70 thousand years ago
Today it is quite difficult to answer the question, what was the most ancient religion. It is known that before the birth of modern world religions, paganism dominated the world. It used to be considered that the most ancient religious rituals were performed approximately 30-40 thousand years ago in Europe.
However, recent archaeological excavations carried out in the South African country of Botswana give reason to believe that 70 thousand years ago, even before homo sapiens formed, the predecessors of Homo sapiens performed ritual worship.
In the summer of 2006, Sheila Coulson, a professor at the University of Oslo, discovered on the northern side of the Tsodilo Hills (Kalahari Desert) a small cave, inside which was a stone statue of a python two meters high and 6 meters wide. Scientists believe that this statue could serve as an object of worship.
Sumerian religions
Also in this place, as a result of excavations, about 13 thousand tools for working on stone were found. It should be noted that until the 90s, access to the cave was difficult, and therefore it could not be found earlier. If scientists were not mistaken with dating, then this find will force us to reconsider modern ideas about human evolution and migration.
Of course, the religion of one of the most ancient civilizations is very interesting - the Sumerian civilization. The pantheon of the gods of the Sumerians was very complex: there were seven main gods and gods called the Anunnaki, who were considered intermediaries between people and the main gods. Oaths were sealed with the names of the Anunnaki.
According to the myth of the creation of people "Enki and Ninmah", the gods fashioned a man from clay, the fate of man was to serve the gods. Each had a personal deity that guarded the person (the prototype of the guardian angel in Christianity).
Afterlife and Inca Religion
Sumerian ideas about afterlife were pretty specific. It was believed that the dead, having passed through the seven gates of the underworld, crossed the river, which served as the border between the world of the living and world of the dead. The Sumerians have no representations at the court of the dead. It was believed that the fate of each deceased in the afterlife is not easy, only those who fell in battle, those with many children and those for whom funeral rite, were honored with a tolerable life.
The Inca religion is one of the most unusual. The pantheon of gods is very diverse, which is explained by their tolerant policy towards the conquered peoples: they generously included foreign gods in their pantheon, and did not try to ban other beliefs, therefore the duties of many gods are repeated.
The holy places of the Incas were called "huaca", they could be rocks, hills, cliffs, streams, mountains, caves, houses and even mummies. Many of them are still revered by the peoples of Peru. From the Report to the King of Spain it is known that the Indians of Peru had 10422 idols, of which 1365 were mummies. It is noteworthy that some of the mummies of the Huacs were the founders of the Inca clans, tribes and villages.
ancient buddhism
To date, it is reliably known that Buddhism is the oldest of the three modern world religions. Buddhism originated about 2500 years ago on the basis of the ancient teachings of India. The founder of Buddhism was Buddha Shakyamuni (623-544 BC).
In Buddhist teaching earthly life, as well as heaven and hell, seems to be just one of the steps that a person must overcome on the path to the divine, through liberation from the chain of rebirth. Liberation from the chain of rebirth is achieved by strict observance of all the rules such as: do not cause suffering to either a person or an animal, do not eat animal food, meditation, etc.
The basis of the Buddhist doctrine is the desire of a person for the divine principle, enlightenment and nirvana, which can be achieved by rising above earthly attachments, spiritual self-improvement and meditation.
The religion of Armenia is very diverse. It includes Christianity, Islam, Yezidism and Frengi. Most of the inhabitants of Armenia are believers. It is believed that the most common religion is Christianity.
Christianity in Armenia
About 94% of the total population preach Christianity and belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. This one is one of the oldest in the world. Few people know that Armenia is the first Christian state in the world: in 301, faith in the King of Heaven and his son Christ became state religion countries. Bartholomew and Thaddeus are considered the first preachers here.
In 404 the Armenian alphabet was created, and in the same year the Bible was translated into Armenian, and in 506 Armenian church officially separated from the Byzantine one, which significantly influenced the further history of the state, its political and social activities.
Catholicism in Armenia
But Christianity is not the only one whose adherents live in Armenia. There are Armenian Catholic (there are about 36 parishes in total), which are called "Franks". Franks (or frengs) live in Northern Armenia. Initially, they appeared together with the crusaders, but later, in the 16-19 centuries, Catholics began to be called Franks. Armenian-Franks are divided into three groups:
- hbo francs,
- hash francs,
- Mshetsi Franks.
The division of Catholics is not associated with the peculiarities of religious beliefs, it is associated with the place of residence of adherents of this faith.
