Resurrection – Illogical, thus True.

Crucifixus est Dei filius,
non pudet, quia pudentum est.
Et mortuus est Dei filius,
prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est.
Et sepultus ressurrexit,
certum est, quia impossibile est
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus

The son of God is crucified,
this does not bring shame because it is disgraceful.
And the son of God is dead,
this is worthy of faith because it is illogical.
Kai after his burial he rose,
this is certain because it is impossible.

It is the resurrection of Christ a real event?

The answer may come from an unexpected place …

Long ago when I was reading “The Birth of Tragedy” by Nietzsche, I realized that what some people think they know about “Nietzsche the atheist” is not valid. Nietzsche in this document refers to things that easily could be part of a… theological text. He talks about this primary One, and how the man in his Dionysian ecstasy comes in harmony with it. He analyzes his opposition to the religion of his days, which contrast is based on the fact that religion has become a religion of scholars (while Logic cannot explain the world!). He talks against science and reason which try to explain the world while seeming simply adhering to its surface.

Maybe analyzing something logically is not the solution. Maybe you should stand “irrational” in front of the problem to find a solution. Isn’t that what scientists we admire as “geniuses” do?

He rose.

Do you believe it? No.

The resurrection of a man who has died is a deeply illogical fact. It cannot happen based on what we know. But it is for this very reason that Shestov motivates us to believe it! Why should we believe the “reasonable” things? Not many true things are reasonable. Is it logical that we live for no reason at all and then we become fertilizer without any reason? Why immortality is irrational and the accidental existence is logical? Who has instilled such ideas to us?

He rose.

Do you believe it? No.

Many say they saw him resurrected. But you do not believe them. They tell you so. You refuse to listen. You deny your own existence. An existence which cries out that you are more than a set of meat and bones. And yet you’re rational. You believe that you will die. But life itself is irrational. You cannot logically find its meaning. Because it is hidden where you are not looking. Stop thinking. See with your eyes closed. They tell you. You do not hear them. You want to see. But even if you saw you would not have believed. Because you are logical. You would try to find the “trick” behind what you see. You live a life in logic. How can you become irrational now? How can you start living now?

He rose.

Do you believe it? No.

He lived and he died while being innocent. You think he did a trick. A stunt. Or even worse: you think that it was a common liar. A common liar who just got a crisis of conscience and sacrificed himself … for fun! They tell you he resurrected. Others also wrote down their testimony to satisfy your need for modern “written sources”. As you did not believe Homer, you do not believe them either. You are what you have told you to be. You hear what they have told you to listen. You are a ridiculous little man who cannot think on his own without the prior consent of his “spiritual leaders”. You would never defend with your own life something absurd that you saw happening, you would never defend your beliefs. You do not have the guts to do so. You simply follow. If “reliable sources” do not tell you so, you do not believe so. But if your “sources” tell you so, then you are ready to believe anything, no matter how absurd, without protest.

Are there parallel universes? Yes.

He rose.

Do you believe it? No.

Be unreasonable and see what eyes cannot see: Resurrection means victory over death. Don’t you see? You’re not just blood and bones. You’re an enlightened being. And you have no need of sources (you have) or evidence or empirical data (which you also have) to believe. You’re a deeply irrational creature dropped in the world and you everyday feel anxious about who you are and where are you going. You know nothing, but know that there is meaning in all this.

We must be irrational! As irrational is life! Logic could never solve important problems (after all, Gödel has proved that logic cannot answer everything, and cannot even help us answer simple questions like “can you demonstrate that this proposal cannot be proved?”) while insight and intuition have provided solutions to many mysteries. Scientific riddles of ages have been solved with irrational thinking – not by “logic.Your logic makes you believe in “infinite”. And yet you have never seen it… Irrational? Your logic makes you think that there are problems without a solution (“This proposal cannot be proved”) and yet you “know” that such problems do not exist. Irrational?

We live. We are basically irrational.

Perhaps the question should be put differently.

As Rilke says, the purpose of life is to be defeated by greater things.

He died.

Do you believe it? No.

Religion as a Guide (or… Is Religion out of date? Yes! And that is good!)

