As the first of several posts involving the world's most prevalent religions and mythologies, I'd like to open with a talk about mythological cosmologies, which for these intensive purposes are symbolic pictures representing the structure of the world. According to Wikipedia:
Mythological cosmologies often depict the world as centered around an axis mundi and delimited by a boundary such as a world ocean, a world serpent, or similar. In some regions, worldliness (also called carnality) is that which relates to this world as opposed to other worlds or realms.
Above, you see some pictures of several mythological cosmologies. Today, I'd like to share with you a cosmology that I created. The purpose of this is twofold. First, I'm a visual person and I want to examine and be able to explain to myself my view on the makeup of the world and how I relate to it. Second, I want to share it with you and encourage you to come up with your own personal cosmology.
Imagine before you a cross. Yes, like the one upon which Jesus died. This cross is my axis mundi, or central point around and on which the world - physical and spiritual - rests. Jesus' death upon this cross - and subsequent resurrection - is the reason I am alive today. My entire life - you might say my world - revolves around this symbol.
Now imagine with me the rest of the picture. At the base of the cross, a large crown of thorns encircles it, leaving only a small space close to the cross safe for bare feet. Surrounding the thorns, we see nothing but sinister, black, rolling clouds.
Many people are tied to the cross with bright red ribbons around their waists. Almost like a maypole, the people have a range of motion allowing them to travel some distance from the cross. Quite a few are standing in the crown of thorns, but none of them can stray far enough to be claimed by the dark, cloudy abyss.
These people are at varying heights on the lower part of the cross. While there are some in every age group at all different heights, the higher ones are generally older, if you care to notice.
Above the horizontal beam of the cross, people are no longer tied to the cross. They all have their hands up, move freely about, and appear to be radiantly happy. In fact, there is almost a golden glow on everyone and everything.
At the very top of the picture, a man sits in a beautiful, ornate, yet comfortable-looking chair. He has children on his lap, snuggling into His bosom and looking up at Him with rapt adoration.
Now for the symbolism: of course you already know the cross represents Jesus' death and resurrection. People are tied to the cross with the red ribbons of Jesus' blood. The crown of thorns, while retaining the normal reference to the one placed on Jesus' head, also represents the sins and hardships that we undergo while still on this earth. While people tied to the cross can still tread into the thorny patch, they are held firm from straying into the smoky abyss, or Satan's domain of the Lost.
Below the horizontal beam of the cross, people are at different places in their earthly journey. Since everyone has a different life span, they are at different ages on their journey up to the divide between physical life and death. Above the horizontal beam, representative of the River Jordan, people no longer have to be tied to the cross. There is no danger of them traveling into the world of sin any longer. They are in heaven, face to face with Jesus, the Man who sits in the chair with children on His lap.
So that's my depiction of how I view my world. What is yours?
When studying the world, it is helpful to establish some basic philosophical assumptions about it. In other words, know your frame of reference for interpretations of facts about the world. I'd like to look at two philosophers today that view the world similarly to my perspective.
One of the first philosophers I studied in school growing up was Plato, student of Socrates. He believed that there were two different worlds: the sensible - or physical - world and the intelligible - or conceptual - world. Like Plato, when I study geography, I look at the raw, hard facts, like the topography, the climate, a country's natural resources, and the population. Equally important, however, are the non-tangible things like the predominant values of a people group or the religion that they follow.
The spiritual state of people, however, is most important to my studies. The spiritual world spills over into both the sensible and intelligible. No one can see or gather hard facts about a group's spiritual lives. Nor can they quantify it, leading most to categorize it in Plato's conceptual world. However, the spiritual world spills over into the tangible. Even from the very beginning, the tangible world would not exist without the reality of the spiritual; God created it.
Ludwig Wittgenstein had an interesting philosophy that coincides with much about how I view the world as well. He believed that there is one world with one set of facts, even though people may interpret them differently. This may seem at first to contradict Plato, with his separation of the worlds. However, the same world that connects his makes it possible for me to come alongside Wittgenstein.
The spiritual world is where we find God and the Bible. God is clear that there is one truth. So, in a sense, whether physical or conceptual, the spiritual realm encompasses it all into one world of absolute truth. People may interpret this truth differently from each other, but that does not change the one truth. Some interpretations are simply wrong, as I am sure not everything I say in this blog reflects pure reality.
I may have a wrong perspective on certain points. I may get a few facts wrong. That is why it is such a blessing to be able to rely on Him in the spiritual world - Jesus Christ - to maintain consistency between all worlds that make up the one world.
What philosopher's views are similar to your own?
Considering the etymology of a word can often bring a fresh perspective to the concept in question. The term "world" finds its roots in an Old English word that roughly translates to "age of man." This would suggest that perhaps we consider the world as the story of mankind. Humanity has a direct impact on the story of the world. The story cannot exist without it. Conversely, it is impossible to understand the story of humanity without understanding its environment - the world.
Let's look at some other perspectives surrounding the history of this term. The Latin inventive literally means "clean" or "elegant." Many people think of the world as a dark, dirty place. Due to sin, this perspective is often correct. But let us think for a moment about the way creation was intended to appear. It was meant to be pure and beautiful, and indeed, there are plenty of things about it that could be described as such. Elegance is a perfect description for the intricate nuances and delicate balance of earth's ecosystems. The beauty of the world - and all it's people - is something truly great to behold.
Finally, the Greek root for "world" means "orderly arrangement." As said above, sin has caused much about the world to be chaotic. However, the reflection of the Father in His creation continues to shine brightly. From the smallest insect to the greatest nation, God's order pervades. How marvelous that such a diverse world could also be a great testament to the Lord's order and sovereignty!
The term world can refer to both the physical earth and a more philosophical meaning involving everything in the earth as well as the whole of human concepts. The purpose of this blog is to share and spark conversation about the world, as catalyzed by my reading about it. I am starting a series of short posts involving interesting facts, current events, and how I relate to the world. My goal is to study each nation and territory of the world, in order of largest geographical area.
These posts will be full of both fact and opinion, so let me end this one with an opinion. To get an accurate idea of the world, one must look at not only its physical features, but also what made it what it is today - its history, people, etc. Also, I believe that in order to grasp an understanding of any subject, it is best to insert yourself into it. That is what I will be attempting to do with this blog. I invite you to join me! Comments are welcome. Let's get this conversation started!
