Today we have the phenomenon within the Abrahamic Traditions where radical extremist fundamentalists believe in the inevitability of the End Days and the Rapture. They believe the coming Armageddon will separate the damned from the blessed in the final Day of Judgement. There are some among them working hard to " hasten the inevitable"not merely anticipating the End Days with joy in their hearts, but taking political action to bring about the conditions they think are the prerequisites for that occasion. They put their allegiance to their creed ahead of their commitment to peace, earthly justice and truth. This film attempts to put a " new perspective on the God of Abraham" to avoid religious war.
The Model for the God of Abraham
There is an impending war with Iran..........
There can be no doubt that the underlying geopolitical clash of civilizations poses the most serious of problems. However, it is becoming obvious that these problems cannot be solved militarily or diplomatically. We must begin with a Second Enlightenment producing a religious perspective we can all agree on before it's to late. Hopefully a serious look at Abrahamic Eschatology will give us a start.
There is no doubt that nuclear weapons can cause our extinction and we are getting precariously close to their use. The problem is reminiscent of the Crusades as Christians and Muslims fought for century's over the Holy Land in general, and Jerusalem in particular. The Dome Of The Rock sits on the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem and that place, if violated by anyone, will trigger the start of a nuclear WW III .
Religion is the key to the hair trigger that is about to push the nuclear button. Both leaders have an - END TIMES - belief that sends them to paradise as the world comes to an end. They have the military budgets and weapons to begin this literal interpretation of their holy books. In the past, MAD-mutually assured destruction-was a deterrent to nuclear war, now it's an incentive. Both leaders believe that their respective " Messianic Figure " will return to provide pure peace until judgment day.
There can be no doubt that the underlying geopolitical clash of civilizations poses the most serious of problems. However, it is becoming obvious that these problems cannot be solved militarily or diplomatically. We must begin with a Second Enlightenment producing a religious perspective we can all agree on before it's to late. Hopefully a serious look at Abrahamic Eschatology will give us a start.
There is no doubt that nuclear weapons can cause our extinction and we are getting precariously close to their use. The problem is reminiscent of the Crusades as Christians and Muslims fought for century's over the Holy Land in general, and Jerusalem in particular. The Dome Of The Rock sits on the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem and that place, if violated by anyone, will trigger the start of a nuclear WW III .
Religion is the key to the hair trigger that is about to push the nuclear button. Both leaders have an - END TIMES - belief that sends them to paradise as the world comes to an end. They have the military budgets and weapons to begin this literal interpretation of their holy books. In the past, MAD-mutually assured destruction-was a deterrent to nuclear war, now it's an incentive. Both leaders believe that their respective " Messianic Figure " will return to provide pure peace until judgment day.
Critical Realism and the God of Abraham
A very influential array of scientists-theologians have argued that theology is also a critical realist discipline, which considers data, draws inference to explanations, and submits these to testing closely analogous to that outlined for a scientific hypothesis. So critical realism as a way of thinking about either science or theology is a position towards which many are drawn. This group includes John Polkinghorne, Ian Barbour, and Arthur Peacocke. The aim of the group is to show the language of science and theology are similar, forming the starting point for a dialogue between the two.
Definition of Critical Realism--A philosophical view of science and/ or theology which asserts that our knowledge of the world refers to the-way-things-really-are, but in a partial fashion which will necessarily be revised as that knowledge develops.
We will take a Critical Realist approach as we seek our model of the God of Abraham.
Definition of Critical Realism--A philosophical view of science and/ or theology which asserts that our knowledge of the world refers to the-way-things-really-are, but in a partial fashion which will necessarily be revised as that knowledge develops.
We will take a Critical Realist approach as we seek our model of the God of Abraham.
Reasonableness through Enlightened Freethinking
Our model of the God of Abraham expresses a theory of rationality called " Enlightened Freethinking" and is adapted from the philosophy of science. On this view, many Abrahamic traditional beliefs are potential explanations. They tell why certain data that need to be explained are the way they are ; they account for certain facts about human existence. When we believe them, we believe that they do a better job of explaining the data than the other explanatory hypotheses .
The task of rational discussion is to weigh competing explanations , whatever their respective sources, and to select the one or more that do the best job of explaining the data at hand. Accomplishing this task involves making religious beliefs available to intersubjective assessment--translating them into the terms, and connecting them with the kinds of evidence, that will make them genuinely discussable by a broad community of inquiry that comprises believers and nonbelievers alike.
Enlightened Freethinking is the philosophy that best leads to public truth about the relation of nature, humanity, and the God of Abraham.
