The Burden of Responsibility Between Man and God

Abstract

In, The Iliad, Homer provides insights into the way the Greeks and Trojans interacted with their deities. The way ancient heroes were guided and propelled by their gods, and the resulting reputations they earned illustrates how the society of the time was influenced by their beliefs. In the same fashion Gregory of Nyssa in The Life of Moses, describes very clearly how God influenced mankind. How Moses came to exemplify the perfect man, this portrait of a perfect man shows what values created by belief in God. In both situations the Divine influence on Mankind is questionable. If Man stopped comparing himself to something that creates an immediate alienation between different groups “The victory of true religion is the death and destruction of idolatry. Injustice is killed by righteousness and arrogance is slain by humility” (Nyssa pg 57), would progress not be easier to achieve? If monarchs in ancient Greece did not believe that they were divinely endowed “And Jove himself shall guard a monarch’s right. Of all the kings (the god’s distinguish’d care)” (Homer pg 14), would they not have felt more accountable to their fellow man? It may be argued that one’s religious beliefs hold the individual to a moral code, and without that code how could one know what was right and wrong. However, for man to progress, accountability for one’s actions must fall on the individual, not on the divine power he has chosen to worship.