Lecture 7. Christian Logos.
- Noological analysis of Christianity is not dogmatic but based on typology.
- The main structure of Christianity is heavenly patriarchy and verticality. God is Father and He is in Heaven. He is transcendent from creature so it is Logos of Apollo. Hence Platonism and Aristotelian logic in Joan Damascine and scholastics.
- In Christology we see Dionysian features: two nature of Christ, death and resurrection, descent into the Hell, the Christ as future God and King. But it is apollonian type of dionysism – free from chtonic motives and figure, purified, patriarchal.
- In the field of gender there is anelegyny and patriarchy: two branches of sedentary Indo-European society relation between sexes.
- In theology it is Alexandrine school and Origenes and Cappadocian fathers – Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory and so on. The radical apollonian version is monophysite heresy (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopean).
- Generally it is regarded as greek influence. The teaching of Logos. Two branches of Neoplatonism – Christian and polytheistic.
- The second element is Arianism and Antiochean school. Usually it is explained as jewish and semitic version with more literally exegesis of the Bible. The closer analysis shows that there is not so much semitic in Syrian culture of first centuries. More than that: the Judaic tradition of post-babylonian epoch is not so much semitic too. We see here Iranian influence. We have seen the role of Iranian Logos in hellinism. So Christianity is build on Hellenistic culture with two components: greek (advaitic) apollonism and Iranian (dvaitic) appolonism.
- Antiochean school as well as judeo-christian tendencies in early Christianity are Iranian. Hence the war of Light and the end of History, messianism and Empire. Historic time is Iranian discovery. The idea of time proceeds from the End of Time and the War of Light vision of the kosmos.
- Christianity is Indo-European in both senses: in platonic and Iranian. It is non dualist and dualist (in Iranian) sense.
- Byzance stays in line with Platonism more, Rome with dualism (Saint Augustin – ex-Manichean).
- Protestantism: originally restoration of pure spiritual dimension in Christianity but degraded soon in titanic version of it. The deviation.
The dechristianization of the Europa was the war against Logos of Apollo and his Dionysian ally.
Noomahia project is based on the in-depth studies of cultures, philosophical systems, arts, religions and psychological features and characteristics of human civilizations. It reviews ancient and modern, highly sophisticated and also the “primitive", from the highly technologically developed to those lacking the written language. The ultimate aim is to demonstrate and conclusively prove that no single culture can be regarded in hierarchical way (developed/under-developed, higher /lower, modern/premodern, civilized/savage and so on). Responsible evaluation of any human culture should be judged from within by those who belong to it - without any imposition of outside biases (interpretation is always culturally biased). Noomahia aims to achieve this by deconstructing, removing all elements of cultural racism and ethnocentrism, that tend to be the key feature of every and any society – whether it be liberal and traditional, religious or secular. Noomahia argues the case for the dignity of humanity that lives within the incommensurability of all existing cultural forms.
a. The Three Logos approach
The starting point - and the main feature of Noomahia - is the concept of Three main Logos (Noological paradigms) that define the structure of any culture. Three Logos are
· Apollonian (patriarchal, hierarchical, androcratic, vertical, exclusive, “heavenly”, transcendent) – light Logos;
· Dionysian (middle, androgyneous, ecstatic, immanent without materialism, balanced, dialectic) – dark Logos;
· Cybelian (matriarchical, horizontal, gynekocratic, inclusive, chthonic, immanent, materialistic) – black Logos.
The idea is the all three Logos are present in any culture, but are irreducible (invariants) that always keep their distinct essence. Hence the concept of Noomahia – or the fight between the Three Logos - is the dynamic of the creation of the moments of cultural and historic dialectic. These are variable in the timeline of history of any culture and develop in differing stages and phases. There is no universal rule that has or can define the succession and duration of these phases and moments. Each culture and civilization has its own and unique sequence of the process of Noomahia, with particularities of winning or defeated Logos that result in them eventually changing their role. Therefore, each culture must be studied and assessed separately, individually and with considerable care, avoiding any temptation to project the structure of one own studied experience on other issues. The rejection of ethnocentrism should be radical and brought to the last logical conclusion.
b. Plurality of civilizations (anthropology of big spaces and long cycles)
The second principle of Noomahia project is the defining of the field of research and the limits of civilization. The concept of civilization is cultural and based on the presumption of the coexistence among the people of the earth of different existential circles (or horizons) identified as the plurality of Dasein’s.
The deep study of each civilization demands the questioning of previous interpretations of history and the development of humankind: it is a kind of spiritual emigration to the study of civilization that removes all the presumptions and pre-conceptions linked the personal cultural nature of those who study this approach. It is the application of the anthropological method (developed by F. Boaz and C. Levy-Strauss) to all human societies without exception – “civilized” or “savage “.
After accepting the need to ‘clear the decks’ and remove the accepted mental clutter of historical analysis; the next step will be clarification of the spatial concept of the culture of studied civilization and the semantic sequence (“l’historial”, Seynsgeschichte) of the most significant events interpreted in the optic of the concrete people and culture (and not by outside observer).
2. Anthropological mapping of the world
a. The necessity of revision of the concept universality
It has taken 10 years just to arrive at the point of being able to describe the plurality civilizations of the world covering all continents and peoples, cultures and religions, societies and philosophies. It is only the first rung of a long ladder but already there is a deep sense that we are starting to discover ‘The Unusual’. This in itself shows that we need the completely revise our concept of universality. It is clear that from these studies of Noomahia that is very evident that to date we have not normally been dealing with the ‘real universalism’ (speaking about human, rights, norms, life, sexes progress and so on) but with an ethno centrist projection of our own (Western) culture and civilization taking it erroneously for being “universal”. This is fundamental fault of the present-day globalization: it is deeply “racist” (in cultural sense), projecting and imposing modern and post-modern Western set of values on the majority of the rest of mankind. The real universalism can be reached by the way of projection but in dialogue with ‘The Other’, who in turn is accepted with all its particularities, pecularities and originalities (not depending on our own value judgement). We must not be selective in what we analyse. We must all investigate with clear eyes and unprejudiced minds – and maintain this understanding and impartiality going forward.