Knjiga Urantije
DIO III. Povijest Urantije
POGLAVLJE 95 : MELKIZEDEKOVA UČENJA NA LEVANTU
Paper 95
The Melchizedek Teachings in the Levant
The Melchizedek Teachings in the Levant
KAO ŠTO je Indija dala izvor mnogim religijama i filozofijama istočne Azije, tako je Levant bio domovina vjera zapadnog svijeta. Salemski misionari širili su se po cijeloj jugozapadnoj Aziji, kroz Palestinu, Mezopotamiju, Egipat, Iran i Arabiju, posvuda navješćujući radosnu vijest evanđelja Makivente Melkizedeka. U nekim od tih zemalja njihova su učenja donosila plod, dok su u drugima nailazila na različit uspjeh. Ponekad su njihovi neuspjesi bili posljedica nedostatka mudrosti, a ponekad okolnosti izvan njihove kontrole.
95:0.1 (1042.1)
AS INDIA gave rise to many of the religions and philosophies of eastern Asia, so the Levant was the homeland of the faiths of the Occidental world. The Salem missionaries spread out all over southwestern Asia, through Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, and Arabia, everywhere proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Machiventa Melchizedek. In some of these lands their teachings bore fruit; in others they met with varying success. Sometimes their failures were due to lack of wisdom, sometimes to circumstances beyond their control.
95:1.1 (1042.2)
By 2000 b.c. the religions of Mesopotamia had just about lost the teachings of the Sethites and were largely under the influence of the primitive beliefs of two groups of invaders, the Bedouin Semites who had filtered in from the western desert and the barbarian horsemen who had come down from the north.
Ali običaj ranih adamitskih naroda da štuju sedmi dan u tjednu nikada nije potpuno nestao u Mezopotamiji. Samo što se u vrijeme Melkizedeka sedmi dan smatrao najgorim od svih nesretnih dana. Bio je opterećen tabuima; bilo je zabranjeno putovati, kuhati hranu ili paliti vatru na taj zlokobni sedmi dan. Židovi su sa sobom u Palestinu donijeli mnoge mezopotamske tabue koje su ondje zatekli povezane s babilonskim obredom sedmog dana, Šabatumom.
95:1.2 (1042.3)
But the custom of the early Adamite peoples in honoring the seventh day of the week never completely disappeared in Mesopotamia. Only, during the Melchizedek era, the seventh day was regarded as the worst of bad luck. It was taboo-ridden; it was unlawful to go on a journey, cook food, or make a fire on the evil seventh day. The Jews carried back to Palestine many of the Mesopotamian taboos which they had found resting on the Babylonian observance of the seventh day, the Shabattum.
Iako su učitelji iz Salema učinili mnogo da pročiste i uzdignu religije Mezopotamije, nisu uspjeli dovesti različite narode do trajnog priznanja jednoga Boga. Popularnost jednobožačkih učenja rasla je više od sto pedeset godina, nakon čega je postupno oslabila pod utjecajem starijih mnogobožačkih vjerovanja.
95:1.3 (1042.4)
Although the Salem teachers did much to refine and uplift the religions of Mesopotamia, they did not succeed in bringing the various peoples to the permanent recognition of one God. Such teaching gained the ascendancy for more than one hundred and fifty years and then gradually gave way to the older belief in a multiplicity of deities.
Salemski učitelji znatno su smanjili broj bogova Mezopotamije, svodeći u jednom razdoblju glavna božanstva na sedam: Bel, Šamaš, Nabu, Anu, Ea, Marduk i Sin. Na vrhuncu novog učenja uzdigli su tri od tih bogova na vrhovni položaj iznad svih ostalih, babilonsku trojicu: Bela, Eu i Anua, bogove zemlje, mora i neba. U različitim su se područjima pojavile i druge trojke, sve podsjećajući na učenja o trojstvu Andita i Sumerana te temeljene na vjerovanju Salema u Melkizedekov znak triju krugova.
95:1.4 (1042.5)
The Salem teachers greatly reduced the number of the gods of Mesopotamia, at one time bringing the chief deities down to seven: Bel, Shamash, Nabu, Anu, Ea, Marduk, and Sin. At the height of the new teaching they exalted three of these gods to supremacy over all others, the Babylonian triad: Bel, Ea, and Anu, the gods of earth, sea, and sky. Still other triads grew up in different localities, all reminiscent of the trinity teachings of the Andites and the Sumerians and based on the belief of the Salemites in Melchizedek’s insignia of the three circles.
Salemski učitelji nikada nisu u potpunosti nadvladali popularnost Ištare, majke bogova i duha spolne plodnosti. Dok su znatno doprinijeli pročišćenju štovanja ove božice, Babilonci i njihovi susjedi nikada nisu u potpunosti prevladali prikrivene oblike spolnog štovanja. Postala je opća praksa diljem Mezopotamije da se svaka žena barem jednom u ranoj dobi podvrgne zagrljaju stranca; smatralo se da je to pobožnost koju zahtijeva Ištar, te se vjerovalo da plodnost uvelike ovisi o toj spolnoj žrtvi.
95:1.5 (1042.6)
Never did the Salem teachers fully overcome the popularity of Ishtar, the mother of gods and the spirit of sex fertility. They did much to refine the worship of this goddess, but the Babylonians and their neighbors had never completely outgrown their disguised forms of sex worship. It had become a universal practice throughout Mesopotamia for all women to submit, at least once in early life, to the embrace of strangers; this was thought to be a devotion required by Ishtar, and it was believed that fertility was largely dependent on this sex sacrifice.
Rani napredak Melkizedekova učenja bio je vrlo ohrabrujući sve dok Nabodad, vođa škole u Kišu, nije odlučio poduzeti usklađeni napad na raširene običaje hramske prostitucije. No salemski misionari nisu uspjeli u nastojanju da provedu tu društvenu reformu, i u ruševinama tog neuspjeha propala su i sva njihova važnija duhovna i filozofska učenja.
95:1.6 (1043.1)
The early progress of the Melchizedek teaching was highly gratifying until Nabodad, the leader of the school at Kish, decided to make a concerted attack upon the prevalent practices of temple harlotry. But the Salem missionaries failed in their effort to bring about this social reform, and in the wreck of this failure all their more important spiritual and philosophic teachings went down in defeat.
Nakon tog poraza salemskog evanđelja odmah je uslijedio snažan porast kulta Ištar, obreda koji je već bio prodro u Palestinu kao Aštoreta, u Egipat kao Izida, u Grčku kao Afrodita, a među sjeverna plemena kao Astarta. U vezi s tim preporodom štovanja Ištar, babilonski su se svećenici ponovno okrenuli promatranju zvijezda; astrologija je doživjela svoj posljednji veliki mezopotamski procvat, proricanje sudbine postalo je opća moda, a svećenstvo je tijekom stoljeća sve više nazadovalo.
95:1.7 (1043.2)
This defeat of the Salem gospel was immediately followed by a great increase in the cult of Ishtar, a ritual which had already invaded Palestine as Ashtoreth, Egypt as Isis, Greece as Aphrodite, and the northern tribes as Astarte. And it was in connection with this revival of the worship of Ishtar that the Babylonian priests turned anew to stargazing; astrology experienced its last great Mesopotamian revival, fortunetelling became the vogue, and for centuries the priesthood increasingly deteriorated.
