What is Religion?
What is Polytheistic Religion?
What is Monotheistic Religion?
The History Of Religions?
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| What is Religion? The History Of Religions? |
What is Religion?
Religion is that system of activities and beliefs directed toward that which is perceived to be of sacred value and transforming power
-James Livingston
Religion is a social phenomenon that is subject to the certain laws of the formation, development, and disappearance.
It can be defined as a spiritual connection between one group of people with some higher, holy being, or deity.
Meaning Of Word Religion?
The word religion is derived from the Latin Religio, meaning 'restraint,' or Relegere which means to show respect for what is sacred. Religion is a form of social consciousness through which all the natural and social forces seem as supernatural, independent of man, nature or history.
Every religion represents teaching the simple relations between nature, purpose, and the origins of all existence. Also, every religion maintains certain forms of religious communities, as well as certain rites (rituals performed in the holy places) and in certain institutions (churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, etc.).
The first forms of religion?
The first forms of religion appeared in the prehistoric period as a result of human understanding that there are many phenomena in nature, such as drought, floods, thunder, etc. that happen on a daily basis and are beyond human control. As a human being, man is incapable of controlling or to having any kind of influence on them. This way man learned of the existence of a “higher power” and, in his mind, he generated the first forms of “gods” to symbolize the unique powers that govern his existence. Man found a way, through prayers and sacrifice, to communicate and satisfy these deities.
One of the oldest beginnings of the ceremonial rites?
One of the oldest beginnings of the ceremonial rites are the graves in a period of Homo Heidelbergensis, in Eurasia, Spain, Wales, and Croatia. Neanderthals placed their deceased in simple graves that, occasionally, would have limestone blocks placed in or on them which can, possibly, represent an archaic way of marking the graves.
These practices were most likely the result of empathetic compassion towards fellow members of the tribe. In 98,000 BCE, in the area of France and Belgium, Neanderthals began to remove the flesh of their deceased before burial, and one of the oldest cremated humans was found near Lake Mungo in 40,000 BCE. Additionally, by that time, burials took a very important place.
The oldest known animal-shaped sculpture in the world?
The oldest known animal-shaped sculpture in the world, as well as one of the oldest sculptures, in general, is the Aurignacian Lowenmensch figurine. This sculpture, even though interpreted as anthropomorphic, may have represented a deity.
The Definition Of Religion?
Over time, the concept of religion took on many different meanings, and there is no generally accepted definition of religion. For some, it is just a kind of feeling (emotion, experience) which is not subject to logical nor moral thinking. It is a mystical feeling of oneness with the infinite reality, experiencing the infinity, the feeling of absolute dependence, and experiencing the entire world as a god's work. On the other hand, religion is a special form of awareness of the relationship with the absolute spirit. It is an attempt to explain the origin of something that is inexplicable with a result of finding the meaning and purpose of life.
Invention Of Religion?
There are three main groups of theories of religion. According to the first, religion is an invention of one (usually the ruling and privileged) group of people with a purpose to protect the privileges of that same group of individuals. According to another group theory, religion is an existential characteristic of every human being. Finally, according to the third group theory, religion is just a human tendency to the superstition that came as a result of insufficient knowledge of the true nature of things.
Nowadays, religion is systematized in the primitive religions: animism and Supernaturalism and world religions: theism and systems of abstract beliefs (Taoism, Buddhism). Organizations that occur within the religions are the church, sect, denomination, and cult.
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| The History Of Religions? |
What is Theistic Religion?
Theistic religions are either polytheistic or monotheistic religions.
The main difference between polytheistic and monotheistic Religions?
The main difference between polytheistic and monotheistic religions is that polytheistic religions are based on the belief of multiple gods existing, while monotheistic traditions conceive of existing only one, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God, ruler of the entire universe. The Polytheistic religion (Greek: poly - more, and many Theos - God) is characterized by the belief in many gods, various deities who rule the different sectors of nature and human activity.
Polytheistic religions are more ritualistic and ceremonial than theoretical. Unlike monotheistic religions, polytheistic religions generally do not have a tendency to spread around the world. The most ancient religions were polytheistic (Egyptian, ancient Greek, Roman, Odin-ism, etc.). Almost all the European nations belonged to various pagan, natural, polytheistic religions in the period before Christ.
Nowadays, many polytheistic religions are almost extinct, due to the occurrence of monotheistic, Abrahamic religions. Heavenly patriarch or monarch eventually became absolute ruler of heaven, and finally, there was the only one, true God, with a large entourage of angels and saints, like the court dignitaries. So monotheistic religions arise from the polytheistic religion.
Monotheistic religions (Greek: monos - one and theos - God) are characterized by the worship of one God, and that is the main difference with the polytheistic religions.
Another important difference between the polytheistic and monotheistic religions is that polytheistic religions are mostly folk religions, usually limited to one clan, nation or state, while monotheistic religions are universal and supranational.
We can find some common features in all the monotheistic religions.
The first common feature is the aforementioned universal, supranational character.
The second - all monotheistic religions are revealed. That means that they are established and founded by the people commonly named prophets - religious and moral reformers who, it is believed, had, each individual, interaction with a God personally.
Each one of these prophets is considered as a savior of humankind. Finally, all monotheistic religions are eschatological, which means that all of them are based on a belief that there will be, at some point, the end of this world. Different aspects and traditions of different religions do not exclude each other. They complement each other and lead to the conclusion that religion is a way of life. It is a life that has feelings, thoughts, and actions directed toward a superior purpose, a life dedevoted to the superior creature, deity or God.
All of the religions are interpreted as an ideal, imagined compensation, spiritual rejection of reality and life's miseries that give hope and help in everyday struggle. Typical for every religion is a faith in the afterlife. The fact of human death might be the most important when it comes to the existence of religion.
The strongest human fear?
The strongest human fear, fear of death, is being compensated by the religious concept of the afterlife which teaches us that death does not necessarily mean “the end” or disappearance, but rather the border between two ways of life. Faith in the afterlife has made people follow religion and believe in the invisible, eternal, supernatural world, inhabited by mysterious creatures that rule natural phenomena and human destinies.
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