Sectarianism in the Iron Age

Using only the Module Six Lecture and resources (not including the textbook), in your own words explain the concept of “sectarianism.”

-What is the definition of a sect?
-What are the various ways in which sectarianism is exhibited?
-How does this help to understand the religion of the Iron Age?

Please provide introduction before the start of the paper and conclusion at the end of the paper.

Module Six Lecture

The Ages of Man
Zeus, lord of Mount Olympus and father of the deathless gods, was also the father of human
beings. The first generation of mortals to inhabit the grain-giving earth was known as the
Race of Gold. These mortals were pure in heart and in deed. The respected both their fellow
human beings and the deathless gods, and the immortals loved them in return. Because
they treated one another justly, they needed neither written laws nor courts nor
punishments. They lived carefree and easy lives, in freedom, safety, and peace. Since fear,
grief, and hard labor never touched their lives, the passing years did not ravage their
appearance or weaken their strength. Old age earned respect and gratitude.
The weather treated the Gold Race kindly, providing the warmth, beauty, and sustenance of
an eternal spring. Mortals did not have to work to house or to clothe themselves. Flowing
nectar and milk formed their rivers, and the leaves of dwarf oak trees dripped honey. They
feasted by gathering the wild grains and fruits that grew abundantly about them, and they
leisurely shepherded their flocks of cattle and sheep in lush, green pastures. They had the
time and the desire to enjoy the wildflowers that radiantly blossomed in the sunshine and the
stars that shone in the night sky.
The Race of Gold had no wish to possess more than it already had. It was neither
acquisitive nor aggressive. These mortals did not fashion boats in order to discover what lay
beyond the borders of their own land. They did not threaten other human beings, and in
return, no one threatened them. They had no need to possess weapons. They had no
armies, and they never heard the sound of a trumpet calling them to battle.
They died as peacefully as they lived. Death came in the form of a gentle sleep. After their
bodies became part of the earth, their spirits roamed across the land hidden by the mists.
They protected the living from any danger and taught them how to lead a just life.
When the first generation had passed away, Zeus created a second generation of mortals.
They were the Race of Silver, and they were far less virtuous than the Race of Gold.
Although their bodies matured with the passage of time, the Silver Race remained juvenile in
Module Six: Faith and Works2 PHL 230 Module Six
spirit. For 100 years each child stayed at home with his or her mother, isolated from the
companionship and instruction of other human beings. During this time, these mortals
devoted their lives solely to the pursuit of childish pleasures.
As a result, the lives of adults in the Silver Race were short and unhappy. They never
learned to treat one another with kindness and consideration, and their selfish behavior
created injustice and war. They did not respect the deathless gods and made no effort to
please them.
Because the Silver Race honored neither gods nor mortals, Zeus became angry with them.
The father of gods and mortals changed the weather from eternal spring to a year of four
seasons, which ranged from the icy cold of winter to the blistering heat of summer. Caves
and sheltered forest areas no longer provided sufficient protection from the weather, so the
Silver Race built the first houses.
Food was now less plentiful. The people began to yoke oxen in pairs and drive across their
fields, toiling each day during the growing season, first to plant seed of corn and later to reap
the mature ears. Zeus brought their life on the earth to an early end, and when their bodies
became part of the earth, their spirits entered the Underworld.
Then Zeus, father of gods and mortals, created a third generation of mortals, which
became known as the Race of Bronze because their weapons and tools were bronze. These
mortals were far inferior to the Silver Race because they were so cruel. They loved Ares,
god of war, above all the other gods, and they lived by the sword. Their brute strength made
them powerful, but their hearts were as unresponsive as the hardest rock.
Despite their strength and power, members of the Bronze Race died young. They brought
Black Death upon themselves through endless violence and war. When their bodies became
part of the earth, their shades descended into the dark, dismal Underworld, and they left
nothing of worth behind to give them a good name.
Next, Zeus created a fourth generation of mortals, which became known as the Race of
Heroes. These human beings were more noble and virtuous than the members of the Silver
or the Bronze Race. Some of them died in the war against Troy and in other wars, but Zeus
placed those who survived upon the islands of the blessed at the ends of the earth. There,
the heroes still live along the shore of Oceanus in a land that bears a harvest of honeysweet fruit three times a year. Grief can no longer touch them; only the honor and glory they
earned during their ordinary lifetimes survive. They are ruled by Cronus, whom Zeus freed
from his bondage in Tartarus for this purpose.PHL 230 Module Six 3
The fifth generation of mortals that Zeus placed upon the grain-giving earth is our own race,
the Race of Iron. Now each day is filled with work and with grief, and each night many
mortals die. The worst crimes in the history of humanity now occur throughout the world, and
yet no mortal feels shame. Justice and faith have left the world. Treason and fraud, violence
and greed have replaced them.
