World Religions Final Exam

Three Great Teachings of China

Buddhism, Daoism/Taoism, Confucianism

Tibetan Buddhism

1. The three paths


1. Shravaka Yana: way of the emptiness of the self


1. essentially the path of Theravada Buddhism
2. considered the lowest, selfish path.
3. it consists in seeing that there is no self.
2. Pratyekabuddha Yana: way of the emptiness of all things


1. consists in seeing the nothingness of all things.
2. it is better in that it seeks unity with all being.
3. because it focuses on all being, it gains a sort of spiritual mastery over all things.


1. mastery of world around us through exercise of preternatural powers
3. Bodhisattva Yana: the way of compassion


1. Similar to Mahayana Buddhism

Vajrayana Techniques

1. The importance of ritual: prostrations, circumambulation of stupas/temples; offering mandalas; recitation of mantras; spinning of prayer wheels/flags; holy water; rosaries, etc.
2. Upaya Lineages: a kind of ordination/initiation ceremony which is seen as necessary to embark successfully upon the spiritual path
3. Esoteric transmission of teachings: because one must be ordained into a teacher-student relationship for some practices to be effective, these are only known to initiated students

Bodhisattvas from above and from below

1. From Below: start as human beings and achieve enlightenment by meditation
2. From above: start as divine emanations (like the Logos) who enter this world


1. Adi Buddha (cosmic principle) comes from above to the world
3. Lamas: living Buddhas and incarnations of the emanations of Adi-Buddha


1. remain fallible as human beings, but higher spiritual powers work through them
2. two Lamas are also political rulers: The Dalai Lama (of all Tibet) and Panchen Lama

Sand Mandalas

1. Mandala = symbolic picture of the universe
2. Mandalas as temples in which Bodhisattvas might dwell
3. Mandalas as soul construction: shapes your own patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting
4. Mandalas as microcosms of the universe: what you do to the picture of the cosmos, the actual cosmos will change through your manipulation
5. Sand mandalas as magic (e.g. sympathetic magic, like the vudu doll)

Dao

1. The Way/ the Ideal Order (similar to Greek concept of Logos, God’s logic/reason)


1. ideal order of nature and natural harmony
2. ideal order of society and social harmony

Qi/Chi

1. Breath or spirit


1. the basic energy of which all physical, psychological, and spiritual things are made
2. the “force” in star wars is literally modelled on qui.

Yin, Yang, and the fundamental place of movement and change

1. the only constant in the world is change; change is the fundamental reality
2. Qi moves between the two extremes of yin (darkness, death, femininity and winter), and yang (light, life, masculinity, and summer) is the fundamental reality of the world
3. The movement of Qi causes the 10,000 things that exist in creation


1. “as the essences of yin and yang move through the four seasons, alternately upward and downward, they encourage each other; this is the round way.

Souls and afterlife

1. humans have two souls


1. The hun (the Yang soul), intelligent and spiritual; can become an ancestor
2. The Po (the Yin soul); can become a ghost
2. Gradually these souls revert back to the yang and the Yin
3. Stronger, more godlike souls ‘last’ longer

3 types of afterlife

1. Gods: government officials and charismatic people
2. Ghosts: beggars/bandits
3. Ancestors = family members

Rituals of Chinese Folk Religion revolve around communication with other spirits

1. Sacrifice, esp. at family altar and the ghost-feeding festival
2. Spirit marriage and spirit adoption


1. if someone who dies w/o marrying, she’ll become a ghost because there is no family for her to be with. Ghost marriages prevent this by bringing that person into your family
3. Divinization
4. Exorcism

Traditional Chinese religion as a diffused religion

1. Chinese culture and traditional Chinese religion largely merged with Daoism; diffused
2. Chinese popular thought and customs were/are an eclectic fusion of Buddhism/Daoism/Confucian thought
3. In regards to culture, many aspects of Traditional Chinese Religion/Daoism revived as culture
4. Philosophy: Confucianism and Christianity studied at universities as philosophies
5. No institution that teaches us about horoscopes, but we all know our sign = diffused in the ambient culture


