UNIT 1 MEANING AND NATURE OF RELIGION
Contents
1.1. Objectives
1.2. Introduction
1.3. Meaning of Religion
1.4. Nature of Religion
1.5. Developmental Stages of Religion
1.6. Let Us Sum Up
1.7. Key Words
1.8. Further Readings and References
1.9. Answers to Check Your Progress
1.1. OBJECTIVES
In this paper we try to understand the very meaning of religion leaving the discussions on
definitions and the theories of the origin of religion since those are the topics of the subsequent
units. However, meaning and nature cannot be dealt-with without touching both those topics as
well. So, we will refer to them without going into the details of them. After going through the
etymological meaning of the word, we will make a search into the different meanings of
religion from the background of various disciplines like phenomenology, sociology, psychology
etc. Thereafter, we will look into the nature and developing stages of religions.
1.2. INTRODUCTION
What is religion? A very complex question! We know religion and we live religion. But, how do
we explain or define religion? Religion is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable aspects of
human life from the very beginning. Though it looks simple, it is not a simple reality to be easily
defined or explained. There are many theories proposed regarding the origin of religion as a
result of the development of speculative, intellectual and scientific mind. However, in spite of
the differences in the understanding of this important element, it is confirmed that it is purely a
human activity and it has become an inevitable aspect of human life. In the West, under the
1
influence of the inherited tradition of Judeo-Christian tradition, religion was understood more
theistically while in the East, it was mostly a respond to the experience of the natural powers that
are beyond human control and also to the inner urge for an ethical and moral reference.
1.3. MEANING OF RELIGION
Etymologically, the word ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin root religare and it means ‘to bind
fast’. Then ‘religion’ has certainly a strong emphasis on community aspect. It is something that
binds fast the members of it together.
When we start thinking seriously on religion, naturally we fall upon thoughts of the definition of
religion. There are numberless definitions of religion. The meaning and definition of religion
differs according to the socio-cultural and psychological background of the person who reflects
upon it. Even the political settings insert its influence on the understanding of the meaning of
religion. Some of the definitions are phenomenological and try to expose the common elements
that we see in the acknowledged world religions. For example, the human recognition of a
superhuman power entitled to obedience and worship. Some others are interpretative definitions.
Under this we may group the psychological definitions – the feelings, acts and experiences of the
individual men in so far as they consider themselves to stand in relations to what they may call
the divine; sociological definitions– a set of beliefs, practices and institutions which men have
evolved in various societies; naturalistic definitions – a body of scruples which impede the free
exercise of our faculties; and religious definitions – religion is the recognition that everything in
the world is the manifestation of a power that is beyond human intellect.
None of these definitions, nevertheless, are complete and exhaustive. The word religion is not an
exclusive word rather it is inclusive. It includes manifold elements and aspects of life like
beliefs, feelings, experiences, values, symbols, worship, rituals, festivals, cult and cultures, myth
and mythology.
Studying the primitive religion, the anthropologist Sir E.B. Tylor in his book Primitive Culture
gives a short definition of religion where he understands religion as “the belief in spiritual
beings.” There are many objections raised against such understanding of religion on the basis of
its incompleteness. The critics argue that ‘besides belief, practice also must be emphasised.
2
Another objection is that the faith and believes and the practices are not always towards spiritual
beings. Or else, our scope of belief must be extended and widened to include even ‘nothing’.
However, there are also positive side in looking at religion from that perspective. It makes very
clear about the religious attitude of the believers and also the object to which the believers refer
to. According to another anthropologist Sir J.G. Frazer, as presented in his book the Golden
Bough, religion is a ‘propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to
direct and control the course of nature and of human life. This shows that powers referred to in
this context are always of superior nature (superior to man). To cope with this supra-human
powers, ancient religion made use of magic, sorcery, taboos, myth and mythological stories and
so on.