Ελληνικό άρθρο (Greek article): Η Θρησκεία σαν Πολιτιστικό Φαινόμενο

Author: Spiros Kakos

For many years religions around the world have been the guides for peoples’ lives. We may mock what religion tells us to do today, but why does that REALLY happen? If we give careful consideration to the teachings of Orthodox Christianism, we will see that it contains rules to valuable that only when we are struck by a personal disaster do we understand their value. This was always true, but it is “more” true today where the materialistic and all-consuming way of life has engulfed every aspect of our life.

As we can see from a random selection of some Christian rules on “how to live”, most of these rules can and must be applied today! It is not a coincidence that most of these rules are “rediscovered” by science to day…

For example:

Is the rule to fast (Greek νηστεία) some days during the year “correct”? Many atheists laugh at that exhortation. But when a dietitian prompts us to do the same and restrain from eating meat for some days in order to clean our organism, we listen carefully…
Is the rule for sexual relations only with the woman who we will marry “correct”? When a priest tells us so, we think he is old-fashioned. But when we listen to psychologists on the benefits of stable relations we listen very cautiously their “scientific” advice…
Is the rule for showing respect to our father and mother correct? When we listen that advice from the Church we node our heads bored, but when we are the parents we demand respect…
Is the advice for love to the other human being correct? When we listen that advice from the lips of the Church we do not pay much attention, but when “emotional intelligence” experts tell us the same, we are all ears. Oh, and then science comes along and discovers that cuddles can affect our genetic structure. (source)
Is the advice for continence correct? When the Church tells us so, we can barely hold our laughter. But when our organism is destroyed by alcohol, drug and food abuses, the laughter stops…
Is the advice “give your second cloak to your poor neighbor” correct? Many of us may be too much addicted to money and material products, but few of us can deny the beauty of such an advice for kindness to other who do not have the necessary to live by…
Is the advice for Forgiveness correct? Many might think this advice is graphical but all great philosophers agree on the greatness of people who forgive others…
Is the advice to marry your loved one outdated? We might think so, since this is an advice from the ‘outdated’ church. But then comes science to prove that marriage offers many benefits. (source)

The catalogue is endless. The advices of Religion today, where materialism and overconsumption have flooded everything, are more valuable than ever. Many people urge Church to “modernize” itself. But why should it do that if “modernization” means that it will enslave its principles to materialism, greed, dehumanization and hatred which destroy our lives today? Principles are not fashion. If many times the advices of religion seem to be “out of date”, it is because they are INDEED out of date! AND THAT IS A GOOD THING! People today have forgotten how it is to love, to care, to show compassion, to be human instead of a super-all-consuming animale (Gr. Υπερκαταναλωτικό ζώο). And a voice which reminds us of all these things is a good thing…

Fasting, Easter, right & wrong…

You laugh when religion tells you that too much of materialistic pleasures is bad. You think fasting is ridiculous or – at the best – hypocritic. But when your dietologist tells you to stop eating too much meat, you obey with no questions asked. I guess it all depends on WHO tells you (capital letters are for emphasis, not the World Health Organization – no one hears them except for the governments) what is right and what is wrong after all…

Religion Statistics & Trends

This is an article about the number or religious and non-religious people in the world. It presents in a simple way the main statistics concerning religion and atheism so as to let readers draw their own conclusions about the future of religiosity in the world. Any comments or corrections are welcomed.

Author: Spiros Kakos

Harmonia Philosophica Facebook page

Religion-Science Philosophy articles series

Scope

The purpose of this article is not to say something in favour or against religion. The purpose of this article is to simply present hard data on the number of religion-affiliated people based on the most valid (and publicly available) sources, so that the readers can extract their own conclusions on spirituality in the world. I have made an attempt to use sources that can be found by everyone on the Internet, so that the validation of things written here is easy. Any comments and corrections are more than welcomed!

