact, Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic faith to promote the ideas of individual responsibility for salvation, judgment after death, a messiah, an end-time, and a heaven and hell, and it should be rightly regarded as the precursor to the later religions that claim an original vision that was actually established centuries before by Zoroaster and was so confident in its truth that it never needed to try to silence any others.

Hinduism 1500 BCE

Vedic Hindu beliefs date back to at least the first 1500 BCE, making Hinduism one of the world’s oldest religions. The religion combines elements from numerous different schools of thought within India, but it does not claim a single founder. The religion’s popularity fluctuated over the course of Indian history as it competed with Jainism and Buddhism before experiencing a significant upswing after the Middle Ages. The subsequent expansion of Hinduism across the Indian subcontinent cemented its position as the region’s dominant faith.

Many experts agree that Hinduism is older than any other religion, with practices that go back at least four thousand years. Hinduism is the third most popular faith in the world after Christianity and Islam. History and origins of the religion are murky due to the lack of a single identifiable founder. Hinduism stands apart from other religions because it is not merely one but rather a collection of various tenets and philosophies.

Modern Hinduism is the world’s oldest continuously practiced religion, with its roots in Central Asia and the Indus Valley. The Persian word Sindus, meaning “those who lived across the Indus River,” is the source of the exonym (name given by others to a people, place, or concept) Hinduism.

Followers of the religion refer to it as Sanatan Dharma (which means “eternal order” or “eternal path”) and consider the tenets outlined in the Vedas to be as timeless as Brahman (the Supreme Over Soul from which all of creation arises). Brahman is the First Cause, the impetus for all other causes, the force that directs the course of creation, and creation itself.

As a result, Hinduism can be seen as either monotheistic (since there is only one god) or polytheistic (since there are many avatars of the one god), henotheistic (since one can make any of the avatars supreme), pantheistic (since the avatars can be seen as representing aspects of the natural world), or even atheistic (since one can replace the concept of Brahman with oneself in the pursuit of perfecting oneself). The Vedas were the first written documentation of this worldview, which had been passed down orally for centuries prior to the so-called Vedic Period (1500–500 BCE).

According to Hindus, the Vedic scribes were merely recording what had always existed; the religion has no founder, no founding date, and no historical development. This eternal wisdom, or shruti (“what is heard”), is recorded in the Vedas and its many divisions, including the Samhitas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and, most notably, the Upanishads, which each deal with a specific aspect of the religion.

The Puranas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Yoga Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita all belong to the category of works known as smritis (meaning “what is remembered”), which tell stories about how one is to practice the faith. However, none of these should be regarded as the “Hindu Bible,” as no such claim is made; rather, they are the revelation of the truth of existence, which claims the universe is rational, structured, and controlled by the Supreme Over Soul/Mind known as Brahman, in whose essence all humans participate.

Following one’s dharma and achieving enlightenment through good deeds (karma) allow people to break free of the cycle of rebirth and death (samsara). Upon accomplishing this, the Atman merges with Brahman, and the individual re-enters the state of primordial oneness to which they originally belonged. Realizing the essential unity of all existence — how similar one is to others and, ultimately, to the divine — can help one overcome the illusion of duality (maya), the belief that one is separate from others and from one’s Creator.

Early Development

Before the 3rd millennium BCE, when a nomadic coalition of tribes calling themselves, Aryan arrived in the region from Central Asia, it is likely that the Indus Valley had already been home to some form of the belief system which would become, or at least influence, Hinduism. Some of these people, now called Indo-Iranians, made their home in what is now Iran (becoming known in the West as Persians), while others, now called Indo-Aryans, settled in what is now Pakistan and India’s Indus Valley. Aryan originally meant “free man” or “noble,” and referred to a social group rather than a racial identity. The idea that Caucasians “brought civilization” to the region during a “Aryan Invasion” is a fabrication of biased and narrow-minded Western scholarship from the 18th and 19th centuries CE.

Ruins of cities in the Indus River Valley, such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (to name just two of the most famous), show that a sophisticated culture had emerged there by 3000 BCE, expanding from Neolithic Period settlements that arose before 7000 BCE. The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 7000 BCE – c. 600 BCE), also known as the Harappan Civilization, flourished during this time and eventually merged with the culture of the Indo-Aryans.

Around 2000 BCE, the city of Mohenjo-daro had advanced sufficiently to have brick streets, running water, and a sophisticated industrial, commercial, and political system. In addition, it is likely that they had developed a religious belief that included ritual bathing and other religious observances, though no written records exist to prove this. It is more likely that the basic Vedic thought (as well as the names and characters of many of the gods) correspond closely with the Early Iranian Religion of Persia, suggesting that significant elements of this religion originated elsewhere.

During the Vedic Era, newcomers shaped the religious landscape of the Indus Valley. During this time period, a group of people who called themselves Vedic penned the Vedas in Sanskrit. This textual canon is considered the foundation of the religious and philosophical tradition known as Vedism. Academic John M. Koller writes:

The Sanskrit language, of which the Vedas are the oldest surviving expression, became dominant. Although the Sanskrit tradition reflects borrowing and accommodations from non-Vedic sources, it hides more of these contributions than it reveals. Thus, despite the grandeur of the ancient Indus civilization, it is to the Vedas that we must turn for an understanding of earliest Indian thought.

The goal of the Vedas was to comprehend the cosmos and one’s place in it. As they sought answers to these questions, the sages crafted the complex theological framework that is Hinduism today.

Brahmanism

Vedism evolved into Brahmanism, a religious philosophy that emphasizes the Truth as the First Cause of all phenomena, both visible and invisible. The Brahmanic sages who created the religion started with the rules of the material world. They gave this set of norms the name rita (which means “order”), and they realized that nothing could make rules appear out of thin air; there had to be someone or something to make them.

As Koller puts it, “there is a wholeness, an undivided reality, that is more fundamental than being or non-being,” and the sages of Vedism saw beyond the anthropomorphic deities to this “more fundamental than being or non-being.” It was thought that this being was an individual, albeit one with power and greatness far beyond anything we can fathom. As they came to understand it, the entity they called Brahman was not merely a part of reality (another being like any others) nor did it exist beyond reality (in the realm of non-being or pre-existence). Not only did Brahman bring about the current state of affairs, but it was also the current state of affairs. Sanatan Dharma, which literally means “Eternal Order,” is the name given to this set of beliefs.

However, if that were the case, a tiny human being with a short lifespan on Earth would have no chance of ever making contact with this ultimate source of life. Since nothing could ever connect to Brahman, no relationship was ever possible. The Vedic sages shifted their focus from the First Cause to the individual, defining the self as the body, the soul, and the mind. However, they soon realized that these three components were insufficient for establishing a rapport with the Ultimate, and that there must be a higher self that directed one’s other functions. According to Koller:

This Self is said to be “other than the known and other than the unknown” [Kena Upanishad I.4]. The question the sage is asking is: What makes possible seeing, hearing, and thinking? But the question is not about physiological or mental processes; it is about the ultimate subject who knows. Who directs the eye to see color and the mind to think thoughts? The sage assumes there must be an inner director, an inner agent, directing the various functions of knowledge.

Because it is Brahman itself, this “inner director” was identified as the Atman, or the individual’s higher self. The Ultimate Truth and the Original Reason reside in the hearts of every person. As stated in the Chandogya Upanishad’s phrase Tat Tvam Asi – “Thou Art That” – one is already what one seeks to become; all that is required is realization. There is no need to seek this entity externally because one carries that entity inside of oneself.

The rituals that helped people come to this understanding acted as metaphors for the creative process, as they both praised Brahman and reenacted the origins of the universe. Elevating the Ultimate Divine through the chants, hymns, and songs of the Vedas, the priestly class (Brahmins) lifted an audience by impressing upon them the fact that they were already where they wanted to be, that they were not just in the presence of the Divine but were an integral part of it, and that all they needed to do to celebrate this was to act in accordance with their divinely-appointed duty in life.

Classical Hinduism

Hinduism, which evolved from Brahmanism, is commonly understood to be a religion but is also a philosophy and a way of life. Know thyself, and thyself shall know God; this is the central tenet of Hinduism in all its various interpretations. Knowing what is good is a counterbalance to evil, which arises from a failure to recognize its existence. Karma is the result of one’s actions, and one’s dharma is the duty one has been given, so one’s purpose in life is to recognize and pursue what is good. Doing one’s karma in accordance with one’s dharma brings one closer to self-actualization, and thus, to realizing the Divine within oneself.

If you let yourself be tricked into believing in duality and separation, the physical world is an illusion. While religious asceticism is a viable option for some, Hinduism promotes active engagement with life via the purusharthas, or “life goals.”

Even though it knows they are fleeting, the soul still finds pleasure in these pursuits. Since the soul is eternal and eternally a part of Brahman, the concept of death as the end of all things is illusory. If the soul does not reach Moksha upon death, it returns to the eternal realm of Brahman as an individual atman, or spirit. Samsara, the cycle of rebirth and death, will continue until the soul has had enough of this world and its pleasures and devotes itself to renunciation and the pursuit of eternal rather than temporary goods.

The three qualities or characteristics known as the gunas, which are part of every soul, can either aid or hinder one in reaching this objective.

All souls have some measure of all three gunas, and there is no prescribed order in which one should experience them. Even someone who is normally level-headed and happy can be thrown into a tailspin by overwhelming emotion. But seeing the gunas for what they are and working to control the less desirable aspects of them helps one see more clearly one’s dharma in life and how to perform it. No one can do another’s dharma for them; each person is responsible for carrying out their own. Everyone has a purpose for being here, and if they don’t fulfill it in this life, they will keep reincarnating until they do.

Similar ideas can be found in the Hindu belief in reincarnation for those who fail to live up to their assigned roles in society (“Caste System”). In this belief, one is born into a predetermined social class and cannot move out of that class. Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (composed between the fifth and second centuries BCE) about the gunas and one’s duty to one’s dharma, a concept that is now widely believed to have been imposed on the people of India by the British colonial government in the nineteenth century CE.

Anyone can be a Brahmin, warrior, or merchant if that is their dharma; the caste system exists within each individual just as do the gunas. Krishna says that one must do what one is supposed to do, and he relates the varna (caste) system as part of this in describing how an individual should live one’s life according to Divine Will. Manusmriti (“The Laws of Manu”), written between the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE, rewrote Krishna’s words to argue that the caste system was divinely ordained and that people were doomed to spend their entire lives in the social class to which they were born. This idea, as it is now understood, is first articulated in the Laws of Manu manuscript.

Texts & Observance

The texts that are considered the Hindu scriptures make the idea of Eternal Order crystal clear, despite Manu’s later interference. As mentioned, these books can be divided into two categories:

The Four Vedas contain the texts that pertain to Shruti.

Different categories of text exist within each of these:

The canonical Smritis-related works are:

Deities such as Indra, lord of the cosmic forces, thunderbolts, storms, war, and courage; Vac, goddess of consciousness, speech, and clear communication; Agni, god of fire and illumination; Kali, goddess of death; Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, remover of obstacles; Parvati, goddess of love, fertility, and strength and also the consort of Shiva; and Soma, god of the sea, fertility, illumination, and ecstasy The “Hindu Trinity” consists of three of the most revered deities in Hinduism:

One must look to aspects of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, in order to make sense of these gods. Each of the Hindu trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, represents not only one of these aspects, but also a unique deity with their own personality, history, and goals. They, too, are too vast to be fully comprehended, so they take the form of other gods—the most well-known of whom is Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, who descends to Earth at regular intervals to adjust humanity’s understanding and correct error.

Krishna, the charioteer of Prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, appears to the reluctant hero because he anticipates that Arjuna will have second thoughts about fighting against his own family at the Battle of Kurukshetra. He halts time in order to teach Arjuna about dharma and the illusion of death’s finality, lifting Arjuna’s thoughts above his interpretation of the situation at hand and empowering him to do his duty as a warrior.

The religious practices of Sanatan Dharma followers are largely divided into two categories, both of which are based on these texts.

Anyone can build a shrine to their deity of choice or visit a temple to pay homage to the Divine. Educating, chanting, singing, and praying on behalf of a person or family in need before a deity is what the clergy do in a temple. Worship services are often marked by the use of music, dance, and other forms of physical expression as a means of connecting with God. Specifically, making eye contact with the eyes of the deity as depicted in a statue or figurine is essential.

The god is seeking the devotee just as earnestly as the devotee is seeking the deity, and they meet through the eyes, making darshan an essential part of worship and communion. This is why Hindu temples, inside and out, feature statues of the many gods worshiped by Hindus. People believe that making eye contact with the statue is equivalent to making a personal connection with the deity, and that doing so will bring about the same feelings of blessing and comfort as if one were meeting with a friend.

Conclusion

The many celebrations held throughout the year highlight the closeness of a believer to their deity. One of the most well-known is Diwali, also known as the “festival of lights,” which honors the triumph of positive, light-filled energy over its dark, negative counterpart. The presence of a deity statue or figurine is essential for connecting with the divine and uplifting the spirit during this festival as it is during daily observance all year round.

If you’re looking for an event that exemplifies Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion and service, look no further than Diwali. To show their appreciation to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance, many devotees clean, renovate, decorate, and improve their homes. However, Diwali worshippers are free to invoke any number of other deities in addition to Lakshmi, depending on their particular needs and the blessings they’ve received over the past year.

All the gods of the Hindu pantheon, along with the worshiper and the act of worship itself, can be understood as manifestations of the ultimate reality known as Brahman, so it ultimately doesn’t matter which god is worshiped. The observance itself is more important than the specifics of how it is observed because it serves as a reminder of one’s place in the cosmos and their resolve to see the divine unity in all aspects of their lives and their bonds to others on the same journey home.

Jainism 400 BCE

According to its adherents, Jainism has been around since the beginning of time, making it at least as old as Hinduism. However, most historians agree that Jainism developed alongside Buddhism in India, as a Classical offshoot of Vedic religion. Jainism, much like Buddhism, was in constant dialogue with India’s other religious traditions and was supported or opposed by influential sponsors to varying degrees. Unlike Buddhism, Jainism did not quickly spread beyond its original home in India, and thus the vast majority of the world’s four or five million Jains now call India home as well. However, the Jain community is highly visible due to their high literacy rates and the respect that Mohandas Gandhi showed for Jain teachings and beliefs.

The word “Jain” derives from the Sanskrit word for “soul” (jiva), which is also translated as “spiritual conqueror.” Jains believe that every living thing has a soul that has existed since the beginning of time and that this soul can be saved from an eternal cycle of pain and anguish by following the teachings of Jainism.

It seems to have begun in Northern India and spread southward, though its exact origins are unknown. Many people mistakenly believe that the sage Vardhamana (also known as Mahavira, circa 599–527 BCE) founded Jainism. In reality, Mahavira was only the 24th tirthankara (“ford builder”) of Jainism. The Jains believe their precepts are eternal, recognized by 23 sages down through time, and finally established by Mahavira in its present form, similar to the Hindu belief that the Vedas have always existed and were only “heard” at a certain point in the past and written down.

It is a nontheistic religion because it does not promote faith in a creator god but in mortal higher beings (devas) and in the idea of karma directing one’s present life and future incarnations. However, the devas have no control over a person and are not asked for guidance or help in breaking free from karmic bondage. It is up to the individual in Jainism to achieve salvation, which is defined as freedom from the endless cycle of rebirth and death (samsara), by following a rigorous set of spiritual and ethical guidelines. The Tattvartha Sutra, the fundamental text, outlines the Five Vows upon which this code is based.

It is believed that one’s actions directly reflect one’s thoughts, so the Five Vows serve as a guide for shaping one’s worldview. So, it’s not enough to avoid doing bad things like violence, dishonesty, and theft; one must also avoid even entertaining the thought of doing them. If one practices this discipline, they will be freed from rebirth in samsara. When this is achieved, one is elevated to the status of tirthankara, or “ford builder” (from the Sanskrit word for “one who builds a ford or bridge over a river) and is able to teach others how to safely traverse the rapids of life by letting go of attachments, gaining wisdom, and turning away from temptation. According to Jainism, enlightenment is the path to freedom because it leads one to recognize the true nature of reality and act accordingly.

The religious reform movement that inspired Mahavira to develop the faith occurred in India between the fifth and fourth centuries BCE in response to Hinduism, the dominant faith at the time, which some thinkers believed was out of touch with the spiritual and material needs of the people. In addition to Jainism, many other philosophies or religious systems (such as Charvaka and Buddhism) emerged at this time and either gained traction or fizzled out. Royal patronage of political powers like the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) helped Jainism survive and attract adherents; later, Jainism survived persecution under various Muslim rulers from the 12th-16th centuries CE; and Jainism also resisted Christian missionary efforts in the 19th century CE.

Origins & Development

Sometime before the third millennium BCE, a coalition of Aryan tribes migrated to the area from Central Asia, bringing with them the belief system that would develop into Hinduism (known as Sanatan Dharma, “Eternal Order”) in the Indus Valley. The term “Aryan” originally meant “free” or “noble,” and it was used to describe a group of people rather than a specific nation. An ancient “Aryan Invasion” of light-skinned people is a theory that has been debunked, and the term “Caucasian” was not used to describe anyone until the 19th and 20th centuries CE. Sanskrit, which these Aryans brought with them, eventually became the language of the Vedas, the sacred texts upon which Hinduism is based.

The Brahmins, who practiced an early form of Hinduism called Brahmanism, believed that a being called Brahman not only caused everything to function as it did but was absolute reality itself. Sometime between about 1500 and 500 BCE, this reality—the Universe—”spoke” certain truths that were eventually “heard” by ancient sages and written down in Sanskrit, becoming the Vedas. Hindu priests chanted the Vedas and explained them to the people in Sanskrit, but the vast majority of Hindus did not know the language, and this led to religious reform movements.

What emerged were two distinct schools of thought in the realms of philosophy and religion:

Charvaka, Buddhism, and Jainism were the three nastika schools that survived and thrived after this time period. The spiritual ascetic Vardhamana, later known as Mahavira (“Great Hero”), is widely credited with popularizing Jainism, but little else about his life is widely known. His actual place of birth, sphere of influence, and place of death are all up for debate. He is said to have been born into wealth but gave it all up after his parents’ deaths when he was either 28 or 30 and spent the next 12 years as a religious ascetic. He became a spiritual conqueror (Jina) and tirthankara after realizing the true nature of the soul and attaining omniscience (kevalajnana), and then he began preaching the Jain vision.

However, Mahavira was not the first enlightened sage to shed their ignorance and realize the true nature of reality and the soul, as Jainism holds. The 24 enlightened sages are credited with having “received” the eternal Jain precepts and passing them on to subsequent generations. Note that this is identical to the Hindu belief about the Vedas. Academic Jeffrey D. Long makes the following observation:

Perhaps both traditions emerged simultaneously and interdependently, initiating from points of origin centered in different regions of the sub-continent, through a process of dialogue and mutual transformation and synthesis that continues to the present.

However, Hindus and other religious scholars insist that Jainism is a development of Hinduism, a claim that is categorically rejected by Jains themselves.

Beliefs

In Jainism, all living things are thought to be animated by an immortal soul that is doomed to undergo endless reincarnation due to the effects of accumulated karmic matter. This karmic dust was drawn to one’s initial spiritual state in much the same way a bookshelf attracts dust. The soul loses its ability to see the true nature of the soul and reality once it becomes attached to the material world, and thus must undergo reincarnation after reincarnation on the wheel of samsara. Expert on Jainism John M. Koller offers his thoughts on the Jain concept of the soul:

The essence of the soul (jiva) is life, and its chief characteristics are perception, knowledge, bliss, and energy. In its pure state when it is not associated with matter, its knowledge is omniscient, its bliss is pure, and its energy is unlimited. But the matter that embodies the soul defiles its bliss, obstructs its knowledge, and limits its energy. This is why matter is seen as a fetter binding the soul. The word for matter, pudgala (mass-energy) is derived from pum, meaning “coming together” and gala, meaning “coming apart”, and reveals the Jain conception of matter as that which is formed by the aggregation of atoms and destroyed by their disassociation. Matter refers both to the mass of things and to the forces of energy that structure this mass, making and remaking it in its diverse forms. The word “karma” means “to make”, and in Jainism it refers to the making and remaking of the karmic matter that embodies the soul…This view of karma as a material force distinguishes the Jain view from other Indian views that take karma to be only a psychological or metaphysical force.

In Jainism, karma is a natural function of the soul’s interaction with reality, as opposed to Hinduism and Buddhism, where karma is understood as action that either promotes liberation or ties one more closely to samsara. The soul becomes obscured, again like dust covering an object; it fails to see itself as it truly is and, as a result, accepts the falsehood of existence over the truth, dooming itself to an unfulfilled existence filled with pain and death.

An intriguing tenet of the religion, shared by Charvaka, is the belief that no one can ever state an objective truth due to the inherent biases of their own perspective. The five blind men and an elephant is a classic story used by the Jains to explain this concept. When asked by the king to describe an elephant, the six blind men all arrive at different descriptions after touching various parts of the creature. A large fan to the person who touches the elephant’s ears; a sturdy post to the person who touches the elephant’s legs; a wall to the person who touches the elephant’s side; and so on. Just as each human being is restricted in what they can grasp in their lucid state of subjective values, ignorance, and illusion, so too is each blind man limited by his own perspective and interpretation.

One must take the Five Vows and then act in ways that are consistent with those vows in order to awaken and attain liberation from matter. This course of action is the first of 14 that lead from slavery and ignorance to liberation and enlightenment.

Scriptures, Sects, & Practices

The Agamas and, to a lesser extent, the Purvas, the canonical texts of Jainism, are said to have been “heard” from the cosmos and passed down orally from tirthankara to tirthankara. The Upangas, Chedasutras, Mulasutras, Prakinasutras, and Culikasutras were originally passed down orally until they were committed to writing, and these scriptures, along with the Tattvartha Sutra (composed between the second and fifth centuries CE), are not accepted by all Jains. Wordy remark:

The problem with oral transmission is that, if those who carry the knowledge of a text in their minds die before passing that knowledge on to others, or after passing it on only partially, that knowledge is forever lost. It is not unlike a situation in which every copy of a particular book is destroyed…This seems to have been the situation of the early Jain community and the reason the decision was finally taken to put their textual tradition into a written form [during the time of Chandragupta, r. c. 321 – c. 297 BCE, of the Mauryan Empire]. (Jainism, 64)

The Digambara (“sky-clad”) and the Svetambara (“white-clad”) are the two most prominent branches of Jainism (there are others), and their interpretations of the faith couldn’t be more different. Digambara adherents reject the authoritative Svetambara canon of scripture, hold that women can’t achieve liberation until they are reincarnated as a male, and practice the faith by having their monks go naked. Svetambara priests believe they have preserved the majority of the original scriptures that Mahavira passed down, preach equality between the sexes in terms of liberation, and dress in all-white, seamless garments.

