Human beings as a species have an insatiable desire to know their future. It has always been the case. In the ancient past there appear to have been three broad avenues to knowing the future. Cicero, a Roman politician and philosopher of the first century BCE recognized only two ways, however (on Divination, II.26), which he designated as natural (prophecies made by inspired persons) and artificial (prophecies based on observation of signs sent by the Gods).
People could consult someone believed to be divinely inspired in order to know the future. Such persons, called: seers, oracles, and prophets (1 Sam 9:9; 2 Sam 16:23), were consulted for a wide range of reasons: matters of state, personal issues, medical questions, outcomes of battles, etc. Their utterances were called prophecies and oracles, or "Words of God." Among many oracular shrines devoted to various Gods, like the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, there also existed prophetic centers in ancient Israel at Bethel (2 Kgs 2:2-3), Jericho (2 Kgs 2:4-5), and Gilgal (2 Kgs 4:38), where one found guilds called "the sons of the prophets."
A second avenue for determining the future was by divination. In the Hellenistic period a widespread belief existed that while Gods revealed the future through certain inspired persons, to the vast majority of us they only gave uncertain signs, omens, and portents requiring interpretation. Cicero mentions a number of these indicators: for example, dreams, the direction taken by lightning in the sky, the flight of birds, observing the entrails of animals at the time of sacrifice, shooting stars, prodigies (something extraordinary, inexplicable, or marvelous), omens (something believed to portend some future event). In other words both the common and extraordinary in life may be portending some future occurrence. If one disregarded these signs, it was tantamount to not believing in the Gods. The Romans institutionalized the observation of signs by means of a college of augurs (a group of 15 who regularly "took the auspices" (read the signs). They also kept a roost of sacred chickens whose eating-behaviors were regularly consulted by eminent Romans on matters of importance, and a set of ancient books, which were collections of prophetic utterances by the Sibyls, female visionary figures from the classical tradition. They consulted these books at times of national crisis and emergency.
A third way of determining the future, which Cicero included in his artificial category, was astrology. A Hellenistic period belief was that one's fate was determined by the movement of the heavenly bodies. Fate may be defined as "the principle, power, or agency by which events are unalterably predetermined from eternity." Fate was not a deity but an impersonal force described as "an orderly succession of causes wherein cause is linked to cause and each cause of itself produces an effect." By the third century BCE ancient Greeks had developed from Babylonian astral observations the idea that "the movements of the heavenly bodies control earthly events up to the smallest detail." Not even prayer and sacrifice could help one escape one's predetermined fate. Even the Gods themselves were subject to the inevitable force of fate, as the oracle at Delphi told the envoys of King Croesus of Lydia. Astrologers were consulted to discover one's ultimate destiny. Astrology, the idea that life is determined by the movement of the heavenly bodies, is still believed by many today to be a viable way of discovering the future by consulting horoscopes, Tarot, astrological almanacs, and psychic readings. So, gentle reader, do you share any of these commonly held beliefs of antiquity?
Charles W. Hedrick
Professor Emeritus
Missouri State University
21 comments:
Last week I met an engineer who had worked for NASA and is now consulting on some project at MSU. In the course of a dinner conversation, he brought up the fact that he had consulted with a psychic who had helped him a great deal. I discussed how and why psychics have their alleged supernatural ability and though he saw all of the reasons to dismiss such things, he still believed in them. While I am deeply disappointed that education does not snuff out magical thinking in all students, there appears to be some need that transcends reason to depend upon such superstitions. I just wish that meteorologists could get their predictions right more reliably but I find that I immediately lose interest in keeping a relationship with anyone who believes in horoscopes, psychics, wishing wells, or reading the entrails of chickens.
Charlie,
Re: ...do you share any of these commonly held beliefs of antiquity?
The three described beliefs are the best that could be imagined in the days of their formations. Little was know about the basic operations of the universe, and superstitutions abound. But with the more recent understanding of how the universe operates, we can begin to predict what the future holds for us. Though a previous comment bemused the inaccuracy of current weather prediction, our ability to do so has come a long way due to a fair amount of understanding of what influences weather patterns. The detailed understanding of all the influences on the weather is not yet complete but are constantly being improved.
