[8] He portrayed each religion as rational and consistent in their respective societies. Those with no religion or no interest in religion are difficult to convert, especially since the cult and sect beliefs are so extreme by the standards of the surrounding society. Example: Frazer theorized that humans first tried to use magic to control nature. Most religions start out their lives as cults or sects, i.e. [4], Subsequently, Clifford Geertz (1926-2006) and others questioned the validity of abstracting a general theory of all religions. After his enlightenment, he began to share what had been revealed to him under the Bhodi tree. As they observed the sun, moon, winds and rains, they began to personify them, sort of like our modern-day use of the term 'Mother Nature.'. Origins of the Universe 101. [3] Euhemerus (about 330 264 BCE) regarded gods as excellent historical persons whom admirers eventually came to worship. Perhaps two of the most famous theories on religion come from the 19th century's Karl Marx and the 20th century's Sigmund Freud. The theologian Rudolf Otto (18691937) focused on religious experience, more specifically moments that he called numinous which means "Wholly Other". Charles Taylor, A Secular Age, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2007, cultures and religions tend to grow more sophisticated, magic relied on an uncritical belief of primitive people in contact and imitation, the method of historians studying history, which has been criticized as unscientific, functionalist school in sociology and anthropology, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism, his 1920 treatment of the religion in China, Sociological classifications of religious movements The church-sect typology, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, "Clifford Geertz, Cultural Anthropologist, Is Dead at 80", "Reading 'Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion", "Elementary Forms of the Metaphorical Life: Tropes at Work in Durkheim's Theory of the Religious", Peddlers and Princes: Social Development and Economic Change in Two Indonesian Towns, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theories_about_religion&oldid=1138388444, Social relational theories of religion that focus on the, "insider" versus "outsider" perspectives (roughly corresponding to, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 11:57. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Theories on the Origin of Religions by Mr. Hill. If traditional religion were to continue, however, he believed it would do so only as a means to preserve social cohesion and order. [19][20] The latter criticism presumes that the evolutionary views of the early cultural anthropologists envisaged a uniform cultural evolution. [8] Weber's main focus was not on developing a theory of religion but on the interaction between society and religion, while introducing concepts that are still widely used in the sociology of religion. Unlike Tylor and Frazer, Freud attempted to explain why religion persists in spite of the lack of evidence for its tenets. He also used some personal knowledge of other societies and cultures for his theories, among others his knowledge of Hindu folk religion. She has an M.A in instructional education. What does religion mean? The ideas on religious study can be found to support efforts in these fields to convey purpose, meaning, and structure in furthering th. When he was 16, he got married and had a son. This is the most popular view that is taught or implied in the study of religion. Hinduism allows for the worship of numerous, powerful gods and goddesses. Nature- Worship Theory Human beings first developed their religions from their observations of the forces of nature. As they observed the sun, moon, winds and rains, they began to personify them, sort of like our . Abstract. This book surveys the major theorists in the psychology of religionSigmund Freud, C.G. Sir Richard Paget, influenced by Darwin, believed that body movement preceded language. The historians J.R. and William McNeil call this the development of portable, congregational religions. Common features of these religions are the following: there is usually a founding man who receives the word of God; there is a key text or set of texts that defines mans relationship with God; there are recommended ways of living and worshipping; people come together regularly to have Gods word interpreted for them by an authority; and there is a path to self-trans-formation and eternal salvation in one way or another. According to Sir James Frazer, religion developed out of an original magical stage of human culture. History. Print. In his 1913 book Totem and Taboo he developed a speculative story about how all monotheist religions originated and developed. He advocated what he called thick descriptions to interpret symbols by observing them in use, and for this work, he was known as a founder of symbolic anthropology. One origin could explain, in simple terms, the beginning of the universe. Practicing animism, the native cultures of the Americas believed that nature, from rocks, to trees, to water, had a spirit known as Anima. Somewhat differing from Marx, Weber dealt with status groups, not with class. your wisdom. The Azande's faith in witchcraft and oracles was quite logical and consistent once some fundamental tenets were accepted. [13] They relied heavily on reports made by missionaries, discoverers, and colonial civil servants. Durkheim held the view that the function of religion is group cohesion often performed by collectively attended rituals. According to the theory, the more religions there are, the more likely the population is to be religious and hereby contradicting the secularization thesis. I highly recommend you use this site! Evolutionary theories view religion as either an adaptation or a byproduct. A religion is a set of beliefs and rituals practiced by a group of people. [2] Max Mller (1823-1900) has the reputation of having founded the scientific study of religion; he advocated a comparative method that developed into comparative religion. Posted 2 years ago. Byproduct theories view religion as a spandrel. [36] Geertz held the view that mere explanations to describe religions and cultures are not sufficient: interpretations are needed too. Thus, religion as a social institution plays a significant role in binding people together and strengthening the sense of solidarity amongst them. Buddhism and Daoism also accept the existence of multiple divine beings in various forms and incarnations. This sounds a lot like later seventeenth and eighteenth century political philosophies that would shape the founding of America: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This method left them open to criticism for lack of universality, which many freely admitted. Cults are new groups with a new novel theology, while sects are attempts to return mainstream religions to (what the sect views as) their original purity. In this post, I briefly set out three distinct approaches to the study of religion: criticizing religion, upholding religion, and disaggregating religion. In this case, there is a male founder of the religion. In his 1920 treatment of the religion in China he saw Confucianism as helping a certain status group, i.e. Philosophy of religion is the philosophical study of the meaning and nature of religion. For example, the anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1902-1973) preferred detailed ethnographical study of tribal religion as more reliable. On the other hand, the theory of creation and the theory of evolution are attempts to explain the origin of the universe and of its inhabitants. It says that the earth was made in six days. As cultures grew, this worship became more structured. But those already happy members of a religious group are difficult to convert as well, since they have strong social links to their preexisting religion and are unlikely to want to sever them in order to join a new one. sky gods such as Zeus.[30][31]. It is also interesting that the four paths in life arent just about spirituality and God. It has been observed that social or political movements that fail to achieve their goals will often transform into religions. The Founding of Confucianism: Overview & Influence, Factors Impacting Family & Consumer Sciences, Religion and Social Change in Protestantism and Liberation Theology. Here are five facts about evolution and faith: 1 The Roman Catholic Church has long accepted - or at least not objected to - evolutionary theory. [14][15], A second methodology, functionalism, seeks explanations of religion that are outside of religion; i.e., the theorists are generally (but not necessarily) atheists or agnostics themselves. He called them "armchair anthropologists". They believed that religion is essentially an illusion; because culture . But the world religions I know of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam were bigger than a single city or even a single region of the world. Adding to this, Frazer believed a highly evolved person will eventually desert the tales of magic and religion in acceptance of science. Right Speech: Speak kindly and avoid lying or gossip. Close to three-quarters of the world's population practices one of the . It is simply the body of beliefs and practices connected to some supernatural which unites people. - Definition & Significance, Gods of the Home: Primal Roman Religious Practices, The Meso-American Religious Rites of Passage, Intro to Music for Teachers: Professional Development, World Religions for Teachers: Professional Development, NYSTCE Music (075): Practice and Study Guide, AP Music Theory Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Nostromo by Joseph Conrad: Summary & Overview, Caius in Shakespeare's King Lear: Traits & Analysis, Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet: Summary, Characters & Analysis, Italo Calvino: Biography, Books & Short Stories, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Works & Biography, Mesopotamian God Enki: Mythology & Symbols, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. In at least two to three paragraphs, explain James George Frazer's theory of how religion developed in separate phases. 1. that the Four Noble Truths can break this pattern of suffering. Every culture, religion, sect, or belief cannot deny that life is supposed to end someday. In contrast religion is faith that the natural world is ruled by one or more deities with personal characteristics with whom can be pleaded, not by laws. They are Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. [35] Geertz followed Weber when he wrote that "man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning". Norton & Co., 2003. different way in non-worshipping religions as well. Like Otto, he saw religion as something special and autonomous, that cannot be reduced to the social, economical or psychological alone. He asserted that Confucianism opposition against both extravagance and thrift made it unlikely that capitalism could have originated in China. Creation and Evolution . Jessica has taught junior high history and college seminar courses. The best candidates for religious conversion are those who are members of or have been associated with religious groups (thereby showing an interest or openness to religion), yet exist on the fringe of these groups, without strong social ties to prevent them from joining a new group. Right Action: Be faithful and do the right thing; do not kill, steal, or lie. The story goes that Siddharthas father asked some wise men what his son would become in life. [17] Such critics go so far as to brand Tylor's and Frazer's views on the origin of religion as unverifiable speculation. Death is inevitable, and this phenomenon is universal. He made a name for himself with his views on social structure, education, crime, law, suicide, and religion. [citation needed]. Examples of this include the counterculture movement in America: the early counterculture movement was intent on changing society and removing its injustice and boredom; but as members of the movement proved unable to achieve these goals they turned to Eastern and new religions as compensators. Durkheim saw totemism as the original and simplest form of religion. The origin of religion can generally be traced to the ancient Near East and classified in three basic categories: polytheistic, pantheistic and monotheistic. On the contrary, religion is an act of the moral will. Freud asserted that religion is a largely unconscious neurotic response to repression. His theory assumed that the psyches of all peoples of all times are more or less the same and that explanations in cultures and religions tend to grow more sophisticated via monotheist religions, such as Christianity and eventually to science. Completely different from Marx, Sigmund Freud took a psychoanalytical stab at the origin of religion. 2021 CiteScore*: 0.7. This is how he earned the name Buddha, the Bhodi Satva, or the Enlightened One. They also believe in the Resurrection and a Judgment Day. Durkheim's theory of religion exemplifies how functionalists examine sociological phenomena. Sacred rituals and ceremonies are especially important for marking occasions such as births, marriages, times of crisis, and deaths. Building on the role of nature, Sir James George Frazer's theories went a step further. Among some of Freud's most famous quotes on religion, in his book "New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis" (1933), he suggested that "religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from its readiness to fit in with our instinctual wishful impulses." In "The Future of an Illusion," Freud wrote that "religion is comparable to a . Language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of these movements like the way a child's mouth will move when they . 5 years, 6 months ago. As the magician believes that nature can be overwhelmed and instrumentalized for personal benefit through magical spells, in the very same manner, religious man believes in the existence of spirits that must be pleased and cajoled by prayers, rather than overwhelmed by magic . They also speculated that, in time, the appeal and influence of religion on the modern mind would lessen. Presentation Transcript. Developing on the ideas of Ludwig Feuerbach, he saw religion as a product of alienation that was functional to relieving people's immediate suffering, and as an ideology that masked the real nature of social relations. The third model for the origin of religion is original monotheism. Focusing on the positive and trying to achieve happiness now does indeed bring meaning to life and lift peoples focus away from daily drudgery or suffering, with the hope that one day people might achieve eternal salvation or be released from the reincarnation cycle (samsara). Some of his views, among others that the experience of the numinous was caused by a transcendental reality, are untestable and hence unscientific. Marx held that religion served as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful. Religion is also used as a symbol of hope during hard times, so religion plays a big role in your life. Emile Durkheim lived from April 15, 1858 to November 15, 1917/ He was a French sociologist that was very influential in the fields of sociology and anthropology. Max Weber (18641920) thought that the truth claims of religious movement were irrelevant for the scientific study of the movements. The mama theory. Today, religion is considered a product of society and not a creation of man, established by God, not God's work. The best books on Atheism, recommended by Susan Jacoby. ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING Religions have their origin stories and are universal in nature. I feel like its a lifeline. They can be divided into specific compensators (compensators for the failure to achieve specific goals), and general compensators (compensators for failure to achieve any goal). First, humans tried to use magic to control their surroundings. Today, Paperback. Though he used more or less the same methodology as Evans-Pritchard, he did not share Evans-Pritchard's hope that a theory of religion could ever be found. Still, he predicted that traditional religion would one day pass away. material desires, and therefore, your suffering. [48] Differing from Tylor and Frazer, he saw magic not as religious, but as an individual instrument to achieve something. Both provided a pathway and documents (texts) on how to earn salvation in this case, by ending the cycle of reincarnation. This spirit allowed them to feel and communicate with humans and each other. Theory of Special Creation: The greatest supporter of this theory was Father Suarez. The word "tragedy' seems to have come from . The school of religious history called the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, a late 19th-century German school of thought, originated the systematic study of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon. She has a Master's degree in History. According to Marx, the dynamics of society were determined by the relations of production, that is, the relations that its members needed to enter into to produce their means of survival.[38]. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Belief in spirits grew out of attempts to explain life and death. Not just passing contact, like Eliade. Durkheim's proposed method for progress and refinement is first to carefully study religion in its simplest form in one contemporary society and then the same in another society and compare the religions then and only between societies that are the same. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. Religion Concepts, Types & Social Aspects | What is Religion? Just like the term 'religion' has many facets, the theories on its origin are also many. All faiths, apart from Confucianism, which some scholars classify as an ethical system rather than a religion, offer eternal salvation in one form or another. Myths and deities to explain natural phenomena originated by analogy and an extension of these explanations. I learned through a few web searches and from several secondary sources that Hinduism is often called the oldest religion mainly because there is no single founder and because the main ideas of the religion appear in a variety of different texts written over time, starting around 4,000 years ago. Pope Francis is not the first pontiff to publicly affirm that evolution is compatible with church teachings. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. The theory of religious economy sees different religious organizations competing for followers in a religious economy, much like the way businesses compete for consumers in a commercial economy. He used the concept of Verstehen (German for "understanding") to describe his method of interpretation of the intention and context of human action. Freud suggested that primitive man originally existed in a patriarchal society where the father had absolute right over all desirable females. According to this model, the origin of life occurred in two steps: Fig: Steps to The Origin of Life According to Oparin-Haldane Model. Muslims believe Muhammad to be the last in a series of great prophets starting with Adam and including Abraham, Moses and Jesus. " On the second day God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky. Primitive people used human dreams in which spirits seemed to appear as an indication that the human mind could exist independent of a body. This theory puts forth the idea that religion developed as primitive people groups observed nature. Chapter 3: Science and Religion. Religion is the result of an evolutionary process in human culture. Meaning, a white hole could be the birth of a star or a multitude of them. Metropolitan Area, Physical City & City Center | What Is a Metropolitan Area? He also considered the concept of God to be on the verge of extinction. Monotheism History, Origin & Examples | What is Monotheism? By Anita Ravi. At the turn of the twentieth century, some authors adopted non-Darwinian views on the origin of life, exemplified in this paper by the . The Nature of Theories on Origins. The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule emerged at a time when scholarly study of the Bible and of . Life originated from pre-existing living forms. ; The tribes believe that the soul continues to exist even after death.It continues to conduct human actions by entering a particular place or substance or determines the success or . But nonetheless it can take a very long time for religions to grow to a large size by natural growth. Theories of the origin of religion Scholars have different views regarding how religion originated in human society. Example: Consider the role of the five senses in comprehending the world. Some people think that, to accept the key tenets of evolutionary thought is to deny their religious . He was born into a Ksatriya Hindu family, which was the warrior/ruler class. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 With totemism he meant that each of the many clans had a different object, plant, or animal that they held sacred and that symbolizes the clan. I learned that the whole purpose of ending suffering (dukkha) in the world is to achieve the ultimate goal of enlightenment (nirvana). Apart from the Azande, Evans-Pritchard, also studied the neighbouring, but very different Nuer people. Genetic sequences in DNA are essentially instructions on how amino acids should be arranged in proteins . Evans-Pritchard saw these people as different, but not primitive. 7. Abstract. For example, there was Greece's Poseidon, god of the sea, or Babylon's Marduk, who controlled the winds. More recent developments in physics and astronomy, however, resulted in cosmological views that challenged the belief in a divinely created world. and think about more than yourself. New York: W.H. Theory of Subjectivism . religion, human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. The new religious beliefs are compensators for the failure to achieve the original goals. The fundamental purpose of Weber's research was to discover religion's impact on social change. [3], Scientific theories, inferred and tested by the comparative method, emerged after data from tribes and peoples all over the world became available in the 18th and 19th centuries. This definition emphasizes the mutual reinforcement between world view and ethos. The ta-ta theory. All of these religions teach that human relations should be guided by kindness, selflessness, and decency. For many people of different religious beliefs, the theory of evolution does not pose a conflict. In this article, I will classify theories about the origin of religions, distinguishing two groups of theories: those upholding the revealed origin of religion and those denying it. To him, religion developed out of the human need for a protective father figure.