This is the 14 steps based on scriptures and 5 vows:

Stage 1: The spirit wallows in misery, bereft of light, enslaved to its baser desires and deluded by its own imaginings.

Stage 2: A glimpse of reality enters the soul, but it is too engulfed in delusion to hold on to it.

Stage 3: The spirit becomes aware of its own enslavement and makes futile attempts at freedom before regressing to Stage 1 due to its inability to shake off its ties to illusion and attachment.

Stage 4: Having become aware of its enslavement, the soul longs to once again set itself free, but it is only able to do so because it is suppressing rather than eliminating its attachments.

Stage 5: With a sudden burst of insight, the spirit realizes that in order to break free of its bonds, it must accept and live by the Five Vows.

Stage 6: The discipline of the Five Vows allows the soul to control its attachments and passions.

Stage 7: Meditation and adherence to the Five Vows help the soul overcome spiritual apathy and grow stronger. As one develops a deeper understanding of themselves, they also gain a broader perspective on the nature of the soul and reality.

Stage 8: Negative karma can be released, self-control can be honed, and new insights can be gained.

Stage 9: By making more conscientious choices, one can reduce their karmic debt and improve their spiritual development.

Stage 10: Nearing complete detachment, but still clinging to the idea of one’s body as oneself. This is interpreted as “greed for a body,” a barrier that must be crossed.

Stage 11: Here, one focuses on detaching from the physical form and working toward a state of non-attachment. As soon as you realize that the people and things you’ve become attached to will eventually disappear, you can let go of them.

Stage 12: Attachment to the body and all other sources of negative karma have been abandoned.

Stage 13: After coming to a complete understanding of reality and the soul, one must retreat into deep meditation so as to avoid engaging in any behavior that could lead to the production of negative karma and a regress to a lower spiritual level.

Stage 14: Near the end of life, a person is released from all karmic debt and attains moksha, a state of perfect enlightenment and wisdom in which they are no longer bound by their past actions. When a person dies, their soul is released, and they no longer have to worry about being reincarnated into a body that will inevitably die.

Some people, such as the tirthankaras, reach Stage 14 well before death (when they attain nirvana, release), at which point they are celebrated as Spiritual Conquerors (having completely mastered themselves) and “ford builders” who then instruct others in the ways they have learned to succeed. The Ratnatraya, also known as the “Three Jewels,” is a set of beliefs, teachings, and practices essential to achieving this level of mastery.

One’s actions should reflect one’s conviction in the veracity of the Jain vision, one’s right knowledge of the nature of the soul and reality, and one’s pure conduct. Jain vegetarianism is informed by this reverence for all life and the natural world. To ensure that not even the tiniest living thing is harmed by their presence, Jains and especially Jain monks will sweep the ground softly in front of them to avoid stepping on one, and they will also wear face masks to prevent inhalation. The Jain worldview is characterized by a profound reverence for the natural world and for the lives of all forms of life, both living and nonliving.

Jain Symbol

The urn-shaped form with one dot at the top and three beneath, the swastika, and the hamsa (raised palm of the hand) with the mandala in the center and the inscription all serve to illustrate this vision in Jain symbolism. To represent the entirety of Jainism, this symbol was designed in 1974 CE, on the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira’s nirvana.

The urn shape represents the cosmos, the dot at the top represents freedom from servitude, the three dots below represent the Three Jewels, and the swastika, an ancient symbol of transformation until its adoption by the Nazi Party of Germany in the 20th century CE, represents the four realms of existence: the spirits of the heavens, humans, demons, and lower life forms such as plants and insects caught in the karmic wheel of rebirth.

The swastika can also be seen as a symbol of the soul’s true nature, which is said to be limitless in its potential for joy, knowledge, perception, and insight. The Jains hold that all of life is sacred and that every aspect of the natural world is deserving of the utmost respect, love, and nurture; the hamsa-image symbolizes the courage and commitment of nonviolence; the mandala suggests samsara; and the inscription in the palm of the hand is translated as “Souls provide service to one another” or “Life is joined by mutual support and interdependence.”

Conclusion

According to Jain legend, the great king Chandragupta Maurya studied under the great sage Bhadrabahu (c. 367–c. 298 BCE), the last monk to possess complete oral knowledge of the scriptures before they were written down. Like his grandson Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE), Chandragupta supported Jainism in honor of Bhadrabahu and helped to establish the religion. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (l. c. 563-483 BCE), a younger contemporary of Mahavira, practiced Jain asceticism before he attained enlightenment and forged his own belief system. Later Hindu monarchs supported Jainism, even commissioning temples.

During the 12th to 16th centuries CE, Jains were persecuted by Muslim invaders who converted their temples to mosques and killed Jain monks. For Jain people, the long-held value of nonviolence was suspended if it meant protecting one’s life, one’s family, or one’s sacred site from Muslim aggression. British missionaries in the 19th century CE misunderstood Jainism as a sect of Hinduism, perpetuating the myth that Jainism is a derivative of Hinduism. However, their efforts to convert Jains were largely unsuccessful.

Despite these two attempts at eradication, Jainism persisted in India and eventually spread to other parts of the world. About 5 million Jains live in countries as diverse as Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States, though the majority of Jains are still located in India. India is home to many historic Jain sites, including the Ranakpu Temple and Dilwara Temple in Rajasthan, the massive Gomateshwara Temple in Karnataka (home to the world’s largest monolithic statue), and the Hanumantal Temple in Jabalpur, where the annual birthday celebration of Mahavira is kicked off. Regular worship services are held by Jains to honor the tirthankaras or acharya (one of the five supreme devas and, incarnated, the founder of a monastic order) and to provide spiritual support for one another.

Temples all over the world serve an important purpose, but many in India attract large numbers of Jains as pilgrims because of the rich history and significance of the buildings there. The Mahavir and Adinath Temples are located at the Jain Center of America in Queens, New York, which serves as a spiritual hub for the local Jain community. These and other sites help modern Jainism adhere to its ancient ideals of nonviolence, self-control, and reverence for all life.

Buddhism 400 BCE

Buddhism, a religion that was established by Gautama Buddha in the early 400s BCE, is based on (or in opposition to) many of the same Vedic traditions that underpin Hinduism. Over the centuries, Buddhists held religious discussions with Hindus and Jains, leading to the emergence of competing religious practices and tenets. Buddhism thrived in India thanks to the support of several kings and queens before dying out during the Middle Ages. Buddhism flourished in East Asia and eventually had a significant effect on the region’s culture. Having become the dominant faith in many Southeast Asian nations and boasting close to 200 million adherents in China, Buddhism is now the world’s fourth largest religion.

Buddhism, which has its roots in India between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god) that is also a philosophy and a moral discipline. Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha, is credited with establishing it. Gautama, who was originally a Hindu prince, lived from around 563 to 483 BCE.

Siddhartha was a noble who, after becoming aware of human suffering, gave up his status and wealth to become a spiritual ascetic. He had previously lived a comfortable life with his wife and children. He engaged in rigorous spiritual practices in order to achieve enlightenment and thereby show others the way out of samsara (the cycle of suffering, rebirth, and death).

The Buddha established this philosophy during a time of great religious and philosophical change in India. When orthodox Hinduism was seen as failing to meet the needs of the people, many competing schools of thought sprang up, Buddhism among them. Ashoka the Great (268-232 BCE) of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) embraced and spread the belief not only throughout India, but also throughout Central and Southeast Asia, elevating it from a minor school to a major one.

The Dhammapada, one of the four most sacred texts in Buddhism, summarizes the religion’s central vision in four verses:

The Buddha realized that ignorance about the true nature of existence was the root cause of human suffering, as was the desire and attachment it spawned. People clung to the familiar and mourned the things they had lost, insisting on permanent states in life and resisting change. In his search for a way to live without pain, he realized that everything in life is fleeting and that the only way to find lasting happiness was through a spiritual practice that embraced the beauty of change and helped its adherents avoid becoming trapped by their attachment to things that were themselves fleeting. The Four Noble Truths, the Wheel of Becoming, and the Eightfold Path are the cornerstones of his teachings and continue to be central to the many different schools of Buddhism that exist today.

Historical Background

In the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, a wave of religious and philosophical reform swept across India, and Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma, “Eternal Order”) became the dominant religion. The old values, ideas, and institutions were being questioned due to “a major social transformation from agrarian life to urban trade and manufacture,” as scholar John M. Koller puts it. The Vedas, the sacred texts upon which Hinduism rests, are regarded as divine revelations from beyond time and space that were “heard” by ancient sages but were not written by humans.

The Hindu priests “received” and recited the Vedas in Sanskrit, which the common people did not understand, prompting a number of contemporary philosophers to question the veracity of the Hindu belief system as a whole. Numerous philosophical schools, some of which accepted and some of which rejected the Vedas as authoritative, are said to have emerged during this time. Unfortunately, only a handful of these have survived to the present day. Astika refers to those who adhere to the traditional Hindu worldview and its associated practices, while nastika refers to those who reject it. Charvaka, Jainism, and Buddhism were three of the nastika schools of thought that made it through this era intact.

According to Hindu belief, the Vedas were given to humanity by Brahman, the supreme being who was the Universe itself. According to Hinduism, the point of life is to fulfill one’s dharma (duty) in accordance with the divine order as it has been laid out, with the appropriate karma (action), so that one may escape the cycle of rebirth and death (samsara) and achieve union with the oversoul (atman), bringing about complete liberation and peace.

However, Charvaka disagreed and proposed materialism as an alternative. It was founded by Brhaspati (c. 600 BCE), who said it was absurd for people to believe Hindu priests when they said an unintelligible language was God’s Word. He founded a learning community that prioritized sensual satisfaction over all else in its pursuit of truth. Jainism was preached by Mahavira (also known as Vardhamana, c. 599–527 BCE), who taught that self-control and morality were the keys to happiness and liberation from rebirth after death. The Buddha saw that these two options represented poles apart and sought out a path that satisfied both extremes.

Siddhartha Gautama

Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, was raised as the king’s son in the kingdom of Lumbini, in what is now Nepal. His father protected him from the harsh realities of life after a seer predicted that if he saw suffering or death, he would become a great king or spiritual leader. He settled down, had a son, and was groomed to take his father’s place as king. The Four Signs, however, presented themselves to him one day (or, in some versions, over the course of several days) after his coachman drove him out of the compound where he had spent his first 29 years:

Upon hearing the first three, he asked his driver, “Am I, too, subject to this?” The coachman reassured him that everyone aged, became ill, and ultimately passed away. When Siddhartha realized that he, along with everyone and everything he cared about, would perish, he became despondent.

His curiosity was piqued when he came across the ascetic, a shaven-headed man dressed in a bright yellow robe, smiling on the side of the road and he asked him what set him apart from other men. The ascetic explained that his goal was a quiet existence marked by introspection, kindness, and detachment. Siddhartha was so moved by this encounter with the ascetic that he quickly abandoned his privileged lifestyle and loved ones to take up the ascetic’s way of life.

At first, he tried to find relief from his worries and suffering by studying under a well-known teacher. A second teacher showed him how to control his emotions and block out the world, but this wasn’t a long-term solution, either. He made an effort to adopt an ascetic lifestyle, likely following Jain discipline, but this was ultimately insufficient. At last, he made the decision to ignore his physical needs by starving himself, eventually consuming only one grain of rice per day until he was so thin he was unrecognizable.

One version of the myth has it that he fell into a river at this point and had an epiphany about the middle path. His period of strict asceticism comes to an end when he catches a glimpse of the idea of a “middle way,” as told in an alternate version of the story where he is encountered by a milkmaid named Sujata in the woods near her village and offered some rice milk, which he accepts. He travels to the nearby village of Bodh Gaya and sits on a bed of grass beneath a Bodhi tree, promising himself that he will either learn the truth about life or die trying to find it.

In an instant of clarity, he realized that the human condition was flawed because people demanded stability in a world of flux. The nature of life, all life, was change, and the way to escape suffering was to recognize this and act on it. People maintained an identity they called their “self” and which would not change, maintained clothing and objects they thought were “theirs,” and maintained relationships with others they believed would last forever; but all of this was false. It was then that he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha, which means “awakened one” or “enlightened one.”

After realizing that everything is connected and fleeting, he attained enlightenment and realized that he could do whatever he wanted with his life and never be unhappy again. At first, he was hesitant to share his wisdom with others for fear that they would reject him. However, he eventually came to realize that he had to try, and so he delivered his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath, outlining the Eightfold Path that led from delusion and suffering to enlightenment and happiness.

It’s important to keep in mind that the Buddha’s early life and enlightenment may or may not reflect the details of this tale, which was adapted for him after the belief system was established. They wanted to give Buddhism the same claim to ancient, divine origins as Hinduism and Jainism, so early Buddhists were “motivated in part by the need to demonstrate that what the Buddha taught was not the innovation of an individual, but rather the rediscovery of a timeless truth,” say scholars Robert E. Buswell, Jr. and Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Lopez and Buswell carry on:

Thus, in their biographies, all of the buddhas of the past and future are portrayed as doing many of the same things. They all sit cross-legged in their mother’s womb; they are all born in the “middle country” of the continent; immediately after their birth, they all take seven steps to the north; they all renounce the world after seeing the four sights and after the birth of a son; they all achieve enlightenment seated on a bed of grass.

Whatever the case may be, the story of Siddhartha’s journey and enlightenment became widely known in oral tradition and was referenced or included in written works from about a century after his death up until the 3rd century CE, when it appears in full in the Lalitavistara Sutra. With no competing narrative, most Buddhists today believe this one to be true because it has been told so often.

Teachings & Beliefs

As previously mentioned, Siddhartha’s quest was sparked by his awareness of impending loss and the suffering that would inevitably follow. This insight led him to accept the fact that life was painful. The pain of birth (shared with one’s mother) continued throughout one’s life, as did the pain of wanting what one could not have, of worrying about losing what one had, of grieving over what had been lost, and of dying and starting over with nothing.

One had to learn to let go of the things of life while still appreciating the value they had while living without the desire to possess and hold them in a fixed form if life was to be anything other than suffering. After reaching enlightenment, he summed up his philosophy of life in the Four Noble Truths.

Arya, the original word for “noble,” means “worthy of respect” and “worth heeding,” which is why the four truths are referred to as such. The Eightfold Path, to which reference is made in the fourth of the truths, is a set of guidelines for living a life free of the attachments that lead to misery.

According to Koller, the first three are concerned with sagacity, the next two with behavior, and the last three with self-control of the mind. Continuing, he says

The Noble Eightfold Path should not be thought of as a set of eight sequential steps, with perfection at one step required before advancing to the next. Rather, these eight components of the path should be thought of as guiding norms of right living that should be followed more or less simultaneously, for the aim of the path is to achieve a completely integrated life of the highest order…Wisdom is seeing things as they really are, as interrelated and constantly changing processes…moral conduct is to purify one’s motives, speech, and action, thereby stopping the inflow of additional cravings…mental discipline works to attain insight and to eliminate the bad dispositions and habits built up on the basis of past ignorance and craving.

The Wheel of Becoming is a metaphor for life that can be overcome by realizing the Four Noble Truths and practicing the precepts of the Eightfold Path. Ignorance, desire, and aversion all coalesce at the center of the wheel and serve as its primary propulsion mechanism. Human, animal, ghost, demon, divine, and hell-being exist between the wheel’s hub and rim. The causes of pain are listed around the outer edge of the wheel: being born, being aware, making contact, feeling, thirsting, grasping, having free will, and so on.

By understanding that ignorance, craving, and aversion are the root causes of one’s pain, the Eightfold Path can be used to train one’s mind to the point where it no longer drives one’s actions, releasing one from the cycle of rebirth, suffering, and death known as samsara. Achieving nirvana, the spiritual state of liberation, is the result of following this discipline, which allows one to participate fully in life without being enslaved by or suffering from attachment to the things of this life. So, this is the “middle way” between the extreme asceticism of the contemporary Jains and the slavish attachment to material goods and interpersonal relationships advocated by the Buddha.

In contrast to Hinduism, where the same term is used to mean “duty,” he referred to his teachings as the Dharma, which means “cosmic law.” However, Buddha’s Dharma could be interpreted as “duty” in the sense that he believed people owed it to themselves to take charge of their lives, that they were ultimately responsible for the degree to which they wanted to suffer or not, and that they were all capable of exercising agency over their own destinies. He said that faith in a god who made the universe was unnecessary for happiness and even caused pain because it led people to believe they could divinely determine God’s will when in reality they couldn’t and that the belief that they could was the root of their misery. The Eightfold Path can be followed by anyone who is willing to accept responsibility for their own actions and the results of those actions, regardless of one’s religious or spiritual beliefs.

Schools & Practices

The Buddha spent the last 80 years of his life spreading the Dharma before passing away in Kushinagar. He instructed his followers that he was not interested in being worshiped and that they should not appoint a new leader after his passing. His final wish was to have his body placed in a stupa at a major intersection. However, since his followers had their own ideas, his remains were instead scattered across eight (or ten) stupas in different parts of the world, each one commemorating a significant event in his life. They picked a leader because they wanted to carry on his work, and they organized into a government in the human way by holding meetings, debating, and passing legislation.

The foundational teachings and rules for monastic life were established and codified at the First Council around 400 BCE. The Sthaviravada school (which argued for observing the proscriptions in question) and the Mahasanghika school (“Great Congregation”) (representing the majority and rejecting them) had their first schism at the Second Council in 383 BCE. A split developed between these two groups, and three distinct schools of thought emerged:

Theravada Buddhists assert that they follow Buddha’s teachings exactly as they were originally presented to them. Mahayana Buddhists refer to them as “little vehicle” (Hinayana), which is seen as derogatory by the Theravada. The goal of the Pali Buddhist and their adherents is enlightenment, or arhat-ship. The pursuit of one’s own enlightenment is a central tenet of this school.

To become a Bodhisattva (“essence of enlightenment”), a Buddhist who, like Buddha, has attained full awareness but delays the peace of nirvana in order to help others shed their ignorance, is the goal of Mahayana Buddhism (which includes Zen Buddhism) and its adherents. Mahayana Buddhism, the predominant school in practice today, also claims to be faithful to the Buddha’s original teachings.

When it comes to getting started on the Eightfold Path, Vajrayana Buddhism (also known as Tibetan Buddhism) does away with the idea that one must commit to Buddhist discipline and change one’s lifestyle. Tat Tvam Asi (lit. “thou art that”) is a central tenet of this school, which asserts that every human being has the potential to become a Bodhisattva if they so choose. As a result, it is not necessary to forgo unhealthy attachments at the outset of one’s walk; rather, one need only continue along the path, and the attraction to them will gradually diminish. Vajrayana, like the others, asserts that it is most true to the Buddha’s original teachings.

None of the three major schools is objectively regarded as more legitimate than the others, though followers of each would obviously disagree. All adhere to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, as do the many other minor schools.

Conclusion

Prior to Ashoka the Great, who renounced violence and converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga War (around 260 BCE), Buddhism remained a marginal philosophical school of thought in India. By using the Sanskrit word dhamma, which means “mercy, charity, truthfulness, and purity,” Ashoka disseminated the Buddha’s teachings across India (Keay, 95). Along with edicts encouraging the Buddhist vision, he ordered the reburial of the Buddha’s remains in 84,000 stupas across the country. Among the places he dispatched missionaries to spread Buddha’s teachings were Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, and Greece.

With the construction of Buddhist temples, Buddhism quickly caught on in Sri Lanka and China, where it eventually surpassed India as the birthplace of the religion. By the 1st century BCE, anthropomorphic depictions of Buddha and other Buddhist figures had appeared in both countries’ art scenes. During Ashoka’s reign, artists generally avoided depicting Buddha in favor of evoking his presence through symbols, but after a movement spearheaded by the Mahasanghika school, images and statues of Buddha began to appear in Buddhist sites.

These statues eventually gained religious significance. Buddhists don’t “worship” the Buddha in the traditional sense, but they do “worship” him in the sense that the image of the Buddha serves as a focus for meditation on the individual’s path to enlightenment and as an offering of thanks to the Buddha. Further, one who becomes a Buddha (and, according to Mahayana Buddhism, anyone can) does become a kind of “god” in that they have transcended the human condition and, as such, deserve special recognition for that accomplishment. Over 500 million people worldwide identify as Buddhists today, each following his or her own version of the Eightfold Path and spreading the teaching that one need only endure as much suffering as one chooses and that there is a path that leads to peace.

Taoism 500 BCE

Taoism, a philosophy and religion with its roots in China around the same time as Confucianism, was the most prominent challenger to Confucian thought among the Hundred Schools. The name Laozi, which means “Old Master” in Chinese, is often used to refer to the (possibly mythical) founder of Taoism. The core teachings of Taoism are distinct from those of Chinese folk religion, despite some commonalities (unlike Confucianism). Taoist philosophy has had a profound impact on all aspects of Chinese and East Asian culture, from writing to medicine to martial arts. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of Taoists due to the religion’s syncretic interactions with other Chinese religions like Chan Buddhism and Confucianism, but Chinese religions as a whole make up the fifth largest religion in the world.

Taoism (also spelled Daoism) is a school of thought in Chinese philosophy traditionally associated with Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE). It originated as a rural folk religion but gained official status in China during the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it can be said that Taoism is both a philosophical and religious system.

According to the Tao (or Dao), a cosmic force that binds and releases all things, this philosophy stresses doing what is natural and “going with the flow” Both the philosophy and the religion are rooted in the same idea that the Tao keeps the cosmos in harmony through its regulative influence on all aspects of existence. Whether or not ancestor and spirit worship were part of the original belief is debatable, but there is no denying that many Taoists today, and have been for centuries, adhere to these principles.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), when Taoism was at the height of its power, Emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712-756 CE) made Taoism the official religion of the state and made it compulsory for citizens to keep Taoist texts in their homes. Although it lost ground to Confucianism and Buddhism after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Taoism is still widely followed in modern China and other parts of East Asia.

Origins

The natural philosopher Lao-Tzu was the curator of the Royal Library in the state of Chu, and his story is told by the historian Sima Qian (145-86 BCE). If people would just consider each other’s feelings once in a while and realize that their self-interest is not always in the interest of others, Lao-Tzu thought, they could all get along swimmingly. People and the government corruption that he saw made Lao-Tzu angry. Corruption in government was a major contributor to the suffering of the people, and Lao-Tzu became increasingly frustrated by it. His inability to influence others’ actions led him to seek refuge in isolation.

The western pass gatekeeper Yin Hsi prevented him from leaving China because he knew he was a philosopher. Before Yin Hsi abandoned civilization for good, he begged Lao-Tzu to pen a book for him. The Tao-Te-Ching was written as he sat on a rock next to the guard (The Book of the Way). When he was satisfied, he put his pen down, handed the book to Yin Hsi, and disappeared into the mist beyond the western pass. While Sima Qian’s account ends here, it stands to reason that Yin Hsi would have had copies of the Tao-Te-Ching made and distributed if this legend were true.

The Tao-Te-Ching.

