Primitive religions and their features the emergence of primitive religions. Main types of religions

30.09.2014

Many people, thanks to faith in higher powers, have hope for the future. There are many different religious movements around the world. Each of them has its own origins and teachings. Despite this, some basic patterns of the emergence of religion can be traced.

Why is there a need for religion in people's lives?

It is very difficult to determine the reasons for the emergence of religion, since its origin took place many centuries ago. True, experts are confident that people, thus, sought to find the reason for their birth, as well as determine their purpose. Considering this point of view, religion can be considered a philosophical foundation, which served as an impetus for the further formation of a person's personality. Initially, the people who inhabited the planet explained their existence with myths and legends, but over time this became not enough. Therefore, a whole system of explaining the world and everything that happens in it appeared. Thanks to religion, people have the opportunity to:

- regulate social relations;

- pull together;

- find the meaning of life.

How has religion affected human existence?

Religion is a kind of regulator of human relations. In those days, when religions were still in their infancy, the social system was completely different and had practically nothing in common with the one that exists now. For people there were no rules, no laws, no prohibitions. The goal of mankind was the formation of both moral and moral convictions that would help regulate relations in society. Such functions were assigned to religion. After all, if a person realizes that he will be punished for his misdeeds, then this will provoke him to comply with the established rules and norms.

The second reason for the emergence of religion was that people needed unity. Even strangers and strangers to each other, people who have the same faith, become one. In this way, hostility could be eliminated. The most obvious example of this is the emergence of Christianity in Russia. The state, which was fragmented, united with the help of religion into one whole.

Also, religion is of great importance in terms of psychology. After all, it is much more for a person to exist with the belief that his life has some purpose and something controls it. Anyone who turns to religion, certainly feels the need for patronage and help.

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Modern and primitive religions are the belief of mankind that some higher forces control not only people, but also various processes in the Universe. This is especially true of ancient cults, since at that time the development of science was weak. Man could not explain this or that phenomenon in any other way, except for divine intervention. Often, such an approach to understanding the world led to tragic consequences (the Inquisition, the burning of scientists at the stake, and so on).

There was also a period of compulsion. If the belief was not accepted by a person, then he was tortured and tortured until he changed his point of view. Today, the choice of religion is free, people have the right to choose their own worldview.

The emergence of primitive religions dates back to a long period, about 40-30 thousand years ago. But which belief came first? Scientists have different points of view on this. Some believe that this happened when people began to perceive the souls of each other, others - with the appearance of witchcraft, others took the worship of animals or objects as a basis. But the very emergence of religion itself is a large complex of beliefs. It is difficult to give priority to any of them, since there is no necessary data. The information that archaeologists, researchers and historians receive is not enough.

It is impossible not to take into account the distribution of the first beliefs throughout the planet, which leads to the conclusion that attempts to search for an ancient religion are unlawful. Each tribe that existed then had its own object of worship.

We can only say unequivocally that the first and subsequent basis of every religion is belief in the supernatural. However, it is expressed differently everywhere. Christians, for example, worship their God, who has no flesh but is omnipresent. It's supernatural. African tribes, in turn, plan their gods out of wood. If they do not like something, then they can cut or pierce their patron with a needle. This is also supernatural. Therefore, every modern religion has its oldest "ancestor".

When did the first religion appear?

Initially, primitive religions and myths are closely intertwined. In modern times, it is impossible to find an interpretation of some events. The fact is that their primitive people tried to tell their descendants with the help of mythology, embellishing and / or expressing themselves too figuratively.

However, the question of when beliefs arise is still relevant today. Archaeologists claim that the first religions appeared after homo sapiens. The excavations, the burials of which date back to 80 thousand years ago, definitely indicate that the ancient man did not think about other worlds at all. People were just buried and that's it. There is no evidence that this process was accompanied by rituals.

Weapons, food and some household items (burials made 30-10 thousand years ago) are found in later graves. This means that people began to think of death as a long sleep. When a person wakes up, and this must happen, it is necessary that the essentials are next to him. People buried or burned took on an invisible ghostly form. They became kind of guardians of the family.

There was also a period without religions, but very little is known about it by modern scholars.

Reasons for the emergence of the first and subsequent religions

Primitive religions and their features are very similar to modern beliefs. Various religious cults for thousands of years acted in their own and state interests, exerting a psychological impact on the flock.

There are 4 main reasons for the emergence of ancient beliefs, and they are no different from modern ones:

1. Intelligence. A person needs an explanation for any event that occurs in his life. And if he cannot get it thanks to his knowledge, then he will certainly receive a justification for what he observes through supernatural intervention.
2. Psychology. Earthly life is finite, and there is no way to resist death, at least for the moment. Therefore, a person needs to be freed from the fear of dying. Thanks to religion, this can be done quite successfully.
3. Morality. There is no society that would exist without rules and prohibitions. It is difficult to punish anyone who violates them. It is much easier to scare and prevent these actions. If a person is afraid to do something bad, due to the fact that supernatural forces will punish him, then the number of violators will significantly decrease.
4. Politics. To maintain the stability of any state, ideological support is required. And only this or that belief is capable of rendering it.

Thus, the appearance of religions can be taken for granted, since there are more than enough reasons for this.

totemism

Types of religions of primitive man and their description should begin with totemism. Ancient people lived in groups. Most often these were families or their association. Alone, a person could not provide himself with everything necessary. This is how the cult of animal worship appeared. Societies hunted animals for food without which they could not live. And the appearance of totemism is quite logical. So humanity paid tribute to the means of subsistence.

So, totemism is the belief that one family is related by blood to some particular animal or natural phenomenon. In them, people saw patrons who helped, punished if necessary, resolved conflicts, and so on.

There are two features of totemism. First, each member of the tribe had a desire to outwardly resemble their animal. For example, some inhabitants of Africa, in order to look like a zebra or antelope, knocked out their lower teeth. Secondly, the totem animal could not be eaten unless the ritual was observed.

