3.2 System Action, Free Action
Last modified 07/01/2008
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A second idea of the eonic model relevant here is that of 'system action'
vs 'free action' in the analysis on two levels of our eonic transitions and the
intervals in between them. Let us cite this idea briefly to be sure that we
don't end up adding inappropriate elements of our history to our model. Our
model is about what actually happened, and we must at each point address through
research via archaeology into the actual history of Israel. As we have found
that renewed history fits very well into our model. But what then is the status
of the actual textual content of the Old Testament itself? We have a new way of
looking at the data, and yet we can't necessarily accept the version in the
Bible. Our perspective on the evolution of religion shows us an at first odd
fact: the initiators of that new religious context are in many ways left to
their own devices in the creation of that religion. System action and free
action intersect, but the result is not deterministic.
In general the eonic model resolves this confusion beautifully because it expresses two levels at work. We see the action of a larger system and the action of the people inside that system, and, since the model is not deterministic, that 'free action' inside the system is relatively free within that context. It is like the analog of an ocean liner and its passengers. The ocean liner expresses a larger system dynamic, while the relative motions of the passengers inside shows free action, within limits, inside that dynamic situation. The context of our transitions is similar. We see the large-scale dynamics of Israel in the Axial Age, and yet inside that context we see the relative free action of the people inside that transition, giving expression to a transformation of their religious beliefs into what will turn out to be a new expression of monotheistic religious consciousness.
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