The Tao-Te-Ching cannot be considered a “scripture.” Poems describing how to follow the Tao and find inner peace through its teachings. To simplify one’s life, a typical verse might read, “Yield and overcome/Empty and become full/Bend and become straight” Instead of resisting life and other people, one can give in to their demands and let go of the trifles that don’t matter. By swallowing one’s pride and being receptive to other people’s perspectives, one can avoid the trap of always needing to prove oneself right. If one is willing to let go of rigid ideas and habits, they can open themselves up to new possibilities.

It is unlikely that Lao-Tzu penned the Tao-Te-Ching at the western pass, and it is possible that he did not write it at all. The Tao-Te-Ching is a collection of sayings written down by an anonymous scribe who was most likely not aware that Lao-Tzu did not exist. All that matters is what the book actually says and what it has come to mean to its readers, not who wrote it, when it was written, or how it was written (as the book itself would agree). Tao-Te-Ching is an effort to remind people of their interconnectedness with all other beings and with the planet itself, and of the possibility of a peaceful coexistence among all species if only individuals would consider the ripple effects of their actions beyond their immediate surroundings.

Yin-Yang Thought

The central philosophy of Taoism emerged from the peasant class during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), a long time before the accepted dates for Lao-Tzu, providing further evidence that he could not have written the Tao-Te-Ching. Oracle bone reading, a form of divination popular during the Shang dynasty, was thought to reveal the future. The I-Ching (c. 1250-1150 BCE), also known as the Book of Changes, is a book that provides interpretations for specific hexagrams that are said to reveal the future and is still in circulation today.

To consult the I-Ching for an answer to a question, one would first ask the question, then toss a handful of yarrow sticks onto a flat surface (like a table). In each of these hexagrams, half of the lines are broken, while the other half are continuous (Yang lines) (Yin). The answer could be found by studying the pattern the yarrow sticks made when thrown and then consulting the hexagrams in the book. Because the principles of yin and yang are essential to life, the answer required both the broken and the unbroken lines, the yin and the yang. John M. Koller, a historian, pens the following:

Yin-yang thought began as an attempt to answer the question of the origin of the universe. According to yin-yang thought, the universe came to be as a result of the interactions between the two primordial opposing forces of yin and yang. Because things are experienced as changing, as processes coming into being and passing out of being, they must have both yang, or being, and yin, or lack of being. The world of changing things that constitutes nature can exist only when there are both yang and yin. Without yang nothing can come into existence. Without yin nothing can pass out of existence.

The yin-yang symbol and yin-yang thought are now commonly associated with Taoism and the Tao-Te-Ching, even though these concepts were not originally associated with either. The yin and yang symbolize the need for harmony in all aspects of life. Because nature does not distinguish between good and evil and life and non-life, the yin-yang is a symbol of balancing opposites such as darkness and light, passivity and aggression, and sex equality. In the same way that everything in nature is in harmony, Taoism teaches its followers to accept and embrace that same state of being.

Beliefs

The Daozang, a collection of writings from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and the Sung Dynasty (960-1234 CE), was compiled in the later Ming Dynasty. Other Chinese texts relating to Taoism include the Chaung-Tzu (also known as the Zhuangzi, written by Zhuang Zhou, c. 369-286 BCE) (1368-1644 CE). All of these works share the same foundational assumptions about human nature and the value of constant reminders of that nature in order to encourage good behavior rather than bad. According to Taoist principles, there are no “bad people” only bad actions. Anyone could be a “good person” and live in peace with the earth and other people if they were taught about the cosmos and given the tools to understand its workings.

According to this worldview, sticking to your own path runs counter to nature, while fighting the Tao will only lead to conflict. According to Taoism, the optimal way to live is to accept and adapt to the challenges that you face. People who are happy with their lives are those who are able to roll with the punches of life’s inevitable ups and downs. To be at one with the Tao and to see that everything that happens is part of the eternal force that binds and moves through all things is the ultimate goal of life.

This worldview is highly congruent with that of the Roman stoics, such as Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, and their concept of Logos. They insisted that the Logos was the driving force behind all rationality, and that nothing that occurred in accordance with the Logos could be bad; only human perceptions could make events appear negative. Nothing is bad in and of itself, as the Taoists would have it; we label some events as bad and others as good based on how they affect us personally. Since the Tao itself is a natural phenomenon, everything that occurs does so because it follows the Tao’s natural course.

Taoism, in contrast to Buddhism (which originated in India but found great success in China), evolved out of the Chinese people’s own experiences and perspectives. Being an organic outgrowth of the Chinese worldview, Taoism’s tenets had a profound effect on Chinese culture. The idea of maintaining equilibrium in one’s life was consistent with the equally widespread Confucianism (also native to China). While both Taoism and Confucianism believed in the fundamental goodness of humans, they disagreed on the best way to bring that goodness to the fore and motivate individuals to act in more altruistic ways.

Taoism & Confucianism

The peasant classes of the Shang Dynasty, who had always lived in harmony with the natural world, gave birth to Taoism as a religion based on its guiding philosophy. As a result of their fieldwork, they developed a philosophical framework that included the idea of eternity. In the spring, the grass began to grow again, and the tree that had appeared to be dead revived. They reasoned that after death, people did not simply vanish but went somewhere else to continue living. The Confucians held the belief that all deceased ancestors continued to live on in the presence of the gods, and as such, they honored and respected their ancestors in all aspects of their lives.

Even though the Tao-Te-Ching doesn’t explicitly endorse it, worship of the dead came to be a central part of Taoist rituals, and a deep respect for the natural world and its spirits came to define Taoist practices, drawing parallels to Japan’s Shintoism. While Taoism and Confucianism share many central tenets, they are distinctive in important ways. Taoism is most distinguishable from Confucianism in its rejection of dogmatic ritualism. Writes Koller:

Confucius advocated rites and music so that the desires and emotions might be developed and regulated, for therein lay the development of humanity. To Lao-Tzu, efforts to develop and regulate the desires and emotions seemed artificial, tending to interfere with the harmony of nature. Rather than organize and regulate things to achieve perfection, Lao-Tzu advocated letting things work to their perfection naturally. This means supporting all things in their natural state, allowing them to transform spontaneously.

If you want to make your life and the lives of others more difficult, Lao-Tzu (the name is used here as an expression of Taoist thought) says you should demand more rules. The only way to find out that life naturally regulates itself and to fall into rhythm with the Tao, which runs through and regulates and binds and releases all things naturally, is to relax the artificial rules and regulations that were supposed to improve it.

Rituals

However, this tacit acceptance of whatever happens in life as it should be does not extend to Taoist rites. Today’s elaborate Taoist rituals are consistent with traditional Taoist beliefs but have been influenced by Buddhist and Confucian practices. A Taoist ritual or festival requires precise recitation of the prayers and spells that make it up, as well as meticulous observance of each and every one of the ritual’s steps. There is a Grand Master (similar to a High Priest) who presides over Taoist religious festivals, and the festivities can last from several days to a week or more. No matter how much time and energy the Grand Master and his assistants put into the ritual, it will be in vain if they don’t follow the prescribed ritual precisely. From the traditional Taoist perspective of “going with the flow” and not worrying about external rules or elaborate religious practices, this is an intriguing departure.

During a Taoist ceremony, the Grand Master will call upon the spirits of the local community’s forefathers and mothers as incense is burned to cleanse the air. The act of purification occurs at various points in the ritual and is crucial to its success. To foster communication with the gods and spirits, ordinary domestic spaces must be transformed into sacred ones. It is customary for the Grand Master to have four attendants, each of whom may serve in one of three roles: reader, musician, or sacred dancer. One of the Grand Master’s assistants will read the text aloud, and the Grand Master will act it out to show how the soul ascends to join the gods and the ancestors. Steps leading up to an altar were used in the ritual to represent a journey from earthly, mundane life to the heavenly realms. In modern times, the ritual can be performed either on a stage or the ground, and it is clear from the text and the Grand Master’s actions that he is achieving enlightenment.

In keeping with its traditional role, the altar is central to the ritual because it represents the human world’s encounter with the heavenly. In Taoist homes, individuals will pray to and pay respect to their ancestors, household spirits, and village spirits at individual altars. While Taoist rituals and festivals are meant to foster community and bring people together, they should not be confused with institutionalized forms of worship such as going to church or temple. A Taoist is not required to attend any festivals in order to worship, and historically most Taoists have done so. When a town, village, or city puts on a festival, the residents typically chip in to cover the event’s high costs. In times of crisis, such as an epidemic or financial hardship, they are sometimes performed as well, but are more commonly seen as community celebrations. Invoking the gods and spirits is done at these times to drive away the evil spirits.

Conclusion

Taoism had a major impact on Chinese culture beginning with the Shang Dynasty and continuing on into modern times. The evolution of the arts reflects the maturation of human consciousness in light of its recognition of the interdependence of all things and all people. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty made Taoism the official religion because he thought it would help his subjects achieve inner peace. Many Chinese people consider the Tang Dynasty’s peak to be during Xuanzong’s reign, which is widely regarded as one of the most prosperous and stable periods in Chinese history.

Throughout China’s history, Taoism has been a leading contender for the position of state religion, but the majority of the population has always favored the teachings of Confucius (or, at times, Buddhism) instead, likely due to the rituals of these religions, which provide structure that is lacking in Taoism. Taoism is still practiced by many people in China and elsewhere around the world, and it is now widely regarded as one of the world’s great religions.

Confucianism 500 BCE

Some see Confucianism as a secular-humanist belief system, others as a religion, and still others as a social code; it was developed in China around the sixth century BCE. Given the wide variety of topics addressed by Confucianism, any of these three interpretations can be valid depending on the lens through which one examines the philosophy.

Humans, according to this worldview, are basically good but act immorally due to a lack of a consistent moral compass; by following a code of ethics and participating in rituals meant to reinforce that code, however, one can lead a more peaceful, productive, and ultimately more powerful and prosperous life.

Confucius (K’ung-fu-Tze, Kong Fuzi, “Master Kong”), a Chinese philosopher from the Spring and Autumn Period (551-479 BCE), established it (c. 772-476 BCE). The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (c. 481-221 BCE) were times when competing philosophical schools fought for followers, and Confucius is often cited as one of the greatest philosophers of the Hundred Schools of Thought (also given as the Contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought). His ideas have shaped Chinese society and thought for well over a millennium, making him the most consequential philosopher in Chinese history.

Although he is credited with popularizing ideas from the Five Classics, Confucius insisted that he had contributed nothing new to the conversation and that his teachings were merely an amplification of what had already been written. However, Mencius (Mang-Tze, l. 372-289 BCE), a later Confucian philosopher and scholar, attributed the Five Classics to Confucius, and this view persisted until the middle of the twentieth century CE. Since the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), when Confucianism was made the state philosophy, these works, along with three others on Confucian thought, and one by Mencius, have served as the cornerstones of Chinese culture. Here are the four books and the five canonical works:

The Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), which produced the Five Classics, was in decline during Confucius’ time on Earth. Even if he didn’t edit or revise the Five Classics, as legend has it, he certainly spread awareness of their ideas. His students memorialized his teachings in works such as the Analects, Books of Rites, and Doctrine of the Mean.

After the Qin state triumphed over the others, the Warring States Period came to an end (221-206 BCE). The new Qin dynasty adopted the Legalism philosophy and outlawed all others. All non-Legalist philosophical works, including those by Confucius, were banned and burned. The only reason that copies of the forbidden books were preserved was because intellectuals hid them at great risk to themselves. After the Qin Dynasty, the Han declared Confucianism the official philosophy of the state, which led to a greater dissemination of Confucian thought and an eventual seamless integration with Chinese culture. This was made possible by the Han’s promotion of free speech and the establishment of The Four Books and Five Classics as required reading for administrative positions.

Historical Background & Career in Lu

The Zhou Dynasty of China decentralized the government shortly after its founding, with lords loyal to the king setting up independent states across the vast territory. At first, this strategy was successful, but as the states became more powerful than the king, the old allegiances began to fade. The Zhou Dynasty had already been severely weakened by the time barbarian invasions compelled the government to relocate to the east, around 771 BCE, for better defense. Confucius lived and taught during this time, which corresponds to the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period (771-256 BCE) or the so-called Eastern Zhou period.

On September 4, 551 BCE, in the town of Qufu, State of Lu (Shandong Province), the son of a military commander named Kong He of noble descent, the man who would become known as Confucius was born. Kong Qui was Confucius’s given name, but the Christian missionaries who came to China in the 16th century CE Latinized his name to Master Kong (Kong Fuzi). When he was only three years old, his father passed away, leaving his family destitute. After his mother passed away at the age of 23, he supported himself and his studies by working odd jobs. At this point in time, he was already a married man with a son or two under his belt.

Though he had received a standard Zhou Dynasty education in the Six Arts (Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, and Mathematics), he had taken it upon himself to further his knowledge in each of these fields. Scholar Forrest E. Baird writes that by the time he was in his mid-twenties, Confucius had become “one of the best-educated men of his day,” having developed a “deep love of learning” at the age of fifteen. Confucius, newlywed with a growing family to provide for, decided to pursue a career as a government educator and, as Baird points out, fulfill his desire to live a life of significance by doing so.

His threefold professional goal crystalized early – to serve in government, to teach others, and to transmit to posterity the splendid culture of the Zhou Dynasty…He had a special fondness for poetry and music and was skilled in the performance of the latter. His reputation for excellent teaching was established by the age of thirty. As a teacher, Confucius rejected vocationalism while pioneering a liberal education that was strong in ethics, history, literature, and the fine arts. He admitted any student who could afford the token tuition – a bundle of dried meat.

Aside from his role as a teacher, Confucius also served as the magistrate (governor) of his town during the reign of the Duke of Lu. Confucius became disinterested in his work in Lu as a result of political strife between three of the leading families and the personal failings of the Duke of Lu. He had tried to persuade those in power that they could have better, more satisfying lives by adhering to a moral code that would lead to efficient and fair government, but the elite had no interest in improving their lot in life. He quit his job and fled the state of Lu in order to win over more people in another location.

Many of the long-established aspects of government, such as bureaucratic positions, became disorganized during this period of state warfare. When these former government administrators, advisors, scholars, and teachers were laid off, they set up their own schools to teach according to their own values. The time of the One Hundred Schools of Thought was characterized by the efforts of various groups to win over students to their respective systems while casting doubt on those of their rivals.

Confucius & the Hundred Schools

The phrase “hundred schools of thought” is meant metaphorically, not literally. Later historians, such as Sima Qian (l. 145-135-86 BCE), recorded a number of them.

So, Confucianism wasn’t the only philosophical belief system being established and then popularized at this time. Following his departure from Lu, Confucius visited other states, where he debated and debated with representatives of competing schools in an effort to gain their support for his vision. As Baird points out:

Confucius wandered through the neighboring states in the company of a small band of students, whom he continued to teach. He offered advice on government matters to local rulers and sometimes accepted temporary posts in their service. There were hardships to be endured – rejection, persecution, even attempted assassination.

After failing to persuade the ruling classes of other states to adopt his system, he returned to Lu at age 68 to open his own school. He taught for another five years until his death from natural causes, basing his lessons on the Five Classics of the Zhou Dynasty. At the time of his death, his philosophy was just one of many, and it had been influenced by others to varying degrees.

The Tao, the unifying and creative force of the universe, is a central tenet of Taoism, which in turn influenced Confucianism, Legalism, the School of Names, the School of Medicine, and the Closeness of Correspondence between Name and Reality. As a result of these and other influences, Confucius was able to develop a philosophical system that, if followed, could help people make better choices, live more peaceful lives, and avoid the kind of suffering everyone at the time was enduring due to wars between the states.

Confucianism

He had a straightforward philosophical vision: People are good by nature, where good means being able to recognize right from wrong and making the ethical choice. The actions of individuals in times of crisis could provide evidence for this assertion. A boy who falls into a well is Mencius’ (a later Confucian) most famous example of this idea in action. Even though one does not know the boy or his parents and may be risking one’s own safety in trying to help him, the first impulse is to save him, either by taking direct action or by running to find someone to help.

If a person did neither of these things, if they chose wrong over right, it was because they lacked a moral code and standard of conduct and therefore did not know what was right. Someone with a highly developed sense of self-interest would have let the boy drown in the well. If they had been taught the value of doing the right thing and given a realistic perspective on their place in the world, that person would make the moral decision.

Here we get to the theological aspect that causes some to view Confucianism as a religion. The Chinese concept of Tian (Heaven) should be understood here as something very similar to the Tao, which was a central tenet in Confucius’s own worldview. In order to bring order out of chaos, Tian, the giver of life, is responsible. To grasp one’s place in the world, one had to acknowledge the existence of Tian, a constant flux of Yin and Yang (opposite) forces. Belief in a higher power, in whatever form that took, helped to check one’s concept of self-importance, reduced one’s ego, and encouraged one to move from self-interest to consider the interests and welfare of others; thus, sacrifices made to the various gods made no difference to those gods, who were all aspects of Tian.

However, faith in a higher power alone was insufficient to inspire moral behavior or restrain one’s baser impulses. Keeping to the middle way, where peace and prosperity can be had while respecting the rights of all, was a central tenet of Confucius’ ethical philosophy. The five constants and four virtues are as follows:

The most important of these was filial piety, but they were all vital. Sons were taught to respect and obey their fathers, younger brothers were taught to defer to their older brothers, and sisters were taught to respect and defer to their mothers. In this way, the family would be able to get along, and if enough families practiced filial piety, the entire neighborhood, then the state, and finally the nation, would be at peace. Since people would essentially be self-governing, authoritarian governments and laws would be unnecessary if only the benefits of virtuous behavior were widely acknowledged. A quote from Confucius:

If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame and, moreover, will become good. (Analects, 2.3; Tamblyn, p. 3)

By submitting oneself to a policy of behavior that does not elevate the self, filial piety was the first step toward the other constants and virtues. The father, as the head of the family, was expected to show humility, especially around Tian. Those who were more privileged than others were still expected to practice filial piety in a morally just manner. It is said that Confucius said this in response to a question about government and the discipline of disobedient citizens:

Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it. (Analects 12.19; Tamblyn, p. 38)

Ren, meaning not only “benevolence” but also “that which makes a human truly human,” one’s basic humanity, which understands right from wrong and instinctively leans toward what is right, was the inspiration for filial piety (and much more). By saying “whatsoever you do not want done to you, do not do to another” (Analects 12:2), Confucius gave behavioral expression to the so-called Silver Rule, a much earlier version of the Golden Rule attributed to Jesus Christ.

To treat everyone as if they were a great guest, to put people to work as if they were contributing to a great sacrifice, to not do unto others as you would not wish done unto yourself, to leave behind no ill will in the host country and in one’s own household upon returning home, and to have no rumors spread about you. According to (Analects 12:2; Tamblyn, p.

To become a junzi (literally “lord’s son”), a term usually translated as “gentleman,” one had to follow these rules and participate in the rituals that promoted them. A junzi understood the natural order of things and his or her place in it (Confucius saw women as needing as much instruction as men, even though his era did not formally allow for it) and, by adhering to Confucius’ teachings, would act morally, in the best interests of all parties, and maintain harmony in their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Conclusion

Like Confucius, the philosopher and Confucian scholar Mencius traveled from state-to-state preaching Confucian ideals in an effort to end the chaos of the Warring States Period. Even though he was not any more successful than Confucius in converting the ruling class, he did introduce Confucian precepts to a larger audience than existed at the time of Confucius’ death. Another scholar-philosopher, the last of the Five Great Sages of Confucianism, Xunzi (also given as Xun Kuang, l. c. 310–c. 235 BCE), reformed the system further, offering a much more pragmatic (or pessimistic) vision of the philosophy, closer in some respects to Legalism, but still retaining the basic precepts, which he expressed in his work Xunzi.

Because of its opposition to Qin policy, Confucianism was deemed unacceptable by the Qin Dynasty. Shi Huangdi (r. 221-210 BCE), the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, instituted a repressive regime that was at odds with Confucian ideals and adopted Legalism as the state philosophy to maintain tight control over the populace. During the period known as the Burning of the Books and the Burying of Scholars (c. 213-210 BCE), Confucianism was nearly wiped out of history. However, the books were preserved by followers who hid them from authorities.

The first Han emperor, Gaozu (r. 202-195 BCE), revived the philosophy and reinstated the standards of the preceding Zhou Dynasty. Under Wu the Great, Confucianism became the official state philosophy. Wu’s decree would cement and expand the influence of Confucianism, which had already gained a substantial following by the time of his reign (141-87 BCE).

Judaism 500 BCE

The Jewish people are an ethnic and religious nation who practice Judaism. They are descendants of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Judaism as it is known today can be traced back to the Middle East to the 500s BCE at the earliest, although some of its religious traditions and beliefs go back much further in time. Its followers have been persecuted by the more popular religions in the area for a long time. The Jewish people dispersed after the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and became a symbol of the religion’s persecution. Jews have been persecuted throughout history and into the present day. However, Judaism has survived and expanded to become one of the world’s most prominent religions.

Early Judaism began around the sixth century BCE and lasted until about the year 70 CE. During this time, Judean religion began to develop ideas that were significantly different from Israelite and Judean religion in the tenth to seventh centuries BCE. In particular, this time period is important because it saw the development of monotheism, the codification of traditions that are central to religious identity (i.e., the writing of the Hebrew Bible), and the introduction of new ideas into the worship of Yahweh.

Cultural influences

Jerusalem was chosen as the location of the central temple for Judean and Israelite religion and, as a result of this, Israelite politics, when the Judean and Israelite kingdoms were at the height of their power in the eighth century BCE. It was generally accepted across the ancient world that a temple, and by extension, the city, was safe so long as the temple was kept in good condition and the deity was pleased with the people living there. However, beginning in the early sixth century BCE, this long-held concept began to be questioned. The Neo-Babylonian empire was responsible for the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 586 BCE. Prior to this, valuables had been stolen from the temple twice by non-Judean kings. As a result of the crumbling of this long-held belief, Judeans were compelled to reconsider and rethink their understanding of their religion.

In addition, when the Persian empire arose in the late sixth century BCE, people groups that had been exiled in the past by the Neo-Assyrians and the Neo-Babylonians were granted permission to return to their original homelands. This took place in Iran. As a direct result of this, wealthy Judeans were granted permission to return to their homeland of Judah, where they subsequently rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. The term “Jewish diaspora” refers to the widespread dispersion of Jewish communities throughout the ancient world, including in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Samaria, and Judah (Yehud). During this time period, however, there is literary evidence that indicates the existence of Judean communities in these areas. It is clear that different Judean communities were given the opportunity to develop in their own unique ways as a result of the geographical dispersion of Judeans. Therefore, there was no one correct way to practice Judaism’s religion at the time. There were many different conceptions of what constituted appropriate worship, despite the fact that everyone agreed that Yahweh should take the central role in the religion. Beginning in the fourth century BCE, early Judaism underwent further development as a result of intercultural exchange with the Hellenistic and Roman worlds. For this reason, some academics refer to Judean religion during this period as early Judaisms (note the plural). During this time period, Judeans living in the territory of Judah enjoyed a brief period of political independence, which is of particular significance. Both the significant religious developments and the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, which had been rebuilt in the sixth century BCE, were major consequences of this political independence. The temple had been destroyed in the year 70 CE. This event is regarded by the vast majority of academics as marking the conclusion of early Judaism; beginning in the year 70 CE, the Jewish religion is classified as “Rabbinic Judaism.”

