Prisca Theologia

Prisca Theologia

The concept of Prisca Theologia is that there is one theological truth that can be found within every religion.

This hypothesis can be seen as the religious equivalent of the scientific search for the unified theory of everything.

Definitions:

• Religion: The formal institutionalised expression of a belief in a supernatural power considered to be divine and which holds control over human destiny.
• Spiritual: relating to the spirit and not to the physical nature of any being.
• The Soul: An ethereal container that contains the spirit while it is encased within a physical body, an interface between the spirit and the physical world.
• Heaven: A place where those who have pleased God will dwell in happiness.
• Hell: A place of punishment for those who have opposed God, a place where the forces of evil live.
• Science: A systematic study of the physical universe based on observation, experiment and measurement.

Since science is only concerned with the physical universe, it does not interact well with the ideas of a non-physical existence. With an ethereal entity it is not possible to observe it, measure it, or experiment on it; and so all spiritual concepts are outside of science. Yet despite being so elusive to our human physical senses, we humans have believed in the existence of spirits, gods, and invisible forces since humans first developed mental and inventive powers. Over many thousands of years, a whole range of belief has come and in some cases been forsaken. These often appear to be very different, even opposing, belief systems, but are they?

One fundamental similarity is the concept of a spirit that is capable of continuing independently after the death of the human physical body.

Early human societies, Late stone age to early Bronze age—which as far as we know had very little communication across continents—had similar concepts in their belief systems. The Native Americans in northern America, the Celtic tribes in Europe, and the ancients in China all included the idea of a spirit that continued after physical death. Where did these ideas come from? Was the power of thought form clouds much stronger in pre civilisation times or was there some fundamental evidence that made these diverse cultures all come to the same conclusion?

The 19th letter of the ancient Greek alphabet is a large T; it is called the Tau and was the original symbol of the astrological sign Taurus the bull. In Greek ancient beliefs, the ornate large T was a visual depiction of the spiritual area where Earth meets Heaven. Now if we consider the ancient Chinese philosophies of Taoism, where The Tao Te Ching speaks of Humankind standing between Heaven and Earth, we see a similarity. The Tao is the way, or the path.

The Christian Bible contains the old testament, which is based on Jewish beliefs. In it the planet Earth and humans were created by God. The start of this creation was said to begin with “the word.”

Interestingly, the Logos was also known as the word; a name given to divine beings who act as intermediaries between God and humans. This idea, that there is a “place” inhabited by humans that stand between God and the planet earth, seems to spread across many religious ideals.

Many pre-Christian, and so pre Islamic, religious and spiritual beliefs gave divine powers to the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and many other natural forces. The concept of Gaia as a living entity has prevailed and survived far longer than any other religious concept. The power of organised religions with rules and human leaders is relatively new. The ancient Celtic tribes did not leave written records, which means the only records were written by the Roman invaders and because the Romans were always trying to discredit the Druids and so undermine the cohesion they brought to the various tribes, and the records these Roman conquerors left must be viewed as hostile propaganda. Many pre-Christian religious systems gave great reverence to the environment. Since these were also pre-industrialised times and just about everyone depended on successfully interacting with their environment, this respect for the natural world is understandable. This respect for natural things is still carried on, in many philosophical and religious ideals today.

The understanding is that the early Celtic Christians—that is prior to the Romanisation of the Christian “faith” into a power structure with its politics and wealth accumulation—was varied with many variations including an acceptance of reincarnation. Reincarnation and the attendant concept of Karma is still very widely accepted by millions of people today. It is only the human imposition of their own need to sell tickets to heaven that caused the Catholic church to rule that after death the spirit does not return to another human body. If the humans then in charge of the church had not decided to gain earthly power over people, by creating a monopoly on the granting of absolutions, then Christians would probably still believe in reincarnation and the atonement, rather than forgiveness, of sin.

Nearly all religions have a concept of heaven, be it Elysium, Valhalla, or the Christian version of Heaven. Since they have a concept of the best outcome for a life, they must also have a concept of the worst outcome; that is hell. So these are common ideas between most religions. What differs is the activity needed to go to Heaven. The Norse Vikings believed you had to die with a sword in your hand, in a glorious battle, to get to Valhalla, while the Christian churches—as differing from Christians who do not have allegiance to any particular church—claim you have to have lived a life of obedience to that church, to go to heaven.

It is possible to follow the teachings and fundamental beliefs of a religion, without having obedience to any church or religious regulator. It has to be an estimate but there are probably more people on the planet who incline towards some basic beliefs, without attending or obeying the rules of any organised religion than those who comply with the earthly requirements of any religious observance. Most people have a personal awareness of what they consider to be right and wrong. This moral code may not include any worship of an omnipotent deity, but the acceptance that some acts are okay and others are not is a form of spiritual awareness.

Maybe Prisca Theologia is that there is a right and a wrong and that righteousness gets rewarded with heaven and bad behaviour gets punished by hell.

If this is the case then the differences between religions, and the differences between those who follow a particular religion and those who do not, is simply what you define as good behaviour. If it is so simple, why do people kill in the name of a religious belief?