Melkizedek je upozorio svoje sljedbenike da poučavaju o jednom Bogu, Ocu sviju i Stvoritelju svega, te da navješćuju samo evanđelje božanske naklonosti kroz vjeru. No često je bila pogreška učitelja nove istine pokušavati previše, nastojati zamijeniti sporu evoluciju naglom revolucijom. Melkizedekovi misionari u Mezopotamiji postavili su moralni standard previsoko za narod; pokušali su učiniti previše i njihov je plemeniti pothvat završio porazom. Bili su poslani propovijedati određeno evanđelje, navješćivati istinu o stvarnosti Oca Svih, ali su se zapleli u naizgled vrijednu zadaću reformiranja društvenih običaja, pa je njihova velika misija skrenuta s puta i gotovo izgubljena u razočaranju i zaboravu.
95:1.8 (1043.3)
Melchizedek had warned his followers to teach about the one God, the Father and Maker of all, and to preach only the gospel of divine favor through faith alone. But it has often been the error of the teachers of new truth to attempt too much, to attempt to supplant slow evolution by sudden revolution. The Melchizedek missionaries in Mesopotamia raised a moral standard too high for the people; they attempted too much, and their noble cause went down in defeat. They had been commissioned to preach a definite gospel, to proclaim the truth of the reality of the Universal Father, but they became entangled in the apparently worthy cause of reforming the mores, and thus was their great mission sidetracked and virtually lost in frustration and oblivion.
U jednoj je generaciji sjedište Salema u Kišu nestalo, a širenje vjerovanja u jednoga Boga gotovo je potpuno prestalo diljem Mezopotamije. Ali ostaci salemskih škola nisu bili uništeni. Male skupine, raspršene tu i tamo, nastavile su vjerovati u jednoga Stvoritelja i borile se protiv idolopoklonstva i nemorala mezopotamskih svećenika.
95:1.9 (1043.4)
In one generation the Salem headquarters at Kish came to an end, and the propaganda of the belief in one God virtually ceased throughout Mesopotamia. But remnants of the Salem schools persisted. Small bands scattered here and there continued their belief in the one Creator and fought against the idolatry and immorality of the Mesopotamian priests.
Upravo su salemski misionari iz razdoblja nakon odbacivanja njihova učenja zapisali mnoge psalme Starog zavjeta, urezavši ih u kamen, gdje su ih kasniji hebrejski svećenici pronašli tijekom sužanjstva i potom uključili u zbirku himni pripisanih židovskom autorstvu. Ti lijepi psalmi iz Babilona nisu nastali u hramovima Bel-Marduka; oni su djelo potomaka ranijih salemskih misionara i predstavljaju upečatljiv kontrast magijskim mješavinama babilonskih svećenika. Knjiga o Jobu prilično vjerno odražava učenja salemske škole u Kišu i diljem Mezopotamije.
95:1.10 (1043.5)
It was the Salem missionaries of the period following the rejection of their teaching who wrote many of the Old Testament Psalms, inscribing them on stone, where later-day Hebrew priests found them during the captivity and subsequently incorporated them among the collection of hymns ascribed to Jewish authorship. These beautiful psalms from Babylon were not written in the temples of Bel-Marduk; they were the work of the descendants of the earlier Salem missionaries, and they are a striking contrast to the magical conglomerations of the Babylonian priests. The Book of Job is a fairly good reflection of the teachings of the Salem school at Kish and throughout Mesopotamia.
Velik dio mezopotamske religijske kulture našao je svoj put u hebrejsku književnost i bogoslužje preko Egipta, posredstvom Amenemopea i Eknatona. Egipćani su izvanredno sačuvali učenja o društvenoj obvezi preuzeta od ranijih anditskih Mezopotamaca, koja su kasniji Babilonci, nastanjeni u dolini Eufrata, uvelike izgubili.
95:1.11 (1043.6)
Much of the Mesopotamian religious culture found its way into Hebrew literature and liturgy by way of Egypt through the work of Amenemope and Ikhnaton. The Egyptians remarkably preserved the teachings of social obligation derived from the earlier Andite Mesopotamians and so largely lost by the later Babylonians who occupied the Euphrates valley.
Izvorna Melkizedekova učenja najdublje su se ukorijenila u Egiptu, odakle su se potom proširila u Europu. Evolucijska religija doline Nila povremeno je bila obogaćivana dolaskom naprednijih skupina Nodita, Adamita i kasnije Andita iz doline Eufrata. S vremena na vrijeme mnogi egipatski civilni upravitelji bili su Sumerani. Kao što je Indija u to doba sadržavala najraznolikiju mješavinu svjetskih rasa, tako je Egipat razvio najpotpunije izmiješan tip religijske filozofije na Urantiji, a iz doline Nila ona se proširila u mnoge dijelove svijeta. Židovi su velik dio svoje predodžbe o stvaranju svijeta preuzeli od Babilonaca, ali su pojam božanske providnosti preuzeli od Egipćana.
95:2.1 (1043.7)
The original Melchizedek teachings really took their deepest root in Egypt, from where they subsequently spread to Europe. The evolutionary religion of the Nile valley was periodically augmented by the arrival of superior strains of Nodite, Adamite, and later Andite peoples of the Euphrates valley. From time to time, many of the Egyptian civil administrators were Sumerians. As India in these days harbored the highest mixture of the world races, so Egypt fostered the most thoroughly blended type of religious philosophy to be found on Urantia, and from the Nile valley it spread to many parts of the world. The Jews received much of their idea of the creation of the world from the Babylonians, but they derived the concept of divine Providence from the Egyptians.
Političke i moralne, a ne filozofske ili religijske sklonosti učinile su Egipat pogodnijim za salemska učenja od Mezopotamije. Svaki je plemenski vođa u Egiptu, nakon što bi se izborio za prijestolje, nastojao učvrstiti svoju dinastiju proglašavajući svog plemenskog boga izvornim božanstvom i stvoriteljem svih drugih bogova. Na taj su se način Egipćani postupno navikavali na ideju nadboga, kao prijelaz prema kasnijem učenju o univerzalnom Stvoritelju. Ideja jednoboštva kolebala se u Egiptu kroz mnoga stoljeća; vjerovanje u jednoga Boga stalno je jačalo, ali nikada nije u potpunosti nadvladalo razvijajuće predodžbe mnogoboštva.
95:2.2 (1044.1)
It was political and moral, rather than philosophic or religious, tendencies that rendered Egypt more favorable to the Salem teaching than Mesopotamia. Each tribal leader in Egypt, after fighting his way to the throne, sought to perpetuate his dynasty by proclaiming his tribal god the original deity and creator of all other gods. In this way the Egyptians gradually got used to the idea of a supergod, a steppingstone to the later doctrine of a universal creator Deity. The idea of monotheism wavered back and forth in Egypt for many centuries, the belief in one God always gaining ground but never quite dominating the evolving concepts of polytheism.
95:2.3 (1044.2)
For ages the Egyptian peoples had been given to the worship of nature gods; more particularly did each of the two-score separate tribes have a special group god, one worshiping the bull, another the lion, a third the ram, and so on. Still earlier they had been totem tribes, very much like the Amerinds.