1.4. NATURE OF RELIGION
The Primitive Forms of Religions
The religion is often spoken in relation to something sacred. There is no religion without having
such a notion. Now the various aspects/concepts used to express the general characteristics of
this ‘sacred’ in the primitive religion were very simple. The notions like ‘unseen’, ‘unknown’,
‘infinite’ ‘immanence and transcendence’ etc. are notions of advanced theology. The ancient
notions used are rather quasi-negative. Scholars trace the following general characteristics of the
‘sacred’ which may explain the nature of it in the primitive thought.
i) The sacred as the forbidden: Polynesian term taboo in the primitive religion could be one
that comes close and conveys the sense of ‘sacred’ – scer and sanctus. This point to the idea that
something is ‘marked off’ as to be shunned. Thus enforced a sense of mystic sanction or penalty
if avoided. Because of this aspect of sanction and punishment added, taboo comes to stand for
un-cleanliness and sin on the one hand, and while it can also be interpreted as means of self
protection on the part of the sacred against defying contact on the other hand.
ii) The sacred as the mysterious: This is another quasi-negative notion regarding the sacred.
What was strange and new was treated in the primitive time as sacred having non-normal nature.
3
We cannot say it as abnormal rather it was non-normal nature. It was indeed a mystery,
something beyond the human grasp, human understanding and control.
iii) The sacred as the secret: The sacred was understood having a mystic and mysterious
power and therefore, it was something secret. This sense of secret was emphasised and projected
strongly through the insistence of exoticism, initiation, exclusion of women etc. from the
religious moments of rites and rituals.
iv) The sacred as potent: Perhaps one of the positive and most fundamental conception of the
sacred is that the efficacy of the sacredness is identified with the magical and mystical power
attributed to it. Everything is understood as having an indwelling potency, but whatever is sacred
manifests this potency in an extra-ordinary degree.
v) The sacred as the animate: There are lots of evidences to show that the primitive gods
were conceived as personified anthropomorphic characters dwelling somewhere apart.
vi) The sacred as ancient: another element found in the primitive religion is the practice of
ancestor worship – the organized cult of ancestors marking a stage of development in the
primitive way of thinking. The ancestor worship is found even in religions that are purely ethical
like the Chinese primitive religions.
Higher Forms of Religion
The higher forms of religions have developed on a pre-existing basis through a process of
selection and development. Certainly it must have been in response to the demands of modern
advanced thinking, need of better expressions, harmony between past and present experiences;
and also to reach a position which shall satisfy the demands of feeling and reflexion and give
confidence for facing the future challenges. The motive forces that urged for a better presentation
of religion could be:-
i) The rapid progress on scientific knowledge and thought;
ii) Changes in the Social order of man;
iii) The enriched forms of ideas and expressions;
iv) The deeper intellectual interest in the subject; and
v) The modern tendencies to avoid superstitions and to substitute it with more
rational and scientific thoughts
4
The higher forms of religions discuss reality in terms of transcendence, oneness, supremacy and
absoluteness, and also about the ethical schemes in relation to social unity and harmony, justice,
human destiny, human freedom, etc.
Ethical element is of fundamental importance in determining the quality of a religion. It is a
powerful factor in elevating the object of worship, the religious relation, and the religious life.
Another important aspect that the religion is concerned is the problem of eschatology. It is
related to the ultimate destiny of man and the world. Eschatological motives may powerfully
affect the working of religion. In the primitive religions, the eschatological ideas gather round
the fate of the dead, and are unleavened by ethical elements while in the higher religions, it was
accelerated by the quickened moral consciousness and the sense of the value of the individual.
The very often accepted world religions are Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and
Sikhism.
In history we see that there were different approaches to God and religion. From the negative
perspective, we see the trend of atheism. It is the belief that there is no God of any kind. Another
trend is agnosticism which literally means ‘not-knowism’. That means, we are not able to affirm
or deny the existence of God. This trend argues that our intellect is incapable of knowing God
and making any kind of judgement on God. Still another stand is scepticism. This approach
simply means doubting. That means, we cannot have certainity about anything, not even on
material things. Then, of course, we cannot speak with surety about metaphysical and abstract
realities. There is still another perspective, that is, naturalism. According to this theory, every
aspect of human existence and experience including moral and religious life could be properly
and adequately explained in terms of nature.
