DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Are all the Prophets of Judachrislam essentially faithless?

**Ankeseiband** · 02-14-2007, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by lord of the mark

1. I wouldnt say J is 'more intellectual' certainly Aquinas and Ibn Rashid were no slouches. Its just different, is all.
Jews are, IIRC, the only ones who encouraged scholarship, even if it led you down uncomfortable roads. Scholarship was an absolute good (with certain obvious exceptions). The only other group(s) to do this was the Hindu priesthood (and it's still an absolute virtue, among most), the Buddhist monastic order, the Chinese bureaucracy (IIRC - I'm not sure about this), and the Greek intellectual elite.

During Christianity's history before the Enlightenment, that sort of thing was not welcome (to grossly understate it).

That sort of intellectual intimidation ("Don't go down a road which may lead to you questioning your faith") is still dominant in Islam today. In CFC's "Ask a Muslim" thread, I asked whether it was permissible for common Muslims (non-theologians) to study philosophy which may lead to them questioning their faith. He said that it was not, and that only Muslims with the necessary intellectual tools to "refute" anything which went against the faith. Now what's the point of such study - you know the conclusions in advance, you're only trying to justify them.

Originally posted by lord of the mark

2. Im not sure there is a "solution" but definitely some wrestling with the issues that would be worth exploring, unfortunately I really dont know it well enough to rattle it off.
Neither am I sure that a solution exists - I'm just throwing out the question, hoping somebody can answer it.

02-14-2007, 06:49 PM	#9
Ankeseiband Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 389 Senior Member	Originally posted by lord of the mark 1. I wouldnt say J is 'more intellectual' certainly Aquinas and Ibn Rashid were no slouches. Its just different, is all. Jews are, IIRC, the only ones who encouraged scholarship, even if it led you down uncomfortable roads. Scholarship was an absolute good (with certain obvious exceptions). The only other group(s) to do this was the Hindu priesthood (and it's still an absolute virtue, among most), the Buddhist monastic order, the Chinese bureaucracy (IIRC - I'm not sure about this), and the Greek intellectual elite. During Christianity's history before the Enlightenment, that sort of thing was not welcome (to grossly understate it). That sort of intellectual intimidation ("Don't go down a road which may lead to you questioning your faith") is still dominant in Islam today. In CFC's "Ask a Muslim" thread, I asked whether it was permissible for common Muslims (non-theologians) to study philosophy which may lead to them questioning their faith. He said that it was not, and that only Muslims with the necessary intellectual tools to "refute" anything which went against the faith. Now what's the point of such study - you know the conclusions in advance, you're only trying to justify them. Originally posted by lord of the mark 2. Im not sure there is a "solution" but definitely some wrestling with the issues that would be worth exploring, unfortunately I really dont know it well enough to rattle it off. Neither am I sure that a solution exists - I'm just throwing out the question, hoping somebody can answer it.
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