The modern descendant of totemism is Hinduism. Here, some animals, most often the cow, are sacred.

Fetishism

Primitive religions cannot be considered unless fetishism is taken into account. It was the belief that some things have supernatural properties. Various objects were worshiped, passed from parents to children, always kept at hand, and so on.

Fetishism is often compared to magic. However, if it is present, it is in a more complex form. Magic helped to have an additional effect on some phenomenon, but did not affect its occurrence in any way.

Another feature of fetishism is that objects were not worshiped. They were respected and treated with respect.

Magic and religion

Primitive religions were not without the participation of magic. It is a set of ceremonies and rituals, after which, it was believed, it became possible to control some events, to influence them in every possible way. Many hunters performed various ritual dances that made the process of finding and killing the beast more successful.

Despite the seeming impossibility of magic, it was she who formed the basis of most modern religions as a common element. For example, there is a belief that a rite or ritual (the sacrament of baptism, a funeral service, and so on) has supernatural power. But it is also considered in a separate form, different from all beliefs. People tell fortunes on cards, call on spirits, or do everything to see dead ancestors.

Animism

Primitive religions did not do without the participation of the human soul. Ancient people thought about such concepts as death, sleep, experience, and so on. As a result of such reflections, the belief that everyone has a soul appeared. Later it was supplemented by the fact that only bodies die. The soul passes into another shell or exists independently in a separate other world. This is how animism appears, which is the belief in spirits, and it does not matter whether they refer to a person, an animal or a plant.

A feature of this religion was that the soul could live indefinitely. After the body died, it broke out and calmly continued its existence, only in a different form.

Animism is also the ancestor of most modern religions. Ideas about immortal souls, gods and demons - all this is its basis. But animism also exists separately, in spiritualisms, belief in ghosts, essences, and so on.

shamanism

It is impossible to consider primitive religions without singling out the clergy. This is most acutely seen in shamanism. As an independent religion, it appears much later than those discussed above, and represents the belief that an intermediary (shaman) can communicate with spirits. Sometimes these spirits were evil, but more often they were kind, giving advice. Shamans often became leaders of tribes or communities, because people understood that they were associated with supernatural forces. Therefore, if something happens, they will be able to protect them better than some kind of king or khan, who can only do natural movements (weapons, troops, and so on).

Elements of shamanism are present in virtually all modern religions. Believers especially treat priests, mullahs or other worshipers, believing that they are under the direct influence of higher powers.

Unpopular primitive religious beliefs

The types of primitive religions need to be supplemented with some beliefs that are not as popular as totemism or, for example, magic. Among them is the agricultural cult. Primitive people who led Agriculture, worshiped the gods of various cultures, as well as the earth itself. There were, for example, patrons of corn, beans, and so on.

The agricultural cult is well represented in today's Christianity. Here the Mother of God is represented as the patroness of bread, George - agriculture, the prophet Elijah - rain and thunder, and so on.

Thus, the primitive forms of religion cannot be considered briefly. Every ancient belief exists to this day, even though it has actually lost its face. Rites and sacraments, rituals and amulets - all these are parts of the faith of primitive man. And it is impossible in modern times to find a religion that would not have a strong direct connection with the most ancient cults.

So, the first religious ideas among people appeared about 50-100 thousand years ago. This is evidenced not only by the preserved burials of primitive people, but also by their drawings on the walls of the caves. According to them, it can be judged that our distant ancestors attributed supernatural power to natural phenomena, plants and animals. They worshiped the sun, earth, moon, wind, rain, fire, thunder, lightning, seas, rivers and lakes. They honored the bear, wolf and other animals, considering them to be their ancestors, the ancestors of human races - totems. They believed that totems patronize the family if the family honors them and turns to them for help. Later, ideas arose about the soul, good and evil spirits, about the gods.

The life of ancient people was very difficult, full of dangers and hardships. Struggling for existence, man mastered nature, tamed animals, learned agriculture, the art of hunting. But this path was difficult and painful. A person was often threatened with death from hunger and wounds received in the hunt, from numerous diseases.

The river, which served as a means of transportation, a source of food (fishing), suddenly overflowed its banks, flooded his dwelling, crops. The sky, which gave man light and warmth, fell upon him with a downpour and hail. The forest that served as a shelter caught fire and destroyed the weight around. Why is this happening, what forces are at work? Ancient people could not answer these questions. This helplessness of man before nature gave rise to faith in supernatural forces that supposedly can do good and evil. From them a man was waiting for help. He tried to influence them with increased requests, witchcraft, sacrifices.

The powerlessness of man before nature was the main reason for the emergence of the first religious ideas, primitive religion, which existed in the form of fetishism, totemism, magic, witchcraft, belief in the existence of the soul separately from man. The main reason, but not the only one. After all, even before that, man was powerless before nature to an even greater extent, but religion did not arise. The point, obviously, is in the properties of human thinking, in the degree of its development. Until a person realized his powerlessness before nature, she did not frighten him, did not give rise to fantastic ideas in his brain.

A person became aware of his powerlessness before nature only when his brain acquired the ability for abstract thinking, thinking in terms that, in the process of reasoning, can be torn off from real things and phenomena and erroneously presented as really existing. This is how man imagined the supernatural world, the world of spirits, gods, who supposedly really exist. The reason for the emergence of false concepts in man was a feeling of blind fear of the forces of nature. There is still a saying: "Fear has big eyes."

The people correctly noticed that fear disfigures the consciousness of a person, makes it difficult to understand the world. Fear prevents a believing person from testing his concepts, conforming them to reality.

Man transferred his own properties to nature, and then isolated them in the images of spirits, gods, who lived in his mind like people. So, for example, when, under a primitive communal system, at a certain stage of its development, the poor and the rich appear and equality disappears, the spirits also begin to divide into stronger and weaker ones.

Thus, abstract thinking is fraught with the possibility of the emergence of erroneous religious ideas, arising from fear and powerlessness before nature. V. I. Lenin called these reasons for the emergence of religious faith "the epistemological roots of religion." (Gnoseology - the theory of knowledge).

