Civic = Greece, Prophetic = Israel?

[David Horn]

(10-11-2019, 08:46 AM)Bill the Piper Wrote: I liked the republican vs monarchic universe metaphor. A monarchy is unpredictable, it operates according to the king's will. So is the religious universe. There are some differences in the king's character though. In Abraham's view the king is just and trustworthy, while Mohammed's king is more whimsical. That's why Jews and Christians were more likely to adopt scientific methods than Muslims. Th e Islamic "golden age" was influenced by Greek philosophy and ended when the mullahs made it clear this is not compatible with the Koran.

A republic, like the scientific universe, is predictable, although we may not understand all rules. There may be laws of physics which require IQ above 500 to grasp, but as far as we're dealing with laws understood on our level, our predictions come true. The religious universe has one creator, while in the scientific universe all intelligent beings are citizens and creators on some level.

Great summary, though you may have been a bit hard on Muslims.  In the early days they were quite advance, then something happened.  I put that on culture more than religion: the native culture underlying Islam was then, and is now, quite reactionary.  Much of the Islamic world stopped advancing in the 13th century, and hasn't moved very much since.  Opinions vary as to why.  Read the subsection Significance for a good, albeit brief, discussion.