The Origin of Religion (religion series pt. 1)
My fascination with religion started the moment I learned about ancient Egypt. Their religion, to some degree, was similar to that of Catholicism which i grew up around. What made it slightly different was they understood the physical and the spiritual go hand in hand, where as catholicism teaches it to be two completely separate things. It made me wonder whether the 2 most practiced western religions (Catholicism & Christianity) have ever taught this openly at some point in history. I don’t ever remember learning about the soul and its purpose for coming to earth at church, just a whole bunch of stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. Which btw, what is that about? Part of a ritual? Can’t be, right? Rituals are of the “devil” according to catholics. However, ancient religions, from what I have read, taught about our soul’s journey! It’s all over the hieroglyphs! And it makes sense! We are much more than a physical body made to worship something outside of ourselves! Western religion is BARELY catching on, and not because they want to, but because information has become instantaneously accessible, we don’t need to sit in a church and listen to a pastor “preach” (quotations are needed because they normally don’t preach they just read off the book they utilize), we can simply go to the internet and gain all of the information needed to feed our curiosity. This will be part of a mini blog series, it’s too much information to share on one post lol. And of course, this will also be a series on my podcast “Listen, Mich!” on spotify (: Okay now let’s get started.
What is religion?
The belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods. The word “religion” originates from the latin word Relegere, according to Cicero, meaning “to go through again”. However, popular etymology among the later ancients and the interpretation of many modern writers connects it with religare "to bind fast", via the notion of "place an obligation on," or "bond between humans and gods." Another possible origin, according to many religious scholars, Religionem, meaning “to show respect for what is sacred”.
What is the origin of religion?
Per my google research, the origin of religion, per archaeological evidence, is a topic dating back to circa 60,000 BCE most likely developed from Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica (Sumerian & Olmec civilizations).
Ancient religions consisted of regular rituals based on a belief in supernatural entities who created and continued to keep the maintenance of the world and surrounding the cosmos. Often anthropomorphic, these entities behaved in ways which mirrored the values of the culture or sometimes engaged in opposite acts to those values. Religion concerns itself with the spiritual side of the human condition, gods or goddess, the creation of our reality, a human being’s purpose in this world, life after death, and how to escape “the matrix”.
For ancient civilizations monotheism (one god or goddess) did not make sense. They felt it was not possible for a single god to take care of all the needs of an individual because just as a teacher is specialized to teach, they believed the gods/goddess were specialized in certain influences life has to offer.
Therefore, every ancient civilization practiced some form of religion, but where religion began cannot be pinpointed, although my guess is religion has been part of the human experience since the beginning of our lifetime. What is religion used for? Is it beneficial? Are there hidden “codes” in religious texts that point to the truth and start of humanity? Let’s see what answers I can find, be sure to stay tuned for the next part of this series!
