What is religion and what is its role

All people have heard the word "religion", many belong to one or another religious denomination. However, very few people know and can explain what religion is.

This term is very closely related to suchconcepts like "faith" and "God." Based on this, it is possible to define what religion is. This is a form of consciousness and a set of spiritual ideas and emotional experiences that are based on believing in some supernatural beings and powers (spirits, gods, angels, demons, demons, etc.) that are objects and objects of worship and worship. Summarizing, we can say that such a religion in simple words. This term means worshiping certain gods.

However, for the full disclosure of this complex issue (about what religion is), one should turn to history and understand the role of religion in society and the development of human civilization.

Even at the dawn of human development, people could notexplain how these or other natural processes occur. Therefore, they preferred to consider flooding, drought, thunder, lightning, sunrise and sunset by the actions of certain evil or kind gods and supernatural beings. Over time, specially trained people appeared - shamans, priests, druids, brahmanas, who could communicate with manifestations of the other world, gods and spirits. Their main task was the prediction of poor harvest or fruitful years, wars, natural disasters, as well as the indoctrination of certain supernatural beings. Every phenomenon had its god. The patrons were at war, thunder, the sun and so on. Beliefs in the multiplicity of gods bear such names as polytheism or paganism.

Gradually, with the development of civilization and society,began to drop the need for a huge number of supernatural forces. People have an idea of ​​unity. Such a belief in a single god is called monotheism. In the history of religion, it is believed that the first in this issue were the Jews who believed in the one God Yahweh. There were some attempts to introduce monotheism on the territory of Egypt in the form of the cult of the sole patron of sunlight - Amon Ra, but such attempts failed. Here comes the arena question of what religion is monotheistic. Such a course had not only a religious but also a political and social character. The development of monotheism required the unification of scattered tribes and territories into one single state. However, each tribe, every village and community had its own beliefs and gods. Politically, faith in one god could unite and unite people. And here the pagan priests became priests, the rituals turned into mysteries, the spells were transformed into prayers.

There are three main world religiousconfessions: Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. The main ones were named because of the large number of their followers - believers. However, judging by the definition of the term explaining what religion is, it will not be entirely true. The same Buddhism, in fact, is not a specific religion, since it is more a teaching and faith in certain dogmas and forces of nature, and not in one single god. But Christianity, on the contrary, was transformed into religion from the teachings. Currently, the so-called "neopaganism" is gaining in popularity - attempts to revive the polytheistic, pagan religions of the past.