However, the disclosure of the epistemological roots of religion still does not fully answer the question: why do human delusions take on a religious form? After all, not every error of knowledge acquires the character of a religious illusion. Many false ideas of antiquity have been successfully overcome by mankind as science and practice have developed.

This means that religious faith feeds not only on errors and difficulties of knowledge. It turns into a religious belief only if people need such beliefs.

We have already spoken about the dependence of man on nature. But was man powerless before nature? With the invention of metal tools, he was already less afraid of her, and one could assume that religion, generated by man's impotence before nature, would have to disappear.

So it might have happened if at a certain stage of development private property had not arisen, and then classes. With the appearance of classes - slaves and slave owners, and then - serfs and landlords, workers and capitalists - the helplessness of man before nature was replaced by the helplessness of the working people before the class of exploiters. “The impotence of the exploited classes in the fight against the exploiters,” said V. I. Lenin, “just as inevitably gives rise to faith in a better afterlife, just as the impotence of a savage in the fight against nature gives rise to faith in gods, devils, miracles, etc. Togo Those who work and need all their lives, religion teaches humility and patience in earthly life, consoling them with the hope of a heavenly reward. “The social oppression of the working masses, their apparent complete helplessness before the blind forces of capitalism, which inflicts daily and hourly a thousand times more the most terrible suffering, the wildest torments on ordinary working people, than any out of the ordinary events like wars, earthquakes, etc. ., - this is the deepest modern root of religion, ”wrote V. I. Lenin.

In a socialist society where private property and the exploitation of man by man have been abolished, the deep social roots of religion have been undermined.

RELIGION is the same age as humanity. In any case, archaeologists and anthropologists think so. Even in the most primitive, undeveloped civilizations, there are signs of some form of religiosity. The New Britannica rightly notes that "as far as science knows, there has never been a people on earth that was not in some sense religious."

2 Religion is distinguished not only by its solid age, but also by its diversity. The bounty hunters in the jungles of Borneo, the Eskimos in the ice of the Arctic, the nomads of the African Sahara, the inhabitants of huge cities - every people on earth has its own god or gods, as well as its own understanding of how to worship them. One can only shrug, looking at this diversity.

3 A natural question arises: where are the origins of all these religions? They are so different, but at the same time so similar that one involuntarily wonders: did they appear independently of each other, or do they originate from some single great-religion? And why did religion come into existence at all? And How? If we want to know the truth about faith and religion, we cannot neglect these questions.

Where search her roots

4 Speaking about the origin of religion, people, depending on their religion, remember Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad or Christ. In almost all religions, one can find a certain central figure who gave rise to the "true faith". Someone was a brave reformer, someone was a moral philosopher, and someone was a selfless folk hero. Many of these people left behind scriptures or traditions that became the foundation of a new religion. Over time, their words and actions were rethought, embellished and shrouded in an aura of mystery. Other leaders were literally deified.

5 Although these individuals are considered the founders of known religions, it cannot be said that they founded the religion as such. More often than not, the teachings of religious leaders came from the cradle of pre-existing religious ideas, even if most of them claimed to be divinely led. Or they simply reformed and modified religious systems that somehow did not suit them.

6 For example, according to historical data, an Indian prince, who later became a Buddha, was once shocked by the contemplation of the suffering that overwhelmed Hindu society. He began to look for solutions to the problems that darken life, and this led to the emergence of Buddhism. Muhammad also resented the idolatry and immorality he saw in religious customs his contemporaries. Later, he announced that he had received revelations from God, which formed the basis of the Koran, which became the holy book of a new religious trend - Islam. As for Protestantism, it spun off from Catholicism during the Reformation, which began in the first quarter of the 16th century. At that time, Martin Luther spoke out against the sale of indulgences, which was conducted by the Catholic Church.

7 So, today there is enough information about the emergence and development of currently existing religions, about their founders, sacred texts, and the like. But what about the religions that preceded them? What about the ones that came before? As we delve deeper into history, sooner or later we will ask ourselves: how did religion come about? To answer it, we have to go beyond individual religions.

hypotheses carry numbers

8 The origin and development of religion is a relatively new field of knowledge. For centuries, people to a greater or lesser extent accepted religious traditions familiar from childhood. Usually they were content with the stories of their fathers and grandfathers, who considered their religion to be an indisputable truth. It never occurred to people to doubt something or try to find out how, when and why this or that custom arose. Due to limited freedom of movement and a narrow social circle, not many people even knew that there were any other religions on earth.

9 However, in the 19th century the situation began to change. The minds of the intelligentsia were captured by the theory of evolution. With the advent of the era of scientific discovery, people began to question everything, including religion. Some scholars have come to the conclusion that, by studying modern religions, one still cannot get to the bottom of their origins. So they switched to studying the monuments ancient civilizations or traveled to remote parts of the world where people still lived in primitive communities. Armed with the methodologies of various scientific disciplines - psychology, sociology, anthropology - they began to storm the questions of how religion arose and why.

10 What did it lead to? Scientists have given out a whole series of discordant theories, competing with each other in boldness and extravagance of conclusions. And theories, perhaps, were no less than the researchers themselves. Some brought out valuable propositions; the efforts of others have faded into oblivion. Short review their research will be informative and will help to better understand the religious views of our contemporaries.

11 English anthropologist Edward Tylor (1832-1917) put forward the so-called theory animism. He suggested that dreams, visions, hallucinations, and the lifelessness of dead bodies led primitive people to the conclusion that a soul (lat. anima) lives in their body. Since they often dreamed of dead relatives, they, according to this theory, thought that the soul continues to live after death: it leaves the body and moves into trees, rocks, streams, and the like. As a result, people began to deify the dead and those objects into which, in their opinion, souls moved. Thus, according to Tylor, religion was born.

