Soul wea Kanduit Dae—Start bilong Datfala Teaching
“No eni subject wea join withim spiritual laef bilong man savvy mekem hem interest olsem datwan abaotem taem bihaen long dae.”—“ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS.”
1-3. Hao nao Socrates and Plato mekem grow idea bilong way wea soul kanduit dae?
OLKETA accusim wanfala savvyman and teacher wea 70 year for way for no showimaot respect and spoelem mind bilong young pipol withim teaching bilong hem. Nomata hem defendim hemseleva long nambawan way long kot, olketa judge wea tek saed faendem hem guilty and judgim hem for dae. Fewfala hour bifor olketa killim hem dae, datfala olo teacher talem olketa student wea hipap raonem hem samfala point for strongim way wea soul kanduit dae and man no need for fraetem dae.
2 Datfala man wea olketa judgim hem nao Socrates, wanfala Greek savvyman bilong mek-faev century B.C.E.a Student bilong hem Plato raetem samting wea happen hia long tufala story Apology and Phaedo. Socrates and Plato nao midolwan long olketa first wan wea talemaot datfala idea hao soul hem kanduit dae. But tufala no startim disfala teaching.
3 Olsem iumi bae lukim, faondeson bilong idea hao man kanduit dae hem from bifor kam. But, Socrates and Plato mekem datfala idea hem grow and kamap wanfala idea for teachim, wea mekem olketa savvyman long taem bilong tufala and bihaen, barava interest long hem.
From Pythagoras Go Long Olketa Pyramid
4. Bifor Socrates, wanem nao tingting bilong olketa Greek abaotem laef bihaen dae?
4 Olketa Greek wea stap bifor Socrates and Plato believe tu hao soul hem go ahed for laef bihaen dae. Pythagoras, Greek savvyman bilong maths long mek-six century B.C.E., say soul hem kanduit dae and hem savvy go long nara body. Bifor long hem, Thales bilong Miletus, wanfala long olketa firstfala Greek savvyman, tingsay soul wea kanduit dae hem no stap long olketa man, animal, and plant nomoa but long olketa samting olsem magnet tu, bikos magnet savvy muvim iron. Olketa Greek bifor say wanfala boat hem karem soul bilong olketa wea dae finis akros long river Styx go long narafala world under long graon wea olketa kolem world underneath. Long there, olketa judgim olketa soul for kasem pain insaed wanfala prison wea garem haefala wall or for hapi long Elysium.
5, 6. Hao nao olketa bilong Persia ting abaotem soul?
5 Long Iran, or Persia, long east, wanfala profet wea nem bilong hem Zoroaster hem stap long mek-seven century B.C.E. Hem startim wanfala way bilong worship wea go-go olketa kolem Zoroastrian religion. Diswan hem religion bilong kingdom bilong Persia, wea hem world paoa bifor Greece kamap world paoa. Zoroastrian scripture say: “Long Way for Kanduit Dae soul bilong Raeteous wan bae Hapi olowe, but soul bilong Man for Liar bae stap long pain. And olketa Law hia Ahura Mazda [wea meanim, “wisefala god”] nao startim thru long sovereign rul bilong Hem.”
6 Teaching bilong soul wea kanduit dae hem part tu bilong religion long Iran wea stap bifor Zoroaster. For example, olketa tribe bilong Iran bifor lukaftarem soul bilong olketa man wea dae long way for givim olketa kaikai and kaleko for helpem olketa long world bilong olketa spirit.
7, 8. Wanem nao olketa Egyptian bifor believim abaotem way wea soul go ahed for laef bihaen body hem dae?
7 Way for believe long laef bihaen man dae hem main part long religion bilong olketa Egyptian. Olketa Egyptian say Osiris, main god bilong world bilong olketa spirit, bae judgim soul bilong man wea dae. For example, wanfala papyrus pepa wea olketa say hem from mek-14 century B.C.E. hem showim Anubis, god bilong olketa wea dae finis, hem leadim soul bilong savvyman Hunefer go front long Osiris. Long wanfala scale, olketa markem heart bilong datfala savvyman, wea stand for conscience bilong hem, withim hevi bilong feather wea woman god bilong truth and justice wearim long hed bilong hem. Thoth, narafala god, raetem result. From heart bilong Hunefer hem no hevi from way for guilty, hem no hevi winim datfala feather, and olketa letem Hunefer for go insaed long kingdom bilong Osiris and kasem way for kanduit dae. Datfala papyrus showim tu wankaen woman devil wea stand ap klosap long datfala scale, ready for kaikaim datfala man wea dae sapos heart bilong hem fail long test. Olketa Egyptian putim medicine tu long body for no rotten and olketa keepim body bilong olketa pharaoh insaed bigfala pyramid, bikos olketa tingsay way wea soul go ahed for laef depend long way for keepim body.
8 So, olketa different pipol wea stap bifor garem wanfala teaching wea semsem—soul hem kanduit dae. Waswe, olketa kasem disfala teaching from sem ples?