1. Religion is diffused in China. You don’t belong to a specific religion, but all perform rituals of traditional Chinese religion

TCR as immanent

there is no supernatural: everything is part of this natural order

Lao Tzu

1. Carried in his mother’s womb for 82 years, born gray and wise
2. worked as an archivist in a Western Chinese state


1. Quit when he became convinced that the civilization was collapsing
3. Dedicates self to telling others to live a natural goodness
4. Tao Te China: 1/5 most influential books in human history


1. A record of his insights written in 3 days after the border guard at Hankao Pass asked him to stay

Three Aspects of the Tao

1. way, path, road


1. way of untamed nature
2. Supreme Tao (ch’ang tao)
3. Unseen Tao (wu tao)
4. Seen Tao

The emergence of the ‘seen’ Tao

1. The chaos and the Development of the Seen Tao (Heaven and Earth)


1. At the beginning of all things was the Unseen Tao; From this issued the One \[Chaos\]; there was unity, but it had no form

Philosophical Taoism

1. Goal: to align one’s daily life to the Tao, to ride its boundless tide and to delight in its flow
2. The one who lives according to the Tao is “never forcing, never forced”
3. Some Taoist techniques related to the philosophical aspect of Taoism


1. Wei wu wei (the action of non-doing): go with the flow, action rooted in the Dao, let yourself act instinctively
2. free and easy wandering
4. Tao understood through analogy with water


1. Supreme good is like water


1. nourishes all things without trying
2. soft and yielding, yet also able to dissolve the hard and inflexible

Hygenic aspect of Taoism

1. Augmenting your own share of chi
2. Maximizing chi through matter


1. through consuming various foods or minerals (tiger marrow, sap/resin)
2. through specific sexual activities (change lead of human body to gold of immortal body)
3. through breathing exercises, to draw chi from the air (if you stretch in certain ways, your chi receptors are open and can bring in energy)
3. Maximizing chi through movement (dance, meditation, calisthenics, acupuncture)


1. movements mimic the natural movements of animals
2. basic idea: to draw chi from cosmos; to dislodge internal blocks to its flow
3. related to Feng shui
4. Maximizing chi through mind (meditation)


1. similar to experience of raja yoga in Hinduism
2. belief that worry and distraction clogs the soul; this build up must be eliminating
3. sitting and forgetting: all the griefs and anxieties of life, and the socialization/education which leads to them, must be actively destroyed

Magical aspect of Taoism

1. Vicariously deploying chi to assist others


1. Problem: philosophical or hygenic aspects require time and resources


1. Taoist priests would use their achievements to increase the chi of the people
2. Methods: soothsayers, psychics, shamans, faith healers --magic
2. Taoism as a spectacle for the common people
3. A pantheon of gods


1. 3 pure ones: Jade, grand, supreme: total embodiment of chi
2. 8 immortal ones: attained immortality. They go to the chain of islands off coast of Bohai sea

Mystical Taoism

1. Union with the eternal Tao
2. Importance of realizing the Tao


1. those who die without recognizing the Tao fade into nothingness
3. Metaphysics of Unity with the Tao


1. knowing the creator, you will come to know the world, knowing the world, go back and hold fast to the creator
4. How Harmony with the Tao is described


1. your own mind is destined to become the universe itself (if we return to the source we become the source)

Do all Taoists believe in immortality?