12 Another English anthropologist, Robert Marett (1866-1943), modified Tylor's theory and offered his version, which became known as the theory animatism. Having studied the beliefs of the Melanesians living in the Pacific Islands and the indigenous population of Africa and America, Marett came to the conclusion that primitive people had no concept of the human soul. They rather believed in some impersonal or supernatural force that animated everything. Such a belief aroused in man a feeling of reverence and fear, which became the basis of his primitive religion. According to Marett, religion appeared primarily as an emotional reaction of a person to the unknown. Marett was fond of saying that religion is "not so much invented as danced."

13 In 1890, the Scottish folklorist ethnographer James Fraser (1854-1941) published his famous book The Golden Bough, in which he stated that religion owes its origin to magic. According to Fraser, in the beginning man tried to influence his life and the world imitating what he saw in nature. For example, a person thought that if you sprinkle water on the ground under the roar of drums (an imitation of a thunderstorm), you can cause rain, and if you prick the image of your enemy with thorns, you can damage it. This is how rituals, spells and magic items became widespread. When they did not act, the person, instead of subjugating the higher powers, tried to negotiate with them amicably and cajoled them in every possible way. Spells and rituals were transformed into prayers and sacrifices - this is how religion arose. Fraser himself explained, "By religion I mean the propitiation and appeasement of forces above man."

14 Even the famous Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) tried to explain the origin of religion in his book Totem and Taboo. True to his craft, Freud argued that religion emerged from the so-called father complex. In his opinion, just as in the herds of wild horses and bulls, in the human "primitive horde" the father was the leader. His sons hated him and admired him at the same time. In order to take possession of the paternal power, Freud said, these savages "joined, killed and ate the father." However, later remorse forced them to come up with various rites and ceremonies to atone for their guilt. According to Freud's theory, the image of the father became God, rites and ceremonies - the first religion, and eating the murdered father - the tradition of communion, which is practiced by many religions.

15 These, of course, are not all theories that have tried to explain the origin of religion. Many of them were forever forgotten. But even those that remain cannot be called indisputable and reliably substantiated. It's just that they weren't confirmed by any historical facts and testimonials. They were just a figment of the imagination of researchers, hypotheses that quickly replaced one another.

False package - erroneous conclusion

16 After many years of desperate efforts to figure out how religion arose, many have decided for themselves that this issue will remain a secret with seven seals. Firstly, because bones and other fossil remains cannot tell us what the ancient people thought about, what they were afraid of, and what prompted them to bow before higher powers. Any conclusions drawn from these findings are, at best, hypotheses. Secondly, the religious ideas of the so-called primitive people living today (for example, the Aborigines of Australia) cannot be considered a reliable indicator of what our ancestors thought and behaved. No one knows exactly how human culture has changed over the centuries.

17 Therefore, in the book "Religions of the World: from Antiquity to Modernity" the following conclusion is made: "The modern historian of religion knows that it is impossible to find out the origin of religion." And regarding attempts to do this, the author of the book notes: “In those years, theorists for the most part were concerned not so much with the description or explanation of religion as with its desacralization. They understood that if you can prove that the early forms of religion are based on illusions, then you can undermine the foundations of later and developed religions ”(Parrinder G. World Religions - From Ancient History to the Present).

18 This apt observation shows why the various "scientific" investigations into the origins of religion have not yielded satisfactory results. Logic dictates that the only way to arrive at the right conclusions is by building on the right foundation. If you start from a false premise, there is little chance of coming to the right conclusions. Since pundits have not given an intelligible explanation of the origin of religion, serious doubts arise in the fundamental basis of their reasoning. Guided by prejudiced opinion and discrediting religion in every way, they, in fact, led to the fact that there is no God.

19 A similar situation existed until the 16th century in astronomy. There have been many theories of planetary motion, but none have been satisfactory. Why? Because they all proceeded from the position that the Earth is the center of the Universe and all the stars and planets revolve around it. There has not been, and could not be, real progress until scientists - and the Church - recognized the fact that the Earth is not the center of the universe, that it revolves around the Sun, the center of the solar system. Since numerous theories failed to explain the obvious facts, unbiased minds decided to reconsider the basis of their modern understanding of the world, and not invent another theory. And it was a success.

20 The same principle applies to research into the origins of religion. The theory of evolution and atheism became popular in the world, and many people accepted as an axiom that there is no God. Proceeding from this, they began to look for an explanation of the existence of religion in the person himself - in his thoughts, needs, fears, complexes. Seizing on Voltaire's saying, "If God did not exist, he would have to be invented," they declared that God was invented by man. (See box on page 28.)

21 Since many theories have not led to the desired result, maybe it's time to recheck the foundation on which they are based? Maybe instead of walking in a vicious circle, it is worth looking for answers somewhere else? If prejudices aside, a fresh approach may turn out to be quite sensible and scientific. Let's look at one example.

Quest ancient

22 In the 1st century A.D. e. The Greek city of Athens was a famous scientific center. There have been many philosophical schools, such as Epicurean and Stoic, each with its own ideas about deities. Therefore, there were many cults in Athens various gods. Naturally, the city was full of man-made idols and temples (Acts 17:16).

23 Approximately 50 AD. e. A Christian missionary, the Apostle Paul, arrived in Athens. What he began to teach the Athenians was a wonder to them. Paul said: “God, who created the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made with hands, and human hands do not serve him, as if he needs something, because he himself gives to everyone life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24, 25).

24 In other words, Paul made it clear to the Athenians that the true God, “who created the world and everything in it,” is not a figment of the imagination and cannot be pleased with fictitious rituals. True religion is not just an attempt by a person to satisfy some psychological need or drown out fear. Since the true God is the Creator who gave people reason, it is logical that he should have left them the opportunity for much-needed communication with himself. According to Paul, God did just that. “From one man he created every people of mankind to dwell on all the face of the earth ... so that they would seek God, if they would not feel him and find him, although he was not far from each of us” (Acts 17:26, 27) .

25 Notice the key thought of Paul's words: "From one man he [God] created every human nation." Although many peoples live on earth, scientists have come to the conclusion that they all come from the same family. This is very important point, because if people have a common beginning, then they are connected not only biologically and genetically. They have a lot more in common.

