Maddie Posted December 28, 2020 16 minutes ago, Sketch said: It's an example of the fragmentation of spirit into mere intellect, the trend that leads to (and includes) atheism. It makes it difficult to conceptualize things; people have to keep recreating the language and models for things from the point of view of spiritual experiences. A gift of civilization.  I find this theory interesting, but would you mind elaborating a little more about this? Why does it lead to mere intellect and atheism? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sketch Posted December 28, 2020 (edited) 24 minutes ago, dmattwads said:  I find this theory interesting, but would you mind elaborating a little more about this? Why does it lead to mere intellect and atheism? This is a not bad introduction to some ideas from Carl Jung that influence my point.  https://scottjeffrey.com/individuation-process/  I will say that Spirituality can be seen as a process of integration; various religions and the building of philosophical categories , legions of angels instead of household deities and so forth, leads to  more ways to describe the same thing; ways to disagree about human experiences, rather than share them. By even introducing the idea of false beliefs, the whole set of experiences becomes dubious. Edited December 28, 2020 by Sketch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted December 28, 2020 10 minutes ago, Sketch said: This is a not bad introduction to some ideas from Carl Jung that influence my point.  https://scottjeffrey.com/individuation-process/  Spirituality can be seen as a process of integration; various religions and building philosophical categories , legions of angels instead of household deities and so forth, leads to  more ways to describe the same thing; ways to disagree about human experiences, rather than share them.  Interesting. I wonder if that is where the veneration of the saints came from. If the pagans of Europe were forced to convert at the point of a sword so they moved their pantheons under cover as saints? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sketch Posted December 28, 2020 (edited) 42 minutes ago, dmattwads said:  Interesting. I wonder if that is where the veneration of the saints came from. If the pagans of Europe were forced to convert at the point of a sword so they moved their pantheons under cover as saints? These kinds of figures are relative and open to interpretation. Is Monkey King a god or a demon? Even the Judeo Christian Jehovah has been characterized as the demonic demiurge Yaldabaoth within Gnostic texts.  (I have edited between "Gnostic sects" and "Gnostic texts" a few times. Take your pick.)  (Back to Gnostic Texts for sure - checked my copy of Nag Hammadi and examples abound, prominently the identification of "The Great Demon" Yaldabaoth creating his own copy of the real "Aeons", or heavenly realms, in "Three Forms of First Thought", p. 726    Edited December 28, 2020 by Sketch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
