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(April 5, 2025) The scriptural paradigm was the time when Christianity dominated Europe and Islam dominated the eastern Mediterranean. Their spread was due to 5 main factors:
Lordified deities were feared because of their many human failings. One never know when one of them they might get angry and have to be appeased. So having a single deity having a clear way of being made right with him was very desirable.
Dualism having some "other" which could be blamed and hated for all one's problems is very appealing to about half of humanity. But to be fair, at least Christianity had the teachings of Jesus about love to temper this (unlike other scriptural religions).
Core theology was an easy to understand commercial exchange. If a person believed the right way and did the sacraments then they would be rewarded with salvation.
The Christian church was the only literate organization left after the fall of the Roman empire and literacy was needed by rulers with pretensions of empire. Many rulers forced Christian conversion on their subjects just to gain access to this literacy and be seen as the "good" guy fighting the evil others.
Outright conquest and forced conversions either with economic pressure or threats of death and expulsion.
Western dualist religions assume the universe will have a violent ending and thus its dualist religions seek to escape from it.
Life's Purpose Under Dualism Is To Escape the Material Realm
Life's Purpose Under Dualism Is To Escape the Material Realm
(March 14, 2025)
Western Dualist Religions (after 500 BC Zoroastrianism) - To be saved from humanity's inherent sin and the end time apocalypse. Creation of the material realm was a random accident which has separated humans from the perfect and good divine realm. Therefore humans need to rejoin the Divine by becoming good. This is done by rejecting everything of the evil material realm as much as possible and following divine laws (Judaism, Islam). Alternately, because we can't fully reject the material realm, find a divine lord who will save you from from the material realm instead (Christianity).
Eastern Dualist Religions (after 500 BC Zoroastrianism) - To escape being reincarnated into the material world. Creation of the material realm was a random accident which has separated humans from the perfect and unchanging divine realm. Therefore humans should seek to rejoin the Divine by becoming like the Divine (oneness) by becoming changeless themselves. Do not desire or be motivated by anything. Their meditation practices focus on mental stillness instead of awareness like Pagans. (example, Buddhism).
Faith religions have dogmas. Path religions do not.
Dogmatic Knowledge Of The Dualist Scriptural Religions Compared with Pagan Perceptheistic Knowledge
Dogmatic Knowledge Of The Dualist Scriptural Religions Compared with Pagan Perceptheistic Knowledge
(April 6, 2025) This scriptural stage of human history has given religion a bad name for may people. The dominant religions of Christianity and Islam were dogmatic faith based religions deriving their authoritative dogmatic knowledge from claimed sacred texts.
Dogmatic Theistic Knowledge - All of reality can be known in common by a community. While the physical realm can be known by observation and experiment, the spiritual realm has priority and is known only dogmatically via a religion's dogmatically claimed sacred texts or institutional secret knowledge.
Druid Perceptheistic Knowledge - Only the physical/material realm can be known in common by a community leaving spiritual knowledge as personal knowledge. Personal knowledge is mystical knowledge based upon perceptions and feelings, hence the name Perceptheistic. Perceptheistic deities can be perceived either as people or as clusters of powers. Deities can be one or many. A person may use different divine models at different times depending on what provides the best connection. Historical Druid culture is perceptheistic.
Map showing Medieval Universities of Europe. The red underlines indicate the oldest ones.
From William R. Shepherd: Historical Atlas, New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1923 via wikimedia commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Medieval_Universities.jpg
From William R. Shepherd: Historical Atlas, New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1923 via wikimedia commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Medieval_Universities.jpg
Medieval Universities Preserved Some Pagan Knowledge And Quickly Expanded As New Classical Texts Were Discovered In Foreign Lands 1100-1400 CE
Medieval Universities Preserved Some Pagan Knowledge And Quickly Expanded As New Classical Texts Were Discovered In Foreign Lands 1100-1400 CE
(March 20, 2025) Most of today's classical texts came into Europe from the crusades (1095 and 1291 CE), the Reconquista of Spain (1200's), and the looting and rule of Constantinople by the 4th crusade (1204-1261). The university system expanded to take advantage of this Pagan knowledge which was still respected in Europe.
The first university in Europe was the University of Bologna. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organized as guilds of students (universitas scholarium) by the late 1100's. It is the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning and the first university to graduate a woman (who later taught there) in 1239. It became known for its law degree. The main compilation of Roman law (called the "Digest") had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070 and teaching that was main the motivation for the university's founding. The Digest had been ordered by emperor Justinian I in 530–533 CE and is divided into 50 books.
The 2nd university was the University of Paris emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated with the cathedral school of Paris. It was officially chartered in 1200 by King Philip II and recognized in 1215 by Pope Innocent III. It's diploma subjects were: Arts, Medicine, Law, and Theology. The "Arts" covered the subjects of rhetoric, grammar, logic, astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music, all inspired by the surviving classics.
References
References
List of medieval universities on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medieval_universities
Image is Diebold Schilling's Spiezer Chronik (1485 CE), Burgerbibliotheek Bern.
The Hussites (15th century and afterwards) were the last great European heresy prior to the Reformation. Jan Hus (l. c. 1369-1415), was a theologian and rector of the Charles University in Prague, now in the Czech Republic, who admired Wycliffe's work and advocacy for reform. The university was founded on 26 January 1347 when the pope issued the bull establishing it modeling it on the University of Paris, with the same 4 subject of study. It is the oldest university north of the Alps and east of Paris.
Hus was not considered heretical until he objected to the selling of indulgences – writs purchased from the Church which reduced one's time in purgatory – which Wycliffe had also strongly objected to. Hus was brought to trial for his stand and other remarks he had allegedly made and was burned at the stake in 1415. His death ignited the Hussite Wars of 1419 - c. 1434 between Hussites and forces loyal to the Catholic Church.
The Hussites (15th century and afterwards) were the last great European heresy prior to the Reformation. Jan Hus (l. c. 1369-1415), was a theologian and rector of the Charles University in Prague, now in the Czech Republic, who admired Wycliffe's work and advocacy for reform. The university was founded on 26 January 1347 when the pope issued the bull establishing it modeling it on the University of Paris, with the same 4 subject of study. It is the oldest university north of the Alps and east of Paris.
Hus was not considered heretical until he objected to the selling of indulgences – writs purchased from the Church which reduced one's time in purgatory – which Wycliffe had also strongly objected to. Hus was brought to trial for his stand and other remarks he had allegedly made and was burned at the stake in 1415. His death ignited the Hussite Wars of 1419 - c. 1434 between Hussites and forces loyal to the Catholic Church.
The First Breaking of Church Power - Rise of Secular Government 1200 - 1400 CE
The First Breaking of Church Power - Rise of Secular Government 1200 - 1400 CE
(March 20, 2025) The support of literate monks and nuns to aid with law and commerce was the chief motivation for Pagan chiefs to switch their lands to Christianity.
European chiefdoms and their more organized feudal form depended upon personal relationships to work. Yet any strong centralized government centered around a king required a literate staff to function. This staff kept track of money, laws, contracts, and foreign relations. Until the high middle ages such literacy was provided to European kings by the Christian church who in return suppressed various Christian heresies.
Only after the rise of universities with their secular Roman law degree and growing related Pagan knowledge did kings get the idea to employ their graduates independently of the church to support government operations. Thus began the conflicts between church and state which allowed enough freedom for the Protestant reformation to succeed instead of being suppressed as just another heresy.
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