E) divine command_theory

transcript

Studying the Divine Commandment

• The information that follows is to give you an overview of the similarities and differences between some of the formal religions.

• It is not necessary to memorize the specifics.• It is necessary to understand how the

deontological Divine Command theories are formed and how they apply to you, the society you live in, and global citizenship.

July 23rd Panel

• I will give an overview of the overview to give a foundation for Saturday’s panel. However, I expect you to come to the panel prepared with smart, insightful, scholarly questions and/or statements that you can share with the class and panel participants.

Source Material

www.philosophyofreligion.info/.../ divine-command-theory

Divine Command Theory

The Divine Command Theory is the view that morality is somehow dependent upon their

God and that moral obligation consists in obedience to that God’s commands.

It includes:• the claim that morality is ultimately based

on the commands or character of God• the moral right action is the one that God

commands or requires.

Divine Command TheoryThe specific content of these divine commands vary according to the place of

origin:Norms and values

Expected patterns of behaviorSexual practices

View of materialismLocation

History of the regions conquests and conquerorsNeeds and wants

Natural eventsNatural resources

Divine Command Theory

All versions of accepted formal religions:• Have a Deity and are monotheistic• Have a or multiple holy books• Have rituals that lead them to focus on the

Deity• Have Symbols• Are accepted by their respective culture

Islam: Source Material

• islam-explained.blogspot.com

• Islam, the complete code of life ordained by the Sustainer of the Universe

• Emerged as a Socio-economic and Political power in the Seventh Century

• This emergence was a result of the Muslims disciplining their lives in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran

• Islam is pervasive in the lives of believers and has left an influence on humanity.

Sustainer of Universe

• A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the universe.

• In monotheism a single God is necessarily the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities, but they have many deities.

• A number of monotheistic traditions separate a secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator.

Islam: The youngest formal religion

• The exalted person upon whom this code of life was revealed was Muhammad

• He was was born in Mecca on the twentieth of April 571 CE and died in Medina in 632 CE.

• Arabia, whose only previous contribution had been to send successive waves of Semitic nomads to invade the fertile crescent was held by clans. These included Christian, Jewish and most Arabian tribes including Muhammad’s tribe the Quraish (the dominant tribe of Mecca at the beginning of the religion of Islam

• Initially it attracted a few people but infuriated the members of the dominant tribe, Quraish, who then controlled the First house of God.

• Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina where Islam became the prevalent religion.

• Mecca was finally subdued in 630 CE, after which the tribes throughout Arabia also submitted to Islam.

• Muhammad successor Khalifa (caliph) Abu-Bakr consolidated this conquest. He led the overthrow and expel of the Christians and Jews from Syria, Egypt, and North Africa.

• After these conquests, the Muslims spread from the Atlantic to the Indies without meeting effective opposition. The people of these areas were not forced to accept Islam but adopted it gradually.

• Today, the influence of Islam can be felt through almost every nook and corner of the globe.

Allah• According to Islam, God, known in Arabic as Allah, is the all-

powerful and all-knowing Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of the universe.

• Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular, they are monotheistic.

• God is unique and inherently one all-merciful and omnipotent creator who gave order to all things.

• According to the Islamic teachings, Allah exists without a place and the Qur'an states, "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. Allah is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" (Quran 6:103)

• Allah in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal deity: according to the Quran, Allah is nearer to a person than his jugular vein. (Quran 50:16) Allah responds to those in need or distress whenever they call. Above all, Allah guides humanity to the right way, “the holy way.”

• Islam teaches that Allah as referenced in the Quran is the only God and the same God worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. (Quran29:46).

First Pillar: Iman or Faith

• "There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God."

• The significance of this declaration is the belief that the only purpose of life is to serve and obey God, and this is achieved through the teachings and practices of the Last Prophet, Muhammad.

