310 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
310 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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FEAR, SUBMISSION, AND OBEDIENCE
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In this section are gathered representative passages on the fear of
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God, submission to God, and obedience to God's will. The fear of God
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sometimes means to serve God out of fear of punishment, as in the passage
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from the Upanishad on the fearsomeness of Shiva and from the African
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traditional ritual of Ofo. But usually the fear of God is a more exalted
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emotion, an awe and respect for Ultimate Reality who has graciously
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provided for our lives. Fear includes the notions of duty and loyalty to
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God, who is worthy of all service because of his continual blessings and
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help. It includes the idea of awe and respect, since God is awesome,
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mighty, and wonderful. It also includes the notions of shame and the fear
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of the consequences of sin, which guard people from unseemly behavior and
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sins which would cause injury to themselves.
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Submission or surrender to God is a theme especially prominent in
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Islam, whose name means Submission; but it is also an important theme of
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Vaishnavite Hinduism, wherein surrender to Krishna is regarded as the core
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teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. The virtue of obedience to God is
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particularly significant in the Abrahamic religions, which envision God as
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a Person who acts in history and in the lives of individuals. In Eastern
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religions we also find passages calling us to conform to the will of
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Heaven and to conform our will to the nature of Ultimate Reality.
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O you who believe! Fear God as He should be feared, and die not except in
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a state of islam.
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Islam. Qur'an 3.102
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Qur'an 3.102: Cf. Qur'an 2.130-36, p. 757; Hadith of Tirmidhi and Ibn
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Majah, p. 465.
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And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear
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the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep
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the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I [Moses] command you
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this day for your good?
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Judaism. Deuteronomy 10.12-13
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The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
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and he makes known to them his covenant.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 25.14
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Call on Him with fear and longing in your hearts: for the Mercy of God is
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near to those who do good.
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Islam. Qur'an 7.56
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To fear God and commune with Him is the whole secret of faith for those
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who serve the cause of the true God.
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Omoto Kyo. Michi-no-shiori
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The Lord is in his holy temple;
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let all the earth keep silence before him.
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Judaism and Christianity. Habakkuk 2.20
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Divine things,
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Proceeding from the mind
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Of the unseen kami--
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How awesome, and
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Not to be taken lightly!
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Shinto. Norinaga Motoori, One Hundred Poems on the Jewelled Spear
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Shiva, the sovereign of the gods, He in whom all the worlds rest, He who
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rules over all two-footed and four-footed beings, to that god let us
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sacrifice an oblation.
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"Thou art unborn," with these words some come near to Thee, trembling. O
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Rudra, let Thy gracious face protect me for ever! O Rudra! hurt us not in
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our offspring and descendants, hurt us not in our own lives, nor in our
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cows, nor in our horses! Do not slay our men in Thy wrath, for, holding
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oblations, we call on Thee always.
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Hinduism. Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.13, 21-22
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Deuteronomy 10.12-13: Cf. Exodus 14.30-31, p. 751; Deuteronomy 6.20-8.20,
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p. 1084. Psalm 25.14: The Covenant is the agreement defining the
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relationship between God and Israel, and by extension to all people, with
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its specific obligations and promised blessings for obedience, curses for
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disobedience. Qur'an 7.56: Cf. Qur'an 8.2-4, p. 751; Hadith of Darimi, p.
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828; Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 67, p. 338. Habakkuk 2.20: This expresses the
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awesome sense of the numinous. Cf. Kikuya Prayer, p. 779.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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This Ofo we have come today to consecrate you. You will start today to be
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effective. Anybody that has poison that can kill, any man or woman or
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anybody who steals and denies it, if he is brought and if this Ofo is
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brought and he or she swears on it may you kill him or her. Anybody that
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commits an incest or any other kind of abomination against the earth deity
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may this Ofo kill him.
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You the holder of this Ofo, if you commit any of these crimes may this Ofo
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kill you. Earth goddess you have heard. Thunder you have heard.
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Ebirike, our ancestors have you heard? Yam goddess listen, water spirit
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and the spirit of the latrine, you have all heard. Be our witness today
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that anybody who commits abomination should die! I think I am correct?
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Yes!
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African Traditional Religion. Igbo Consecration (Nigeria)
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May your fear of Heaven be as strong as your fear of man!
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Judaism. Talmud, Berakot 28b
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The fear of God is mighty and of great weight.
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Egoism is worthless and just vociferous.
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Walk under the weight of such great fear;
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And through Divine grace obtain knowledge of God.
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None crosses the ocean of existence unless he bear fear;
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Through fear the fear-directed life is beautified with divine love.
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Through fear of God, the fire of fear blazes in the human frame.
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Through fear of God and love is molded spiritual beauty.
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Without fear of God all that is uttered is misshapen and worthless--
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The mold and the shaping strokes both blind....
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Through fear of God vanish worldly fears.
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The fear of God which eliminates all other fear--
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how may it be called fear?
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No other resting place is except Thee;
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All that happens is Thy will.