26 Interestingly, the book The World History of Religious Practice says about human languages: “Scholars who have studied and compared the languages ​​of the peoples of the world have concluded that they are all divided into groups and families and derive their origin from the same source” (Story of the World's Worship). In other words, languages ​​did not appear separately and independently of each other, as evolutionists would like to believe, who suggest that cavemen in different parts of the earth - Africa, Europe and Asia - first explained by lowing and growling, but eventually spoke in different human languages. . Everything speaks for the fact that languages ​​\u200b\u200b"have their origin from one source."

27 If this is true of language - an integral part of human culture and life - then would it not be reasonable to assume that human ideas about God and religion must also have a common source? After all, religion is connected with thinking, and thinking is connected with speech abilities. It is not that all religions are descended from one religion, but rather that they must be connected with some source from which religious ideas and beliefs are drawn. Is there any evidence for this? And if religions do indeed have a common origin, then what? And how do you know about it?

Different, but similar

28 We can find answers to our questions in the same way that linguists find the answer to the question of the origin of languages. By comparing languages ​​with each other, etymologists can establish their relationship and determine their origin. So we, comparing religions - their dispensation, doctrines, legends, rituals, foundations - will be able to see if they are connected by a common thread, and if so, where this thread leads.

29 At first glance, many religions today are noticeably different from each other. However, if we discard the obvious embellishments and late additions, as well as the differences that have arisen under the influence of climate, language, geography and other factors, one can note a rather curious similarity between them.

30 Take, for example, Catholicism and Buddhism - the religions of the West and the East. Such, it would seem, dissimilar! But what is revealed if we discard the cultural and linguistic stratification? If you look without prejudice, you can see that they have a lot in common. Both religions use rituals and ceremonies that use candles, incense, holy water, rosaries, images of saints, chants, prayer books, and even the symbol of the cross. Both religions traditionally maintain monasteries and convents and are well known for their priestly robes, their vows of celibacy, holidays, and dietary restrictions. This is by no means a complete list, but it is enough to wonder: why do two religions so far apart have so much in common?

31 No less curious is the comparison of other religions. It turns out that there are beliefs that are common to almost all religions. Most of us have heard about the immortality of the human soul, retribution in heaven for good or eternal torment in the underworld for evil, about purgatory, about a three- or many-person god, about the Mother of God or the Queen of Heaven. There are many other legends and myths that are similar to each other. For example, about how a person, with his sinful attempt to achieve immortality, brought God's disgrace upon himself, about the need to make sacrifices to atone for sin, about the search for the tree of life or the source of youth. Also legends about gods and demigods who lived among people and gave birth to giants, and about the Flood that destroyed almost all of humanity from the earth.

32 What conclusion can be drawn from this? It is impossible not to notice that the peoples who have preserved these legends to this day live far from each other. They differ greatly in their culture, customs, way of life. Yet their religions have much in common. Although not all peoples have all the legends listed above, everyone has at least some of them. A reasonable question arises: why? The main religious beliefs - to a greater or lesser extent - seemed to have been drawn from the same source. Over time, these basic ideas were modified and embellished, so that new teachings were born from them. However, their common features are obvious.

33 It is logical to conclude that the similarity of the basic concepts in many religions of the world is proof that they did not arise in isolation and independently from each other. Their creeds must rather have a common foundation in the distant past. What could it be?

Legendary gold century

34 It is curious that among such legends spread all over the world there is a legend about a certain golden age, or a primitive era, when a person was innocent, lived peacefully and happily in communion with God, not knowing illness and death. The motives of the heavenly beginning, differing only in details, can be found in the scriptures and legends of many religions.

35 The Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism - the religion of the ancient Persians, speaks of "Iyma, beautiful, rich in herds." He was the one "to whom of the people ... first revealed" the god Ahuramazda. Yima was supposed to become "for ... the creatures [Ahuramazda] patron, protector, overseer." To this end, he had to make Vara, an underground shelter for all living beings. There was no place in this refuge "neither quarreling, nor slanderousness, nor impoliteness, nor unbelief, nor poverty, nor deceit, nor short stature, nor ugliness, nor broken teeth, nor excessive body." There was no stigma attached to people evil spirit. They lived among the "highest and most fragrant" trees and golden columns; they were "on this earth the greatest, best and most beautiful" (translated by K. Zaleman).

36 The ancient Greek poet Hesiod, in his poem Works and Days, spoke of five centuries, or eras, of human history, the first of which was the golden age, when people enjoyed endless happiness. He wrote:

First of all, they created a golden generation of people

The ever-living gods, the owners of the dwellings of the Olympic...

Those people lived like gods, with a calm and clear soul,

Grief not knowing, not knowing works. And sad old age

I didn't dare to approach them. Always the same strength

There were their arms and legs. They spent their lives in feasts.

Translation by V. Veresaev

According to Greek mythology, this legendary golden age ended with Epimetheus marrying the beautiful Pandora, a gift from Zeus. Once Pandora lifted the lid of her casket, and troubles, vices and sufferings suddenly flew out from there, from which people could no longer get rid of.

37 Ancient Chinese legends also tell of a golden age that fell on the reign of Huang-di (the “yellow emperor”), who allegedly ruled for a hundred years (XXVI century BC). He is credited with the invention of almost all the benefits of civilization: clothing, housing, transport, weapons, military tactics, agriculture, crafts, silk weaving, music, language, mathematics, calendar, and so on. During the years of his reign, as they say, “China did not know theft and fights. People lived quietly, together. The sky gave rain and sun to people. The land was fruitful, generous to them. Meek were animals, birds. The ancient history of China began from paradise. The Chinese to this day consider themselves descendants of the Yellow Emperor.