Second Pillar: Salah or Prayer

• Salah is the name for the obligatory prayers that are performed five times a day, and are a direct link between the worshipper and God.

• There is no hierarchical authority in Islam and there are no priests. Prayers are led by a learned person who knows the Qur'an and is generally chosen by the congregation.

Second Pillar: Salah or Prayer

• Prayers are said at dawn, mid-day, late-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day.

• These five prescribed prayers contain verses from the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the language of the Revelation.

• Personal supplications can be offered in one's own language and at any time.

Translation of the Adan or Call to Prayer

God is Great. God is Great. God is Great. God is Great. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to success! Come to success! God is Great! God is Great! There is none worthy of worship except God.

Third Pillar: Financial Obligation

• An important principle of Islam is that everything belongs to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need and for the society in general.

• Each Muslim calculates his or her own portion individually. This involves the annual payment of a fortieth of one's capital, excluding such items as primary residence, car and professional tools.

• An individual may also give as much as he or she pleases, i.e., "voluntary charity.“

• The Prophet said, "Even meeting your brother with a cheerful face is an act of charity." "Charity is a necessity for every Muslim."

• He was asked: "What if a person has nothing?" The Prophet replied: "He should work with his own hands for his benefit and then give something out of such earnings in charity."

• The Companions of the Prophet asked: "What if he is not able to work?" The Prophet said: "He should help the poor and needy." The Companions further asked: "What if he cannot do even that?" The Prophet said: "He should urge others to do good." The Companions said: "What if he lacks that also?" The Prophet said: "He should check himself from doing evil. That is also an act of charity."

Fourth Pillar: Sawm or Fasting

• Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from dawn until sundown. They abstain from food, drink, and sexual relations with their spouses.

• Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are menstruating, pregnant or nursing, are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year if they are healthy and able. Children begin to fast from puberty.

Fourth Pillar: Sawm or Fasting

• Fasting is beneficial to self-restraint. By cutting oneself from worldly comforts, a fasting person focuses on his or her purpose in life by constantly being aware of the presence of God.

• God states in the Quran: "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may learn self-restraint." (Qur'an 2:183)

Fifth Pillar: Hajj or Pilgrimage

• The pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj) is an obligation only for those who are physically and financially able.

• The annual hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year (which is lunar, not solar, so that hajj and Ramadan fall sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter).

• Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments that strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God.

Judaism: Source Material

• Welcome to Judaism 101! Judaism 101 is an online encyclopedia of Judaism, covering Jewish beliefs, people, places, things, language, scripture, holidays, practices ...

• www.jewfaq.org

Judaism: Symbols

• Mezuzah are reminders of the commandments• The menorah (candelabrum) the ancient universal symbol of Judaism• The Jewish star of David is a modern universal Jewish symbol• Jews wear a skullcap (yarmulke) as a pious custom• Chai, found on jewelry, is the number 18, which is a favorable number

Judaism

• Judaism has no official creed or universal doctrinal requirements for membership. In general, a person can be considered "Jewish" whether he adheres to a complete system of beliefs about God and the afterlife, holds only a few simple beliefs that give meaning to ritual, or even (at least in liberal Judaism) does not believe in God at all.

Jewish People and Culture

• This diversity in Jewish belief arises in part because actions, not beliefs, are the most important aspect of Jewish religious life. In addition, the term "Jewish" can be used to describe a group of people and a culture rather than a religion, so some who identify themselves as Jewish may have little interest in the beliefs and practices associated with the religion of Judaism

13 Articles of Judaism• 12th-century Rabbi Maimonides put together "13 Articles of

Faith" that he believed every Jew ought to adhere to. These have been widely accepted as a proper expression of the Jewish faith and they still appear in Jewish prayer books today. So while it is not necessary to believe all of these articles to be Jewish (and in fact many Jews would likely question one or more of the articles) they serve as a good general summary of religious Judaism.

