Exam I Flashcards
Animism
After primitive people discovered their souls, they believed all things in nature like stones, trees, rivers, animals, volcanoes, mountains, etc. had souls that could be helpful or harmful and could be flattered or offended. Therefore, it became part of primitive life to pray to these spirits, offer sacrifices to them, seek to appease them, and avoid offending them. Promoted by Tylor
Manism
The theory promoted by Herbert Spencer where primitive people believed their dreams of the recent dead caused them to believe they were alive in another world or form. It is also defined as worship of ancestors.
Herbert Spencer
He believed the gods of primitive people were based on dreams about the recent dead, and he believed that when people dreamed of the dead, they came to believe that the former chiefs and heroes were actually alive in an other world or form. He promoted the theory of manism
Edward B. Tylor
An English ethnologist that held nor formal degree, but was a leading professor in anthropology and was named Britain’s first professor of anthropology. He wrote a book called “Primitive Culture” about the origins of religions. He believed primitive people developed a sense of other or soul from experiences with death and dreams. He though primitive people believed souls were found in all of nature.
Max Muller
He was convinced that human beings first developed their religions form their observations of the forces of nature. People became aware of the regularity of the seasons, the tides, and the phases of the moon, and felt the need to personalize them and began to describe them in mythology. I.E. Apollo=the sun Daphne=dawn, the sun chased dawn away just like
Apollo chased Daphne
James G. Frazier
He believed that the human mind had developed in a linear fashion in the same way as the physical process of evolution. He thought that humankind had gone through three phases of development regrading the spirit world. First, people attempted to control the world of nature through magic, second, people turned to religion because they believed they could implore nature to cooperate, and third, people turned to science which provided a rational understanding of nature
Karl Marx
Karl Marx-he saw the origin and development of religion in terms of his personal view of history and the economic and social struggle between classes. He believed that man makes religion, and it is used as a tool of oppression by the ruling class.
Sigmund Freud
He saw religion as originating as guilt that men supposedly feel in hating their fathers because he saw that in all males, there was a similar tendency to desire their mothers and hate tehir fathers. In the practices of primitive people, the dominant male kept the women away from the younger male, so the younger male hated the father/dominant male
What religions are in African and North and South America
Christianity and Islam
What religions are in India
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism
What religions are in East Asia
Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto
What religions are in the Middle East
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i
Read Religion and Public Life Section
Now
- What was the focus of Tylor’s theory of religion?
He believed people developed a sense of soul from near death and dreams, and he though primitive people believed that these souls were found all throughout nature, so it became part of life in primitive societies to pray to these spirits and offer sacrifices to appease them and avoid offending them. This concept eventually developed into ancestor worship.
- According to Müller, what role did nature play in the formation of religion?
Primitive people identified the force in nature, personified them, created myths to describe their activities, and eventually developed pantheons and religions around them
- Contrast the Marxist view of religion with the Freudian view.
Marx viewed the origin and development of religion through his personal view of history and the economic and social struggle between classes. He believed that religion was used by the ruling class to suppress the underclass. Freud thought religion was representative of the total human experience. Freud saw religion as having originated from the guilt men have for hating their fathers, and as a result he believe this is why humans view God as a father image.
What are the two primary sources of information about religion
Contemporary religious people and the historical record(written scriptures,records,artwork, and other historical artifacts)
Read Common Features Section
Now
Divination
the practice of predicting the future through supernatural forces
shaman
often portrayed as a priest or magician, but traditionally means one who was possess by spirits and spoke their messages to the group
prophet
someone who revealed the message of God, and sometimes it dealt with current events, other times it involved the future
totemism
it is based upon the kinship humans have for other creatures or objects in nature, and it generally involves some form of identification between a tribe or clan and an animal
sacrifice
it is one of the most common ritual practices in all of the religions of the world, and people can sacrifice to gods, spirits, demons, or for ancestor worship. Human sacrifice sometimes occurred, but it was a rare practice. Sometimes it acts to feed spirits, but it is seen as a gift to the spirt world for others. Sacrifice also implies the establishment of a communal bond between humans and spirits
What is the function of a ritual
To make something happen
magic
practitioners of magic perceive the world as being controlled by forces that can be manipulated if they know how to perm their formulas, dances, or incantations correctly. The most common form is imitative or sympathetic magic in which one attempts to coerce nature into some act by performing that act oneself on a smaller scale
fetishes
any object used to control nature in a magical fashion
prayers
another form of ritual that religious people use to get results or make something happen. Many religions offer prayers for healing of the sick or for eternal status of the deceased
What are the two primary sources of information about religions? How trustworthy are these sources.
The two primary sources of information about religions are contemporary religious people themselves and the historical record of the religion. Scholars can study how people practice the religion themselves through observing their practices. The historical record can provide information through scriptures, art, historical artifacts, and other sources. Studying contemporary religious people can be a relatively trustworthy source, but it may be difficult to speculate about the origins of the religion through this study alone. Studying the historical record can provide valuable insight, but it can also be dependent on the interpretation of the historian or the archaeologist.