The Iron Race does not think of others’ needs and does not share the bounty of the earth.
Instead, we have divided up the earth’s surface into a multitude of private properties, and we
keep as much as we can for ourselves. We feel that the earth has not provided enough
wealth in the grains she gives, so we have built ships and sailed into the unknown in order to
acquire more wealth.
We have torn into the grain-giving earth, searching for the riches she has hidden within her.
We have found her secret treasure and have become powerful and wealthy from her
deposits of iron and gold. The value of these metals has led to war, and mortal hands have
become bloody as they greedily tried to grasp the golden treasures of victory.
If we do not change our ways, our behavior will destroy us. When the time comes that host
and guest no longer act hospitably, when friend argues with friend and brothers are
enemies, when children and their parents cannot agree with each other, when grown
children forget what their parents have done for them and instead treat them with disrespect
and dishonor, criticizing them and complaining bitterly because they have grown old and
weak, when people who keep their word or are just or virtuous receive less respect than
those who use their strength for violent and evil purposes, when those who are evil hurt
those who are honorable, then Zeus will destroy our Iron Race, for we will have shown the
father of gods and mortals that we are unfit to inhabit the earth that sustains us.
The Creation of the Titans and the Gods
Out of the original emptiness, which was called Chaos, emerged the first three immortal
beings: Gaea, Tartarus, and Eros. Then, Gaea, without any partner, gave birth to Uranus.
Gaea married Uranus, and he ruled over all that came into being.
The first immortal children of Gaea and Uranus were three Hundred-Handed Giants and
three Cyclopes, who had only one eye in the middle of their forehead. The Cyclopes were
expert craftsmen.
Uranus feared the terrible strength of these six children, and hated them because they
terrified him. So as each child was born, Uranus took him from his mother, bound him, and
hurled him deep into Gaea’s being.4 PHL 230 Module Six
The next immortal children born to Gaea and Uranus were the thirteen Titans. Cronus, one
of the Titans, married his sister Rhea, and in time they became the parents of the Greek
gods.
Gaea decided to use her Titan children as her means of revenge against Uranus. She took a
large piece of flint and shaped it into a huge, sharp, stone sickle. Then, she approached her
sons and said, “I want you to punish your father, for he is very cruel. He has imprisoned your
brothers in the land of Tartarus against my wishes and against their will.”
Cronus, the youngest Titan, was very similar to his father in temperament, and he was much
more courageous than his brothers. “If no one else will help you, Mother, I certainly will,” he
said.
The light of the moon shone on the sleeping Uranus as Cronus raised the huge stone sickle
and emasculated his father, saying “Now I shall reign in your place. You may challenge me,
but my power is clearly greater than yours. So, I advise you to submit to your fate.”
Cronus became the god of the sky, as his father had been before him. Like his father, he
feared the Hundred-Handed Giants and the Cyclopes, so he ignored his promise to Gaea
and kept his brothers bound and imprisoned in Tartarus.
Gaea watched and waited for the next opportunity to free her children. She informed Cronus
that one day a son of his would overpower him just as he had overpowered his own father.
Cronus loved his wife Rhea, but every time she gave birth, he would open his gigantic mouth
and swallow the infant in one gulp, saying “I have cheated the Fates of their prophecy and
my child of his throne.”
Rhea’s heart was overflowing with grief. When she gave birth to her sixth child, Zeus, she
left him with her mother and handed Cronus a well-wrapped rock instead. Cronus opened
his gigantic mouth and swallowed the rock in one gulp.
Years passed, and Zeus became a mature god. One day, Rhea entered the room with Zeus
by her side. “Your destiny is upon you, Cronus!” she exclaimed. “The Fates prophesied that
a son would overpower you, and that son now stands before you. We will now see if Zeus
will rule with more intelligence and kindness than you did. Your mind has been blinded and
your heart as hard as the rock you swallowed.”PHL 230 Module Six 5
“If this stranger, son of mine or not, thinks that he is going to take my kingdom from me, he
is not as intelligent as you seem to think he is!” Cronus responded. “Anyone who wants to
rule in my place will have to fight me and all of the other Titans too!”
