RELIGION AND MORALITY 1:

The Origin of Religion and Polytheism

 WHAT IS RELIGION?
• For millennia, the question of religion has been at the center of human society. It has
determined questions such as:
• How we understand our place in the universe.
• How we structure society and the hierarchies that determine one’s place in society.
• What happens to us when we die.
• How we can master and/or appease the forces of nature in a hostile world.
• How we can gain power over other human beings.
• Religion also has something significant to say about how we live, eat, sleep, and many other everyday
activities.
• How we treat others, including family members, people in authority, the deceased and ancestors. In this
sense, religion can be seen as the original source of morals, ethics and law.
• Religion can be defined as discourse, narratives and practices that seek to determine the
human relationship between the sensible and the supersensible worlds.
• Religion assumes that a world exists beyond the visible world and that this world is often
more powerful and meaningful when compared to what we can see and sense.
 THE ORIGINS OF RELIGION
• The earliest ‘religious sources’ are tied to the very origins of human beings as a species. That means
that religion can be traced back to the paleolithic eras.
• The importance of burial sites: Some of the earliest evidence, although this is hard to determine, of
religion comes to us from pre-historical burial sites. Humans distinguish themselves from other
animals, some anthropologists would claim, by our attention to the burial of members of our society.
Some of the earliest signs of humanity, therefore, are to be found in burial sites. Those buried were
often ritually placed with items that were significant to them in their life, such as weapons, tools,
animals or, even, other human beings (such as servants, wives, husbands). Why would these people
be buried with these items? Most likely, they were given items that would signify their position to the
gathered members at the burial ceremony as well providing them with tools or items that would be
useful to them in the ‘afterlife.’
• As a result, it was clear that early humans had an idea of an existence ‘after death.’ Although they
may not have believed in a ‘heaven and hell’, as later religious traditions would, they did
undoubtedly believe that life, in some form, continued after death. As a result, a ‘proper burial’ was
about: 1) preparing the deceased party for its journey to another plane of existence; 2) making sure
that the ancestors’ spirit would be an ally to living.
 ANIMISM
• Many religious scholars, particularly those devoted to the study of the origins of religion, claim that religion can be traced to a set of
belief systems known as animism.
• Animism is the belief that all material or natural objects are ‘animated’ by a form of spirit. This means that everything from plants to
animals to rocks, skylines, rives and rocks, is full of spiritual energy. Each river, for example, was a ‘god’ in the sense that it was full of a
spiritual energy that needed to acknowledged and appeased. In essence, everything in nature was seen to alive with spirit. Animism
tends to be seen as a disorganized form of religious practice in contrast to more organized forms of religion. Not only do these natural
objects have spirit but they also have agency; that is, if left unappeased these spirits will respond to human inaction. They can, in other
words, seek to do harm or good to human beings depending on their attitude towards human beings. Edward Tylor coined the term and
described it “an idea of pervading life and will in nature” (Primitive Culture). Tylor suggested that animism was, especially in its
‘primitive form’, mistaken since it was most likely based on the dreams and visions of human beings as opposed to ‘scientific analysis.’
This view, represented and enforced by early anthropology, reflected a biased ethnocentric idea of religion that emphasized the
movement from unsophisticated form of religious belief and practice and the more developed forms of belief associated with Western
religion and, more importantly, modern science. Given that animism was associated with ‘indigenous’ forms of religious belief, it was
also likely to reflect a negative attitude towards these ideas. Animism is also associated with with shamanism, totemism, and fetishism.
• Shamanism: This is the belief that an individual, designated as having special qualities, is able to communicate and channel the forces
of the non-visible, supersensible world towards activities that involve activities like healing. The shaman usually enters a trance-like
state and is able to communicate with the spiritual world.
• Totemism: a totem is a symbolic object that is sacred to a group such as a family, clan or tribe. It both represents the group, as a
symbol, and channels the spiritual energies of the group.
• Fetishism: this involves the worshipping of an inanimate object thought to have ‘magical powers’ and to be inhabited by a spirit.
• Animism also could represent spiritual ideas such as vigor, strength, virility, vengeance, and so on.
 RITUAL
• A ritual is a formalistic sequence of activities using gestures, words, actions, and formulas performed in a particular place at a
particular time designed to gain favor with a spiritual being.
• The basic idea behind ritual can be described as do ut des which means a contract whereby something is given so that
something may be received in return. The idea here is that the god or spirit requires appeasement in order to respond favorably
to human beings. A particular ritual, for example, may ask a god or spirit to offer protection, health, strength, victory, success,
and love in exchange for something the spirit might want or desire.
• Many ancient religious traditions emphasized this idea. The gods or spirits could become angry if they were not appeased or fed.
Further, it was important to perform the ritual in the appropriate order and manner; otherwise, it would not prove to be effective.
• The practice of sacrifice, for instance, is about appeasing the god or spirit by feeding it some of the produce of human society.
Therefore, sacrifices could be made up of offerings of fruit, vegetables and animal meat. The offerings had to be presented at
particular times of day, in particular locations, with the appropriate recitation of a formula of words and gestures. Once appeased
the god or spirit would be less inclined to do harm to humans and may, in some cases, offer benefits. An offering of agricultural
produce was meant to hopefully appease the god into allowing for the continued productivity of the soil.
• The idea of ritual is, of course, still present in many modern religions. However, there is a debate over its importance. Is it more
important to perform certain rituals? Or, is who one behaves more important? Religious services, going to church, synagogue,
mosque or temple, are definitely ritualistic and believers are expected to do things that are appropriate in these contexts. Is this
what makes someone pious? In some ways, the term ‘ritualistic’ has come to have a negative connotation meaning someone
who simply focuses on the formalistic and external aspects of religion as opposed to its inner meaning.
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THE ICE AGE VENUS

