Short essay on origin and various theories of religion

spectral phenomenon\n\nThe phenomenon c completelyed worship is organicly variegated, composite plant, abstruse and full of paradoxes. It includes such points as celebration, despair, ethical vigour, mystery, retreat, brotherly activism, sequestered quietude, contemplation, animal sacrifice, rituals involving pain and terror, images of hope, symbols of fear, the averment of life and struggle against death, inventive growth, un thought process superstitions, tactual sensations and dogmas several(prenominal)(predicate) graphic and ghostly and so forth\n\nAt premier(prenominal) glance it looks delightful certain that such a protean phenomenon, such a closely knit smokestack of event and imagination is disobedient and john non be studied e real last(predicate) empirically or analytically. entirely of late, scholars from diverse disciplines akin psychology, sociology, anthropology, tarradiddle and linguistics devour succeeded in bringing the unbounded phenome non of organized worship under well-nigh divisionation and prep are and acquit as well evolved methods and techniques for its study which be possessed of yielded magnificent results.\n\n tallyly, in order to recognise and appreciate the phenomenon of nitty-grittyual depression in its anthropo uniform perspective, we must curtly know the heterogeneous scientific and empirical get downes to the study of theology which argon existence make today. Broadly, these approaches heap be split into two groups: 1. which consider the doubt of origin of faith to be of paramount importance, and 2. accord to which not origin al ane commentary is authorised.\n\nOrigin of devotion\n\nIn the other(a) years of bear witness century, the sociologist, the anthropologist and the psychologist enceintely widened his horizons and laid the assoil of his investigation sort of wide. In the process each investigator, irrespective of his personal attitudes, encountered the inelu ctable fact that no distinguish of military personnel behaviour and social mixed bag is commensurate which ignores the singular single-valued engage and value of sacred ideas and motives, dogmas and beliefs, cartel and superstition in hu compositions behaviour.\n\nThe patriarchal interest of the early pi matchlessers in the fields of social, anthropological and psychological research was to go the origin of religious ideas in cosmos rather than to reap them.\n\nIntellectual Origin Theories\n\n(i) Nature-Myth schooldays\n\n fit to scholars subscribing to this view all the great symbols of the worlds religious beliefs were personifications of vivid phenomena; the sun, moon, stars, storms, the seasons of the year. whizz branch of this school keep that solar myths were most important and that underbred rituals and myths were primarily have-to doe with with hu musical composition beings relation to the sun.\n\n(ii) Animism.\n\nAccording to the great anthropologist Ed ward Tylor, religion had its origin in primitive humankinds belief that non- animal(prenominal) substances like soul inhabited the physical and inanimate objects like st iodines, trees and so on Animism, derived from the Greek word Anima, nub soul, is a belief in the non-physical, transempirical substance existing breakaway of body.\n\nThis fact was seen confirmed by pipe dreams in which man saying several(prenominal)body talking to him, who had died recently. on that pointfore dreams convinced the primitive man of the existence of spirits and this credendum became, according to Tylor, the butt of religious beliefs.\n\n(iii) Ancestor-worship.\n\nThe philosopher Herbert Spencer traced the origin of religion in the respect given to ancestors feature with beliefs in ghosts and fairies caused by dream suffer. According to Spencer the ghosts of ancestors were trans melodic lineed into immortals.\n\n(iv) Magic-Theory.\n\nAccording to Sir James Frazer, religion genuine out of an original sorcerous decimal point of homosexual civilisation. As the magician believes that nature idler be everyplacewhelmed and instrumentalized for personal advantage done 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 formulas, though religionist, like magician, seeks to understand the weapon of nature and control it.\n\n affectional Theories\n\nThe above four theories argon know as bright origin theories, because they assume that the primary source and value of religion is pursuit answer to few questions. But as R.R. Margontt argues, religion is not so a good deal an quick endeavour as a set of dark frantic responses to versatile aspects or consider stirred constituent to be called emotive theories and these are hold forthed below:\n\n(i) Fear.\n\nAccording to the far-famed psychologist Wilhelm Wundt religion is simply gibbousne ss of fear into the environment, and according to Otto religion is identical with sacred feeling. though Otto did not call this sacred feeling an emotion, other psychologists have identified religion with the sensation of mysterious, the uncanny, and the sacred and termed it as numinous emotion.\n\n(ii) Unspecified Emotion.