Monotheism

Traditional beliefs regarding the inviolability of Jerusalem were called into question when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 586 BCE. As a consequence, Judeans gave the question of Yahweh’s rule during the time of the Persians another thought (the late 6th century BCE). The book of Isaiah in the Bible provides support for this assertion. The book of Isaiah is typically broken up into two sections by scholars, with the first section containing chapters 1–39 and the second section containing chapters 40–66. The second section is generally considered to have been written during the Persian period. The author of Isaiah 44:9-20 argues against the worship of other deities that is not centered on Yahweh, specifically the worship of idols: “They [the idols] do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand” (New Oxford Annotated Study Bible).

In Mesopotamia, it was common practice to worship deities through the medium of a statue, with the understanding that the presence of the deity was thought to reside in the statue. As a consequence of this, Isaiah appears to be implying that the deities were not really present in the statues by referring to them as “lifeless idols.” As a result of this, many academics consider this to be one of the earliest pieces of evidence of monotheism in Judea. This idea is developed further in Isaiah 45:1-7, where Yahweh is said to have specifically called Cyrus, king of the Persian empire, to take over Babylon as a way of judging Babylon. Cyrus is said to have done so in order to destroy Babylon. According to the text, Yahweh employs kings from other nations as instruments of his judgment. This is consistent with the larger picture painted in chapters 40–48, in which Yahweh is portrayed as the author of history itself.

However, the Hebrew Bible does not contain every Judean tradition that has ever been passed down. There were distinct Judean communities that flourished in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. Cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia and generally referred to as the “Murashu tablets” and “Al-Yahudu” (translated as “Judahtown”) tablets attest to the existence of a community of Judeans who lived and worked in the area of Babylon between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Unfortunately, the majority of the records are composed of legal and financial paperwork. It is likely that they worshiped Yahweh because the name “Yahu” (Yahweh) is attached to a large number of different personal names in the documents. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify the religious ideas of these exiled Judeans beyond this, such as the possibility that these Judeans worshipped Mesopotamian deities. One example of this difficulty is found in the following sentence.

In a similar manner, letters and documents from a Judean settlement in Elephantine, Egypt, which dates back to the 5th century BCE attest to worshippers of Yahweh. There is some evidence within these documents that some Judeans may have also worshiped the deities Anat and Ashim. Therefore, the tendency toward monotheism that can be found in biblical writing from the Persian period was not necessarily followed by these respective Judeans.

In addition, there were a variety of forms of folk religion, which can be defined as ideas and rituals of a religious nature that were never elevated to a prominent position or adopted as the standard ways of religious belief and practice. The common folk religion of ancient Israel is not particularly well represented in the historical evidence because the Hebrew Bible most likely reflects the ideology of wealthy scribes. At the end of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, it is generally accepted that monotheism was a defining factor of Judaism. This is the case even though there may have been certain groups that opposed this notion.

There was a significant paradigm shift that contributed to monotheism becoming more prevalent in Judaism, and it was this shift. To be more specific, Judean scribes recast the former divine pantheon as heavenly beings known as angels. This shift is most clearly demonstrated in the book of 1 Enoch. One of the earliest texts that attests to the belief in angels as “helpers of the deity and responsible for the workings of the cosmos as well as for carrying out divine tasks relating to the human sphere” is 1 Enoch, which is typically dated to the third century BCE. This makes 1 Enoch one of the earliest texts that we have (Grabbe, 243). The appearance of these beings, who serve as Yahweh’s council, is a re-imagining of the older gods of West Semitic religion, who previously served in the same capacity. Furthermore, given that no ideas are ever created in a void, it is highly likely that the classification of angels and demons was already in full force by the time the Persian period came to an end, and that 1 Enoch simply reflects traditions that were already in circulation. As a result, Judean scribes were able to resolve the issue of the West Semitic pantheon to their satisfaction by writing 1 Enoch. This book contains the names of the gods worshipped in West Semitic religion.

Passover

According to Exodus 12–13, the holiday of Passover was established so as to avert the death of all first-born children, which would have been the tenth and final plague. The historical possibility of the ten plagues described in the book of Exodus, and consequently the origins of Passover, cannot be confirmed; however, there are striking similarities between Passover and another festival discovered at an archaeological site in Syria (12th century BCE). At this location in Syria, literary records attest to a festival called zukru that had strikingly similar characteristics. These characteristics include the following: it is held on the 14th day of the first month, it lasts for seven days, blood is smeared on the doorposts, and first-born animals are sacrificed. However, as a specific commemoration of an exodus from Egypt, Passover is more likely to be a development from the Persian period than it is to have its roots in the pre-7th century BCE. These similarities suggest that the underlying ideas in Passover have pre-7th century BCE origins.

The Elephantine Papyri provide additional evidence that this celebration played an important role in the lives of the people (6th century BCE). The account of Passover given in the Elephantine Papyri, on the other hand, diverges significantly from that given in the Hebrew Bible. It forbids the consumption of fermented beverages, in contrast to Leviticus 23:3-8 in the Hebrew Bible. Even though the two interpretations aren’t that far apart, it shows that they have different ideas about what constitutes correct ritual practice.

In a similar vein, the Samaritan Pentateuch provides evidence that the Passover ritual was already being performed by Samaritans as early as the fourth century BCE. In most respects, it is identical to the Pentateuch that is found in the Hebrew Bible; however, in contrast to the Judeans who lived in Judah, the Samaritans would have carried out the ritual on Mount Gerizim. They did this because, contrary to Judeans, they believed Mount Gerizim to be the holiest mountain, while Judeans considered Jerusalem to be the holiest site.

Last but not least, a piece of a scroll found at Qumran (which is close to the Dead Sea and dates back to around the third century BCE to the first century CE) prohibits young boys and girls from participating in the Passover celebration (Parry and Skinner). Because this particular custom is only mentioned in this fragment and not in any other literary tradition, it exemplifies how the customs surrounding Passover can be quite varied while still maintaining a sense of overall cohesion.

Sabbath

From Friday evening until Saturday evening, people traditionally observe the Sabbath as a time of rest in some form (i.e. the seventh day). However, biblical tradition connects the significance of the Sabbath to the account of creation found in Genesis 1:1-2:3, despite the fact that the historical origins of the Sabbath are unknown. On the seventh day, the story says that Yahweh stops being creative and instead rests. A reflection on this can be found in passages such as Exodus 31:12-18, which interpret the creation described above as an early indication of a covenant existing between Yahweh and the Israelites. On the other hand, given that Genesis 1:1-2:3 almost certainly originates from the Persian period, the significance of the Sabbath as a religious practice most likely began to take shape between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. In light of this, earlier texts, such as 2 Kings 4:23, 11:4-12, and 16:17-18, do make reference to the Sabbath; however, it does not become a major central theme until literature that is dated to the Persian period.

For instance, both 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles provide fairly consistent commentary on the various aspects of the observance of the Sabbath. These texts, which are reinventions of 1 and 2 Kings and date to the Persian period, note aspects of the Sabbath with regard to the temple. These aspects include a sacrifice taking place in the temple on the Sabbath (2 Chronicles 2:4, 31:3) as well as a row of bread that was prepared for the Sabbath (1 Chr. 9:32). In the book of Nehemiah, portions of which date to the 5th century BCE, the regulations regarding the Sabbath become more specific. Specifically, it is determined that purchasing food, selling food, transporting materials, and loading materials for transport are all activities that violate the Sabbath day of rest. However, it is noteworthy that the texts from Elephantine do not make any reference to the Sabbath. Even though the lack of reference to the Sabbath in the Elephantine texts does not necessarily indicate that the people of Elephantine did not observe the Sabbath, it does raise the possibility that they did not do so.

During the Hellenistic period, the observance of the Sabbath took on a greater significance for early Judaism. Antiochus IV, ruler of the Seleucid empire in the second century BCE, made an effort to consolidate his authority over Jerusalem. His plan reportedly included attempting to Hellenize Judeans, which is documented in historical accounts. As a result, he attacked Jerusalem on the day set aside for rest and worship, the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem was consecrated to the god Zeus by the sacrifice of pork on an altar, and the Torah and circumcision were outlawed. A schism developed between Hellenistic and non-Judean leaders and Judeans as a result of the latter’s opposition to these normative aspects of Judean religious identity and practice. This rift encouraged Judeans, even more so than before the actions of Antiochus IV, to define themselves by these factors (the Sabbath, Yahweh’s temple in Jerusalem, the uncleanliness of pork, the Torah, and circumcision). In response to Antiochus’ actions, a group of Judeans, initially led by Mattathias, rebelled and laid the foundations for a Judean kingdom, which was to be ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty. This dynasty was known as the Hasmoneans.

Other rituals

The act of circumcision was a significant rite that was practiced in early Judaism. It was generally understood that it was a representation of the covenant that had been made between Yahweh and the Judeans (Gen. 17:10-14; Ex. 4:24-26; Josh. 5:2-12; Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4, 9:25, 9:26). Other festivals, such as Yom Kippur and the festivals that celebrate the new moon, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also developed over time. Despite the fact that each holiday has its own distinctive theological significance and practices within Judean traditions, these celebrations all reflect a deeper, more ancient correlation between the agricultural calendar and the holidays. As a direct consequence of the actions taken by Antiochus IV in the second century BCE, the celebration of Hanukkah emerged as an essential means of commemorating the inauguration of the temple in Jerusalem.

In addition, the Mikvah developed into a standard requirement for rituals around the second century BCE. Adults were required to undergo a purification ritual that involved being submerged in a special pool of water known as a Mikvah. After the second century BCE, the practice of ritual bathing became increasingly important, as evidenced by the discovery of over 850 mikvaot in a variety of settings, including burial sites, homes, synagogues, and agricultural centers, among other places.

Last but not least, archaeological evidence suggests that synagogues were first built during the Hellenistic period. The following is written on a plaque in Egypt that dates back to the third century BCE: “On behalf of king Ptolemy and queen Berenice, his sister and wife, and their children, the Jews (dedicated) the proseuche.” The phrase “place of prayer” in Greek is referred to as “proseuche.” During the Hellenistic period, when prayer was becoming increasingly important in people’s lives, the establishment of a dedicated place for worship was an inevitable development.

The Hebrew Bible

An anthology of Judean texts written, composed, and compiled between the 8th century BCE and the 2nd century BCE, the Hebrew Bible is also known as the Tanakh or the Old Testament. Other names for the Hebrew Bible include the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus. Therefore, the Hebrew Bible was not originally a single book; rather, it emerged over the course of time as a result of the compilation of a number of different Judean texts. The texts, however, were not always understood as having been divinely inspired, authoritative, or holy texts; the role of Judean texts in religious expression developed between the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE.

The book of Kings, which is thought to have been written between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, is a historical account of ancient Israel and Judah that begins with the reign of David and continues until the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE. Also, the book of Chronicles recounts the history of the same time period; however, it was written during the time of the Persians, and it borrows a significant amount of its content from the book of Kings. As a result of this, it modifies the pre-existing texts in Kings in both positive and negative ways. These alterations enable us to better understand how the Hebrew Bible’s function shifted over the course of early Judaism.

For instance, in 2 Kings 21:1-16, it is said that the Judean king Manasseh “shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, in addition to the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of [Yahweh].” This is in addition to the sin that he caused Judah to commit so that they did what was evil in the sight of [Yahweh] (NASB, 2 Kings 21:16). In other words, the author comes to the conclusion that Manasseh was a malicious and corrupt monarch who practiced divination and supported the worship of gods other than Yahweh. This leads the author to conclude that Manasseh was a bad king. In retaliation for these deeds, Yahweh made a threat to wipe Israel off the face of the earth (2 Kings 21:11-13). However, the actions of Manasseh are explained in 2 Chronicles 33:10–17, where it is stated that he repented before Yahweh, removed all idols in Judah, strengthened cities in Judah, and offered sacrifices of well-being and thanksgiving to Yahweh.

The Davidic dynasty can be understood in a different light as a result of these differences. It is possible that Manasseh’s actions in the book of Kings invalidated the agreement that Yahweh had made with David, more specifically the covenant that King David had made with Yahweh. However, the book of Chronicles validates the Davidic dynasty by adding information about Manasseh’s repentance, military leadership, and religious leadership. The book of Chronicles rewrites the book of Kings in such a way that it emphasizes the significance, value, and legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty.

A further implication of these differences is that Yahweh’s law is gaining increasing significance. In the book of Chronicles, the narrator explains the standard that Manasseh did not meet through the words of Yahweh: “do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.” Manasseh did not live up to this standard (2 Chronicles 33:8). Kings makes mention of the law, statutes, and ordinances from Yahweh, all of which were typical components of ancient religious practice; however, it does not specifically state that this was the law that was given through Moses. The law is described in Chronicles as it was transmitted by Moses. Following the law as it was given by Moses was apparently becoming an increasingly important part of religious practice during the time of the Persians. This addition suggests this. Although it is difficult to determine exactly what made up the law of Moses during the Persian period, it is possible that it was what we now know to be the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is despite the fact that it is difficult to identify exactly what made up the law of Moses during the Persian period (commonly known as the Torah or Pentateuch).

Even though various Judean and biblical texts sometimes expressed divergent theologies and worldviews, the ideas contained within the Hebrew Bible began to serve as practice and belief markers for Judeans when it started to be perceived as offering divine instruction. Therefore, the texts contained in the Hebrew Bible were not holy, sanctified texts; rather, they were representative of practices and ideas that were fundamental to the identity of certain Judeans.

During the Hellenistic period, the Hebrew Bible’s function as a religiously authoritative document became increasingly more important. This can be understood in a broad sense. During this time period, texts such as the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, which was written in the second century BCE, treat the Torah as a form of universal wisdom. Because the Torah represented natural law, it contained laws and prohibitions that were based on that law. In spite of this, various Judean factions held different ideas about the manner in which the Hebrew Bible and the Torah were authoritative in terms of religious doctrine. Lester Grabbe does a good job of describing the ways in which early Jewish people disagreed with one another regarding the Torah:

The most problematic item [in defining Jewish identity] is possibly “Torah” since there is evidence that different Jews had different ideas about what should be included in the concept (canon), the interpretation of that which was included (exegesis), and the relative importance of the accepted traditions (authority).

There was not one particular way in which Judaism should be practiced. Even though the various Judean communities shared the same traditions in a more general sense, they frequently expressed those traditions in their own unique and individual ways. Even the Hebrew Bible itself reflects the variety of Judean religious traditions. Understanding early Judaism from a historical vantage point requires first and foremost an acknowledgment of the diversity that existed within the shared traditions of the religion.

Christianity 20 CE

The two most widely practiced religions, Christianity and Islam, are also the two most misunderstood and fragmented. Each of the religions has varying beliefs that are so different from one another that their variations could almost be thought of as whole new religions if you didn’t know where they came from. The belief that sets Christianity apart from Islam is the belief in the trinity, which is held by many Christians.

The doctrine of the Trinity is commonly expressed as the statement that the one true God exists as or in three equally divine “persons,” the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every word in this statement (God exists, as or in an equally divine person) has been interpreted in various ways. By believing in the trinity, Christians are led to believe that Jesus Christ, as one part of the trinity, also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the creator and sole deity of the universe. In the eyes of Muslims, the Trinity is just another way to say there are three gods.

Christianity emerged in the first half of the first millennium CE as a Jewish religious offshoot centered on the teachings of Jesus, who was also Jewish. The early Christians pursued radically different spiritual streams, rejecting many of the social, cultural, and religious institutions of Judaism. It didn’t take more than a century for the church to become established. In the third century CE, the central texts of the faith and its central creeds were formally codified. Despite being persecuted, Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire and all of its successor states. Since then, Christianity has grown to become the largest religion in the world.

The Bible Was Not Written by God

So many people take the Bible as fact and believe every word in it without question. One of the most controversial books is Genesis. No one is sure who the author is. It writes about things that happened before humans existed, yet it gives no credit to either God or humans for its authenticity. It is what destroys the faith in God for so many people. It is no wonder considering what is written there. We have evidence in fossil history that obliterates the timeline.

The Bible, approved by the Roman Government and the Roman Catholic Church, is the foundation of Christianity, not Jesus. Jesus was Jewish by heritage but did not agree with many practices of Judaism.

Many people believe that the Bible was written by God using human puppets or was inspired by God to write what God said. But it was not; the Bible was written by humans who studied religion, believed in God, prayed to God, and were often inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about their own understanding of religion. Some of these humans were also in the employment of the Roman government and had to consider their responsibility to the society of the time. They had to bridge the gap between what they believed and what was politically acceptable, or, as in some cases, lose their heads—literally. Followers of Jesus wrote about their experiences and recorded some of what Jesus said. The church met many years later with various religious scholars and decided which letters and texts were to be included in the Bible and which were not. The hand of God was not involved; it was nothing different than a project today organized by various groups to assemble a collection of works from various authors long after they were dead.

Jesus Was Not a Christian

One of the most important divisions that can be made in the field of Jesus research is between the historical Jesus and the Christ that people believe in. Scholars are able to make a distinction between what we can know about the life of Jesus as a historical figure and how the early Christian community came to view him through the lens of faith as a result of this. The earliest followers of Jesus drew on both their encounter with the man Jesus and their theological reflections on his life, death, and resurrection. Obviously, there is overlap between the two; the earliest followers of Jesus drew on both. Academics disagree on the degree to which the two categories should be separated by a clear dividing line. Those whose theological leanings are more to the right are more likely to see a greater degree of continuity between the faith of the early church and that of Jesus of Nazareth. On the other hand, those whose theological leanings are more to the left may argue that there is a greater degree of discontinuity between who Jesus was and how the early church came to see him. Nevertheless, it is necessary to differentiate between the two for a number of different reasons.

To begin, the person who is credited with beginning what was later known as Christianity was not a Christian but rather a Palestinian Jew. This person is known as the founder of Christianity. Jesus did not possess a Bible, and he did not contribute to the canon of scripture in any way. In the lessons that he taught. Jesus often spoke in parables, which are brief stories that contain deeper meanings. One of the most important lessons that Jesus imparted, and that later became central to the Christian faith, is to love God. To love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself.

In the first third of the first century CE, he was an itinerant prophet, teacher, and healer who lived in Galilee, which is now known as northern Israel. He was known for his ability to cure illness. Even though the church and the media have a tendency to minimize Jesus’ Jewishness, the fact that he was Jewish is still firmly rooted in history. This is the case even though the church and the media have a tendency to minimize Jesus’ Jewishness. Communities of Torah-observant Jewish Christians continued to be active up until the third or fourth century, long after the so-called “parting of the ways” had taken place gradually, over the course of many decades (some would say centuries), and over the course of many decades. The “parting of the ways” took place over a period of time despite the fact that Judaism and Christianity did in fact develop into two distinct religions in the long run.

According to the Gospels found in the New Testament, Jesus lived a fully Jewish life and engaged in debates with other Jews about how to best live out that life. Furthermore, the authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke have Jesus insist on the continuing significance and centrality of the Jewish law. Many of his teachings, including those found in the Sermon on the Mount as well as other places, reflect larger debates that were taking place within the Jewish community at the time about how the law should be understood and how it should be lived out. The gospel according to Luke tells us that when Herod Antipas sought to kill Jesus, a group of Pharisees were the ones who warned Jesus. While some of these debates were heated, particularly with the Pharisees, the gospel according to Luke tells us that the Pharisees were the ones who warned Jesus.

Within the context of the Christian tradition, there has been a pattern of erecting a false dichotomy between Jesus on the one hand and Jewish legalism on the other. This has been a common practice. This is a caricature of the subject. The Jewish sage Hillel, who was known in rabbinic tradition and was born approximately one hundred years before Jesus, is said to have been the originator of a version of the famous “Golden Rule” teaching that Jesus imparted. When Hillel was asked to recite the entire Torah while standing on one leg, legend has it that he responded in the following manner: “That which you find abhorrent, you should not inflict on your neighbor. This is the entirety of the Torah; the rest is an explanation; you should go and study it.”

It is also highly improbable that during his lifetime Jesus had any particular interest in people who were not Jewish. The Gospels only describe four different occasions on which Jesus could have interacted with people who were not Jewish. The healing of the centurion’s servant is one of these, along with his encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman and the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac. Jesus initially denies the request of the Syro-Phoenician woman who came to him seeking healing for her daughter because of the woman’s status as a non-Jewish person. In this particular scenario, the woman’s daughter was sick.

In spite of Mark’s suggestion that Jesus declared all foods clean, the questions and debates about food laws and circumcision that we find in Acts and Galatians, as well as the revelation to Peter in Acts 10 that foods that had previously been considered unclean for Jews were now acceptable, all suggest that Jesus did not make any clear pronouncements during his lifetime about the inclusion of Gentiles, about acceptable foods, or about how much of the law Gentiles were required to keep. This is the case despite Mark’s suggestion Both Paul and Luke make a clear distinction between the Jewish Christian community that is centered in Jerusalem and the emerging Gentile church in the Greco-Roman world, and both writers acknowledge that Paul takes his orders from the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, headed by James, the brother of Jesus, Peter, and John. Both Paul and Luke make a clear distinction between the Jewish Christian community that is centered in Jerusalem and the emerging Gentile church in the Greco-Roman world.

The fact that Jesus was put to death as a political criminal in the context of Roman oppression is the second reason why it is essential to differentiate between the historical figure of Jesus and later Christian views of him. Herod Antipas, the client ruler of Galilee, and Pontius Pilate, the Roman appointed prefect of Judea, exercised an iron fist over the populace and ensured that Rome maintained control over the region. Pilate is portrayed in a favorable light in the gospels; however, historical evidence suggests that he was a ruthless and unprincipled bureaucrat who continually provoked the Jewish population. Pilate was eventually removed from his post as a result of the outcry that was caused by his violations against the Jewish population. This outcry was caused by Pilate’s violations against the Jewish population. As a result of this, we ought to view the presentation that we find in the gospels with a healthy amount of skepticism because it portrays Pilate as being friendly toward Jesus and only reluctantly ordering his execution, while “the Jews” call for his execution to be carried out unanimously. Given that Jesus was a Jewish political prisoner, Pilate’s reputation, and Rome’s general impatience with religious and political dissidents, this position is extremely unlikely.

