-As far as I know, darling, there were explicitly atheistic schools of thought (at least two, if I remember correctly) among the six Astika schools of Hindu philosophy, and there are some passages in the oldest of the vedas, the Rig Veda, that suggest some acceptance of atheistic thinking.
(((angels)))
I think you're being a bit too rigorous with regard to the dates and the evidence, given the antiquity of the material you seem to be looking for - the Rig Veda goes back to at most recent, 1100 BCE, and, while it doesn't say "oh, yeah, and there are these people who don't believe in any gods, and that's ok," it does indicate that there was an acceptable level of skepticism or non-belief in the gods it praises.
Hinduism, in general, is pretty tolerant towards other belief systems, and I doubt that is a modern development. Its relationship to nastika (non-Vedic) traditions like Jainism and Buddhism seems to bear that out - Buddhism and Hinduism have different concepts, but they get along pretty well. The origins of Jainism and the origins of Hinduism go back very, very far beyond your dates, and they also seem to have coexisted pretty well, while remaining separate traditions.
Jainism's origins are usually identified as going back to the 9th century BCE - the 23rd Tirthankar (enlightened one/guide/role model), Parsvanatha, the earliest Jain leader known to have been a historical person, is believed to have been born in 877 BCE. However, he IS the 23rd, not the 1st...there were supposed to have been 22 others before him, meaning that by the 9th century BCE, Jainism was already very, very old.
The date confusion you're finding may come from the fact that, in the 6th century BCE, Mahavira (Vardhaman), who is considered the 24th or last Tirthankar to have attained enlightenment, established the current form of Jainism, giving the latest date. Mahavira (according to the Pali Canon, a contemporary or near-contemporary of the Buddha) is considered to have reformed his ancient religion, and his followers were the first to call themselves Jains, but Jainism certainly existed long before the 6th century BCE.
Jains believe that the universe is eternal - has always been, will always be - and that time is cyclical. They have no belief in a creator god and the figures some worship - the Tirthankara - became divine through enlightenment, and aren't a separate kind of being, as gods are often said to be in other belief systems. They don't have "traditional" gods in that sense - only souls that work through their karma and climb toward enlightenment. That's pretty atheistic, in my view.As far as I know, darling, there were explicitly atheistic schools of thought (at least two, if I remember correctly) among the six Astika schools of Hindu philosophy, and there are some passages in the oldest of the vedas, the Rig Veda, that suggest some acceptance of atheistic thinking.
(((angels)))
I think you're being a bit too rigorous with regard to the dates and the evidence, given the antiquity of the material you seem to be looking for - the Rig Veda goes back to at most recent, 1100 BCE, and, while it doesn't say "oh, yeah, and there are these people who don't believe in any gods, and that's ok," it does indicate that there was an acceptable level of skepticism or non-belief in the gods it praises.
Hinduism, in general, is pretty tolerant towards other belief systems, and I doubt that is a modern development. Its relationship to nastika (non-Vedic) traditions like Jainism and Buddhism seems to bear that out - Buddhism and Hinduism have different concepts, but they get along pretty well. The origins of Jainism and the origins of Hinduism go back very, very far beyond your dates, and they also seem to have coexisted pretty well, while remaining separate traditions.
Jainism's origins are usually identified as going back to the 9th century BCE - the 23rd Tirthankar (enlightened one/guide/role model), Parsvanatha, the earliest Jain leader known to have been a historical person, is believed to have been born in 877 BCE. However, he IS the 23rd, not the 1st...there were supposed to have been 22 others before him, meaning that by the 9th century BCE, Jainism was already very, very old.
The date confusion you're finding may come from the fact that, in the 6th century BCE, Mahavira (Vardhaman), who is considered the 24th or last Tirthankar to have attained enlightenment, established the current form of Jainism, giving the latest date. Mahavira (according to the Pali Canon, a contemporary or near-contemporary of the Buddha) is considered to have reformed his ancient religion, and his followers were the first to call themselves Jains, but Jainism certainly existed long before the 6th century BCE.
Jains believe that the universe is eternal - has always been, will always be - and that time is cyclical. They have no belief in a creator god and the figures some worship - the Tirthankara - became divine through enlightenment, and aren't a separate kind of being, as gods are often said to be in other belief systems. They don't have "traditional" gods in that sense - only souls that work through their karma and climb toward enlightenment. That's pretty atheistic, in my view.Well it's pretty clear that the ancient Greeks at least had agnostics....though they found it politically expedient to not make too much noise about it, as it was quite unorthodox and dangerous at the time: placing men, not gods, at the center of value judgments. As proof of just how dangerous this attitude was perceived, Protagoras was branded with impiety by Athenians and banished while all his works were collected and burnt. It was later philosophers, including Diogenes, quoting him, who have ensured his name has survived down to us. If other, perhaps less luminary agnostic/atheist thinkers existed, it is possible their works were more thoroughly suppressed. This is of course supposition...but of the type which historians and archaeologists are forced to make often, in order that they might define the parameters of their study...isn't it??
One of the things Diogenes reports Protagoras as having said is:
"As to the gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or do not exist. For many are the obstacles that impede knowledge, both the obscurity of the question and the shortness of human life."
Which is still, to my way of thinking, a pretty good argument for agnostic atheism....and I'm a dyed in the wool pagan!!...lol.
Hmm, interesting question.
Don't really know anything about the history of atheism to be honest but a quick read of wiki's "history of atheism" raises a few nice points.
One mentions that there were Pygmy tribes in Africa that were found to have zero religious beliefs and didn't understand the concept of theism and didn't display any superstition. Then there's the religions that emerged in the far east that don't subscribe to the notions of gods either.
Logically, since theism is a human concept it's fair to say that atheism is as old as theism. Just like "immorality" is as old as "morality".
Wish I could've given you some nice quotes but maybe you'll find some examples on Wiki.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o鈥?/a>
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