I'm not sure how to take this sentence long article. Most religions have a connection between God and light so it makes sense that Sufiism is no different. In Christianity Jesus is the light and is the reconciliation between God and the world. It seems that light often brings peace and reconciles what we believe to be with what is by illuminating darkness so that we who have eyes and need light to see can see. Having your eyes open in darkness is not seeing, it is only having your eyes open.
I think by sentence long article, you mean article long sentence...
Anyways, I completely disagree with the idea that most religions have a connection between "God" and light. "Jesus" is not the light in Christianity; "Jesus" is the bridge. He died to save the sins of man and help man become closer to "God" and to walk into "Heaven." To be honest, I find this strange, because if "God" truly is omnipotent, why does he need to go through all of the theatrics of "Jesus" and the cross. C'mon, really?
Actually, you're right Miss Linda, I should not have been so blunt. I actually went to a Lutheran school, so I have more education about this topic than some may believe. All I wanted to say is that I believe that darkness is actually more critical to Christianity than is the light. The three religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) are all centered around faith, which in a way is blindness. You DON'T know ANYTHING, but you still believe. You are blind, in darkness, but as long as you have faith, you shall be loved by God and saved eternally. This is why I disagree with the idea of noor in Islam (I used to be a Sunni Muslim, so I know what's up).
Having a God figure as a source of light is indeed a very interesting, yet very common, occurrence in a variety of religions. My idea from it is that the light represents a tunnel from one world to another, in this case from the realm of God to those inhabited by humans. It illuminates and guides subjects in a world that would be full of sin and evil otherwise. In many ways, the sun is as much as a change in the medium as the invention of the light bulb: allowing humans to congregate in an otherwise unlivable atmosphere. As such, the creation of God, in the form of light, is order itself, allowing for prosperity in a realm where order is unnatural.
I can definitely see the connection that is made between light (namely the sun) and divine power. For a long time the sun was mysterious but people knew that if plants weren't exposed to its light then the plants would die.The people also knew that without it they couldn't see and that they weren't as happy on days where the sun was behind clouds or was otherwise obscured (this relates to a post about lighting affecting people's moods that we had awhile ago). The main other source of light was fire which could be seen as being a small sun. I can see how people would draw a connection between vision, life, and happiness to the sun and think that it had divine power.
In going back and looking over all the links to write my final summary essay, I saw that I somehow missed this link! But anyways I know that many religions dating back in time have found great faith and hope in the light surrounding them. If any of you have read the Song of Ice and Fire series (or watched Game of Thrones), then you may be familiar with the Dothraki species. They are a nomadic people that roam around in the series. Terms of endearment that couples use in this culture are "my sun and stars" for the male and "the moon of my life" for the female. They use this because the sun, stars, and moon are sources of light that guide their journeys and they find great power in light. This isn't too different from the Noor in my opinion.
My name means light too! Does this mean I have divine power too? Anyways my parents actually did name me Clare Colleen because it meant "bright girl" and they just knew I was smart from the start...just kidding.
I think a way to look upon this meaning of light is to look at it is meaning knowledge. God is all powerful and all knowing, therefore relating him to light makes complete sense. In saying things such as "Jesus is the light" represents how through Jesus we can gain greater knowledge. Relating this back to the class, the relationship between light and knowledge again completely stands true as we use light to acquire new knowledge and information about a subject. In thinking about it like this, light truly is God's gift to the world.
I don't really have much to add regarding religion and light. There are tons of allusions to light in the bible and darkness is generally regarded as something to stay away from. Darkness is used to represent evil, blindness, sin, etc. Jesus himself said "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
oops, this was supposed to be published last week. I guess I did not press the 'publish' button! drat.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to take this sentence long article. Most religions have a connection between God and light so it makes sense that Sufiism is no different. In Christianity Jesus is the light and is the reconciliation between God and the world. It seems that light often brings peace and reconciles what we believe to be with what is by illuminating darkness so that we who have eyes and need light to see can see. Having your eyes open in darkness is not seeing, it is only having your eyes open.
ReplyDeleteI think by sentence long article, you mean article long sentence...
DeleteAnyways, I completely disagree with the idea that most religions have a connection between "God" and light. "Jesus" is not the light in Christianity; "Jesus" is the bridge. He died to save the sins of man and help man become closer to "God" and to walk into "Heaven." To be honest, I find this strange, because if "God" truly is omnipotent, why does he need to go through all of the theatrics of "Jesus" and the cross. C'mon, really?
Jesus and God are two different things as you so eloquently state in your third sentence. the rest seems about another issue.
DeleteActually, you're right Miss Linda, I should not have been so blunt. I actually went to a Lutheran school, so I have more education about this topic than some may believe. All I wanted to say is that I believe that darkness is actually more critical to Christianity than is the light. The three religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) are all centered around faith, which in a way is blindness. You DON'T know ANYTHING, but you still believe. You are blind, in darkness, but as long as you have faith, you shall be loved by God and saved eternally. This is why I disagree with the idea of noor in Islam (I used to be a Sunni Muslim, so I know what's up).
DeleteHaving a God figure as a source of light is indeed a very interesting, yet very common, occurrence in a variety of religions. My idea from it is that the light represents a tunnel from one world to another, in this case from the realm of God to those inhabited by humans. It illuminates and guides subjects in a world that would be full of sin and evil otherwise. In many ways, the sun is as much as a change in the medium as the invention of the light bulb: allowing humans to congregate in an otherwise unlivable atmosphere. As such, the creation of God, in the form of light, is order itself, allowing for prosperity in a realm where order is unnatural.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see the connection that is made between light (namely the sun) and divine power. For a long time the sun was mysterious but people knew that if plants weren't exposed to its light then the plants would die.The people also knew that without it they couldn't see and that they weren't as happy on days where the sun was behind clouds or was otherwise obscured (this relates to a post about lighting affecting people's moods that we had awhile ago). The main other source of light was fire which could be seen as being a small sun. I can see how people would draw a connection between vision, life, and happiness to the sun and think that it had divine power.
ReplyDeleteIn going back and looking over all the links to write my final summary essay, I saw that I somehow missed this link! But anyways I know that many religions dating back in time have found great faith and hope in the light surrounding them. If any of you have read the Song of Ice and Fire series (or watched Game of Thrones), then you may be familiar with the Dothraki species. They are a nomadic people that roam around in the series. Terms of endearment that couples use in this culture are "my sun and stars" for the male and "the moon of my life" for the female. They use this because the sun, stars, and moon are sources of light that guide their journeys and they find great power in light. This isn't too different from the Noor in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd that was me geeking out.
My name means light too! Does this mean I have divine power too? Anyways my parents actually did name me Clare Colleen because it meant "bright girl" and they just knew I was smart from the start...just kidding.
ReplyDeleteI think a way to look upon this meaning of light is to look at it is meaning knowledge. God is all powerful and all knowing, therefore relating him to light makes complete sense. In saying things such as "Jesus is the light" represents how through Jesus we can gain greater knowledge. Relating this back to the class, the relationship between light and knowledge again completely stands true as we use light to acquire new knowledge and information about a subject. In thinking about it like this, light truly is God's gift to the world.
I don't really have much to add regarding religion and light. There are tons of allusions to light in the bible and darkness is generally regarded as something to stay away from. Darkness is used to represent evil, blindness, sin, etc. Jesus himself said "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
ReplyDelete