Thursday, June 17, 2004
God Vs Gods or Polytheism Vs Monotheism
Back to a subject I have touched upon several times on this blog. Ira Rifkin has written an interesting review, in the Toronto Star, of Jonathan Kirsch's new book called God Against the Gods:The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism. Among the points he makes is that Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman empire entirely due to political reasons (Council of Nicaea etc), a point that has received increased currency thanks to the stunning popularity of the Da Vinci Code. In fact, Dan Brown took it one step further and suggested that Constantine in fact died a pagan, not a Christian. The other interesting point Kirsch makes is about Emperor Julian.
"Julian is one of the great `what ifs?' of history," said Kirsch, an intellectual property lawyer. "Human history is the history of our evolution toward greater individual liberty. I have the nagging feeling that, at least in the West, we might have gotten there faster and in a more direct way had Julian lived." Polytheism, the belief that there can be more than one god, was the ancient world's dominant religious system. Today it survives chiefly in Hinduism, in tribal traditions, in Afro-Caribbean faiths, and in Wicca and other neo-pagan movements that are growing in North America and Western Europe. Greco-Roman polytheism reached its philosophical peak in Neo-Platonism, which emphasized ethical behaviour and the existence of a unifying transcendent reality.
Polytheism's core value, Kirsch writes, is theological pluralism, a stark contrast to traditional monotheism's penchant for insisting that the "One God" demands theological conformity. And religious freedom, the 54-year-old Kirsch said in a telephone interview, paves the way for public differences of opinion on other topics as well. In his book, Kirsch begins the story of monotheism's rise with Akthenaton, the 14th century B.C. Egyptian pharaoh and proto-monotheist. (Kirsch skips the biblical prophets Abraham and Moses, whose historical reality he rejects as unproven.)
Not until the reign of King Josiah, the 7th century B.C. ruler of the Jewish kingdom of Judah, did the biblical Israelites fully elevate their chief god, Yahweh, to the status of the "One God." "Judaism as a faith of strict monotheism can be said to begin with King Josiah," said Kirsch. Kirsch devotes the greater part of his book to the reigns of Constantine, who embraced Christianity and made it Rome's official faith in the 4th century, and Julian the Apostate, Constantine's nephew who briefly restored polytheism to its traditional place in the Roman pantheon for one last time. Christian writers emphasize Constantine's faith conversion as the root of his Christianity. Kirsch emphasizes Constantine's political motivations.
He writes that Constantine's "preference for monotheism over polytheism reflected his own ambition to achieve the same absolute power on earth that the Christian god was believed to exercise in heaven." Likewise, Kirsch continues, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 — out of which Christian tradition says came the faith's central statement of doctrine, the Nicene Creed — more out of a desire to impose control over an increasingly unwieldy church than out of concern for theological clarity in pursuit of spiritual truths.
Julian — who came to full power in 360, following Constantine's death and after some years of nasty internecine intrigue — was a pagan counter-revolutionary who restored religious legitimacy to classical Greco-Roman polytheism. However, Kirsch emphasizes, Julian did not try to eradicate monotheism as Rome's Christian rulers had sought for polytheism. Julian instead sought to place polytheism and Christianity on equal footing. "That's what's most appealing about polytheism — its openness to accommodating the faiths of others," said Kirsch.
Kirsch may have a sweet spot for polytheism, but he fully acknowledges that polytheists, including pre-Christian Romans, can be as brutish as fervent monotheists (his term for fanatical fundamentalists). The only difference between violent polytheists and violent monotheists is that the former kill to gain political control and the latter kill to assert theological dominance. The difference is subtle, said Kirsch, but important. Polytheists sought control over the public sphere alone; monotheists sought control over private thoughts as well.
Kirsch recounted a Buddhist aphorism to sum up his religious beliefs: "One moon, many pools. Many pools, one moon." The point, he explained, is that light from a single source can be reflected in many ways.
I am hoping I can convince Sanjay to post his response to this piece as a guest post. Watch this space.
"Julian is one of the great `what ifs?' of history," said Kirsch, an intellectual property lawyer. "Human history is the history of our evolution toward greater individual liberty. I have the nagging feeling that, at least in the West, we might have gotten there faster and in a more direct way had Julian lived." Polytheism, the belief that there can be more than one god, was the ancient world's dominant religious system. Today it survives chiefly in Hinduism, in tribal traditions, in Afro-Caribbean faiths, and in Wicca and other neo-pagan movements that are growing in North America and Western Europe. Greco-Roman polytheism reached its philosophical peak in Neo-Platonism, which emphasized ethical behaviour and the existence of a unifying transcendent reality.
Polytheism's core value, Kirsch writes, is theological pluralism, a stark contrast to traditional monotheism's penchant for insisting that the "One God" demands theological conformity. And religious freedom, the 54-year-old Kirsch said in a telephone interview, paves the way for public differences of opinion on other topics as well. In his book, Kirsch begins the story of monotheism's rise with Akthenaton, the 14th century B.C. Egyptian pharaoh and proto-monotheist. (Kirsch skips the biblical prophets Abraham and Moses, whose historical reality he rejects as unproven.)
Not until the reign of King Josiah, the 7th century B.C. ruler of the Jewish kingdom of Judah, did the biblical Israelites fully elevate their chief god, Yahweh, to the status of the "One God." "Judaism as a faith of strict monotheism can be said to begin with King Josiah," said Kirsch. Kirsch devotes the greater part of his book to the reigns of Constantine, who embraced Christianity and made it Rome's official faith in the 4th century, and Julian the Apostate, Constantine's nephew who briefly restored polytheism to its traditional place in the Roman pantheon for one last time. Christian writers emphasize Constantine's faith conversion as the root of his Christianity. Kirsch emphasizes Constantine's political motivations.
He writes that Constantine's "preference for monotheism over polytheism reflected his own ambition to achieve the same absolute power on earth that the Christian god was believed to exercise in heaven." Likewise, Kirsch continues, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 — out of which Christian tradition says came the faith's central statement of doctrine, the Nicene Creed — more out of a desire to impose control over an increasingly unwieldy church than out of concern for theological clarity in pursuit of spiritual truths.
Julian — who came to full power in 360, following Constantine's death and after some years of nasty internecine intrigue — was a pagan counter-revolutionary who restored religious legitimacy to classical Greco-Roman polytheism. However, Kirsch emphasizes, Julian did not try to eradicate monotheism as Rome's Christian rulers had sought for polytheism. Julian instead sought to place polytheism and Christianity on equal footing. "That's what's most appealing about polytheism — its openness to accommodating the faiths of others," said Kirsch.
Kirsch may have a sweet spot for polytheism, but he fully acknowledges that polytheists, including pre-Christian Romans, can be as brutish as fervent monotheists (his term for fanatical fundamentalists). The only difference between violent polytheists and violent monotheists is that the former kill to gain political control and the latter kill to assert theological dominance. The difference is subtle, said Kirsch, but important. Polytheists sought control over the public sphere alone; monotheists sought control over private thoughts as well.
Kirsch recounted a Buddhist aphorism to sum up his religious beliefs: "One moon, many pools. Many pools, one moon." The point, he explained, is that light from a single source can be reflected in many ways.
I am hoping I can convince Sanjay to post his response to this piece as a guest post. Watch this space.
