Sunday, December 27, 2009

Book Review - The Book of Job

I thought I would make the Book of Job my first book review as it is probably my favourite book of the bible. It questions why God allows unfairness and suffering – an issue that interested Epicurus greatly – see quote of the day.

The story takes place in the land of Uz, not in Israel which makes a nice change, and Job does not appear to be Jewish. However, Job is an upright and blameless man who “feared God and set his face against wrongdoing.” He was very comfortably off and had lots of children. God is one day talking to Satan and boasting of the God-fearing Job, when Satan needles him and says of course he is God-fearing as he has been rewarded by God, but that it would be a different story if God took away his protection. So God lets Satan kill Job’s children, destroy his flocks and cover Job with disgusting sores as long as he doesn’t actually kill him. Horrible things happen to Job who laments his life and wishes he was never born to “wander blindly hedged in by God on every side.”

He then has this dialogue with three of his friends who try to get him to blame God for his troubles. The reader knows that in fact they are right to do so, but although Job comes close to accusing God of injustice he refuses to curse him. My favourite line is “Am I the monster of the deep, am I the sea-serpent, that thou settest a watch over me?” In other words he just wants to be left alone to scratch his sores and not have endless theological discussions. But they give him no peace and he goes on to say that God “destroys blameless and wicked alike.” And then in another passage Job asks “why do the wicked enjoy long life, hale in old age” when they do not care about God and yet they prosper. Why indeed? The friends in the end change their tune and tell him not to judge God as we can not possibly comprehend his mysterious ways and that anyway Job must have sinned. Job starts to get justifiably resentful and says that he has not sinned and that all this suffering is pretty unfair. He still fears God but he wants some answers.

Strangely enough God does answer – the last time he does speak directly to a human being in the original Jewish version of the Bible. He says “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?” He says that unless you were there while he created the universe, you have no right to criticize him or ask him questions. I suppose it’s a fair point. He talks of his power and his wrath and then says my other favourite line, “Consider the chief of the beasts, the crocodile,” and goes on to give a superb if rather irrelevant description of the animal and its power. Perhaps it is a metaphor?

For some reason Job is convinced by all this but I suspect that, wonderful though the crocodile speech is, it is only now that he has actually seen God with his own eyes that he shuts up. God rebukes the friends for telling the truth, and restores Job’s fortunes, presumably heals his sores and he has new children. I wonder if that is any consolation for the loss of the original ones? It is a quite an astounding book with some of the best lines in the Bible, but in the end Job’s questions are evaded by God and one is left with the uncomfortable impression that God plays with human lives all for the sake of a wager.

[Quote of the Day was: "Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent; Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent; Is he both willing and able? Then whence cometh evil?; Is he neither willing nor able then why call him God?" Attributed to Epicurus]

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Ying Yang Symbol


So I said I would explain the significance of the Yin Yang symbol pictured. A few years ago I began to learn Tai Chi and became very interested in the origins and history of this health dance or moving meditation practice. I started reading about Chi or Qi and found myself struck by how the ancient Chinese idea that the energy of the universe is present in all living things and that it is also reflected in the human body. Like the atomic view of the world held by Epicurus, it is not inconsistent with modern Physics.

The Yin Yang concept was formulated to explain the workings of Chi and represents how seemingly opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn with the aim of achieving balance or harmony. There is no good and evil and no dark side of the force! It is a very ancient concept and these symbols, in the form of a tiger and a dragon, have been found in a Chinese Neolithic burial site dated 5000 BC.

The Tao of Chi can be translated as the way of energy and the Tao Te Ching was written by Lao-Tzu the founder of Taoism, in the 6th century BC. The three jewels of the Tao are compassion, moderation and humility. Sound familiar? Lao Tzu also wrote:

The way that can be described is not the eternal way
The name that can be named is not the eternal name


I think it is a warning about being too certain in your beliefs and thinking that the mysteries of the universe can be adequately described in one book or set of texts or perhaps even by words at all. The Chinese incorporated these views along side those of Confucius and Buddha, which is one of the good things about Polytheism – it generally promotes religious tolerance with its view that your god must just be a local manifestation of one of my gods phenomenon. I will end with the quote “There are many ways to the top of the mountain, but once there the view is the same.”

