Temples, Temples They All Had Temples

The oldest temple in the world was just discovered in Turkey. Every civilization in the ancient world had some kind of a temple to some different kind of deity. It was the natural evolutionary process where humans came to wonder about why they existed and how to please the god or gods that put them here on earth. It's pure human imagination, all of them, from Egyptian to Mesopotamian to Canaanite to Israelite to Japaneses to Chinese to Mayan to Incan cultures and many others around the world.

6 comments:

D.L. Folken said...

John,

The fact that there was universal agreement that God existed may also come from the fact that man was designed to have a relationship with God.

If we were not designed for relationship with our heavenly Creator, there would be no speculation.

The difference between Yahweh and the rest is that the prophets prophesies came true. In fact a false prophesy called for the death of the 'so called' prophet.

My faith only grows as I follow your blog.

God Bless...

mud_rake said...

The difference between Yahweh and the rest is that the prophets prophesies came true.

Poof! They came 'true!'

Of course, no one dare ask the question: did the 'truth' come after or before the prophesies?

jwhendy said...

Prophesies would be awesome if they came true. I'm part of a Catholic charismatic community that is filled with prophesies. Since I have begun to question I find it interesting that they all seem to be along the lines of horoscopic/fortune cookie 'truths':
- I feel like the Lord is calling us to really just turn to him during this time
- I feel like the Lord is saying, 'My child, rest your head on me. I am here for you in these difficult times.'
- I heard the Lord saying, 'Even though finances are difficult now, think of all the blessings I have given you. Trust me even now, I will not desert you.'

How about something like:
- I heard the Lord say, 'Give your money to Jack Smith; he's going to lose his job on Monday.'
- I heard the Lord tell me that an earthquake will strike Haiti soon; send relief now.
- I heard the Lord say that if we all give away 70% of all the money we have, it will return to use tripled in 6mos.

Why not?

Zdenny will tell me that only the old testament prophesies count... But:
- First off, the old testament prophesies are ridiculously criticized by Bible scholars. Go try to find a unanimous view by modern Biblical scholars that any one of the 300 (or is it 100? 200? 10,000 according to Josephus?) 'prophesies' was actually legitimate.
- Secondly, Paul says that prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. What kind of prophecy? Unimpressive prophesy or prophesy as a 'higher gift' that benefits the Christian body? For a prophesy to benefit the Christian body, one would think that it could be specific as to warn against upcoming hardships or inform someone of upcoming specific blessings, right? You should defend the view that current prophecies should be impressive, accurate, and reflect God's omniscience; otherwise, you pretty much are left to deflate 1 Cor in favor of an unimpressive Holy Spirit.

Lastly, if temples are a sign that man was made for God, why did he wait so long to tell them who the 'true' God was? It bothered him immensely when they turned from him, so why create them in union with himself (symbolic garden of Eden reading) and then after the fall let the wander unknowingly for thousands of years without knowing who he was? Also, why contain himself to one specific area? Seems limiting. So many more could have been freed from their sacrilegious temple building.

shane said...

ZDENNY:

You said that (there was universal agreement that God existed, and that this is proof that we are created to ahve a relationship with Him!)

One of the reasons i left my faith in christianity was just for the reason you mentioned, i sought out a real tangible relationship with God, and although i had some religious experiences, i never felt anything close to a real relationship no matter how hard i sought!


Also, the universal agreement you mention was not much of an agreement when all nations believed in different gods, and some believed in multiple gods!

Every nation has went to war with other nations over the differences of those religions!
Muslims seem to have just as much of a relationship with Allah, as any christian does with Yawheh, yet both groups accuse the other of unbelief!

choda boy said...

All this "faith" and "prophets" drivel.

One small point from the reality section: Gobekli Tepe was NOT "just discovered."

Steven Mithen's "After the Ice...," published early 2006, which I am currently reading, discusses the excavations. As I do not have it in hand, I cannot say when they started.

choda boy said...

Re the article:

"Schmidt has uncovered a vast and beautiful temple complex, a structure so ancient that it may be the very first thing human beings ever built."

Wrong. Constructed campsites from as much as 20,000 years ago in the Middle East have been excavated and documented.

"The ruins are so early that they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture—the first embers of civilization. In fact, Schmidt thinks the temple itself, built after the end of the last Ice Age by hunter-gatherers, became that ember—the spark that launched mankind toward farming, urban life, and all that followed."

This does not predate villages nor pottery. It does likely predate "ceramic" pottery. His comment about the "spark" is a bit of bravado. I have seen no basis for this claim.

"Schmidt's thesis is simple and bold: it was the urge to worship that brought mankind together in the very first urban conglomerations. The need to build and maintain this temple, he says, drove the builders to seek stable food sources, like grains and animals that could be domesticated, and then to settle down to guard their new way of life. The temple begat the city."

I don't think he'll get much support for this claim. Evidence indicates seasonal hunting camps, climate change, and efforts at plant domestication are the precursors to urbanization.

"Dating of ancient sites is highly contested, but Çatalhöyük is probably about 1,500 years younger than Göbekli, and features no carvings or grand constructions."

I guess its all relative. Çatalhöyük was essentially a series of mud/stone apartment buildings, sturdy enough to allow foot traffic on their roofs. All the habitations had inside elaborate huge wall paintings of animals, red bulls, birds of prey, etc. somewhat similar to the carved icons at Gobekli Tepe. Whatever mythology they had was pervasive.