Christianity
- Jesus of Nazareth;
His death became the last instance of blood sacrifice in the Jewish tradition and is thought to atone for all possible sin, due to the infinite value of the divine human sacrifice. The key concept in Christianity is that there is a protocol by means of which one may use that blood sacrifice to pay for personal failings which have offended God, who requires retribution in His capacity as ultimate judge. Christianity has a closed canon of doctrine, the Bible (Old and New Testements). Christianity’s largest authoritative body is the Holy See, the Vatican and Pope; ; fewer than half of all Christians recognize the authority of this body. The sects of Christianity can generally be categorized by their reaction to the Nicene Creed. Most of Christianity for most of history has held that those who die without accepting the doctrines of Christianity are doomed to Hell; Almighty God is infinitely just, merciful, and loving.
Confucianism
- emphasizes harmony within human society; by means of Confucianism one may learn of and practice right behavior with immediate benefit. Confucianism bears a strong resemblance to Western Secular Humanism; however, it has a legacy of academic excellence nearly unbroken for over two-thousand years; world religion embedded into Chinese folk religion and within Korean and Japanese social values. Confucius was a great teacher born in China ca550 BCE. The major teachings of Confucius refer to a concept of li, which is a Chinese word meaning “offering” but which refers to formal ritual. Confucius loved li and used it as a means to inspire participants to profound accomplishments; at the same time, he sought to create the society which could appreciate, rather than simply perform, li; related concept- ren, which is both a feeling of love for others and the attribute of benevolence; grants personal success and spiritual fulfillment to the practitioner. Confucianism regards each person's active involvement in a community as being the means to fulfillment. Fundamental Relationships: Child’s obedience to parent’s proper upbringing, Subject’s good morality to ruler’s benevolence, Wife’s fidelity to husband’s adoration, Young’s respect to old’s guidance, and Friend’s constancy to more-experienced friend’s concern. Relationships become part of a spiritual system of ancestor veneration, often improperly called “ancestor worship. Confucianism’s open canon is standardized from these traditional texts: Li Ji (Classic of Rites) - manual of Zhou court ceremony (Li); the model of procedure to achieve betterment in civilization, Yi-jing (I Ching, Classic of Changes) - yin-yang cosmological descriptions; comparable to environmentalism, Shu-jing (Classic of History) - data regarding Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties; value of cultural tradition, Chun Qiu (Classic of Spring and Autumn) - a philosophical commentary on political events; applications of Li theory, and Shi-jing (Classic of Poetry) - Zhou Dynasty poetry with cultural significance; egalitarian spirituality of all mankind; offers immediate benefits to all practitioners, regardless of spiritual beliefs. Li ultimately results in betterment to participants, so although it might mention Tian (heaven), all of the benefit comes from its actual execution and not from a divine response to li.
Hinduism
-three most powerful forms: that of Brahman, the Creator of All; Shiva, Destroyer of All; and Vishnu, Preserver of All. This Almighty God also takes other forms, and popularly the forms are numbered as 330 million, and many forms act as individual deities. Some Hindus say that there are many gods and yet only an Almighty God; or some just say there are many gods and say nothing of an Almighty God. This is a difficult concept for non-Hindus but sensible to Hindus; an inherent and personal dharma (duty) for each creature; it is beneficial to recognize and accept this duty. Dharma changes in every incarnation of a soul. The design of the universe contains an inherent system of applying merit based on a creature’s adherence to its dharma; this system is called karma. Karma stays the same as a soul reincarnates- recognizing maya (illusion) and thereby achieving moksha (enlightenment). Vishnu loves humanity and wants humanity to seek Him. He incarnates Himself on earth periodically when righteousness declines and unrighteousness increases; while on earth he then augments the former and combats the latter. Three of Vishnu’s latest forms have been Rama (born 7400 BCE), a dutiful warrior whose story is contained in the epic Ramayana; Krishna (born 3200 BCE), an intensely physically and mentally attractive cowherd and prince whose story is told in the epic Mahabharata; and Buddha (born 560 BCE), founder of Buddhism. Hindu tradition has been the formative background for the nurturing of other religions, notably Zoroastrianism (through Parsis), Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Historically, these faith systems and Hinduism itself have produced some of the highest philosophical treatises on the topic of peaceful living. None of these other religions have any basis in Hinduism; they were founded separately from Hindu religious influence; one’s dharma which directs one to glorify Almighty God in the appropriate way.
Humanism
- human conduct; for humanists, the morality of the individual’s conduct remains a crucial consideration whether or not a god exists, hence there are both theist and atheist humanists; rationality is strongly emphasized; philosophy strive to base all of their convictions, religious or secular, on sound evidence and reasoning. The birth of humanism can be traced as far back as 1000 BCE to the Lokayata philosophy of India. Around the sixth century BCE, Taoist teacher Laozi imported this philosophy to China, where Confucius was also teachings ethics which centered on human conduct. In the Pali texts of the Buddhist tradition, Gautama Buddha showed skepticism about the supernatural world, arguing that it is absurd to believe that human existence is permanent if neither a soul nor anything associated with it exists. Thales of Miletus and Xenophanes of Colophon- , “Know thyself”. Other classical Greek humanists who relied on reason and criticized superstition include Anaxagoras, reputedly the first “free thinker”, his pupil, Pericles, Democritus and Protagoras, and Thucydides. Epicurus- consider moral questions apart from the supernatural. Humanism re-emerged in the late Middle ages and Renaissance as an intellectual movement in western Europe. The Italian poet Petrarch was possibly the first pre-modern humanist and was the first to identify a definite “dark age” between the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 and his own time. As a solution to medieval “ignorance”, Petrarch suggested the study of classical liberal arts, such as rhetoric, poetry, and grammar, by figures such as Cicero. Many scholars agree that these medieval humanists were not secular humanists in the modern sense, but were often involved in the church and were sometimes even priests. A French periodical of 1765 defined the term as a “love of humanity”. Religious humanists believe in sufficient evidence for the existence of God, but they do not accept claims of Biblical inerrancy, while secular humanists generally find insufficient evidence for the existence of God, and hence many of them are atheists or agnostics. Modern humanists often endorse scientific skepticism and the scientific method. Key issues are gender and racial equality, reproductive rights, civil rights, freedom of and from religion, and separation of church and state. Humanism has no sacred text which codifies humanist beliefs. However, the writings of many humanists over thousands of years comprise an informal, evolving canon. Important early figures in humanism were Socrates, Aristotle and Confucius, all of whose works were seminal in the development of the philosophy. Among the most important modern humanist philosophers have been Brand Blanshard, a professor of philosophy at Yale University, and Thomas Hurka, a professor of philosophy at the University of Calgary. In general, humanists place a great deal of emphasis on living a full life, with a rich variety of experiences and accomplishments, and in contributing to the quality of life of others as well. Those who try to make the world a better place are living humanistically; humanism endorses the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The attitudes of humanists towards the world’s religions vary widely. Some humanists, having been persecuted for their convictions, or seeing religion as superstitious, have an active dislike of all forms of religion; others recognize value in religion, though in a very questioning, seeking way; others yet are somewhere in between, seeing religion as a mixed blessing which consists of both oppressive or irrational dogma as well as universal human principles. Many humanists believe there is great need of religious reform and enlightenment.
