RECENTLY, A POSTER-- AT WONDERCAFE.CA --posted a link to this thread. Let us use it as a "flash back" and go on from there:
Originally Posted By: Turner
Okay, Rev., here is what I understand you are trying to say: You want your readers to understand that, while it is cute, and mostly acceptable, to be child-like in our thinking, it is a limited kind of thinking ...
And over half a decade later, the dialogue continues.

BTW, I always ask Biblical literalists/creationists: Why is your "god" so silent, so shy and so out of touch with life today?

Surely, any god who wrote, or inspired the writing of the 66 documents Christians call "the Bible" (the book) must be aware of the Internet and its power. How come "he-God" has avoided this powerful tool?

I write as one who values all the great minds of our past, especially those who have had the courage to use their brains to do more than just survive. Intuitively, it seems, they want to improve things and to add to the storehouse of human knowledge. GOD-like for them!

THE FIVE WWWWW'S
Also, they have had the courage to ask questions like:
1.Who am I?
2.And who are you?
3.Now what, together, do we do next?
4.When do we do it?
5.Where is the best place to do it?
6.And Why is it important and necessary?

This is the kind of topic which stimulates us--I know it stimulates me--to ask all kind of questions.

To start with now, here is just a few:

1. What is the history behind what we call the the arts, the religions and the sciences?

Quote:
Paleolithic religion
Religious behaviour is thought to have emerged by the Upper Paleolithic, before 30,000 years ago at the latest, but behavioral patterns such as burial rites that one might characterize as religious - or as ancestral to religious behaviour - reach back into the Middle Paleolithic, as early as 300,000 years ago, coinciding with the first appearance of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
2. Check out prehistoric art 3. Check out: It is probably true that the first clergy (witch doctors, shamans, etc.), scientists and artists were one and the same. Specialization came much later.

Because we clergy tend to be arrogant individuals, it was as clergy that they spoke with an air of authority. They claimed that the gift of sacred knowledge and wisdom that they had, was revealed to them from a sacred and divine source. Regardless of this, theologically speaking, the first religionists were probably all polytheists. Thus they credited the gods for giving them their good fortune. Later, when monotheism eventually evolved, monotheists (theists, for short) gave the credit to the One True God.

In late prehistoric times, the ones with this gift were no doubt the first to create the art of writing. No doubt, also, they used this knowledge to impress and cultivate the friendship of the chief, the head of the family, of the kin (hence our word king), the tribe, the community, whatever.

It was obvious that the physically powerful hunters/warriors, especially their leaders, were the primary servants favoured by the king. After all, it was from them that the king got most of his power and wealth. No wonder that the clergy coveted being, like them, members of the king's inner circle. In this circle, they had a chance to be rewarded and get a share of the power the wealth available.

But, to be fair: Not all the leaders, including the clergy, were greedy for power and wealth. Some did want justice for the commoners, especially for the poor and needy--men women and children.

THEOS--THE SKY GOD
Thinking of people with valuable wisdom and knowledge reminds me of the familiar story that is part of the Christmas story. It is about the VISITORS FROM THE EAST--The Magi, the Three Wise Men, which is told only in Matthew 2.

Those ancient astrologers, who were polytheists, looked to the sky as the place of the gods.

I assume the Magi were Monotheists, or theists. Theists put all the gods together and speak of THEOS (The Sky GOD)--the One and Only True God. Some linguists suggest that our definite article 'the' comes from the same root. So do words like theatre, theory, theorem, thesis, therapy and theology. Makes sense.

Whether gods many, or as The One, the ancients looked for practical guidance in the present. THEOS-GOD helped travellers, by land and sea, to find their way. Farmers got help about the seasons and the best times to plant crops. Astrologers began to chart the constellations.

Thus they became the first astrologers. Later, many became astronomers.

Any astronomers reading this thread?

Last edited by Revlgking; 12/01/12 11:35 PM. Reason: Always helpful

G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org