Origins of religions
SIMPLE GUIDE TO HINDU TERMS
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SIMPLE GUIDE TO HINDU TERMS
HINDUISM- SOME GODS AND GODDESSES
BUDDHISM AND GOD (WATCH TOWER, 1990) “Buddhism teaches the way to perfect goodness and wisdom without a personal God; the highest knowledge without a ‘revelation’; the possibility of redemption without a vicarious redeemer, a salvation in which everyone is his own savior.” The Message of Buddhism, by the Bhikkhu Subhadra, as quoted in What is Buddhism? Then are Buddhists atheists? The book What is Buddhism? Published by the Buddhist Lodge, London, answers: “If by atheist you mean one who rejects the concept of personal God, we are.” Then it goes on to say: “A growing mind can as easily digest the idea of a Universe guided by unswerving Law, as it can the concept of a distant Personage that it may never see, who dwells it knows not where, and who has at some time created out of nothing a Universe which is permeated by enmity, injustice, inequality of opportunity, and endless suffering and strife.” Thus, in theory, Buddhist does not advocate belief in God or a Creator. However, Buddhist temples and stupas are found in every country where Buddhism is practiced, and images and relics of Buddhas and bodhisattvas have become objects of prayers, offerings and devotion by devout Buddhists. The Buddha, who never claimed to be God, has now become a god in every sense of the word.
Because Confucius made few comments about God, many people view Confucianism as only a philosophy and not a religion. Yet, what he said and did, showed that he was religious. This can be seen in two respects. First, he had a reverent fear for a Supreme cosmic spiritual power, what the Chinese call T’ien, or Heaven, which he regarded as the source of all virtue and moral goodness and whose will, he felt, directs all things. Second, he placed great emphasis on meticulous observance of the rites and ceremonies relating to the worship of heaven and the spirits of departed ancestors. Though Confucius never advocated these views as a form of religion, to generations of Chinese they have become what religion is all about.
THE FIVE CLASSICS
SHINTO- A RELIGION OF FESTIVALS The Japanese year is full of religious festivals, or matsuri. The following are some of the principal ones:
CHAPTER FOUR RELIGION AND REVELATIONS There are four types of theistic Religions: Theistic Religions are Religions that believe in God, gods and the Supernatural; they are Polytheism, Ancestor worship, Monotheism and Ascetic oriental religions: of all these, only Monotheism like Judaism, Christianity and Islam have traditions of Prophets, prophecies and Holy Books: Prophets received revelations from God; Those revelations were written down to form Holy Books like the Bible and the Quran. WHAT IS REVELATION: Revelation is from the word “reveal”. To reveal means to show someone something that person previously did not know. God reveals to prophets and individuals what we previously did not know. Hence, Bible revelations are hidden supernatural ‘knowledge revealed to God’s chosen prophets, rnessengers and worshippers. THE BIBLE AS A RECORD OF GOD’S REVELATIONS OF HIMSELF God’s Revelations of Himself (see also QURAN.3:84) The Bible is the Christian written word of God. It is the record of God’s dealings with men and God’s revelations of himself and his will. It contains the account of God’s gradual revelation of himself first, to the people of Israel through his actions in their lives then to the rest of the world and their communities, e.g. the Islamic Quran is based on the Old Testament. (Quran 2:87; 19:30; :3; 45- 84). The Bible did not appear in the form it is today “it was first passed on in oral traditions, later the art of writing was discovered, then people had to draw objects they wanted in forms of pictures and later Alphabets emerged. Writing materials and paper were equally discovered. Many writers contributed in writing the books of the Bible, later they were compiled into one big Holy Bible. No Holy book, anywhere, fell down from heaven; All Holy Books were written by inspired human beings. Historically, readers believe that the writers of the Bible were inspired by the super- intending power of the Holy Spirit; that no prophecy or scriptures ever came by the input of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1; 20 21). Revelation in this context means opening or releasing something that is hidden so that people will know and understand such things. It means bringing to light the acts and will of God so that man can work with him to accomplish his divine purpose. Through revelations from the Bible, God uncovered his Supreme Being, and aspects of his nature such as his power, holiness, love, justice, commandments and his eternal plan of redemption of (sinful) man. God’s revelations of himself through the Bible and Quran have given us the privilege to know him, love him and serve him. Also God’s revelation of himself through the Bible took gradual processes. God revealed his person and actions in the past, and his attitude in present and future events. In each case, he uncovered to prophets what he wants us to do in any circumstance. God revealed himself and his plans to some Old Testament characters. Please see the following Bible passages for the stories of those characters. These stories are also in the Quran.
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF IN HISTORY
After revealing himself to all the above listed characters,God finally revealed himself through his incarnate son,Christ, regarded by Christians as the greatest revelation on earth, and regarded by the Quran as second to prophet Mohammed (Q19:33, Q3:45, 55-58).Mohammed came about 535 years after Jesus.
