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.This was especiallytrue in India, where the title of guru was also used for such distributors of salvation andtheir authority.It was likewise the case in China, where the hierarch of the Taoists andthe heads of certain secret sects played just such hereditary roles.Finally, one type ofexemplary prophet to be discussed presently was also generally transformed into amystery cultist in the second generation.The mystery cultists were also very widely spread throughout the Near East, and theyentered Greece in the prophetic age which we discussed already.[35] Yet the far moreancient noble families who were the hereditary chief of the Eleusinian mysteries alsorepresented at least another marginal manifestation of the simple hereditary priestlyfamilies.The mystery cultists, who distribute magical salvation, lack ethical teaching orPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com at least teaching play only a very subordinate role in their enterprise.Instead, theypossess the doctrine of hereditarily transmitted magical art.Moreover, they normallymake a living from their greatly demanded cult.Consequently we must exclude him toofrom the conception of prophet, even though he sometimes revealed new ways ofsalvation.(C.2) Natures Of Prophecy(C.2.a) Ethical and Exemplary ProphecyThus, there remain only two kinds of prophets in our sense, one represented most clearlyby the Buddha, the other with especial clarity by Zoroaster and Muhammad.The prophetmay be primarily, as in the last cases, an instrument for the proclamation of a god and hiswill, be this a concrete command or an abstract norm.As a commission from god, hedemands obedience as an ethical duty.This type we shall term the "ethical prophet." Onthe other hand, the prophet may be an exemplary person who, by his personal example,demonstrates to others the way to religious salvation, as in the case of the Buddha.Thepreaching of an exemplary prophet says nothing about a divine mission or an ethical dutyof obedience, but rather directs itself to the self-interest of those who need salvation,recommending them to follow the same path as he himself walked.We call this secondtype the "exemplary prophet."The exemplary type is particularly characteristic of prophecy in India, although therehave been a few manifestations of it in China (for example, Lao Tzu) and the Near East.On the other hand, the ethical type is confined to the Near East, regardless of racialdifferences there.For neither the Vedas nor the classical books of the Chinese--the oldestportions of which in both cases consist of songs of praise and thanksgiving by sacredsingers, and of magical rites and ceremonies--makes it appear at all probable thatprophecy of the ethical type, such as developed in the Near East or Iran, could ever havearisen in India or China.(C.2.b) God and ProphetsThe decisive reason for this is the absence of a personal, transcendental, and ethical god.In India this concept was found only in a sacramental and magical form, and then only inthe later and popular faiths.But in the religions of those social strata within which thedecisive prophetic type of Mahavira and Buddha were developed, the ethical concept ofgod appeared only intermittently and was constantly subjected to reinterpretations in thedirection of pantheism.In China the notion of ethical god was altogether lacking becausethe ethics of the stratum exercised the greatest influence in the society.To what degreethis may presumably be associated with the intellectual distinctiveness of such strata,which was of course determined by various social factors, will be discussed later.As far as inner religious factors are concerned, it was decisive for both India and Chinathat the conception of a rationally regulated world had its point of origin in theceremonial order of sacrifices, on the unalterable sequence of which everythingPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com depended: especially the indispensable regularity of meteorological processes; inanimistic thinking, what was involved here was the normal activity or inactivity of thespirits and demons.According to both classical and heterodox Chinese views, theseprocesses were held to be insured by the regulation of ethically proper conduct thatfollowed the correct path of virtue, the Tao; without this everything would fail, evenaccording to Vedic teaching.Thus, in India and China, Rita and Tao respectivelyrepresented similar super-divine, impersonal forces.On the other hand, the personal, transcendental and ethical god is a Near-Eastern concept.It corresponds so closely to that of an all-powerful secular king with his rationalbureaucratic regime that a causal connection can scarcely be denied.(C.2.b.1) God as RainmakerThroughout the world the magician is in the first instance a rainmaker, for the harvestdepends on timely and sufficient rain, though not in excessive quantity.Until the presenttime the pontifical Chinese emperor has remained a rainmaker, for in northern China, atleast, the uncertainty of the weather renders dubious the operation of irrigationprocedures, no matter how extensive they are.Of greater significance was theconstruction of defense walls, and internal canals, which became the real source of theimperial bureaucracy.The emperor sought to avert meteorological disturbances throughsacrifices, public atonement, and various virtuous practices, for example, the terminationof abuses in the administration, or a raid on unpunished malefactors [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.This was especiallytrue in India, where the title of guru was also used for such distributors of salvation andtheir authority.It was likewise the case in China, where the hierarch of the Taoists andthe heads of certain secret sects played just such hereditary roles.Finally, one type ofexemplary prophet to be discussed presently was also generally transformed into amystery cultist in the second generation.The mystery cultists were also very widely spread throughout the Near East, and theyentered Greece in the prophetic age which we discussed already.