1. Only the Tao as non-being is truly immortal


1. entities it forms must ultimately dissolve
2. There is no heaven. The only way to live forever is with our bodies/in this world. Our soul decays when separated from the body

Transmogrification

1. changing corruptible flesh into some incorruptible source

Invulnerability

1. inability to be hurt by weapons or fire


1. accounts of Chinese swordsmen who through the use of Taoist charms made themselves invulnerable to conflict

Confucianism: Building blocks of virtue ethics

1. virtue is the foundation of civilization
2. Happiness comes from performing your proper act, to live in harmony with others
3. human nature has the potential to perform our proper act, but we are born incomplete
4. individuals can perform their proper act by acquiring the right virtues (ren/li)
5. Any action is good if it builds up a virtue or destroys a vice

Confucian moralization of Tao as Taoli

1. Daoli/Taoli is the moral order


1. Tao of the Confucians was repugnant to the Taoists because instead of being one and indivisible, it was a complex of many modes or ways

Confucian moralization of Yin-Yang

Yes, but… Confucians are more focused on moral interconnectedness than natural kind

Is qi/chi important in confucianism?

It is unimportant. It is present in neo-Confucian mysticism, but it is generally not important

Do Confucians believe in an afterlife?

no; Confucius has nothing to say about an afterlife. If there is an afterlife, we cannot do anything about it

Tian (Heaven) as impersonal God

Confucius speaks of Heaven (Tian), but this is only an impersonal name of God, not a transcendent dimension; tianli = the natural order

Five cardinal relationships of Confucianism

1. Ruler and subject: royal virtue engenders ritual propriety
2. parent and child: provision engenders filial piety (through obedience, ancestor rituals)
3. husband and wife: provision and fidelity engender domestic service and obedience
4. elder and younger sibling: example of character engenders respect for character
5. Friends: mutual dedication engenders loyalty; non-hierarchical

Chief Confucian virtues

1. Ren: human-heartedness or “goodness”


1. the primary virtue: ideal relationship between two people
2. exemplified by the silver rule: do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you
2. Li: general appropriateness and ritual propriety


1. doing the proper thing in the proper way in given circumstances
2. ritual propriety: performing the rituals correctly


1. awe of the rituals and cultural tradition kept central states safe
2. Confucius himself edited a number of ritual books
3. Filial piety: respect for one’s parents, elders, and ancestors

Ancestor worship

1. A service rendered to one’s forbearers at the ancestral home altar, where the presence of the family’s dead was localized through paper cartouches/wooden tablets


1. Deep bow
2. lighting candles
3. burn incense
4. offer some food to the ancestors, have a banquet

Confucius’ context and his interest in governing

1. China’s political crisis: result of the decline of the Chou dynasty
2. Social crisis: shortage of food, security, and opportunity
3. Moral crisis: human life not valued; corruption rampant
4. Confucius as a political and moral reformer


1. teaching the liberal arts to all


1. about a dozen of his disciples take positions in the government
2. Confucius fails to obtain a meaningful position
2. Edits editions of great Chinese literature, spreads program throughout China


1. virtue ethics and 5 cardinal relationships

Is Confucianism a religion?

There is debate over this. Some say its best understood as an ethical guide to life and living with strong character, but it began as a revival of an earlier Christian tradition. There are no Confucian gods, however, and Confucius himself is worshipped as a spirit, not a god. Many people refer to it as both a religion and a philosophy

John Wu on Confucianism

1. Confucius and Heaven (the impersonal force that guides the world): something that has will, creative power, protective love
2. Confucianism and Filial piety: attitude Christ models towards us and to His father
3. Christ and filial piety: to God + Virgin Mary
4. Christain critique of Confucianism: Jesus has rescued us from a slavish bondage to this world, rescuing us from the “this-world” mindset of Confucianism

John Wu’s critique of Daoism

1. Lao Tzu and his insights into being: got his insights from Cosmic revelation
2. Wei wu wei and following nature: basic natural law = following the logos
3. Virtue as participation in the Tao: participation in logos
4. Self-effacement and the importance of humility to reach being: growing spiritually
5. Critique: a failure to worship God directly. Catholics worship God directly, being empowered to be sons/daughters of the King