• The 13 Articles of the Jewish Faith proposed by Maimonides are these:

• God exists• God is one and unique• God is incorporeal

13 Articles of Judaism

• God is eternal• Prayer is to God only.• The prophets spoke truth.• Moses was the greatest of the prophets.• The Written and Oral Torah were given to Moses.• There will be no other Torah.• God knows the thoughts and deeds of men.• God will reward the good and punish the wicked.• The Messiah will come.• The dead will be resurrected.

YHWH: Hebrew God

• In Judaism, ultimate reality is a single, all-powerful God. It is this belief that made the Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples and that became the legacy Judaism has passed on to the entire Western world. God's name in Hebrew is YHWH, which simply - but significantly - means "I am."

The Messiah

• Many of the world's religions have hope in a future heroic figure who will rescue the righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to the world. In Judaism, this figure is the Messiah

Judaism: Human Nature

• When Genesis 2:7 says "God formed man.“

• Genesis 4:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 ”therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.”

Judaism and Afterlife

• Jewish sacred texts and literature have little to say about what happens after death, which may seem surprising to non-Jews since the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam, both of which have their foundations in Judaism, elaborate rather fully about the afterlife.

The Ten Commandments

• Exodus 34:27-28: "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments."

• The Law as the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses and the children of Israel are usually taught as the covenant between God and the Israelites. However, there were other laws given to the Israelites by God. They dealt with relationships with each other, relationships with other nations, the sacrificial system which looked forward to God's sacrifice of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, the Priesthood, the offerings, the feasts, the Sabbath, etc.

• Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy contain the complete requirements of the conditional covenant.

• The Ten commandments are the only part of the O.T. that is to be publically posted.

• Deuteronomy 11:20“And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates”

The Mosaic Covenant

• The Mosaic Covenant was centered around God's giving His divine law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

• It is important to understand that the Mosaic Covenant is conditional in that the blessings that God promises are directly related to Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic Law.

• If Israel is obedient, then God will bless them, but if they disobey, then God will punish them. The blessings and curses that are associated with this conditional covenant are found in detail in Deuteronomy 28.

If they follow the condition of the Covenant

• Deuteronomy 28 - The Old Covenant• “If you indeed obey the LORD your God and are careful to

observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

• All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the LORD your God:

• You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.• Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of

your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

If they follow the conditions of the Covenant

• Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed.• You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you

go out.• The LORD will cause your enemies who attack you to be

struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions.

• The LORD will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do — yes, he will bless you in the land he is giving you.

• The LORD will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him.

If they ignore the conditions of the Covenant

• “But if you ignore the LORD your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force:

• You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.• Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed.• Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the

calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.• You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.• “The LORD will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you in

everything you undertake until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me.

• The LORD will plague you with deadly diseases until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess.

If they ignore the conditions of the Covenant

• He will afflict you with weakness, fever, inflammation, infection, sword, blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish.

• The sky above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron.

• The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

• “The LORD will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

• Do not worship any other gods besides me.• Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of

birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations. But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.

• Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

• Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day

• no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

• Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God will give you

• Do not murder• Do not commit adultery• Do not steal.• Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.• Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet

your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns.”

Hindu: Resource Material

• A Basic Study An Introduction to the Hindu Faith for the Youth and New Seekers

• www.us-hindus.com

Hindu Religion

• Is the world's oldest Religious faith. It was practiced by the ancient civilization of the Indus valley as well as other parts of India all over the Indian peninsula and surrounding areas of Asia. This Faith, with over a billion members, has been practiced for several thousand years, with very little modifications, though it has adjusted itself to the various times.

• Hinduism is a “Religious way of life" and affects every aspect of life for Hindus from birth throughout their life.

Hindu Holy Books

• Hindus do not have one "Holy Book" like many other religions, but many texts including the four Vedas along with their Upanishads

• The Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of God is an essence of the message of the Upanishads and Hindu Philosophy and is considered to be a guide on how a Hindu should live as told by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.