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One might be afraid of it if anything other than God held any fear--
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To be shaken with such fears is sheer perturbation of mind.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri, M.1. p. 151
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Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.13, 21-22: Shiva has many aspects, one of which
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is the God of destruction. In this fearful aspect he is worshipped in
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this passage from the Upanishads. Rudra is an epithet of Shiva. Igbo
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Consecration: The Ofo stick is a central religious symbol of the Igbos. It
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represents the connection between the human world and the spiritual world,
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and is used to connect with spiritual power, give blessings, empower
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curses, solemnize oaths, enforce justice, and bring the collective wisdom
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and power of the ancestors to bear on social and political decisions. Cf.
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Igbo Trial, p. 372. Berakot 28b: For a Chinese story about someone who
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had no fear of heaven, see Treatise on Response and Retribution, pp. 374f.
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Cf. Analects 3.13, p. 827.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
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Judaism and Christianity. Proverbs 9.11
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He in whom the fear of sin comes before wisdom, his wisdom will endure;
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but he in whom wisdom comes before the fear of sin, his wisdom will not
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endure.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 3.11
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Monks, two bright things guard the world: shame and fear of blame. If these
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two bright things did not guard the world... the world would fall into
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promiscuity, as is the case with goats, sheep, poultry, pigs, dogs, and
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jackals.
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Buddhism. Itivuttaka 36
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Whosoever submits his will to God, while doing good, his wage is with his
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Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they sorrow.
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Islam. Qur'an 2.112
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Abandon all supports and look to me for protection. I shall purify you
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from the sins of the past; do not grieve.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 18.66
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He who submits to the yoke of the Torah liberates himself from the yoke of
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circumstance. He rises above the pressures of the state and above the
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fluctuations of worldly fortune.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 3.6
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"They are My servants" [Leviticus 25.55]--not servants' servants.
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Judaism. Talmud, Baba Metzia 10a
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I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him
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who sent me.
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Christianity. John 6.38
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Itivuttaka 36: This fear is only a beginning stage of faith, a guard at
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the gate of hell rather than the way to heaven. Cf. I Ching, Great
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Commentary 1.3.4, p. 902. Qur'an 2.112: On Muhammad's absolute obedience
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to God, see Qur'an 6.50, p. 655. Bhagavad Gita 18.66: This passage gives
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the essence of surrendering to God in the Hindu bhakti tradition. Baba
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Metzia 10a: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 12.5-7, p. 761; Abot 1.3, p. 941. John
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6.38: Cf. Matthew 7.21, p. 811; Patet 6, p. 902.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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O you who believe! Be mindful of your duty to God, and seek the way to
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approach unto Him, and strive in His way in order that you may succeed.
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Islam. Qur'an 5.35
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A sacrificial vessel:
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The superior man, taking his stance as righteousness requires, adheres firmly
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to Heaven's decrees.
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Confucianism. I Ching 50: Sacrificial Vessel
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Make [God's] will as your will,
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so that He may make your will as His will;
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make naught your will before His will,
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so that He may make naught the will of others before your will.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 2.4
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Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield
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yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and
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your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
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Christianity. Bible, Romans 6.13
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Abiding by your commandment is preferable to worshipping you. Obeying
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your commandment conduces to deliverance and contravenes from bondage.
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Jainism. Vitaragastava 19.4
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Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
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as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
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Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
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and to hearken to the fat of rams.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, 1 Samuel 15.22
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What is thy command? What is thy wish?
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Is it for praise? Is it for worship?
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Proclaim, O Wise One, that we may hear
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for which of the decrees rewards shall be assigned--
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Instruct us through Right,
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paths good to tread, of Good Mind!
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Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 34.12
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Qur'an 5.35: Cf. Kikuya Prayer, p. 779. Abot 2.4: Cf. Dharmasangiti
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Sutra, pp. 162f.; Proverbs 3.5-6, p. 752; Patet 6, p. 902. I Ching 50:
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Cf. Analects 20.3.1, p. 750. 1 Samuel 15.22: Cf. Micah 6.6-8, pp. 860f.
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Yasna 34.12: Cf. Yasna 33.14, p. 876; Patet 6, p. 902.
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Why does God require of us obedience?... Man must push away and overcome
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the factors of the Fall [of man]. Because the Fall originated from
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disobedience, God must order us to have absolute obedience as a necessary
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condition to restore this. Therefore in our religious way of life we
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cannot complain. We have no excuse; we must have absolute obedience.
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Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-72
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Ritual purification, though million-fold, may not purify the mind. Nor may
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absorption in trance still it, however long and continuous. Possessing
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worlds multiple quenches not the rage of avarice and desire. A thousand
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million feats of intellect bring not emancipation. How then to become true
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to the Creator? How to demolish the wall of illusion? Through obedience to
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His Ordinance and Will. Says Nanak, This blessing too is pre-ordained.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 1, M.1, p. 1
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Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-72: p. 867. On not complaining, see Bhagavad Gita
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3.31-32, p. 162; Book of Songs, Ode 40, p. 707; Var Majh, M.1, p. 707.
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Japuji 1, M.1: Cf. Micah 6.6-8, pp. 860f.
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