The media and popular culture have, for the most part, failed to make a distinction between the Jewish populace, who viewed their Roman overlords as oppressors, and some of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, who benefited from their close connections with the foreign ruling elite and collected taxes for Rome. Specifically, the media and popular culture have failed to distinguish between the Jewish populace, who viewed their Roman overlords as oppressors It is likely that a large portion of the populace would have supported itinerant prophets like Jesus, but many bureaucrats would have seen these same figures as a threat to the comfortable arrangement they had with Rome.

In point of fact, Judea and Galilee, which were both part of Roman Palestine, were bustling centers of messianic and prophetic activity during the first half of the first century. Much of this activity stemmed from the widespread belief that God would intervene in the course of history and save the Jewish people from their oppressors from afar. This belief was sometimes symbolized by acting out events that had been central to Jewish identity and the defeat of their political enemies in the past, such as the exodus from Egypt or the conquest of the land of Canaan. Examples of such events include the conquest of the land of Canaan and the Exodus from Egypt. Rome was aware of the significance of the movements, and as a result, they interpreted them as being emotionally charged and politically menacing. They put an end to them as quickly as possible, usually by putting their leaders to death and frequently by beheading them and putting their severed heads on display in a prominent location. This was the specific motivation behind John the Baptist’s execution. According to Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in the first century, Antipas became alarmed by the crowds John drew and the excitement he evoked. Antipas feared that this would lead to an uprising, so he decided that it would be prudent to have John executed rather than risk rebellion. Those in positions of authority would have had no trouble ascertaining Jesus’ close relationship with John.

One might reasonably wonder why any of this is significant. First and foremost, it is important because as Christians, we owe it to ourselves to have a clear understanding of who it is that we are following. In some circles, being a Christian has come to mean placing too much emphasis on reciting specific beliefs that affirm the divine status of Jesus and not enough emphasis on following the path that the man Jesus took during his life as he attempted to fully live out Jewish teachings. This dichotomy has led to a misunderstanding of what it truly means to be a Christian. Keeping the Jewishness of Jesus front and center serves two purposes: first, it serves as a reminder of the intricate way in which Judaism and Christianity have been bound together from the very beginning; second, it assists us in avoiding racism and the belief that Christianity is more superior to Judaism and has now supplanted it; and third, it helps us to avoid the belief that Christianity has superseded Judaism. It is important for us to keep in mind that Judaism is the religion from which Christianity emerged, not the other way around; Christianity is deeply dependent on Judaism.

The failure to comprehend the fact that Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who was born and raised under the rule of the Roman imperial government and died as a political dissident has resulted in disastrous results throughout the course of history. It is possible that the favorable portrayal of Pilate in the Gospels, particularly in the Gospel of John, has played a role in the widespread tendency to place blame for Jesus’ death on the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism has been allowed to fester and has permeated both the church and society for centuries as a result of this and other misinformed interpretations of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. The combination of Christian superiority and anti-Semitism led to the marginalization of Jews under Christian rulers as early as the 4th century and has continued to crop up throughout the history of the church. This marginalization of Jews occurred under Christian rulers in many different parts of the world.

One need only look to the recent resurgence of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic ideology throughout the world, particularly in Europe, to dispel any notion that these attitudes are relics of a bygone era. This should serve as a warning to those who hold such beliefs. The Jewish people are consistently portrayed as the villains in contemporary depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion on film, while Pilate is shown to be the victim. The movie “The Passion of the Christ” is just one example from more recent times. It is not true that Jesus died because he was a Christian or because he insisted on grace within a religious tradition that was based on works-based righteousness. He was put to death because his actions and teachings generated excitement and drew large crowds, and those in power—both the client rulers who represented Rome and the Jewish elites who stood to benefit—saw this as a threat. This led to his death. The events that take place after the death of Jesus mark the beginning of a new chapter in the story.

MORE INFORMATION:

Jesus and the Gentiles by John Newman | Sep 21, 2020

http://newhopelafayette.org/jesusandthegentiles/

Foundations of Christianity

More than 2.8 billion people call themselves Christians, making it the largest religious group in the world. Along with Judaism and Islam, it is considered to be an Abrahamic or monotheistic faith in the Western canon. The word “Christian” comes from the Greek word “christos,” which means “messiah” in Hebrew (“anointed one”). Christianoi (or “followers of the Christ,”) was the name given to those who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised messiah and thus followed his teachings in first-century Israel.

Christianity was formed by fusing the teachings of ancient Judaism with those of the Roman Empire. In the Christian Bible, both the Jewish Scriptures (now called the Old Testament) and the New Testament are included (the gospels, the letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation). This article provides a historical context for the development of the religion that emerged from that movement.

Background in Ancient Judaism

Much of ancient Judaism was similar to the religions and philosophies of other ancient civilizations. They thought that the heavenly spheres housed varying degrees of divine powers that had an impact on their daily lives. The ancient Israelites were set apart from other peoples by the command of their God of Israel to offer sacrifices (offerings) to him alone. Markers of Jewish ethnicity included circumcision, dietary restrictions, and Sabbath observance (suspension of all work every seventh day). The ancient Jewish people believed that their leader, Moses, received a law code from God that would govern them as a nation. This law code became known as the Law of Moses. They founded a dynasty in Canaan led by David and Solomon, who also constructed the Temple in Jerusalem (1000-920 BCE).

Over the centuries, the Jewish people have endured a number of national catastrophes. In 722 BCE, the Assyrian Empire conquered and annihilated the Northern Kingdom of Israel; in 587 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. Israel’s oracles (prophets) explained the catastrophes away by saying God was punishing the Jews for their acceptance of idolatry. However, they did provide a message of optimism, proclaiming that God would intervene once more in the final days of human history. Some non-Jews will convert to Judaism at that time when God sends a messiah from the house of David. Israel’s former glory would be reestablished after a final conflict with the nations. Israel would be an example of a righteous nation to the rest of the world, putting their God on a pedestal above all others.

Greek & Roman Occupations

The Jews were subject to the Seleucid Empire in the first century BCE. Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria from 175 to 164 BCE, banned Jewish rituals and made his subjects sacrifice to Greek deities. In the Maccabean Revolt, Jews led by the Hasmonean family rebelled and ultimately expelled their oppressors. Two new ideas were brought into Judaism as a result of their trials, as recorded in 2 Maccabees.

the concept of a martyr (“witness”) as someone who died for their beliefs

all martyrs would be rewarded with instantly being resurrected to heaven

In 63 BCE, Rome won the conquest of Judea. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots were just some of the Jewish sects who reacted differently to the occupation. While they all adhered to the same fundamental customs, their reactions to the new oppressor and the prevailing Roman culture varied.

Many would-be messiahs in the first century CE used festival crowds as a platform to incite unrest. The standard Roman response was to eliminate the leader and all of his or her followers. Supporting an alternative kingdom to Rome was considered treason and was punishable by death by crucifixion.

Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus, an itinerant preacher from Nazareth, attracted the attention of a group of Jews in the Galilee area who were interested in hearing his teachings. He predicted, like the ancient Israelite prophets, that the kingdom would soon be established and that God would step in to establish justice for all. To represent the twelve tribes of Israel, he chose twelve followers (or students). The gospels (Jesus biographies written between 70 and 100 CE) attest to Jesus’ widespread renown as a result of his miraculous works. His devotees saw in him the long-awaited Messiah.

According to the gospels, Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin (the ruling council in Jerusalem) for allegedly preaching against the Temple practices during a Passover visit there (around 30-33 CE). He was found guilty and delivered to Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator, who had him crucified because of his claims to be the King of the Jews. Christian liturgy (church rituals) eventually incorporated annual reenactments of Jesus of Nazareth’s trial and crucifixion during Easter Week.

This Jewish group held a different view of Jesus than the majority, proclaiming that even though he was crucified on Friday, he rose from the dead the following Sunday. A bodily ascent to heaven is described by Luke. The belief that those who followed Jesus would also be raised from the dead set this Jewish sect apart from others.

The gospel authors also had to deal with the fact that the kingdom had not yet been established during Jesus’ time on earth. The concept of Jesus’ future return to Earth, known as the parousia (from the Greek for “second appearance”), was conceived by one of Jesus’ early followers. Even among today’s Christians, hope for Christ’s second coming remains strong.

The Gentile Missions

On the Jewish festival of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, giving them authority to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in other cities, as recorded in Acts 2. Baptism, a sacrament of water signifying one’s repentance and turning to God, was the rite of passage. The work here was kicked off by John the Baptist, a contemporary of Jesus.

Unexpectedly, more non-Jews than Jews expressed interest in joining the early Christian movement when its message was spread to other cities. In Jerusalem around 49 CE, a council deliberated whether or not these Gentiles needed to become Jews first. The Apostolic Council ruled that non-Jews were not required to adopt Jewish cultural practices such as circumcision, the Sabbath, or kosher food preparation, but they were required to stop eating meat from the wild, food sacrificed to idols, and to abide by Jewish incest codes.

Paul the Apostle

Paul, a Pharisee, was at first skeptical of the new movement. Then, Jesus (then called “Christ”) appeared to him in a vision and appointed him as an apostle (or “herald”) to the Gentiles. Paul went around to the eastern cities of the Roman Empire, preaching the gospel according to the Christian traditions he had been taught, but also calling for a total rejection of idolatry. For millennia, it was widely believed that religious beliefs were innate, transmitted from generation to generation via the gods themselves via the bloodline. Paul challenged this conventional wisdom by asserting that a person need only have faith in (pistis, “loyalty”) Christ’s teachings in order to be saved (soter, “to be saved”). Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was frequently arrested and imprisoned for preaching this message, according to his letters.

Paul argued that while Adam’s sin ushered in the curse of death, Christ’s death ushered in eternal life for all who believe in him. Christ’s sacrifice “covers over,” “restores the violation of sin.” This refers to his work as an atonement for Adam’s sin. Paul used legal terminology to explain that those who believed in him had been exonerated (or “righteoused”) from having to face the penalty for sin, which is death. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), a later Church Father, argued that the first human was stained by the original sin of Adam and Eve during their sexual encounter, and that this stain was transmitted to all subsequent humans. As a result, Christians began to view sexual activity as sinful and came to the conclusion that baptism was necessary for salvation.

Following Christ’s return, Paul promised, believers would receive spiritual bodies and rule alongside Christ in God’s millennial kingdom on earth. The belief that believers would be able to share in heaven even though they still had to die physically was modified as the years passed and Christ failed to return.

Christ as God

Paul’s (Philippians 2) teaching that Christ was present at creation and had descended from heaven as a manifestation of God himself in a human body was a radical departure from Judaism. Christ was therefore deserving of worship and the title “Lord” and was on par with God. Many Jews found this teaching offensive and blasphemous, while many Gentiles found it to be consistent with their own myths of gods coming to earth in human form.

Titus, a Roman general and future Roman emperor, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE as a result of the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE. God punished the Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah by using Rome to destroy their religious system, and the Christians used this as a rallying cry against them.

The novel ideas of Early Christianity likely played a significant role in propelling the movement’s rapid expansion across the Empire. People of all social strata and from all provinces were welcomed into a community based on common religious beliefs. Christian communities had spread from Britain and mainland Europe to Africa and parts of Asia by the second century CE.

The Persecution of Christians (90-312 CE)

Collegia were associations of Roman citizens who met regularly under the protection of a deity and conducted business with one another. However, in order to convene, the group needed a license for assembly from the Roman Senate. Christians did not have the same right to assemble as Jews did because Christians were not Jews, but Jews did have the right because Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) granted them the right to assemble and exempted them from the state cults of Rome (not circumcised).

Augustus (r. 27 BCE to 14 CE) established the imperial cult, and beginning with Julius Caesar, it was believed that deceased emperors were among the gods. Used as propaganda across the Roman Empire, it eventually led to the promotion of actual emperors to the position of being answerable to divine will. Christians refused to take part, so Rome punished their rapid expansion by labeling their religion “atheism,” or “disrespect for the gods.” It was the same as committing treason against the Roman Empire if you upset the gods. That’s why you hear phrases like “Christians to the lions.” referring to the execution of Christians in the arenas. Until 313 CE, Christian leaders petitioned the emperors repeatedly to be exempt from state cults like the Jews were.

Like the Maccabees, Christians believe that the souls of those who die for their faith are immediately transported to heaven. All sins were forgiven upon their martyrdom, and their experiences were chronicled in the later genre of legend literature known as martyrology. Persecution, however, was infrequent and confined to critical situations. Disasters such as earthquakes, plagues, inflation, famine, drought, and border invasions were often blamed on an angry god, and Christians were often made to shoulder the blame. Most severe persecutions occurred during the reigns of Decius (251 CE) and Diocletian (302 CE).

The Creation of the Church & Institutional Hierarchy

The second coming of Christ had not taken place by the middle of the second century. Christians still hoped Christ would return someday, but they saw that day as far off in the future. In the meantime, Christian gatherings formalized through the election of leaders and grew organized around the concept that Christians should act as though the kingdom had already arrived, with the expectation that it would be discovered in the Church. (The word “assembly,” originates from the Greek word for “church” ecclesia.) There were hardly any Jewish Christians still living among Christians. The most influential Christians were once members of the dominant culture who converted to Christianity.

After the fact, these men were given the title “Church Fathers,” and their writings and opinions were incorporated into what is now known as “Christian dogma.”

Clergy elections – Bishops (overseers in a diocese) were elected by the communities, a form of local government borrowed from the provincial Roman government. Bishops elected deacons to assist them in their charitable work. Over time, deacons were elevated to the position of priest, completing the hierarchy of the Christian clergy.

The Holy Spirit – Christ’s ability to grant forgiveness on earth was a gift from the Holy Spirit. It was widely believed that Peter, one of his disciples, had received it first. The Christian clergy were given the exclusive authority to forgive sins on earth, and they were instrumental in passing the spirit on to the elders they had appointed.

Christian philosophy – Christians who study philosophy find widespread agreement in their conviction that the universe’s various powers ultimately originate from a supreme being. Next, God emitted a concept called logos (also transliterated as “word”) to order the universe’s material components. Christian authors asserted that the God of Israel, from whom Christ emerged as the logos, was the ultimate deity.

Celibacy – Religious leaders are expected to abstain from sexual relations with others. Using metaphors from the world of athletics, the Christian ideal of asceticism (not indulging the body) gained popularity. Celibacy (no marriage) and chastity (no intercourse) were required of Christian clergy, elevating them above the community as living martyrs willing to give up a normal life for the Church.

Heresy – Another radical departure occurred with the simultaneous development of the ideas of orthodoxy (or “correct belief”) and heresy (from the Greek haeresis, a school of philosophy). Gnostic Christian communities began to form around the middle of the second century CE. Gnostics asserted to have hidden insights into the nature of God, the cosmos, and Christ. Mainstream Christian teaching about salvation through the crucifixion and bodily resurrection was challenged by their ideas. An enormous body of literature was produced as a response to the Gnostics, outlining the correct beliefs (orthodoxy) and contrasting them with the heretical teachings of the Gnostics (heresy). The Christian creeds were subsequently based on these teachings. There were originally seven gospels included in the New Testament, but after the Gnostic gospels were declared heretical, only Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John were included in the final New Testament canon.

Separation From Judaism – Christian leaders were eager to persuade Rome that Christians were patriotic citizens who obeyed the Roman law after the Bar-Kokhba Revolt failed in 135 CE, causing a rift between Christians and Jews. To end persecution, church leaders pleaded with emperors to acknowledge Christianity’s long history, distinguishing it from Judaism and making it the true people of God’s original covenant. Applying the philosophical literary device of allegory to the Hebrew Scriptures, Christians were able to demonstrate the books’ antiquity. Christ was the one to whom the Jewish testament and the Israelite prophets pointed. In the Bible, God always appeared in the form of a future Christ.

Christianity had evolved into its own distinct religious system, with elements of both ethnic Judaism and the dominant culture.

The Christianization of the Roman Empire

In the year 312 CE, everything suddenly shifted for Christians everywhere. Constantine I (reign: 306-337 CE) had a falling out with Maxentius, ruler of the Western Roman Empire, over who would be the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. A vision of the cross or the first two letters of Christ’s name, chi/rho, with the words en toutoi nika (“in this sign conquer”) written beneath appeared to Constantine the night before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome. As he celebrated his victory over Maxentius, Constantine gave thanks to God, the Christian god.

Once and for all, Christians were allowed to hold public gatherings after the Edict of Milan (313 CE). Converting Constantine did not instantly convert the Empire to Christianity, but it did give Christians the protection of the law. By granting tax exemptions to the clergy, appointing Christians to positions of authority, and providing money for church construction, Constantine showed his favor for the Christian community.

In the midst of Diocletian’s persecution, some Christian bishops abandoned their faith and began offering sacrifices to pagan deities. The churches were divided over whether or not to forgive the lapsed bishops, so they turned to Constantine for help. He became the official head of the Church as the supreme patron of Christianity and instituted a policy of “forgive and forget” to promote unity within the Empire. Anyone who did not share his Christian beliefs was labeled a heretic and considered guilty of treason, a tactic he borrowed from Rome’s persecuting Christians in the early church.

The Council of Nicaea

The Christians had an issue with their claim that they inherited Jewish monotheism when they started worshipping Jesus as a god. Christians have always baptized “in the name of the Father and the son and the holy spirit” treating Jesus as divine, and worshiping him as such (Didache 7:5). Arius, an Alexandrian presbyter in the early fourth century, argued that if God created everything in the universe, then he must have created Christ at some point in time. Christ was thus reduced to the status of an inferior, a creature of God. This sparked unrest in several cities, including Alexandria. In 325 CE, Constantine convened a large conference in the city of Nicaea, inviting 217 bishops to discuss and hopefully resolve this issue.

A consensus was reached at the end of the conference, after days of discussion, that God and Christ were one in the same (had the same ethereal substance), and had existed eternally. God became physically present in Jesus Christ when he emanated the logos (as Christ). In recognizing Christ as God, Christians have maintained the traditional Jewish concept of monotheism, which is now simply defined as faith in a single God. The Christian Emperor would rule in Christ’s stead on Earth until the Second Coming. Portraits of Constantine and his successors often feature a halo because they are seen as a substitute for Christ.

In the presence of all the bishops, Constantine commissioned them to draft the Nicene Creed, another groundbreaking document in the history of Christianity. (The word “creed” comes from the Latin root “Credo,” which means “I believe.” There was no authoritative figure in ancient times to demand everyone adhere to a single set of beliefs, so the concept of a creed did not arise. As the ruler of the empire and the leader of the Christian church, Constantine established the canonical beliefs that all believers were required to hold.

Probably deciding the official recognition of what became the four canonical gospels, Constantine ordered the distribution of fifty copies of the gospels. For Easter, some Christians followed the Jewish lunar calendar while others used a variety of dates. Constantine established the official date as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, which was the practice in Rome. Later, he settled on December 25 as the date of Christ’s birth (Christmas), adopting many aspects of the December 25th Roman festival of Saturnalia.

The Nicene Creed did not receive widespread approval from bishops. Many more Councils would meet to continue the tradition of debating the finer points throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. A great defender of orthodoxy, Theodosius I (reigned 347-395 CE) is remembered for his time in power. In 381, he issued an edict that effectively put an end to indigenous religious practices throughout antiquity. In 396 CE, Theodosius outlawed the Olympic Games, which were originally held to honor the gods. A government order forced the closure or conversion of all indigenous religious buildings. At this time, Christians began using the derogatory term “pagianoi” (meaning “pagans,” or “ignorant ones”) to describe those who had not yet converted.

Monasticism & the Cult of the Saints

From its beginnings in Egypt around the third century CE, monasticism spread throughout the Christian world, becoming especially important in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic communities. It was Anthony of Egypt (251-356 CE) who first abandoned worldly norms in favor of a life of seclusion and devotedness to God. A man of prayer, he withdrew to a desert cave and vowed to spend the rest of his days there. Quickly, other people began to join him in his hermit lifestyle in the desert. The desert dwellers who came to be known as “Desert Fathers and Mothers” inspired the development of monastic orders in the Middle Ages.

Both the concept of patronage and the veneration of heroes were taken from ancient Greek culture and incorporated into Christian belief. Cities that claimed to be home to their heroes’ tombs began cultivating hero cults. People traveled great distances to pray to these heroes, who were now considered deities, for help. Beginning in the fourth century C.E., Christians began making pilgrimages to the tombs of early martyrs to pray to the departed saint and sing hymns to them. Those who had died as martyrs or as monks were canonized as saints, and their graves became the focal points of pilgrimages to the cities and towns where they had been buried.

Christians began relocating the bones of martyrs from the ground and placing them in the walls of public buildings that had been converted into churches in order to remove the stench of idolatry from the sites. The presence of these artifacts was thought to bestow the building with a sanctifying aura. Relics (bones and items touched by earlier martyrs) trading became a widespread phenomenon across the empire and has continued to hold significant religious significance within the Catholic Church to this day.

The Rise of the Institution of the Papacy

The Western Roman Empire began to collapse after Alaric I, king of the Visigoths, sacked the city of Rome in 410 CE. Attila the Hun invaded Italy in 450 CE, sacked several cities, and marched on Rome. Leo I, Bishop of Rome (400-461 CE), also known as Leo the Great, is credited with convincing Attila to spare Rome. With his appointment as bishop of Rome came secular duties, giving rise to the Papacy as an official position. Since Leo was given the title “Patriarch of the West,” he has also been called “Pope” for the first time. The Greek word for father, papa, is the source of our word popa. St. Peter’s primacy was used retroactively to establish the pope’s authority, making him the first pope of Rome.

Islam 607 CE

A strict monotheist faith, Muhammad established Islam in present-day Saudi Arabia in the year 607. His collected teachings, the Quran, are said to share ancestry with both Jewish and Christian tenets. Despite opposition from local polytheists, Muhammad was able to spread his message of Islam and establish a religious community of early Muslims in the city of Mecca. Once the group settled in Medina after being uprooted in 622, they codified their beliefs and spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. By the time of Muhammad’s death in 632, nearly the entire Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, and the religion has since expanded to become the second largest in the world, with a large following in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

I often express my beliefs and what I am inspired to write. Due to the existence of Islamic extremism expressed by some of its followers, I will withhold those beliefs here for the most part. I am not like the ancient prophets who spoke their minds against the Roman government to spread the word. I prefer to keep my head on my shoulders, where God put it. But if you truly believe in one God and that God gave us the Holy Spirit for knowledge and understanding, there is no need for me to write anything. The problem exists when humans take the words of other humans as the word of God.

I will say that I believe in one God not a trinity of God. I believe that Muhammad was a messenger sent to spread the word of God to a peoples who were previously worshiping false gods. I believe that Islam should be more accepting and less combative towards Christianity and other religions based on monotheism.

The Abrahamic and monotheistic religion known as Islam is based on the teachings of a man named Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who lived between the years 570 and 632 CE. After the name of this prophet, Muslims traditionally add “peace be upon him,” which is written as PBUH. It is a continuation of the teachings of Abraham, who is mentioned in both Jewish and Christian scriptures, is considered a prophet in Islam, and after whose name Muslims say, “peace be upon him.” Despite the fact that it is distinct from Christianity and Judaism in some ways, it is considered to be a continuation of Abraham’s teachings alongside Christianity and Judaism. The followers of Islam are known as Muslims, and there are approximately two billion of them in the world today, making them the second most numerous religious group after Christians.

