Category: Mythology and Religion
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The Genealogy of Adam and Eve
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe central tendency and probably the major cause of error in modern religion is the determination to separate male and female and define them as superior or inferior in relation to each other. This is often called ‘difference’ rather than inferiority, but it usually results in disadvantages for women. Even today the…
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The Warrior and His Gods
Reading Time: 12 minutesIn “The Stakes of the Warrior” Georges Dumézil uses his theory of the tri-functional structure of Indo-European society as a framework for the analyses of stories belonging to three different areas of the world; India, Scandinavia, and Greece. His comparative study includes the Scandinavian saga of Starkaṓr, the Indian tale of Śiśupāla,…
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The Lord of Creatures
Reading Time: 5 minutesIn Hermes in India a discussion began about the Lord of Creatures. It is now obvious that this subject is more difficult than I imagined. There are several related terms that have to do with the nature of God. They have similar meanings, but they can belong to completely different gods. Dumézil said…
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The Names of God
Reading Time: 7 minutesGreek mythology and religion have an interest in the names of God. God is often said to be Lord of Animals. Hermes received the following mandate from Zeus. And from heaven father Zeus himself gave confirmation to his words, and commanded that glorious Hermes should be lord over all birds of omen…
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Civil Religion and Enlightenment in Context
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe views in the previous post represent an attempt to show the connection of Enlightenment ideas to civil religion. Enlightenment criticism and analyses of the Reformation usually convey a sense of loss. This is understandable because the Reformation ended the universal influence of the Catholic Church and its institutions, which had been…
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American Civil Religion and the Enlightenment
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn his theory of American Civil Religion, Robert Bellah attempted to attribute America’s sense of community to a common religious factor independent of the church. He said that a specifically American ideology has worked to form a homogenous and unified culture from unrelated immigrants. Because of the United States’ unique beginning, Civil…
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American Cosmology and Mythology
Reading Time: 4 minutesReligious conservatives in America have argued that America was founded as a Christian nation, implying that Christianity ought to be honored in political discourse and policy. Others call this ‘Christian revisionism’ and argue that the founding fathers had no such intention.