Matteo Ricci and the Chinese Rites controversy

1. Jesuits arrive in China in 1582; make converts among the educated


1. From 136 BC to AD 1905, in order to hold a government post, you needed a Confucian education
2. in order to graduate from a Confucian school, you needed to perform the ancestor worship ritual in honor of Confucius, your new intellectual ancestor


1. Do these practices qualify as religious rites, and are thus incompatible with Christian belief?
3. Jesuits argued that these were secular rites and were compatible with the Christian belief


1. Dominicans and Franciscans disagreed and reported the situation to Rome
4. Back and forth debate with ban being placed on practicing those rites, but then the ban being lifted


1. Pius XII issued a decree in 1939 allowing Chinese Catholics to observe these rites

Do most Taoists follow only one aspect of Taoism?

1. Their philosophy is more heterogenous. They don’t generally regard themselves as followers of a single religious community that shares a specific set of teachings or practices


1. Main goal = to align one’s daily life to the Tao


1. You ca imply a number of methods at once to try to attain this goal


1. acupuncture, meditation, free and easy wandering, magic, etc.

The Covenant Principle of Judaism

1. “You be my people, I will be your loving and merciful God”


1. Noahide Covenant and Commandments


1. Belief in one God
2. Do not worship idols
3. do not steal
4. do not murder
5. do not engage in sexual immorality
6. dont abuse animals
7. establish a system of justice
2. Covenant with Abraham and the chosen people, land


1. Promise of land (Canaan)
2. Promise of descendants
3. Promise of redemption to all people, through Abraham’s people
3. Covenant with Moses + 613 Mosaic laws


1. Conditional: people responsible to follow the law, God promised to abundantly bless and protect Israel


1. entirety of laws that Moses delivered from God in the 5 books of the Torah

Moses and the exodus from Egypt

1. Passover: Jewish festival that celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Celebrated for 7 days, beginning the 14th day of Nisan
2. YHWH appears to Moses.
3. Moses leads the people in a confrontation with Pharaoh.
4. Israelites wanted in the desert for 40 years (and the feast of Sukkot)


1. Torah commanded holiday celebrated for 7 days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. Commemorates the protection that God provided the children of Israel when they left Egypt. Also celebrates the gathering of the harvest
5. the covenant at Sinai and the Mosaic law

Entering and conquering the promised land

1. Conquest of Canaan
2. Establishment of the Monarchy (David, Solomon, Saul)
3. Dedication of Solomon’s temple


1. Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement. Holiest day in Judaism. Celebrated the 10th day of the 7th month. People would fast and cleanse themselves from their sins before God.
4. Loss of northern Israel through conquest and intermarriage (=Samaritans)
5. Judah is conquered, temple is destroyed
6. Survivors sent into exile in Babylon


1. Feast of Purim: commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Persian empire who wanted to kill all Jews

Second Temple Judaism

1. Persian Cyrus the Great frees the Jews from Babylon, finances 2nd temple
2. Persians conquered by the Greeks, then by Romans


1. Feast of Hanukkah: festival of lights. commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the second temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid empire
3. Jews remain a vassal state with limited autonomy under foreign rule
4. Jewish revolt against the Romans


1. 1st revolt (AD 70): Temple is destroyed
2. 2nd revolt (AD 130): The Jews are kicked out of Judah; diaspora begins
5. Diaspora Judaism


1. Sephardic Jews: settled around Mediterranean after Diaspora
2. Ashkenazi Jews: Medieval migration of Jews to Germany/Slavic countries
6. Re-establishment of Israel in 1948 by the British and United Nations

2nd temple Judaism: divisions around the time of Christ

1. Sadducees: collaborationists; collaborated with ruling power at the time; as long as you keep Jews in line, you can govern yourselves; ran the temple
2. Essenes: covenant was broken; temple was corrupt; wait for the Messiah; live out in the desert
3. Pharisees: studying the law (613 laws of Moses); be holy in everyday lives by application of law of Moses; debate how to apply it to every situation
4. Zealots: impatient; promote organized rebellion against the Romans
5. After 2nd revolt, only pharisees were left = rabbinic Judaism is only version left today