One God, Many Forms

• Hindus believe in One God, beyond form, space and time and beyond human comprehension.

• They believe that God is Transcendent and Immanent at the same time and will create Itself according to everyone’s desire and needs to protect the pious, to destroy the evil and establish the Divine Rule of Law and Justice.

• They believe that God will come to them in every form one desires and prays according to one's need and wish.

One God, Many Forms

• There are many sects of Hindus and each follows various forms of philosophy and worship and visualize this same Paramathma - the Supreme God - as Narayana [Vishnu], or as Paramasiva [Siva] and Paraasakthi [Sakthi or Durga]. These are the major forms of Paramatma that is understood and worshipped by the various sects of Hindu Devotees in several forms as manifestations.

One God, Many Forms

• Hindu "Gods" are worshipped in the various incarnations, manifestations and forms as created by the supreme God Paramathma for the benefit of the Human creations to easily comprehend Him as He is.

• Hindus see that One God takes the masculine forms as Brahma - the creator, Vishnu - the protector and maintainer, and Shiva as Siva-Nataraja - the destroyer and re-creator.

• Hindus see that One God in the female forms as Sakthi or Durga, - provider of energy and power, as Lakshmi, - provider of prosperity and wealth and as Saraswathi, - provider of knowledge and intelligence.

Formal Types of Worship

Formal Types of Worship include Ritualistic worship (temple or home), offering (directly or through the priest) flowers, coconut, fruits, incense, flames of oil lamps and camphor, chanting of prayers in Sanskrit (or their mother tongue), ways and materials that are relative to the worshipper.

Informal Worship

• Worship through service of one's fellow man (charity) and by one's activity

• Worship through studying of sacred texts and devotion to the Supreme

• Worship through meditation with physical and mental discipline and through understanding first the inner self then the divine that is everywhere

• Worship and prayers are the duties of the human soul to attain Divine protection from the effects of bad karmas and to get guided in the proper Path

Purity

• Hindus believe in non-violence, which is the basis for the vegetarian diet of many Hindus. Hindus believe non-injury all activities which include thought, word, and deed. Hindus believe in truth and that the truth will ultimately prevail and protect. Hindus believe in following the Dharma or the divine Law that will protect them at all times.

• Hindus believe in Karma, the law of Cause and Effect. Similar to Christian "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" or "What goes around, comes around. This effect of Karma is seen in a person now and in this birth as well as in a future birth. Hindus strive to follow Karma Yoga which is "Doing one's own duty without expectation of any rewards for it", thus avoiding the effects of the Karma.

Reincarnation

• Hindus believe in reincarnation, or "life after life." Every individual soul returns to earth several times by rebirth to perform proper Karma to purify itself. Once purified by good karma, the soul reaches liberation with no-rebirth. Attachment, greed and lust leads to bad karma leading to grief and further suffering and rebirths to wash off those effects.

• A goal of Hindus is to achieve “Moksha,” to be freed from the cycle of birth and death This is attained when the "good" and the "bad" karmas balance.

Deontological Spiritual Teachings When Applied Lead to Dharma

• Dharma is the proper rules of one's duty, which literally means "that which holds" the universe and its beings. They are classified as the general and universal rules and specific personal rules for each individual. They give peace, joy, strength and tranquility.

• Materialistic desire and passion, if not controlled, govern our actions. Unless one seeks the material benefits and pleasures within the scope of Dharma, it will cause grief with greed and lust. Moksha is the relief from pain and suffering and ultimate liberation that is the main reason for all our actions.

The Four Yogas

The four Yogas give us the spiritual discipline of our conduct.1.the correct path of performing work without greed or desire and the action performed without looking for the fruits of benefit or loss.2.the discipline of control of our body and mind. It teaches concentration, meditation, breathing and physical exercise and a state of equanimity of the mind as a natural reaction to all activities.

