The Christian vision of linear time has shaped the West. It's counterfeits have wreaked havoc. When we lose Christian theology, but retain linear time, we open the door to utopianism.
Agree with the overall message here. Was wandering what you think of claims of zoroastrian influence on this development. Some scholars think this eschatological view became more clear cut after considerable time under Persian rule and wasn't made explicit before this time. At best it could be implied it was there but there seems to be a strong case that the Zoroastrian PoV helped to at least solidify and bring confidence to this point of view. 200 years is a longtime. From my PoV It had to have some impact and therefore deserves some credit. Maybe co-credit. Thoughts?
This is similar to Father Stanley Jakis writing on the cyclical civilizations versus Christian linearity (Science and Creation; Road of Science and the Ways to God). A much repeated motto of the eugenic evolutionists of fin de siecle was "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", asserting that evolution of species over time (note, not falsifiable by science) recapitulates the development of life from it's beginning in the womb. This might seem to foretell utopia unless one considers that organisms like humans actually *decay* over time, so that our civilizations progressive timeline seems shattered for a final stage of dementia.
Luckily, we have the "still point" (as ts Eliot would put it) of anno domini to underline that that the graph of mankind (in *this* world) peaked two thousand years ago.
Agree with the overall message here. Was wandering what you think of claims of zoroastrian influence on this development. Some scholars think this eschatological view became more clear cut after considerable time under Persian rule and wasn't made explicit before this time. At best it could be implied it was there but there seems to be a strong case that the Zoroastrian PoV helped to at least solidify and bring confidence to this point of view. 200 years is a longtime. From my PoV It had to have some impact and therefore deserves some credit. Maybe co-credit. Thoughts?
This is similar to Father Stanley Jakis writing on the cyclical civilizations versus Christian linearity (Science and Creation; Road of Science and the Ways to God). A much repeated motto of the eugenic evolutionists of fin de siecle was "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", asserting that evolution of species over time (note, not falsifiable by science) recapitulates the development of life from it's beginning in the womb. This might seem to foretell utopia unless one considers that organisms like humans actually *decay* over time, so that our civilizations progressive timeline seems shattered for a final stage of dementia.
Luckily, we have the "still point" (as ts Eliot would put it) of anno domini to underline that that the graph of mankind (in *this* world) peaked two thousand years ago.