What is religious belief? The emergence of religious beliefs. Religious beliefs of primitive people. Religious Beliefs of the Slavs

Religion is an integral part of human history, and contrary to the statements of many ideologists of atheism, religious beliefs are far from a relic of the past. They largely shape the modern reality and influence the course of history. About what is religious belief, how it originated and how it developed in the world, and in particular among the Slavs, we will talk in this article.

Dawn of civilization

It is for sure not known where and when for the first time the representatives of ancient humanity had a religious feeling. Archaeological finds, shedding some light on this question, leave, nevertheless, behind itself a lot of riddles. Attempts to find answers to them led to the formation of several schools in the religious community that postulated certain views.

Mythological school

For example, the mythological school, once having a huge weight, claimed that ancient savages, not knowing the true causes of natural phenomena, began to idolize certain phenomena, such as the sun, moon, wind and so on. Over time, however, scientists have come to the conclusion that this view presents a picture of an extremely simplified and generally untrue. To explain the emergence of religious beliefs from this position is now considered a bad form and a manifestation of ignorance.

Alternative Views

In place of the mythological school came many others who cling to various aspects of human life in their attempts to find answers. Some people proceed from the assumption that religion was the result of the development of agriculture and crafts. Others are trying to find an answer to the question of how the religious beliefs of primitive people appeared, through psychological functions. Some seek an answer in myths, the latter in ancient artifacts, and others in the human psyche and DNA. But there is as yet no unified theory that could explain what religious belief is. This is how difficult this phenomenon is. For certain it is only known that religion appeared before humanity remembers itself. There is incontrovertible evidence that at least thirty thousand years ago the tribes inhabiting Europe and Asia had sufficiently developed cults.

Great mother

Practically in all religions, even in monotheistic Abrahamic persuasions, echoes of the Great Mother's cult remain. The spirituality of this goddess is considered the oldest in the world, as evidenced by the numerous vocal, that is, prayer statuettes, abundantly found in different places. Their age is thousands of years, in some cases it is about tens of thousands of years.

Today we are used to the fact that at the head of the world, according to the religious beliefs of most creeds, God stands. But the religious beliefs of primitive people were focused on the worship of female divinity, personifying the whole of nature, which gives birth and absorbs all that has been born. In general, the Great Mother's archetype is complex enough, since it includes both the earth and the underworld, as well as the moon. Probably all other goddesses in various pagan pantheons were the result of the development and differentiation of the unified image of the mother goddess. Evidently such a high role played by the figure of the divine woman is associated with the matriarchal arrangement of the ancient tribal communities leading the nomadic way of life.

The emergence of patriarchal cults

The oldest religious beliefs, as we have already found out, had a matriarchal character. Gradually, however, they began to come to naught, giving way to the male deity. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the tribes began to move to a settled way of life, because of which private property appeared, agriculture, trade, and economy began to develop. As a consequence, the role of a man - a warrior, defender, and earner - has increased. The role of the woman, on the contrary, began to recede into the background. So on the first place came out the figure of the male deity.

What is religious belief based on worshiping God? It is worth saying that the supremacy of God by no means abolished the worship of the goddess. On the contrary, they began to be conceived as a single married couple, which engenders the whole world and people. Since the dominant role in human families at that time began to play men, then God began to dominate the goddess, but not to replace it. This divine syzygy began to appear as sons, who become gods, heads separate spheres of human life and the life of the world as a whole. About this in one form or another narrates the mythology of all peoples.

The appearance of monotheism

In some cultures, the role of a man has become so prevalent over the female role that a significant revolution has taken place in their dogma - the goddess has completely lost her identity, her face. So there was monotheism. What is religious belief based on the worship of one god? It is a creed that insists that there is only one god who surpasses all and rises above everything. The rest in comparison with him are not gods, but something like official spirits. They are unworthy of worship. However, monotheists most often simply deny the existence of any deities, except for a single creator. Unbalanced by the spirituality of the goddess, the monotheistic cult was expressed in various unpleasant psychological costs. Therefore, he began to balance, introducing some feminine elements, such as Divinity and the Holy Spirit in Judaism - the most successful attempt to create a monotheistic cult. As for modern Christianity, this balance is achieved thanks to the figure of the Virgin Mary, which is venerated no less, and even more, than God Himself.

Religious Beliefs of the Slavs

Virtually the beliefs of the Slavs were pagan and came from a common source of the Indo-European source. They included a lot of gods and goddesses and wore patriarchal character, that is, they were with a male god at the head. Then, however, from the submission of Prince Vladimir, the Eastern Slavic tribes began to actively Christianize, as a result of which the traditional Orthodox religion of today is Eastern Orthodoxy. As for the Western Slavs, they, being pagans, also underwent Christianization at different times. However, they were more influenced by Western Roman Catholicism than Greek orthodoxy.