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On religion and Egyptian culture

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Whitney
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« on: January 24, 2009, 11:53:54 pm »

On religion and Egyptian culture
Katelynn Wilton
Issue date: 1/19/09 Section: News
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 2 next > This past Friday, Clarkson hosted the first liberal arts colloquium of the semester featuring Dr. Steven Stannish of SUNY Potsdam who presented his theory on religion and Egyptian culture.
Dr. Stannish spoke about monotheism versus polytheism. He noted that when asked, most people would respond that monotheism was the belief in a single god whereas polytheism was the belief in multiple gods. He noted that experts, even in his field, often had this conception. He went on to explain how the definition was problematic. The clearest representation of this was when he showed references to the polytheistic Gods of Ancient Greece with Zeus being the supreme ruler and Hera, Athena, and Hades surrounding him, and then flipped to a depiction of the Christian God with angels surrounding Him in a similar manner to the first picture.
At this point, Dr. Stannish redefined polytheism and monotheism without referencing the number of gods involved.
Instead, he reasoned, monotheism normally refers to the "desert faiths," namely Hebrew, Christianity, and Islam. He outlined three ways in which "desert faiths" were unique from those deemed monotheistic. Dr. Stannish claimed that monotheism really reflects a personal, responsive god, whom you could ask and thank for things.
He also defined monotheism as being a religion in which there is a single unified and absolute will which does not face any true opposition. Third, Dr. Stannish noted that these gods were ontologically distinct from the world, meaning that they are not involved in the world at all and are entirely separate from the cosmos. He continued his discussion of monotheism with talk of misinterpretations, as well as the intolerance of those who claimed to be too close to God, such as Joan of Arc.
At this point, Dr. Stannish transitioned into polytheism using a myth from Greco-Roman mythology. He recollected how Prometheus, a titan, stole fire from the Gods in order to give it to man and the punishment of being bound to a mountain that he suffered for it. Zeus would send an eagle every morning to eat Prometheus's liver, and then every night it would grow back as Prometheus was immortal. The misconception, Dr. Stannish noted, was that the second punishment, involving the eagle, was for delivering the fire. This was actually due to a prophecy that there was one goddess whose son, if also the son of one of the supreme gods, would overthrow Zeus. Prometheus knew who this goddess was and, was being punished for not revealing her identity. From there, Dr. Stannish discussed the concept of polytheism with an impersonal god and various wills and division in the divine power. In polytheism there is no distinction between the gods and the world of man.

http://media.www.clarksonintegrator.com/media/storage/paper280/news/2009/01/19/News/On.Religion.And.Egyptian.Culture-3588389.shtml
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"Religion is What Keeps the Poor from Murdering the Rich" -- Napoleon Bonaparte

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Whitney
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« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2009, 11:56:29 pm »

At this point Dr. Stannish began talking about his specialty, Egypt. He discussed other theories about Egyptian gods, and then gave his own theory on the nature of the religion, as well as some background in the area. To begin with, he discussed the abstract fluid of which the gods were made. This allowed them to take multiple kheperu, or forms of a god, including statues, temples, and animals. The gods could also form a composite of two gods due to the nature of this divine substance. In the polytheistic religion in Egypt there were also not many differences between men and gods, as kings were considered gods, and common men could become gods after being judged by the weighing of the heart against the feather of justice.
The time in question, however, was when the Amarna period in roughly 14th century B.C. began. In this time, there was a cultural revolution, with changes in the capital, art, and religion. The new religion focused on a single god, Aten, who was associated with the sun. Most would consider this a monotheistic religion based solely on the one god interpretation, but Dr. Stannish explained it differently. The king who founded the religion did not worship the sun but the light and energy god. Then Dr. Stannish reasoned through the steps. First, he claimed, the light god was not truly personal, as most people couldn't speak to him; however, this was clouded by the king himself, who claimed to be doing the duty of Aten. In this religion, with only Aten, there appears to be unification as the god Aten is never truly challenged. Then comes the question of separation between man and god. This was the true test. In this area, Dr. Stannish cited one quote that the king said, stating that Aten was in all of the living things in beautiful kheperu (forms of a god). This ability of the god to take on the form of a human completely separated this faith from monotheism. Dr. Stannish claimed that this constitutes Pantheism, with everything being penetrated by the divine spirit.
At the end of the talk, Dr. Stannish held an informative question and answer session. The event was well-attended and even included several Potsdam community members.
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"Religion is What Keeps the Poor from Murdering the Rich" -- Napoleon Bonaparte
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