Neusner’s Four ways of Jewish Spirituality

1. The way of Leviticus: sacrifice of Animals, grain, wide in temple (cult)


1. ex. priests, Scribes, Sadducees
2. The way of the Prophets: appeal to God’s will in the events of history


1. ex. prophets, social activists
3. The way of meals: transformation of temple liturgy into ritual meals


1. ex. Essenes, Christians, post-diaspora rabbis
4. The way of study: finding God in God’s written word (imp. of literacy and education)


1. ex. Rabbis, and a Story of the First day of Rabbinic school


1. Rabbis and Pharisees were Jewish in this way

The Torah

1. Basic Principle: God present to Israel through the gift of the Law

Religion and China: the imperial model

1. everything is overseen by the government


1. dont like religion outside control of gov’t


1. Created these churches


1. Catholic, Protestant, Daoist, Buddhist, Islamic


1. leaders of them chosen by the communist party

The Written Torah (analogous to the Christian OT)

1. The Torah itself (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
2. The Nevi’im (“Prophets'“): Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 12 minor prophets
3. The Ketuvim “Writings”: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Chronicles

The Oral Torah

Written accounts of debates between famous Rabbis


1. Recall: The Pharisees sought to apply the law, mostly written as priestly purity codes, to the daily life of lay believers
2. The spiritual significance of studying the law of God


1. internalizing the Torah through study as “spiritual communion” with God
2. Neusner: In Judaism, if you want to meet God, you open a book and study
3. Rabbinic Jewish culture delights in argumentation


1. The Talmud: collection of Jewish civil/ceremonial law, with 2 parts:


1. Mishnah: first written compendium of Judaism’s oral law
2. Gemara: discussion of the Mishnah and related writings
3. Midrash: Homiletic works that expand on scriptural narrative (e.g. Lillith)

Neusner’s description of Open canon

what the most current sages teach, in a spirit of faith and in a process of learning, is regarded as part of this same Torah of Sinai

Hillel and Shammai

1. Hillel: Rabbi born in Babylon
2. Shammai: Rabbi born in Palestine; opponent of Hillel

Shema

Hear, O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might

What to do on Shabbat in the home

1. Friday: clean the home; make challah; eat together; light shabbat candles; recite the kiddush to bless wine and bread
2. Saturday: visit family/friends, shutins; recite the Havdalah to bless wine and bread

Reform Judaism

1. An Enlightenment attempt at integrating with newly-secular Europe
2. Jewish ghettos and limited Jewish autonomy


1. enlightenment: religion should be private, religious differences are not a government concern


1. religious toleration: Jews get to leave the ghettos, but Jewish tradition made it difficult to integrate into society


1. Jewish particularism and mainstream antisemitic bias
3. Reformation: essence of Judaism found in the prophets
4. Four ways in reform Judaism integrated itself with modern society


1. Rationalism: faith must be rational
2. Moralism: only the moral laws of Torah are bidning
3. Social liberalism: total equality of sexes in worship
4. ritual liberalism: simplify rituals, use vernacular, dress in modern clothes
5. Holocaust was perceived as a failure of the project of integration

Orthodox Judaism

1. Maintaining the whole Torah and the Medieval Tradition
2. Denies the very premise of the Jewish reformation
3. Maintain 613 mitzvah and the accompanying Rabbinic fence around them

Conservative Judaism

grants the premise of Reform Judaism, but maintains more customs

Two issues in the relationship between Jews and Christians

1. Christology: Jesus and His Divine and Jewish Identities


1. Was Jesus a good Jew? person?
2. Supercessionism


1. are Jews still in a covenant?

