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3.5: Message

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    299475
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    A decisive factor in the career of the founder is the challenge to persuade others of the divine origin of their calling and message. Founders whose calling and revelation are to find acceptance therefore need to possess much charisma and carry with them a message of much significance. The understanding would be that the founder and his or her contemporaries are struggling with the same problems without being able to find satisfactory solutions. The claim by a founder to have been sent, therefore, needs to be acknowledged by others.

    The message of founders often reveal several common components. One such component is genuine empathy with and understanding of the spiritual and social circumstances of their constituencies. Explanations for the suffering that people are enduring and an indication of how people could escape their misery and experience life with new harmony, would constitute another component. A third component would be that the message contains a clear demonstration of human solidarity both from the side of the founder and of fellow adherents. This message is presented as universal and of eternal truth. Normally, these founders are strong critics of society, and their messages inevitably lead to the establishment of a new religious tradition.


    This page titled 3.5: Message is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Knockemus via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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