S vremenom su Egipćani primijetili da se tijela pokojnika položena u grobove bez opeke očuvaju—balzamiraju—djelovanjem pijeska natopljenog sodom, dok se ona pokopana u zidanim grobnicama raspadaju. Ta su opažanja dovela do pokusa koji su kasnije rezultirali praksom balzamiranja mrtvih. Egipćani su vjerovali da očuvanje tijela olakšava prijelaz u budući život. Kako bi se pojedinac mogao prepoznati u dalekoj budućnosti nakon raspadanja tijela, u grob su uz tijelo stavljali pogrebni kip i na lijesu izrađivali njegov lik. Izrada tih pogrebnih kipova dovela je do velikog napretka egipatske umjetnosti.
95:2.4 (1044.3)
In time the Egyptians observed that dead bodies placed in brickless graves were preserved—embalmed—by the action of the soda-impregnated sand, while those buried in brick vaults decayed. These observations led to those experiments which resulted in the later practice of embalming the dead. The Egyptians believed that preservation of the body facilitated one’s passage through the future life. That the individual might properly be identified in the distant future after the decay of the body, they placed a burial statue in the tomb along with the corpse, carving a likeness on the coffin. The making of these burial statues led to great improvement in Egyptian art.
Stoljećima su Egipćani polagali svoju vjeru u grobnice kao zaštitu tijela i jamstvo ugodnog opstanka nakon smrti. Kasniji razvoj magijskih praksi, iako je opterećivao život od kolijevke do groba, ipak ih je vrlo djelotvorno oslobodio religije utemeljene na grobnicama. Svećenici su na lijesove ispisivali čarobne tekstove za koje se vjerovalo da štite od toga da „čovjeku u podzemnom svijetu bude oduzeto srce.” S vremenom je raznolik skup takvih magijskih tekstova prikupljen i sačuvan kao Knjiga mrtvih. No u dolini Nila magijski je ritual rano bio povezan s područjima savjesti i karaktera u mjeri kakvu obredi toga doba rijetko dosežu. Kasnije su se za spasenje više oslanjali na te etičke i moralne ideale nego na raskošne grobnice.
95:2.5 (1044.4)
For centuries the Egyptians placed their faith in tombs as the safeguard of the body and of consequent pleasurable survival after death. The later evolution of magical practices, while burdensome to life from the cradle to the grave, most effectually delivered them from the religion of the tombs. The priests would inscribe the coffins with charm texts which were believed to be protection against a “man’s having his heart taken away from him in the nether world.” Presently a diverse assortment of these magical texts was collected and preserved as The Book of the Dead. But in the Nile valley magical ritual early became involved with the realms of conscience and character to a degree not often attained by the rituals of those days. And subsequently these ethical and moral ideals, rather than elaborate tombs, were depended upon for salvation.
Praznovjerja tog vremena dobro se očituju u općem vjerovanju u djelotvornost sline kao sredstva liječenja, ideji koja je potekla iz Egipta i odatle se proširila u Arabiju i Mezopotamiju. U legendarnom sukobu Horusa i Seta mladi je bog izgubio oko, ali nakon što je Set bio poražen, to je oko obnovio mudri bog Tot, pljunuvši na ranu i izliječivši je.
95:2.6 (1044.5)
The superstitions of these times are well illustrated by the general belief in the efficacy of spittle as a healing agent, an idea which had its origin in Egypt and spread therefrom to Arabia and Mesopotamia. In the legendary battle of Horus with Set the young god lost his eye, but after Set was vanquished, this eye was restored by the wise god Thoth, who spat upon the wound and healed it.
Egipćani su dugo vjerovali da zvijezde koje trepere na noćnom nebu predstavljaju opstanak duša dostojnih mrtvih; za druge su smatrali da se stapaju sa Suncem. U jednom razdoblju štovanje Sunca postalo je svojevrsni oblik štovanja predaka. Kosi ulazni prolaz velike piramide bio je usmjeren ravno prema Sjevernjači kako bi duša kralja, izlazeći iz grobnice, mogla otići ravno prema nepomičnim i postojanim sazviježđima stalnih zvijezda, navodnom prebivalištu kraljeva.
95:2.7 (1044.6)
The Egyptians long believed that the stars twinkling in the night sky represented the survival of the souls of the worthy dead; other survivors they thought were absorbed into the sun. During a certain period, solar veneration became a species of ancestor worship. The sloping entrance passage of the great pyramid pointed directly toward the Pole Star so that the soul of the king, when emerging from the tomb, could go straight to the stationary and established constellations of the fixed stars, the supposed abode of the kings.
95:2.8 (1045.1)
When the oblique rays of the sun were observed penetrating earthward through an aperture in the clouds, it was believed that they betokened the letting down of a celestial stairway whereon the king and other righteous souls might ascend. “King Pepi has put down his radiance as a stairway under his feet whereon to ascend to his mother.”
Kada se Melkizedek pojavio u tijelu, Egipćani su imali religiju daleko iznad religija okolnih naroda. Vjerovali su da bestjelesna duša, ako je pravilno opremljena magijskim formulama, može izbjeći zlim duhovima koji stoje na putu i stići do sudačke dvorane Ozirisa, gdje bi, ako nije kriva za „ubojstvo, pljačku, laž, preljub, krađu i sebičnost,” bila primljena u područja blaženstva. Ako bi bila izvagana i nađena manjkavom, bila bi poslana u pakao, Proždiraču. To je, u usporedbi s vjerovanjima mnogih okolnih naroda, bio razmjerno napredan pojam zagrobnog života.
95:2.9 (1045.2)
When Melchizedek appeared in the flesh, the Egyptians had a religion far above that of the surrounding peoples. They believed that a disembodied soul, if properly armed with magic formulas, could evade the intervening evil spirits and make its way to the judgment hall of Osiris, where, if innocent of “murder, robbery, falsehood, adultery, theft, and selfishness,” it would be admitted to the realms of bliss. If this soul were weighed in the balances and found wanting, it would be consigned to hell, to the Devouress. And this was, relatively, an advanced concept of a future life in comparison with the beliefs of many surrounding peoples.
Iako su kultura i religija Egipta uvelike potjecale iz anditske Mezopotamije i bile prenesene kasnijim civilizacijama ponajprije preko Hebreja i Grka, mnogo, doista mnogo, društvenog i etičkog idealizma Egipćana nastalo je u dolini Nila kao čisto evolucijski razvoj. Unatoč uvozu brojnih istina i kulturnih elemenata anditskog porijekla, u Egiptu se razvilo više moralne kulture kao čisto ljudskog ostvarenja nego u bilo kojem drugom ograničenom području prije darovanja Mihaela.
95:3.1 (1045.4)
Although the culture and religion of Egypt were chiefly derived from Andite Mesopotamia and largely transmitted to subsequent civilizations through the Hebrews and Greeks, much, very much, of the social and ethical idealism of the Egyptians arose in the valley of the Nile as a purely evolutionary development. Notwithstanding the importation of much truth and culture of Andite origin, there evolved in Egypt more of moral culture as a purely human development than appeared by similar natural techniques in any other circumscribed area prior to the bestowal of Michael.
Moralna evolucija ne ovisi u potpunosti o otkrivenju. Visoki moralni pojmovi mogu proizaći iz čovjekova vlastitog iskustva. Čovjek može čak razviti duhovne vrijednosti i steći kozmički uvid kroz vlastiti iskustveni život, jer u njemu prebiva božanski duh. Takav prirodni razvoj savjesti i karaktera dodatno je bio potaknut povremenim dolascima učitelja istine, u drevnim vremenima iz drugog Edena, a kasnije iz Melkizedekova sjedišta u Salemu.