Balance between tzedek and kedusha

1. Tzedek (Justice): extend boundaries of righteousness and justice; mend broken world
2. Kedusha (sanctify): sacred people with sacred purpose; apart from rest of the world

Blend of world engagement yet also remaining set apart as Jews. There will always be poor in the land. We are to lead them from exile into freedom, that is our sacred calling

Ethical Thrust in Judaism vs Pagan Fatalism

1. Pagan Naturalists (stoics): created world is perfect the way it is. If it is natural, it cannot be bad for you, and if it’s artificial, it cant be good for you


1. Life is not so difficult or sorrowful so long as we approach it with a sufficiently detached attitude


1. ought to accept the natural world and its pain
2. Jewish Fatalism: prophetic principle of lament to God + denunciation of the sinner


1. God is personal: knows and loves you
2. God is one: polytheism allows many possible ends in life. Human life has one permissible end-- the will of One God
3. God created the world, transcends it, and rules it. The world CAN fall short of God’s will
4. Prophetic principle = partial repudiation of the world and human nature as it is

Moses Maimonides

1. The Jewish Aquinas


1. attempted to reconcile Jewish faith with Greek philosophy
2. 13 Propositions


1. To know the existence of the creator
2. The unity of God (no Trinity)
3. The denial of physicality in connection with God
4. God’s antiquity
5. That God, blessed be he is worthy that we serve him, to glorify him, to make known his greatness, and to do his commands
6. Prophecy
7. Prophetic capacity of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him
8. The Torah is from Heaven
9. The completeness of the Torah
10. That God knows man’s actions and does not remove His eye from them
11. That God gives reward to he who does the commandments of the Torah and punishes those that transgress its admonishments and warnings
12. The era of the Messiah
13. Resurrection of the dead

Length of Jewish Diaspora

AD 135 -1948

Supercessionism and Vatican II

1. shift from hard to soft supercessionism (David Novak)
2. Shift in thinking: no longer “the Jewish covenant is no longer acknowledged by God”
3. Nostra Aetate: Recalls Paul’s langauge in Romans 11


1. God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers

Prophetic Principle in action

1. King Ahab and Naboth: tzedek


1. Naboth, by refusing to seel Ahab his vineyard was obeying God’s orders, as he forbade them to sell their land to another tribe or family
2. David and Bathsheba


1. God will not endure exploitation, corruption, or mediocrity; because of the value of human life, it will have consequences


1. son Bathsheba was expecting with David, according to the prophet Nathan, would die because of both of their sins

Meaning of the word Islam

1. Peace
2. submission
3. Taken together, the peace that comes from submission to God

The Life of Muhammad

1. Born into Quraish clan at Mecca
2. Nursed by Halima
3. Entrused to his uncle, Abu Talib, and his son, Ali


1. Father died before his birth; mother died when he was six
2. Muhammad restores his aunt’s withered palm tree
4. Trader and husband


1. marries Khadija, a widow in the caravan business; has leisure to pursue spiritual life
5. Mount Hira


1. frequents a cave for solitude and reflection. Prophecies begin (610 AD). The total of these revelations is the Koran
6. Jibreel reveals the plans for the Hijra to Muhammad


1. people of Mecca upset at his attack on their ancestral polytheism
2. Flees Mecca after his wife dies
7. Received at Medina


1. city divided between Jewish founders and polytheist majority
2. Muhammad welcomed as a way of promoting unity
3. fight over marketplaces in Medina


1. Muhammad’s followers turn to raiding Meccan caravans, conflict ensues
8. Battles of Badr and Uhud
9. Muhammad sets out to take Mecca (Battle fo the Trench)


1. exiles the remaining Jewish clan in Medina
10. Failed pilgrimage--10yr treaty
11. Muhammad and his companions take the city of Mecca


1. Muhammad breaks treaty 2yrs later
2. Mecca surrenders w/o fight
12. Muhammad and Aisha seal an alliance with an Arabian tribal chief