The task of rational discussion is to weigh competing explanations , whatever their respective sources, and to select the one or more that do the best job of explaining the data at hand. Accomplishing this task involves making religious beliefs available to intersubjective assessment--translating them into the terms, and connecting them with the kinds of evidence, that will make them genuinely discussable by a broad community of inquiry that comprises believers and nonbelievers alike.
Enlightened Freethinking is the philosophy that best leads to public truth about the relation of nature, humanity, and the God of Abraham.
The God of Abraham and The Mystery of Existence
The existence of the world ( all that is ) is not self-explanatory. If we ask the famous " mystery of existence " question, Why is there anything at all? , science cannot provide any answer. The best explanation to be inferred from the very existence of the world and of the fundamental laws of physics which it instantiates is that the whole process, with all it's emerging entities, is grounded in some other reality which is the source of it's actual existence. Such a reality cannot but be, by definition Ultimate--It must be self-existent, the only reality with the source of it's being in itself, the Ground Of Being. The mystery of existence thus points to an Ultimate Reality. That such an Ultimate Reality is and was and always will be, is the best explanation of the very existence of " all that is ". This Ultimate Reality is what gives existence to all matter, energy, space, and time.
All the Abrahamic Traditions require a component of faith. This new perspective of the great patriarch is to be view in conjunction with existing traditions as a sort of update utilizing mankind's new acquired knowledge obtained since the ancient scriptures were written. There is no change in rituals, myths, holy books or anything associated with any of the Abrahamic Traditions. Hopefully, a reconciliation toward World Peace has a chance....
All the Abrahamic Traditions require a component of faith. This new perspective of the great patriarch is to be view in conjunction with existing traditions as a sort of update utilizing mankind's new acquired knowledge obtained since the ancient scriptures were written. There is no change in rituals, myths, holy books or anything associated with any of the Abrahamic Traditions. Hopefully, a reconciliation toward World Peace has a chance....
Abraham--civilizations best chance to avoid war with Iran
The great patriarch of the Hebrew Bible is also the spiritual forefather of the New Testament and the grand holy architect of the Koran. Abraham is the shared ancestor of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Abraham is the linchpin of the Arab/Israeli conflict. He is the centerpiece of the battle between the Radical Christian Fundamentalists and Radical Islamic fundamentalists. Abraham is the father, in many cases the purported biological father of 12 million Jews, 2 billion Christians and 1 billion Muslims around the world.
Muhammad may be more important for the Muslims, Jesus for the Christians, and Moses for the Jews ; yet all three traditions go out of their way to link themselves to their common patriarch. Control Abraham and you control the threshold to the divine. Abraham is no longer an individual, with individual needs. he has become God's proxy on earth. This symbolism is so profound that it reverberated down through the centuries, growing louder with each generation , until it echoes in billions of daily prayers to this day.
Abraham's covenant with God is so majestic it forms a central plank in all three Abrahamic faiths. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible refer to the Abraham of Genesis, the Gospels refer to the Abraham of Genesis, even the Koran refers to the Abraham of " the book '. Indeed, Genesis is the only place that explores the narrative of Abraham's life in any comprehensive way. The other books assume that the reader already knows the basic story.
When the perpetrators of WW III finally realize the only way to achieve a reconciliation is to hold diplomatic talks which involve religious topics, Abraham is where they must begin. The ability of a Second Enlightenment to put a new perspective on Abraham's God which all Abrahamic traditions can agree on is civilizations best chance.....
Muhammad may be more important for the Muslims, Jesus for the Christians, and Moses for the Jews ; yet all three traditions go out of their way to link themselves to their common patriarch. Control Abraham and you control the threshold to the divine. Abraham is no longer an individual, with individual needs. he has become God's proxy on earth. This symbolism is so profound that it reverberated down through the centuries, growing louder with each generation , until it echoes in billions of daily prayers to this day.
Abraham's covenant with God is so majestic it forms a central plank in all three Abrahamic faiths. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible refer to the Abraham of Genesis, the Gospels refer to the Abraham of Genesis, even the Koran refers to the Abraham of " the book '. Indeed, Genesis is the only place that explores the narrative of Abraham's life in any comprehensive way. The other books assume that the reader already knows the basic story.
When the perpetrators of WW III finally realize the only way to achieve a reconciliation is to hold diplomatic talks which involve religious topics, Abraham is where they must begin. The ability of a Second Enlightenment to put a new perspective on Abraham's God which all Abrahamic traditions can agree on is civilizations best chance.....
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