Ukungafi Komphefumulo—Umsuka Wale Mfundiso
“Ayikho indaba ephathelene nokuphila komuntu eye yashikilisa ingqondo yakhe njengesimo sakhe ngemva kokufa.”—“ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS.”
1-3. USocrates noPlato bawenza kanjani waziwa umbono wokuthi umphefumulo awufi?
ISAZI esinguthisha esineminyaka engu-70 ubudala sibekwe icala lokwedelela nokonakalisa izingqondo zezingane ngemfundiso yaso. Nakuba sethula ubufakazi obunengqondo ecaleni laso, abasizi bejaji abachemile basithola sinecala futhi sigwetshwa intambo. Sekusele amahora ambalwa nje abulawe, lo thisha osekhulile unikeza abafundi abamzungezile uhide lwamaphuzu afakazela ukuthi umphefumulo awufi nokuthi ukufa akumelwe kwesatshwe.
2 Le ndoda egwetshiwe uSocrates, isazi sefilosofi esingumGreki esaziwayo sekhulu lesihlanu B.C.E.a Umfundi wakhe uPlato wabhala lezi zenzakalo eqoqweni lezindaba elithi Apology nelithi Phaedo. Kuthiwa uSocrates noPlato babephakathi kwabokuqala abawenza waziwa umbono wokuthi umphefumulo awufi. Kodwa akubona abasungula le mfundiso.
3 Njengoba sizobona, umsuka wombono wokungafi komphefumulo mdala kakhulu. Nokho, uSocrates noPlato bawuphucula lo mbono futhi bawushintsha bawenza waba imfundiso yefilosofi, ngaleyo ndlela bawenza wakhanga kakhulu ezigabeni zezifundiswa zosuku lwabo nezakamuva.
Ukusuka Enkolelweni KaPythagoras Kuya Kuma-pyramid
4. Ngaphambi kukaSocrates, amaGreki ayenamiphi imibono ngokuPhila Ngemva Kokufa?
4 AmaGreki angaphambi kukaSocrates noPlato nawo ayekholelwa ukuthi umphefumulo uyaqhubeka uphila ngemva kokufa. UPythagoras, isazi sezibalo esingumGreki esidumile sekhulu lesithupha B.C.E., wayekholelwa ukuthi umphefumulo awufi nokuthi ungaguqukela kwesinye isimo. Ngaphambi kwakhe, uThales waseMilethu, okucatshangwa ukuthi uyisazi esingumGreki esidala kunazo zonke ezaziwayo, wayenomuzwa wokuthi akubona abantu, izilwane nezitshalo kuphela ezinomphefumulo ongafi kodwa kunjalo nangezinto ezinjengozibuthe, ngoba ozibuthe bangayinyakazisa insimbi. AmaGreki asendulo ayethi imiphefumulo yabafileyo yayiweliswa ngesikebhe emfuleni iStyx iye endaweni enkulukazi ngaphansi komhlaba, ebizwa ngokuthi izwe labafileyo. Lapho, abahluleli babahlulela imiphefumulo ukuba ihlushwe ejele elinezindonga eziphakeme noma ikhombe ngophakathi eKhaya Labangcwele.
5, 6. AbasePheresiya babewubheka kanjani umphefumulo?
5 E-Iran noma ePheresiya, ngasempumalanga, kwaba nomprofethi ogama lakhe linguZoroaster ngekhulu lesi-7 B.C.E. Wasungula indlela yokukhulekela eyaziwa ngokuthi ubuZoroaster. Kwakuyinkolo yoMbuso WasePheresiya, owawukhonya emhlabeni ngaphambi kokuba iGrisi ibe umbuso omkhulu. Imibhalo yamaZoroaster ithi: “Imiphefumulo yabaLungileyo iyohlale iJabula Esimweni Sokungafi, kodwa umphefumulo woMqambi-manga uyohlushwa nokuhlushwa. Futhi u-Ahura Mazda [okusho ukuthi “unkulunkulu ohlakaniphile”] wamisa le Mithetho ngegunya laKhe lobukhosi.”
