Man, or men, is the collection of human thought that has been observed, and / or recorded over time. The Bible begins with "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the [Hebrew, Syriac: wild animals]:creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over.." Ge.1:26-28d [NIV]. With or without the inclusion of 'God,' this is the most consistent definition of Man ever written, and, since it was written through Moses in a document dated c.1426 ± 20 B.C., it is sufficiently removed from our current cultural mores to be considered biased.
Through careful study of Genesis 1, we see that Man is defined as being like God in authority over all living things on this earth, and we can clearly see that this is so. However, Man is not divided as male and female in this: both male and female forms have this inert authority, and careful study of human society bears this out.
Hence, I must say, and the Bible concurs with me, that - in definition of Man - there is the fact that none can be in authority over Man except God who has created Man, and that which Man has of its own volition chosen to serve.
Atheism is the assertion that there is no God, and that there are no gods; that is, sentient beings who have direct control over our lives. There are, of course, gods, who are not sentient beings, who have control over our lives. And, therefore, it is a mistake to say that we are not religious, since -
Religion is a system of worship towards a god, gods, or God. All men are religious, although many confess that they believe that there are no gods, and that they are Atheists. Bob Dylan has written quite accurately: that 'you've gotta serve somebody.' And, this is so. Simply put, religion is the defined act of serving. Some very careful people claim that they not Atheistic however, but Agnostic.
Agnosticism is the assertion that one does not know of the existence of a sentient god, gods, or God. I have much more to say about this assertion, but for now I lay this charge: that it is an assertion devised to avoid responsibility, and actually very foolish in nature.
Animism is regarded by many to be the world's oldest religion. This is also an assertion. It is unprovable since we lack clearly written, comprehensive historical documentation. The basis of this assertion comes from comprehensive anthropological studies into world religions where, it has been observed, a similar pattern exists in the majority; that nature is rendered anthropomorphic in order to explain the unexplainable, thereby giving men a sense of peace; that spirits are created by Man because Man needs to have an object for belief. I have discussed this topic elsewhere. I do not doubt that it is old, only that it is the oldest.
Hinduism is a hybrid form of animism and social philosophy, the latter of which, as I understand it, was developed into the caste system by a Persian race known as the Aryans who sought to control the shorter, dark-skinned Dravidian race that previously dominated the continent of India. Out of it evolved the concept of monism, that all is in one, and one is in all, and that everything is relative. In similar expression to the Bible, the world began formless and, as is also noted in Shintoism, there was water. The physical reality was only a very bad dream, not reality at all. But, also, inescapable: life was constantly reborn, and good will delivered its supporters up unto great life forms: from micro-organisms, to bugs, and finally to black men, then white men; the epitome of 'godhood' on earth. The gods offered solace, but in the end, humanity was condemned to an endless cycle of births, and deaths, and failures and pain. The white men were supreme, and black men were slaves .. until they became white men.
Shintoism, like Hinduism, is animistic in nature and politically contrived. It is the belief that, in addition to the Kami (spirits), there is a living kami who has taken the form of the emperor of Japan. This kami is a direct descendant of the sun goddess, absolutely sovereign in authority, and perfect in judgement over the tribes of Japan. This concept helped create a japanese class system that rose to its most explicit form during Japan's feudal period. Both Hinduism, and Shintoism essentially arise out of animism.
Monism is the belief that everything is related to everything to the point of not being truly individualistic. Both Hinduism and Shintoism are monistic, and there is the sense that philosophies based on animism tend towards chaos, where there is no fixed reality at all.
Buddhism only acknowledges the world-view of Hinduism as its founder lived wholly and inescapably within it. Prince Gotama declared that we could only hope to escape by realising the true reality within us. The world would always exist. The gods, whether real or imagined, could never help us: we had to help ourselves.
Judaism is concerned with a different world-view, that it once shared with similar religions of the Middle-east, that there is in reality one God - who is our Creator - who chose to reveal Himself to Man from the beginning, and continued to reveal himself, especially through the line of Abraham, the Jew. In this revelation, a system of sacrifice was developed that was meant to give atonement to its practioners, if followed perfectly. It was accepted that Man had failed, and was rendered imperfect by an act of disobedience that followed us down through all of our racial lines. However, in God there is new hope, for this Creator God promised to deliver us and established fair laws for His citizens to live by. A basic premise of Judaism is that the descendants of Abraham, specifically through his son Isaac, would be a blessing to the whole world because of their faith in this one God.
YHWH is the Hebrew designation of the Creator God. It means "I AM". To Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch, God revealed Himself as the I AM, whereas to Abraham He was El Shaddai (God, Provider). Whether in hebrew or english, the significance of this choice of words is interesting: because God has chosen to be known in the present, continous form, and this is true to His nature; for the Bible teaches us that God is unchanging in character, and always present in life. He is always ready to respond to our needs.
I believe that the first religion began in the Garden of Eden when the first man and first woman walked with the invisible God in harmony. But, Man's understanding became darkened, whereby Man turned to both nature and confusion in worship. However, movements to return to the earth, and natural ways could be our attempt to return to the Garden, rather than to animism. The truth of this would depend on whether we have a genuine genetic memory, which remains academic.
Christianity is the belief that God came to earth incarnated as a man, as was promised to the Hebrews, to dwell with Man, and that He established a way that we could find atonement from our failures through Himself, by His death on a pole. Through His prophets, He taught us many things about that day, and also of that Day to come, when the earth and heavens will be remade, and His Kingdom established on earth forever.
The Islamic faith traces its roots down from Ishmael, the first-born of Abraham, and claims that the Jewish Scriptures have been perverted by the Jews, but that their form of religion is the true religion, and that Jesus was a prophet only. Like their Semitic cousins, they hold that Christianity is not monotheistic but that Christians worship three gods. However, the core of the Islamic faith is contained in its own sacred scriptures, the Koran, which is claimed as the writings of their prophet Mohammed. Mohammed claimed that he had been visited by an angel of God, who instructed him to write down the words of what has become sacred scripture to Moslems. There is therefore no historical context to the work, except in its effect to later generations. We do know that Mohammed was the son of an Arabic merchant, who dealt regularly with Jews and Christians, and that Mohammed gained exposure to these religious forms as he accompanied his father on his travels.
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God. Its three major strains have been shown immediately above. A general criticism of monotheism is its exclusive nature; claiming to be the only truth. However, this criticism is biased, as all forms of religion tend toward both uniqueness and exclusivity. The argument, itself, can be dismissed, but the need to worship that we each share demands that we choose, and we do choose whether we do this intentionally or not. Therefore, a caution: listen carefully to the suppositions, and beware of personal biases. As the Bible states "There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death." Pr.14:12[NRSV]