[35] Yet the far moreancient noble families who were the hereditary chief of the Eleusinian mysteries alsorepresented at least another marginal manifestation of the simple hereditary priestlyfamilies.The mystery cultists, who distribute magical salvation, lack ethical teaching orPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com at least teaching play only a very subordinate role in their enterprise.Instead, theypossess the doctrine of hereditarily transmitted magical art.Moreover, they normallymake a living from their greatly demanded cult.Consequently we must exclude him toofrom the conception of prophet, even though he sometimes revealed new ways ofsalvation.(C.2) Natures Of Prophecy(C.2.a) Ethical and Exemplary ProphecyThus, there remain only two kinds of prophets in our sense, one represented most clearlyby the Buddha, the other with especial clarity by Zoroaster and Muhammad.The prophetmay be primarily, as in the last cases, an instrument for the proclamation of a god and hiswill, be this a concrete command or an abstract norm.As a commission from god, hedemands obedience as an ethical duty.This type we shall term the "ethical prophet." Onthe other hand, the prophet may be an exemplary person who, by his personal example,demonstrates to others the way to religious salvation, as in the case of the Buddha.Thepreaching of an exemplary prophet says nothing about a divine mission or an ethical dutyof obedience, but rather directs itself to the self-interest of those who need salvation,recommending them to follow the same path as he himself walked.We call this secondtype the "exemplary prophet."The exemplary type is particularly characteristic of prophecy in India, although therehave been a few manifestations of it in China (for example, Lao Tzu) and the Near East.On the other hand, the ethical type is confined to the Near East, regardless of racialdifferences there.For neither the Vedas nor the classical books of the Chinese--the oldestportions of which in both cases consist of songs of praise and thanksgiving by sacredsingers, and of magical rites and ceremonies--makes it appear at all probable thatprophecy of the ethical type, such as developed in the Near East or Iran, could ever havearisen in India or China.(C.2.b) God and ProphetsThe decisive reason for this is the absence of a personal, transcendental, and ethical god.In India this concept was found only in a sacramental and magical form, and then only inthe later and popular faiths.But in the religions of those social strata within which thedecisive prophetic type of Mahavira and Buddha were developed, the ethical concept ofgod appeared only intermittently and was constantly subjected to reinterpretations in thedirection of pantheism.In China the notion of ethical god was altogether lacking becausethe ethics of the stratum exercised the greatest influence in the society.To what degreethis may presumably be associated with the intellectual distinctiveness of such strata,which was of course determined by various social factors, will be discussed later.As far as inner religious factors are concerned, it was decisive for both India and Chinathat the conception of a rationally regulated world had its point of origin in theceremonial order of sacrifices, on the unalterable sequence of which everythingPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com depended: especially the indispensable regularity of meteorological processes; inanimistic thinking, what was involved here was the normal activity or inactivity of thespirits and demons.According to both classical and heterodox Chinese views, theseprocesses were held to be insured by the regulation of ethically proper conduct thatfollowed the correct path of virtue, the Tao; without this everything would fail, evenaccording to Vedic teaching.Thus, in India and China, Rita and Tao respectivelyrepresented similar super-divine, impersonal forces.On the other hand, the personal, transcendental and ethical god is a Near-Eastern concept.It corresponds so closely to that of an all-powerful secular king with his rationalbureaucratic regime that a causal connection can scarcely be denied.(C.2.b.1) God as RainmakerThroughout the world the magician is in the first instance a rainmaker, for the harvestdepends on timely and sufficient rain, though not in excessive quantity.Until the presenttime the pontifical Chinese emperor has remained a rainmaker, for in northern China, atleast, the uncertainty of the weather renders dubious the operation of irrigationprocedures, no matter how extensive they are.Of greater significance was theconstruction of defense walls, and internal canals, which became the real source of theimperial bureaucracy.The emperor sought to avert meteorological disturbances throughsacrifices, public atonement, and various virtuous practices, for example, the terminationof abuses in the administration, or a raid on unpunished malefactors [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]