The Four Yogas

3. the spiritual discipline of absolute devotion and love of God. It teaches prayers and surrender to God at all times. It teaches to see and feel God in all people and all actions.

4. the path of obtaining Spiritual knowledge through action, study, meditation and devotion.

Three Traits Found in the Vedas

1. Compassion for all living things, Ahimsa and vegetarianism 2. Control of worldly pleasures directed by desire and ego3. Avoid passion, greed and lust.• Performance of proper Dharma and all the Karma leads

to a sense of peace and equanimity of mind and eternal bliss.

• Performance of one's duty without devotion to God is dry and empty. Performance of such duty should be without any attachment to its fruit but as a devotion to God.

The Teachings in the Bhagavad Gita • Thou hast a right to action or work alone, and never

to its fruits; let not the fruit of work be thy motive, let not thy attachment to inaction.

• Do thy work being steadfast in devotion and abandoning attachment Evenness being equal in success and failure. This evenness of mind is called Yoga

• All actions performed with attachment is inferior to action performed Live with mind poised in evenness. Seek shelter in this state of unperturbed evenness a desire-less mind. Those who work for selfish gains are indeed pitiable.

The Teachings in the Bhagavad Gita

• All actions performed with attachment is inferior to action performed Live with mind poised in evenness. Seek shelter in this state of unperturbed evenness a desire-less mind. Those who work for selfish gains are indeed pitiable.

Christianity: Resource Material

Yeshua/Jesus• Yeshua of Nazareth, is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ.

"Jesus" is the Greek form of his actual name "Yeshua." "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah" or the "anointed one." Thus, Jesus Christ is not Yeshua's actual name; it is a combination of a translation of his first name and a statement of his role.

• Jesus was born sometime in the fall, probably between 7 and 4 BCE. Modern-day Christians are divided about the location of his birth. Contenders are Bethlehem in Judea, Bethlehem in the Galilee, and Nazareth in the Galilee. One of the latter two is more probable because Bethlehem in Judea was uninhabited during the first centuries BCE and CE.

Origin of Christianity

• Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus, and James the Just were the central figures in the early years of the “Christian Movement." This was before the followers of Jesus were called Christians.

• The followers still considered themselves to be Jews, and often referred to themselves as followers of "The Way."

• Most Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. Little is known about his childhood or his early adult life. As he approached the age of 30, he joined an apocalyptic group obsessed with what they believed was the imminent end of the world. The group was headed by John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus. After John's execution, Jesus struck out on his own.

• Most believe that He assembled a group of 12 apostles, but that is questioned and many believe that he assembled about a half dozen very close followers -- about half men and half women -- along with over 60 or so less prominent students.

• According to the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) his ministry was in the Galilee and lasted a year. According to the Gospel of John, it lasted three or four years and was in Judea.

• Jesus was an Orthodox Jew, and a student /follower of Hillel the Elder -- the founder of the more liberal of the two schools of Jewish philosophy that were active at the time.

• After having committed aggravated assault in the Jerusalem temple close to the time of Passover, he was arrested by the Roman Army, tried, and sentenced to death as an insurrectionist. He was executed in Jerusalem by the Roman occupying authorities, perhaps on a Friday in the spring of the year 30 Common Era.

• The Bible records that he was bodily resurrected about a day and a half after his death, probably sometime during Saturday or very early Sunday morning. The Bible describes his ascension into the clouds towards Heaven either one day after his resurrection or some 40 days later (biblical references differ). At the time, Jews believed in a three-layer universe with Heaven located above a dome -- called the firmament -- that was suspended over a flat Earth. They believed that Hades was located below the Earth. So to get to Heaven in this design of the cosmos, Jesus would have had to ascend vertically through the air.

