Religion Part 2

II. Origin of the concept of religion

There are different theories regarding the origin of the concept of religion. But it cannot be certainly said that when and how religious ideas emerged in man. It is also certainly cannot be said that what is the origin of the ideas of religion. All these are due to the fact that there is no broad consensus amongst the thinkers of this field regarding the origin of religion. But there are people who firmly believe that religious ideas are instinctive in man. No other animals except man bear this instinctive feature. Man can be distinguished from other animals from two angles: reason and religion. Man possesses reason while other animals do not and that is why men are called „rational animals‟. Similarly, men are religious while other animals are not. Men bear both finite and infinite features. At the very inception of human race on earth, men were totally ignorant about the different events that occurred in nature around them. But they were curious to know the happenings and accordingly, they applied their own efforts. They had to face the different natural calamities like storms, floods, lightning; dangerous animals, famine etc. and they were unable to overcome these situations. As a result, they had to imagine an invisible power mightier than themselves upon whom they depended for assistance, strength and relief. Thus fear and curiosity are the main factors responsible for the emergence of religious tendency in ancient people. They also believed that this unseen and invisible power would be helpful in their birth, sorrow, old age and finally in obtaining salvation. They sometimes conceived God as their object of love. There are different forms such as, father, friend, lover, beloved, master through which they tried to attain relation with God. Thus, in order to meet their ignorance and to get strength and courage to face natural calamities, men time and again depended on an imaginary existence, the result of which is named „God‟ in religion.

III. Different aspects of religion

There are different aspects of religion such as, internal and external, individual and social.

In religious consciousness an emotional element is present. The emotional elements are- ideas, thoughts and feelings. Not only that, it also concerns man‟s relation to God. Thus these emotional elements as well as intellectual elements are referred by internal aspect. Apart from this an important aspect of religion is practical activities such as, rites and ceremonies. These practical activities are different ways through which men express their religious feelings. Thus these practical activities are referred in external aspect of religion.

But although it is claimed that God is the central element of religion, there are religion without God or gods. Some of these religions are-Buddhism, Jainism and Comte‟s religion of humanity. Crawley also holds that the fundamental feature of religion is „sacred ceremony‟. He believes that religion is possible without making any reference to God or gods. Bu there are thinkers who are of the opinion that without reference to God the true sense of religion is not possible. Many others claim that those who do not believe the reality of God in their religion, there is reference of communion between „man‟ and something beyond man‟ in their religion.

Religion is, in fact, an individual matter. It is individual who acquires religious experience and he has conviction on it. He personally realizes religious experiences in his life. He believes that salvation can be attained through performing religious activities. But to a social philosopher, social aspect of religion is more important and carries greatest significance. This social aspect is emphasized by all the great religions of the world. It is because of the fact that religion plays an important role in maintaining social unity, its promotion and maintenance. The religion which emphasizes this social aspect is the religion of humanity, although in traditional sense this aspect is not recognized as religion. In emphasizing the social aspect of religion Blackmar and Gillin, the famous sociologists say that without community worship, no religious faith can survive for long time. They are of the opinion that a living religion may lose all its importance if the believer and worshiper of that religion ceases to worship together.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more on religion.