Zeus and his brothers went down to Tartarus to rescue Gaea’s children and encourage their
alliance. “Listen to these words from my heart,” said Zeus. “We have been fighting the Titans
for ten years without success. If you will repay our kindness to you by fighting on our side,
your great strength will make us victorious.”
To these words one of the Hundred-Handed Giants replied, “We know that you are fighting
to defend the deathless gods from the cruelty of Titan rulers. And we know what it is like to
be the victim of Titan power. Had you not freed us, we were doomed to face an eternity of
darkness, bondage, and isolation. Uranus and his son Cronus do not understand suffering
and know nothing of mercy. We know that you will rule the world with greater wisdom. Of
course, we will fight with you against the Titan tyrant!”
With high spirits, Zeus and his allies returned to the upper world and renewed the battle. The
Hundred-Handed Giants broke cliffs off the mountains until they had a huge crag in each of
their multitude of hands. Then they pelted the Titans with their stone weapons. Finally, the
Hundred-Handed Giants hurled the Titans beneath the earth into Tartarus and placed them
in chains for eternity in that dark and dismal land.
The rule of the Titans had ended. The rule of the gods had begun.
Indra and the Dragon
Indra, who carries the mighty thunderbolt in his hand, rules all that moves and all that rests,
all that is aggressive and all that is peaceful. He alone rules the people of the earth as their
king, enclosing them as the rim of a wheel encloses the spokes. Whenever they need him,
he comes to their aid. I will speak of the god Indra’s first heroic deed.
Long ago, a mighty dragon named Vritra lived upon the earth. This demon was the enemy of
gods and humans alike. One day he swallowed the seven rivers of the earth and imprisoned
them within his great mountain. The he lay down on the mountaintop to guard the waters he
had captured. Day and night he lay awake, prepared to defend his conquest against any
being who challenged him.
The fiery sun rose each day as always. It burned the earth with its blazing rays. Trees,
grass, and all forms of plant life gradually shriveled and died, for river water no longer
supplied the moisture necessary for them to thrive upon the earth. 6 PHL 230 Module Six
People prayed to the gods for help, but not one of the gods was strong enough to combat
the great dragon-demon. As days passed, the gaunt and greedy figure of Famine began to
stalk the land. More and more people were starving. At first they tried to buy food. Then they
begged for food. Finally, in desperation, they cried for food. Their cities fell upon a great
silence, for even the storehouses of the rich were empty, and scarcely a trace of food
remained upon the earth.
Weak with hunger, the people fell upon the dry and barren earth and pleaded with the gods
to heed their prayers. The gods gazed upon the earth with sorrow in their hearts, knowing
that they were powerless against such a deadly foe as Vritra. But Indra was determined to
help the dying humans. He was the youngest of the gods, but he intended to prove himself
the bravest and strongest.
One by one, he picked up three bowls of soma, a sweet, intoxicating drink, and he drank
them down. With each drink he became stronger and stronger. Finally Indra knew that he
had become the mightiest of the gods. He took his great weapon, the deadly thunderbolt, in
his right hand and set out to fight Vritra. He knew that he would find the dragon-demon
reclining upon his mountaintop, watching and waiting for a god who would be courageous
enough to attack him.
As Indra approached, the mighty dragon prepared for battle. Unlike the gods, Vritra had
neither hands nor feet to defend himself, but his mouth terrified gods and humans alike.
Inflamed with anger, the demon exhaled a foggy mist, shutting out the rays of the sun and
shrouding the earth in blackness. Then he spewed forth blinding lightning, deafening
thunder, and a cutting storm of hailstones.
To Vritra’s surprise, Indra showed no fear of the dark. The lightning did not blind his eyes,
the thunder did not threaten his ears, and the hailstones did not slash his skin. The young
god calmly raised his deadly weapon, and when the dragon’s next bolt of lightning
illuminated the scene, Indra hurled his great thunderbolt at Vritra. The missile flew straight
as an arrow and lodged firmly in the dragon’s flesh.
The mighty blow crushed the demon’s spirit and shattered his body with one stroke. The
dragon tottered upon the mountain peak and then fell to the base far below, where he lay
like the severed branches of a tree chopped from the trunk.