6 Imfundiso yokungafi komphefumulo yayiyingxenye yenkolo engaphambi kobuZoroaster base-Iran. Ngokwesibonelo, izizwe zasendulo zase-Iran zazinakekela imiphefumulo yabafileyo ngokuyinikeza ukudla nokokugqoka ukuze ingahlupheki ezweni labafileyo.
7, 8. Yini abaseGibithe lasendulo ababeyikholelwa mayelana nokusinda komphefumulo lapho umzimba ufa?
7 Inkolelo yokuphila ngemva kokufa yayiwumgogodla enkolweni yaseGibithe. AbaseGibithe babekholelwa ukuthi umphefumulo wofileyo uyokwahlulelwa u-Osiris, unkulunkulu omkhulu wezwe labafileyo. Ngokwesibonelo, umbhalo we-papyrus okuthiwa owekhulu le-14 B.C.E. uveza u-Anubis, unkulunkulu wabafileyo, ehola umphefumulo wombhali uHunefer ewuyisa phambi kuka-Osiris. Esikalweni, inhliziyo yombhali, emelela unembeza wakhe, ilinganiswa nophaphe oluxhonywa ekhanda unkulunkulukazi weqiniso nobulungisa. UThoth, omunye unkulunkulu, ubhala izisindo. Njengoba inhliziyo kaHunefer ingasindwa icala, ingaphansi kophaphe ngesisindo, futhi uHunefer uyavunyelwa ukungena endaweni ka-Osiris athole ukungafi. Le papyrus ibonisa nenunu enkulu yensikazi imi eceleni kwesikalo, ilungele ukushwabadela abafileyo uma inhliziyo ingaphumeleli kulolu vivinyo. AbaseGibithe babebomisa futhi abafileyo babo futhi belondoloza izidumbu zofaro emibhoshongweni ecijile ngoba becabanga ukuthi ukusinda komphefumulo kuxhomeke ekulondolozeni isidumbu.
8 Khona-ke, imiphakathi ehlukahlukene yasendulo yayinemfundiso eyodwa efanayo—ukungafi komphefumulo. Ingabe le mfundiso yayithola endaweni efanayo?
Umsuka
9. Iyiphi inkolo eyathonya izwe lamandulo laseGibithe, iPheresiya neGrisi?
9 “Endulo,” ngokusho kwencwadi ethi The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, “iGibithe, iPheresiya neGrisi kwathonywa inkolo yaseBabiloni.” Le ncwadi iyaqhubeka ichaza: “Ngenxa yokusebenzelana kwangaphambili kweGibithe neBabiloni, njengoba kuvezwa imibhalo yase-El-Amarna, ayemaningi impela amathuba okungena kwemibono namasiko aseBabiloni emahlelweni aseGibithe. EPheresiya, ihlelo likaMithra lembula ithonya elisobala lemiqondo yaseBabiloni . . . Ukuxutshwa okunamandla kwezimfundiso zamaSemite nezinganekwane zamaGreki zakuqala namahlelo amaGreki manje sekuvunywa ngokusobala izazi kangangokuthi akudingi kuxoxwe ngakho. Lezi zimfundiso zamaSemite zingezaseBabiloni ikakhulu.”b
10, 11. Wawuyini umbono wabaseBabiloni ngokuphila ngemva kokufa?
10 Kodwa ingabe umbono wabaseBabiloni wokuthi kwenzekani ngemva kokufa awuhlukile yini kakhulu kulowo wabaseGibithe, abasePheresiya namaGreki? Ngokwesibonelo, cabangela i-Epic of Gilgamesh yaseBabiloni. Iqhawe layo eliya liguga uGilgamesh, lihlushwa imicabango emibi ngokufa, liphuma inqina liyofuna ukungafi kodwa alikutholi. Intombi yewayini elihlangana nayo ohambweni lwalo ize ilikhuthaze ukuba likusebenzise ngokugcwele ukuphila kwalo kwamanje ngoba ngeke likuthole ukuphila okungapheli elikufunayo. Umyalezo wayo yonke le nkondlo ukuthi ukufa akunakugwenywa futhi ithemba lokungafi liyize. Ingabe lokhu kubonisa ukuthi abaseBabiloni babengakholelwa ekuPhileni Ngemva Kokufa?
