The earliest world The most ancient religions in the world

There are countless religions in the world. Some of them have long been forgotten, and some are only gaining momentum. Which one is the most ancient 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, mentions of which remain only in old traditions and legends. Among these are the religions of the Incas and Aztecs. This is a developed religion with many followers in its ranks. The Inca faith is rich in the 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 captives were added to the existing religion. Thanks to the possibility of the emergence of new deities, this belief did not disappear without a trace, but was simply transformed into new trends.

Of those currently existing, 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 convey the wishes of the gods to the people.

The oldest of the world's religions is Judaism, which was born from the teachings of Vedism. It is based on a religion that later laid the foundation for Christianity. But imperfection existing gods and the many contradictory statements of this religion contributed to its becoming one of the shortest.

Which religion was one of the last to appear?

The concept of “young” is very relative, because when the count goes on for millennia, several centuries of great importance does not have. That is why the earliest faith - “Islam” seems to us to have been known and widespread for a long time.

The basis of belief is service to Allah; a Muslim places the teachings of God above his own desires. Nowadays, Islam is quite popular; Muslims live in 50 countries around the world. Almost a quarter of the world's population is Muslim. This religion appeared in the seventh century AD, when the prophet Mohammed received the first verses of the Koran. The widespread teaching is more than thirteen centuries old, but younger religions of our time are not known.

The popularity of this belief is due to its strict rules and righteous lifestyle. IN Muslim families Many children are born, which is why there are more and more adherents of Islam. The mullah serves as a means of communication between God and man. He conducts rituals and reads prayers, be it nikah, verse or other ceremonies.

When did ancient Christianity appear?

The current chronology 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. It combines everything positive traits pre-existing deities.

Christianity is based on the suffering and pain of Jesus Christ, who chose this path 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 has gained great popularity and has become one of the three most widespread beliefs in the world, along with Islam and Buddhism. Now this religion is divided into three movements:

1. Orthodoxy;
2. Catholicism;
3. Protestantism.

What ancient religions existed before?

Other equally old religions include Buddhism. It originated in the fifth century BC. The emergence of Buddhism was preceded by a change in the teachings and fundamental principles of Brahmanism.

This faith is based on teachings about erasing the boundaries between closed castes and divisions of society. All people are equal before God, regardless of their material wealth and provisions. 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 the Finnish deities in Finland, the Canaanite faith, and Atonism. On the shores of the island of Crete, the Minoan religion was known, led 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 a god heavenly body 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 Tengri 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 evidence of this fact.
Buddhism appeared in the fifth century BC, which also makes it one of the oldest beliefs.
Zoroastrianism is considered one of the first beliefs. There is no exact data on the origin of this religion, although the first mentions of it appeared in the sixth century BC in the lands of Iran. The first written mentions 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 was written today dead language. Chief God- This is Ahura Mazda, the creator of the whole world. He sent only one prophet to earth - Zarathustra.

One of ancient religions, dating back tens of thousands of years, 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 the link between them; he knew how to communicate with spirits and apply traditional medicine methods. This belief had a greater influence on the formation of the culture and way of life of people.

It is possible that there were earlier religions, but due to the lack of written evidence this cannot be proven.