Islam in Armenia
There are also followers of Islam living in Armenia, although it should be noted that this religion is mainly practiced by Kurds, Azerbaijanis and Persians. In the capital - Yerevan - the famous Blue Mosque is located. It was built in 1766 and at the beginning of the 20th century was one of the seven operating mosques in the capital. This beautiful building is not only religious in nature. It is also a symbol of interfaith friendship.
Other religions
There are also Armenian Evangelicals who came out of Apostolic Church because they believed that its teachings and traditions did not correspond to the Bible. Pseudo-Protestant sectarianism, Hemshilami and Hanafi Sunnism are also widespread among Armenians. Some Armenians deny God and enter the society of atheists.
Despite all the diversity of religion, it is worth considering the fact that God is one in all faiths and teachings, although he has different names and names.
Christianity embraced most of the inhabitants of the Earth, not leaving aside Armenia. It was Christianity that played an important role in the fate of the republic when it lost its independence. Actually christian church had to take over part of the state power, which allowed her to preserve the ethnic group and the unique culture of the state.
Traditionally, questions of faith cause the most controversy and disputes. How many copies have been broken in finding out which religion is the most correct, which reflects the essence of man and the world more deeply, which is better than all the others.
And rarely are such debates peaceful. Most often, exhausting all arguments, the participants grab at clubs (in ancient times), swords (closer to us) or bombs and rockets (today).
As a result, it may seem that such disputes have been going on forever, and just as forever religion has surrounded man. But this is far from true. And even the most ancient religions of the world appeared in the very visible past, which only confirms this. So, let's figure out what our distant ancestors actually believed in and how exactly they did it.
Forerunners of religion
It is sometimes believed that any belief in supernatural forces is already a religion. But scientists clearly list its main characteristics, separating it from mythology and primitive beliefs. Each of these forms of worldview was based on the previous one, logically flowing from it. Therefore, in order to understand the ancient religions, it is necessary to briefly describe their forerunners.
ancient beliefs
With ancient beliefs, everything is relatively simple. Man did not distinguish much difference between himself, a tree, a stone, a stream and a wolf. Just think, one lies on the ground and does not run anywhere, and the other regularly howls in the nearby forest, all the same, each of them is alive in its own way.
This is how they appeared:
- Animism- faith in living, in the truest sense of the word, nature.
- totemism- the belief that a wolf, an owl or a deer can be the closest relative, if not by blood, then definitely by spirit.
- Fetishism- but not in modern understanding, but as a belief in the possibility of a thought process in inanimate objects.
- Shamanism and magic- the belief that some people can interact not only with their fellow tribesmen, but also with the spirits of everything that surrounds them.
In a certain sense, these beliefs are the most ancient religions. But in them, a person did not separate himself from the outside world, he lived next to him, and everyone was easy and comfortable.
Mythology
But then mythology appeared - a slightly complicated previous version. In it, too, animals easily turned into people, people became plants, rocks came to life, or vice versa, people turned to stone. But entities have already appeared that surpass this strange cycle - the gods (so far - in the plural). Although the line between them and people was also quite fragile. The gods were happy to foul or help people, those, to the best of their ability, took revenge on them or begged for various gingerbread, but, in general, it was a single closed system. Anyone also knows examples:
- Greek myths is a serial love-tragicomic film about the relationship of a dozen Olympian gods, a myriad of smaller gods and goddesses, many incomprehensible creatures like satyrs, nymphs and other centaurs-minotaurs and people.
- Ancient Roman mythology is the same multi-part film adapted to Roman conditions.
- Egyptian myths - passions around the solar cycle, its birth, death, next birth - and further in a circle with the participation of hybrid gods.
- Indian mythology is a mixture of beliefs of several hundred tribes and nationalities that inhabited today's India, absolutely incomprehensible to a stranger.
- Slavic mythology- the basis of many fairy tales familiar to us from childhood. As a rule, it is not recommended to read them to children in the original version in order to avoid stress.
You can continue in this spirit for a very long time, because each nation had its own mythology, and sometimes even several.
Religions
With such a long and difficult path, we have finally come to religions. So how does even the most ancient religion of the world differ from the most recent mythology? The duality of the world. Previously, everything was simple and clear for a person: here I am, here are the gods, here is nature, everyone lives together and does not interfere with each other.
But people do not look for simple ways, and in order to finally complicate and confuse everything, they created religions. In them, god (or gods - it doesn't matter) stand out outside this world, are placed above it, having the ability to set and create circumstances for those living in it.
The person also gets dual nature: on the one hand, he lives in this world, on the other hand, then he will leave it and move on to a better one (or a worse one, depending on how he behaves). Both the oldest religion and the youngest have such principles.
