RELIGION AS THE SOCIAL PHENOMENON

1. RELIGION AS THE SOCIAL PHENOMENON

2. 1. Circumstances of the Primitive Religion Formation. • 2. The Evolution of Religious Consiousness. • 3. Polytheism and Monotheism.

3. Why is religion the social phenomenon? Because religion is inseparable from the history of human society. The Teachers of the Church note that religion is the phenomenon common to all mankind. It corresponds to the vital requirements of the man: sanctity, conscience, ethic duty, ideology, moral connection and law, the development of education, science and civilization. • The power of Divine creature more and more arises before the man in the process of historical development of the society. It began with the primitive religious views and continued to the modern developed religions such as: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

4. What is the development and evolution of primitive religions? Archaeology and ethnography study the man in the process of his historical development. Archaeology studies the origin and evolution of the man, ethnography studies the culture and peoples mode of life. • Man’s history numbers two million years. Anthropomorphous beings – pithecanthrope and synanthrope are considered to be the predecessors of the present man. Why? Because they could make primitive labour tools. Judging by the size of the skull they were not able for world cognition on a large scale. • The Neanderthal man lived more than 100.000 years ago. He used fire, caves as the dwelling. The late Neanderthal man had the deceased burials. The primitive forms of religion belong to Croman – the man of present type. His history began approximately 50-40.000 years ago. The evolution of religions forms belongs to that time.

5. What is the way of life of the primitive people? They had stone labour tools, different tips, spears, arrows. Early tribal organization of the life and activity was evident. At the head of the clan or tribe was the mother. Here we have the name of maternal clan community or matriarche. Purials, were purposeful. The deceased “continued to live” in the minds of primitive people. They put labour tools, food into the tomb. The facts mentioned above prove the following: • - the development of thinking; • - the feeling of sanctity or holiness; • - the feeling of moral interdiction and conscience; • - the man regulates his behaviour.

6. Labour tools prove the development of thinking and perception of environment. Matriarchy proves the feeling of sanctity before the mother who gave birth and took care of the family. Realizable feeling of moral interdiction appeared. So the man can regulate his behaviour. Beneficial weather and natural disasters personify the notions of good and evil as something external with respect to the man. The realization of the Highest Substance awoke. The man began to regulate his relation with “invisible world”. The form of relation determined his notions about good and evil. • Burials prove elementary notions about the other world. The world is doubled in man’s consiousness. World doubling is the base of religious consiousness as it has been already mentioned above.

7. How religious consiousness of the man was formed. How did he double the world? Religion and Religion History are inseparable from his history Due to Religion the man became spiritual person – the personification of God’s image and similarity. • The man is inseparable from the natural phenomena though his standards of the development are high. We’ll always provide the world around us with self -consiousness. Everything strives for the integrity. And we strive to be the embodiment of the world around us, otherwise it will be deprived of the sense of our existence.

8. Animatism was the general background of the primitive man in perception of real world. He provided the world with his feelings and wishes. Such attitude towards natural phenomena and forces gave the man possibility to sep up double-sided contact according to the following principle: “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. If natural phenomena live by man’s life, the man may ask them, seeks sympathy and cajoles. That what stroke the man’s imagination became the object of Sypernatural Power respect. It might be animal’s bone, skull, jaw, anthropomorphous carved image from wood, clay and stone. All these objects in primitive man’s consiousness that can change their properties are called fetishes.

9. They were taken as the amulet, they were asked for help in different life situations. At the beginning the fetish was treated as partner’s equal. Then the fetish became more and more respected. It became personal and family sacred thing. The form of their treatment became more complex. This complex system of treatment is known as the magic. The magic accompanied the primitive man in his everyday life. It exists in our time too. This is the magic of hunters, cattle-breeders, farmers, craftsmen, fishermen. It’s a part of man’s personal life the magic of love and sensuality. We also have medical magic. Then the magic of sailors, pilots and steeple-jacks appeared.

10. Psychology of this phenomena becomes evident. The man always strives and will strive to find inner calmness, self-reliance, balance with external and unexplored world. Otherwise he will lose selfconfidence and won’t provide his vital activity. • If we skilfully combine fetishism and magic the third form of primitive religions will appear. His animism – from Latin “anima” that means “soul”. • The man lives by inner feeling of the Highest Power and he addresses to the fetish as the incarnation of this power. At the same time natural phenomena also possess consiousness and feeling. They live by man’s life. Here comes the conclusion that all phenomena, surrounding the man have doubles – those that we see, hear, feel and those that we perceive by intuitive sense. • Fetish, magic and animism composed the first forms of religious belief. • Early matriarchy – mother’s supremacy in patrimonial community caused the next form of religion – totemism.

11. Why does the necessity to know about our origin appear? We must know what was before and will be after us. The faith in totem – the founder and keeper of the family was important stage in the realization of spiritual unity of tribal community. At that time totems were animals, birds and seldom fish. It’s impossible to offend the totem or to kill him, because he can do harm to the tribe.