The Bible is a. very reliable source of information and guidance to all Christians who believe in God’s revelation of himself to man. The Bible is more than a historical document to be preserved. It is more than a classic of English Literature to be cherished and admired. It is a record of God’s revelation of himself and his will to man. It carries its full message to those who read that they may discern and understand God’s word to man. Almost everything in the Old Testament and Jesus as God’s prophet (prophet Isa), are in the Quran as true revelations from God. (Onyekwelu.H.C. 2006)
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL LESSONS 1. The Bible contains the mind and incarnation of God. You must form the habit of reading and studying the Bible always, so that you will hear and be guided by God’s messages; while also respecting other people’s religions. REVISION QUESTIONS AND EVALUATION
ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIBLE: Before we study the books of the Bible, we shall first study how the Bible was developed to its present form. Originally the Bible was in oral- tradition, before it was written down. This is the way most historical events throughout the world were handed down from one generation to the other, through words of mouth called oral traditions. These also included folk tales, songs, riddles and proverbs which our parents and elders often told us about the ancient past. It is. therefore not surprising why the Jews can easily narrate Bible stories of creation, call of Abraham, God’s covenant laws with Israel, Joseph and the Jews in Egypt; of Moses himself, the Passover and liberation of the Jews from Egyptian bondage; not forgetting God’s provision for the forty (wilderness) years and Israel’s settlement in the promised land(Canaan). These traditional stories lasted for many years from one generation to the other until the Jews discovered the art of writing and wrote the Old Testament.
Egypt was one of the centers of civilization in the world:The art of writing was first developed by the people of Egypt (c 4241BCE) and Mesopotamia; some even suggest China. The first writing was in form of pictures to signify what they wanted. Later, Egyptians discovered alphabets and the use of Papyrus reeds along the River Nile to make paper10 (ibid Nwala: 1997). They also discovered writing materials like the pen (Stylus). Later, the people of Canaan discovered the art of writing from Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Israelites took advantage of this development and learnt the art of writing from the Canaanites in whose land they settled. Many Jewish scholars developed and advanced the art of writing with the result that during the peaceful reign of King Solomon they were able to collect all their moral stories, songs, proverbs and other historical events and wrote them down to form the Old-Testament.lt was not an easy task, but through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these scholars were able to do a wonderful work. Writing the Old Testament was the first to be completed from the era of King Solomon, between C 95OBCE to200BCE (Oyekanmi.O.A.Canon of the Old Testament (2002) p34. Many books were written, but not all of them were accepted. Only the inspired ones were selected and later canonized as the Old Testament Bible we have today. The works of many scholars were rejected because of lack of spiritual import and empowerment. (See Pseudo - Epigrapha and Apocrypha) The old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (or Aramaic) language for the interest of the Hellenist Jews (or Jews of dispersion) in Greek speaking countries. The New Testament was written in Greek language some thirty to sixty five years after the death of Jesus Christ. Just like the Old Testament works, many scholars also wrote several books on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the events of the early church; but the church fathers, or authorities of the church, decided to select only those inspired books that had spiritual impact and moral values to form the New Testament Bible that we have today. Later, the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament languages were translated into Latin (Roman language) since the Jews were then under the Roman Empire. From Latin it was translated to English, Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa languages so that Nigerians can read the Bible in their various languages and understand the word of God. Translation of Holy Books into Indigenous languages to help preserve the languages is called ‘Bilingual-Translation Theology. According to tradition, we should understand that the most ancient translation of the Old Testament into the Greek language is called the Septuagint (seventy). This is so called because it took seventy-two Jewish scholars seventy days to complete the translation. After many centuries, the Jews decided to bring the Hebrew and Greek translations into a single text. To achieve this, they wanted to remove any differences between one copy and the other. They appointed Jews called the Masoretes to revise the consonantal Hebrew and Aramaic texts. They added vowel signs to the consonantal Hebrew text. (See Oyekanmi. O.A: 2002) e.g. YHWH is YAHWEH. Their work is called the Masoretic text, which was completed between the 6th and 9th centuries C.E. (i.e. 500 CE to 800CE) after Father Jerome’s Latin-Catholic Vulgate translation (399-405CE) ordered by Pope Damasus: (Brockman and Pescantini: 2004).
The Bible is made up of two main parts; the Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament simply means written statements and beliefs. Inter-Testamental, means the 400 years between Jewish return from Babylonian exile and the birth of Jesus when it is said there was no prophecy. It was within that period that Greek early philosophers like Socrates and company, and Hellenism i.e. Greek-Culture blossomed. (400BCE- 5BCE) see (Danny McCain; 1996) The Old Testament, contains the books of the Bible telling of the history of the Jews and their beliefs. They are covenant books between God and his people Israel at Mount Sinai during the time of. Moses. The New Testament, contains the books of the Bible telling of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and his earliest followers. The relationship between the two is that most of the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament. E.g. the prophetic sign of Isaiah about the birth of a child to be named Immanuel through a young woman (Isaiah 9:6) was fulfilled in the New Testament Gospel of Christ (Matt 2:1 = Luke 2:7). The Jews used candles in the Temple to show the light yet to come; When Jesus came, he said.... “l am the light of the world’. The Bible is made up of sixty six (66) inspired and accepted books: Thirty nine (39) are from the Old Testament, while twenty seven (27) books are from the New Testament. This is the protestant version. The catholic version has seven (7) added books making it seventy three (73) in all;that is forty six (46) in the. Old Testament and same twenty seven (27) books in the New Testament. These seven books or writings recognized and added to the catholic version (the vulgate) include Baruch, Tobit, Judith, Sirach, Wisdom, I Maccabees and II Maccabees. Yüklə 0,98 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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