Predicting the future can vary in complexity from tossing a ball into the air to following the path of our planet around it's sun to predicting the progression of cancer in a human or to predicting the outcome of our present "war on terror".
As our understanding of the workings of the universe increase, our ability to predict the future will increase. So much of the operations of the universe are so complex, i.e. what humans will do (which by the way, also follow the laws of the universe), future predictions will likley never be fully complete.
Jim
Hi Charlie,
On the matter of predicting the future I think that Jim is correct that our abilities will increase exponentially. But what actually occurs will be the result of the battle between what we can do and what we think we should do. We will be defining humanity anew. Just as we are strongly saying that robots can take over human jobs, that the internet can define our personalities, how soon will we be saying that robots can take over the job of giving birth, and so forth.
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Hi Gene,
I am afraid that you must explain your last sentence to me. "Robots take over the job of giving birth"??? If you mean that robots will be creating other robots, that is quite likely. If on the other hand, you mean robots will at some point in the future take a female seed, fertilize it in a sterile disk with male sperm, and carry the resulting embryo to term in a robotic container of some sort, then I would think that you had watched a few too many science fiction movies.
Cordially,
Charlie
Hi Jim,
With respect to your last paragraph, I agree that as our understanding of the universe improves human beings within certain limits will be able to make predictions more accurately--about the nature of the physical world, that is. They will never in my view reach 100% accuracy, however--simply too many variables. With respect to the human psyche and human behavior, society and the world of nature (plants and animals), predictions in the near time or distant time are simply nearly impossible. I still think (I believe you disagree) that chance plays a large role in outcomes--simply too many variables to control.
Cordially,
Charlie
Superstitions and religious faiths are simply too ingrained in the human psyche to overcome them easily--these two attitudes are not overcome by "prayer and fasting" but only by intense study and the use of reason, which is the enemy (I am coming to think) of superstition and religious faith.
Cordially,
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Sorry to disappoint. For better or worse, I got to robots giving birth to humans without watching any science fiction movies.
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Well then, say a little more about what got you to that point!
Cordially,
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Robots giving birth to humans was a bit of a foolish example, especially since I certainly can't speak for women. I had in mind more generally that it seems like when given a choice for what humans should be like, we more or less let science dictate what is possible whether its wrong or right. And it seems so frequently that what science dictates is whatever makes things easier physically.
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Good Morning Gene,
In 1931 Aldous Huxley published "Brave New World." In the first scene there is a tour of a lab where human beings are created and conditioned. In the book human sexual activity is for pleasure only and natural childbirth is no longer the norm. So it appears that your first post had a precedent. I seem to recall that for some years the book was on the banned list. Would it be possible to produce a human being in a lab do you suppose? We have, after all, cloned sheep!
Cordially,
Charlie
Re: Apr. 2; "I still think chance plays a large role in outcomes---simply too many variobles to control".
Charlie,
I could not be sure what you mean by "chance" outcomes. Is there a definition? The term "chance" is common, but not ususally defined precisely. I think outcomes you may label as "chance" are nothing more than those that have so many contributing causes, it is simply labels "chance". All these contributing causes for any "chance" outcome follow the laws of the universe, so if they all could be known and the combined effect of them understood, they could also be predicted-thus no "chance" outcomes. Though like you said, this is not likely to ever be accomplished for all complex outcomes causes/contributors.
Jim
Hi Charlie,
I do remember reading Brave New World as a teenager. Don't concciously remember any of it. Perhaps that first scene remained available in the sub-conscious all of these years. I think at some point it will be possible to produce a human being in a lab, and am I scared for my descendents? Yes, beyond measurement!
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Charlie, the biggest way that I hear future predictions in the church today is end time eschatology. I've attended several churches that claim to hear prophetic revelation about when the "end" will occur... and how the end will occur. What about you? How do you characterize the book of Revelation? Or should I say- how does you pastor characterize the book of Revelation?
