Re: HELP: Translating the Babel Text
| From: | Isaac A. Penzev <isaacp@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, November 1, 2004, 8:50 |
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B. Garcia wrote:
> Sounds a bit like the Filipino version of the creator -- it exists but
> is distant and withdrawn and for help people go to the other gods or
> their ancestors for help. This supreme god was considered far too
> removed to go to for help unless circumstances were dire.
This is a wide-spread concept of "deus otiosus" (idle god), found in many
African and Asian cultures. Therefore, to learn from the Abrahamic religions
that the supreme deity is active and caring (or at least interested), makes
a real cultural shock for such cultures.
-- Yitzik
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