|
True freedom, which must be of a kind that matches the dignity of the human being, can never be encumbered with toil. Freedom must manifest the creativity and productivity that arises from the human intellect, through which a society reaches out to infinity.
Mistakenly, most people believe that the history of mankind has been one of a steady increase in civilization. This is not the case. The history of mankind has been a roller coaster ride with sharp drops in civilization and spectacular advances. Nor were the advances all wrought in the modern period. Periods of cultural renaissance have occurred as far back in history as the old Babylonian epoch, approximately 1,800 BC. During a brief span of time during the Babylonian period literature and art had flourished, and a formal code of law had been established with the enforcement of justice under the guidance of the famous ruler Hammurabi. In this time the rule of intelligence had given a boost to civilization. This ancient period of renaissance, the Old Classical Period, as brief as it was, was so rich in cultural advances that it is recognized as one of history's bright spots of cultural and humanist achievement.
This period may be recognized as mankind's first period of renaissance, though a minor one in terms of what was to come in later millennia. Still, this initial renaissance had lasted for almost 200 years. Many of the great epics and hymns of the ancient world were created in this period, among them the Epic of Creation.
The classical and modern renaissance.
The next period of renaissance, the first true renaissance in history, occurred more than a millennium after Hammurabi's rule. This renewal was staged in Greece and would in time become renowned for its scientific, cultural, and technological advances. Historically it is knowns as the Greek Classical period.
Evidence suggests that this great renaissance of spiritual, cultural, and scientific development may have laid the foundation for a still greater renaissance almost two-thousand years later. This later renaissance had its foundation in a crowning spiritual achievement that was wrought at the end of the Greek Classical period. It was a totally spiritual achievement that launched an inner awakening. It created a revolutionary advance in human self-perception. Some see it as a renaissance in its own right; a renaissance that launched Christianity.
This Christian renaissance, that Christ Jesus pioneered at the end of the Greek Classical period, according to all evidence, became such a significant landmark in the history of mankind that it still serves as a point of reference against which history itself is measured.
Nevertheless, even this momentous renaissance faded after a short time, as did all the others. A succession of dark ages began. More than a millennium would pass, of dark ages, before the modern period of renaissance would unfold that became a new and near explosive awakening. This second major period of renaissance became the greatest period of cultural, scientific, and technological achievement in all of human history. It began with the Golden Renaissance in Italy in the fifteenth century and developed into various forms until the late 1800's.
History tells us that all other periods, occurring before and after these periods of renaissance, were dark ages for humanity. Prior to the Golden Renaissance, for instance, more than 90% of all people on the earth lived in various types of primitive servitude to feudal masters, or in bondage as a kind of human livestock to be used at will. The darkest of these ages were the periods of feudalistic empires.
The existence of such a contrast does not indicate that the forces which have shaped history are readily recognizable as black and white issues. A great multitude of processes have shaped the course of mankind, both in building and in destroying civilizations. Only the most profound movements, those that have uplifted humanity and civilization in large measure, are recognized as the driving force of a renaissance. These are the movements one needs to explore, because the state of today's civilization must be improved if mankind is to continue its cultural advances and its existence on this planet. Today's civilization needs to be improved by the type of movements that have historically raised the status of individuals. Periods of renaissance are created. Not a single renaissance in history has occurred automatically, by default as it were.
Next Page
|| - page index -
|| - chapter index -
|| - Exit -
||
|