Difficulties in counting religious people

There is an inherent difficulty in counting the number of religion-affiliated people. The main difficulty has to do with the fact that there are no religion-related questions in census questionnaires. And if there are, in most cases they are not obligatory to answer. So one can understand that there is a difficult area to explore. Without official hard data, we must rely in most cases upon the surveys conducted by various individuals and private organizations, often with not the best intentions and certainly not with “truth” as their goal…The difficulty becomes more obvious if one thinks of the sensitiveness of the topic of religion. Most of the abovementioned organizations and individuals undertaking a statistical survey to record religiosity, are inclined in favour or against religion. That means that most surveys are biased towards one way or the other. Seeing the truth requires being alert for bias and ability to read between the lines. But we can do that…

Main sources

I have made an effort to find free and reliable sources for religion statistics. The task was not easy. I was surprised to see that Wikipedia had one of the most astounding collections of data for religiosity around the world – it seems that the collective effort of many people is unmatched these days. On the other hand, the official CIA Worldbook seems to be the most “official” data source one can find referring mainly to census data, even though I guess the data contained there are somewhat biased (although I admit I do not know in which direction). The main sources I have found during my investigation in the Internet are the following:

I. Wikipedia Main Articles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions_by_country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country

II. CIA Factbook

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=&countryCode=&regionCode=¦

III. Adherents articles

http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

IV. Britanicca articles

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/497215/classification-of-religions#
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/869229/religion-Year-In-Review-2002#

V. The future of religion

Study for the future of Religion: http://www.wnrf.org/cms/next200.shtml
Growth of religions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest-growing_religion

Most of the above sources are free and constrantly updated and that is why they seem to be the best we have at this moment. The Global Christian Encyclopedia also is a good source of religion statistics, but it is not offered for free and that is why it is not included in the list. Any comments for new sources are welcomed.

Religion numbers

It would take hundrends of pages to just present all data from the abovementioned sources. That is why I will try to present the main data only for Christianity and Islam here. These are the two main religions in the world and their analysis offers a very good perspective of religiosity all over Earth.

Christianity in the World

Here I will just show the numbers related to Christianity for some major developed countries of Europe. The source I use for these numbers is the respective page of Wikipedia for religion demographics. It seems that Christianity continues to hold a high and stable over the years percentage in western countries.

Country	Population	% Christian
Austria	8,199,783	78.3%
Belgium	10,392,226	48%
Bulgaria	7,322,858	84%^{(2001 census)}
Cyprus	788,457	98.1%- 82%
Czech Republic	10,228,744	28.9%^{(2001 census)}
Denmark	5,468,120	98% – 60%
Finland	5,238,460	84.7% ^{(2006 census)}
France	63,718,187	51% – 67%(2006 report)
Germany	82,400,996	68%
Greece	10,706,290	98%
Italy	58,147,733	90%
Luxembourg	480,222	87%
Malta	400,000	98%
the Netherlands	16,570,613	51% ⁽²⁰⁰²⁾
Norway	4,627,926	90.1%
Poland	38,518,241	91.4% ⁽²⁰⁰²⁾
Portugal	10,642,836	86.7% ^{(2001 census)}
Romania	22,276,056	99%^{(2002 census)}
Russia	141,377,752	78%
Serbia	10,835,001	91.6% ^{(2002 census)}
Slovakia	5,447,502	83.8%
Slovenia	2,009,245	58.7%
Spain	40,448,191	76%
Sweden	9,031,088	87%
Switzerland	7,554,661	79.3%^{(2000 Census)}
Ukraine	46,299,862	96.1% ^{(2006 est.)} 35%- 51.7%
the United Kingdom	60,776,238	71.6%^{(2001 Census)}
the United States	301,139,947	78.5%^{(2007 est.)}
Vatican City	921	100%

Source: Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country] [1]

[Retrieved at 24/12/2009]

From the above table one can easily understand that Christianity is still strong in all European countries, despite the hard materialism that some try to impose on the modern era. It seems that religiosity is not dying – quite the contrary. Countries where technology, fashion and consumer goods have a great footprint, still have a vast and stable majority of Christians in their populations.

