Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World That Never Was

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We ought not to misrepresent them, we ought to try to understand what they mean and not twist their words, and we ought not simply to use them in pursuit of our own agendas. These are ethical imperatives that many people try to live by in the present. I do not see why they should not apply to the past as well.

Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World That Never Was

Interestingly, Provan says nothing about the Jaspers theme that the flowering of thought in these three regions occurred simultaneously, suggesting the appearance of Being in history. Provan also stresses the differences among the three regions to support his thesis. Nov 23, Celeste Chia rated it liked it. I first came across the term Axial Age during a work retreat to Bali. Colleagues and I were having a discussion on the power of intention and a German colleague, seeing I was interested in religion and philosophy, recommended this topic and a reading to me.

The reading, in my opinion, was unreadable in its writing style, so I turned to eBooks offered by my university library on this topic. What I chiefly enjoyed about the book was the side-by-side comparison of the "Axial Age" and the pre-Axial " I first came across the term Axial Age during a work retreat to Bali. Having said that, in my opinion it was was less of a book and more like a page literature review summing up different arguments from different writers, pitting the camps "Karl Jaspers; Karen Armstrong" against "Derrick Jansen, David Suzuki". The central argument of the book was on the human tendency to mythologize the past due to our personal intentions and values, no matter how well intentioned they seem.

He locates proponents of the Axial and Dark Green Golden Ages in their desires to effect a "desirable" change in the world, and analyses them for their historical merit.

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He argues that these scholars told untrue stories of the past to support their intellectual theories "to stand against greed, indifference, injustice, and the sacrilegious commodification of life". It is the danger that evidence itself will become unwelcome, insofar as it disturbs our settled understanding of the world.

Desire and need will dominate the enquiry, and evidence may not seriously even be sought. Run them through with fact, and still they shamble forward, fueled by echo chamber media, ideological tribalism, cognitive dissonance, a certain imperviousness to shame, and an understanding that a lie repeated long enough, loudly enough, becomes, in the minds of those who need to believe it, truth. Jaspers had just lived through a period marked by barbarism, nationalism, and fanaticism.

He was concerned, in the aftermath of the war, to identify something that modern human beings hold in common—something that might unify humanity and help us all to move forward together peaceably.

He believed that he had discovered what was needed, not in any single religious or philosophical system, but in a specific historical experience: Rationality and practical experience now battled against myth, and religion became informed by ethics. The human condition was transformed in a way that may be described as a spiritualization.

What took place in this axial age was the discovery of what was later to be called reason and personality. The world itself is, however, not a problem to be overcome. The transient phenomena of historical, personal existence are not of ultimate importance, on this view. Indeed, they obscure the truth about our destiny, which we can only begin to fulfill by withdrawing from attachment to the world as we find it. It is perhaps not surprising that in this new context we find the beginnings of a radical re-evaluation of the past by anthropologists.

Religion, a contrived human projection. The cyclical was replaced by the linear, and the notion of progress was instituted. With civilization, "there was a breakdown of community as individual religious identity developed, and a breakdown also in the human relationship with the earth. The personal now took precedence over the social, the human over the natural.

They were struggling with nature, as human beings have always had to do. These people thought they were good Christians acting in good faith. Jan 16, John Doyle rated it liked it Shelves: Provan argues that a clear understanding of history is important because our solutions for modern problems are frequently based on our beliefs about the past.

While I am sympathetic to the notion that we tend to mold history to serve modern ends, I was not convinced by this book that misunderstandings of the origins of Western religions or of the sustaina Provan argues that a clear understanding of history is important because our solutions for modern problems are frequently based on our beliefs about the past. While I am sympathetic to the notion that we tend to mold history to serve modern ends, I was not convinced by this book that misunderstandings of the origins of Western religions or of the sustainability of ancient societies have serious implications in the modern world.

Mar 17, Bob Duke rated it it was amazing.

A good criticism of Karl Jaspers view that there was a time when man was attuned to nature and was in spiritual harmony with it. These views have become holy writ in the deep green movement. He points out the inconvenient fact that man in prehistory did many acts which were not harmonious with the natural world. He defends Christianity from sharing the full blame in this by arguing that there are biblical verses that are protective of nature as well as being exploitative.

