IDEA 58
The Idea of God: Evolution or Revelation?
The real celestial Supreme God of the Altaians appears to be Tengere Kaira Kan (“Merciful Emperor Heaven”) … who plays the principal role in the myths concerning the cosmogony and the end of the world, whereas Bai Ulgan [a “god of the atmosphere”] never appears in them. It is remarkable that no sacrifice is appointed for him, while those offered to Bai Ulgan and Erlik Khan [another god] are beyond counting. But Tengere Kaira Kan’s withdrawal from the cult is the destiny of almost all uranian gods. … This phenomenon of the progressive substitution of a god of the atmosphere … for a celestial god is comparatively frequent in the history of the religions. (Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Chapter 6)
There are two basic ways of 'explaining' God in modern Western discourse. The predominant version, and practically the only one to be found in academic literature today, takes it for granted that the idea of God is a mental construct, developed from human psychological needs, shaped and directed by the structure of society, and adjustable enough to fit within the overarching frame of biological evolution. This version is clearly constructed from the bottom up, from what is visible to what is more abstract.
The other path was propounded by an eminent but rather lonely figure, Mircea Eliade (1907 - 1986), a Romanian historian of religion who believed that the sacred exists as a basic fact, one that irrupts into the profane world as hierophanies, real expressions of a 'higher' realm. No one invents religion; rather it is encountered in a revelation of the metaphysically transcendent and then translated into some religious or cultic form, with varying degrees of fidelity and devotion. This, of course, is almost the exact opposite of the secular version; it is top-down in its understanding of reality.
In the passage quoted above, Tengere Kaira Kan represents what Altaic cultures believed to be the highest deity they could imagine. He is not merely a 'sky god' or god of the sky; rather he is a supreme being who manifests himself in the sky.
Compare this with what Muslims believe AL-LAH to be -- not literally of or in anything, yet figuratively associated with the sky insofar as "heaven" is above (representing transcendence) and seemingly limitless (representing infinity). Notice also that Tengere Kaira Kan has the title of "Merciful" and "Emperor" -- two terms that correspond to Ar-Rahman and Al-Malik, which are proper names of AL-LAH.
What I find interesting in this reference to Tengere Kaira Kan are the terms "withdrawal," "destiny," and "substitution." It appears from Eliade's description that Tengere Kaira Kan is the Creator of the Altaian world, and yet does not receive the attention and reverence accorded to lesser gods. If the sacred is essentially unchanging, as Muslims believe GOD to be, then the impression of a god's ever-increasing remoteness is due to its worshippers withdrawing their devotion. The devotees are like passengers on a train who look back and see the station where they boarded receding into the distance. The "destiny of almost all uranian gods" [i.e., gods who are associated with celestial hierophanies] is obscurity, the result of a growing reification of worship, from objects of a loftier realm to the atmosphere or earth, and from those which are pictured with difficulty, such as a monotheistic, non-physical Deity, to substitutes that can be seen, touched, decorated, dressed, and fed -- i.e., idols. The pressures of everyday life in all its concreteness seem to call out for concrete solutions and tangible havens. The majestic Divinity of pure monotheism is thus gradually withdrawn from view, to be replaced by a Son, an avatar, an idol, or a deus otiosus, the 'inactive' clockmaker God of the Enlightenment.
The Qur'an often alludes to this tendency by continually mentioning how every nation or people was sent a messenger, bearing the news of the One True God, but then We gave to them, and to their ancestors, enjoyments till their lives grew long for them. (Q21:44) The passage of time is mentioned as tending to produce a diminishment of faith, a failure of intention and commitment, and a falling away into polytheism, idolatry, and pursuit of novelty. We see this today in the decline of organized religion, the abandonment of traditional devotions, and the abandonment of churches, temples, and even mosques. Muslims have become entranced by the latest developments in politics, economics, social media, psychology, medicine, the application of evolutionary theory to the human sciences, and community building -- anything to feed the need for excitement and stave off the boredom of the same old approach to the faith that captivated the hearts of the first Muslims. Islam appears incomplete and banal under the syncopated beat of secular modernism.
As Eliade believes and Muslims are bound to confirm, the sacred is always there, always available through hierophany (his term) or revelation (our term). Our perception of change in GOD is an illusion produced by our change -- the faltering mind, the fickle heart, the distracted gaze, and the eagerness for something strange or new. The familiar becomes unfamiliar, and the intruder is greeted and embraced. Thus has it always been, and thus will it always be.
We must judge the people of the past as no more and no less enlightened or 'spiritual' than we are today. Their quaint cults and shamanic ecstasies correspond to our chat groups and psychedelics. They once had a pure message from GOD, via an angel or a messenger, but they devolved over time, just as we are devolving.
Thank GOD, however, that revelation remains as it has always been, and can always be revived in our hearts when we put our minds to it. The Word of GOD is waiting, unchanged in essence from the time of Adam (peace be upon him). Paradise is still just that close.
Download the PDF version for free at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’ān – Mont Redmond complete version, or purchase a hard copy at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’an: Redmond, Mont: 9781738842506: Books – Amazo
