Peter Archer - Religion 101: From Allah to Zen Buddhism, an Exploration of the Key People, Practices, and Beliefs that Have Shaped the Religions of the World

Avon, Massachusetts

Religion has, for 5,000 years, been an essential part of the human condition. Spiritual beliefs of all kinds have sought to shape the human psyche and leave a lasting imprint on our souls.

In the pages of this book, youll stroll through the temples of the Greeks and Romans, marvel at the soaring spires of medieval Christian cathedrals, stand astonished before the graceful minarets of the Blue Mosque in the ancient city of Istanbul, and gaze in wonder at the Borobudur Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Youll read about saints and sinners, heroes and heretics, and the great thinkers, visionaries, and mystics who shaped our spiritual landscape.

Religion is a complicated subject, partly because there are so many shades of religious belief and partly due to the difficulty of actually defining what religion is.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary characterizes it as the belief in a superhuman controlling power, especially in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship. Thats a pretty loose definition and it covers a lot of ground.

Today, there are five major religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. There are countless smaller groups, some of which are subsections of these five and others that have no connection to them. While we cant possibly cover all of them, this book will be a crash course in the main elements of world religion.

Religion has also been a huge source of conflict, from the Crusades of the Middle Ages to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By understanding one anothers belief systems and respecting them, we can avoid such fanaticism ourselves and recognize it when it appears in others.

Religion has created complex philosophies, profound and moving literature, and works of art that dazzle and awe us with their magnificence. These endure, even when the religious beliefs that produced them are no longer actively pursued. Through religions astounding cultural legacy, we can continue to appreciate it and its contribution to the world.

So get ready for a long, fascinating journey down the path of spiritual enlightenment.

The earliest religious rituals seem to have arisen simultaneously with the development of communities of humans. The cave paintings in Lascaux in France, for example, which were the product of bands of hunters and gatherers, may well have had a religious significance; its been argued by anthropologists that they are often found in the most remote areas of the caves where the strongest magic resided. Its possible that creating an image of an animal (particularly an animal that was in the process of being hunted) was an appeal to the Divine to give good fortune to the hunter in his quest for food.

With the rise of settled societies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, we find the systematic worship of deities and particular powers ascribed to them. Mesopotamian religion was often dark and gloomy. The hero Gilgamesh in the epic poem of the same name does not look forward to any blessed afterlife; rather, he believes that the afterlife will be full of suffering and sorrow. This may well reflect the tenuous nature of Mesopotamian society.

By the time of the rise of ancient Greece, religious rituals and beliefs were well established, and a special order of people priests had been set aside to serve as intermediaries between ordinary people and the gods. The gods of Greece were seen as neither especially benevolent or evil. They just were. Often they embodied natural phenomena:

Unlike later religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), the gods were unconcerned with ethical issues. At most, they might punish pride, particularly if it took the form of blaspheming against them. But oftentimes their motivations were unknowable to humans.

To mourn avails not: man is born to bear.

Such is, alas! the gods severe decree:

They, only they are blest, and only free.

Homer, The Iliad (trans. Alexander Pope)

People prayed to the gods not for divine guidance but so that either the gods would grant favor to them or more often that the gods would leave them alone.

Almost all ancient societies were polytheistic. Even the Jews, who worshiped a single god, Yahweh, did not initially deny the existence of other gods. They were merely exclusive in their worship. Other societies such as the Greeks, the Romans, and the Egyptians worshiped a broad pantheon of gods and seem to have frequently borrowed gods from one another. In the world of the Mediterranean and the East, myths and stories circulated freely, spreading religious beliefs across Europe and Asia.

The ancient Greeks were polytheists (that is, they worshiped many gods). These included Zeus, lord of all the gods and bringer of thunder; his wife Hera, goddess of marriage; Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; her brother Ares, god of war; and Dionysus, god of wine and revelry.

The religious rites of Dionysus were different from those held to honor other Olympian deities. Traditional rites honored the gods and goddesses in temples specially built for that purpose. Dionysus wandered among the people, and his cults celebrated him in the woods. In Dionysian festivals, worshipers became one with the god. This god loved people; he loved dance; and he loved wine. His festivals were like big parties.

Dionysus was usually accompanied on his travels by the Maenads, wild followers whose name means madwomen. The Maenads carried a thyrsus, a symbol of Dionysus, and incited people to join Dionysuss cult and participate in his rites. Although everyone was invited, women were the most eager participants in Dionysian festivals.

A thyrsus was a long pole or rod covered in grapevines or ivy, adorned with grapes or other berries, and topped with a pinecone. It was a symbol of fertility and a sacred object in Dionysian rites.

Dionysus was the god of wine, and his rituals celebrated this drink. It was believed that wine gave people the ability to feel the greatness and power of the gods. Through wine, his worshipers achieved the ecstasy they needed to merge with the god. One of Dionysuss names was Lysios, which meant the god of letting go. But the excesses of his festivals often led to frenzy and madness.