Islam in the World

The statistics of countries is Middle East, Africa or Asia are more or less the same, but with Islam in the place of Christianism. The following table is again revaling of a very religious reality…

Country/Region	% of total population
Afghanistan	99.7
Albania	79.9
Algeria	98.0
Azerbaijan	99.2
Bahrain	81.2
Bangladesh	89.6
Bosnia-Herzegovina	40
Brunei	67.2
Egypt	94.6
Eritrea	36.5
Ethiopia	33.9
Gambia	95
Indonesia	88.2
Iran	99.4
Iraq	99
Jordan	98.2
Kazakhstan	56.4
Kuwait	95
Libya	96.6
Malaysia	60.4
Morocco	99
Niger	98.6
Nigeria	50.4
Oman	87.7
Pakistan	96.3
Qatar	77.5
Saudi Arabia	97
Senegal	96.0
Sierra Leone	71.3
Somalia	98.5
Sudan	71.3
Syria	92.2
Tunisia	99.5
Turkey	98
Turkmenistan	93.1
United Arab Emirates	76.2
Uzbekistan	96.3
Yemen	99.1

Source: Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country] [2]

[Retrieved at 24/12/2009]

From the abovementioned data it seems that people still believe that a First Cause must exist, as Aristotle once postulated… Religion is still alive despite the wishes of many…The atheism mystery…If one looks at the atheism numbers at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism he/she will be able to see one more interesting thing: the remaining percentages that are not Christians, are not atheists! Many people tend to claim they are “not religious” but on the same time they do not claim they are atheists. That leaves a lot of room for interpretations and theories. For me this is an indication that many people, although they tend to believe that there is something of “higher power” in the cosmos, they do not feel affiliated with any church because of the wrong-doings of those churches. Because if they were convinced that nothing like a God exists, then they would have no problem claiming “atheists”. As simple as that.

Religion future trends

It is not an easy task to find the trends of religion. The reason is that many factors seem to affect the final result. The trends of religions depend upon the birth rates of already-religious people and it is not always possible to exclude that rate and calculate the “real” growth. From Wikipedia again we have the following numbers for the growth of the main religions:The World Christian Database (WCD) and its predecessor the World Christian Encyclopedia contains large amounts of data on numbers and growths of religions. The following is a tabulation of their results: (Note: The annual growth in the world population over the same period is 1.41%)

1970-1985	1990-2000	2000-2005
3.65% – Bahá’í Faith	2.65% – Zoroastrianism	1.84% – Islam
2.74% – Islam	2.28% – Bahá’í Faith	1.70% – Bahá’í Faith
2.34% – Hinduism	2.13% – Islam	1.62% – Sikhism
1.67% – Buddhism	1.87% – Sikhism	1.57% – Hinduism
1.64% – Christianity	1.69% – Hinduism	1.32% – Christianity
1.09% – Judaism	1.36% – Christianity
	1.09% – Buddhism

Source: Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest-growing_religion] [3]

[Retrieved at 24/12/2009]

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace using the 2000-2005 edition of the World Christian Database, concluded that high birth rates were the reason for the growth in all six; however, the growth of Christianity was also attributed to conversions. Although the World Christian Database does not cite sources, a review examining the reliability and bias of the WCD found it “highly correlated with other sources of data” but “consistently gave a higher estimate for percent Christian.” The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion said that “on the whole we find that the WCD is reliable. Data from Encyclopedia Britanicca(which can be found at the same page) show more or less the same results, but with slightly more increased growth rates for Christianity, reaching to about 6% for the years 1995-2002.As for Islam, it seems to be getting stronger and stronger. The main reason for that seems to be the higher birth rates of Islam believers. Europe has already been witnessing such a growth withing its countries.

Conclusions

Many people argue that religion grows. Others argue that religion is declining. I say that number of religious people stay the same. From ancient times to now, the vast majority of people feel and logically understand the existence of a First Cause for the Universe. From ancient times to now, the vast majority of people feel and understand the intelligence the world has embedded in its mechanisms. And from ancient times to now, the vast majority of people feel and understand the existence of a higher purpose in life, other than just having sex, eating and going to the toilette. In Greece at the old days we worshiped the Moon. Then the 12-Gods religion came into place at the times of Plato and Aristotle. That was then replaced by Christianity. In the future another religion may take that place. No matter how it is called, people find it very hard to believe that they just happened to exist in the world where consuming chips and buying nice shoes is all there is…