World Religions Chapters 2-3 Summary

1.) A.) Name and discuss several the major theories of the origin of religion. There are several theories of the origin of religion. The first theory of the origin of religion is the animistic theory, Theorized by Herbert Spencer. The Animistic theory theorizes that the gods of the primitive people were founded on dreams of the recently deceased. The theory basically means that the primitive people believed that there dreams where visions of another world; and they believed that their leaders and hero’s went their after death. While this Theory has a ring of truth to it, the jump to believing there another world because of a dream seems drastic. This theory was later expanded. Another theory of the origin of religion is the nature worship theory. The theory of nature worship is that the primitive people saw the beautiful world around them and decided to make it their own. To make their world personalized they named things that they saw, and through the process of time their actions became myths, which eventually founded religions. This theory seems to give the primitive people too much credit, and therefore I do not believe it. The Third origin theory of religion is the theory of Original Monotheism. Original Monotheism states that the oldest cultures had a base knowledge and understanding of one true high God. The theory further states that this high God held many values and strengths of other cultures version of a high God. This theory is obviously based from a Christian mindset. The Magic theory states that the primitive culture tried to control the world with magic, but when this failed they developed religion as a replacement. This theory just seems to go to far, and is borderline mystical in its presentation. The theory...

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...culturally as it is for the Jews and Muslims in the world. Female circumcision was a very real practice as well, but has been cut back because of modern education. There is no real reason for this practice, and the fact that it can have serious risks makes me wonder why it’s still present. Young men and women are considered adults younger than in America, and are held to higher standards. Perhaps it's because it is necessary for them to grow up sooner in order to survive in a very poor environment. These puberty rituals are important to the African culture, and they could have been developed because of contact with Christians. Virgins are highly prized after they pass puberty, this to is a Christian value and Africans could have gathered that value from them. Surprisingly though, the marriage ritual is lacking in Christian ceremony and is more of a contract.

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