The Connection in Bible: Perennial Philosophy (Philosophia Perennis)

Perennial Philosophy
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Perennial Philosophy
The concept of perennial philosophy (philosophia perennis) has been a central theme throughout western history's philosophy. Philosophia perennis is an approach to spirituality and philosophy that most world religions share certain features that include traditions, metaphysical truth, shared experiences of mysticism, and spirituality. Aldous Huxley (2012) revived perennial philosophy and offered an alternate understanding of the form and content of the Bible by employing Western mysticism and traditional Eastern texts and citing authors from different societies, cultures, times, and history. The authors cited Huxley includes saints, prophets, and scholars such as St. Bernard, Chuang Tzu, Gautama Buddha, St. Catherine, Bhagavad-Gita, Jean Pierre, Augustine, and Aquinas (Ward, 2019). This paper examines the consistency of Huxley's perennial philosophy and the content and form of chapters of Genesis, Exodus, and Matthew. The metaphysic truth finds the soul recognizes things, minds, and lives that are identical to divine reality.
The book of Genesis primarily addresses the relationship between God, Humankind, and other creatures. It also describes how things came to be because of the creation of God. Genesis 1:1 states that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Before the creation of mankind, oceans, seas, vegetation, and creatures, the earth was formless and void. In the chapter "God in the World," Huxley's Perennial Philosophy cites Suso's ideas of creation. According to Suso, all beings existed before the creation, and with the essence of God, they came to be due to conformity with the divine idea (Huxley, 2012, p.66). Philosophia perennis is demonstrated in the similarity between the content of the Bible and Suso's philosophical approach to creation (Udaondo Alegre, 2018). During creation, God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness," and gave him dominion over all other creatures, including livestock, wild animals, fish, and birds (Genesis 1:26). This verse is consistent in the form and content of Huxley's Perennial Philosophy shares the ideas of a Flemish mysticist Ruysbroeck about the image of God and mankind. Ruysbroeck claims that God's image is found personally and essentially in all humankind. He further suggests that all humankind are one and are united in their eternal image, which is God's image and a source of life. The book of Genesis and Huxley's Perennial Philosophy focuses on content: the theme of creation and humankind's relationship with God. However, they have different structures and tones (form). The story of creation is a combination of God's monologue and third-person reporting, while Suso and Ruysbroeck depend on third-person narration.
Huxley's philosophy also cites St. Bernard's spiritual perspectives, which indicate that humans rational beings that have dominion over other creatures (Huxley, 2012, p. 67). The verses of Genesis and the passages of Huxley's philosophy elicit the feeling of the special connection between individuals, divine power, and their creator. Matthew 5:14 states, "You are the light of the world." This verse is meant t...