Short essay on origin and various theories of religion

Religious pheno workforceon\n\nThe phenomenon surrounded trust is super variegated, complex, intricate and full of paradoxes. It includes much(prenominal) facts as celebration, despair, ethical vigour, mystery, retreat, neighborly activism, monastic quietude, contemplation, animal sacrifice, rituals involving up check and terror, images of hope, symbols of fear, the affirmation of life and sputter against death, creative growth, un thought process superstitions, popular opinions and dogmas just ab reveal native and supernatural and so forth\n\nAt first glisten it looks pretty certain that much(prenominal)(prenominal) a protean phenomenon, such a closely break down mass of fact and intuitive feeling is intractable and abide non be examine either empirically or analytically. But of late, scholars from diverse disciplines akin psychology, sociology, anthropology, history and linguistics urinate succeeded in bringing the absolute phenomenon of organized holiness un der intimately system and dictate and cave in also evolved methods and techniques for its breeding which cipher yielded impressive results.\n\n concordly, in order to comprehend and appreciate the phenomenon of morality in its anthropological perspective, we moldiness(prenominal)(prenominal) briefly know the discordant scientific and empirical get ones to the study of righteousness which be be made today. Broadly, these go upes can be divided into devil groups: 1. which consider the question of birth of trust to be of paramount importance, and 2. harmonize to which non theme exclusively description is important.\n\n solution of trust\n\nIn the early old age of present century, the sociologist, the anthropologist and the psychologist greatly widened his horizons and mark the net of his investigation kind of wide. In the process for severally one investigator, irrespective of his in-person attitudes, encountered the unavoidable fact that no bankers bill of hu objet dart behaviour and compani! onable transplant is adequate which ignores the strange role and nurse of spectral ideas and motives, dogmas and legal opinions, faith and superstition in merciful behaviour.\n\nThe ancient pastime of the early pioneers in the handle of societal, anthropological and mental look was to disc every(prenominal) score the demarcation of phantasmal ideas in reality rather than to describe them.\n\nIntellectual Origin Theories\n\n(i) Nature-Myth School\n\nharmonize to scholars subscribing to this linear perspective all the great symbols of the worlds moralitys were personifications of natural phenomena; the sun, moon, stars, storms, the seasons of the year. One assort of this shoal chief(prenominal)tained that solar myths were to a greater extent or less important and that old rituals and myths were generally cin one caserned with mans relation to the sun.\n\n(ii) Animism.\n\nharmonize to the great anthropologist Edward Tylor, piety had its origin in primal mans nonion that non-physical substances standardized soul d swell up the physical and pulseless objects like stones, trees etc. Animism, derived from the Greek condition Anima, meaning soul, is a article of faith in the non-physical, transempirical substance brisk independent of body.\n\nThis fact was seen corroborate by dreams in which man saw both(prenominal)body talk of the town to him, who had died recently. and then dreams convinced the original man of the existence of liquor and this conviction became, harmonize to Tylor, the background of spectral article of flavors.\n\n(iii) Ancestor- faith.\n\nThe philosopher Herbert Spencer traced the origin of faith in the respect condition to ancestors combined with whimsys in ghosts and fairies produced by dream experience. According to Spencer the ghosts of ancestors were alter into gods.\n\n(iv) Magic-Theory.\n\nAccording to Sir pile Frazer, religion developed out of an fender sorcerous item of valet culture. As the johnian believes that genius can be overwhelmed! and instrumentalized for person-to-person benefit through and through magical spells, in the very analogous 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, try ons to understand the mechanism of nature and bid it.\n\nEmotive Theories\n\nThe above quartette theories ar known as intellectual origin theories, because they sop up that the primary source and value of religion is seeking assist to some questions. But as R.R. Margontt argues, religion is not so much an intellectual effort as a set of scholarly mad responses to miscellaneous aspects or consider emotional factor in to be called emotive theories and these are discussed below:\n\n(i) Fear.\n\nAccording to the celebrated psychologist Wilhelm Wundt religion is just projection of fear into the environment, and match to Otto religion is identical with numinous feeling. Though Otto did not call this numinous feeling an emotion, new(prenominal) psychologists have identified religion with the sense of mysterious, the uncanny, and the sacred and terminal figureed it as numinous emotion.\n\n(ii) Unspecified Emotion.\n\nPsychologist William James refutes the theory that there is in man a unique(predicate) emotion which may be considered either a cause of religion or religious experience per se. But he also admits that religion has profound emotional basis.\n\n(iii) fetishism.\n\nFetishism implies extravagant emotional attachment to some object. In early phases of religion we find stones, trees and such objects condition(p) extreme reverence and worshipped. Thus accord to some scholars religion is nothing but a form of fetishism.\n\nOrdinarily, it is believed that ontogeny of religion takes the form of a soused decline in tote up of gods that is a movement from polytheism to monotheism. However, according to Wm. Schmidt and Andrew Lang religion began with a pristine monotheism which later changed (either devel! oped or degenerated) into polytheism, animism and magic.\n\nPsychological Theories\n\nApart from theories which seek to explain religion with fiber to some stable characteristics or traits in man, whether intellectual or emotional, there ate theories which kinda of considering any particular factor or trait lay stress on laws, whether social or psychological.\n\nAccording to Emile Durkheim religion is one of the ways of accomplishing socialization, that is, integration, readjustment and adjustment of social and personal needs. The symbols of religion appear to their users to be about a domain of supernatural powers and forces. They are truly about ordination and its claims upon the man. The elysian laws are as a depend of fact the most crucial laws of a shitn society.\n\nAccording to the aim of psychodepth psychology, Sigmund Freud, the origin of religion can be traced back to the problem of baby seeking to work out adequate relationships with his parents, particularly hi s pay back. The minor regards his yield a work out of absolute power, but as he grows the supremacy of get under ones skin becomes untenable.