38 We find similar legends about happiness and perfection at the dawn of human history in the religions of many nations, such as the Egyptians, Tibetans, Peruvians, and Mexicans. Is it by chance? Peoples completely isolated from each other, not similar to each other either in culture, or language, or customs, have the same idea of ​​\u200b\u200bits origin and explain it in the same way. What is this - a mere coincidence? Logic and life experience suggest that this is unbelievable. On the contrary, it is precisely in this intricacies of legends that the grain of truth about the origin of man and his religion is hidden somewhere.

39 Indeed, in all the legends about the early history of mankind there are many common elements. Putting them together, a clearer picture emerges: God created the first man and woman and placed them in paradise. At first they were content and happy, but soon they disobeyed the Creator and lost their beautiful home; thus hardship and toil, exhaustion and suffering entered their lives. In time, morals fell into a complete decline, and God punished the human race by sending a great flood that killed everyone except for one family. When people multiplied again, some of the descendants of that family began to build a huge tower in defiance of God. God thwarted their plan by confusing their language and scattering them throughout the earth.

40 Is such a recreation historical events only the fruit of scientific fantasies? No. The Bible presents early human history in this form (in the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis). Although we are not discussing the authenticity of the Bible now, I would like to note that the biblical version is generally reflected in the legends of many peoples. According to the Bible, the starting point from which settlement began was Mesopotamia. People carried with them their memories, customs, views. Over time, all this was overgrown with interpretations, distorted and became the core of national religions. In other words, the book of Genesis in its purest form presents a holistic picture showing where the myths of various religions of the world about the origin of man and his beliefs are rooted. People, of course, added a lot of their own, but the relationship of their religions is obvious.

41 In the following chapters of this book, we will discuss in detail how certain religions came into being and developed. You will be interested to learn not only about the differences between religions, but also about their similarities. You will see what place each of them has occupied in the world history of religion. We will also talk about what sacred texts exist and how they are interconnected, which religious views influenced the founders and leaders of certain religions, how religion influenced the actions of people and the general course of history. By studying in the light of all this the long history of mankind's spiritual quest, you will be able to discover for yourself the truth about religion and religious teachings.

15. Religion. Bogbaz10, §10, 106-110; Bogprof11, §33.
15.1. What is religion?
15.2. When and why did religion emerge?
15.3. Composition (structure) of religion.
15.4. Signs of religious consciousness.
15.5. Levels of religious consciousness.
15.6. Organizational forms of religion: church and sect.
15.7. Functions of religion.
15.8. The classification of religions.
15.9. tribal primitive beliefs .
15.10. National-State Religions.

15.11. world religions.

15.1 . What is religion?
Religion(from lat. religio - piety, piety, shrine, object of worship) - worldview and attitude, as well as appropriate behavior and specific actions (cult), is based on the belief in the existence of a god or gods, the supernatural.
Sacred, sacred, holy ( lat. - sacer sacred) - 1) religious values ​​- faith, truths of religion, sacraments, church; 3) a set of things, persons, actions, texts, language formulas, buildings, etc., which is part of the system of a religious cult. The sacred is opposed to the mundane, which does not belong to the sphere of religion.
!!! sacred ≠ supernatural.
The sacred (sacred) includes the recognition of its unconditional value for a person. The supernatural is that which goes beyond the natural course of things.
15.2 . When and Why Did Religion Begin??
15.2.1. naturalistic hypothesis(from lat. natura - nature) the hypothesis expressed by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius (1st century BC), claims that the idea of ​​God and religion arose as a result of people's fear of formidable natural phenomena, misunderstanding of the causes of their occurrence, ignorance of the laws of nature.
15.2.2. Animistic hypothesis(from lat. animus - spirit) was expressed in the 19th century by the English ethnographer Edward Taylor om (1832 - 1917) in his work - "Primitive Culture" (1871).
Taylor saw the origins of religion in the primitive man's misunderstanding of such biological phenomena as sleep, dreams, illness, fainting, death: trying to explain these phenomena, "savage philosophers" thought of the idea of ​​the soul as a small double sitting in every person, and then, according to analogies, attributed the same souls to animals, plants, inanimate objects; so faith gradually developed in the animation of nature, which made possible appearance mythology, and subsequently gave rise to the highest forms of religion, up to polytheism, monotheism and complex theological teachings.
15.2.3. Hypothesis Feuerbach a (1804 - 1872).
Ludwig Feuerbach:

“What is the spirit, if not a spiritual activity that has gained independent existence thanks to human imagination and language, if not a spiritual activity personified in the form of a being?”

God and gods are personified projections of the properties of man and nature, turned by human thought into independent beings.
Feuerbach divides religions into "spiritual": Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - and "natural": all primitive and ancient pagan beliefs. In "spiritual" religions, "God other than nature is nothing but man's own being", and in "natural" religions "God other than man is nothing but nature or a being of nature".
15.2.4. social hypothesis.
Religion "could arise only at a certain stage of development ... of society and of man himself", i.e. it is not an original phenomenon in human society.
The origin of religion is:
a) a social factor - in primitive society - a feeling of powerlessness of a person in the struggle with nature, in class societies - a feeling of powerlessness in the face of social oppression;
b) epistemological factor - the ability to "formulate very abstract concepts", when "a person develops the ability for abstract thinking." Abstract thinking, on the other hand, leads to the emergence in the human mind of "fantastic reflections of reality," i.e., supernatural, religious ones.
15.2.5. Theological view of the origin of religion.

From the point of view of theologians and religious philosophers, the idea of ​​God in human consciousness is the result of the creation of the world and man by God and the impact of the divine essence on man. Evidence for the existence of God during the period of the formation and development of Christianity was given by Augustine the Blessed, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, the philosophers Descartes, Leibniz, and others.
The universality of religion in humanity is one of the most impressive facts of world history. Such a phenomenon could not be the result of chance, someone's fantasies or fears.

