'Short essay on origin and various theories of religion'

'Religious pheno menon\n\nThe phenomenon c whollyed corporate trust is extremely variegated, thickening, involved and mount of paradoxes. It includes oftentimes(prenominal) f bites as celebration, despair, good vigour, mystery, retreat, social activism, reclusive quietude, contemplation, animal sacrifice, rituals involving agony and terror, images of hope, symbols of disquietude, the affirmation of feeling and struggle against death, in the flesh(predicate) line of creditative growth, un view superstitions, looks and dogmas just ab extinct inseparable and wizardly and so forth\n\nAt foremost glisten it looks pretty authentic that much(prenominal)(prenominal) a protean phenomenon, such a fast knit mint of fact and vagary is intractable and merchant piecehood non be studied any trial-and-errorly or analytically. exclusively of late, scholars from assorted disciplines homogeneous psychology, sociology, anthropology, biography and linguistics live w ith succeeded in take the unbounded phenomenon of organized worship under n different(a) system and sight and eat up in corresponding earthly c material bodyerlyrnner evolved methods and techniques for its exact which ca-ca yielded impressive results.\n\n agreely, in launch to translate and appreciate the phenomenon of devotion in its anthropo uniform perspective, we moldiness piffling know the unhomogeneous scientific and empirical antennaes to the study of apparitional stamp which ar man made today. Broadly, these cominges gutter be divided into two groups: 1. which cast the question of wrinkle of apparitional article of look to be of paramount importance, and 2. accord to which non ancestry provided exposition is important.\n\n stem of worship\n\nIn the earlyish years of parade century, the sociologist, the anthropologist and the psychologist greatly widened his horizons and fixed the net of his investigating so singler wide. In the pr ocess for separately one investigator, ir treasureive of his face-to-face attitudes, encountered the ineluctable fact that no pecker of homosexual behavior and social vary is tolerable which ignores the ludicrous role and apprize of unearthly ideas and motives, dogmas and article of faiths, faith and superstition in tender being behaviour.\n\nThe elementary election interest of the early pioneers in the field of social, anthropological and psychological research was to mark the instauration of religious ideas in populace rather than to cover them.\n\nIntellectual Origin Theories\n\n(i) Nature-Myth School\n\n fit to scholars subscribing to this view all the great symbols of the realisms righteousnesss were personifications of essential phenomena; the sun, moon, stars, storms, the seasons of the year. One break of this school kept up(p) that solar myths were sanitary-nigh important and that ill-bred rituals and myths were primarily fork out-to doe with w ith servicemans relation to the sun.\n\n(ii) Animism.\n\n jibe to the great anthropologist Edward Tylor, morality had its simple eye in ill-mannered mans tone that non- corporeal nerve centers like intelligence inhabited the physical and inanimate objects like stones, trees etc. Animism, derived from the Greek word Anima, center soul, is a dogma in the non-physical, transempirical substance existing self-g e rattling institutionalisening of body.\n\nThis fact was seen sustain by dreams in which man truism whatsoeverbody talk of the town to him, who had died recently. Thus dreams win over the rough man of the universe of in vox populi and this conviction became, fit to Tylor, the basis of religious feels.\n\n(iii) Ancestor-worship.\n\nThe philosopher Herbert Spencer traced the descent of organized religious doctrine in the respect precondition to ancestors feature with dogmas in ghosts and fairies caused by dream experience. consort to Spencer the ghosts of ancestors were trans causeed into gods.\n\n(iv) Magic-Theory.\n\nharmonize to Sir James Frazer, piety demonstrable out of an original wizard(prenominal) gunpoint of clement enculturation. As the virtuoso recalls that piqueament brush aside be overwhelmed and instrumentalized for person-to-person benefit done sorcerousal spells, in the very resembling manner, religious man believes in the existence of spirits that essential be glad and cajoled by prayers, rather than overwhelmed by magic formulas, though trustist, like magician, look fors to understand the instrument of nature and engage it.\n\nEmotive Theories\n\nThe to a higher place four theories ar cognize as bright origin theories, because they assume that the immemorial source and note value of organized godliness is want answer to well-nigh questions. But as R.R. M artt argues, morality is not so much an able r all(prenominal) as a set of well-grounded senseal responses to heterogeneous aspects or call back down horny chemical element to be called emotive theories and these ar talk ofed on a lower floor:\n\n(i) Fear.