The followers of Muhammad managed to conquer the two superpowers of their time, the Sassanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire, despite having humble beginnings in the Arabian Peninsula where they established their roots. At the height of its power in the year 750 CE, the Islamic Empire encompassed a territory that extended from what is now a portion of Pakistan in the east all the way to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula in the west. Although it was initially propagated through military conquest, Islam would later flourish through commercial exchange, allowing it to spread beyond its original borders and into every corner of the globe. It is currently the religion that is expanding at a faster rate than any other in the modern world.

The Prophet’s Mission

Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who would later become known as the Prophet, was born in the year 570 CE. In spite of their diminishing wealth, the Qurayshite clan of Banu Hashim is still a highly respected faction, and he was a member of that clan. After losing his parents at a young age, he was taken in and raised by his uncle Abu Talib, who is rumored to have loved him even more than he loved any of his other children. In those days, honesty was a very uncommon quality in Arabia, so when a wealthy widow named Khadija noticed Muhammad for his honesty, she sent him a marriage proposal, which he accepted despite the fact that she was 15 years older than him. Muhammad went on to become a trader and became known for his honesty, which at the time was a very uncommon quality in Arabia (he was 25 years of age at the time). The support that Muhammad received from Khadija was essential to the Prophet’s ability to carry out his mission.

When he was in his late thirties, he went to a cave in the Jabal al-Nour (also known as the “Mountain of Light”) mountain range near Mecca called Hira. There, he began his private worship of God. It is said that the Angel Gabriel came to him one day in the year 610 CE with the first revelation from God, which was given in the name of Allah, which means “the God.” It is said that Muhammad’s initial reaction to the revelation was negative; he was confused and scared, and he ran back home, trembling with fear. However, Muhammad eventually came to the realization that he was a prophet of God after experiencing further revelations.

Muhammad first began sharing the message that God is one with his immediate family and close friends, and then he took his message to the general public. Muhammad’s preaching of a single god brought him into conflict with the Meccans, whose economy depended on polytheism (merchants sold statues, figurines, and charms of the various gods), and the social stratification it supported. Arabia was polytheistic at the time, and so Muhammad’s preaching of a single god brought him into conflict with the Meccans. Although the Meccans took significant steps to prevent him from preaching this new faith, he persisted in doing so because he believed that he owed it to God to do so. In the year 619 CE, he lost both his uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadija (a date that is known to Muslims as The Year of Sorrow). He now felt alone in the world and was deeply grieving, a situation that was made worse by the persecution he experienced in Mecca. [Citation needed]

However, assistance arrived in the year 621 CE, when some residents of Yathrib, which would later be known as Medina, who had become Muslims extended an invitation to the Prophet and his companions to visit their city. In the year 622 CE, in order to protect himself from assassination attempts, Muhammad left Mecca for Yathrib. This journey, known as the hegira, is considered to be the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The people of the city admired his teachings so much that they desired for the Prophet to rule over them and take care of the city’s business. Muhammad urged those who followed him in Mecca to leave the city and settle in Yathrib, and they did so in groups. After the majority of his traveling companions had parted ways with him, he moved on with a close friend of his named Abu Bakr, who would later become his father-in-law (l. 573-634 CE).

The Muslims, armed with their newly discovered support system, had the intention of taking revenge on those who had wronged them. The Muslims initiated a practice known as “Razzias,” in which they would routinely attack trade caravans traveling through Mecca. The Meccan economy suffered as a result of these raids, and as a result, the Meccans became enraged and resolved to eradicate the Muslims once and for all. At the Battle of Badr (624 CE), the Muslims were attacked by the Meccans, but they were able to defeat an army of approximately 1,000 Meccans with only 313 troops. Some people attribute this victory to divine intervention, while others credit it to Muhammad’s military genius.

After the victory at Badr, the Muslims evolved into more than just a group of people who followed a new religion; they became a formidable military power that needed to be taken into account. In the subsequent conflicts between Muslims and other Arabian tribes, which took place on multiple occasions, the Muslims were victorious on almost every occasion. In the year 630 CE, the Muslim army was allowed to enter Mecca for the first time after having been forced to flee the city in a state of panic ten years earlier. As a surprise to everyone, once the Muslims had taken control of Mecca, Muhammad declared that anyone who renounced their previous beliefs and embraced Islam would be granted amnesty.

By the time he passed away in the year 632 CE, Muhammad had risen to become the most influential religious and political leader across the entirety of Arabia. The majority of the tribes had already accepted Islam as their religion of choice and pledged their allegiance to him. He passed away in the comfort of his own home in Medina, and he was laid to rest there as well. The location is now occupied by a tomb known as “Roza – e – Rasool” (Tomb of the Prophet), which is located in Medina next to the well-known “Masjid al-Nabwi” (Mosque of the Prophet) and is visited by millions of Muslims each year. Scholar J. J. Saunders makes the following observations about the Prophet of Islam in his book, A History of Medieval Islam:

His piety was sincere and unaffected, and his honest belief in the reality of his call can be denied only by those who are prepared to assert that a conscious imposter endured for ten or twelve years ridicule, abuse and privation, gained the confidence and affection of upright and intelligent men, and has since been revered by millions as the principle vehicle of God’s revelation to man.

The revelations that are said to have been given to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel were memorized by his followers, and within a few years after his death, they were written down as the Quran, which translates to “the teaching” or “the recitation.” The Quran is considered to be the most important religious text in Islam.

Quran, Sunna, & Hadith

Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran, which were given to Muhammad by an angel and recorded in the book of the Quran, are the words of God and the final revelation of the divine truth to humanity. Following Muhammad’s passing, his father-in-law Abu Bakr (who ruled from 632 to 634 CE as the first caliph – the successor of the Prophet’s mission and empire) compiled these revelations into the form of a book in order to ensure that they would be passed down to subsequent generations. During the lifetime of the Prophet, these revelations were written down separately on parchment or other materials. Subsequently, these individual revelations were assembled into the Quran by being arranged in the order that was commanded by the Prophet. The verses were meant to be memorized and recited by Muslims, which is why one of the translations of the Quran is “the recitation.” Later on, it was discovered that different Muslims were reciting the verses in different languages. As a result, a project to standardize the recitation of the verses was initiated in order to protect the words of the Prophet’s message.

It was ensured that the text was not altered in any way, using the utmost caution. This task was reluctantly begun by the immediate successor of Muhammad’s empire, Caliph Abu Bakr (who was afraid to do something the Prophet had not done), and it was completed during the reign of the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan. Uthman ibn Affan was the third caliph of the Islamic caliphate (r. 644- 656 CE). According to Muslims, the only way to correctly comprehend the Quran is to read it or listen to it being recited in its original language. Even though some branches of Islam recognize the validity of accurate translations, followers are still strongly encouraged to become familiar with the Quran in its original form.

The life of the Prophet, including his ways (known as Sunna) and his sayings (known as Hadith), is considered by Muslims to be the second most important source of guidance after the Quran. Both of these serve as a supplement to the text of the Quran. As was mentioned earlier, the Quran is considered to be the Word of God. However, Muslims also find reassurance and guidance in learning how Muhammad would have behaved in certain situations, and for this purpose, the Sunna and Hadith are important sources of information.

For instance, the phrase “establish prayer and pay the alms” appears numerous times in the Quran, but one might wonder how they should go about doing so. The answer to the question of how can be found in the Sunna and the Hadith, both of which make it abundantly clear that one should simply do it the way in which the Prophet did it and act in the manner in which the Prophet instructed. In point of fact, the phrase “Obey Allah (God), and obey his Prophet” appears numerous times throughout the Quran (which emphasizes the importance of Sunna and Hadith). Hadith, much like the verses of the Quran, have been compiled; however, they have been kept distinct from the Quran. This is done, once again, to prevent any kind of tampering with the divine revelations. In her book Islam: A Brief History, the scholar Tamara Sonn discusses the significance of the following aspects of the religion:

As the word of God, it (Quran) is co-eternal with God… The overall audience for the scripture is humanity as a whole… Muslims believe that the Quran reiterates, confirms, and completes these earlier (Torah, Psalms and Gospel) scriptures, calling upon all people to remember and respect the truths carried in them… Together, the Quran and the example (called the Sunna) set by Prophet Muhammad comprise the guidance Muslims need in their collective responsibility to establish justice.

Followers of Islam receive the Word of God in the form of the Quran, while the Sunna and Hadith provide guidance on how to put the teachings of the Quran into practice in everyday life. The Quran is the source of the Word of God.

Pillars of Islam

All individuals who choose Islam as their spiritual path are required to acknowledge and abide by a set of formal responsibilities known in Islam as the acts of worship. These responsibilities are also known as the “pillars” on which Islam’s foundation rests. The following are the five pillars of Islam:

The first pillar – Shahada – is essential for anyone who wishes to become a Muslim; it is the acknowledgment of the oneness of Allah (God) in all of his attributes, and it is most commonly expressed in the phrase: “There is no one worthy of worship except Allah (God), and Muhammad is Allah’s Prophet.”

In Islam, the concept of God dictates that he is beyond all imaginations and the most supreme; his is whatever there is in the universe, and everything submits to his will; therefore, in order to live in peace, human beings must also submit to his will. The pronoun “he” is merely a convenience for our use, and in no way does it dictate any of his attributes. In point of fact, the word “Islam” comes from the Arabic word for “submission,” which refers to submitting oneself to the will of God.

The second pillar is the obligatory daily prayer known as Salah, which must be performed five times each day. While men are required to recite these prayers aloud in public gatherings known as Masjid, or mosques, women are free to pray wherever they feel most comfortable, including at home. The fundamental layout of mosques varies from region to region, and in the vast majority of instances, numerous characteristics of the regional architecture have been incorporated into the buildings (i.e. the Blue Mosque of Istanbul draws on many architectural features of the famous cathedral Hagia Sophia). In a mosque, different sections are designated for male worshippers, female worshippers, and the imam, who is in charge of leading the service.

The third pillar – Zakat – is the act of charity that every eligible Muslim, defined as a person who possesses a certain amount of wealth that is not being used by them at the moment, is required to perform once a year and donate to other Muslims who are struggling financially (although other acts of charity are also applicable for non-Muslims, the zakat is reserved for Muslims). Non-Muslims were required to participate for a long time by paying a tax known as jizya; however, this policy has been eliminated in many Muslim countries since the early 20th century CE. Non-Muslims are now known as dhimmi, which literally translates to “protected people.”

The fourth pillar – Sawm – is abstaining from food and drink during the holy month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar). A believer is required to devote their time and attention to God during the period of fasting. This includes abstaining from eating, drinking, and any other pleasures of this world. During the month of Ramadan, followers of Islam are encouraged to reflect on their relationship with God as well as their priorities and values in life. It is believed that fasting from food and other distractions helps one to concentrate entirely on religious matters.

The fifth pillar – Hajj – is the journey that Muslims make each year to the Ka’aba in Mecca, which serves as their Qiblah (the direction in which they face when they pray; a symbol of unity). A person is only required to perform the Hajj once in their lifetime, and only if they have the financial means to do so and the physical stamina to make the journey. Even if one is unable to make the journey, they are required to at least convey a genuine desire to do so and, if at all possible, contribute to the journey of another pilgrim.

Spread of Islam

In the beginning, Mecca was the city that did not accept Muhammad and his message. However, over time, Mecca transformed into the spiritual center of Islam (since it is the location of the Ka’aba), while Medina, which was the city that welcomed the Prophet when no one else did, grew to become the capital of the Islamic empire. The Sassanid Persian Empire, which existed from 224 to 651 CE, and the Byzantine Empire both had territories in Arabia at the same time (330-1453 CE). The people of Arabia suffered from the disruption of the region around them over time as a result of these two superpowers being almost constantly at war with one another. Once the people of Arabia were united under Islam, they launched a full-scale invasion into both of these empires in order to facilitate the rapid expansion of Islam. The author of Empire of the Islamic World, Robin Doak, a scholar, explains in the following:

The Byzantines had competition for control of the Middle East. The Sassanian, or Persian, Empire dominated areas to the southeast of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul) … These two empires were constantly at war with one another… To pay for these wars, both empires placed heavy taxes on the citizens under their control. These taxes, along with other restrictions, caused unrest in Sassanian and Byzantine lands, especially among the Arab tribes living on the fringes of the two empires.

At one point in their history, the Arabs were characterized by their tribal nature and lacked unity. Because it was necessary for these tribes to be united in the name of stability, Islam eventually became the means by which they were bound together. When the Prophet Muhammad passed away in the year 632 CE, the leadership of the Muslim community, known as the Ummah, was taken over by Abu Bakr, who took on the title of caliph (successor of the Prophet). During his brief reign of two years (632-634 CE), he united all of the Arabian Peninsula under the banner of Islam (despite the fact that the majority of the tribes had abandoned the community). He then dispatched armies to expand his dominion over other Arabian tribes who lived under the rule of the Byzantine and Sassanian empires. By the time of the third caliph, Uthman, all of Egypt, Syria, and the Levant as well as what had been the majority of the Sassanian Persian Empire now rested in the hands of Muslims, and all attempts to regain lost territory were beaten back with the assistance of the locals who had mostly accepted Muslim rule. This was made possible by the fact that the majority of the people in these areas had accepted Muslim rule.

Ali ibn Abi Talib is considered by Sunni Muslims to be the fourth and final of the early “rightly guided caliphs.” This designation is given to the first four leaders of the Islamic caliphate (r. 656-661 CE). During most of Ali’s presidency, the country was embroiled in constant civil conflict, which brought an end to expansion. Following Ali’s passing in the year 661 CE, his successor was Mu’awiya I, who ruled from 661-680 CE and established the Umayyad Dynasty. Mu’awiya I declared his son, Yazid I (r. 680-683 CE), to be his successor; however, this was contested by Ali’s son, Hussayn ibn Ali, who was Muhammad’s grandson. Yazid I ruled from 680-683 CE (l. 626-680 CE). Other uprisings were also crushed one by one and later caliphs of the Umayyad Dynasty then continued military expansion after Hussayn’s weak force was defeated at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE by Yazid’s troops, where he was also killed. Other uprisings were also crushed one by one.

By the end of the Umayyad Dynasty (750 CE), the empire had expanded to include Transoxiana, portions of what is now Pakistan, the entirety of North Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, which was also known as Al Andalus – the land of the Vandals. Some insignificant territorial gains were made during the rule of the Abbasids (750-1258 CE), but the pattern of earlier swift conquests through military raids came to an end during this time period. The Ottoman Sultanate, which ruled from 1299 to 1922 CE and later took on the role of Caliphate of the Islamic World, is credited with reviving this trend.

The Ottomans closed the trade routes known as the Silk Road (which they had come to control) after they had conquered Anatolia and the heart of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, in 1453 CE. This forced European nations to seek other sources for the goods they had grown accustomed to and launched the so-called Age of Discovery, in which European nations sent ships around the globe, “discovering” the so-called New World. Zheng-He, a Chinese Muslim explorer who lived from 1371 to 1435 CE, is credited with being the first person to arrive in the New World in 1421 CE. However, other researchers dispute this claim (although this claim has been repeatedly challenged). The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, brought people from vastly different cultural backgrounds into closer proximity with one another than ever before. This globalization had both positive and negative effects on the human population.

The expansion of the Islamic Empire was made possible by the military victories of the Ottomans; however, at this point in time, the faith itself was spread not nearly as much by conquest as it was by trade. This is something that Ruthven and Nanji point out in The Historical Atlas of Islam:

Islam expanded by conquest and conversion. Although it was sometimes said that the faith of Islam was spread by the sword, the two are not the same. The Koran (archaic spelling for the Quran) states unequivocally, [in Sura 2:256], “There is no compulsion in religion”.

There is no denying that the initial spread of Islam was accomplished through the use of military conquest, despite the fact that a number of verses in the Quran advocate against the use of coercion in religious conversion. The majority of the people living in newly conquered lands continued to practice the religions of their ancestors; however, some of them converted of their own free will, and there were also several instances of conversions that were coerced (which ironically is un-Islamic). At the time of the Ottomans, however, it was primarily trade that was responsible for the spread of the religion across borders. During this time, many missionaries interacted with both local and foreign populations, spreading the religion as they traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Islamic Schism: Sunni & Shia

Despite this, for a significant number of years in the past, Islam was not a completely unified faith in terms of how it was practiced. When the Prophet Muhammad passed away in the year 632 CE, his followers were unsure of who should take his place as leader. A short time after Muhammad’s passing, it was decided that Abu Bakr would take over as Muhammad’s caliph and become his successor. A different group, on the other hand, advocated for Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, to be the one to take over after he passed away. Ali’s turn would indeed come as the fourth caliph, but his followers, who are known as Shia’t Ali (adherents of Ali), claimed that Ali was the lawful successor to Muhammad. Later, they would claim that his three predecessor caliphs were usurpers; these followers of Ali are known as Shia Muslims. Ali’s turn would indeed come as the fourth caliph.

However, the majority of Muslims, who are known as Sunnis, maintained that Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab (r. 634-644 CE), and Uthman were just as lawful successors of Muhammad as Ali, and they consider these men to be legitimate (followers of the Sunna or the way of Muhammad). Both of these organizations began as merely political parties, but over time they developed into distinct religious sects.

The concept of imams is the primary difference between the fundamental beliefs held by these different sects, which are otherwise nearly identical. Imam Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islamic thought, is considered by Sunnis to be the most famous imam. Imams are thought of as guides or teachers who led Muslims along the path of Islam (or the person who led the congregation during prayer). On the other hand, Shias believe that imams are a connecting link between humans and God (semi-divine), and they believe that only the descendants of Muhammad through Ali and Fatima (the Prophet’s daughter), and later only the descendants of Ali (from other wives), are worthy of this title. An example of this would be Imam Hussayn, the son of Ali, who was killed by the Umayyad army at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.

Sunni Muslims disagree with the claims that Shia Muslims make about the role of the imam. Despite the fact that Sunni Muslims respect Hussayn and find his death to be a tragedy, they do not view him as semi-divine in the same way that Shia Muslims do. Shia Muslims hold an annual festival called Ashura to commemorate the death of Hussayn. Sunni Muslims, on the other hand, mock this festival.

Aside from this contention and a few other theological differences, the two sects are almost the same. Despite this, the adherents of the two groups have been rivals for almost as long as their respective sects have existed, as evidenced by the rivalry between the Sunni Abbasid Dynasty and the Shia Fatimids, the Sunni Ottomans and the Shia Safavids, etc.

Legacy of Islam

In spite of the early practice of conquest in the process of spreading the faith, as well as the sectarian violence that has persisted between the Sunni and the Shia, Islam has made a significant contribution to the culture of the world ever since it was first established. If the written works of ancient Roman and Greek scholars had not been preserved by Muslims throughout the ages, there would have been no such thing as the Renaissance in Europe. To give just one illustration, if Muslim scribes hadn’t saved and copied Aristotle’s works, they would have been lost. These works were fundamental to the later development of so many different fields of study, and they would not have existed today. Aristotle’s work was not only preserved by the writings of the Muslim polymath Avicenna (circa 980-1037 CE) and the scholar Averroes (circa 1126-1198 CE), but they also added to it through their brilliant commentary, and the authors’ own writings helped spread Aristotelian thought. Aristotle lived in the time period between 980 and 1037 CE. The Al-Qanun fi-al-Tib (Canon of Medicine), which was written by Avicenna, is considered to be the first collective book on medicine. Its accuracy was far superior to that of European texts on the subject at the time.

Al-Khazini (11th century CE) challenged and encouraged modifications to the Ptolemaic Model of the Universe, while Al-Khwarizmi (l. c.780-c.850 CE), the brilliant astronomer, geographer, and mathematician, developed algebra. Al-Khwarizmi was active between the years 780 and 850 CE. Coffee, which is arguably the most popular drink in the world today, was developed by Muslim Sufi monks in Yemen in the 15th century CE. Coffee was introduced to the world through the port of Mocha, Yemen, which is why the word “mocha” is associated with coffee. Coffee was first exported from Yemen to the rest of the world.

Islamic intellectuals, poets, authors, and craftspeople have all made significant contributions to the evolution of virtually every facet of world culture, and they continue to do so even in modern times. It is unfortunate that, in today’s Western culture, Islam is so frequently associated with acts of violence and terrorism because, at its core, Islam is a religion that emphasizes peace and an understanding of others. One-third of the world’s population is Muslim, and Muslims all over the world follow – or at least try to follow – the path of peace that Muhammad revealed 14 centuries ago. Muhammad’s followers carry on his legacy of compassion and dedication to the divine and the greater good even to this day.

Shinto 800 CE

Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion, incorporates a wide variety of regional tenets and practices. Although the various beliefs predated the 800s CE when they were collected and described as something like Shinto, they all had one common denominator: they were all considered sacred. Shinto is the basis of many Japanese cultural practices but is not generally considered a religion. Similarly, it’s hard to put a number on the number of Shinto believers, since only 4% of Japanese citizens belong to Shinto organizations. Up to 80% of Japanese people (including those who claim to not believe in any religion) still visit shrines and pray to Shinto deities. Shinto is almost exclusively practiced in Japan due to the deeply cultural nature of the religion.

Shinto, which literally translates to “the way of the gods,” is the oldest religion practiced in Japan. The faith does not have a founder or a line of prophets, and there is no significant text that outlines the core beliefs of the religion. Shinto has endured for such a long time because of its adaptability in terms of definition. As a consequence of this, Shinto has become so entwined with Japanese culture in general that it is nearly impossible to consider it as a distinct school of thought. Therefore, the central tenets of Shinto, which include concepts such as cleanliness, harmony, respect for one’s family, and placing the needs of the group above those of the individual, have become ingrained in the Japanese psyche, regardless of whether or not an individual professes a religious affiliation.

Origins

Shinto is unique among world religions in that its founder has never been identified. The people of ancient Japan had long held animistic beliefs, worshipped divine ancestors, and communicated with the spirit world via shamans; some elements of these beliefs were incorporated into Shinto, the first recognized religion practiced in Japan, which began during the period of the Yayoi culture. Shinto was the first religion to be practiced in Japan and was the first religion to be practiced in Japan (c. 300 BCE – 300 CE). For instance, some natural occurrences and physical characteristics of the landscape were accorded the status of divine attributes. The most well-known of these deities are the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu, and the god of the wind, Susanoo. Mountains and rivers were of particular significance, with none being more significant than Mount Fuji, whose name originates from the Ainu word “Fuchi,” which means “god of the volcano.”