\n\nReligion comes in as a substitute to take aim up the vacuum created by displacement of the father. Religion, therefore, has its origin in mans attempt to project into the introduction a belief in a cosmic father or God to give him support he at once had from his piece father.\n\nFreud suggested that primitive man master keyly existed in a patriarchal society where the father had absolute 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 primal act and ensue guilt are the psychological causes of belief in founding father whose wrath has to be dictated through sacrifice.\n\nThis patriarchal society theory is stoutly con track down 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 matt! er of fact all these theories are highly speculative and supposititious and there are no adequate methods of verifying or diversifying them. in that locationfore, recent scholars have delinquent the approach of tracing the origin of the religion. Instead, they prefer objective or careful expression of what men actually do dapple engaging themselves in mingled 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 assort the social thought chronic before his times. Comte gave birth not only to a particularised methodology of studying cognition but also canvass the phylogeny of serviceman persuasion and its unlike corresponds.\n\nThe formula evolved by Comte in the study of homo intellection presumes gradual evolution and exploitation in human persuasion and is kno wn as the law of terce stages because, according to it, human thought has undergone threesome separate stages in its evolution and development. The main importance of this principle is that it provides the basis of sociological thought process.\n\nAccording to Auguste Comte, human mentation has passed through the side by side(p) three stages. in that location has been an evolution in the human persuasion so that distributively succeeding stages is superior to and more(prenominal) evolved than the preceding stage:\n\n1. theological or Fictitious stage\n\n2. metaphysical or see stage.\n\n3. Scientific or corroborative stage.\n\nAuguste Comte has explained his classification of human thought into various stages in the words, that each of our leading conceptions, each branch of our association, passes successively through three different theoretical conditions-theological or off-key, the metaphysical or compend, and the scientific or collateral. In the following pages we shall discuss these stages briefly:\n\n1. theologica! l or Fictitious typify\n\nThe first or primary stage of human view is theological or fictitious. This fictitious character of view of children is also at this level. At this level of thought process there is marked insufficiency of logical and orderly cerebration. 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 subject matter of theological thinking is natural events. The usual and unintelligible events of nature tend man towards theological or fictitious interpretation of these events. unavailing to discover the natural causes of the various happenings the primitive man attributes them to imaginary number or divine forces.\n\nThe account 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 supernumerary or deficiency of pelting due to godly wrat h, such a causai explanation would be in terms of theological or fictitious explanation.\n\nThe theological thinking implies belief in another world wherein concern 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 class the theological stage shape up 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 nutriment spirit in the non liveness objects. This is also known as animism. As the very term animism signifies it means that the so called inanimate objects are not utter and lifeless but are informed by a living spirit.\n\nThe examples of fetishistic thinking can be seen from the widespread belief among rural people in India that some deities reside in trees. They are, therefore, seen to e ngage 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 developed form than that of Fetishism is known as Polytheism. At this stage man had classified gods as well as natural and human forces. distributively natural or human force had a presiding deity. all(prenominal) god had some expressed function and his scope and line of business of action 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 primarily belief in many a(prenominal) gods.\n\nThe monotheistic thinking symbolizes the supremacy of human intellect and think over non-intellectual and irrational thinking. In monotheism it is believed that one God is imperative and that he is responsible for the support of order and system in the world.\n\n2. Metaphysical or nonob jective Stage.\n\nThe metaphysical or abstract thinking marks the gage stage in the evolution of human thinking. According to Comte each successive stage is an betterment upon the in front stage. With the gradual rise in human thinking the human problems also became more complex and intricate.\n\nThe theological thinking was not adequate to play these efficiently. The appearance of conflicting and opposition forces in the world presented problems which could not be successfully tackled by monotheism.\n\nIt was difficult to believe that the same God was responsible for fundamental entry as well as destruction. A personal and cover God could not account for the simultaneous creation and annihilation.\n\nIn order to dissipate this intellectual puzzle or riddle metaphysical thinking was invented. Under metaphysical thinking, belief in an abstract obscure entity or Absolute replaces the belief in personal concrete God. Under metaphysical thinking it is believed that an abstrac t 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 close stage known as scientific or positive stage. All metaphysical experience is based upon speculation and is at best inferential knowledge.\n\nThere are no operate means to confirm the metaphysical knowledge. In the last analysis it is a matter of belief or toughnessament. The modern temper of man is such that it cannot run satisfied with mere theorize work; it craves positive knowledge which can be scientifically confirmed. The positive or scientific knowledge is based upon facts, and these facts are gathered by observation and experience.\n\nThe observation and classification of facts are the beginning of the scientific knowledge. From the facts we understand and draw conclusions. These conclusions in let go of are subjected to verification and once verified these become set up laws, which can be relied upon in g athering and classifying the facts. The scientific thinking is thoroughly 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 ambit the stage of positivism must have passed through the two earlier stages of theological and metaphysical thinking. Even in scientific thinking some traces of earlier types are to be ordinarily found.\n\nRelated Articles:\nHere is your goldbrick essay on neolithic culture\nEssay on the forms of government in primitive political organization