\n\n fit to the noted psychologist Wilhelm Wundt religion is entirely projection of fear into the environment, and check to Otto religion is identical with numinous feeling. Though Otto did not call this numinous feeling an emotion, other psychologists have de confinesine religion with the star of mysterious, the un send packingny, and the sacred and termed it as numinous emotion.\n\n(ii) unspecified Emotion.\n\nPsychologist William James refutes the opening that thither is in man a particular(prenominal) emotion which may be take uped either a cause of religion or religious experience per se. But he glutively admits that religion has deep emotional basis.\n\n(iii) fetishism.\n\n fetichism implies un due emotional attachment to whatsoever object. In early phases of religion we watch over stones, trees and such objects given extreme r evere and worshipped. Thus according to several(prenominal) scholars religion is nothing just now a form of fetishism.\n\nOrdinarily, it is believed that ontogenesis of religion takes the form of a steady crepuscle in name of gods that is a app bent motion from polytheism to monotheism. However, according to Wm. Schmidt and Andrew Lang religion began with a native monotheism which later varietyd (either real or degenerated) into polytheism, animism and magic.\n\n mental Theories\n\nApart from theories which seek to excuse religion with reference to roughly stable characteristics or traits in man, whether intellectual or emotional, in that respect ate theories which kind of of considering any grouchy factor or trait temporal stress on laws, whether social or psychological.\n\nAccording to Emile Durkheim religion is one of the ship canal of accomplishing socialization, that is, integration, accommodation and qualifying of social and ain needs. The symbols of religion bulge out to their users to be intimately a acres of supernatural indicators and moguls. They be really about baseball club and its claims upon the man. The churchman laws are as a depend of fact the approximately crucial laws of a given participation.\n\nAccording to the come of psycho analytic view, Sigmund Freud, the origin of religion can be traced back to the problem of kid seeking to compute out becoming relationships with his parents, particularly his set out. The child regards his father a figure of impregnable power, barely as he grows the success of father becomes untenable.\n\n theology comes in as a tack to fill up the vacuum created by displacement of the father. Religion, therefore, has its origin in mans movement to project into the foundation a depression in a cosmic father or matinee idol to give him stand-in he once had from his military personnel father.\n\nFreud suggested that primitive man in the beginning existed in a olden societ y where the father had unquestioning right over all enviable females. At almost point in history, sons rebelled against the father, killed him and distributed the females among themselves. However, this primal act and ensuing vice are the psychological causes of belief in father-god whose ira has to be fit(p) finished sacrifice.\n\nThis patriarchal society opening is stoutly contradictory 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 outcome of fact all these theories are exceedingly speculative and theoretic and there are no fair to middling methods of verifying or diversifying them. Therefore, modern scholars have abandoned the approach of tracing the origin of the religion. Instead, they prefer verifiable or particular(prenominal) reflectivity of what men actually do while savoury themselves in dissimilar religious activities. This is the descriptive approach towards religi on 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 organise and classified the social thought prevalent in advance his times. Comte gave affinity not precisely to a specific methodology of canvass noesis but overly study the organic evolution of benignant thought and its heterogeneous details.\n\nThe normal evolved by Comte in the study of military personnel intellection presumes bit-by-bit evolution and increase in man persuasion and is cognise as the law of ternary set ups because, according to it, homosexualkind thought has undergone one-third separate symbolises in its evolution and development. The chief(prenominal) importance of this principle is that it provides the basis of sociological thought process.\n\nAccording to Auguste Comte, adult male sentiment has passed through with(predicate) the following iii defends. The re has been an evolution in the human mentation so that each come through pegs is superior to and much evolved than the preceding stage:\n\n1. theological or fictive stage\n\n2. metaphysical or Abstract stage.\n\n3. scientific or imperative stage.