95:3.2 (1045.5)
Moral evolution is not wholly dependent on revelation. High moral concepts can be derived from man’s own experience. Man can even evolve spiritual values and derive cosmic insight from his personal experiential living because a divine spirit indwells him. Such natural evolutions of conscience and character were also augmented by the periodic arrival of teachers of truth, in ancient times from the second Eden, later on from Melchizedek’s headquarters at Salem.
Tisućama godina prije nego što je salemsko evanđelje prodrlo u Egipat, njegovi su moralni vođe poučavali pravdi, poštenju i izbjegavanju pohlepe. Tri tisuće godina prije nego što su napisani hebrejski spisi, geslo Egipćana glasilo je: „Postojan je čovjek čije je mjerilo pravednost; koji hodi njezinim putem.” Poučavali su blagosti, umjerenosti i razboritosti. Poruka jednog od velikih učitelja tog razdoblja bila je: „Čini ispravno i postupaj pravedno prema svima.” Egipatsko trojstvo tog doba bilo je Istina–Pravda–Pravednost. Nijedna posve ljudska religija Urantije nikada nije nadmašila društveni idealizam i moralnu uzvišenost humanizma koji je nekoć postojao u dolini Nila.
95:3.3 (1045.6)
Thousands of years before the Salem gospel penetrated to Egypt, its moral leaders taught justice, fairness, and the avoidance of avarice. Three thousand years before the Hebrew scriptures were written, the motto of the Egyptians was: “Established is the man whose standard is righteousness; who walks according to its way.” They taught gentleness, moderation, and discretion. The message of one of the great teachers of this epoch was: “Do right and deal justly with all.” The Egyptian triad of this age was Truth-Justice-Righteousness. Of all the purely human religions of Urantia none ever surpassed the social ideals and the moral grandeur of this onetime humanism of the Nile valley.
U tlu tih razvijajućih etičkih ideja i moralnih ideala procvjetale su preostale doktrine salemske religije. Pojmovi dobra i zla naišli su na spreman odjek u srcima naroda koji je vjerovao da „život pripada miroljubivima, a smrt krivima.” „Miroljubiv je onaj koji čini ono što je ljubljeno; kriv je onaj koji čini ono što je omraženo.” Stoljećima su stanovnici doline Nila živjeli prema tim nastajućim etičkim i društvenim mjerilima prije nego što su uopće prihvatili kasnije pojmove ispravnog i pogrešnog—dobrog i lošeg.
95:3.4 (1045.7)
In the soil of these evolving ethical ideas and moral ideals the surviving doctrines of the Salem religion flourished. The concepts of good and evil found ready response in the hearts of a people who believed that “Life is given to the peaceful and death to the guilty.” “The peaceful is he who does what is loved; the guilty is he who does what is hated.” For centuries the inhabitants of the Nile valley had lived by these emerging ethical and social standards before they ever entertained the later concepts of right and wrong—good and bad.
Egipat je bio intelektualan i moralan, ali nije bio pretjerano duhovan. U šest tisuća godina među Egipćanima su se pojavila samo četiri velika proroka. Amenemopea su neko vrijeme slijedili; Okhbana su ubili; Eknatona su prihvatili, ali mlako i tek tijekom jedne kratke generacije; Mojsija su odbacili. Opet su političke, a ne religijske okolnosti omogućile Abrahamu i kasnije Josipu da ostvare velik utjecaj diljem Egipta u korist salemskih učenja o jednom Bogu. No kada su salemski misionari prvi put stigli u Egipat, susreli su se s tom visoko etičkom kulturom evolucije, pomiješanom s izmijenjenim moralnim standardima mezopotamskih doseljenika. Ti rani učitelji doline Nila prvi su proglasili savjest Božjim nalogom, glasom Božanstva.
95:3.5 (1046.1)
Egypt was intellectual and moral but not overly spiritual. In six thousand years only four great prophets arose among the Egyptians. Amenemope they followed for a season; Okhban they murdered; Ikhnaton they accepted but halfheartedly for one short generation; Moses they rejected. Again was it political rather than religious circumstances that made it easy for Abraham and, later on, for Joseph to exert great influence throughout Egypt in behalf of the Salem teachings of one God. But when the Salem missionaries first entered Egypt, they encountered this highly ethical culture of evolution blended with the modified moral standards of Mesopotamian immigrants. These early Nile valley teachers were the first to proclaim conscience as the mandate of God, the voice of Deity.
95:4.1 (1046.2)
In due time there grew up in Egypt a teacher called by many the “son of man” and by others Amenemope. This seer exalted conscience to its highest pinnacle of arbitrament between right and wrong, taught punishment for sin, and proclaimed salvation through calling upon the solar deity.
Amenemope je poučavao da su bogatstvo i sreća dar Boga, a taj je pojam snažno obilježio kasnije oblikovanje hebrejske filozofije. Ovaj je plemeniti učitelj vjerovao da je svijest o Bogu odlučujući čimbenik svakog ponašanja; da svaki trenutak treba živjeti u spoznaji Božje prisutnosti i odgovornosti prema njemu. Učenja ovog mudraca kasnije su prevedena na hebrejski i postala sveta knjiga tog naroda mnogo prije nego što je Stari zavjet bio zapisan. Glavno učenje ovog dobrog čovjeka odnosilo se na savjete koje je uputio svom sinu o poštenju i čestitosti u javnim službama, a ti plemeniti, iako drevni nazori mogu biti na čast svakom suvremenom državniku.
95:4.2 (1046.3)
Amenemope taught that riches and fortune were the gift of God, and this concept thoroughly colored the later appearing Hebrew philosophy. This noble teacher believed that God-consciousness was the determining factor in all conduct; that every moment should be lived in the realization of the presence of, and responsibility to, God. The teachings of this sage were subsequently translated into Hebrew and became the sacred book of that people long before the Old Testament was reduced to writing. The chief preachment of this good man had to do with instructing his son in uprightness and honesty in governmental positions of trust, and these noble sentiments of long ago would do honor to any modern statesman.
Taj mudrac s Nila poučavao je da „bogatstvo dobiva krila i odlijeće”—da je sve zemaljsko prolazno. Njegova je velika molitva bila da bude „spašen od straha.” Pozivao je sve da se okrenu od „riječi ljudi” prema „djelima Boga.” U biti je poučavao: čovjek predlaže, a Bog određuje. Njegova su učenja, prevedena na hebrejski, oblikovala filozofiju starozavjetne Knjige Mudrih izreka. Prevedena na grčki, dala su ton kasnijoj helenskoj religijskoj filozofiji. Kasniji aleksandrijski filozof Filon posjedovao je primjerak Knjige Mudrosti.
95:4.3 (1046.4)
This wise man of the Nile taught that “riches take themselves wings and fly away”—that all things earthly are evanescent. His great prayer was to be “saved from fear.” He exhorted all to turn away from “the words of men” to “the acts of God.” In substance he taught: Man proposes but God disposes. His teachings, translated into Hebrew, determined the philosophy of the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Translated into Greek, they gave color to all subsequent Hellenic religious philosophy. The later Alexandrian philosopher, Philo, possessed a copy of the Book of Wisdom.