Examples of ancient religions
To make it a little easier to navigate, here are some examples of the most ancient religions:
- Judaism. The first of a series of Abrahamic religions, which also includes Christianity (a very common religion), Islam (also popular) and many of their offshoots.
- Taoism. Search and follow the "path" that every object, phenomenon and person has.
- Hinduism. Based on the mythology of this people, only more complicated and intricate. Base for many other religions: Shintoism, Krishnaism, Buddhism, Shaivism, Shaktism and many other interesting words.
- Zoroastrianism. Worship of fire in all possible forms.
Of these religions, like mushrooms after the rain, several hundred more, and even thousands of new ones have developed. And they keep showing up every day. As you can see, the most common religions today are not only not the most ancient, but also secondary, in relation to others.
And this makes it absolutely meaningless to search for an answer to the question of which religion is the most ancient, the most correct or the best. All of them have the right not to exist as long as they bring people benefit, joy and an incentive for self-improvement, and not vice versa.
The newest religions
But even today, more and more new religions appear, and not only as offshoots from existing ones, but also completely unique:
- Pastafarianism. Adherents believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and even defended the right to be photographed for a passport in a colander - their sacred element of clothing.
- Kopimism. The sacred symbols for them are the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, and the rite of copying and disseminating information is religious ceremony. So gracefully bypassed the ban on torrent trackers.
- Googleism. This youngest religion recognizes the Sacred Google as an eternal, immortal and omniscient being.
So, even such strange not at first glance (and at the second glance too) beliefs are also recognized as religions. It's funny, isn't it?
Answered by Vasily Yunak, 06/11/2007
3.693 Dmitry (opvas@???.ru) writes: "Good afternoon, Vasily Dmitrievich! What is the oldest religion in the world and what is it based on? Christianity follows from Judaism. I wonder what is ancient and where Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism comes from. Which religion is primary, maybe all subsequent ones began to follow from some. the creator of the Christian God?
Do you want an answer based on the Bible or based on modern history? The Bible tells the history of the world from creation to the very end, until the second coming of Christ, which we all expect. And from this it is clear that God initially gave man commandments that have remained to this day. He made the promise of the Messiah immediately after the sin of man, and this promise was fulfilled in Christ. Of course, throughout history, starting from Adam himself and his son Cain, humanity has retreated from the true God and created idols for itself. However, true god one, just as true religion is also one. Christianity originates not in the first century, when Jesus Christ died on Calvary, but much earlier - when God dressed Adam and Eve in leather clothes made from the skin of an innocent lamb, symbolizing the promised Messiah.
But I know that modern historical science does not want to take on faith the evidence of the Bible or other sacred books. scientific history is based only on those facts that were found during excavations in certain places of the earth, as well as on the information that was obtained from the most ancient manuscripts. And although much more manuscripts of the Bible have been found than manuscripts of other documents, nevertheless, by some irony, science does not take the evidence of the Bible into account. However, the found descriptions of ancient myths and legends of various peoples indicate that the stories of creation, the fall, the flood and the resettlement of people around the world are more or less identical in almost all peoples. Maybe Confucius or Buddha was historically earlier than Christ, and the ancient Egyptian religion was written before the first book of the Bible was written. But this is not at all a fact that those religions are older than the Biblical ones.
The fact that Christianity as a separate religion historically appeared only two thousand years ago does not mean that Christianity practically did not exist before the birth of Christ. The Greek word "Christ" is a translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah" ("Mashiach"), which means "anointed one." The Jews initially believed in the Messiah (in Greek, Christ), but the problem was that they were unwilling to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. Nevertheless, the religion of Jesus the Messiah is not based on the Gospels, as many people think today, but on the law of Moses, on the writings and prophecies of the Tanakh - holy book Jews, and Christianity is not a new religion, but a continuation of the Jewish religion.
According to the Bible - Christianity is primary. Jesus Christ is called the Creator of everything that exists in the universe. Well, if someone thinks otherwise, everyone has the right to choose their religion. I, in my article "Why Christ?", which is presented on our website http://www.biblestudy.ru, substantiated my belief in why Christianity is the first and last religion.
Read more on the topic "Miscellaneous":
There are countless religions in the world. Some of them have long been forgotten, and some are only gaining momentum. And which of them is the oldest religion on earth?
Which religion is recognized as the most ancient?