Paul Florensky: religion is the starting point in the emergence of culture, culture is a product of the collapse of a religious cult;
15.3 . Composition (structure) of religion:

1) teaching (dogmatics);

2) cult - a system of ritual actions;

3) religious consciousness, faith - a special complex of religious experiences;

4) organizational association of believers (church and sects).
15.4 . Signs of religious consciousness:

1) belief in the existence of a supernatural principle;

2) recognition of its highest value, sacred;

3) conviction in the possibility of communicating with the object of religious worship through the performance of cult actions;

4) a feeling of dependence (fear, humility) on the objects of religious worship;

5) awareness of the requirements from the higher beginning and the responsibility associated with the fulfillment or non-fulfilment of these requirements;

6) the desire to propitiate the deity, to compensate for their disobedience by repentance or sacrifice.
!!! But: in a number of religious teachings, there is no faith in God and the emphasis is on the absolute possibilities inherent in the person himself (for example, in Buddhism). So, in China, with an abundance of religious traditions, there is no word "God".
15.5 . Levels of Religious Consciousness:

1) mass religious consciousness, religious psychology (religious ideas and feelings of believers);

2) rationally formed consciousness;

3) religious ideology (theology, theology) - a systematic presentation of the principles of religious faith.
15.6 . Organizational forms of religion:

15.6.1. Church(from Greek. kyriakon - the house of the Lord) - an organization, an association of followers of a particular religion on the basis of a common doctrine and cult; includes professional ministers and ordinary believers, has various organizational structures - from strictly hierarchical (Orthodoxy and Catholicism) to democratic (Protestantism) .
15.6.2. religious sect (latin. secta, lit. cut off, separated) - a group of believers that broke away from the main or dominant religious denomination, adhering to their views and interpretations of its individual dogmas, rituals, teachings, etc. The sect is characterized by isolation, isolation, claims to the exclusivity of its role, etc.
15.7 . Functions of Religion:

1) regulatory, educational;

2) worldview;

3) communicative;

4) compensatory;

5) factor of integration / disintegration of society;

6) cultural.
15.8 . Religion classification:
15.8.1. (by degree, scale of influence):

1) tribal primitive beliefs;

2) national-state religions (Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, Shintoism);

3) world religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam).
population: Judaism (14 million), Hinduism (550 million), Confucianism (more than 300 million), Taoism (more than 50 million), Shintoism (60 million), Christianity (more than 1 billion), Buddhism (about 300 million), Islam (more than 500 million).
15.8.2. 1) polytheism and 2) monotheism.

Polytheism(from Greek. polys - many and theos - God) - polytheism, belief in many gods.
Monotheism(from Greek. monos - one and theos - god) (monotheism) - a system of religious beliefs based on the concept of a single God. Monotheistic religions include Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Abrahamic religions is the common name for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For these three religions, the biblical patriarch Abraham, who believed in one God and entered into an alliance (covenant) with Him, is a model of a believer.

15.9 . Tribal primitive beliefs (tribal religions).
15.9.1. totemism(in language ojibwe ototem - his clan) - a complex of beliefs and rituals of a primitive society associated with the idea of ​​​​kinship between groups of people (usually clans) and the so-called. totems - species of animals and plants (less often natural phenomena and inanimate objects); each clan bore the name of its totem. Hiscouldn't killand eat.
15.9.2. Animism – (from lat. anima, animus - soul, spirit) - belief in the existence of souls and spirits, an indispensable element of any religion.
animatism(from lat. animatus - animated) - belief in the impersonal animation of nature or its individual parts and phenomena, characteristic primitive religions. Animatism must be distinguished from hylozoism, animism, from belief in personal non-material beings (spirits) allegedly present in certain objects or phenomena. The question of the time of the emergence of animatism in the history of social consciousness has not yet been resolved by science. Some scholars view animatism as an earlier stage in the development of religion than animism, others believe that they coexisted.
15.9.3. Fetishism(from French. fetiche - idol, talisman) - cult inanimate objects- fetishes, endowed, according to the ideas of believers, with supernatural properties. It was common among all primitive peoples. The surviving features are belief in amulets, amulets, talismans.
15.9.4. Magic(from Greek. mageia - witchcraft, sorcery) - rituals associated with belief in the supernatural ability of a person (sorcerer, magician) to influence people and natural phenomena.
Fetishism and magic are not special forms of religion, their remnants persist in numerous manifestations even now.
15.10 . National-State Religions.
15.10.1. Hinduism- religion, one of the largest in terms of the number of followers of religions in the world (about 95% of all Hindus are in India).
Formed in the 1st millennium AD. e. It is the result of the development of the Vedic religion and Brahmanism. The basis of Hinduism is the doctrine of the reincarnation of souls ( samsara), occurring in accordance with the law of retribution ( karma) for virtuous or bad behavior, determined by the veneration of the supreme gods (Vishnu or Shiva) or their incarnations, and the observance of caste household rules. Religious rites are performed in temples, at local and domestic altars, in sacred places. Animals (cow, snake), rivers (Ganges), plants (lotus) are revered as sacred.

Main currents : Vaishnavism and Shaivism .
15.10.2. Judaism- the earliest monotheistic religion that arose in the 1st millennium BC. e. in Palestine. It is distributed mainly among Jews. Adherents of Judaism believe in Yahweh (one God, creator and ruler of the universe), the immortality of the soul, the afterlife, the coming arrival of the messiah, God's chosen people of the Jewish people.

Canon of sacred books: Torah ("Pentateuch of Moses"), books of the prophets, etc. Scriptures. Various interpretations and commentaries of the canon are collected in the Talmud.

In Judaism, mystical teachings (bondage, Hasidism) became widespread.
15.10.3. Confucianism- one of the main philosophical and ideological currents of China, founded by Confucius. It took shape during a period of rapid social change (VI century BC), so Confucius saw the main task in preserving the best traditions ancient culture which, firstly, are able to protect society from any shocks and changes and, secondly, orient people towards the achievement of a certain social ideal. Such an ideal in Confucianism is " Jun Tzu» – « perfect husband».