Thursday, December 10, 2009

My favourite philosopher Epicurus


epicurus
Originally uploaded by tim natoli
The philosopher Epicurus (4th century BC Athens) believed that the purpose of philosophy was to achieve the happy life which he called ataraxia or indifference. He is quoted as saying “Be happy with little for being interested in and needing much brings unhappiness.” He established a school in his garden where the aim of students, both male and female, was to live a simple life in order to attain happiness. He conceived of happiness as the elimination of pain, both mental and physical.

Although unfairly credited with promoting unrestrained hedonism, in fact he believed that many of the bodily pleasures bought with them pain or had painful outcomes. He believed that it was better to live a virtuous life as the vices usually resulted in pain which should be avoided. It is similar to the idea promoted by Aristotle that everything should be done in moderation. Denial was as dangerous as excess.

He believed in a random world of atoms and that the world has come to exist by chance and not by divine decree. Gods were regulated to a far off sphere without any interest in mankind. He believed that religion promoted the idea that the dead were unhappy but he believed that the soul perishes with the body and that therefore death is not to be feared.

His views are similar to those of Buddha and Lao-Tzu who pre-dated him and Jesus who came after him, in that he emphasised minimising harm and maximising the happiness of oneself and others which is known as the Ethic of Reciprocity or the Golden Rule. I find his simple philosophy very refreshing, liberating and still applicable today.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

What started it all

It was a visit from a Jehovah’s Witness knocking on my door a few years ago that started my new quest for enlightenment. She was very nice and not at all dismayed to be told I was an atheist, in fact she seemed quite pleased. We had a good chat about the Ancient Assyrians and as I had only a hazy idea of what a Jehovah’s Witness believed in, I asked her in for a cup of tea. It had been some years since I had read or listened to the bible – not since school probably.

So it was interesting to re-read the bible in an effort to understand the hand-outs the Jehovah’s Witness gave me. After a few visits we agreed to disagree but she had got me thinking. I had discovered the joys of the book of Job and the wonderful language and stories of the Old and New Testaments. But I was more than ever unimpressed by the God described there.

Talking to the Jehovah’s Witness revealed to me that I was genuinely uninterested in a life after death, that I thought that even if there was a god or gods that they may not necessarily care about humans or be interested in punishing or judging us. We seemed to take care of that ourselves. But most of all it seemed to me that the idea of a god was a human projection primarily designed to deal with our fears – of dying, of loss and of loneliness.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

What is the point of this blog?


I thought it was time to put down my views on religion, philosophy and the meaning of life once and for all and get it off my chest as to why I don't believe in a God. I will be reviewing books that I have read on the subject and talking about my worldview and why I believe it is possible to lead a good ethical life without a God. I will try to restrain my rude remarks about Christianity and other religions as I know I need to practise tolerance. But as you can see from the quote of the day, it might be very hard!

As I am obsessed with the ancient world, in this blog I will be discussing the teachings of Epicurus and other Greek and Roman philosophers whose views on the meaning of life and how to live a good life are still relevant today. Pre-Christian philosophy without the emphasis on sin and the need for an afterlife I find very refreshing. I will also be discussing the philosophy of Taoism and the meaning of the Yin Yang symbol pictured which I find very inspiring. I will be discussing other religions as well and why they do not appeal to me. However as this blog is about my journey towards enlightenment I think a picture of the Buddha is a very appropriate end for this first post.

[Quote of the Day was: "My dislike of the Christian religion is based on the natural revolt of the pagan against a creed that has nothing to do with Mother Earth, humanism and the gusto for life but croaks of sin, death, punishment, fear, with a very dull promissory note on paradise." Sir Lionel Lindsay quoted in "the Leafy Tree" by Daryl Lindsay 1965.]