Zera Yacob · Philosophy

The Light of Reason: Testing Every Faith

Zera Yacob’s criterion of truth: test every religion’s claims - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Indian - by whether they agree with the intelligence of the Creator. Noticing that each tradition thinks itself uniquely true, he asked what honestly follows from that.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Zera Yacob observed every religion claiming to be the one truth, concluded that this universal disagreement cannot settle anything, and proposed testing each claim by whether it agrees with the God-given intelligence common to all people. Explain his argument from disagreement and the criterion he off…

Leads to John Locke.

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