!!! Confucianism differs from many religions in the absence of a priesthood, mystical elements, and is reduced to the strict observance of prescribed rituals. The main content of the cult of Confucius is the veneration of ancestors that developed even before Confucius: each family, clan has its own temple, where “zhu” tablets symbolizing ancestors are placed, in front of which sacrifices are placed and rituals are performed.
15.10.4. Shintoism- (from Japanese Shinto, literally - the way, the teachings of the gods) is a religion common in Japan. At the heart of Shinto is the cult of the deities of nature and ancestors. Shinto was strongly influenced by Buddhism and partly by Taoism. The highest deity is Amaterasu; the accession to the throne of her descendant - Emperor Jimmu is officially considered the beginning of the Japanese state. In 1868 - 1945 the state religion enjoyed the patronage of the emperor.
15.10.5. Sikhism(from Sanskrit shishya - student) - one of the national religions in India; a sect in Hinduism in the 16th-17th centuries, which turned into an independent religion, which became widespread mainly in the Punjab. The basis is monotheism, the denial of idolatry, asceticism, castes, the preaching of the equality of the Sikhs before God and the holy war with the infidels.
15.11 . world religions.
15.11.1 . Signs of world religions:

1) a huge number of followers around the world;

3) egalitarianism (appeal to representatives of all social groups);

4) high propaganda activity and proselytism (the desire to convert people of another confession to their faith).
Cosmopolitanism(from Greek. kosmopolites cosmopolitan - citizen of the world) - the ideology of world citizenship.
Proselytism(from proselyte, from lat. proselytus converted, from Greek. προσήλυτος converted, found his place) - the desire to spread one's faith, to convert others to one's faith, the desire to establish a supported religion everywhere.

15.11.2. BUDDHISM- the most ancient world religion, which arose in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Founder - Indian Prince Siddhartha Gautama, nicknamed Buddha- "enlightened".
Four noble truths :
1) life is suffering;
2) the cause of suffering is the passions, desires of a person;
3) suffering can be eliminated by achieving nirvana, a state of complete peace, absolute impermeability to desires and passions;
4) the path leading to nirvana - the eightfold (middle) path of salvation.
The main concept of Buddhist teaching is dharma(dhamma), the smallest particle, the combination of which creates the human "I". Reincarnation is rejected by Buddhism.
reincarnation- the re-incarnation of a person, the rebirth of the soul in a new body.
Currents in Buddhism:
1) Hinayana, literally “narrow (small) chariot”, preaches the rejection of worldly life, leaving for the monastic community;
2) Mahayana(“broad chariot”) teaches about the possibility for everyone to achieve salvation.
15.11.3. CHRISTIANITY arose in the 1st century. AD in Palestine. In the II century. organization formed christian church, and by the IV century. the Holy Scriptures have been formed Old Testament+ New Testament. Christian dogma was developed during the 4th-8th centuries. ("the era of the Ecumenical Councils").
In the IV century. a split was outlined between Western and Eastern Christianity, which finally took shape in 1054 (Orthodoxy and Catholicism).
Symbol of faith(381 - II Ecumenical Council in Constantinople):
1) monotheism; 2) creationism; 3) the equality of Jesus Christ to God the Father; 4) the participation of God the Son in the creation of the world; 5) the incarnation of Jesus Christ and his birth from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary; 6) salvation for the human race of the sufferings of the cross of Christ and his death; 7) the reality of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ; 8) the assignment of the earthly life of Christ to a specific historical epoch; 9) the resurrection of Christ and his Ascension to God the Father; 10) the second coming of Christ in glory, his judgment on the living and the dead, and the establishment of his kingdom, to which "there shall be no end"; 11) the divinity of the Holy Spirit, his procession from the Father; 12) inspiration of biblical prophets by the Holy Spirit; 13) the unity, holiness, integrity and apostolic origin of the Church; 14) the need for baptism; 15) the resurrection of the dead into eternal life.
Features of Catholicism:
1) filioque (recognition of the procession of the Holy Spirit both from the Father and from the Son);
2) the dogma of the primacy and infallibility of the Pope in matters of faith and morality;
3) the dogma of the immaculate conception Mother of God and Her bodily ascension to heaven;
4) recognition of purgatory;
5) celibacy (vow of celibacy of priests);
6) communion of believers under one species (bread).
In the Middle Ages, early Christian ideals were completely perverted. catholic church(sale of indulgences, alternative popes, inquisition). In the XVI century. anti-Catholic movement in Europe - the Reformation - leads to the emergence of a third Christian denomination - Protestantism a.
Principles of Protestantism:
1) salvation by personal faith;
2) the exclusive authority of the Bible;
3) the priesthood of all believers;
4) the concept of predestination (in Calvinism): already in earthly life, a person knows where he will go - to heaven or hell, if he is poor - to hell, if a person is accompanied by material success - to heaven.
Currents in Protestantism:
1) Lutheranism;
2) Calvinism;
3) Anglicanism.
15.11.4. ISLAM- the youngest world religion - which arose in the 7th century. AD (622 AH). The founder is the prophet Mohammed (Mohammed). Muslims believe that the one and all-powerful God - Allah - handed over to people through the mouth of the prophet the holy book - Koran.
Hijri (Arab. - resettlement) - the resettlement of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in September 622. Under Caliph Omar I (634-644), the Hijra year was declared the beginning of the Muslim chronology.
Symbol of faith:
1) belief in one and only God;
2) faith in angels, executors of the will of God;
3) faith in the Scriptures (scrolls of Abraham, Torah, Psalms of David, Gospel, Koran);
4) faith in God's prophets and messengers (receives revelation in writing);
5) belief in the Day of Judgment;
6) belief in predestination.
Five Pillars of Faith:
1) “I testify that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger”;
2) five daily prayers ( prayer);
3) cleansing alms;
4) fasting in the month of Ramadan;
5) pilgrimage to Mecca ( hajj).
Currents in Islam:
1) Sunnis consider the Sunnah (stories about the life of the prophet) as part of the Holy Scriptures, and the Shiites recognize only the Koran as the Holy Scriptures;
2) Shiites believe that the supreme power (imamate) over Muslims can only belong to the descendants of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.