История религии в двух словах по Дж. У. Смиту
Anonymous asked this question on 10/31/2000:
Can you give me a brief history of religion? When did organized religions first appear? Was religion something invented by man? No websites references please.
JasonSmith gave this response on 11/1/2000:
Dear Anonymous: Let's begin by defining some terms. (1)Religion is a system within the Superstructure of society - a worldview - a philosophy - which belongs to the "idealist" half of philosophy in that it allows for the existence of supernatural forces and causation.
(2) In this sense there are two fundamental kinds of religion. Those that belong to primitive communist societies (hunting and gathering Bands and Agricultural Tribes) which are animistic and animatistic. The first features the things of nature (wind, water, animals, etc.) as having the supernatural factors within them; the second includes these plus the things of humans (mana, surplus, beads, etc.) as having supernatural powers. the latter comes into existence in First Intermediate Period type of society (which is to say the Chiefdoms - either Simple ones or Advanced and Theocratic ones.)
(3) Organized religion is created by humans when society approaches division into classes with different rights over the means of production and distribution. That is, religion with written, sysematized dogma, professional practitioners (e.g., priests and priestesses, temple harlots, monks and nuns, etc.)monumental architecture (churches) and the like is all a product of The most Advanced Theocratic Chiefdom Stage and of Slavery. It never existed before, and of course, could not, for there was no concentrated surplus to support such a caste (now class) of specialists.
(4) Hopefully, this is a brief enough explanation to your questions.
Best wishes, Jason W. Smith, Ph.D.