Whilst this has true th A good criticism of Karl Jaspers view that there was a time when man was attuned to nature and was in spiritual harmony with it.

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Whilst this has true these verses have not in themselves been enough to impede environmental destruction. Mankind has interpreted ancient and modern religions according to the prevailing views of the age. There are Christians who are putting the more environmentally protective versus of the bible to the fore. The Lies we tell about history Doing historical work is sometimes difficult, we would rather believe what we want to believe than do the hard work of finding out the truth.

Although Provan acknowledges that he is stepping outside his area of expertise to confront some mythical memes that have taken hold in our culture, his research into these myths about the "axial age" and "dark green religion" is thorough but presented in such a way that this should be accessible to a popular audience.

In his are The Lies we tell about history Doing historical work is sometimes difficult, we would rather believe what we want to believe than do the hard work of finding out the truth. In his area of expertise, Provan counters a notion that often goes along with these myths that the Christian and Jewish Scriptures teach the dominance of human beings over the natural world. Provan rightly argues that such is not actually the case. Of course, he does this more fully in his other excellent book Seriously Dangerous Religion. These two works make excellent companion volumes.

Steven Gomez rated it really liked it Mar 20, Kevin Greenlee rated it really liked it Oct 07, Ian rated it it was amazing Dec 27, Tim rated it really liked it Oct 09, Eduardo rated it really liked it Sep 29, Apr 18, P. Es rated it really liked it Shelves: For now until I look at my notes; overall worthwhile, but I think a bit too short, even as a popular companion to the larger, "Seriously Dangerous Religion".

The final chapter on summarizing why myths matter, why believing false myths matters, was likewise a bit too short on how 'the' Biblical narrative he would propose be taken seriously is exempt from being considered 'false' as a myth, however benign; I know his other book is a lengthy treatment of the Biblical myth in the classical sense , For now until I look at my notes; overall worthwhile, but I think a bit too short, even as a popular companion to the larger, "Seriously Dangerous Religion". The final chapter on summarizing why myths matter, why believing false myths matters, was likewise a bit too short on how 'the' Biblical narrative he would propose be taken seriously is exempt from being considered 'false' as a myth, however benign; I know his other book is a lengthy treatment of the Biblical myth in the classical sense , compared with the myths treated in this work, but at least SOME treatment of how the former is exempt from the same critique he offers toward the latter would have been good, even a footnote.

Very competent demolishing of modern historic falsifications. Zeljana rated it liked it Apr 28, Aram rated it really liked it Sep 02, Daniel rated it liked it Aug 13, Byakuya Kuchiki rated it it was amazing Aug 15, Apr 10, Keith Akers rated it liked it.

In this Book

This is a good book. It's an academic but objective critique of two ideas about our ancient past. Briefly, the author believes that neither of these actually happened. The reality is that primitive peoples were quite brutal, probably more so even than modern people. Now, I am not so sure — Provan was persuasive. I am inclined to agree that the case for an Axial Age has not been made; I am not sure whether someone else might or could make it in the future.

A number of very widespread and influential religious thinkers developed outside of the Axial Age, either before or after — think Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, for example. The Axial Age; 2. Serious People, Bad Ideas: An Inquisition on the Axial Age; 3. Procrustes and His Bed: Mutilating the Facts to Fit a Theory; 4. Happy Hunting and Gathering: The Dark Green Golden Age; 5. Hard Times in the Paleolithic: Constant Battles and Unequal Rights; 6.

Desire and Need and the Past. A Brief History of Ancient Time9. On Loving Your Dead Neighbor: Violence, Knowledge, and History; On Truth and Consequences: Includes bibliographical references pages and indexes. Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Includes bibliographical references and index.

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View online Borrow Buy Freely available Show 0 more links Other links An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view at http: Set up My libraries How do I set up "My libraries"? These 8 locations in All: Edith Cowan University Library.

Open to the public Book English Flinders University. Flinders University Central Library.

Open to the public ; Open to the public. SAE - Byron Bay. May not be open to the public Held. Book English Sheridan College Library. University of Queensland Library. Open to the public ; Online: These 2 locations in New South Wales:

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