Cyclical History

Cyclical History

By: Bethany Guthrie, Laura Sawatzky, Jocelyn Sennema, Cassandra Van Rooyen

Ancient Philosophers

They are not fans of historiography!

More concerned with universal truths.

Ancient Historians

Plato - belief in the "Great Year"

• came with Pythagorean school of philosophy

Saw history as a straight line of events.

Stoics (Marcus Aurelius)

• everything is a repetition of a previous world
• nothing is new

Herodotus - more concerned about historical research technique than theory

Thucydides - does not acknowledge a cyclical pattern

other explanations of why history could repeat itself

Lucretius on "progress" - new knowledge but simultaneous decline in moral development

Indian Cosmic

Cycles

Pompieus Trogus - dynastic version of cyclical pattern

Livy and Polybius - Rome would go through a cycle of revolution like any other empire

Tacitus - history a movement of cycles much like the natural world (i.e. seasons)

Classical Antiquity

What is cyclical history?

Hesoid's sequence of races:

gold, silver, bronze, race of heroes, iron

Seeing history as a revolving wheel. The idea that history repeats itself.

• the universe is passing a cycle- 4 Yugas
• after each cycle (total of 12,000 years) the universe dissolves and a fresh cycle begins
• the process is endless
• Indian cycles did not look at the past to see what will happen again
• people in India wrote little history
• cosmic cycles breed passivity

Main explanations for popularity:

Revival and Rejection

• Cycle of life of man
• Cycle of the seasons

• Increasing decadence

• Incorporated Greek myth into a Persian worldview
• Primitivism encouraged pessimism

3 patterns:

• circular pattern - rise and defeat of civilizations
• passing through a cycle
• past is in a steady decline

Chinese Dynastic Cycles

• Augustine noted that cyclical theory was everywhere until Christianity
• Judeo Christian view was linear, moving toward a single goal with no repetition
• Revived in Renaissance period as variations on a theme of a 'golden age'
• Viewed with optimism as people believed they were in the "upswing" of the cycle, due to the great progress
• Christian linear views were dominant, yet there cyclical theory continued in a weaker form

Discussion Questions

Ancient Middle East

Persia:

• Cycle of rise & collapse of dynasties
• Central concept:
• Mandate of Heaven
• "Bad Last Ruler"
• Use of history
• Scribes - responsible for past & future

Nietzsche, Spengler, Toynbee

In groups of 3 or 4, please discuss:

1. Whether we think history is cyclical or linear, the decision we make will affect how you look at history and how you feel about the future. Linear reflects Western's thought on cause and effect. By looking at these examples, and your own conclusions, how would you support that history is linear or cyclical?

2. Do we as Christians have room for cyclical theory in our interpretation of history?

3. Is history optimistic or pessimistic? Why?

• 4 Ages: Gold, Silver, Steel, Iron Mixture
• One cycle of 4 ages, each cycle is progressively worse than the one before (primitivism), ending in a time of judgement

Mesopotamia & Egypt:

• "History ruled the gods more than the gods ruled history"
• Evidence of cycles as dynasties rose and fell, but no predictable future (people sought omens)
• Egyptians believed that they had a better chance of stability and continuity because their Pharaohs were divine

Assessment on Cyclical Theory

• Nietzsche did not agree that history was guided towards a specific goal by the divine will
• Nietzsche created culture and civilization, but Spengler applied it
• Spengler was influenced by Nietzsche, composed one of the most striking discoveries of cyclical thought
• Toynbee found a rhythm of a rise and fall of 21 civilizations
• He was interested in cycles and how they fit together
• "perpetual turning of a wheel" Pg 39
• "with the rise and fall of civilizations, man's knowledge of God increases" Pg 39

• Cyclical theory is not dead
• Idea of decline from a golden age holds little evidence
• Evidence is the Contradiction
• Cyclical history plausible?
• No hope?