12. Agricultural cult appeared during the period of late matriarchy. It was the next form of ancient religions. • The leading role of the woman in religion became apparent. Besides that she started agricultural labour she gives birth to the new life. The Mother’s cult and land cult supplement each other. The land provides man’s life. That’s why agricultural ghosts were the main in respects and worrhips. The cult of the Sun and the rain appeared too.

13. Religious conceptions – fetish, magic, totem, agricultural cult extended the man’s idea about the world and himself, formed entire world outlook: the Earth – Man – Cosmos. • Then with the separation of cattle – breeding from agriculture the role of man and woman had been changed. The most notable representatives of male sex became the elder of the tribe. • Essencial changes in the tribe structure contributed to the formation of the elders and leaders cults.

14. The other form of early religious conceptions – the cult of ancestor arose. The views about totems as the symbol of the tribe had been changed. The leaders of the tribe could communicate with them. Everything that was told on the behalf of the totem must be done by tribesmen. Conscious relations were formed as the tribe life was impossible without them.

15. The complexity of religious conceptions and actions demanded corresponding explanation. It was insufficiently for the man to know what thing or object was that and why it had such meaning or explanation. It was necessary to connect real life with the past, that is to learn where the natural phenomena and the man are from. The other form of religion – myth appeared. This word is of Greek origin muvos – means story.

16. Mythes are divided into religious and non-religious. Primitive mythes – are narrations about the Earth, heavenly bodies. The man was satisfied with the explanation that the Earth rested upon three elephants or whales, that heavenly bodies were sparks of the fire. Mythes influenced on man’s feelings. • Ancient mythes became the attainment of artistic creative work in European culture. Mythical works have great artistic value.

17. Religious myth differs from non-religious one. The man feels direct connection and dependence of active forces of the myth. This is the “second world” for him which he perceives with holiness and reverence. Active forces are capable to help the man, but they are capable to punish him. For example the myth about Sun-good-Dazhboh in the Slavs. If one angers the god, the sun will grow dark, everything will die and the life will stop. • Myth is so close to the tale. But essential difference exists between them. Myth describes relations, their causes and effects, but the tale narrates about the triumph of good above evil.

18. Who was the founder of mythical works, who perfected, maintained them in man consiousness? • It was the group of people – the prototype of future priests. They were called shamen. • The shaman obeyed (submit) the elder or leader and carried out their instructions. He kept off evil spirits, drew in good spirits, treated sick. The shaman had personal influence on religious consiousness of the people. • The formation of states changed religious notions of the people. Deities took the place of spirits. Peculiar “ladder” of deities arose at the head of Senior Deity. It was Dazhboh in the Slavs and in the IX century – Perun.

19. Polytheism arose in that period. It is belief in many Gods. Belief in one God – monotheism arose during the formation of centralized states. In modern religions we have – Christ, Allah, Buddha.

20. Monotheism – the belief that there is but One God. Christian-Biblical monotheism teaches that the One true God subsists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the doctrine of Triniti in unity.

21. Trinity – It has been said that if you try to comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity you may lose your mind, and is you deny it you will lose your soul. The finite mind of man cannot possibly comprehend the infinite God. So a complete understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity is not attainable by us. However, we can obtain a knowledge of the trinity from God’s revelation of Himself in His Word, and although the knowledge so gained by our finite minds is incomplete, it is nonetheless true knowledge. • God’s revelation of Himself lies at the heart of all He has revealed in His Word. In a very real sense, our understanding of any part of the Scripture revelation is dependent upon our acceptance of God’s revelation of Himself, a revelation which is denoted by the term trinity. One theologian aptly said, “The Trinity is the point in which all Christian ideas and interests unite; at once the beginning and the end of all insight into Christianity”.

22. Trinity. “The word trinity is derived from Latin and Greek terms meaning three in one, or the one which is three, and the three which are one … The word is not found in the Scriptures. Technical terms are, however, absolutely necessary in all sciences. In this case they have been made particularly essential because of the subtie perversions of the simple, untechnical Biblical statements by infidels and heretics. The term, as above defined, admirably expresses the central fact of the great doctrine of the one essence eternally subsisting as three Persons, all the elements of which (doctrine) are explicitly taught in the Scriptures” (A.A.Hidge).

23. Person. The original meaning of the Latin word persona, is far removed from its present sense and it is an even larger step from the present sense of the word to the scriptural and theological meaning when applied to the Godhead. But despite its imperfection as a term, there is none better in man’s vocabulary. In everyday usage, the term person denotes an entirely separate and distinct rational individual. It does not have this meaning when referred to the Persons in the trinity. A divine person, to use John Calvin’s words, is “a subsistence in the divine essence – a subsistence which, while related to the other two, is distinguished from them by incommunicable properties”. • Since there is one God; and since the Father is God, and the Son us God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and since these three are clearly distinguished in Scripture we are left with the glorious fruth of the trinity – one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, each indwelling the other and each possessing, not in part, but entirely, the infinite essence of the one divine Being. Contemplating such a majestic mystery of revealed truth we are constrained to cry out with heaven’s seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy, is the lord of Hosts” (Isa. 6:3).