The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Nordic religion S 325

There are several parallels to Noah in the world’s religions. The Sumerian Utnapishtim, the Akkadian Atrahasis, and the Indian M ANU were also said to have survived a universal flood. As the Bible tells the story (Genesis 6–9), G OD decided to destroy the Earth because of its wick edness. The barriers that kept the primal waters above the sky and below the Earth gave way, and a great flood ensued. But Noah, a righteous man, and his family had built an ark (boat) according to God’s specifications. In it, they and representative animals survived. When the waters receded, God made a COV ENANT with human beings. He promised never to send another flood, and he sealed his promise with the rainbow. He also granted human beings per mission to eat meat for the first time. Shortly there after, Noah planted a vineyard. At harvest time, he made wine, got drunk, and disgraced himself. According to Jewish tradition, all human beings are to observe the covenant made with Noah. The later covenant made with M OSES is bind ing only on Jews. According to Christian tradition, Noah and his family in the ark prefigure the saving of Christians through the waters of BAPTISM (1 Peter 3.20–22). Muslims hold that Nuh (Noah) was the first prophet through whom God punished people for their SINS . They may recite his story when they begin a journey, for example, Mecca ( see M ECCA , PILGRIMAGE TO ). Nordic religion The pre-Christian religion of Scandinavia, including Iceland. Nordic religion was part of a larger religious complex known as Germanic religion that consists of the pre-Chris tian religious beliefs and practices of peoples who spoke languages known as Germanic. In the southern Germanic regions, such as England and Germany today, people converted to Christi anity relatively early. Germanic speakers further north converted later: the Danes in the 900s, the Icelanders around 1000, the Norwegians slightly later, and the Swedes by 1100. As a result, more is known about their pre-Christian religious beliefs and practices.

responsible for continued rebirth. Nirvana is the goal for which Buddhists strive. Paradoxically, it too can become an object of craving. In that case the craving for nirvana is an obstacle to be overcome. T HERAVADA B UDDHISM , the form of Buddhism common in southeast Asia, distinguishes two forms of nirvana. These are called nirvana with and nir vana without a “substrate” (roughly a base made up of mental and physical elements). Nirvana with a substrate is the nirvana of the person whose pas sions have been blown out but who remains in the body until the consequences of earlier, craving motivated action ( KARMA ) work themselves out. It is described as a calm, cool bliss, beyond happi ness and sadness. When the final flickers of karma go out, one enters parinirvana, that is, the ultimate nirvana, nirvana without a substrate. Theravada Buddhism teaches that there is no permanent self, and this leads to a very pointed question: Does a person continue to exist after entering parinirvana? The Buddha refused to answer this question. He said it did “not lead to edification.” It simply distracted the questioner from seeking nirvana. Thinkers in the tradition of M AHAYANA B UD DHISM disagree with the Theravada analysis of nirvana. Following the lead of the great thinker Nagarjuna, they generally maintain that all dis tinctions are ultimately empty, including the dis tinction between nirvana and SAMSARA , that is, the realm of continued rebirth. That is to say that nir vana is not a separate state of existence that one enters; it is simply perceiving the world as it is, apart from our grasping and attachment. In addi tion, Mahayana Buddhists generally reject the idea that nirvana is a goal that individuals pursue for themselves. Rather, motivated by compassion, they stress nirvana’s communal aspect. In the words of a BODHISATTVA vow: “I cannot be happy unless all sentient beings are happy.”

Noah In the B IBLE and the Q UR ’ AN , the patriarch who survived the universal flood together with his wife and family. All living human beings are said to be his descendants.