Coming to the positive approaches to God and religion, deism can refer to the trend of thought
according to which this universe was created and set on motion by a God and left it alone to
operate. The deists teach that natural theology is enough to explain the religious matters. Finally,
perhaps not the last, the common stand, that is theism. Theism refers to a particular doctrine
concerning the nature of a God and his relationship to the universe. It conceives of a God as
personal and active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe.
5
Check Your Progress I
Note: a) Use the space provided for your answer
b) Check your answers with those provided at the end of the unit
1) What is the meaning of religion?
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
2) What are the various ways of defining religion?
………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
1.5. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF RELIGION
As we discuss on religion and its stages of development, certainly it is necessary to look at the
beginnings of the thought. As it is mentioned already, transition to higher forms of religion was
inevitable in the rapidly changing social situations. There was urgency for man to reconsider
current and inherited beliefs and practices to gain some harmony between past and the present
experiences. As a result we see the developments from the very basic worship patterns of the
primitive man to that of the present age. The developmental stages of the evolution of religion
could be enumerated as Totemism, Animism, Pantheism, Polytheism, Monotheism, Monism.
6
The terms of totemism and animism are used to explain the set of religious beliefs of the lower
caste. The essential feature of totemism is the belief in a supernatural connection between a
group of people and a group of objects like certain animal species, sometimes plants, or more
rarely other objects. Usually there is a taboo on killing or eating an animal totem. In totemism we
find that plant species may be totems just as animal species or rocks are. Animism denotes the
collection of beliefs possessed by the Dravidian tribes who have not even nominally been
admitted to the caste system. The general nature of animism may perhaps be explained as the
belief that everything which has life or motion has also a soul or spirit, and all natural
phenomena are caused by direct personal agency.
The theistic tradition recognizes and accepts the existence of God, more specifically a personal
God. Therefore, theism is often understood as synonym for monotheism. It is a belief in a
personal god. Pantheism is ‘God-is-all-ism’. According to this view all is God and God is all.
God is identical with the world and nature. In other words, God and universe are one. God is not
a reality separate from the world and remote from it. The particular individual objects have no
absolute existence of their own, rather they are either the different modes of the universal
substance or parts of the divine whole. Polytheism, according to the German Sociologist Max
Müller, was the form of worship of God during the ancient times. Polytheism is the stage of
development in the religious thought when the belief in and worship of many individual Gods
existed. Indeed, it was the result of the anthropomorphic personification of the natural powers
that was beyond the control of human. In other words, such natural powers were personified and
attributed to them of the human powers and qualities but with maximum nature. The socio-
political and cultural conditions and circumstances affected the forms assumed by the beliefs and
worships of these many Gods. Monotheism is the beginning of believing in one Supreme God
even in the polytheistic situation. In the monotheistic tradition we see that there is a demand to
abandon many older beliefs, hopes, fears and customs relating to many gods. Even though they
have the concept of many gods, they believe in one Supreme God and other gods are only
subordinate. Or they believed, as Max Müller observes, that the multiple gods are only the
manifestations of the one supreme. Monism is the belief in one reality. The word was coined by
Christian Wolf in the west though it was existed from the ancient times.
1.6. LET US SUM UP
7
Religion being an undeniable aspect of human life, any study on human life will remain half
done if this particular aspect is not taken into consideration. Religion is being studied from
different perspectives and it could be investigated from Sociological, Anthropological,
Phenomenological, Philosophical, Ethical and Aesthetical perspectives. Today there is an added
scope, that is, the field of comparative religion. It is an urgent need and demand of the present
world community to promote mutual, mature and unprejudiced understanding of others and their
religiousness.