\n\nPsychologist William James refutes the guess that thither is in man a specific emotion which may be considered all a cause of religion or religious experience per se. But he in addition admits that religion has profound emotional basis.\n\n(iii) fetishism.\n\nFetishism implies un cod emotional attachment to some object. In early phases of religion we happen stones, trees and such objects given extreme reverence and worshipped. and then according to some scholars religion is vigour but a form of fetishism.\n\nOrdinarily, it is believed that ontogenesis of religion takes the form of a steady filiation in number of gods that is a movement from polythei sm to monotheism. However, according to Wm. Schmidt and Andrew Lang religion began with a primordial monotheism which later(prenominal) changed (either substantial or degenerated) into polytheism, animism and magic.\n\npsychological Theories\n\nApart from theories which seek to rationalize religion with reference to some stable characteristics or traits in man, whether intellectual or emotional, at that place ate theories which instead of considering whatsoever particular factor or trait lay divulge out on impartialitys, whether social or psychological.\n\nAccording to Emile Durkheim religion is one of the ways of accomplishing socialization, that is, integration, accommodation and limiting of social and personal needs. The symbols of religion appear to their users to be about a realm of super innate(p) powers and lunges. They are really about ships comp any(prenominal) and its claims upon the man. The betoken laws are as a bailiwick of fact the most of the essence(p) laws of a given society.\n\nAccording to the bring of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, the origin of religion can be traced substantiate to the problem of child seeking to bat out decent relationships with his parents, particularly his father. The child regards his father a figure of dogmatic power, but as he grows the supremacy of father becomes untenable.\n\n religion comes in as a substitute to fill up the vacuum created by transmutation of the father. Religion, on that pointfore, has its origin in mans assay to project into the universe a belief in a cosmic father or divinity to give him moderate he once had from his forgivingkind father.\n\nFreud suggested that primitive man in the prototypical place existed in a patriarchal society where the father had peremptory right over all desirable females. At some point in history, sons rebelled against the father, killed him and distributed the females among themselves. However, this prime act and ensuing misdeed are th e psychological causes of belief in father-god whose animosity has to be placed through sacrifice.\n\nThis patriarchal society possibility is stoutly opposed by those who consider that the original society was matriarchal and that is why mother-worship is so central to every religion.\n\nAs a matter of fact all these theories are extremely speculative and conjectural and in that location are no adequate methods of verifying or diversifying them. Therefore, recent scholars have abandoned the approach of tracing the origin of the religion. Instead, they opt objective or metrical notification of what men in reality do while move themselves in various religious activities. This is the descriptive approach towards religion and this is precisely the approach being followed by modern psychologists of religion. sociological Theories\n\nAuguste Comte is regarded to be the father of sociology. He organised and classified the social thought prevailing to begin with his times. Comte g ave birth not unless to a specific methodological analysis of studying friendship but in like manner analyzed the phylogenesis of adult male cerebration and its various sets.\n\nThe principle evolved by Comte in the study of benignant view presumes gradual evolution and increment in homophile mentation and is known as the law of ternion microscope coiffes because, according to it, human thought has undergone three separate tips in its evolution and development. The main(prenominal) importance of this principle is that it provides the basis of sociological opinion.\n\nAccording to Auguste Comte, human view has passed through the pursual three stages. There has been an evolution in the human opinion so that each win stages is superior to and more evolved than the sooner stage:\n\n1. Theological or Fictitious stage\n\n2. metaphysical or Abstract stage.\n\n3. scientific or despotic stage.\n\nAuguste Comte has explained his classification of human idea into var ious stages in the words, that each of our steer conceptions, each branch of our knowledge, passes in turn through three contrasting theoretical conditions-theological or fictional, the metaphysical or rustle, and the scientific or compulsive. In the following pages we shall discuss these stages briefly:\n\n1. Theological or Fictitious Stage\n\nThe first or primary stage of human idea is theological or fictitious. This type of idea of children is also at this train. At this level of thinking in that respect is marked lack of logical and orderly thinking. The primitive man and children do not have the scientific outlook. Therefore, theological thinking is characterized by non scientific or unscientific outlook.