Imagination+vs+Rational+Mind

Imaginative __vs__ Rational Minds This is a discussion page that will allow students to voice their opinions on the issues addressed in //'The Origins of Religion'// section, in the article written by Bede Griffiths. One of the key, and most debatable concepts portrayed in said article was the idea of how mankind has evolved over time and has left behind the primitive way of __'imaginative thinking'__, and slowly adopted the more __rational__ and __logical__ means of exploring religion and life questions. By implementing this way of thinking, society has seemed to loose faith in religion and it's beliefs. Even though the 'imaginative' interpretation was back then considered primitive, it was still esential for the growth of religion and the complete understanding of our faith. Therefore this page will give evidence to support both for and against aguments to the issue addressed above. Please contribute to this page by voicing your opinions on the issue in the discussion section. [note: this page was created to further a deeper understanding to the means of imaginative versus creative thinking. ]


 * RATIONAL THINKING:**

Rational Thinking is important for Western society today as it can provide solid physical proof for its theories in most cases. It can benefit a person struggling with their faith because if they adopt the rational thinking aspect of their world, they can see the practical explanations of how it works and why it works. This will give people a feeling of security, knowledge and understanding as they can physically explain how things are as they are today. This way of thinking can help people who don't belive easily without confirmation of their God's existance, as they can analyse how the world works and have evidence and a concrete foundation to comfort their unease in believing. The only problem surrounding Rational Thinking is when they can't physically explain something, as seen in the Big Bang example. In this case, people can drop their faith because they can't find evidence of how it came to exist through pure rational thinking.


 * IMAGINATIVE THINKING:**

Whilst it was the Western Rational thinkers who created the theory of the Big Bang and supported it with scientific evidence, they could not explain how the mathemic presicion which the Big Bang was driven by occured. This is where Imaginative Thinking thinkers take over and can give light to explain this lapse in information. Using Imaginative thinking, we can show that it was the higher power, which we name God, whom controlled and created the complex arrangement and formation (of what we now know as) of atoms and how they form the universe. Imaginative thinking also furthers our understanding of primitive religions and their writings, as a rational thinker will interpret words and scriptures in a different light to an //Imaginatist// [note: we do realise that this isn't a real word / person; we are merely simplifying 'imaginative thinkers' and their view on the world.] Take for exmaple, how the ancient religions spoke of heaven in relation to the sky- because they wrote and spoke in a very concrete and literal way, western mankind interpreted their views on the sky as the literal expanse above us. This has led modern mankind to neglect our environment, because rational thinking has guided us to believe that the physical world we live in, is seperate to the creator who made it. They have interpreted the sky as a physical thing instead of as the whole, nature and its creator, as the ancient humankind did.

As you can see, Imaginative and Rational Thinking can't exist well on their own and would fufill a person's beliefs if used together. We hope you leave your thoughts and opinions on the benefits of imaginative and rational thinking and whether you believe we need both to have a better faith in the discussion page. Thanks for reading, we know it's long (Scups and Spiggly)


 * FURTHER ARGUMENT:**

But why can't imaginitive thinking exist own it's own? if we all had imginitive thinking, which I for one don't have (woe be me), then we could easily imagine that we are thinking rationally. What if whoever divided the two types of thinking into the two seperate categories didn't do it then would there be imaginitive and rational thinking? Through imaginitive thinking we can imagine what the Big Bang was about. We can happily imagine about how God would be, do, look like, behave etc. No religion can think rationally about god(s). We need to imagine it. As the //Universal wisdom// booklet says imaginative thinking leads to myths. I think we can safetly say that legends of the Greeks and others are myths. Why can't we say the Exodus, the creation story and the whole Old Testament is a collection of myths, of imagination? The stories are not rational. We can't prove any of this happened. Yet, we as Christians base outrlife on the Bible (or close enough). The Jews view the 10 commandments as their law. Why? All pure imagination. Does anyone get the gist of what I am saying? Feel free to hit me on the head on Monday**. ...twerdno2

Girls yes it all makes sense well done. We will continue to discover how humans views are on God, Ulitmate reality and Purpose have changed but in a slight snap shot that I hope you will go on to research it has a little to do with the Evolution of us as a race. Human thinking has developed as humans have developed therefore it is natural for us to try and learn new things challenge the way one has thought and then actually prove this. For some it maybe small things for others their passion is so great that it becomes their life work. It actually challenges us as those who Study Religion to review both the imaginative and rational arguments anaylse them and create some form of argument that acknowledges the findings of both but justifies our purpose. I am very pleased with all your efforts well done. I encourage you all to contribute. I have purchased a book called An introduction to the Philosophy of Religion over the weekend that may be of interest to you. Mrs G **