Amenemope je djelovao kako bi očuvao etiku evolucije i moralnost otkrivenja te ih je u svojim spisima prenio i Hebrejima i Grcima. Nije bio najveći religijski učitelj toga doba, ali je bio najutjecajniji, jer je obilježio kasnije mišljenje dviju ključnih karika u razvoju zapadne civilizacije—Hebreja, među kojima je nastao vrhunac zapadne religijske vjere, i Grka, koji su razvili čistu filozofsku misao do njezinih najviših europskih visina.
95:4.4 (1046.5)
Amenemope functioned to conserve the ethics of evolution and the morals of revelation and in his writings passed them on both to the Hebrews and to the Greeks. He was not the greatest of the religious teachers of this age, but he was the most influential in that he colored the subsequent thought of two vital links in the growth of Occidental civilization—the Hebrews, among whom evolved the acme of Occidental religious faith, and the Greeks, who developed pure philosophic thought to its greatest European heights.
U Knjizi hebrejskih Mudrih izreka, petnaesto, sedamnaesto i dvadeseto poglavlje, kao i dio dvadeset drugog poglavlja, sedamnaestog retka, do dvadeset četvrtog poglavlja, dvadeset drugog retka, gotovo su doslovno preuzeti iz Amenemopeove Knjige Mudrosti. Prvi psalam hebrejske Knjige psalama napisao je Amenemope i on predstavlja srž učenja Eknatona.
95:4.5 (1046.6)
In the Book of Hebrew Proverbs, chapters fifteen, seventeen, twenty, and chapter twenty-two, verse seventeen, to chapter twenty-four, verse twenty-two, are taken almost verbatim from Amenemope’s Book of Wisdom. The first psalm of the Hebrew Book of Psalms was written by Amenemope and is the heart of the teachings of Ikhnaton.
95:5.1 (1047.1)
The teachings of Amenemope were slowly losing their hold on the Egyptian mind when, through the influence of an Egyptian Salemite physician, a woman of the royal family espoused the Melchizedek teachings. This woman prevailed upon her son, Ikhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt, to accept these doctrines of One God.
Od nestanka Melkizedeka u tijelu nijedan čovjek do tog vremena nije posjedovao tako iznimno jasan pojam o objavljenoj religiji Salema kao Eknaton. U nekim je pogledima ovaj mladi egipatski kralj jedna od najizvanrednijih ličnosti u ljudskoj povijesti. U vrijeme sve većeg duhovnog pada u Mezopotamiji, on je održao na životu u Egiptu učenje o El Elionu, Jednom Bogu, time očuvavši filozofski kanal jednoboštva koji je bio presudan za religijsku pozadinu tada budućeg darovanja Mihaela. Upravo je, između ostalog, u znak priznanja tog postignuća, dijete Isus odvedeno u Egipat, gdje su ga neki od duhovnih nasljednika Eknatona vidjeli i donekle razumjeli određene aspekte njegove božanske misije na Urantiji.
95:5.2 (1047.2)
Since the disappearance of Melchizedek in the flesh, no human being up to that time had possessed such an amazingly clear concept of the revealed religion of Salem as Ikhnaton. In some respects this young Egyptian king is one of the most remarkable persons in human history. During this time of increasing spiritual depression in Mesopotamia, he kept alive the doctrine of El Elyon, the One God, in Egypt, thus maintaining the philosophic monotheistic channel which was vital to the religious background of the then future bestowal of Michael. And it was in recognition of this exploit, among other reasons, that the child Jesus was taken to Egypt, where some of the spiritual successors of Ikhnaton saw him and to some extent understood certain phases of his divine mission to Urantia.
Mojsije, najveća ličnost između Melkizedeka i Isusa, bio je zajednički dar svijetu hebrejskog naroda i egipatske kraljevske obitelji; i da je Eknaton posjedovao svestranost i sposobnost Mojsija, da je pokazao politički genij koji bi odgovarao njegovu izvanrednom religijskom vodstvu, tada bi Egipat postao velika jednobožačka nacija toga doba; a da se to dogodilo, jedva je moguće da Isus ne bi proveo veći dio svog smrtnog života u Egiptu.
95:5.3 (1047.3)
Moses, the greatest character between Melchizedek and Jesus, was the joint gift to the world of the Hebrew race and the Egyptian royal family; and had Ikhnaton possessed the versatility and ability of Moses, had he manifested a political genius to match his surprising religious leadership, then would Egypt have become the great monotheistic nation of that age; and if this had happened, it is barely possible that Jesus might have lived the greater portion of his mortal life in Egypt.
Nikada u cijeloj povijesti nijedan kralj nije tako sustavno pokušao preobratiti cijeli narod iz mnogoboštva u jednoboštvo kao ovaj izvanredni Eknaton. S nevjerojatnom odlučnošću ovaj je mladi vladar raskinuo s prošlošću, promijenio svoje ime, napustio prijestolnicu, izgradio posve novi grad i stvorio novu umjetnost i književnost za cijeli narod. No išao je prebrzo; izgradio je previše, više nego što je moglo opstati nakon njegove smrti. Opet, nije osigurao materijalnu stabilnost i blagostanje svog naroda, što se sve nepovoljno odrazilo na njegova religijska učenja kada je Egipat zahvaćen kasnijim valovima nevolja i ugnjetavanja.
95:5.4 (1047.4)
Never in all history did any king so methodically proceed to swing a whole nation from polytheism to monotheism as did this extraordinary Ikhnaton. With the most amazing determination this young ruler broke with the past, changed his name, abandoned his capital, built an entirely new city, and created a new art and literature for a whole people. But he went too fast; he built too much, more than could stand when he had gone. Again, he failed to provide for the material stability and prosperity of his people, all of which reacted unfavorably against his religious teachings when the subsequent floods of adversity and oppression swept over the Egyptians.
Da je ovaj čovjek iznimno jasne vizije i izvanredne usmjerenosti posjedovao političku razboritost Mojsija, promijenio bi čitavu povijest razvoja religije i objave istine u zapadnom svijetu. Tijekom svog života uspio je obuzdati djelovanje svećenika, koje je uglavnom diskreditirao, ali oni su svoje kultove održavali u tajnosti i ponovno stupili na scenu čim je mladi kralj izgubio vlast; i nisu oklijevali povezati sve kasnije nedaće Egipta s uspostavom jednoboštva tijekom njegove vladavine.
95:5.5 (1047.5)
Had this man of amazingly clear vision and extraordinary singleness of purpose had the political sagacity of Moses, he would have changed the whole history of the evolution of religion and the revelation of truth in the Occidental world. During his lifetime he was able to curb the activities of the priests, whom he generally discredited, but they maintained their cults in secret and sprang into action as soon as the young king passed from power; and they were not slow to connect all of Egypt’s subsequent troubles with the establishment of monotheism during his reign.
Vrlo mudro Eknaton je nastojao uspostaviti jednoboštvo pod okriljem boga sunca. Ta odluka da pristupi štovanju Oca Svih tako što će sva božanstva objediniti u štovanju sunca bila je potaknuta savjetom određenog salemskog liječnika. Eknaton je preuzeo opća učenja tada postojeće atonske vjere o očinstvu i majčinstvu Božanstva i stvorio religiju koja je priznavala blizak, štovateljski odnos između čovjeka i Boga.