 POLYTHEISM
• Polytheism can be simply described as the worship and belief in more than one god or spiritual force.
• In most cultures that can be described as polytheistic, the diverse gods and goddesses are images or representations of
forces of nature; it may also be focused on the worship of ancestors.
• Nature as predominant: Polytheistic faiths have a relationship to the natural world that gives predominance to natural
processes and forces. That means that nature, to some extent, exists alongside of or beyond the gods and goddesses.
• In the creation story described by Hesiod in the Theogony, for example, there is a void that precedes the birth of the
gods. The gods are susceptible to nature and the forces of fate. The gods tend to have a life course, just like humans but
much longer, and they are born and eventually die. Also, the gods have parents or progenitors and they have children.
• Significantly, the gods in polytheism, are not always moral and just. Zeus, the chief of the Olympian gods, has many
affairs, children out of wedlock and is prone to jealousy and unprovoked violence. The gods may be fickle and unjust and,
therefore, they can be moral, immoral or amoral. In some sense, gods are anthropomorphic expressions of human ideas
and notions; they appear as troubled and morally ambiguous in the same way that humans appear.
• Diversity and tolerance: As a rule, polytheistic faiths tend to be more tolerant. The reason for this is that since they
accept the notion of multiple gods and spirits they are more likely to recognize the validity of a different cultures religious
beliefs. In fact, it was not uncommon for polytheistic faiths to adopt and acknowledge the gods of different cultures.
Therefore, in ancient, pagan Rome the gods of Egypt (such as Isis and Osiris), Iranian beliefs systems (such as
Zoroastrianism and Mithraism) and even the Hebrew God were accepted as real and as in need of acknowledgement and
worship.
THE LINEAGE
OF THE GREEK
GODS

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 AUGUSTINE AND THE CRITIQUE OF
POLYTHEISM
• Augustine of Hippo, later known as Saint Augustine, was a North African bishop of the early Christian Church who lived in the
late ancient world or late Roman era. He was famous for having moved from the living the life of a ‘degenerate, hedonistic
pagan’ to a life of Christian virtue. He became a great defender of the Church and lived in what is today Tunisia. He was a
master of rhetoric and his views became incredibly influential on the development of Christianity.
• In the year 410, Rome, both the center of the Empire and a major center of Christianity, was sacked by an invading Germanic
tribe known as the Visigoths. Pagan critics of Christianity argued that such an event was the product of Rome turning away
from its ancestral gods and turning towards the Christian belief system. Augustine was keen to argue against such a point of
view by saying that the sack of Rome was not a result of such an idea.
• Augustine argued along three main lines:
• First, he sought to show inconsistencies between Roman religious beliefs. Second, he sought to show logical inconsistencies
in religious and philosophical thought. Third, he forcefully argued for the superiority of Christian beliefs and practices.
• Under the first premise, he argued that pagan religion was immoral, obscene and shameful. The things that the gods did
were unacceptable if done by humans to each other. As a result, they could not claim to be ‘better’ than humans. Are gods
like this worthy of worship?
• Under the second argument, Augustine argues that the great pagan authors, such as Homer, could not form consistent
defenses and arguments to protect these belief systems.
• Lastly, he accuses pagans of engaging in demon worship and argues that if the pagan gods exist then they must be seen not
as gods but as demons who are intent on leading humans astray.
 THE DEMAND FOR A
MORAL GOD
• One implicit and important aspect of Augustine’s argument
is that God must stand above human morality. The pagan
idea that the gods were like human beings and that they
were prone to immorality, was increasingly becoming
unacceptable.
• Based on ideas found in Judaism, Christians argued that God
was not only the creator of nature (God, in fact, stood above
and beyond nature) but also the judge of moral action. God
was increasingly seen as an embodiment of morality and the
righteous were those who, not only engaged in the proper
performance of ritual, but who behaved morally according to
God’s law.
• The idea was that humans showed their allegiance to God by
following God’s law and this included treating others with a
level of respect and dignity.

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GOD’S
L AW

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