Ancient Wisdom

Creation storiesChinese, Aryan, Mesopotamian & other animism

Egyptian, Hindu & other-world beliefs

Hebrew & other monotheism

Animism There are spirits which can interact

with our lived world The spirits can be angered or

appeased The spirits have limited power The spirits have limited range and

seem to be fixed

The Hebrew Thinker

Solomon (970-940 – king, poet, philosopher): the goal of life is wisdom (practical success) and it is attained by spiritual insight and obedience to God

Proverbs

Song of Solomon

Ecclesiastes

Isaiah (700s – statesman, prophet, poet): God has a plan which is being worked out in all nations and all history to restore humanity to himself through his messiah

Isaiah, Joel, Amos, Micah, Hosea, Jonah

Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk

The Hebrew Writers

Daniel (500s – interpreter, administrator): the purpose of life is using your gifts to do good to everyone and also obeying the word of God and the spirit of God.

The Hebrew Prophet

Ezekiel (500s – taken to Babylon):God is able to lift up and tear down, based on morality. All nations are in his hands. He will restore Israel.

Hinduism

Original monotheism (Brahma) which is manifested as three forces:

Later seen as three gods: Bramah, Vishnu, Shiva

Preserver and protectorCreator and guide

Destroyer and restorer

These gods manifest themselves on earth by an avatar (incarnation). There have been hundreds of incarnations as local gods or demi-gods.

Hinduism

Today most Hindus see themselves as one people but with many differences, especially the caste system. One’s caste determines one’s duty (dharma) in life.

The atman (soul) is linked with brahman (eternal being) but is now caught in rebirth into suffering. The way to escape (msksha) the cycle of suffering is to achieve realization that atman is brahman, and then do your duty.

Hinduism

The major writings are the four Vedas (1100BC) and the commentaries called the Upanishads (900 BC)

Life is a dance of birth, marriage, death, rebirth – a cycle of suffering punctuated with festivals

Greece: The Presocratics

Predate Socrates (469-399 B.C.)  Rejected mythologies  Emphasized reason over superstitions

Scientific & philosophical questions

Born: about 624 BC in Miletus, Asia MinorDied: about 547 BC in Miletus

Thales of Miletus

Began to treat reflection on reality as a primary method of learning: predicted an eclipse, measured the pyramids

Thales believed that all of reality is made up of forms of water, and the Earth floats on water

and all things come to be from water. The Earth is a disc floating on an infinite ocean.

Hylozoism – all matter has life

Empedocles of Acragas

Born: about 492 BC in Acragas (now Agrigento, Sicily)Died: about 432 BC in Peloponnese, Greece

 He is best known for his belief that all matter was composed

of four elements: fire, air, water, and earth 

Combinations (Love) & Separations (War) polis

Eternal matter and eternal spirit in a dance

Born: about 569 BC in Samos, IoniaDied: about 475 BC

Pythagoras of Samos

Pythagoras' Theorem claims that the sum of (the areas of) two small squares equals (the area of) the large one. The theorem is of fundamental importance in the Euclidean Geometry where it serves as a basis for the definition of distance between two points.

Heraclitus

Nothing is eternal; everything is in becoming

Change takes place in accord with reason

One cannot step into the same river twice

Parminides

Metaphysical monism: each thought refers to an ideal object in the real world; and the thing and the thought are one. There is only one being

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

God used the forms of truth (his ideas) to shape energy into matter and give it specific shape and purpose

By reason and innate ideas we can discover the truth and purpose of things and rule ourselves and, if we are wise, others in life

Tied together a theology and a cosmology