The Existence Of Soul And 'Certitude' Of Bodily Resurrection Are Theological Kite-Flying

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 24 November 2022 " The concept of soul in Eastern religious thought process and even weirder bodily resurrection in the Semitic faiths are actually psychological manifestations of humans' embedded desire to enjoy immortality (in any form and by any means) and reluctance to accept physical death as the final closure." The Psychological Origins of Resurrection Myth by Jack A Kent As a student of religions, I've always laughed at the eschatological beliefs like soul and bodily resurrection. Eastern religions, viz, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism concocted the soul to explain Law of Karma and justify hierarchical supremacy or lowliness of humans. This needs explanation. In Gita, Krishna exhorts unwilling Arjuna to kill Kauravas because even if he kills them, their soul shall remain indestructible. So, Arjuna shouldn't have qualms about killing his kith and kin on the battlefield! In other words, even if he kills, he doesn't kill! (Hante na hante abhipsit: Nyaya Shastra/Hetvabhaas or Vitandabhaas, Compare to Syllogism of modern logic). This is what we call extreme specious reasoning or plausible provocation. All in the name of a soul that simply doesn't exist. Jains and Buddhists, their fundamental religious philosophy is similar on many counts, concocted soul to justify Jaati-smaran or Re-birth to prove the validity of Tirthankaras and Dalai Lamas on the basis of transmigration of Mahavira and Buddha's soul! Needless to say, this is all balderdash. Equally nonsensical is the idea of bodily resurrection in Semitic faiths, namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. By the way, theologically, the conflict between the oriental soul and occidental resurrection is a classic example of the conflict between the micro and macro (Sooksham avam Sthool Dwandwa, 12th century treatise in Sanskrit, author unnamed). There's no denying the fact, that though Soul Theory is absolutely wrong and misleading, it has a philosophical finesse (Sookshmta), whereas bodily resurrection of Semitic faiths has an element of grossness because it's blatantly Sthool or corporeal. Quran's emphasis on bodily resurrection of the 'followers' has its root in Judeo-Christian belief of the resurrection of Jesus after getting crucified. Mind you, Quran as a scripture has nothing new or novel to offer. It's a haphazard rehash of earlier Torah, Talmud and Bible. Since Muhammad and most of his companions were unlettered, they just collected and collated (copy-pasted in today's parlance) what was already there in the books that predated The Quran. There were no divine revelations. Modern psychologists Fletcher and Elcott believe that the Quranic resurrection makes its followers believe in the psychological Concept of the Continuation of Sameness (CCS). To make it clear, a false belief that the body today shall remain the same tomorrow even after death. It provides some kind of a faint and feeble assurance to live life with. Human beings are terribly scared, sorry, shit-scared, of death. We're sickly obstinate to accept the fact that once we breathe our last, that's our final breath and none of us, whichever religion one may belong to, will screw around in heaven or get screwed in hell. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/soul-certitude-resurrection-theological-/d/128473 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism