How did each religion of the ancient worlds begin?

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

It is assumed that every religion of the ancient worlds appeared at the dawn of mankind, at a time when it was just beginning its path to a modern civilized society. This is partly true. For ancient man, not only the elements of his own environment in particular, but all events in general, were incomprehensible. And he could not explain them to himself in any other way, except as a religious one. He believed that the rain comes after the shaman knocks on the tambourine, or that if the sacrifice is not made, the Gods can get angry and send some kind of curse on his tribe. In a word, ancient religions differed to a large extent from those that modernity dictates to man.

What were the first beliefs based on?

Any religion of the ancient worlds was a belief in certain forces that seemed to rise above nature. Man could not separate himself from his surroundings - trees, animals, stones, mountains, plains and everything else. He imagined himself as something that revolves within the world and nature. Peopleof that time they could not explain how they differ from wolves or, for example, mammoths. For them, everything was the same. It used to be believed that this is how the first religion of the ancient worlds appeared.

First ancient beliefs

Name	Description
Animism	Faith in nature, but only its living side is understood here
Totemism	The belief that a certain animal can be congenial to a person. It was also believed that people were their totem animals in a past life (according to some sources, they will be after rebirth)
Fetishism	The belief that inanimate objects can think, feel just like a person
Shamanism and magic	The belief that certain people can interact not only with their fellow tribesmen, but also with spirits

Mythology, or the first steps of the separation of mankind from its natural environment

After these first beliefs, mythology, or, in a sense, a new, improved religion of the ancient worlds, appeared. Here man has already begun to gradually separate himself from nature. If initially he thought that there are people, animals and plants, and all this lives side by side, without interfering and complementing each other, now he began to elevate himself above the environment. And, accordingly, Gods or mythological creatures became higher than him. In this religion, the primitive thread was still visible: animals easily turned into people, plants into animals, and so on.

The first religions are the basis of modern religions

Modern scientists refuse those explanations that were several decades ago. Previously, it was believed that religion could be anything that at a certain moment was impossible to explain and was interpreted by an ancient person as a higher power. Now the concept of religion has received a slightly different meaning. After the formation of mythology, in the further creation of beliefs, a person began to finally separate himself from the natural environment and placed God or Gods above himself. The latter took a direct part in people's lives, could create favorable or negative circumstances for them, but they themselves never showed themselves. It is from this time that it is believed that religions in the modern interpretation acquired the civilizations of the ancient world.

Religions of the ancient world

Name	Description
Judaism	The first religion "from Abraham" (there are 7 in total). It is on a par with such widespread beliefs as Christianity and Islam
Taoism	Religion is based on finding the way. Moreover, this should not necessarily be done by a person, but also by objects and phenomena
Hinduism	Religion is based on the mythology of the Hindus, and if in other such belief formations the theory is easier, then here it, on the contrary, has become more difficult. It is the basis for many other beliefs, such as Krishnaism or Buddhism
Zoroastrianism	A religion based on belief in fire, regardless of its manifestations

Based on the above, it is impossible to say exactly which is the oldest religion in the world. Many scientists and philosophers are still arguing whether totemism or, for example, Egyptian mythology should be attributed to religion. One thing is for sure - the newest modern religions have certain similarities with those that formed millennia ago. Therefore, a connection remains between them, regardless of whether they are classified as creeds or not.