95:5.6 (1047.6)
Very wisely Ikhnaton sought to establish monotheism under the guise of the sun-god. This decision to approach the worship of the Universal Father by absorbing all gods into the worship of the sun was due to the counsel of the Salemite physician. Ikhnaton took the generalized doctrines of the then existent Aton faith regarding the fatherhood and motherhood of Deity and created a religion which recognized an intimate worshipful relation between man and God.
Eknaton je bio dovoljno razborit da zadrži vanjsko štovanje Atona, boga sunca, dok je svoje sljedbenike vodio u prikrivenom štovanju jednoga Boga, stvoritelja Atona i vrhovnog Oca Svih. Ovaj mladi učitelj-kralj bio je plodan pisac i autor djela pod naslovom „Jedan Bog,” knjige od trideset i jednog poglavlja, koju su svećenici, nakon povratka na vlast, potpuno uništili. Eknaton je također napisao sto trideset i sedam himni, od kojih je dvanaest danas sačuvano u starozavjetnoj Knjizi psalama, pripisano hebrejskom autorstvu.
95:5.7 (1048.1)
Ikhnaton was wise enough to maintain the outward worship of Aton, the sun-god, while he led his associates in the disguised worship of the One God, creator of Aton and supreme Father of all. This young teacher-king was a prolific writer, being author of the exposition entitled “The One God,” a book of thirty-one chapters, which the priests, when returned to power, utterly destroyed. Ikhnaton also wrote one hundred and thirty-seven hymns, twelve of which are now preserved in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, credited to Hebrew authorship.
Vrhovna riječ Eknatonove religije u svakodnevnom životu bila je „pravednost,” i on je brzo proširio pojam ispravnog djelovanja tako da obuhvati međunarodnu kao i nacionalnu etiku. To je bilo razdoblje izvanredne osobne pobožnosti, obilježeno iskrenom težnjom među obrazovanijim muškarcima i ženama da pronađu i upoznaju Boga. U to vrijeme društveni položaj ili bogatstvo nisu davali Egipćaninu nikakvu prednost pred zakonom. Obiteljski život u Egiptu mnogo je pridonio očuvanju i razvoju moralne kulture te je bio nadahnuće kasnijem uzornom obiteljskom životu Židova u Palestini.
95:5.8 (1048.2)
The supreme word of Ikhnaton’s religion in daily life was “righteousness,” and he rapidly expanded the concept of right doing to embrace international as well as national ethics. This was a generation of amazing personal piety and was characterized by a genuine aspiration among the more intelligent men and women to find God and to know him. In those days social position or wealth gave no Egyptian any advantage in the eyes of the law. The family life of Egypt did much to preserve and augment moral culture and was the inspiration of the later superb family life of the Jews in Palestine.
Kobna slabost Eknatonova evanđelja bila je njegova najveća istina: učenje da Aton nije samo stvoritelj Egipta nego i „cijeloga svijeta, ljudi i životinja, i svih stranih zemalja, čak i Sirije i Kuša, uz ovu zemlju Egipat. On svima određuje mjesto i svima osigurava ono što im je potrebno.” Ti su pojmovi o Božanstvu bili uzvišeni i plemeniti, ali nisu bili nacionalistički. Takvi međunarodni religijski nazori nisu podigli moral egipatske vojske na bojištu, dok su istodobno pružili snažno oružje svećenicima protiv mladog kralja i njegove nove religije. Imao je pojam o Božanstvu daleko iznad onoga kasnijih Hebreja, ali bio je previše napredan da bi služio potrebama izgradnje nacije.
95:5.9 (1048.3)
The fatal weakness of Ikhnaton’s gospel was its greatest truth, the teaching that Aton was not only the creator of Egypt but also of the “whole world, man and beasts, and all the foreign lands, even Syria and Kush, besides this land of Egypt. He sets all in their place and provides all with their needs.” These concepts of Deity were high and exalted, but they were not nationalistic. Such sentiments of internationality in religion failed to augment the morale of the Egyptian army on the battlefield, while they provided effective weapons for the priests to use against the young king and his new religion. He had a Deity concept far above that of the later Hebrews, but it was too advanced to serve the purposes of a nation builder.
Iako je ideal jednoboštva oslabio nakon Eknatonove smrti, ideja o jednom Bogu opstala je u svijesti mnogih skupina. Eknatonov zet priklonio se svećenicima i vratio štovanju starih bogova, promijenivši ime u Tutankamon. Prijestolnica se vratila u Tebu, a svećenici su se obogatili na račun zemlje, naposljetku stekavši posjed nad jednom sedminom cijelog Egipta; i uskoro se jedan iz tog istog reda svećenika usudio posegnuti za krunom.
95:5.10 (1048.4)
Though the monotheistic ideal suffered with the passing of Ikhnaton, the idea of one God persisted in the minds of many groups. The son-in-law of Ikhnaton went along with the priests, back to the worship of the old gods, changing his name to Tutankhamen. The capital returned to Thebes, and the priests waxed fat upon the land, eventually gaining possession of one seventh of all Egypt; and presently one of this same order of priests made bold to seize the crown.
No svećenici nisu mogli u potpunosti nadvladati val jednoboštva. Sve su više bili prisiljeni povezivati i spajati svoja božanstva; sve se više smanjivao broj bogova. Eknaton je povezao žareći nebeski disk sa Stvoriteljem, i ta je ideja nastavila gorjeti u srcima ljudi, čak i među svećenicima, dugo nakon što je mladi reformator preminuo. Pojam jednoboštva nikada nije iščezao iz srca ljudi u Egiptu i u svijetu. Održao se sve do dolaska Sina Stvoritelja tog istog božanskog Oca, jednoga Boga kojega je Eknaton tako gorljivo navješćivao za štovanje u cijelom Egiptu.
95:5.11 (1048.5)
But the priests could not fully overcome the monotheistic wave. Increasingly they were compelled to combine and hyphenate their gods; more and more the family of gods contracted. Ikhnaton had associated the flaming disc of the heavens with the creator God, and this idea continued to flame up in the hearts of men, even of the priests, long after the young reformer had passed on. Never did the concept of monotheism die out of the hearts of men in Egypt and in the world. It persisted even to the arrival of the Creator Son of that same divine Father, the one God whom Ikhnaton had so zealously proclaimed for the worship of all Egypt.
Slabost Eknatonova učenja ležala je u tome što je zagovarao tako naprednu religiju da su njegova učenja mogli u potpunosti razumjeti samo obrazovani Egipćani. Široke mase poljoprivrednih radnika nikada nisu doista shvatile njegovo evanđelje te su stoga bile spremne, zajedno sa svećenicima, vratiti se starom štovanju Izide i njezina druga Ozirisa, za kojega se vjerovalo da je čudesno uskrsnuo iz okrutne smrti od ruke Seta, boga tame i zla.
95:5.12 (1048.6)
The weakness of Ikhnaton’s doctrine lay in the fact that he proposed such an advanced religion that only the educated Egyptians could fully comprehend his teachings. The rank and file of the agricultural laborers never really grasped his gospel and were, therefore, ready to return with the priests to the old-time worship of Isis and her consort Osiris, who was supposed to have been miraculously resurrected from a cruel death at the hands of Set, the god of darkness and evil.