If you need it for history tests, then write Buddhism, they say it is about 5000 years old.
And if for yourself and objectively - then for yourself early religion There was Monotheism, but at present only Islam can be classified as pure and undistorted Monotheism.
It is a very superficial understanding to think that Islam began only with the coming of Muhammad (s.a.s). In fact, it has much deeper roots...
Islam is not just some kind of religion that exists on its own, it is, first of all, Monotheism.
In general, it must be said that all 3 of these religions of Monotheism - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - are beliefs in the same One God. And faith in the One God has ALWAYS existed, starting with the first man Adam (who in Islam is considered the first Prophet (peace be upon him), who was supposed to convey the religion of Monotheism to all his descendants).
But as the descendants of Adam settled across the earth, some of the tribes (being tempted by the devil, due to their weakness) lost this faith, moved away from true Monotheism, and began to worship idols, fire, the sun, came up with a “pantheon of gods”, etc. D. And by the way, Buddhism is one of these misconceptions.
And in order to return the lost, God sent down new Prophets to people, who taught people the same Monotheism.
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been more than 124,000 such Prophets, each for his own tribe and time. Most of their names have not reached us, but nevertheless, the greatest of them are mentioned both in the Bible and the Torah, and in Holy Quran, I will list just a few of them: Nuh (Noah) Lut (Lot), Abraham (Ibrahim), Harun (Aaron), Daud (David) Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), Muhammad (peace be upon them), to whom the revelation was given from God. and all of them, even in the most difficult times, taught their people the same Monotheism. Thus, the Prophet Musa (Moses) was given the Torah as a set of laws about faith in the One God, in contrast to the misconceptions that exist among people that Pharaoh is God. And the Holy Quran (as well as the Torah, as well as the Bible) speaks about all this.
This is what the Koran says about the Prophet Isa (Jesus) (peace be upon him), with the only difference that we Muslims do not consider him God, but consider him a Prophet (which can be easily proven even by the example of the texts of the Bible, without even resorting to the Koran) .
In general, it must be said that the Bible also contains references to the fact that after Jesus another Prophet will come, but Christians for some reason stubbornly do not want to admit that it was about Muhammad (s.a.s)...
In general, it must be said that initially all 3 religions of Monotheism Judaism - Christianity - Islam were true, they are beliefs in the same One God, i.e. three evolutions of the same Monotheism. It’s just that the tenets of these religions were transmitted by God through the prophets for certain periods of time. And each of the subsequent religions did not carry within itself a complete refutation of the old one, but only its addition, and the correction of those aspects of it that were distorted by people in the course of history.
At first there was Judaism, but the Jews moved away from the commandments of God and then God sent them Jesus to guide them on the true path. It is clear that Jesus brought news from the same God (there are simply no others!), whom the Jews also worshiped. Then you know the fate of Jesus. The Jews, by the way, still have not recognized that He is the Mission (although the Torah says that the Mission will come). But there were those who believed in it. This is how the first Christians emerged from among the Jews. Essentially, they were the same Jews who heard the good news from Jesus and believed him. Therefore, relatively speaking, Christianity is an expanded and updated Judaism. Please stop here and understand this. In the Bible, Jesus says that he is not the last prophet, that there will be another prophet after him. And this prophet appeared. His name is Muhammad (s.a.s). He appeared because Christians did not follow the commandments of God and moved away from true Monotheism. Those Jews, Christians (former Jews) and pagans who heard him became Muslims. ISLAM NATURALLY INCLUDES BOTH JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY. And the Koran is the last and final law given by the One God for all mankind
Nusya

Which world religion appeared earlier than others?

Before answering this question, it is necessary to clearly outline why, among the many different religions Only a few have been awarded world status, what are their differences? Today there are more than twenty thousand different faiths, religious movements and sects on the globe.

As for world religions, there are only three of them. Surely their names are familiar to everyone: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. And they are distinguished by their scale: they are professed all over the world, regardless of political, national and cultural factors. Indeed, real Christians can be found both in developed European countries and in abandoned settlements in Africa. The same cannot be said about Shintoism or, say, Judaism, whose influence is limited to a certain territory. Contrary to popular belief, the world's oldest religion is not Hinduism, which arose in the 15th century. BC, and not even paganism, which appeared even earlier. This proud title is borne by Buddhism, which arose much later, but quickly spread throughout the planet and influenced the development of many cultures. Each world religion is unique and has a number of specific features, which we will discuss below.

Buddhism

It supposedly arose in the 6th century BC. on the territory of modern India. Its founder is Siddhartha Buddha Gautama, an Indian prince who preferred the path of a hermit to a measured, luxurious life. By the age of 35, he achieved enlightenment and began to preach his teachings. All life, in his opinion, from birth to death,
permeated with the spirit of suffering, and the reason for this is the person himself. The path to liberation from suffering, or the Noble Eightfold Middle Path, lies through the renunciation of earthly passions and pleasures. Only with the help of meditation and constant self-control, as the Buddha teaches, is it possible to achieve a state of harmony - nirvana. Today, this world religion is widespread in the southeastern, eastern, central regions of Asia, as well as in the Far East. The number of Buddhist followers around the world reaches 500 million people.

Christianity

This world religion originated about 2 thousand years ago on the territory of modern Palestine, which at that time was one of the provinces of the Holy Roman Empire. Christianity preached love for one's neighbor, mercy and non-resistance to evil, which made it unlike the cruel pagan rituals. Despite the persecution of followers of the “religion of slaves and the humiliated,” the teachings of Christ very quickly spread throughout the Eurasian continent. With time one Church divided into many movements: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism and various Eastern confessions.

Islam

It is not the earliest world religion, but it currently ranks first in terms of the number of adherents (more than 1 billion people). The official date of its origin is known - 610 AD, it was then that the first verses of the Koran were given to the Prophet Muhammad. By the end of his life, Islam was practiced throughout the Arab Peninsula. The popularity of this young religion is explained by the traditionally high birth rate in Muslim families, where very strict rules reign and immoral behavior is not allowed.

In most countries of the modern world state religion no at all: all religions (except for prohibited destructive cults) are equal before the law, the state does not interfere in their affairs. Such states are secular, or secular. Belongs to their number and Russian Federation. From this point of view, calling Russia “Orthodox” and Italy “Catholic” is possible only from the point of view of historically established religious traditions.