11 UProfesa Morris Jastrow, Jr., wase-University of Pennsylvania, e-U.S.A., wabhala: “Abantu nabaholi benkolo [yaseBabiloni] abakaze bacabange ukuthi kungenzeka ukuphila kuphele nyá. [Ngokombono wabo] ukufa kwakuyibhuloho eliyisa kolunye uhlobo lokuphila, futhi ukuphika ukungafi komuntu kwakumane kugcizelela ukuthi akunakwenzeka ukubalekela ukufa.” Yebo, nabaseBabiloni babekholelwa ukuthi uhlobo oluthile lokuphila luyaqhubeka ngemva kokufa. Lokhu babekuveza ngokungcwaba abafileyo nezinto ezithile ukuze bazisebenzise ekuPhileni Ngemva Kokufa.
12-14. (a) Ngemva kweSikhukhula, yaqhamukaphi imfundiso yokungafi komphefumulo? (b) Le mfundiso yasakazeka kanjani emhlabeni?
12 Kuyacaca ukuthi imfundiso yokungafi komphefumulo isuka emuva eBabiloni lasendulo. NgokweBhayibheli, incwadi okwaziwayo ukuthi inobufakazi bokuba nomlando onembile, umuzi waseBabele, noma iBabiloni, wasungulwa uNimrode, indodana yomzukulu kaNowa.c Ngemva kweSikhukhula sembulunga yonke ngosuku lukaNowa, kwakunolimi olulodwa nenkolo eyodwa. Ngokusungula lo muzi nokwakha umbhoshongo kuwo, uNimrode waqala inkolo entsha. Umlando weBhayibheli uthi ngemva kokuphanjaniswa kwezilimi eBabele, izehluleki zabakhi bombhoshongo zasakazeka zaqala kabusha, zihamba nenkolo yazo. (Genesise 10:6-10; 11:4-9) Izimfundiso zenkolo zaseBabiloni zasakazeka ngale ndlela-ke ebusweni bomhlaba.
13 Kuthiwa uNimrode wafa ngobudlova. Ngemva kokufa kwakhe, abaseBabiloni kwakufaneleka ukuba bathambekele ekumhlonipheni kakhulu njengomsunguli, umakhi nenkosi yokuqala yomuzi wabo. Njengoba unkulunkulu uMarduk (Merodaki) ayebhekwa njengomsunguli weBabiloni, ezinye izazi ziye zasikisela ukuthi uMarduk ufanekisela uNimrode owenziwe waba unkulunkulu. Uma lokhu kunjalo, umbono wokuthi umuntu unomphefumulo osindayo ekufeni kumelwe ukuba wawusukhona okungenani ngesikhathi sokufa kukaNimrode. Noma yikuphi, umlando ubonisa ukuthi ngemva kweSikhukhula, indawo okwaqhamuka kuyo imfundiso yokungafi komphefumulo yiBabele, noma iBabiloni.
14 Nokho, le mfundiso yaba kanjani imfundiso ewumgogodla ezinkolweni eziningi zesikhathi sethu? Ingxenye elandelayo izokhuluma ngokungena kwayo ezinkolweni zaseMpumalanga.
[Imibhalo yaphansi]
a U-B.C.E. usho ukuthi “Before the Common Era [Ngaphambi KweNkathi Evamile].” U-C.E. usho ukuthi “Common Era [INkathi Evamile],” evame ukubizwa ngokuthi A.D., omelela ukuthi Anno Domini, okusho ukuthi “ngonyaka weNkosi.”
b I-El-Amarna iyindawo enamanxiwa omuzi waseGibithe i-Akhetaton, okuthiwa wakhiwa ngekhulu le-14 B.C.E.
c Bheka ethi IBhayibheli—Izwi LikaNkulunkulu Noma Elomuntu?, amakhasi 37-54, enyatheliswa yi-Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
[Izithombe ekhasini 6]
Umbono wabaseGibithe ngemiphefumulo esezweni labafileyo
[Isithombe ekhasini 7]
USocrates wathi umphefumulo awufi