The Evolution of God - How the Image of God evolved over time

The Evolution of GodHow the understanding of God changed over time.

Let me first introduce myself offering you a flower, a virtual orchid.

I’m Roberto andI believe that our objective in life is to be happy,

and that Spirituality and Jungian psychology, my main areas of interest, can help us in this

search for happiness. Roberto Lima Netto, Ph.D.

Stanford University

God has changed over time. Not the real God, the major force that created the Big-Bang, or, if you prefer, the God

who created the world in six days as told in Genesis. This Major Force is

unknowable, well above human thinking. But the Image of God we

hold inside our psyche evolved through the centuries.

Through human history we can detect six major stages in the evolution of the God-

image.

The first phase– Animism – was present during the hunting and

gathering phase of civilization. Our primitive ancestors saw spirits

everywhere: animals, trees, mountains rivers, stones.

A second period – Matriarchy – came when agriculture was discovered. The nourishing

earth, responsible for the crops – the Great Mother– was the

deity.

A third period –Polytheism – came with the development of the cities and the beginning of wars. The masculine

element grew in importance and humanity turned to a polytheism

dominated by male Gods. Of special notice for the Western Civilization are

the Greek Gods, ruled by Zeus.

A fourth period – Tribal Monotheism – started, at least in

the Western world, with the Hebrews. Out of the many deities that populated the near Middle

East, Yahweh, the God of one tribe of nomads came forth.

The fifth period – Universal Monotheism.

Christianity was the result of the universalizing of the Hebrew religion, and dominated the

Western world for the last twenty centuries.

The major difference of Yahweh and Jesus is that the first was

complete, encompassing good and evil. A better way of expressing this

idea is to say that Yahweh was above good and evil. He did not dwell in the duality, but in the

unicity.

The Christian religion, with Christ as an exclusively good God, called forth the demon. In the duality we live, there is no cold without hot,

no light without darkness, no good without evil.

Clement of Rome, one of the first fathers of the church is quoted

saying that God governs the world with Christ on the right hand and

Satan on the left.

As a consequence, Satan appears four times in the

Old Testament and sixty-six in the New Testament.

The sixth period – Individuation - is dawning in the world with the

development of individualism in human beings. More and more people are distancing themselves from what we could call the herd-complex and looking for their individual ways to

search for happiness and the fulfillment of their lives.

The problem is that the Christian myth that sustained Western

Civilization for two thousand years is losing its attraction. Its symbols are getting old and are not being

renewed.

As a result, civilization is passing through a chaotic stage. Human beings are becoming more and

more materialists, and I venture to say that the God that rules the

world today is money.

The Arthurian Myth is a relatively new myth, that started to spread in

the Western world in the XII century, although it has ancient

roots in the Celtic and Irish myths.

When Parsifal and the knights of the round table went in their

search for the Grail, they were instructed to follow an individual

path, one that had never been treaded. It was considered

shameful to choose an already tried route.

This advice matches perfectly with Jungian psychology. For Jung, each person has to choose his exclusive

path in his journey of individuation.

Jung suggested that we live a symbolic life, using his method

of Active Imagination to dialogue with the personalities

inside our psyches.

How to live a spiritual life? A symbolic life?

To avoid repeating myself, I will suggest that you visit my site.

www.HappinessAcademyOnline.org

I also suggest that you read the excellent book by Lionel Corbett

“Psyche and the Sacred”

I wish you HAPPINESS.Thanks for your time and attention.

Roberto Lima Nettowww.HappinessAcademyOnline.org.