But there are also countries in which the status of a particular religion is enshrined in law.

The very first Christian state

Often the very first state in which Christianity acquired the status of a state religion is called Byzantium, but this is incorrect. The Edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine the Great, which opened the way for the establishment of Byzantium as a Christian state, dates back to 313. But 12 years before this event - in 301 - Christianity was officially recognized in Greater Armenia.

This event was facilitated by the position of King Trdat III. According to legend, this king was initially strongly opposed to Christian faith. His close associate St. He imprisoned George the Illuminator for refusing to sacrifice to the goddess Anahit. Subsequently, the king became seriously ill. In a dream, an angel appeared to his sister and said that only Gregory could heal Trdat, and the king must become a Christian. And so it happened, and after this incident Trdat III began the fight against paganism throughout the country.

In modern Armenia, the special legal status of the Armenian Apostolic as a national religion is preserved.

Christian states of the modern world

Christianity exists in the form of Catholicism and various directions Protestantism.

Catholicism has the status of a state religion in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, as well as in several dwarf European states: Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and, of course, in the Vatican, the residence of the Pope.

The status of Orthodoxy as the “dominant religion” is indicated in the Greek constitution.

Lutheranism has official status in Denmark and Iceland.

In a number of cases, one or another Christian church is state not for the entire country as a whole, but for a certain part of it. Catholicism has status official religion in some cantons of Switzerland, and Anglicanism in England, but not in other parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Some countries are formally secular states, but actually Christian denominations has a special status in them. The Bulgarian constitution defines Orthodoxy as the country's "traditional" one, and the Georgian constitution emphasizes the "exclusive role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the history of Georgia."

In Norway and Sweden, despite the separation of church and state, the king remains the head of the church, and in Norway Lutheran clergy are treated as civil servants. In Finland, no one is state-owned, but there are special laws regulating the activities of Lutheran Church. The situation is similar with Orthodox Church in this country.

In Germany, church and state are separate, but the financial authorities of the federal states levy taxes for the benefit of religious communities. Roman Catholic and Old Catholic communities and evangelical land churches enjoy this right. The tax is levied on the basis of belonging to any religious community, which should be at the passport office.

Sources:

• Legal status traditional religions

Christianity is the largest world religion both in terms of geographical distribution and number of adherents. There is at least one Christian community in every country in the world.

Instructions

Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that is based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. Believers have no doubt that Jesus is the Savior of Mankind and the Son of God and is sacred in the historicity of Christ. The religion arose in Palestine in the 1st century among the Arabic-speaking population. In the first decade, Christianity spread to neighboring provinces and ethnic groups. It was first adopted as a state religion in Armenia in 301. And in 313 the Roman Empire gave Christianity the status state religion. In 988, Christianization was introduced into the Old Russian state and continued over the next 9 centuries.

There are about 2.35 billion adherents of the Christian religion around the world, which is one third of the world's population. In Europe, the number of Christians reaches 550 million, North America- 231 million, Latin America - 543 million, Africa - 475 million, Asia - 350 million, Australia and Oceania - 24 million people.

Video on the topic

According to experts, there are tens of thousands of religious movements and denominations in the world. Many old forms of worship are fading into oblivion, giving way to new ones. Today, historians are asking the question: what was the first religion on earth?

Instructions

All existing religious teachings are grouped into several main directions, of which the most famous are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. A study of the history of the emergence of religions allows us to draw a conclusion about the religious worship that appeared on earth from the very beginning.

The directions listed above can be divided into 2 groups: “Abrahamic” and “Eastern”. The latter includes Hinduism, Buddhism and a number of related movements that originated in Southeast Asia. While Buddhism appeared in the 6th century BC, thereby becoming the same age as Confucianism, Hinduism has a noticeably longer history. The earliest date of its origin is believed to be 1500 BC. However, Hinduism is not a single system of religious teachings, as it unites various schools and cults.

The “Abrahamic” group of religions consists of three related movements: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The first two forms of worship have a common doctrinal source - the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. Islam, which appeared in the 7th century AD, took as its basis the Koran, which is largely based on the experience of the entire Bible, including New Testament. Unlike the “eastern” group of religions, which have many fundamental differences in the understanding and even the very existence of God, the “Abrahamic” forms of worship are distinguished by the main feature - monotheism, belief in one and only Creator. This detail is emphasized by the name of God in the “Abrahamic” religions: for Muslims he is “Allah,” which indicates the related “Elohim” of the Jews, in the Old Testament of whom God is also called “Jehovah” (Yahweh), which is confirmed by Christians. The commonality of these fundamental doctrines makes it possible to trace the historical path of the emergence of the “Abrahamic” religions.

