which is the oldest religion ?

[Nietzsche]

Oldest practiced faith still around today? Probably Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and various Folk religions (Chinese, Japanese, Bon, etc.).

Oldest belief system overall? I'd say Shamanism and Animism.

Knock Judaism off the list. Compared to Hinduism or Zoroastrianism it's practically an infant.

But we want to really talk about oldest religion, it'd probably be some kind of sun-worship or the like.

we could sit hear and talk about " what ifs" and " maybe this happened" allday long .....but its nonsense really to think chimps have religion...funny though lol

No, no it isn't. We've got proof that our Neanderthal and other cousins at the very least had burial rites and what have you. There is no reason to say that chimps do not have some manner or superstition or other proto-religious belief.

 

[The Hammer]

Does any one know when the first written word was about god speaking to someone?

Pretty sure the first person God of Abraham 'talked' to was Moses.

 

[Sapiens]

I suspect that atheism is the oldest (though not, technically a religion). Most of our primate relatives are atheists to this day.

 

[mainliner]

It's not a "what it", we know that homo sapiens earliest known 'religious' views were animistic in nature, which is what the chimps in above post are displaying, things that have actually been displayed and documented, amongst chimpanzees and great apes.

EDIT: You want funny, try and make sense of the 33,000 differing denominations of christianity worldwide... Oh, never mind.

WHAT!!!....33,000 !!!

i want to start one ..... I feel left out lol

 

[The Hammer]

I suspect that atheism is the oldest (though not, technically a religion). Most of our primate relatives are atheists to this day.

I would disagree and say animism is the oldest, as it is still observed, not just amongst other primates, but in our children as well. They hold an anthropomorphic view of the world, until much later in life.

While, atheism and animism were probably held as side by side items, rather then exclusively. You can believe animals, plants, and rocks have feelings/conciousness, while still not deifying them to god-hood.

 

[mainliner]

This is all very confusing

so what im asking is impossible to answer with so many different religions.?

everyone will tell me there beliefs....and so on

i just think somewhere at the back of my mind that all these story's are some sort of cover from the truth.......idk?

maybe this is why iv never taken a religious side. ....... Non of them are true in each others minds.

 

[NulliuSINverba]

which is the oldest religion and was the religion after that based upon disbeliefs of the first ?

The oldest religion? Atheism, of course.

That atheism is a religion is yet another empty claim made by (some) theists that just screams out for skepticism. However, if we allow for a moment that they're right (and that to be without religion is in fact a religion) ... then the conclusion that atheism is also the oldest religion seems inescapable.

Theism can be defined along the lines of: Belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures.

Atheism is to be "without theism."

I think most sane, rational adults (and even most theists) can immediately sense the inherent flaw(s) in trying to insist that a lack of religion is a religion, but for the sake of argument, we'll assume that those who're making this (bizarre) claim are correct.

Non-scriptural evidence might produce an argument like this: Religion (read: theism) is a learned behavior while lack of it is not. To be without religion is the default starting point for all humans. So if lack of a religion is a religion, one might be obliged to concede that the conversion process away from the "religion" of atheism to any other religion is prime evidence that cements the argument that atheism is the world's oldest religion.

Perhaps you're inclined to reject anything but good, old-fashioned scriptural evidence that atheism is the oldest religion?

If so, just pick up your Bible and read until you hit the word "worship" (or some variation thereof). Notice how you're already past Adam and Eve before you hit it? You'll also notice that the Bible's epic laundry list of murder doesn't get started until after the introduction of religion (or some variation thereof). But I digress.

What religion were Adam and Eve anyway? Did they in fact worship? Did God ever actually get around to announcing to them that he was a divine being?

If not, then to conclude that Adam and Eve were "without theism" (and hence, atheists) seems quite legitimate.

...

You might also conclude that the Bible is bunk and that it's fallacious to assert that the lack of religion is a religion.

...

To answer your question in a more straightforward manner, isn't Hinduism generally regarded as the world's oldest religion?

 

[NulliuSINverba]

You want funny, try and make sense of the 33,000 differing denominations of christianity worldwide... Oh, never mind.

Hush. God is not the author of confusion.

 

[Riverwolf]

so what im asking is impossible to answer with so many different religions.?

It's more that it's impossible because the records are incomplete. Many of the things humans have written down on preservable material have been lost, and there are still scripts that remain (and could very well always remain) undecyphered. It doesn't help that the very word "religion" is polysemic, meaning that it has several, sometimes contradictory, definitions. This means when asking about religion as a whole, you have to clarify exactly what you're talking about.

How are you defining religion in this thread?

 

[Skwim]

 

[dust1n]

Adam and Eve were Jews, right?

 

[te_lanus]

i think iv titled my thread wrong lol

it should really say " what's the oldest religion closest to christ"

That might be the orisis myth (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris_myth) and mithraism

 

[Midnight Rain]

Both Judaism and Hinduism go back prior to written history but there is archaeological evidence that there were Shamanistic imagery in the ancient world possibly even before large scale civilization.

 

[Nietzsche]

To answer your question in a more straightforward manner, isn't Hinduism generally regarded as the world's oldest religion?

Hinduism is without question the oldest continuously practiced, but it isn't likely the oldest religion.

Both Judaism and Hinduism go back prior to written history but there is archaeological evidence that there were Shamanistic imagery in the ancient world possibly even before large scale civilization.

The oldest of the Hindu texts predate the oldest known story in Judaism(Job, I believe) by three hundred years or so.

 

[Midnight Rain]

\
The oldest of the Hindu texts predate the oldest known story in Judaism(Job, I believe) by three hundred years or so.

By 250 actually.

 

[roger1440]

Aborigines have been worshipping the serpent for a very long time. Over 10,000 years I vote them.

The god El is probably the most popular of all gods ever with a 5000 ish year track record. With concepts still worshipped to this day.

My vote goes to the fat chick.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

they could be considered worship or religion for a chimp.....if your a crazy man lol

Actually, many primatologists (including Jane Goodall) are certain that is exactly what is going on.

I suspect that atheism is the oldest (though not, technically a religion). Most of our primate relatives are atheists to this day.

How do you know this? Can you honestly say with any real certainty that most of our primate relatives are atheists?

 

[Nietzsche]

Actually, many primatologists (including Jane Goodall) are certain that is exactly what is going on.


How do you know this? Can you honestly say with any real certainty that most of our primate relatives are atheists?

To be fair, it would seem as though even within the smartest of our relatives these actions are by no means widespread.

 

[Valjean]

we could sit hear and talk about " what ifs" and " maybe this happened" allday long .....but its nonsense really to think chimps have religion...funny though lol

This has been described by primatologists. It's a serious issue among anthropologists and primatologists.

 

[mainliner]

So the answer to my thread is ..erm....chimpanzeanity !