One reason Christians believe that future predictions are real and authoritative is because of the so-called fulfillment prophecies that were prophesied in books such as Isaiah and then fulfilled in the gospels. 1) When Jesus opened the Torah scroll and read from Is. 61 and proclaimed that he was the fulfillment of that prophecy 2) Is. 7:14 was supposedly fulfilled by the virgin Mary 3) Isaiah 53 is supposed to be Jesus the suffering servant.
How do you see those scriptures? Are they pertaining to Jesus? Or did the OT Greek translators tamper with the text to make it appear Christological?
Elizabeth
St. Louis, MO
Hi Elizabeth, if I may slip in a comment.
Folks wonder why the Christians lost all of their Jewish membership in the first-second centuries. Wouldn't it be because their prediction of the Apocalypse never happened? Wouldn't it be because the NT spends so much time attacking and predicting the demise of Jewish piety developed apart from the destroyed temple? Religious prediction and prophecy seems to me to be cruel and unusual punishment.
Gene
Thank you for your thoughts Gene- I have a personal incident that occurred regarding religious predictions and so your words really resonated with me about cruel and unusual punishment. I also agree with why Christians lost their Jewish membership in first-second centuries. I removed the above comment because I did not want to share the personal nature of what happened with religious predictions. Elizabeth
Hi Jim,
I understand your explanation and to a great extent agree with what you say. My definition of "chance is taken from the dictionary: "something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause." Your point would be that if we knew all factors involved the occurrence would be explainable. I think I would also inquire about the "reason" for the event (whatever it was). You likely would reply that: I just happened to be at the point of convergence of all these factors at that particular moment and that is all the reason anyone needs. And I understand that rationale as well. But it seems to me that investigating and identifying the explanations for the convergence of factors after the event does not erase the fact of its unpredictability before the event. We do not live life evaluating the possible outcomes of every second of every day in advance, and neither do we investigate after the fact the causes that led up to the convergence of factors that resulted in the even for which we had not planned and could not foresee. Knowing why the bird "happened" to be flying overhead at the precise moment I stepped out of the car, would not satisfy my disappointment at having to have the bird poop cleaned from my new suit. In the long sweep of natural and human history it was a pretty meaningless event that just chanced to happen.
Cordially,
Charlie
Hi Elizabeth,
The short answer is: I do not think that what early Christians read as predictions/prophecies about the founding events of the Christian faith relate to those events. You mention Isa 7:14 as a prediction of the birth of Jesus. Read that verse in the context of Isaiah 7:1-17. Isaiah thought the birth of the peasant child related to the political crisis that Ahaz the king of Judah faced. Matthew of course ignored all that and read it as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus (Matt1:18-23). So who was right Isaiah or Matthew?
On early Christian use of the OT "prophecies" see Robert J. Miller, "Helping Jesus fulfill Prophecy" (Wipf and Stock, 2017) and on the book of Revelation see David L. Barr, "Tales of the End" (Polebridge, 1998).
Cordially,
Charlie
Charlie,
Your Apr.6 comments bring up the question of the "reason" events occur rather than predicting them. The reason all events occur is the resuts of the laws of the universe. The complexity of events can range from dropping a steel ball from a height near the Earth's surface (reason is Earth's gravity), to the explosion of a nucler bomb (reason is a great feat of human engenuity), to the evolution of the Earth (reason is the natural physical forces of the universe). The reasons for human events add another level of comlexity due to the human body & brain. Just imagine a comparison of the course of the dropped steel ball and the course of any particulasr human life! Imagining differnt reasons for the two events is superstitution.......or perhaps chance.
Jim
Can anyone following this discussion discuss how Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy applies or doesn't apply?
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Hi Gene,
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle has to do with quantum mechanics: "it states that the more precisely the position of some particle is determined the less precisely its momentum can be known."
It is similar to what is called the observer effect in physics, "which notes that the measurements of certain systems cannot be made without affecting the systems, that is without changing something within a system."
(quotes are from Wikipedia)
Cordially,
Charlie
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