We are living in a postmodern world. And our world is becoming a global village in every
aspect. So, none can live in an isolated world of one’s own. This postmodern existential
predicament in a way compels every person to learn more about oneself and also about others. It
will certainly enhance one’s life and it will certainly facilitate the peaceful co-existence of
human as a whole, promote mature and unprejudiced relations, and without doubt, it will help
everyone develop an integral vision of life and to work for the welfare of the whole world.
Check Your Progress I
Note: a) Use the space provided for your answer
b) Check your answers with those provided at the end of the unit
1) Which are the developmental stages of the evolution of religion?
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
2) Why is the study of religion, especially the comparative study of religion relevant and
urgently needed today?
………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………..
8
…………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
1.7. KEY WORDS
Atheism – it is the belief that there is no God of any kind.
Agnosticism – it means ‘not-knowism’ which implies that we are not able to affirm or deny the
existence of God.
Scepticism – it means doubting. That means, we cannot have certainity about anything, either of
material or of spiritual things.
Naturalism – it means every aspect of human existence and experience including moral and
religious life could be properly and adequately explained in terms of nature.
Deism – it means this universe was created and set on motion by a God and left it alone to
operate.
Totemism – it is the belief in a supernatural connection between a group of people and a group of
objects like certain animal species, sometimes plants, or more rarely other objects.
Animism – it the belief that everything which has life or motion has also a soul or spirit, and all
natural phenomena are caused by direct personal agency.
Pantheism – it is ‘God-is-all-ism’, which all is God and God is all and God is not a reality
separate from the world and remote from it.
Polytheism – it is the belief in and worship of many individual Gods.
Monotheism - it is belief in one Supreme God and considers other gods as subordinate.
Monism – it is the belief in the existence of only one reality.
1.8. FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
9
Charlesworth, Max. Philosophy and Religion: from Plato to Postmodernism. England: One
World Pub., 2006.
Hastings, James. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Vols. 12. New York: T 7 T Clark, 1980.
Hick, John H. Philosophy of Religion. 4th Edition. Delhi: Pearson Education Pte. Ltd., 1990.
Nayak, G.C. Understanding Religious Phenomenon. Bangalore: Dharmaram Pub., 1997.
Schleiermacher, Friederich. On Religion. London: Harper Tochbook, 1958.
Smith, Huston. The Religions of Man. New York: Harper and Row Pub., 1958.
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. The Meaning and End of Religions: a Revolutionary Approach to the
Great Religious Traditions. London: SPCK, 1978.
Thiselton, Anthony C. A Concise Encyclopaedia of the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: One
World Pub., 2006.
1.9. ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Answers to Check Your Progress I
1. The word ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin root religare and it means ‘to bind fast’.
Then ‘religion’ has certainly a strong emphasis on community aspect. It is something that
binds fast the members of it together. What we call religion is very complex and
inclusive. It includes manifold elements and aspects of life like beliefs, feelings,
experiences, values, symbols, worship, rituals, festivals, cult and cultures, myth and
mythology.
2. The different ways of defining religion are phenomenological, psychological,
sociological, naturalistic, and religious.
Answers to Check Your Progress II
10
1.The developmental stages of the evolution of religion are - Totemism, Animism,
Pantheism, Polytheism, Monotheism, Monism.
2.The postmodern world in which we live is becoming a global village in every aspect. At the
same time we encounter elements of social unrest and atrocities on the basis of religion in
every part of the world. It is due to the fanatic thoughts that creep into the mind of people due
to sheer ignorance about the true teachings of both one’s own religion and of other religions.
This compels every person to learn more about oneself and also about others. And the study
of religions both of one’s own and of others will certainly enhance one’s life and it will
certainly facilitate the peaceful co-existence of human as a whole, promote mature and
unprejudiced relations, and without doubt, it will help everyone develop an integral vision of
life and to work for the welfare of the whole world. Hence it is relevant and much needed in
the modern world.
11