Sunni and Shia Islam

1. No heir; choose successor by vote or by blood?
2. Who will be caliph--Abu Bakr (friend) or Ali (cousin)?


1. Followers of Abu Bakr and Aisha: contemporary Sunni (80%)
2. Followers of Ali: contemporary Shia (Shi’ites) (15%)
3. Differences between Sunni and Shia


1. Differing theologies of power


1. Sunni: power as a reward and sign of God’s blessing
2. Shia: power as a threat to the truth and see value in suffering for the truth


1. 12 Imams only valid authority
2. 12th Imam is alive but has been hiding since AD 941; he will return at the end of time to bring justice
2. Shi’ites celebrate redemptive suffering with Ashura
3. Shi’ites believe in the special intercessory powers of the imams
4. Devotional shiite practices: pilgrimages, shrines, saints, affective prayers
5. The Ulama: Mullahs to Mujtadhid to Ayatollah to Grand Ayatollah

5 Muslim Approaches to modernity

1. Scholastic traditionalism: no change
2. Salafi Traditionalism: go back to original Islam
3. Salafi Reformism (The Renewal): more willing to changes in Iran and Egypt. Democratic elections
4. Politicized Literalism ((a subset of 2 and 3): use political force to implement literal form of Islam
5. Modernism: “A reformed Islam is Islam no longer”

Three differences between modern and traditional societies

1. Political Liberalism: fundamental freedom of the people in the form of


1. democratic rule
2. disestablishment of religion from state
3. prioritization of individual human rights
2. Economic liberalism: fundamental freedom of the marketplace to distribute goods


1. built upon a banking system which allows usury
2. this breaks the connection between physical work material gain
3. Priority of empirical science: science is the primary method of establishing truth, not received tradition

Sayyid Qutb’s “The America I have Seen”

1. America as al-Farabi’s democratic city


1. peak of advancement and depth of primitiveness
2. America as an ignorant city
3. America was born through muscle and applied science, and therefor cannot appreciate the deeper truth and beauty of spiritual things

4 sufi paths in Islam

1. way of knowledge: philosophy and science


1. Example: Neo-Platonic eisegesis of the Tree of Life as the Tree of Being
2. way of mystical union


1. Rumi
2. Sufi monotheism


1. One real being, ground of all existence
2. call the real either God or the World
3. God is very immanent, manifested by all visible things
4. No creation in time: universe is God’s co-eternal self-manifestation
3. way of beauty (Koran is best expressed through art)


1. poetry, art, film, musicals
4. way of compassion: try to find God present in other people by serving those in need

6 ways Muhammad is superior to other prophets

1. words are more concise and meaningful
2. helped by terror he inspired in the hearts of his enemies
3. raiding and spoils were lawful for him
4. the earth has been made clean for him
5. he was sent to all mankind
6. he is the final prophet

5 pillars/practices of Islam

1. Shahadah: creed, how you become Muslim
2. Salat: 5x daily prayer, obligatory
3. Zakat: tax 2% of finances
4. Ramadan: month of fasting from sun up to sun down

Concept and Basic Practices of Dhimmitude

1. Dhimmi: people of certain faiths (Judaism, Christianity) living in lands ruled by Islam who receive protected but inferior status under sharia law (2nd class citizens)


1. strictly forbidden from evangelizing or proselytizing
2. not allowed to display symbols of their faith
3. traditionally, not allowed, to build/repair churches
4. traditionally, must pay the tribute tax (jizyah) as a sign of submission
5. sometimes, not allowed to protect themselves
6. historically, wear some form of distinctive apparel as a sign of inferior status

Muslim view of Christ vs Christian view of Muhammad

1. Muslim view of Christ


1. deeply respectful views
2. Christian view of Muhammad: 3 attitudes


1. Extremely negative: Muhammad’s as lustful, violent, heretical, instrument of the Devil
2. Selectively positive: He’s like OT prophet: social justice, monotheism, God’s judgement
3. Imperfect vessel of God’s grace: he was flawed, but his message contains some truth

What do Muslims and Christians share doctrinally?

