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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper that discusses the evolution of religion from animism to the world's modern religions. The writer delineates what is known about this process. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khanirel.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
brothers" (Hopkins, 1923, p. 32). As this suggests, animals have long been seen as having a connection to religious belief. In humanitys earliest history, people believed that animals, as
well as objects in nature, streams, trees, rocks possessed spirits. This belief system, known as "animism," played an integral role in the long evolution that resulted in the worlds modern
religions. The worlds religions all have long roots that run deep into history. Christianity, for example, begins with Jesus of Nazareth, but it evolved out of Judaism, which
has roots into prehistory. For as long as there has been human civilizations, there has also been religious observance. An examination of what is known about the evolution of religion
indicates that modern religions probably evolved from early animistic and natural belief systems. There is no direct evidence of when and how early Homo sapiens began to develop systems
of worship, that is, when humans first began to "symbolize abstractions in his mind and to worship, plead with and propitiate them" (Farrar and Farrar, 1987, p. 7). Putting it
another way, there is little that points to the moment in pre-history when humans first became aware of the numerous archetypes that transcend individuality (Farrar and Farrar, 1987). Therefore, theories
have been formulated that propose how religious observance may have come about. One of the first theories proposed pertaining to the origin of religion is connected to the names of
Sir Edward Tylor and Herbert Spencer, and is usually referred as "animism" (Hopkins, 1923). It seemed reasonable to primitive societies that what was active was alive, and, being alive, had
the same sort of spirit that humanity recognized in itself; therefore, early societies saw the world as being filled with spirit-inhabited objects (Hopkins, 1923). Trees, animals and even objects
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