VampsWeb Page 4
On the surface, many religions in existance today seem quite different from each other. However, if you strip them of the things that are mere embellishments and later additions, or if we remove those distinctions that are the result of climate, language, peculiar conditions of the their native land, and other factors, it is amazing how similar most of them turn out to be.
For example, most people would think that there couldn't be any two religions more different from each other than the Roman Catholic Church and Wicca . However, what do we see when we put aside the differences that could be attributed to language and culture? If we are objective about it, we have to admit that there is a great deal that the two have in common. Both Catholicism and Wicca are steeped in rituals and ceremonies. These include the use of candles, incense, water, images of what each religion believes to be the god and a mother-of-god or queen-of-heaven goddess, chants, and prayer books (eventhough Wiccans do not call theirs "prayerbooks"), special clothes, holy days and food/drink. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it serves to illustrate the point. The question is, Why do two religions that appear to be so different have so many things in common?
As enlightening as the comparison of these two religions turns out to be, the same can be done with other religions. When we do so, we find that certain teachings and beliefs are universal among them. Most of us are familiar with such doctrines as the immortality of the human soul, reward for good deeds, payment for bad deeds, a triune god or a godhead of many gods, and a mother-of-god or a queen-of-heaven goddess. Beyond these, however, there are many legends and myths that are equally commonplace. For example, there are legends about man's fall from divine grace owing to his illicit attempt to achieve immortality, the need to offer sacrifices to atone, gods and demigods who lived among humanity and produced offspring.
What can we conclude from all this? We note that those who believed in these myths and legends lived far from one another geographically. Their culture and traditions were different and distinct.Their social customs bore no relationship to one another. And yet, when it comes to their religion, they believed in such similar ideas. Although not everone of these people, all believed in all the things aforementioned, all of them believed in some of them. The obvious question is, Why? It was as if there was a common pool from which religion drew its basic beliefs, some more, some less. With the passage of time, these basic ideas were embellished and modified, and other teachings developed from them. But the basic outline is unmistakable.
Logically, the similarity in the basic concepts of the many different religions of the world is strong evidence that they did not begin each in its own separate and independent way. Rather, going back far enough, their ideas must have come from a common origin. What was that origin?
An Early Golden Age
Interestingly, among the legends common to many religions is one that says human kind began in a golden age in which man was guiltless, lived happily and peacefully in close communication with the god/goddesses, and was free from sickness and death. While many details may differ, the same concept if a perfect paradise that since existed is found in the writings and legends of many religions. Among the ancient Greeks, Hesiod's poem Works and Days speaks of the Five Ages of Man, the first of which was the "Golden Age" when man enjoyed complete happiness. He wrote:
"The immortal gods, that tread the courts of heaven,
Indeed, there are many common elements discernable among all the different legends about man's beginning. But when we put them together, a complete picture begins to emerge, that there seems to be so many things that are the same about many religions that it all points to the way man first started to worship what he believed to be the supreme being.
Religion
Different yet Similar
We can get the answer in the same way that linguistic experts got their answers about the origin of language. By placing the languages side by side and noting their similarities, an etymologist can trace the various languages back to their source. Similarly, by placing religions side by side, we can examine their doctrines, legends, rituals, ceremonies, institutions, and so on, and see if there is any underlying thread of common identity and, if so, to what that thread leads us.
First made a golden race of men.
Like gods they lived, with happy, careless souls,
From toil and pain exempt; nor on them crept
Wretched old age, but all their life was passed
In feasting, and their limbs no changes knew."
That legendary golden age was lost, according to Greek mythology, when Epimetheus accepted as wife the beautiful Pandora, a gift from the Olympian god Zeus. One day Pandora opened the lid of her great vase, and suddenly there escaped from it troubles, miseries, and illness from which mankind was never able to recover.Back to the Home Page
A service of Dowell enterprises, LLC
last revised Aug. 8, 2000
Copyright Dale Dowell 2000 all rights reserved
Void where prohibited. Keep both hands on the broomstick at all times.
