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In 1222, Genghis Khan met with the Daoist Master Chongqen, who, despite his name meaning "eternal spring," did not possess an elixir of immortality. Instead, Chongqen suggested a long process of transformation to extend life and achieve transcendence, known as becoming a Daoist "Shien." Shien are supernatural beings in Daoism, capable of traversing realms, possessing extended lifespans, and exhibiting superhuman abilities like flight or teleportation. The term is often translated as "immortal," but this can be misleading. Shien escape ordinary death but do not necessarily exist forever in an absolute sense. Scholar Robert Campany notes that Daoist thought views human and divine, or mortal and immortal, on a spectrum, allowing beings to become more or less refined and long-lived. Translating Shien as "transcendent" better captures this idea, as they operate on a higher level within the same cosmos, rather than escaping it entirely. Daoist texts distinguish between merely avoiding death and transforming into an entirely different being.
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The Quran describes Mecca during Muhammad's time as a city populated by "mushri," often translated as pagans or polytheists. These individuals were Muhammad's primary adversaries, resisting his message, ridiculing his claims, and refusing to worship Allah exclusively. However, the Quran makes a surprising assertion about their beliefs, stating that if asked who created the heavens and the earth, or humans, they would unequivocally say "Allah." They also credited Allah with controlling the sun and moon and sending rain. This seemingly contradictory belief system, where polytheists already acknowledge Allah as a creator god, can be clarified by understanding the term "mushri" more literally as "those who associated others with God." This implies they believed in and worshipped Allah, but also assigned partners or associates to him, praying to lesser deities and invoking intermediaries within a broader polytheistic framework. Some venerated the sun and moon, while others worshipped pre-Islamic Arabian gods like Allat and Manat, yet Allah remained supreme as the creator. This raises the question of how the mushri already knew about Allah. The answer lies in the pre-existence of a god named Allah in pre-Islamic Arabia. Inscriptions from the deserts of Jordan, dating hundreds of years before Muhammad, show Arab nomads invoking multiple gods, including "ba al-samine" (a storm god), "shakam" (a protective deity), and "Allah." This indicates that long before the Quran, ancient Arabs carved Allah's name into stone, used it in prayers, incorporated it into personal names, and, according to recent discoveries, conceived of him as a high god connected to light and creation.
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The Dajjal, a figure central to Islamic end-of-the-world traditions, is described as a one-eyed man with the word "kafir" (disbeliever) inscribed on his forehead. He will be barred from entering the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and will lead a formidable army against pious Muslims. Though not mentioned in the Quran, the Dajjal features prominently in later Islamic traditions, particularly in the Hadith literature, as a major sign of the end times. He is often interpreted as a miracle-working impostor, a political tyrant, a cosmic deceiver, or a symbol of systemic corruption. To understand the Dajjal, one must turn to the Hadith, which are reports of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings, actions, or approvals. These reports, compiled in the 8th and 9th centuries, provide vivid descriptions of cosmic upheaval, the appearance of the Mahdi, the return of Jesus, and the rise of the Dajjal. While Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, as well as smaller communities, may disagree on interpretations or the legitimacy of certain Hadith, it is generally accepted that the Dajjal is a real being who will appear at a specific moment before the Day of Judgment.
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Jared Henderson, a philosopher and author turned YouTuber, explores the impact of modern technology on human consciousness, ritual, community, and grief. His work on Substack and YouTube delves into topics like attention, reading, artificial intelligence, and synthetic relationships, offering a historical and philosophical perspective on contemporary anxieties. Henderson's journey from academia to YouTube was driven by a desire to engage in intellectual discussions after leaving a PhD program and working in tech. He found the academic job market challenging and missed the intellectual community of university life. His channel initially covered various topics but has since narrowed its focus to philosophical questions about modern life, particularly our technological environment. He emphasizes that while current technological issues, such as the attention economy, have reached an unprecedented scale, they are not entirely new in kind. Similar concerns about information overload arose with the printing press, and historical solutions offer comfort that present challenges can also be overcome.
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When most modern Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus, the physical nature of his body is rarely a point of contention, generally assuming a bodily resurrection. However, early Christian texts reveal significant anxiety regarding the physical nature of Jesus's resurrected body. The question was whether he was raised in a tangible flesh-and-blood body or something more ethereal, like a spirit or ghost. Some passages depict the resurrected Jesus eating food and inviting touch, such as the story of doubting Thomas, yet in the same scene, Jesus appears and disappears suddenly in a locked room. This ambiguity presented a real theological problem for early Christians, with different texts offering varied answers. Dr. Travis Proctor, a scholar of early Christianity specializing in resurrection traditions and ancient ideas about bodies and spirits, highlights these tensions. His research focuses on "special bodies" in the ancient world, like those of demons, angels, or spirits, which were often thought to have some bodily form, even if not strictly material. Jesus's post-resurrection appearances, such as moving through locked doors or sudden appearances and disappearances, suggest an unusual bodily form. Conversely, other gospel accounts, particularly in Luke and John, emphasize Jesus retaining a regular human body. For instance, Jesus in Luke tells disciples to touch him to confirm he has flesh and bones, "unlike a spirit." This creates a tension between a "spirit-like" body and a "normal human" body.
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The story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, where he challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to determine whose god is real, is one of the most dramatic narratives in the Bible. Both sides prepare a sacrifice without fire, believing the true God will respond with fire from heaven. The prophets of Baal call out, dance, shout, and even cut themselves for hours, but nothing happens. Elijah mocks them before praying once, and fire immediately consumes his sacrifice, wood, and even water, demonstrating the powerlessness of Baal and the omnipotence of the God of Israel. Baal was a significant storm god, warrior, and king in the ancient Near East, associated with rain and crop growth. While the biblical narrative presents Baal as a rival to the God of Israel, a closer look at the Hebrew Bible reveals that the God of Israel is sometimes described with characteristics similar to Baal, such as thundering from the heavens, riding on clouds, and defeating the sea and its monsters. This raises questions about the relationship between these two traditions.
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