When determining the most ancient faith, several facts must be taken into account. There are some religions, the mention of which remained only in old traditions and legends. Among these are the religions of the Incas and Aztecs. This is a developed religion, which has many followers in its ranks. The Inca faith is rich in a variety of gods. This is due to the military activities of the tribes. When new peoples were captured, deities from the traditions and legends of the captives were added to the existing religion. Due to the possibility of the emergence of new deities, this belief did not disappear without a trace, but simply transformed into new currents.
Of the existing ones, one of the first was the religion of the Sumerians. It was distinguished by many gods, each of which had its own followers, called the Anunnaki. They were priests who helped ordinary people communicate with their idols and conveyed the wishes of the gods to the people.
The oldest of the world's religions is Judaism, born on the teachings of Vedism. It is based on religion, which later laid the foundation for Christianity. But imperfection existing gods and the many contradictory statements of this creed served to make it one of the shortest.
What is the latest religion to appear?
The concept of "young" is very relative, because when the count goes on for millennia, several centuries does not matter much. That is why the earliest faith - "Islam" seems to us to have long been known and widespread.
The belief is based on serving Allah, a Muslim puts the teachings of God above his own wishes. Nowadays, Islam is quite popular, Muslims live in 50 countries of the world. Almost a quarter of the world's population are Muslims. This religion appeared in the seventh century AD, when the prophet Mohammed received the first verses of the Koran. The common teaching is more than thirteen centuries old, but the younger religions of modern times are not known.
The popularity of this belief is due to strict rules and a righteous lifestyle. Many children are born in Muslim families, which is why there are more and more adherents of Islam. A mullah serves to communicate between God and man. He conducts rituals and reads prayers, whether it be nikah, ayah or other ceremonies.
When did early Christianity appear?
The current reckoning begins from the Nativity of Christ, therefore the beginning of the first century AD in the lands of the Eastern Mediterranean is considered the birth of Christianity.
Before the advent of this religion, people worshiped many mythological deities. In Christianity, there is one God who will understand and forgive everyone if a person sincerely repents of his misdeeds. He combines everything positive traits pre-existing deities.
Christianity is based on the suffering and pain of Jesus Christ, who chose this path in order to atone for human sins. That is why the path to true enlightenment lies through suffering. The one god is ready to accept any person of any faith, if he really wants it. A Christian is associated with a peace-loving wanderer who preaches the path of truth and wants to help every lost soul.
Thanks to its peaceful teachings, Christianity gained great popularity and became one of the three most widespread beliefs in the world along with Islam and Buddhism. Now this religion is divided into three currents:
- orthodoxy;
- Catholicism;
- Protestantism.
What ancient religions existed before?
Buddhism is another equally old religion. It originated in the fifth century BC. The appearance of Buddhism was preceded by a change in the teachings and basic provisions of Brahmanism.
This faith is based on the doctrine of erasing the boundaries between closed castes and divisions of society. All people are equal before God, regardless of their material wealth and position. Buddhism originally appeared in India, but quickly spread to other countries such as China, Mongolia, Tibet and others. IN modern world Almost half a million people are considered adherents of Buddhism.
Other less popular ancient religions include Finnish deities in Finland, the Canaanite faith, and Atonism. On the shores of the island of Crete, the Minoan religion was known, headed by the goddess of nature. The Assyrian people worshiped the god Ashur.
Mithraism was popular in European lands. Its spread became possible thanks to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Mithra is the god of heaven and justice.
What is the oldest faith in the world?
Some believe that Hinduism is the very first religion. He combined pagan deities and the foundations for the birth of Christianity. At one time, Hinduism was as popular as the three most widespread religions in our time.
In the third century BC, the Tengrian religion was known, which originated in Central Asia. It is based on belief in the spirits of ancestors. The teachings were passed down from generation to generation, although there is no written confirmation of this fact.
Buddhism appeared in the fifth century BC, which also makes this belief one of the oldest. 
Zoroastrianism is considered one of the first beliefs. There is no exact data on the origin of this religion, although the first mention of it appeared in the sixth century BC in the lands of Iran. The first written references appeared around the first century BC, but then Zoroastrianism was already considered an ancient faith. The main sacred collection of religious laws is the Avesta. This book is written in a now dead language. Chief god is Ahura Mazda, the creator of the whole world. He sent to earth only one prophet - Zarathustra.
One of the oldest religions, dating back tens of millennia, is and. This belief was common among most peoples on earth, for example, among the Siberian Yakuts. Shamanism is based on the unity of man and nature, and the shaman acted as a link between them, he knew how to communicate with spirits and apply the methods of traditional medicine. This faith has given more influence on the formation of culture and lifestyle of people.
It is possible that there were more early religions, but due to the lack of written evidence, this cannot be proven.