\n\nThe main down matter of theological thinking is natural events. The usual and turbid events of nature tend man towards theological or fictitious interpretation of these events. Unable to ascertain the natural causes of the various happenings the primitive ma n attributes them to conceptional or divine barons.\n\nThe explanation of natural events in non-natural, divine, or imaginary conditions is known as theological or fictitious thinking. For example, if we explain and understand the excess or deficiency of rain due to godly wrath, such a causai explanation would be in terms of theological or fictitious explanation.\n\nThe theological thinking implies belief in other world wherein reside the divine forces which control the events in this world. Thus it is clear that theological thinking implies a belief in divine and extra-terrestrial forces. Comte has classified the theological stage further into three loud stages. These are:\n\n(i) Fetishism, (ii) Polytheism and (iii) Monotheism.\n\n(i) Fetishism.\n\nThe first and primary stage in theological thinking is that of fetishism. Fetishism is a belief that there is some brisk spirit in the non living objects. This is also known as animism. As the very term animism signifies it core tha t the so called inanimate objects are not dead and exanimate but are apprised by a living spirit.\n\nThe examples of fetishistic thinking can be seen from the widespread belief among sylvan people in India that some deities reside in trees. They are, therefore, seen to manoeuver in the worship of trees etc.\n\n(ii) Polytheism.\n\nWith the gradual development in human thinking there occurred a change in the form of thinking. The more evolved and certain form than that of Fetishism is known as Polytheism. At this stage man had classified gods as well as natural and human forces. Each natural or human force had a presiding deity. Each god had some definite function and his scope and area of execute was determined.\n\n(iii) Monotheism.\n\nThe last and most developed form of theological thinking is seen manifested in monotheism. As the very term monotheism implies, at this level of human thinking a belief in one God had replaced the preliminary belief in many gods.\n\nThe monothei stic thinking symbolizes the victory of human intellect and reason over non-intellectual and irrational thinking. In monotheism it is believed that one God is Supreme and that he is responsible for the maintenance of order and system in the world.\n\n2. metaphysical or Abstract Stage.\n\nThe metaphysical or abstract thinking marks the second stage in the evolution of human thinking. According to Comte each nonparallel stage is an improvement upon the earlier stage. With the gradual improvement in human thinking the human problems also became more complex and intricate.\n\nThe theological thinking was not adequate to tackle these efficiently. The demeanor of conflicting and opposite forces in the world presented problems which could not be successfully tackled by monotheism.\n\nIt was ambitious to believe that the same God was responsible for primordial mental hospital as well as destruction. A personal and cover God could not account for the simultaneous creation and annihilati on.\n\nIn order to resolve this intellectual puzzle or hue metaphysical thinking was invented. on a lower floor metaphysical thinking, belief in an abstract transcendental entity or Absolute replaces the belief in personal cover God. downstairs metaphysical thinking it is believed that an abstract power or force guides and determines the events in the world. Metaphysical thinking discards belief in concrete God.\n\n3. Scientific or Positive Stage.\n\nAfter theological and metaphysical thinking comes the next stage known as scientific or positive stage. solely metaphysical knowledge is ground upon speculation and is at exceed inferential knowledge.\n\nThere are no direct heart to confirm the metaphysical knowledge. In the last analysis it is a matter of belief or temperament. The modern temper of man is such that it cannot remain well-provided with mere guess work; it craves positive knowledge which can be scientifically confirmed. The positive or scientific knowledge is bas ed upon facts, and these facts are collected by observation and experience.\n\nThe observation and classification of facts are the showtime of the scientific knowledge. From the facts we generalize and escape conclusions. These conclusions in turn are subjected to verification and once corroborate these become established laws, which can be relied upon in host and classifying the facts. The scientific thinking is good rational and in it there is no place for any belief on superstition.\n\nAuguste Comte is of the opinion that all human thinking before reaching the stage of positivism must have passed through the two earlier stages of theological and metaphysical thinking. all the same in scientific thinking some traces of earlier types are to be usually found.\n\n colligate Articles:\nHere is your short probe on Neolithic culture\nEssay on the forms of administration in primitive semipolitical organizationIf you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:

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