Timespan of religions

Kipperhell · 11-09-2009 12:07pm #1

I was watch a show called "The Frankincense Trail" and it appeared to show all the huge memorials to old gods. Does anybody still practice Egyptian religion? It got me thinking what are the time scales of religions. I have no idea if their are older religions than Judaism still in practice in such an organised way. I am sure some tribes still practice religions of natural events but I mean organised ones with written texts. Is there generally a timespan they last or have some just survived longer or relatively indefinitely thus far?

ChocolateSauce · 11-09-2009 12:26pm

There are small revival movements in Greece and Egypt that worship the ancient gods, but they are just that; revivals. Belief in those religions was dead for a long time.

Religions don't usually die out unless they are displaced new ones.

Goduznt Xzst · 11-09-2009 12:40pm

Kipperhell wrote: »

Is there generally a timespan they last or have some just survived longer or relatively indefinitely thus far?

I do not think the ethos of a particular Religion lasts longer than a few generations. Yes the basic, irrelevant tenets remain the same, but the practices and beliefs that impact on the individuals life and happiness do not.

For example, I do not think a 2nd century Christian would have much in common with any present day Christian. How they interpret the Bible tends to differ wildly, especially when it impacts on the individuals own ingrained opinions.

But theological change happens though selective quoting. Every religious person does it: You quote those verses that resonate with your own religious insights and ignore or reinterpret those that undermine your certainties. Selective quoting isn't just legitimate, but essential: Religions evolve through shifts in selective quoting. - Yossi Klein Halevi

fitz0 · 11-09-2009 3:08pm

I'd advise you not to look too deep into the Great Old Ones, down that path lies madness. :pac:

If there is indeed an ending to every religion, more will just spring up in its place or the religion will become so twisted that it will be a new religion for all intents and purposes.

Kipperhell · 11-09-2009 3:25pm

I get religions claim they are the same as an earlier religion but are more likely quite different. There are certain religions that do really just die such as the Celtic religions but I also see many Celtic stories just got modified to be Christian. Some religions have later dates than others so will these die out also? I am sure the Egyptians thought their religion would keep going.

Religions were just as much about culture as anything else so time could in theory reduce them all to fantastical stories as we have done with our Celtic roots. Secularism might be the new "religion" replacing the old religions. Religion doesn't retain the control over education as it once did in western societies. The spread of Christianity in the 3rd world actually makes a lot of sense to me as a stepping stone to secularism. You need certain freedoms in order to let beliefs change and Christianity has enough leeway to allow other ideas unlike some religions.

ShooterSF · 11-09-2009 5:31pm

I posted in a thread in AH yesterday about scientology that it was fascinating to watch a religion in it's infancy and I wonder if it was the same for the "traditional" ones now thousands of years ago.
I am intrigued to see, with time to age their claims and kill off first hand accounts of their crazyness coupled with the fact that they are aware of modern science and are therefore less likely to fall into the trap of making easily refuted claims, if it could become the successor of our (mankind's) traditional religions just like they replaced older beliefs before them.

GLaDOS · 11-09-2009 5:36pm

Kipperhell wrote: »

I have no idea if their are older religions than Judaism still in practice in such an organised way.

Hinduism is older is it not?

Turtwig · 11-09-2009 5:37pm

Kipperhell wrote: »

I am sure the Egyptians thought their religion would keep going. .

It did, the story of Jesus was partly robbed from them and many others:D

Religion is something that for want of a better world evolves over time as others have said though, the main tenets remain the same.

FYI hinduism is older than all of the abramhic religions.
LMAO Hinduism is older than the creationist's Young Earth....guess it must be false then

11-09-2009 5:54pm

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Hinduism is older is it not?

The idea that indigenous Indian customs and beliefs formed a single religion called "Hinduism" only goes back about 1,000 years to when the Mughal Muslims ruled India.

axer · 11-09-2009 5:59pm

ShooterSF wrote: »

I posted in a thread in AH yesterday about scientology that it was fascinating to watch a religion in it's infancy

and it is funny when Christians call it a scam or say that someone would have to be silly to fall for it.

It think it will be harder for the major religions to die nowadays since I think technology (easier and quicker communication) has strengthened them into becoming global religions. It has never been easier for hard core believers to group together.

Pompey Magnus · 12-09-2009 12:11am

axer wrote: »

and it is funny when Christians call it a scam or say that someone would have to be silly to fall for it.

I have started to think that perhaps early Christians and Scientologists might share more similarities than Christians would care to admit.

- Both were detested by the ordinary people of the their times,

- Both encouraged their converts to hand over their money to the church authorities,

- Both encouraged their members to break contact with non believers in their family and instead view the Church as their new family,

- Both used coercive forms of mind control to hook new recruits, the charismatic Speaking in Tongues events of early Christianity and the Training Routines of Scientology

- Both took fully advantage of modern means of spreading and disseminating their cults, Christianity being perhaps the first religion to use books instead of scrolls and Scientology using the internet.

There ae probably loads more comparisons, I guess its the same for most cults.

Zillah · 12-09-2009 12:23am

Taking a memetic/genetic approach, we can ask the question "How long does a species last?"

That is to say, religions, like any system of beliefs and stories, mutate, diverge and merge. We could look at the genus "Abrahamic" and say that it has existed since the time of Abraham, but has mutated so many times that we now have Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and all the thousands of subdivisions therein. Some have created new rituals, beliefs and stories, while some (most notably Christianity) have wholesale incorporated other religions into themselves.

Just like the hypothesis that a few Neanderthal genes have survived in modern humans, so have traces of ancient cults hidden away inside modern religions.

Thousands of years from now we may very well have a group calling themselves 'Christians', who worship the duo of Jezus and Confucianus, fear the apocalypse that will be brought about by El Hubbord The Terrible, and hope to one day escape the cycle of reincarnation through the salvation offered by the avatar of Brahma; Jezus.

Whether we could say that "Christianity" has survived or not would be quite arbitrary, however.

Zillah · 12-09-2009 12:26am

Charco wrote: »

I have started to think that perhaps early Christians and Scientologists might share more similarities than Christians would care to admit.

- Both were detested by the ordinary people of the their times,

- Both encouraged their converts to hand over their money to the church authorities,

- Both encouraged their members to break contact with non believers in their family and instead view the Church as their new family,

- Both used coercive forms of mind control to hook new recruits, the charismatic Speaking in Tongues events of early Christianity and the Training Routines of Scientology

- Both took fully advantage of modern means of spreading and disseminating their cults, Christianity being perhaps the first religion to use books instead of scrolls and Scientology using the internet.

There ae probably loads more comparisons, I guess its the same for most cults.

Both proclaim that there is something fundamentally wrong with human beings (original sin/thetans) and that they alone have the means by which you can be restored (salvation/auditing).

studiorat · 15-09-2009 12:22am

the various animinisms would be the oldest religions imo. there's evidence for a ritual worshipping a python in botswana that goes back nearly 70,000 years! Australian aborigines beliefs date back some 60,000 years too.

of course quite a few pagan religions or beliefs still exist today in conjunction with christanity and the other religions. in many parts of west africa ndoki (witch craft) is still in existance and was connected to all sorts of gruesome happinings in london a few years back. it would seem to exist hand in hand with christanity for many.

even in thai buddahism many of the old animistic beliefs are still going strong and have been developed along with technology, the blessing of car numberplates for instance.

on the subject of a new religion developing in the modern world the novel Messiah by Gore Vidal is an excellent read as it describes how one mans idea is taken and developed by an influential group who decide that this particular message should be spread for the common good. As is "Live from Golotha" by the same author.

Timespan of religions

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