In Shinto, gods, spirits, supernatural forces, and essences are all referred to as kami. Since kami are believed to govern nature in all of its forms, it is believed that they inhabit particularly beautiful areas of the natural world. On the other hand, evil spirits or demons (also known as oni) are rarely seen, although some depictions of them depict them as giants with horns and three eyes. In most cases, they only have power for a limited amount of time, and they do not inherently represent a malevolent force. Obake are ghosts, and in order to rid oneself of them and prevent them from causing harm, specific rituals are required. Some of the souls of deceased animals can even possess humans; the fox is known to be particularly dangerous in this regard; in such cases, a priest must perform an exorcism.

Kojiki & Nihon Shoki

Shinto mythology and beliefs are discussed in detail in two chronicles that were written at the request of Emperor Temmu and were commissioned by the imperial house. Ono Yasumaro, a court scholar, compiled the Kojiki, also known as the “Record of Ancient Things,” in the year 712 CE. He did so by drawing on earlier sources, the majority of which were genealogies of powerful clans. Then, in 720 CE, came the Nihon Shoki, also called the Nihongi, which was written by a committee of court scholars and was also known as the Chronicle of Japan. Its purpose was to correct the perceived unfair advantage that many clans believed the earlier work had given to the Yamato clan. These works, therefore, describe the “Age of the Gods,” which occurred when the world was first created and the gods reigned over it before stepping aside to allow humanity to take control of its own destiny. They also gave the imperial line a direct descent from the gods, which was the original purpose of their composition, with the great-great-grandson of the goddess Amaterasu, Jimmu Tenno, being the first emperor of Japan. This was the original purpose of the composition of these documents. The traditional dates for Jimmu’s rule are 660–585 BCE; however, it is possible that he is a purely mythical figure. The term “Shinto” appears for the first time in a textual source known to us in the Nihon Shoki.

The Manyoshu, also known as the “Collection of 10,000 Leaves,” is an additional important source on early Shinto beliefs. It was composed around the year 760 CE and is an anthology of poems covering a wide range of subjects, including but not limited to religion. Another source is the numerous local chronicles, also known as fudoki, which were commissioned in the year 713 CE to record local kami and associated legends in the various provinces. These fudoki were written in Japanese. In conclusion, there is the Engishiki, which is a collection of fifty books that was compiled in the 10th century CE and covers the laws, rituals, and prayers of the Shinto religion.

Shinto Gods

Shinto gods, like the gods of many other ancient religions, are symbolic representations of significant astronomical, geographical, and meteorological phenomena that are constantly occurring and are believed to have an impact on day-to-day life. These deities, known as ujigami, were connected to particular ancient clans, also known as uji. Amaterasu, the sun god and supreme deity, is a woman, which is quite unusual. Her brother is the god of the ocean and storms; his name is Susanoo. Izanami and Izanagi are the gods of creation, and they are credited with creating the islands that make up Japan. Amaterasu emerged from Izanagi’s left eye, and Susanoo emerged from his nose when they were both born. Tsukuyomi, the moon god, originated from the god’s right eye when he was first created.

As a direct result of Susanoo’s disgraceful behavior, Amaterasu and Susanoo engaged in combat with one another. The gods tried to entice Amaterasu out of her hiding place in the cave by offering her valuable jewels and a mirror, but they were unsuccessful. As a result, the world became darker. Amaterasu finally gave in and went outside to investigate the commotion after she was made to laugh so hard by an erotic dancer. Susanoo made a U-turn, and in an act of contrition, he made amends to Amaterasu by offering her the sword that he had found in one of the dragon monster’s eight tails after he had defeated an eight-headed dragon monster that had been terrorizing a farming family. Historiographers interpret the conflict as symbolizing the triumph of the Yamato clan, which was represented by Amaterasu, over their adversaries, the Izumo (represented by Susanoo).

Susanoo eventually made his way back to earth, also known as the “Reed Plain,” where he tied the knot with a member of the family that he had protected from the monster Yamato no Orochi. They worked together to produce a new race of gods, who eventually came to rule the earth. At some point in time, Amaterasu became concerned about the power that these gods possessed, and as a result, she dispatched her grandson Honinigi with a number of symbols of sovereignty. These were the jewels and the mirror that the gods used to convince Amaterasu to leave her cave. This was also the sword that Susanoo, who would later be known as Kusanagi, gave to Amaterasu. These three items were destined to become a part of Japan’s imperial regalia at some point. The magnificent magatama jewel, which had special fertility powers and was carried by Honinigi, was yet another symbol that he carried.

After arriving on Mt. Takachio in Kyushu, Honinigi struck a bargain with Okuninushi, the god with the most strength among the divine beings. As a reward for his devotion to Amaterasu, Okuninushi would be given the crucial responsibility of serving as the future royal family’s protector. In later years, the god came to be revered as the guardian of the entirety of Japan.

Other significant divine figures include Inari, the kami of rice, who is revered for his exceptional altruism and holds a significant place in the religion of merchants, shop owners, and artisans. The fox, a common motif in temple art, is considered to be Inari’s messenger. It is easy to see why the ‘Seven Lucky Gods’, also known as Shichifukujin, are so popular, especially Daikokuten and Ebisu since they are associated with prosperity. Cooks and chefs pay homage to Daikokuten because they believe he is the god of the kitchen and because they revere him.

Following is a description of how the Shinto and Buddhist religions became closely intertwined in ancient Japan. As a direct result of this intertwining, certain Buddhist figures known as bosatsu, which literally translates to ‘enlightened beings,’ became popular kami with Shinto practitioners. Amida, Kannon, and Jizo are three examples of such figures. Amida is the ruler of the Pure Land, also known as heaven. Kannon is the protector of children, pregnant women, and dead souls (protector of those in pain and the souls of dead children). Hachiman, a warrior god, is another well-known figure that is revered by followers of both religions.

At long last, some people who had lived as mortals were elevated to divine status after they had passed away. The scholar Sugawara no Michizane, also known as Tenjin (845-903 CE), who was mistreated at court and forced into exile is possibly the most famous example of this. Shortly after his passing, the imperial capital was struck by a wave of devastating fires and plague, which many people interpreted as a sign from the gods indicating their displeasure with the unjust treatment of Tenjin. Tenjin was elevated to the position of patron god of learning and scholarship after the construction of the magnificent Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto, which took place in 947 CE.

Shinto & Buddhism

In the sixth century BCE, as part of the process of Sinification that was taking place in Japanese culture, Buddhism was brought to Japan. Other aspects that should not be disregarded in this context include the tenets of Taoism and Confucianism, which, like Buddhist ideas, made their way across the ocean. Of particular note is the importance that Confucianism places on moral rectitude and social cohesion. Both Shinto and Buddhism were able to flourish side by side in ancient Japan for many centuries because there was sufficient mutual space for them to coexist. The two distinct worldviews did not necessarily compete with one another.

By the end of the Heian period (794-1185 CE), several Shinto kami spirits and Buddhist bodhisattvas were formally combined to create a single deity, thus resulting in the creation of Ryobu Shinto, also known as ‘Double Shinto.’ As a direct consequence of this, images of Buddhist figures were occasionally integrated into Shinto shrines, and certain Shinto shrines were governed by Buddhist monks. Shinto was the religion that placed a greater emphasis on life and birth, had a more accepting attitude toward women, and was much more closely associated with the imperial house than Buddhism. It wasn’t until the 19th century CE that the two religions were recognized as distinct from one another officially.

Key Concepts in Shinto

The main beliefs of Shinto are:

Shinto Shrines

There are approximately 80,000 Shinto shrines, also known as jinja, spread across Japan. Each jinja is the sacred location of one or more kami. There are also the mountains and other natural features that could be considered shrines. In ancient times, shrines were little more than rock altars on which people would place their offerings. After that, buildings were constructed all around these altars, frequently imitating the architectural style of thatched rice granaries. The design of temples in the Nara period, which began around the 8th century CE, was heavily influenced by Chinese architecture. This can be seen in the upturned gables, prolific use of red paint, and decorative elements. The majority of shrines are constructed out of hinoki cypress.

The presence of a torii, also known as a sacred gateway, is a surefire way to locate a shrine. The most basic ones consist of nothing more than two vertical posts and two crossbars of varying lengths; their sole purpose is to physically divide the sacred area of the shrine from the rest of the world. These entrances are frequently adorned with gohei, which are twin strips of paper or metal, each of which has been ripped in four places to represent the kami’s presence. A shrine is overseen by a head priest (known as a guji) and other priests (known as kannushi), or, in the case of smaller shrines, by a member of the shrine elders committee who is known as the sodai. The shrine benefits from the financial support of the local community. Last but not least, individual families often maintain a kamidana or ancestor shrine in their homes. This structure memorializes the family members who have passed away while also paying respect to the ancestral kami.

The following is a list of characteristics that can be found in a typical Shinto shrine complex:

Larger shrines typically feature a large assembly hall as well as stalls where miko, also known as “shrine virgins,” sell various charms.

The Ise Grand Shrine, which is dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu and also contains a shrine to the harvest goddess Toyouke, is considered to be the holiest site in all of Shinto. A custom that began in the eighth century C.E. of rebuilding the exact shrine of Amaterasu at Ise every 20 years in order to maintain its vitality has been passed down through the generations. The debris left over from the destruction of the ancient temple is carefully stored and then moved to other shrines, where it is used to construct the walls of those buildings.

The Shrine of Okuninushi at Izumo-taisha is Considered to Be the Second Most Important Shrine. These two Shinto shrines are considered to be the oldest in all of Japan. Every local community, in addition to the most well-known shrines, had and still has small shrines that are dedicated to the kami spirits that are unique to that community. Even newly constructed urban structures can accommodate a modest Shinto shrine on their top floor. Some shrines can even be moved from place to place. They are called mikoshi, and they are mobile, which enables ceremonies to be performed at locations with exceptional natural beauty, such as waterfalls.

Worship & Festivals

Because of the sanctity of shrines, worshipers are required to purify themselves (oharai) before entering them. This is typically done by rinsing their mouths and washing their hands with water. After that, when they are ready to enter, they first bow while saying their prayer, then they make a small monetary offering, then they either ring a small bell or clap their hands twice to alert the kami. The prayer is finished when there is a single, concluding clap. In addition to this, one may ask a priest to say their prayer on their behalf. Small offerings could consist of a bowl filled with sake (rice wine), rice, and various types of vegetables. The act of traveling to one of Japan’s many religious sites, known as a shrine, is considered to be comparable to that of a pilgrimage. Mount Fuji is perhaps the most well-known example of this practice. Also known as Omamori, these are embroidered pouches of varying sizes that are worn by believers and are said to contain prayers for the wearer’s health and happiness. Shinto is not known for having a specific belief system regarding the afterlife; consequently, there are not many Shinto cemeteries. The majority of Buddhists are cremated before being buried in one of the religion’s cemeteries.

The calendar is broken up by various religious celebrations that are held in honor of various kami. During these celebrations, portable shrines may be transported to locations associated with a kami, or there may be parades of colorful floats, and worshippers may sometimes dress up to impersonate specific divine figures. The three-day Shogatsu Matsuri or Japanese New Year festival, the Obon Buddhist celebration of the dead returning to the ancestral home, which includes many Shinto rituals, and the annual local matsuri, in which a shrine is transported around the local community to purify it and ensure its future well-being are among the most important annual festivals in Japan. Other important festivals include the Obon Buddhist celebration of the dead returning to the ancestral home, which includes many Shinto rituals.

Sikhism 1500 CE

There are more than 25 million Sikhs across the globe, making Sikhism the fifth most practiced religion in the world. The Sikh Gurus, also referred to as spiritual guides or teachers, are the individuals credited with founding the religion. The first Guru, Guru Nanak was born in the Punjab region of India in the 15th century. He is considered to be the founder of the Sikh religion. The Sikh religion emphasizes the concept of the oneness of all beings as well as the equality of all people.

The Sikh religion is a monotheistic faith, which means that its adherents’ worship only a single deity. Guru Nanak imparted the wisdom that in order to honor God, one must first honor others and then honor the Earth, which is God’s creation. Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine additional Gurus who carried on his mission of disseminating his teachings across the globe. The final Guru was Guru Gobind Singh, and he designated the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, as the Guru Granth Sahib, the everlasting Guru, to be the one who would lead the Sikhs into the future.

The Guru Granth Sahib is a religious book that contains verses written in a poetic form with the intention that they be sung. Sikhism places a significant emphasis on the art of singing; in fact, it is said that Guru Nanak himself would sing his sermons while he journeyed on foot across South Asia. Gurbani, also known as the Guru’s Word, refers to the hymns that were composed by the Gurus.

Sikhism is built on three fundamental principles that were formulated by Guru Nanak. These include:

Vaṇḍ Chakkō: Being generous to others, assisting those in need, and contributing to the life of a community are all important aspects of human interaction. Sikhism places a significant emphasis on acts of generosity, including giving, sharing, and showing concern for one another.

Kirat Karō: Making one’s living in an honest manner, free from exploitation or deception, and maintaining an unwavering commitment to telling the truth at all times.

Naam Japna: To lead a decent and humble life, one should regularly meditate on the name of God.

For Sikhs, the fleeting pleasures and distractions of the material world are seen as Maya, which is Sanskrit for an illusion. Ego, anger, greed, attachment, and lust are the “Five Thieves” because they rob a person of the ability to realize their oneness with God and creation. These five qualities are often referred to collectively as “the ego.” By adhering to the Sikh values of service, equality, and seeking justice for all, Sikhs make it their mission to combat the allure of the aforementioned characteristics.

Many Sikhs subscribe to the philosophy that the human body is nothing more than a temporary receptacle for the immortal soul. Therefore, death of the physical body is an inevitable stage in the life cycle, whereas survival of the soul continues after death. Because Sikhs adhere to the doctrine of reincarnation, they consider death not to be the conclusion of a life but rather a stage along the path that leads to God.

Baha’I 1863 CE

Baha’ism, which was established by the prophet Bahá’u’lláh in 1863, is the youngest of the world’s major religions. The Bab, the founder of Babism, foretold the arrival of a new great prophet like Muhammad, and his followers eventually developed into the Baha’i. Although the Baha’i faith was founded in Iran, its current administrative center is located in Haifa, Israel. Although Baha’i is a monotheistic faith, its adherents are taught to respect the religious teachings of the Buddha and Jesus Christ, among others. Achieving peace and harmony between religious groups is a top priority for Baha’is, who hold that all religions, regardless of their cultural context, ultimately aim to achieve the same thing. Approximately eight million people identify as Baha’is today, and every few years, they hold an indirect election to choose new leaders for their faith.

Bahai Interesting Beliefs

To a large extent, I do not adhere to any specific religious tradition. However, I just found out about this one through my research, and prior to today, January 19, 2023, I was completely unaware of its existence.

If I delve further into this religion, just like I have done with every other faith I have investigated, I am certain that I will find aspects of it with which I agree and others with which I disagree. This is the case with every religion I have researched. The fact that I had never heard of it before, the fact that the information that I found about it agreed so closely with my own philosophy and beliefs, and the fact that it is relevant to this book led me to the conclusion that it should be included in this book. But don’t take that as evidence that I believe in or support every facet of the religion; it’s not the case at all. Keep an eye out for new information at all times, but be sure to ask the Holy Spirit to direct you toward that which is most helpful.

The Baha’i Faith is the youngest of the world’s independent religions, having been established in the year 1844 in what is now the country of Iran but was previously known as Persia. This religion is practiced by approximately six million people in different parts of the world. These adherents hail from practically every imaginable social, cultural, racial, and religious background that exists on the face of the earth. Islam is the second most practiced religion in the world after Christianity in terms of geographic spread. Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah (1817–1892), the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, is the most recent Messenger of God in a line that stretches back beyond the time of recorded history and includes Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad. Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah is the most recent Messenger of God in a line that stretches back beyond the time of recorded history and includes Muhammad. The Baha’i religion holds the belief that Baha’u’llah is the most recent Prophet in the chain of God’s Messengers.

Baha’u’llah is credited with spreading the fundamental concept that all people are members of the same racial group and that the time has come for them to unite under the banner of a single global society. This was Baha’u’llah’s primary message. According to a saying attributed to Baha’u’llah, “The earth is but one country, and humanity its citizens.” God is said to have set into motion historical forces that are currently dismantling traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation, and that, in due course, will give birth to a universal civilization, according to Baha’u’llah. Baha’u’llah’s teachings can be found in the Book of Baha’u’llah. Baha’u’llah made this statement. It is expected of people who practice the Baha’i religion to adhere to stringent personal standards of conduct while also playing an active role in the social and political processes of their communities.

Key Beliefs

The following is a list of what the Baha’i Faith considers to be its most fundamental principles:

One Loving Creator The Baha’i faith is predicated on the notion that there is only one God, and that this incomprehensible deity is the one who created the universe and is the sole and ultimate ruler of everything that is contained within it. This is the central tenet of the Baha’i faith.

The Oneness of Humanity Bahá’u’lláh says, “It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and humanity its citizens.”

The Oneness of Religion Bahá’u’lláh teaches that the religions of the world come from the same heavenly Source and that “the difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed.”

Independent Investigation of the Truth “God has not intended man to imitate blindly his fathers and ancestors. He has endowed him with mind, or the faculty of reasoning, by the exercise of which he is to investigate and discover the truth, and that which he finds real and true he must accept.”

Harmony between Religion and Science ‘Abdu’l-Bahá likens religion and science to two wings, both of which are required if humanity is to progress. He says, “Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress but fall into the despairing slough of materialism.” This latter analogy is a perfect example of what has happened in our modern society.

International Auxiliary Language Bahá’u’lláh teaches that in the future humanity will develop or choose a universal auxiliary language and common script that will “cause the whole earth to be regarded as one country” and be “conducive to unity and concord.” In each country, the language of the country will be taught, as well as the universal language.

Universal Education Bahá’u’lláh has enjoined upon all the responsibility to become trained in a useful craft, trade or profession. He says, moreover, that “knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone.”

The Elimination of All Forms of Prejudice ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes: “… as to religious, racial, national and political bias: all these prejudices strike at the very root of human life; one and all they beget bloodshed, and the ruination of the world. So long as these prejudices survive, there will be continuous and fearsome wars.”

Equality of Men and Women Again, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá uses the analogy of the cooperation of two wings necessary for the progress of humanity – this time to symbolize women and men. He teaches, in regard to opportunities for education and training, that “until the reality of equality between man and woman is fully established and attained, the highest social development of humanity is not possible” and that “it will come to pass that … women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world.”

The Abolition of the Extremes of Wealth and Poverty Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “O Ye Rich Ones on Earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust and be not intent only on your own ease.”

Spiritual Solutions to Economic Problems ‘Abdu’l-Bahá teaches that “until material achievements, physical accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced by spiritual perfections, luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit or result shall issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity, which is the ultimate aim, be attained.”

Universal Peace upheld by a World Federation Bahá’u’lláh envisioned that the time will come “when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demanded that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of the peoples of the earth, to be fully recHomo primusled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining internal order within their territories.”

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and humanity its citizens.

– BAHÁ’U’LLÁH –

Parables and Quotes

Education is everything

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is a quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism.

For the most part, I stay clear of scripture. I would never argue with anyone about scripture. because the scriptures were written 2,000 years ago. They are recorded either through letters or, in some cases, word of mouth. They have been translated into various languages. If scripture has wisdom in it, then it should be shared. That is what I have found in many of these parables.

Weeds and Reapers – Matthew 5:36-43

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the [w]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the [x]end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear.

The Lamp – Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The Mustard Seed – Matthew 13:31-32

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Hidden Treasure – Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

The Lost Sheep – Matthew 18:10-14

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

The Budding Fig Tree – Matthew 24:32-35

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[a] is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Faithful vs. The Wicked Servant – Matthew 24:45-51

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour, he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Heart of Man – Mark 7:14-23

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.”

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:29-37

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Rich Fool – Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The Lost Coin – Luke 15:8-10

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Pharisee and The Tax Collector – Luke 18:9-14

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius

The Bible Meets Science

It is so easy to get pulled down that rabbit hole of religious beliefs based on scripture alone. That is why, for the most part, I avoid even mentioning scripture verbatim. Always keep in mind that no written word is from God, not even the Bible. The true word of God was not written down but is easily accessible by God to any believer in the form of the Holy Spirit.

I am sitting here watching the movie Genesis: Paradise Lost and realizing that it is not paradise lost; it is humanity that is lost. If you do not believe the universe, earth, and all of creation are only 6,000 years old, do not bother watching the movie, as that is the main point they want to teach. I could agree with them that evolution is misleading and does its best to take God out of the picture. But there are some things I believe God gave us common sense to use and believing in a literal six-day creation and a universe that is only 6,000 years old is just beyond me. If you, as a Christian, are going to argue this point into the ground, then there are a whole lot of other Jewish beliefs I think you need to start following.

From my perspective, the writer concluded each step of creation as a day of completion, much as the Hebrew word Yom is used in many instances. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, are two Jewish feast days that use the word “Yom” in their names. Yom is also used for each of the days of the week in the Hebrew calendar. So, extending that thought, you have Yom Universe, Day of Universe, Yom of Separation, Day of Water from Water, and so on for creation. It does not mean creation happened in 24-hour increments for six days. It is simply terminology used by the author to represent the steps of the creation process.

Among the oldest known copies of Genesis, the fragment of the Scroll shown here contains the description of the first three days of the creation of the world. Date: 100–1 BCE, Late Hasmonean Period Language: Hebrew

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” — GENESIS 1:1–2

The biggest confusion is that religion holds the Bible to a literal seven-day timeline before time even existed. Nowhere else in the Bible does God do anything like this. God did not have a day planner in his hand when he created the heavens and earth. Common sense should tell you that all of creation could not have happened in only 6,000 years. Even if you dismissed the scientific fossil proof of dinosaurs, it just does not fit. God does not wear a watch on his wrist. God does not give very much detail in the book of Genesis concerning creation. So why would you take the seven days literally? Seven days could be compared to steps one, two, and three as an inspired writer would have recorded his best understanding at the time. I highly doubt that God said he created the universe in one day, and so on. That is not what Genesis says, that is how people understand it.

God is not a magician who snaps his fingers and there it is. If that were the case, I think there might be a lot less evil in the world. It all makes sense when you consider creation as a God-created process and compare it to scientific studies.

We all have varied beliefs, and some level is acceptable. But when supposedly educated men of the Bible are going to argue with evolutionists about whether humans evolved from apes or not, it drives me nuts. God was not human; God is a consciousness that exists without any form at all or maybe exists within the very fabric of space itself. God is not a human being with a physical body. So, who cares if our physical bodies evolved or were created from the dust of the Earth? That is not what it means to be human created in the image of God. Our consciousness, our soul, and our ability to create and think are made in the image of God. That part of us that is our true selves could only have come from God. Our very consciousness mirrors that of God, which is all the proof I need that God exists because I exist. This is another interpretation of the Bible, and possibly due to misleading scriptures, religion has it wrong. Yes, the human body came from the dust of the earth, as described in scripture and in scientific studies. But that was not God’s image.