Start Bilong Hem
9. Wanem religion nao hem affectim world bilong Egypt, Persia, and Greece bifor?
9 Wanfala buk The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria hem say “long world bilong bifor, religion bilong Babylon hem affectim olketa bilong Egypt, Persia, and Greece bifor.” Buk hia go ahed for say: “From Egypt and Babylon stap klos tugeta bifor, wea olketa El-Amarna ston showimaot, planti chance stap for olketa tingting and kastom bilong Babylon for join tugeta withim olketa religion bilong Egypt. Long Persia, Mithra religion barava showimaot olketa idea bilong Babylon . . . Bigfala way wea olketa mixim teaching bilong Semitic area withim kastom and religion bilong Greek hem samting wea olketa savvyman acceptim nomoa. Olketa Semitic teaching hia hem really kam from Babylon.”b
10, 11. Wanem nao tingting bilong olketa long Babylon abaotem laef bihaen long dae?
10 But waswe, tingting bilong olketa long Babylon abaotem wanem nao happen bihaen man dae hem no different from tingting bilong olketa Egyptian, Persian, and Greek? For example, tingim disfala story Epic of Gilgamesh from Babylon. Wanfala bigman wea olo, Gilgamesh, from hem tingting evritaem long dae, hem go lukaotem way for kanduit dae but hem fail for faendem. Taem hem gogo wanfala young girl wea hem meetim encouragim hem for mek ius long laef bilong hem distaem, bikos hem bae nating faendem laef wea no garem end wea hem lukaotem. Main point bilong full story hem hao dae hem samting wea man kanduit misstim and hope for kasem way for kanduit dae hem wanfala dream nomoa. Waswe, diswan showimaot olketa bilong Babylon no believe long laef bihaen dae?
11 Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., bilong University bilong Pennsylvania, U.S.A., raet olsem: “No enitaem pipol or olketa bigman bilong religion [bilong Babylon] ting samting wea laef maet finis evribit bihaen hem start. Dae [long tingting bilong olketa] hem wanfala road wea go for narafala kaen laef, and for no acceptim way for kanduit dae hem barava showimaot klia hao man no savvy ranawe from change wea kasem hem taem hem dae.” Tru nao, olketa bilong Babylon tu believe hao laef hem go ahed bihaen long dae long samkaen way. Dastawe olketa savvy buryim pipol wea dae withim samfala samting for olketa iusim long laef bihaen dae.
12-14. (a) Bihaen long Flood, wea nao ples wea teaching abaotem soul wea kanduit dae hem start? (b) Hao nao datfala teaching hem go kasem evriwea long earth?
12 Hem klia tumas, teaching bilong way wea soul kanduit dae hem start kam long Babylon bifor. Olsem samting wea Bible, wanfala buk wea garem stretfala history hem talem, Nimrod, wanfala great-grani bilong Noah nao startim datfala taon bilong Babel, or Babylon.c Bihaen long Flood long taem bilong Noah, wanfala langwis and religion nomoa stap. Taem hem startim datfala taon and buildim wanfala taoa long there, Nimrod startim narafala religion. Record bilong Bible showimaot bihaen olketa different langwis kamap long Babel, olketa man wea buildim taoa go long different ples for start niu moa, and tekem go religion withim olketa. (Genesis 10:6-10; 11:4-9) Dastawe olketa teaching bilong religion bilong Babylon hem go kasem evriwea long earth.
13 History showimaot Nimrod hem dae long raf way. Bihaen dae bilong hem, hem fitim olketa bilong Babylon for tinghae tumas long hem olsem man wea startim, buildim, and firstfala king bilong taon bilong olketa. From olketa say datfala god Marduk (Merodach) hem startim Babylon, samfala savvyman say Marduk hem stand for Nimrod wea olketa mekem hem wanfala god. Sapos olsem, then datfala idea wea say man garem wanfala soul wea laef bihaen hem dae hem samting wea olketa believim finis taem Nimrod hem dae. Nomata olsem, history showimaot hao bihaen long Flood, ples wea teaching bilong soul wea kanduit dae hem start hem long Babel, or Babylon.
14 But, hao nao datfala teaching hem kamap wanfala main wan bilong olketa religion long taem bilong iumi? Nextfala sekson bae lukluk long hao diswan hem go insaed olketa religion long East.
[Olketa Footnote]
a B.C.E. meanim “Bifor Common Era.” C.E. meanim “Common Era,” wea planti taem olketa kolem A.D., for Anno Domini, wea meanim “insaed long year bilong Lord.”
b El-Amarna hem ples wea Akhetaton, wanfala taon bilong Egypt, hem stap bifor, wea olketa say pipol buildim long mek-14 century B.C.E.
c Lukim The Bible—God’s Word or Man’s?, page 37-54, wea Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. hem pablisim.
[Piksa long page 6]
Tingting bilong Egypt abaotem olketa soul long world bilong olketa spirit
[Piksa long page 7]
Socrates say soul kanduit dae