Vritra’s mother came forth to avenge her son, but Indra was undaunted by the sight of
another fearsome demon. He summoned his strength and hurled his mighty thunderbolt at PHL 230 Module Six 7
her also, killing her as he had killed Vritra. She fell to the ground near her son, lying near him
in death as a cow rests near her calf.
Indra now freed the imprisoned waters. With his deadly weapon he split apart the
mountainside, opening the sealed outlet and releasing the seven rivers. The waters rushed
straight down the mountainside and swept across the land to the sea, roaring as noisily as a
herd of cows.
When the seven rivers once again flowed across the earth, moisture soaked through the
parched soil of every land. Parched roots drank their fill and sent renewed life coursing
through the trunks of dying trees. Greedy seeds sprouted, quickly growing into nourishing
grasses. Thirsty humans drank their fill and lived to eat a new crop of life-sustaining plants.
Famine retreated from the sight of plenty as a lion backs away from a pack of hungry
wolves.
Indra, the brave god, confronted the great dragon Vritra in battle and won. Indra, the mighty
bringer of rain, relieved the drought and restored the fertility of the earth. Indra, the supreme
god, rescued those who walk the earth from certain death. Indra, who carries the mighty
thunderbolt in his hand, rules all that moves and all that rests, all that is aggressive and all
that is peaceful. He alone rules the people of the earth as their king, enclosing them as the
rim of a wheel encloses the spokes. Whenever they need him, he comes to their aid.
Iron Age Religion
Generally speaking, there are two kinds of religious responses: those that accept the means
of salvation provided by the cultures in which they find themselves (i.e., the world) and those
that reject them in favor of some other means. Prior to the Iron Age, religion was
synonymous with whatever salvation the world had to offer, but with the coming of
Akhenaton and his Egyptian revolution, religious deviance (also known as “sectarianism”)
manifests itself for the first time.
The responses to the world that comprise sectarianism can be further broken down into
seven ideal types, each with their own view of evil and salvation:
1. Conversionist – The world is corrupt because humans are corrupt. The only way to
change the world is to change the humans who have corrupted it. Salvation consists of a
supernaturally wrought transformation of the self that provides a new, subjective
orientation to the world (often described by the phrase “being born again”).
2. Revolutionist – The world is so evil that only the supernatural destruction of the current
social order will be enough to save humanity. Salvation entails the supernaturally 8 PHL 230 Module Six
wrought destruction and re-creation of the world and thus, is not available now but will be
available soon when the objective nature of the world is changed (in true apocalyptic
fashion).
3. Introversionist – The world is irredeemably evil and corrupts humans who associate with
it. To purify themselves, humans must renounce the world and leave it fully. Salvation is
obtained by withdrawing from the world and, when done as part of a social movement,
establishing a separate community preoccupied with its own holiness as a means of
insulation from the culture at large.
4. Manipulationist – Evil in this world can be overcome if humans learn the correct means
and develop improved techniques for dealing with it. Salvation depends on learning new
religious precepts that will allow the practitioners to alter their relationship to the objective
world and bring it into harmony with the new precepts.
5. Thaumaturgical – Evil is personal and local. Salvation is comprised of relief from present
and specific ills (e.g., sickness) by special dispensations (e.g., healing) wrought by
supernaturally driven thaumaturges (i.e., wonder workers).
6. Reformist – The world is evil and needs to be changed by human intervention. Salvation
is obtained through supernaturally revealed insights about the ways in which the social
order should be amended, the specific alterations revealed only to those whose hearts
and minds are open to supernatural influence.
7. Utopian – The world is evil and needs to be reconstructed by human intervention.
Salvation consists of the complete replacement of the social order (as opposed to just its
amendment) by those attuned to supernaturally revealed principles for doing so (and not
by the supernatural power itself), those motivated to do more than just withdrawing from
it.
Akhenaton, Zoroaster, and Siddhartha all exhibit one or more of these ideal types, and they
set the stage for the religious deviance we have become accustomed to when we think
about the major religions of the world. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are indebted to
Akhenaton for his monotheism and to Zoroaster for his apocalyptic vision, while Hinduism
and Buddhism are indebted to Siddhartha and the “renouncers” who preceded him for their
introversionist and manipulationist insights.
In one of the great ironies of history, however, negative reactions to the world often end up
becoming the world (i.e., the dominant culture) and thus, eliciting their own negative
reactions. It is this phenomenon to which we turn in the next module.