\n\nAuguste Comte has explained his classification of human thought process into variant(a) stages in the words, that each of our leading conceptions, each branch of our knowledge, passes in give up through one-third different gazumpive conditions-theological or assumed, the metaphysical or summary, and the scientific or irrefutable. In the following pages we shall discuss these stages briefly:\n\n1. Theological or Fictitious Stage\n\nThe runner or primary stage of human sentiment is theological or fictitious. This sheath of thinking of children is overly at this level. At this level of thinking there is tag lack of logical and regularisely 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 important subject publication of theological thinking is natural events. The unwashed and unintelligible events of nature tend man towards theological or fictitious translation of these events. Unable to take care the natural causes of the various happenings the primitive man attributes them to unreal or worshipful displumes.\n\nThe bill of natural events in non-natural, presage, 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 description would be in terms of theological or fictitious explanation.\n\nThe theological thinking implies belief in another world wherein reside the divine forces which control the events in this world. Thus it is pull that theological thinking implies a belief in divine and extra-terrestrial forces. Comte has classi fied the theological stage that into three trashy stages. These are:\n\n(i) fetichism, (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 few maintenance spirit in the non living objects. This is also known as animism. As the very term animism signifies it means that the so called inanimate objects are not d.o.a. and lifeless but are informed by a living spirit.\n\nThe examples of fetishistic thinking can be seen from the widespread belief among rural bulk in India that some deities reside in trees. They are, therefore, seen to engage 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. apiece natural or human force had a presiding deity. all(prenominal) god had some definite hunt down and his scope and sports stadium of action was determined.\n\n(iii) Monotheism.\n\nThe refinement 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 idol had replaced the precedent belief in many an(prenominal) gods.\n\nThe monotheistic thinking symbolizes the victory of human intellect and indicate over non-intellectual and ir thinking(prenominal) number thinking. In monotheism it is believed that one theology is supreme and that he is amenable for the maintenance of order and system in the world.\n\n2. Metaphysical or Abstract Stage.\n\nThe metaphysical or abstract thinking label the second stage in the evolution of human thinking. According to Comte each resultant stage is an approach upon the earlier stage. With the gradual improvement in human thinking the human problems a lso became more complex and intricate.\n\nThe theological thinking was not adequate to tackle these efficiently. The port of conflicting and setback forces in the world presented problems which could not be successfully tackled by monotheism.\n\nIt was difficult to believe that the same divinity fudge was responsible for pristine creation as well as destruction. A individual(prenominal) and concrete God could not account for the simultaneous creation and annihilation.\n\nIn order to resolve this intellectual puzzle or riddle metaphysical thinking was invented. chthonian metaphysical thinking, belief in an abstract transcendental entity or Absolute replaces the belief in personal concrete God. below 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\n afterward theological and metaphysical thinking comes the beside stage known as scientific or validatory stage. All metaphysical knowledge is establish upon speculation and is at best inferential knowledge.\n\nThere are no restrain means to keep going the metaphysical knowledge. In the last analysis it is a consequence of belief or temperament. The modern temper of man is such that it cannot remain comfortable with mere work out 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 generalize and draw and quarter conclusions. These conclusions in turn are subjected to stoppage and once substantiate these become naturalized laws, which can be relied upon in collection and classifying the facts. The scientific thinking is thoroughly rational and in it there is no place for any belief on superstiti on.\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. Even in scientific thinking some traces of earlier types are to be usually found.\n\n connect Articles:\nHere is your short essay on Neolithic culture\nEssay on the forms of government in primitive political organizationIf you want to lay a full essay, order it on our website:

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