1. Belief in one God, just and merciful
2. angels and demons (but Christians dont believe in the jinn)
3. the human relationship with God depends on faith/trusting submission
4. Prayer, not meditation, as the path to God
5. attitude towards God of humility and gratitude for the gift of revelation
6. social justice as critical to a right relationship with God
7. prophets proclaim the judgement of God
8. eschatology (this world will pass away in God’s final judgement)

To what do Muslims object most in Christianity?

1. Doctrine of the Trinity (3 persons 1 God)
2. Doctrine of the Incarnation (Jesus Christ as Son of God, true God and true man)

Process of Revelation in Christianity vs Islam

1. Christianity


1. Word of God made…MAN
2. Islam


1. Word of God made…BOOK

Koran: Meccan vs Medinan verses

1. Mecca verses


1. have story/narrative
2. monotheism, Judaism
3. Polytheism: Christians, Jews
4. emphasis is similar to prophets
2. Medina verses


1. rules (prose)
2. differences in Christians + Jews
3. REPLACE Mecca verses

Controversy between literalists and eisegetes (in relation to the Koran)

1. Literalists: build your relationship with God by literal application of the Koran, ahadith


1. ‘the masses’ follow a deen of literal interpretation of the Koranic signs and symbols
2. Eisegetes: Koran/ahadith require additional instruction to grow relationship with God


1. reads a deeper, non-literal meaning into the Koran

Deen

1. religio: the way of life which correctly interprets the Koran
2. signs of revelation

Esotericism in Islam

Dhikr

remembrance of God and recitation of the Koran

Rumi and his claim to be God

1. Sufi monotheism


1. There is one real being, ultimate ground of all existence
2. We can call the real either God or the world
3. God is very immanent, manifested by all visible things
4. No creation in time: universe is GOd’s co-eternal self manifestation
5. Rumi can say, “I am God”: I am nothing, God is everything--there is nothing but God’s being

hadra

supererogatory ritual performed by Sufi orders. Often involves sermons, recitation of the Koran, chanting, and invocations of God.

Virtuous vs Ignorant city

1. Virtuous: organizes itself around pursuit of virtue, holiness
2. Ignorant: societies ignorant of a shared spiritual pursuit


1. Indispensable city: citizens cooperate on essentials
2. Vile city: citizens cooperate in pursuit of wealth
3. Base city: citizens cooperate in pursuit of pleasure
4. Timocratic city: citizens cooperate in pursuit of honor
5. Despotic regime: citizens cooperate in pursuit of power over others

structure and purpose of a hadith

1. Hadith: strong/mandatory if chain of transmission is strong
2. collection of traditions (speech, report, account, narrative) containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad which, with accounts of his daily practice


1. Isnad: chain of narrators who have transmitted the report
2. matn: main text of the report
3. Their spiritual authority comes from the Koran, enjoins Muslims to emulate Muhammad and obey his judgements

shirk

sin of idolatry in Islam

Syro-Aramaic thesis on the origin of the Koran

asserted that the language of the early compositions of the Qur'an was not exclusively Arabic, as assumed by the classical commentators, but rather is rooted in the Syro-Aramaic dialect of the 7th century Meccan Quraysh tribe, which is associated in the early histories with the founding of the religion of Islam

Importance of the Koran in Islam

1. answers our purpose in life
2. explains the oneness of Allah
3. we can learn about all the prophecies
4. teaches spiritual, moral, and social values
5. teaching solely based on reasoning
6. can understand Muhammad is the ideal role model

Rights of women in Islam

1. Women are inferior sex: male is in charge of the female


1. called to be submissive, obedient wives
2. Body must always be veiled (unless in presence of immediate male family member)
3. Men can divorce as easily as saying “we are divorced” but a woman can only sue for divorce in the courts under specific circumstances
4. can be married as young as 9 years old
5. Cannot have custody of their children
6. cannot travel, work, study, or leave the house without the proper male’s permission

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