Učenje o besmrtnosti za sve ljude bilo je previše napredno za Egipćane. Samo su kraljevima i bogatima bila obećavana uskrsnuća; zato su tako brižno balzamirali i čuvali svoja tijela u grobnicama do dana suda. No na kraju je prevladala demokracija spasenja i uskrsnuća, kako ju je poučavao Eknaton, čak do te mjere da su Egipćani kasnije vjerovali i u opstanak nižih životinja.
95:5.13 (1049.1)
The teaching of immortality for all men was too advanced for the Egyptians. Only kings and the rich were promised a resurrection; therefore did they so carefully embalm and preserve their bodies in tombs against the day of judgment. But the democracy of salvation and resurrection as taught by Ikhnaton eventually prevailed, even to the extent that the Egyptians later believed in the survival of dumb animals.
Iako se činilo da je pokušaj ovog egipatskog vladara da nametne štovanje jednoga Boga svom narodu propao, treba zabilježiti da su odjeci njegova djelovanja potrajali stoljećima, kako u Palestini tako i u Grčkoj, te je Egipat tako postao posrednik u prenošenju spojene evolucijske kulture Nila i objavljene religije Eufrata svim kasnijim narodima Zapada.
95:5.14 (1049.2)
Although the effort of this Egyptian ruler to impose the worship of one God upon his people appeared to fail, it should be recorded that the repercussions of his work persisted for centuries both in Palestine and Greece, and that Egypt thus became the agent for transmitting the combined evolutionary culture of the Nile and the revelatory religion of the Euphrates to all of the subsequent peoples of the Occident.
Slava tog velikog razdoblja moralnog razvoja i duhovnog rasta u dolini Nila brzo je blijedjela upravo u vrijeme kada je započinjao nacionalni život Hebreja, i kao posljedica njihova boravka u Egiptu ti su Beduini ponijeli sa sobom mnoga od tih učenja i očuvali mnoge Eknatonove doktrine u svojoj narodnoj religiji.
95:5.15 (1049.3)
The glory of this great era of moral development and spiritual growth in the Nile valley was rapidly passing at about the time the national life of the Hebrews was beginning, and consequent upon their sojourn in Egypt these Bedouins carried away much of these teachings and perpetuated many of Ikhnaton’s doctrines in their racial religion.
Iz Palestine su neki misionari Melkizedeka nastavili put kroz Mezopotamiju prema velikoj iranskoj visoravni. Više od pet stotina godina učitelji iz Salema napredovali su u Iranu, i cijela je nacija sve više prihvaćala religiju Melkizedeka, kada je promjena vladara izazvala žestok progon koji je praktički okončao monoteistička učenja salemskog kulta. Nauka o Abrahamovom savezu bila je gotovo iščezla u Perziji kada se, u onom velikom stoljeću moralne obnove, šestom prije Krista, pojavio Zaratustra kako bi oživio tinjajuće ostatke salemskog evanđelja.
95:6.1 (1049.4)
From Palestine some of the Melchizedek missionaries passed on through Mesopotamia and to the great Iranian plateau. For more than five hundred years the Salem teachers made headway in Iran, and the whole nation was swinging to the Melchizedek religion when a change of rulers precipitated a bitter persecution which practically ended the monotheistic teachings of the Salem cult. The doctrine of the Abrahamic covenant was virtually extinct in Persia when, in that great century of moral renaissance, the sixth before Christ, Zoroaster appeared to revive the smouldering embers of the Salem gospel.
Ovaj utemeljitelj nove religije bio je snažan i pustolovan mladić koji je, na svom prvom hodočašću u Ur u Mezopotamiji, upoznao predaje o Kaligastiji i Luciferovoj pobuni — zajedno s mnogim drugim tradicijama — a sve su snažno djelovale na njegovu religijsku narav. Kao posljedica sna koji je doživio dok je boravio u Uru, odlučio je provesti plan povratka u svoju sjevernu domovinu kako bi preoblikovao religiju svoga naroda. Usvojio je hebrejsku ideju Boga pravde, Mojsijev pojam božanstva. Ideja vrhovnog Boga bila mu je jasna u umu, pa je sve druge bogove proglasio đavlima i svrstao ih među demone o kojima je slušao u Mezopotamiji. U Uru je čuo i predaju o Sedam Glavnih Duhova, i u skladu s tim oblikovao je skupinu od sedam vrhovnih božanstava s Ahura Mazdom na čelu. Ta je podređena božanstva povezao s idealima Ispravnog Zakona, Dobre Misli, Plemenite Vlasti, Svetog Karaktera, Zdravlja i Besmrtnosti.
95:6.2 (1049.5)
This founder of a new religion was a virile and adventurous youth, who, on his first pilgrimage to Ur in Mesopotamia, had learned of the traditions of the Caligastia and the Lucifer rebellion—along with many other traditions—all of which had made a strong appeal to his religious nature. Accordingly, as the result of a dream while in Ur, he settled upon a program of returning to his northern home to undertake the remodeling of the religion of his people. He had imbibed the Hebraic idea of a God of justice, the Mosaic concept of divinity. The idea of a supreme God was clear in his mind, and he set down all other gods as devils, consigned them to the ranks of the demons of which he had heard in Mesopotamia. He had learned of the story of the Seven Master Spirits as the tradition lingered in Ur, and, accordingly, he created a galaxy of seven supreme gods with Ahura-Mazda at its head. These subordinate gods he associated with the idealization of Right Law, Good Thought, Noble Government, Holy Character, Health, and Immortality.
Zaratustra nije poučavao štovanje vatre, nego je nastojao koristiti plamen kao simbol čistog i mudrog Duha sveopće i vrhovne nadmoći. (Istina je da su njegovi kasniji sljedbenici tom simboličkom ognju iskazivali i obožavanje i štovanje.) Konačno, nakon obraćenja jednog iranskog kneza, ova se nova religija počela širiti mačem. A Zaratustra je herojski poginuo u borbi za ono što je smatrao “istinom Gospodara svjetlosti.”
95:6.4 (1049.7)
Zoroaster did not teach the worship of fire but sought to utilize the flame as a symbol of the pure and wise Spirit of universal and supreme dominance. (All too true, his later followers did both reverence and worship this symbolic fire.) Finally, upon the conversion of an Iranian prince, this new religion was spread by the sword. And Zoroaster heroically died in battle for that which he believed was the “truth of the Lord of light.”
Zaratustrizam je jedino urantijsko vjerovanje koje je očuvalo dalamatijska i edenska učenja o Sedam Glavnih Duhova. Iako nije razvio pojam Trojstva, na određeni se način približio ideji Boga Sedmostrukog. Izvorni zaratustrizam nije bio čisti dualizam; iako su rana učenja prikazivala zlo kao vremenski usporedno s dobrom, ono je ipak bilo podređeno konačnoj stvarnosti dobra. Tek je kasnije uvjerenje poprimilo oblik u kojem se dobro i zlo sukobljavaju kao ravnopravne sile.
95:6.5 (1050.1)
Zoroastrianism is the only Urantian creed that perpetuates the Dalamatian and Edenic teachings about the Seven Master Spirits. While failing to evolve the Trinity concept, it did in a certain way approach that of God the Sevenfold. Original Zoroastrianism was not a pure dualism; though the early teachings did picture evil as a time co-ordinate of goodness, it was definitely eternity-submerged in the ultimate reality of the good. Only in later times did the belief gain credence that good and evil contended on equal terms.