• Shortly after Jesus' execution, many followers of The Way organized a reformed Jewish synagogue in Jerusalem under the leadership of Jesus' brother James. They believed that Jesus was a human prophet adopted by God to reform Judaism. This group, often called Jewish Christians, followed the Mosaic Law, including the dietary restrictions. They observed Jewish holy days, circumcised their male infants, and sacrificed in the Jerusalem temple. The Jewish Christians were mostly killed by the Roman Army after the latter's attack on Jerusalem. The rest were scattered.

Saul/Paul • He was originally named Saul and was an orthodox Jew who

persecuted followers of The Way. The Bible records that he was present during the stoning of Stephen, believed to be the first martyr of the Jesus Movement. The Bible describes a vision that Saul had of the risen Christ, circa 34 CE. At the time, Saul he was on the road to Damascus where he had intended to arrest Jesus Movement followers and return them to Jerusalem. His vision had a profound affect on him. He changed his name to Paul, left the area for a few years apparently to develop a consistent theology that is often referred to as Pauline Christianity, returned to Jerusalem, went on a number of missionary journeys, founded many churches and became the greatest theologian and missionary of the early Christian movement.

Paul the Missionary• Paul wrote a series of letters -- generally referred to as

epistles -- to early followers of Jesus in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. His epistles did not primarily deal with Jesus' life and message; he had already explained these topics when he founded the groups. Rather, he mainly dealt with problems that had later arisen within these communities.

• Paul was executed in Rome, probably during the 60's CE, again by the Roman Empire.

• Paul's missionary journeys, and those of his followers, resulted in the establishment of many local churches throughout the Roman Empire that followed his teachings -- often referred to as Proto-Christianity. Paul's version of Christianity abandoned many of the requirements of Judaism, like strict dietary laws, circumcision, etc. His churches flourished

Polytheist were seen as Pagan Christianity needed to be Monotheistic

• Christians in the 4th century CE were divided concerning the relationship between Yahweh, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This was finally resolved by votes at various church councils which established the doctrine of the Trinity. Most Christian faith groups ever since view the Trinity as consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These are viewed as three separate persons, all eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibeneficient, etc. who form a single, unified deity. Most Christians believe that Jesus co-existed with God the Father before the creation of the universe.

The growth of Christianity and Constantine

• By the third century of our era, we have something called Christianity with its own sacred books, its own rituals, its own ideas, but this is the great age of confrontation with the Roman Empire. The third century, of course, the great age of persecutions, where the Roman Empire now wakes up and realizes that there is something new, and from their perspective, sinister, afoot in new groups that are threatening the social order and ultimately the political order of the Empire.

Suffering and Martyrdom

• Like other religions, Judaic-Christian based cultures often think of persecution in a positive perspective. In early of Christianity, we see the heroic martyrs as confronting the might of Rome. And the martyrs as a wonderful demonstration of Christian faith. However, we must realize that the Roman Empire was doing what all bureaucracies do. It was trying to protect itself, trying to perpetuate itself.

• How do we feel about Muslim martrys?

Romans and Christianity

• The Romans tried to beat down Christianity but failed. By the 4th century Christianity becomes the state religion and by the end of the 4th century it is illegal to do any form of public worship other than Christianity in the entire Roman Empire.

• The reversal begins with Jesus who is executed by the Romans as a public criminal, as a threat to the social order, and somehow we wind up three centuries later with Jesus being hailed as the new Christian Roman Empire.

Romans and Christianity

• The Romans saw Jesus as a Mediterranean radical. He was a political radical, broke from traditional religion, had a small group of followers….today he might be seen as a cultist.

• It is important to realize that we have a progression and a set of developments, and that Christianity by the fourth century is not the same as the Christianity that we see in the first or even the second.

Constantine and Christianity

• One of the most surprising Christian heroes in the entire tradition is Constantine. He is, first of all, a successful general. He is also the son of a successful general and at the head of the army at the West. And he's fighting another successful general, struggling for who is going to be at the top of the heap of the very higher echelons of Roman government. What happens is that Constantine has a vision. Luckily for the Church, there is a bishop nearby to interpret what the vision means.

