On Greater Divinity

A Dunmari theological treatise, written during the Dharajun Dynasty

On Greater Divinity is a classic philosophical treatise by an unnamed Dunmari scholar, written during the Dharajun Dynasty. The work examines whether the existence of Shurat and Sampa, the creator divinities of Dunmari tradition, can be established from the observable activity of lesser gods. It considers the apparent limits of divine power, acts such as the creation of humanity and the separation of the planes that seem to exceed those limits, and the unresolved question of where the gods themselves came from.

A short section on comparative theology argues that the recurrence of one or two creator divinities across otherwise dissimilar religions supports the reality of a greater divine power. It discusses Kaikkea of the Skaer and Anida of the Deno’qai as culturally incomplete apprehensions of the same divine source recognized in Dunmari tradition as Shurat and Sampa. Quoting, in the author’s words:

Of note, among the oldest and most primitive religions in the distant parts of the world, such as the strange worship of the encircling sea by the Skaer people of the northern oceans, or the barbaric practice of sacrifice to the small gods of the Deno’qai people, it seems that Shurat and Sampa are interpreted as a single divinity. Kaikkea, of the Skaer, is said to be the fathomless creator, the force, the spark that birthed the land, the world, and all that dwells upon it. Anida, of the Deno’qai, is called by those uncivilized barbarians the First and the Last, and is said to be the life force that permeates creation and empowers the tanshi, the small gods of those people, to grant prayers. It is likely that these unsophisticated cultures were unable to understand the true duality of the Divine, but even they understood that the power of the gods comes from elsewhere, from the Divine Presence.