Židovske predaje o raju i paklu te učenje o đavlima, kako su zabilježeni u hebrejskim spisima, premda utemeljeni na zaostalim predajama o Luciferu i Kaligastiji, uvelike su preuzeti od zaratustrijanaca u razdoblju perzijske političke i kulturne prevlasti nad Židovima. Zaratustra je, poput Egipćana, poučavao o “danu suda,” ali je taj događaj povezivao sa završetkom svijeta.
95:6.6 (1050.2)
The Jewish traditions of heaven and hell and the doctrine of devils as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures, while founded on the lingering traditions of Lucifer and Caligastia, were principally derived from the Zoroastrians during the times when the Jews were under the political and cultural dominance of the Persians. Zoroaster, like the Egyptians, taught the “day of judgment,” but he connected this event with the end of the world.
Čak je i religija koja je u Perziji naslijedila zaratustrizam bila snažno pod njegovim utjecajem. Kada su iranski svećenici pokušali potisnuti Zaratustrina učenja, obnovili su drevno štovanje Mitre. Mitraizam se potom proširio Levantom i područjem Sredozemlja te je neko vrijeme postojao usporedo s judaizmom i kršćanstvom. Zaratustrina učenja tako su postupno ostavila trag na tri velike religije: judaizam i kršćanstvo te, preko njih, islam.
95:6.7 (1050.3)
Even the religion which succeeded Zoroastrianism in Persia was markedly influenced by it. When the Iranian priests sought to overthrow the teachings of Zoroaster, they resurrected the ancient worship of Mithra. And Mithraism spread throughout the Levant and Mediterranean regions, being for some time a contemporary of both Judaism and Christianity. The teachings of Zoroaster thus came successively to impress three great religions: Judaism and Christianity and, through them, Mohammedanism.
Učenja Melkizedeka o jednom Bogu učvrstila su se u arapskoj pustinji u razmjerno kasnom razdoblju. Kao i u Grčkoj, salemski misionari podbacili su u svojim nastojanjima zbog pogrešnog razumijevanja Makiventinih uputa o pretjeranoj organizaciji. No nisu bili sputani svojim tumačenjem njegove opomene protiv svakog pokušaja širenja evanđelja vojnom silom ili građanskom prisilom.
95:7.1 (1050.6)
The Melchizedek teachings of the one God became established in the Arabian Desert at a comparatively recent date. As in Greece, so in Arabia the Salem missionaries failed because of their misunderstanding of Machiventa’s instructions regarding overorganization. But they were not thus hindered by their interpretation of his admonition against all efforts to extend the gospel through military force or civil compulsion.
Ni u Kini ni u Rimu učenja Melkizedeka nisu doživjela potpuniji neuspjeh nego u ovoj pustinjskoj regiji, tako blizu samog Salema. Dugo nakon što je većina naroda Istoka i Zapada postala, redom, budistička i kršćanska, arapska pustinja ostala je kakva je bila tisućama godina. Svako je pleme štovalo svoj drevni fetiš, a mnoge su obitelji imale vlastite kućne bogove. Dugo se nastavljala borba između babilonske Ištar, hebrejskog Jahvea, iranskog Ahure i kršćanskog Oca Gospodina Isusa Krista. Nijedan od tih pojmova nikada nije uspio u potpunosti potisnuti ostale.
95:7.2 (1050.7)
Not even in China or Rome did the Melchizedek teachings fail more completely than in this desert region so very near Salem itself. Long after the majority of the peoples of the Orient and Occident had become respectively Buddhist and Christian, the desert of Arabia continued as it had for thousands of years. Each tribe worshiped its olden fetish, and many individual families had their own household gods. Long the struggle continued between Babylonian Ishtar, Hebrew Yahweh, Iranian Ahura, and Christian Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never was one concept able fully to displace the others.
Tu i tamo po Arabiji postojale su obitelji i plemena koja su se držala maglovite ideje o jednom Bogu. Takve su skupine čuvale predaje o Melkizedeku, Abrahamu, Mojsiju i Zaratustri. Postojali su brojni centri koji su mogli odgovoriti na Isusovo evanđelje, ali kršćanski misionari u pustinjskim krajevima bili su strogi i nepopustljivi, za razliku od prilagodljivijih i otvorenijih misionara koji su djelovali u zemljama Sredozemlja. Da su Isusovi sljedbenici ozbiljnije shvatili njegov poziv da “idu po svem svijetu i propovijedaju evanđelje” i da su u tom propovijedanju bili obzirniji, a manje strogi u dodatnim društvenim zahtjevima koje su sami uveli, mnoge bi zemlje rado prihvatile jednostavno evanđelje sina tesara, među njima i Arabija.
95:7.3 (1051.1)
Here and there throughout Arabia were families and clans that held on to the hazy idea of the one God. Such groups treasured the traditions of Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, and Zoroaster. There were numerous centers that might have responded to the Jesusonian gospel, but the Christian missionaries of the desert lands were an austere and unyielding group in contrast with the compromisers and innovators who functioned as missionaries in the Mediterranean countries. Had the followers of Jesus taken more seriously his injunction to “go into all the world and preach the gospel,” and had they been more gracious in that preaching, less stringent in collateral social requirements of their own devising, then many lands would gladly have received the simple gospel of the carpenter’s son, Arabia among them.
Postojao je samo jedan čimbenik plemenskog, rasnog ili nacionalnog karaktera u tim primitivnim i neorganiziranim vjerovanjima pustinje, a to je bilo posebno i opće poštovanje koje su gotovo sva arapska plemena iskazivala prema jednom crnom kamenom fetišu u određenom hramu u Meki. Ta zajednička točka dodira i štovanja kasnije je dovela do uspostave islamske religije. Ono što je Jahve, duh vulkana, bio za židovske Semite, to je kamen Kabe postao za njihove arapske srodnike.
95:7.5 (1051.3)
There was only one factor of a tribal, racial, or national nature about the primitive and unorganized beliefs of the desert, and that was the peculiar and general respect which almost all Arabian tribes were willing to pay to a certain black stone fetish in a certain temple at Mecca. This point of common contact and reverence subsequently led to the establishment of the Islamic religion. What Yahweh, the volcano spirit, was to the Jewish Semites, the Kaaba stone became to their Arabic cousins.
Snaga islama bila je u njegovu jasnom i nedvosmislenom prikazu Allaha kao jedinoga Božanstva; njegova slabost u povezivanju vojne sile s njegovim širenjem, te u podređenom položaju žene. No čvrsto se držao svojega prikaza jednoga sveopćeg Božanstva svih ljudi, “koji zna nevidljivo i vidljivo. On je milostiv i samilostan.” “Uistinu, Bog je obilno dobar prema svim ljudima.” “A kad sam bolestan, on me liječi.” “Jer kad god trojica govore zajedno, Bog je prisutan kao četvrti,” jer nije li on “prvi i posljednji, također vidljivi i skriveni”?
95:7.6 (1051.4)
The strength of Islam has been its clear-cut and well-defined presentation of Allah as the one and only Deity; its weakness, the association of military force with its promulgation, together with its degradation of woman. But it has steadfastly held to its presentation of the One Universal Deity of all, “who knows the invisible and the visible. He is the merciful and the compassionate.” “Truly God is plenteous in goodness to all men.” “And when I am sick, it is he who heals me.” “For whenever as many as three speak together, God is present as a fourth,” for is he not “the first and the last, also the seen and the hidden”?