RE207 Lecture 3: January 11
Document Summary
History: precedents, greco-roman philosophy (400 bce-400ce) , diogenes of sinope (412-323 bce) Greeks and romans believed there were a whole family of gods and goddesses that governed = polytheistic. Honour the gods and the gods will do good for you. Regarded these gods in very human terms: philosophers = lovers of wisdom. The love of gods and goddesses = wasteful, pointless, corrupt. We shouldn"t be paying so much attention to honouring fictitious gods, we should pay attention of how to live a good life. Because they disliked greco-roman, they were able to stand outside and describe it more objectively than those on the inside of it/practiced it. Philosophers set a precedent for the academic study of religion because they were able to describe it impartially, objectively and detached: early islam (ca 700 1000 ce) , avicenna (muslim philosopher), ca. Islam = monotheistic (allah), but they studied rationally, asked critical questions, did not take things for granted, and always investigated.