• Constantine ends not converting to Christianity, but becoming a patron of one particular branch of the church. It happens to be the branch of the church that has the Old Testament as well as the New Testament as part of its canon. Which means that since this branch of Christianity includes the story about historical Israel as part of its own redemptive history, it has an entire language for articulating the relationship of government and piety. It has the model of King David. It has the model of the kings of Israel. And it's with this governmental model that the bishop explains the vision to Constantine.

• In a sense Constantine becomes the embodiment of the righteous king (Divine Monarchy). And once he consolidates his power by conquering, eventually, not only the West, but also the Greek East where there are many more Christians concentrated in the cities, which are the social power packets of this culture, he is in this amazing position of having a theology of government that he can use to consolidate his own secular power. And it works both ways. The bishops now have basically federal funding to have sponsored committee meetings so they can try to iron out creeds and get everybody to sign up.

• One of the first things Constantine does, as emperor, is start persecuting other Christians. The Gnostic Christians, other dualist Christians, and those not respecting the Old Testament are targeted. There's a purge of the church as one emperor ruling one empire tries to have this single church as part of the religious vision of a renewed Rome. And it is with this theological vision in mind that Constantine helps the bishops to develop a unitary policy of what a true Christian believes.

• Constantine take the city of Jerusalem, which was something of a backwater, and he begins to build beautiful basilicas and architectural projects in the city.

• What he does is religiously relocate the center of gravity of the city around the places where Christ had suffered, where he had been buried and rose from the dead. Constantine develops a new Jerusalem, that enhances his reputation as an imperial architect and spiritual leader. The city resonates with great figures in biblical history like David and Solomon. In a sense, Constantine is a non-apocalyptic Messiah for the church.

Constantine and the Catholic Church

• The bishops are terribly grateful for this kind of imperial attention. I The lines of power are unambiguous. Constantine is absolutely the source of authority.

• The bishops are able to take advantage of Constantine's mood and his curious intellectual interest in things like Christology and the Trinity and Church organization. They're able to have bibles copied at public expense. There is a symbiotic relationship between the empire and the church.

The teaching of Christ was not behavior, but a state of being

• The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)• Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.• Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.• Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be

comforted.• Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice:

for they shall have their fill.• Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

The teaching of Christ was not a behavior, but a state of being

• Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

• Blesses are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

• Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heav

The teaching of Christ was not a behavior, but a state of being

• Christ was not a dictator of laws, but lawlessness. He taught that we were to purify our spirit to reflect a state of being that is in harmony with the eight beatitudes. He was not promoting a behavior of love, but a state of being love.

• One can behave like they love without loving. Christ emphasized love, not a behavior replicating love.

Liberation Theology

• Liberation Theology as the effort to think about the meaning of religious faith in the context of oppression, war, poverty, inequality and environmental destruction, and the effort to live a compassionate, courageous and life-sustaining response to those conditions.

Tenets of Liberation Theology

• liberation from unjust political, economic or cultural structures that destroy people

• liberation from the sense that one’s station in life is foreordained and unchangeable (i.e., fate)

• liberation from personal sin and guilt. Liberation theology was born in a time and place of great poverty and social injustice in Latin America in the mid-20th century and was often wedded to socialism and Marxist social theory.

Liberation Theology

• Liberation theology varies greatly according to the culture in which it arises, but its underlying themes are immediately recognizable across the world: the transformation of everyday life through a new awakening of compassion, courage, truthfulness and justice based on the teachings of Christ.

• It is a work in progress, rejected by the Pope Benedict and many traditional religions.

Liberation Theology

• Liberation theologians hold that mainstream theologians disregard liberation theology because it is born out of the enormous pain and extraordinary hope of the underserved and underrepresented. They also have concerns because it could inspire many in a unacceptable tradition and offend many who are inspired by traditional theology.

E) divine command_theory

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