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Also. How would they compare? I'm not very educated on this subject and know that a good portion of you are. So give me some examples etc. I'm looking for before Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese religion, etc. I wouldn't mind knowing more about the origin of religion itself. How they may have influenced the current faiths. Other world faiths also.
I'm not an expert in this area, and some could give you a much better answer, but I think generally you could call it 'paganism.' This is what the church called it anyway.
Many, though certainly not all, were polytheistic religion (multiple gods) that were simply used to explain the unexplained. For example, Greek mythology had there gods like Zeus to explain lightening or Ares justify the nature of war. In general, they were just things they saw the put them in awe; a sense of wonder. Many ancient civilizations for example saw comets as an omen; different cultures thought it meant different things.
My best advise it to explore for yourself. You'll learn better that way. Start with Greek or Roman mythology. In my opinion, they're the easiest to grasp as both do somewhat connect to modern western thinking. For example, Christmas is celebrated on a day that the Romans had already set aside as important; a harvest festival if I remember correctly. Jesus was almost certainly not born in December 25th, but since the date was already widely celebrated, the church decided that would be a good time to celebrate.
Jesus was almost certainly not born in December 25th, but since the date was already widely celebrated, the church decided that would be a good time to celebrate.
I used to believe this too, until I heard the argument presented on a documentary,
here is a link... not saying I'm convinced He first drew human breath on December 25th,
but the chances went up The Star of Bethlehem: the facts about the star of Christ
Various kinds of polytheism, of which only Hinduism remains as a continuing 'Great' religion. Greek, Egyptian and the Chinese and S. American pantheons were predominant. And before that there seems to have been a megalithic religion based on the calendar and seasons, no doubt because of the importance of agriculture which had appeared out of the hunter gathering stage and had led to the formation of quite large and complex communities. Fertility and the central role of woman as maid, mother and priestess seem to have been particularly prevalent - a trait replaced by the male -dominated pantheons that seem to have reflected the dominance of alpha male as warlord and protector of the community against the Other Lot.
Before the megalithic -calendar religion seems to have been a simple idea that the dead were 'going somewhere' and would need to take food, drink and a few status symbols wherever they were going. There is also indication of a belief that the dead were still around in spirit and perhaps giving guidance and useful Hidden information, and there is an indication that ritual cannibalism might have been a way to ensure that the wisdom and authority of the elders was passed on to the next leaders.
And before that...well I imagine it was a belief that the woods were full of huge nameless Things out to get you including storms, lightning and earthquakes. All you could do was crouch in a cave, trembling and wonder whether they were annoyed with you or just letting off steam...not that they knew what steam was other than another mysterious floating thing, probably out to Get Them.
I used to believe this too, until I heard the argument presented on a documentary,
here is a link... not saying I'm convinced He first drew human breath on December 25th,
but the chances went up The Star of Bethlehem: the facts about the star of Christ
This has too much of a religious bias for me to take at face value.
What had me shaking my head was the claim that a star actually moved and then stopped over Bethlehem.
Uh huh ... and how come no one else talked of a really bright star that was moving around and then stopped? Because a star can't hover over a specific city - and nowhere else. Unless it was a localized event in which case we're talking UFOs now.
Various kinds of polytheism, of which only Hinduism remains as a continuing 'Great' religion.
Isnt Buddhism a great religion?
Confucianism can be argued to be a religion, although technically it is not.
I had kinda understood the OP to mean prior to Judaism as well, in which case would would have to look prior to 900 BC, and in that case we are looking at the great religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the tribal religions of which you spoke.
Yes...but really it is a sub -sect of Hinduism and is thus polytheistic in respect of the Hindu gods.
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Confucianism can be argued to be a religion, although technically it is not.
In a way it is part of the Chinese polytheism since it believes in heaven and ordering earthly life in accordance with the laws of heaven. Taoism while (as I see it anyway) it was a response to the will of heaven, it was in a natural way, different from the ordered social rites or Confucianism. In many ways it is very like Chan (Zen) Buddhism but oddly went off at a tangent with all manner of Chinese gods, demons and ghosts.
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I had kinda understood the OP to mean prior to Judaism as well, in which case would would have to look prior to 900 BC, and in that case we are looking at the great religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the tribal religions of which you spoke.
Yes, I did mention the Pantheons of gods that supplanted the Megalith and Mother religion. The Hindu, Greek and Egyptian, and of course the Mesopotamian pantheon.
While Buddhism grew out of Hinduism mainly (so I theorize) to allow the Kshatrya caste to supplant, or at least escape the authority of, the Brahmins, so Judaism a couple of centuries prior grew out of the rather Mesopotamian -pantheon collation of Canaanite tribal gods for the purpose of keeping their tribal goatherder identity intact and distinct from the surrounding tribes. I say goatherder because I noted some OT remarks that herding, rather than farming was the right way to live, and the current thought is that the Hebrews came down from a herdsman's existence in the hills because by the 12th century BC, the towns they used to visit to get luxury goods had gone.
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