Abstract
The encounter between the rationality of the Greek philosophers and the Olympic religion immediately gave rise to a severe conflict. The attempt to claim for humankind the ability to know and describe reality using only the human intellect (nous) aroused scandal and accusations of impiety, as evidenced by the trials that led to the exile of Anaxagoras and the death of Socrates.
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Notes
- 1.
The Hebrew word TNK, spoken as Tanakh, is actually an acronym for Torah (Instruction), Neviim (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) which synthesizes in a single term the three basic parts of the Old Testament.
- 2.
According to the thesis of Julius Wellhausen, Genesis was composed of two independent sources, called “J” and “H”. One indication of this dualism, by way of example, are the two distinct and autonomous stories of the creation of man and of the animal world in Genesis 1 and 2, and the presence of sections of the book in which God is referred to only as Yahweh, or only with the name Elohim. The two sources could be ascribed respectively to the Southern and Northern Kingdoms during the period of division of the Jewish monarchy (930−721 BC). To these would be added the third and fourth hand of a later editor, who put the story together or rationalized it. The book of Isaiah, in contrast, is conventionally distinguished between the first Isaiah and the subsequent “deutero-Isaia” and “trito-Isaia”.
- 3.
In Proverbs 15, 14 for instance, it is said that “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge”, while in Deuteronomy 29, 4, Moses explains to the Jews that “yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive”.
- 4.
The distinction can be found in Jeremiah 11, 20: “But, o Lord of hosts, you who judge righteously, testing the kidneys (mind) and the heart”; in Psalms 7, 9: “Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts and the kidneys (mind)”; and in Psalms 25, 2: “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my kidneys (mind) and my heart”.
- 5.
From this term comes the modern idea of “psyche”.
- 6.
For instance, the word psyche occurs in Chronicles 9, 1, while the Book of Wisdom make reference to the ideas of nous (4, 12) and dianoia (4, 14). The term Logos instead retains the basic meaning of “word”, without any association to the concept of Universal Reason. This new meaning will be introduced in the Gospels.
- 7.
For further information about the Judaism of the Second Temple, the Zadokides and the widespread Jewish centrifugal thrusts, see Boccaccini G., Oltre l’ipotesi essenica: lo scisma tra Qumran e il giudaismo enochico, Morcelliana, Brescia 2003; and Sacchi P., The History of the Second Temple Period, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh 2004.
- 8.
Plato describes this ancient and very advanced civilization in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias.
- 9.
In his Works and Days, the poet Hesiod (seventh century BC) described an age of primeval happiness. In this time, Earth was populated by a “Golden lineage of mortal men”. Hesiod then described the following four ages in chronological order: The Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of Heroes and the Iron Age. Every new age came with a severe regression.
- 10.
See, for example, the Bucolics or Eclogues of Virgil.
- 11.
Gospel of Mark 6, 3. The parallel passage of the Gospel of Matthew 13, 55, instead tells us that Jesus was the “son of the tekton”, Joseph. Apparently, it was the family business.
References
Heraclitus, Diels-Kranz fragment, 22 B 91.
Quoted in Leucippus, fragment 2.
Aristotle, Metaphisycs, 1074 b 15 − 1075a 10.
Ibid, 1072 b 9−30.
Long A.A., Hellenistic Philosophy Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics, Bristol Classical Press, Bristol 1974 (chapter “The Stoic Philosophy of Nature).
Stark R., How the West Won. The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, Delaware 2014.
Gospel of John 1, 1-3. All biblical quotes refer to the New King James Version.
Book of Genesis 3, 8.
Ibid 1, 28.
Reference 8, 2, 15.
Reference 8, 19.
Reference 8, 4, 20−22.
Book of Exodus 31, 2−5.
Gospel of Luke 13, 1−5.
Gospel of John 9, 3.
Book of Job 38, 4−5 and 37−38.
Book of Job 40, 4−5.
Ecclesiastes 1, 18.
Ibid, 16−17.
Ecclesiastes 12, 13−14.
Reference 18, 4−10.
Quoted in Stark, Reference 6.
Smith M., Palestinian Judaism in the first century, in Davis M., Israel: its role in civilization, Harper and Brothers, New York 1956, p. 71
Book of Sirach 16, 24−27. Translation from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Book of Wisdom 7, 15−22. Translation from the Revised Standard Version (RSV).
Mazzinghi L., Il libro della Sapienza: elementi culturali in “Ricerche storico-bibliche”, 10, 1998, p. 186.
Tanzella Nitti G., Teologia fondamentale in contesto scientifico, Città Nuova, Rome 2018, p. 530.
Plato, Timaeus, 33c e segg.
Plato, The Republic, book X.
Reference 18 10−11.
Book of Genesis 6, 1−4.
D. F. Noble, The religion of technology: the divinity of man and the spirit of invention, Penguin Books, New York and London 1997.
Ibid¸p. 10
Book of Daniel 7, 13.
Mark 10, 25; Matthew 19, 24; Luke 18, 25.
Matthew 4, 4; Luke 4, 4.
Luke 14, 26 (see also Matthew 10, 37).
John 12, 6.
Matthew 22, 21, Mark 12, 17, Luke 20, 25.
Augustine, The city of God, XXII, 24
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 2, 1−3.
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Genta, G., Riberi, P. (2019). From Abraham to Jesus: The Judeo-Christian rational horizon. In: Technology and the Growth of Civilization. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25583-1_4
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