Judaism is the earliest of these forms of religious worship. "Torah" - the first five biblical books Old Testament, (also called the “Pentateuch”) - began to be written around 1513 BC. Nevertheless, this work describes in detail the period of formation of humanity and the history of the emergence of religion long before the beginning of the Bible. Based on an analysis of the initial chapters of the Old Testament, researchers came to the conclusion that there were previous manuscript sources on the basis of which the writing of the Bible began.

The Bible makes it much easier to research the historical background because it contains a detailed chronological line. Thus, according to biblical chronology, Abraham, who is revered by representatives of all “Abrahamic” religions, practiced serving God at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. Famous global flood, which the servants of God were able to experience, in Holy Scripture dates back to around 2370 BC. According to the description of the Bible, hundreds of centuries before the flood, people also professed a single faith in God. In particular, the Bible quotes the words of the first woman, Eve, who mentioned Jehovah (Yahweh) as the God who gave life to the first people on earth.

The religious and cultural influence that the Bible had on Eastern and Western civilization, as well as the presence in its composition of a strict chronological line with the system of religious worship practiced by the ancient world, distinguish the Bible from the general mass of other religious documents. Today, the Bible is considered an authoritative religious source by more than half of the world's inhabitants. Unlike many cults, the Bible is fundamental, which allowed what it presented religious form maintain a single system of worship of God for a long time. In turn, this helps to trace the history of faith in biblical God for thousands of years. These circumstances allow us to come to the conclusion that the first religion on earth was the one described in the Bible.

Religion is distinguished from other social phenomena by belief in the supernatural, the presence of a set of spiritual and moral rules of behavior, cult rituals that unite a group of people-followers in various types religious formations - church, sect, movement, denomination, community, etc. There are more than 5,000 religions in the modern world.

Today it is difficult to give a definite answer to the question of which religion is the most ancient, the first to arise. Archaeological excavations provide more and more new ground for further conclusions regarding the emergence of religion.

Islam is a young religion

From a historical point of view, this is a very young religion. Gaining personal experience, not causing harm to anyone, openness to the gaze of God - this is what lies at the core of Islam. Believers believe that only God decides when to create a soul and when to dissolve it; accordingly, it does not appear at birth and does not disappear at the moment of a person’s death. According to Muslims, only Allah decides the fate of a person.

This religion can be called the youngest also because the average Muslim is only twenty-three years old.

What was ancient Christianity like?

With the advent of Christianity, the mythological idea of ​​life and world order began to collapse, and faith in a savior God appeared who could save every person. The main attribute of fairness and pure god became justice.

The cults of the Eastern Mediterranean manifested themselves in different shapes. In the end, the ground was prepared for the spread of Christianity, since it was in it that the trends that had arisen by that time found their greatest embodiment. IN early Christianity suffering was deified, because God's grace opened exclusively to the suffering. Faith called for unity in love, without dividing people into strangers and our own.

Christians perceived themselves on earth as temporary wanderers. At the center of the teaching, at the same time, there was a person, bearing responsibility for his actions and having the opportunity to choose his path to the Kingdom of God. This was the beginning of the transformation of Christianity into a world religion.

At first, the followers of the preacher Jesus were only a small group. The doctrine of it arose in the first half of the first century AD. Jesus, continuing the prophetic movement, first acted as a prophet. He opposed ritual regulation and formal rituals, which influenced the further spread of Christianity.

The idea of ​​Christian charity was to help all those who suffer, and the reasons for this suffering are not important, it does not matter whether it is a woman or a man, a poor person, a cripple or a harlot. Mercy concerned the individual. Christianity said that anyone can be saved through faith. Gradually, Christianity, conquering the souls of people, began to turn into a world religion.

The oldest religion on Earth

The central place of Zoroastrianism is occupied by the deity Ahura Mazda - the beginningless creator of all things, the father of all the laws of the universe and the leader of the side of Good in the fight against Evil, which occurs in the world without his permission. His only prophet among people was Zarathustra, who, according to his teaching, brought to people the truth about God's revelation and opened their eyes to bad customs: bloody raids on neighboring tribes, looting, teachings of priests that encouraged violence.

Zoroastrianism had a huge influence on the Abrahamic religions, including the largest: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

What other ancient religions are there?

One of the most unusual is the Inca religion. Their pantheon is very diverse, since, conquering new peoples, they added their deities to their pantheon. Of the modern world religions, the most ancient is Buddhism. It appeared more than two and a half thousand years ago. The basis was the ancient teachings of India - the desire for the divine, nirvana and enlightenment. This can be achieved only by rising above all attachments, through meditation and self-improvement. It is known about such ancient religions as the religion of the Druids, Celtic beliefs, shamanism, etc.

New religious movements appear almost every year. The website has a detailed article on the youngest religion.
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