Campus Access Only

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of University of the Pacific. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Comparative study of Judaism and Shinto

Author

Alice Elsa Smith, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

1949

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

English

Abstract

The forces that have arisen within and without mankind have been responsible for all that has occurred upon the earth in the name of religion, and the greatest force without is God. In the words of James Martineau, "This world is part of the great cosmos, all of whose forces . . . find their unity in God, and whose laws are but the modes and order of His thoughts. In this field, his is not simple First Cause, but Sole Cause; all forces being one, and no force other than his."¹ The greatest force within is man's rationalization or intuitive thought about God, which has over the years crystalized into religous creed.

From the earliest records which have been preserved down to the present time, the ingenious mind of man has had a prevailing tendency toward material progress and power along with inner spiritual achievment. Ancient Babylonia with its world-famous hanging gardens excelled in magnificent, golden splendor, of which the world up to that time and since has hardly dared to dream. The silver kingdom of the Medo-Persians under Darius was only slightly less illustrious. It was Medo-Persia which turned the course of history and become the second world empire the eveing of Belshazzar's feast,² as the army of Darius turned the water courses of Babylon and marched under thwalls under cover of the night of ravalry. The battle of Issus saw Darius III's defeat, making Alexander the Great, his kingdom of the thieighs of brass, the master of the known world. Greece, the third succeeding world empire, developoed for the world the love of the beautiful and precision of philosophical definition. Rome, standing on the legs of iron, the east and the west, began its illustrious reign under Augustus, who ruled for forty-four years, presenting the world with a pattern for world law and order. The present age of diversified kingdoms may best be represented as an iron and clay³ mixture of industry, speed and politics. Hebrew tradition according to leading Bible commentators⁴ began to be recorded history from the pen of the lawgiver, Moses, 1299 B.C., through there is much difference among Bible scholars as to dates earlier than 721 B.C.; while Shinto mythology began taking its place as history as recorded from the lips of Hiedo-no-Are and recorded by Imperior order, 712 A.D. Thus, in and out of world history, like two separate rivers, somethimes mighty and sometimes at low ebb, Hebrew tradition and Shinto mythology began threading their separate ways.

Pages

164

Recommended Citation

Smith, Alice Elsa. (1949). Comparative study of Judaism and Shinto. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/1089