Dezzie
Well-Known Member
So... I found this on the web. Not sure how accurate it is but... found it very interesting anyway. What do you guys think? I figured this may be an interesting debate... :flirt:
- Religion goes back at least as far as human civilizations. Nobody knows what the first religion was. The Egyptians predate the Jews, The Mesopotamians predate them. The Chinese predate them...
- Religions with a creation story often claim to be the oldest, since the world began with that creation and with the god or gods of that religion.
- Others say that animism would be the oldest known type of religion. This is a primitive religion, which sprang up independently in many areas of the world, but in most countries has mainly been replaced by more formal religion. In animism, spirits are considered to inhabit familiar objects in the landscape. For example, Australian aboriginal beliefs probably go back 60,000 or more.
- Remnants of animal worship survived in Judaism and Christianity. Satan was a serpent; Jehovah, like Osiris, was worshiped as a bull; Christ was the lamb of God, and the Holy Ghost appeared in the form of a dove. However, these are only symbols of the worshiped object, and are not worshiped in themselves.
- The Egyptian religion can also be considered the oldest religion. Its origins date back beyond 3000 BCE.
- First off, this is a very general question. Religion comes from "religare," which is to bind, or have union with, etc. so humans throughout our history have been seeking this union. Yoga, in Sanskrit, means union. This longing for connection to god, to worship god, is innate in most all human beings.
- Hinduism: Since Sanskrit is the oldest written language, as far as religion being written down, and as far as organized religion is concerned, it would be Hinduism. It is said that when Rama appeared, according to our calendar, was a million or so years ago (not sure of the exact date, but it's a long time!) And Krishna, god himself according to the Vedic scriptures, appeared here 5,000 years ago. Buddha, about 500 B.C., Jesus, about 2,000 years ago. If you go through the different religious book and study this question deeply, you will find out that Hinduism is the oldest religion of the world. There are no dates and facts, but its history is about more than 50000 thousands years ago.
- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all Abrahamic religions. Abraham dates back to 1800 BC.
- This also depends on religion - my personal belief is Judaism, since Adam and Eve, and then through Noah. Many people don't believe that nature or sex worship, solar worship, or worship of elements or forces of nature are technically religions. Most such people believe that a polytheistic worship of gods that represent the values of the people was the first religion (gone from today's world).
- From a Biblical perspective, undoubtedly many of the religions of the world are very ancient, and no doubt included what is known today as various 'animistic' elements. Such worship is, according to the Biblical view, the worship of the creature rather than the Creator who made the particular object, whether it be the sun, or a tree etc. It would be akin to us worshiping and adoring a technological invention, instead of praising the inventor, as we know that everything has a maker. In the same way the Bible records these religions as a degeneration from the original monotheism we find in the beginning. The Bible also records the first type of religious ceremony in Genesis 3:3-6 where Cain and Abel both made offerings unto the Lord, the Creator of all. According to the Biblical view, all other religions would have come after this time and developed from it, essentially as creations of man. Genesis 4:3-5 (King James Version)
- And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
- Even before this religious ceremony of the offering of the sacrifice, it is recorded that Adam had a form of open fellowship with God as He had spoken to him and received and understood God's instructions. This simple understanding and fellowship between persons, which in a sense transcends all religious practice as man meets personally with His maker, is what is restored to a degree when a person becomes a 'new creation' in Christ and receives the in-dwelling Holy Spirit. This requires no religious ceremony, can occur anywhere and anytime, and is open to everyone who wishes to worship 'in Spirit and in truth.' It also has the assurance that everything has already been done and completed through the finished work of Jesus Christ, not through any amount of religious works which the devotee can do.
- Worship of Animals and Plants -In the infancy of the world animals were deified and adored, and trees and plants were regarded as sentient beings and received the homage of man. Nearly every animal has been an object of worship. This worship flourished for ages in Egypt and India. In Egypt the worship of the bull (Apis) was associated with that of Osiris (Serapis). The cow is still worshiped in India. Serpent worship has existed in every part of the world.