The purpose of my writings is not so much to argue whether science or religion is right or wrong as to show where they are both right. But before you can even begin to understand, you need to really believe in God and ask Him for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The scriptures as they are written in the Bible and other holy books are an excellent source for learning about how people lived 2,000 years ago. Much of it is recorded history. However, some areas must be used as inspirational texts only, and you should let the Holy Spirit fill in the gaps for you. You have to understand that the person who wrote the words was not forced to do so by God, and they were not transcribing the words of God. The writers of books like Genesis had very little understanding of science.

All of our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds to understanding, then reasoning, and ends with God. There is nothing higher than God.

The Inspired Bible

Let me begin by saying that I am not attempting to condemn the Bible or any other scriptures inspired by God.Quite the contrary, I believe you should read every inspired work you can find to have a complete understanding of God. Start with the Bible and the Quran. But there it is again: religion raises its ugly head and leads people to believe all other teachings are blasphemous.

What I am about to say is to clarify the need for the true word of God, which is the Holy Spirit. The original word of God was never written in any book. It is a gift sent to us by God so that all of our questions could be answered. You can truly understand the messages God gave to us if you seek guidance and knowledge from other inspired writers.

When I was a kid, the teachers at my Sunday school used to tell us that God spoke the words of the Bible into someone’s ear, and then that person wrote them down. To even consider picking up material from any other religion was considered blasphemous. There is a degree of solace to be found in this concept, and many of the Christians I hold dear vigorously defend it; however, there are issues with this theory. Men from a wide range of historical periods and cultural backgrounds penned the words; men were responsible for translating the words from one language to another; and men deliberated, argued, and decided which ancient writings should be included in what we now refer to as the Bible. When we attempt to view the words as having been directly handed down from God, there are hundreds of problems, which is understandable given the nature of the situation.

Scholars now believe that the stories that would eventually become the Bible were disseminated by word of mouth across the centuries in the form of oral tales and poetry. This may have been done as a way for the tribes of Israel to forge a collective identity with one another. In the end, all of these tales were collected and put into written form. It is believed that the Muratorian Canon was compiled around the year 200 A.D., making it the earliest collection of canonical texts that bears similarities to the New Testament. The various Christian churches did not reach a consensus on the books that should be considered part of the canon of the Bible until the 5th century.

Even though the Bible is kept in the homes of the vast majority of Christians, only a small percentage of those Christians ever read it all the way through. They assert that it has value. Many people have told me that if their house were to catch fire, the Bible would be the first thing they would grab as they tried to escape. Despite this, it has developed into a significant symbol. Even though they enjoy talking and reading about what it says, many Christians don’t actually pick up the Bible very often. The only time they do so is to tuck it under their arm when they go to church. Nevertheless, a significant number of these same Christians are the most adamant defenders of its flawlessness. Why, because they have made the connection between it and God.

Whether they are aware of it or not, a significant number of Christians worship the Bible. They have made it an idol without realizing it, and the idea that there is even a small chance that the Bible has even one mistake is the same to them as saying that God can make mistakes.

God does not make mistakes. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Our limited understanding of who God is does not confine or constrain God in any way.Also, God is not limited by any writings, regardless of how great or inspiring they may be. Language is the primary mode of communication used by humans. God is not limited in any way by the written or spoken languages of humans. On the other hand, human beings, even when presented with a spiritual truth or revelation, are only able to process it through the limited mental and spiritual comprehension that we already possess. Because of this, our attempts to explain can never measure up to the perfection of God. The Bible was written by humans, not God. The Bible was inspired by God, leaving room for human error.

It is the parts of the Bible that are accurate that separate it from mythology. There are actual records of family histories recorded in some of the books. When you look at what was recorded in Genesis, you will notice how closely it relates to what we have already discovered using scientific methods. For instance, in Genesis, the order of creation is exactly the same as what science has shown.

There is little doubt the scriptures were inspired because, 2,000 years ago or more, when these texts were written, the knowledge of the steps the universe, planets, and life followed in their development was not known by anyone. But keep in mind that the writer who was inspired left out the details of creation on purpose because he did not know the details of creation.

If this were not inspired by God, the writers would most likely have said the earth came first, then humans, then the rest. It has long been accepted that humans have an anthropocentric perspective on the world. Not only that, but we also believed the Earth was the center of the universe until the 15th century, when Galileo nearly lost his head fighting the church over whether the sun circled the Earth or vice versa.

Religion is right to ignore evolution as the source of life, as science has not even determined that itself. However, science can confirm that complex structures bring about life. On the other hand, science cannot ignore the fact that the complex events could not have happened without help. They have even tried using our latest knowledge of genetics to recreate life in a laboratory over the past 20 years without success. If our brilliant scientists cannot do it in controlled laboratory experiments, how is it possible that it happened in nature by accident?

I have done my best and prayed for guidance to understand how the Bible relates to what we have discovered. To not consider both science and religion together is to never truly know God. It is not a sin to seek knowledge; it is expected of us to do so. It is our responsibility to seek knowledge, not to rely on and argue about texts written 2000 years ago. Our job is to make sure that science does not take God out of the picture.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. Socrates

Contradictory God

If God were as described in Genesis, he would be the architect of the perfect paradise who instilled humans with free will and the curiosity to learn. This is the part that gets me. God is supposedly a loving God. Yet God put a tree in the forest and told man not to eat from that one tree. For me, that is setting up temptation. Whether it was a test or not, it was designed so that humanity would fail. Then, when humanity failed, we were punished for God’s mistake of tempting us in the first place.

Satan, also known as “the tempter,” is intent on bringing about man’s utter destruction and is the primary source of temptation. It sounds one of those police dramas on TV where they use entrapment to create bad guys.

The phrase “Lead us not into temptation” which appears in the Lord’s Prayer, is a supplicatory request that people make to God in an attitude of submission and faith, asking for his assistance in overcoming their propensity to give in to temptation.

But then again per scripture I would have to hold God accountable as God created Satan and allowed Satan in the world to tempt us. Would you as a human being of good character buy drugs and tempt your brother who is an addict. I would not, and I do not believe my God would do that either.

Most dangerous is that temptation that doth goad us on to sin in loving virtue. William Shakespeare

Origin Myths

Despite the fact that origin myths are typically considered to fall under the purview of religion, they do contain one component of science, which is an explanation. Origin stories are basically just different explanations for how things came to be the way they are, even though they may contain snippets of moral instruction here and there. As a result, explanation is not limited to science and did not originate with science.

Mythology and science both contribute to an explanation. Verification is the defining factor that separates science from mythology. Not only does science offer hypotheses as potential solutions, but it also puts these hypotheses to the test. If the answers turn out to be incorrect, the hypotheses must either be scrapped or revised. Mythology is not like this in any way. The explanation provided by an origin myth is one that should be accepted as true. It is acceptance that is required, not verification at this point.

The question of where we came from is consistently ranked among the most fundamental inquiries that people have. There is not a single human society that does not have responses to such questions. In spite of the fact that the specifics of these explanations are very different from one another, the fundamental premise behind them is always the same among all primitive peoples: people and the world came into existence as a result of a chain of creative acts. In addition, this creation is typically considered to be the result of beings or forces from the supernatural realm. The stories that describe how supernatural forces were responsible for the formation of the earth and the lives that inhabit it are referred to as “origin myths.”

The desire to put a physical entity behind creation is the failure of all creation myths and, ultimately, religions. The one true God does not exist as a physical being, nor is the one true God supernatural; God is a consciousness that exists in and as a part of the infinite universe in the same form as the human consciousness. To name a few of the potentially thousands:

Judaism, Christianity, Islam

Genesis is the first book of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible. It contains two creation myths, and all three of the world’s major religions today agree that both of these accounts are accurate depictions of how the world came into existence. In the first one, God commands, “Let there be light,” and light immediately comes into existence. In the span of six days, he fashions the universe, including the heavens, the earth, the plants, the sun and moon, the animals, and all other living creatures, including humans. He tells everyone, “Be fruitful and multiply,” and they follow his advice. The Bible says that on the seventh day, God rested, reflected on his creations, and gave himself praise for a job well done. In the second account, God plucked Adam from the ground to become the first human being. Adam is given his own garden in Eden, but he is forbidden to eat the fruit that comes from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Adam has given each animal a name, but he is still an isolated figure. Following Adam’s sedation, God removes one of his ribs and uses it to fashion the first woman, Eve. She is tricked into eating the forbidden fruit by a serpent that can talk, and then she tricks Adam into doing the same thing. As soon as God discovers what has happened, he casts them out of the garden and makes man a mortal being.

The Greeks and the Titans

Many different cosmogonies were proposed by the early Greek poets. Hesiod’s Theogony is the one that has survived in the best condition. According to this hymn, the first deities, such as Gaia, emerged from the disorder of the beginning of time (mother earth). Uranus, or the sky, was created by Gaia as a covering for herself. They gave birth to a strange menagerie of gods and monsters, such as the Hecatonchires, which were monsters with fifty heads and one hundred hands, and the Cyclopes, also known as the “wheel-eyed,” who later became the forgers of Zeus’ thunderbolts. After that came a group of gods known as the Titans, which consisted of six sons and six daughters. Uranus, who despised his monstrous children, locked them up in Tartarus, which is located in the depths of the earth. In a fit of rage, Gaia fashioned a monstrous sickle and presented it to Cronus, her youngest son, along with a set of instructions. Cronus arose from his hiding place just as Uranus and Gaia were about to consummate their relationship, and he severed his father’s genitalia. When Uranus’s blood and naughty bits fell to the ground, more monsters, including the Giants and the Furies, emerged from the ground. The goddess Aphrodite is said to have originated from the sea foam that was churned up by the sacred testicles. In the future, Cronus became the parent of the subsequent generation of gods, which included Zeus and the Olympians. And boy, did they have any kind of problem!

Rendezvous with Brahma

The Hindu cosmology encompasses a large number of creation myths, the central figures of which have fluctuated in significance over the course of the religion’s history. There is a story in the Rig Veda, one of the earliest Vedic texts, that describes a gigantic being called Purusha who has a thousand heads, eyes, and feet. He encircled the planet and extended himself beyond it by a distance equivalent to ten fingers’ width. The gods offered Purusha as a sacrifice, and his body produced clarified butter, which the gods used to create the various birds and animals. His various organs mutated into the constituent parts of the universe, as well as the gods Agni, Vayu, and Indra. In addition to this, the four castes that make up Hindu society were derived from his body: the warriors, the general populace, the priests, and the servants. In later historical periods, the concept of the trinity comprising Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer) came to the fore. It is said that Brahma manifests himself as a lotus that grows from the navel of a sleeping Vishnu. The universe was created by Brahma, and it will exist for one of his days, which is equivalent to 4.32 billion years. After that, Shiva destroys everything, and the cycle begins all over again. Everyone can breathe easy because the current cycle still has a couple billion years to run.

Japan, Island Earth

The gods fashioned two divine children, a brother and a sister named Izanagi and Izanami, who were placed on a floating bridge high above the primordial ocean. They did this by churning the water with the gods’ jeweled spear, which resulted in the formation of the first island, Onogoro. On the island, Izanagi and Izanami got married and had children who were deformed due to their genetic abnormalities. The gods placed the blame on a violation of the established procedures. During the ceremony of the marriage, Izanami, who was the bride, had spoken first. After carefully recreating their wedding ceremony, the couple became pregnant and gave birth to the islands that make up Japan as well as additional deities. Izanami, however, perished during the process of giving birth to Kagutsuchi-no-Kami, the god of fire. Izanagi, who was shaken up by the experience, went with her to Yomi, the land of the dead. After consuming the food that Yomi had prepared, Izanami was unable to return. Izanagi ran away in fear after being startled by the sight of Izanami’s rotting body for the first time. Izanami, infuriated, gave chase to him while a group of repulsive women followed close behind. Izanagi began to throw personal items at them, which quickly transformed into distractions for them. After evading the entrance to Yomi’s cave, he placed a boulder in front of it to seal it off, thereby permanently separating life from death.

China, Middle Kingdom

A cosmic egg, which contained the yin and yang forces that are at odds with one another, floated within the endless void. After a long period of gestation, the first being, Pan-gu, came into existence. The yin, or denser, components of the egg eventually broke away and formed the planet Earth. The sky was formed by the lighter parts, or yang, rising to the top. Pan-gu, out of concern that the pieces might come back together, stood atop the ground and propped up the sky. He continued to grow at a rate of 10 feet per day for 18,000 years, at which point the sky had reached a height of 30,000 miles. After his duties were finished, he passed away. His body parts mutated into various aspects of the cosmos, such as animals, climatic events, and celestial bodies. There is also another explanation for what happened, despite the fact that some people believe the fleas on him turned into humans. Because the goddess Nuwa was always by herself, she decided to create men from the mud of the Yellow River. She was overjoyed when she created the first humans, but the process was time-consuming, so she scattered muddy droplets across the earth, and each one evolved into a new person. These people were thrown together in a hurry, and they ended up being the commoners, while the earlier ones were the nobles. This was the first example of mass production!

The Aztecs

Coatlicue, whose name means “skirt of snakes,” was the Aztec name for the earth mother. She is depicted in a frightening manner, wearing a necklace made of human hearts and hands and, as her name suggests, a skirt made of snakes. The legend has it that an obsidian knife impregnated Coatlicue, and she gave birth to Coyolxauhqui, the goddess of the moon, as well as 400 sons, who grew up to become the stars in the southern sky. Coatlicue’s sons became the constellations. After some time had passed, a ball of feathers crashed to the ground from the sky, and when Coatlicue discovered the ball, she put it in her waistband, which caused her to become pregnant once more. Coyolxauhqui and her brothers rebelled against their mother after they were shocked and outraged by their mother’s unusual pregnancy, the cause of which they did not know. However, Huitzilopochtli, the god of war as well as the sun, was born within Coatlique as a child. When he emerged from his mother’s womb, he was fully mature and clad in armor. He attacked Coyolxauhqui, and with the help of a fire serpent, he was able to kill her. After severing her head, he threw it into the sky, where it eventually turned into the moon.

Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians believed in a number of different origin stories. The churning and anarchy of the waters of Nu is where it all starts (or Nun). Atum willed himself into existence, and then proceeded to create a hill because there would have been nowhere else for him to stand otherwise. Atum had no gender and possessed an eye that could see everything. The god of the air, Shu, was born from the mouth of he or she. Tefnut, the Egyptian goddess of moisture, was born after Atum regurgitated a child. These two were given the responsibility of bringing order out of the chaos that existed. Geb, the land, and Nut, the sky, were both products of Shu and Tefnut’s procreation. At first, they were entwined, but Geb freed Nut from his grasp and placed her above him. Even though the world’s order began to take shape over time, Shu and Tefnut were unable to escape the lingering obscurity and perished. Atum detached his or her all-seeing eye and dispatched it in the direction of their location. When Shu and Tefnut finally returned, it was thanks to the eye, and Atum was so overjoyed that he shed tears of joy. Wherever Atum’s tears fell, men emerged from the ground.

Rivers of Babylon

The Babylonian creation myth known as the Enuma Elish begins with the gods of water, Apsu (fresh) and Tiamat (salt), who are believed to have been responsible for the birth of several generations of gods, ultimately leading to Ea and his many brothers. On the other hand, these younger gods made such a racket that Apsu and Tiamat were unable to get any rest. Apsu had a plan to kill them all, but Ea ended it before he could carry it out. Tiamat swore vengeance and proceeded to create a wide variety of monstrosities, such as the Mad Dog and the Scorpion Man. Marduk, a gigantic god with four eyes and four ears, was conceived of by Ea and the goddess Damkina to serve as a guardian for them. During his conflict with Tiamat, Marduk, who wielded the winds as his weapons, first rendered Tiamat helpless by thrusting a malevolent wind down her throat, and then finished her off with a single arrow to the heart. After that, he severed her body down the middle and used each half of it to form the heavens and the earth. Later on, he devised the human race to carry out the menial tasks that the gods were unwilling to perform, such as farming, telemarketing, and accounting.

Zoroastrianism, Ancient Persia

The story of how the god Ahura Mazda created the world is told in the Bundahishn, which dates back to the Middle Persian era. The enormous mountain known as Alburz took 800 years to mature into its current form and eventually reached the clouds. Rain began to fall from that location, which led to the formation of the Vourukasha sea as well as two major rivers. On the bank of the river Veh Rod was where the very first animal, a white bull, made its home. However, the malevolent spirit known as Angra Mainyu was able to destroy it. Its seed was taken to the moon, where it was cleansed, and this led to the creation of a wide variety of animals and plants. Gayomard, the first man, was as radiant as the sun and lived on the other side of the river. Angra Mainyu also killed him. Ouch! After being exposed to the sun for forty years, his seed eventually germinated into a rhubarb plant. It was from this plant that the first mortals, Mashya and Mashyanag, emerged. Angra Mainyu avoided killing them by manipulating them into worshiping him through deception. After 50 years of marriage, they finally had twins, but due to their sin, they ate both of them. After what seemed like an eternity, another set of twins entered the world, and ultimately, all humans descended from them (but specifically Persians).

Norse Mythology

The ancient Norse religion, which was practiced in Scandinavian and Germanic countries, is truly the creation myth for fans of both professional wrestling and heavy metal music thanks to its abundance of hulking, barrel-chested gods and voluptuous goddesses. According to Norse mythology, before there was Earth (Midgard), there was Muspell, a fiery land that was protected by Surt, who wielded a fire sword, Ginnungagap, a large void, and Niflheim, a frozen ice-covered land. All of these places existed before Midgard.

The colossal Ymir and the monstrous cow Auðumbla emerged from the thaw when the icy temperatures of Niflheim came into contact with the blazing heat of Muspell. Then, the god Bor and his wife came into existence as a result of the cow’s licking. The couple welcomed Buri into the world, who went on to have three more children of his own: Óðinn, Vili and Vé. The sons rose up and murdered their father, Ymir. They then used his corpse to create the world: the Earth was made from his flesh, the seas and lakes were filled with his blood, the mountains were made from his bones, and the trees were woven with his hair. The gods fashioned the heavens of stars within the cranium of Ymir, which had been hollowed out.

Navajo

In the beginning, there were holy people who were supernatural and sacred. They lived in underground caverns that connected to a total of 12 lower worlds. The Holy People were forced to create the world by crawling to the surface of the earth through a hollow reed after they were forced to do so by a massive underground flood. The Hero Twins, also known as “Monster Slayer” and “Child of the Waters,” were born to a Changing Woman. Both of these children went on a number of exciting journeys. After the creation of the Earth Surface People, who were to become mortals, ears of white and yellow corn were used to fashion the first man and woman. This is how the Navajo explained the beginning of the world.

Khalakhali San

The Khalakhali San are of the opinion that people have not always inhabited the surface of the earth. People and animals used to share Kaang, the Great Master and Lord of All Life, who lived deep beneath the surface of the earth in the past. There was harmony between the human inhabitants and the animal inhabitants of this location. They had a mutual comprehension of one another. Everyone always had everything they needed, and even though there was no sun, there was enough light for everyone to see. During this period of bliss, Kaang started formulating plans for the marvels that he would later create for the world above. The hunter-gatherer San are believed to be descended from the original people who inhabited what is now Botswana and South Africa. The San culture is believed to be among the oldest cultures on the planet.

Hopi Indians

The Ant People are at the center of one of the most intriguing Hopi legends. According to this legend, they were essential to the Hopi people’s survival not once, but twice. It would appear that the so-called “First World” (or world-age) was extinguished by fire; the cause of this destruction could have been an act of volcanism, an impact by an asteroid, or a coronal mass ejection from the sun. The Ice Age glaciers or a pole shift were responsible for the demise of the Second World. During these two major catastrophes on a global scale, the upright members of the Hopi tribe were led to the sky god named Sotuknang by an oddly shaped cloud during the day and a moving star at night. Sotuknang then led them to the Ant People, known as Anu Sinom in Hopi. The Hopi were then led into caves deep underground by the Ant People, where they were able to seek refuge and find food.

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw

Faith Lost

I can see that faith has been lost in our global society simply by checking how many psychologists are needed to guide humanity. In particular over the past three to four decades, psychology has become more widespread and established a presence in countries all over the world. It has been estimated that there are more than one million people working in the field of psychology. This number does not include the numerous related specialties and subfields.

If we truly believe and trust God, humanity only needs one Psychologist, The Holy Spirit.

Notes

Ecclesiastes – not sure why but the title got stuck in my head. After reviewing Ecclesiastes in the Bible, I found it had a lot of wisdom related to modern life.

About The Author

Glenn Madden is an ordained minister, independent researcher, author, designer, teacher, electronics engineer, and web designer. Glenn was born in Clinton, South Carolina, on November 23, 1961. Glenn has a formal education in electronics engineering and computer science. Through independent research, for more than 40 years, Glenn has been an expert in the metaphysical and religious fields of science, including a study of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Catholicism. Glenn currently lives in Bandung, Indonesia, with his wife and daughter.

As we get older, our recollections of what it was like to be a child change and develop in different ways. The trip is broken up into a number of distinct stages. In accordance with what I’ve seen, there appears to be a gap of ten years between each stage. I began my life as a poor southern country boy, but by the time I was traveling around the world with Jimmy Carter, I had worked my way up to the first-class level.

Throughout the course of my life and professional career, I have held a variety of roles, including those of a grocery store manager, an army radio operator, a navy submarine technician, an electronics engineer, a designer and furniture builder, a web site designer, a writer, an English teacher, and a marketer. Currently, I am an English teacher. Since I started a furniture factory in the middle of Indonesia, my life has been a landscape that is constantly shifting, going from difficult periods to enjoyable times and back again.

Personal Experiences of the Holy Spirit Guidance

Writing this book has been a combination of my own experiences, the wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Spirit, and the internet. The beauty of the internet is its educational resources and its ability to provide a muse for everything imaginable, and I have always had a very active imagination as far back as I can remember. Whenever I am confused about something, it seems the answers just pop into my head, followed later by answers that can be verified by other sources. I accepted the Holy Spirit as my teacher when I was young, and I believe it is the reason behind it. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Physical proof of this can be found in my ability to take tests with limited education. I was a high school dropout because of pressure from bullying in the 10th grade. I was never very good at my classes; on average, I was a C student. A few years later, without any further study or that much life experience, I took an entry exam for college and nearly aced it. Not only that, I went on to maintain a nearly 4.0 GPA, made the dean’s list every semester, and was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Fraternity. I often have brilliant ideas but do not have the money to invest in proper research. Quite often, a few weeks or months after I get the ideas, I see the same thing announced in the news as an amazing new invention or scientific discovery by someone else.

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Know Yourself

Know Yourself — Socrates and How to Develop Self-Knowledge

How did life originate?

How did life originate?

Origin Myths by Robert Carneiro

https://ncse.ngo/origin-myths

God Did Not Write the Bible

God Did Not Write the Bible…