ORIGIN AND SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

The subject of religion has been the domain of a special branch of the sociological discipline
since the 1960s.
There are diverse hypotheses with regards to the starting point of the idea of religion. All of them
contain some truth elements. However, it can't be surely said that when and how religious
thoughts rose in man. It is likewise surely can't be said that what is the beginning of the thoughts
of religion. All these are because there is no consensus among the masterminds of this field as to
the origin of religion. In any case, there are individuals who solidly trust that religious thoughts
are instinctual in man. No different creatures with the exception of man bear this instinctual
characteristic. Man can be recognized from different creatures due to : reason and religion. Man
has reason while different creatures don't and that is the reason men are called “rational animals”.
Correspondingly, men are religious while different creatures are most certainly not. If these
theories can help us trace the origin and development of religion from its beginnings to its
present forms, we can understand the importance of religion in human life.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

Anthropology is man's science, which deals especially with mankind's beginnings, development,
customs and beliefs. Anthropological theories of religion examined the content of different
conceptions of the supernatural at different times in different societies. A few of the important
theories are discussed below.

(i) Animism
Animism means the belief in spirits. It refers to a given form of religion in which man finds the
presence of spirit in every object that surrounds him. This is said to be the principal hypothesis
on the origin of religions and is in view of the investigation of the psyche and behavior of the
early man. It was developed by Edward Burnett Tylor in his book, ‘Primitive Culture’ and he is,
thus, said to be the founder of the human sciences of Religion. According to Tylor, religion
began when individuals endeavored to comprehend conditions and occasions that couldn't be
clarified by every day experiences. Primitive Man had various experiences especially related
with death, dreaming and daze. In his dreams, he imagined that his body stayed in one place and
his self meandered about and did different things. Likewise in his dreams, he saw other other
people who shouldn’t have been there. While he was awake, he saw his reflections in water and
wasn’t able to detach himself from his soul. The primitive man must have deduced that there are
two souls in a human being; a free soul which could go out of him and have experiences, and a
body soul which if it left the body resulted it its death. They are intimately related to each other.
When the soul permanently leaves the body, the human being dies. The Latin word for soul is
anima and the theory coined from this belief is called 'animism'.

Primitive man thought that after death, soul converts into spirits who either help or harm human
beings and other creatures, and in order to keep these spirits happy, man started offering prayers
and sacrifices. He couldn’t distinguish between living and non-living and believed that life and
soul must be attached to every object. Thus, he started worshipping rocks, trees, streams, etc.
everything around him and extended the notion of soul and spirit to all of them. Therefore, Tylor
argued that Animism originated to satisfy man’s thirst to find out the reason of death, dreams and
vision. It is a simple type of religion and that they had some unmistakable thought regarding the
spirit as a immaterial soul, which could exist even after the crumbling of the body. This is
undoubtedly key to any religion of modem times and along these lines animism could be
considered as a type of religion.

(ii) Animatism and Manaism

There is another hypothesis in regards to the beginning of religion. It consists mainly in the
belief that everything has life and is animate. The primitives saw the supernatural as a domain of
impersonal power or force. It influenced them under certain conditions, and they believed
that they could control it. This view of the supernatural is called animatism.1
Recently, a special form of animatism was developed by Marett, known as manaism. He
supposed that the primitive man believed in an all pervasive force that exits in all the objects,
whether animate or inanimate, of this world. Be it people, animals, plants or articles, this
supernatural, invisible power manifested itself in everything in varying intensity and operated in
ways not comprehensible to man. This was called mana by Marett. It is like our idea of good
fortune or luck. Individuals credited accomplishment to the possession of mana which people
could get in distinctive ways and they trusted that rulers and nobles had more mana than normal

1
Conrad Phillip Kottak, op.cit., p.414
individuals. According to this hypothesis, contact between the rulers and the ordinary people was
risky in light of the fact that mana could work in like an electric shock. Common individuals
couldn't bear as much holy mana as majestic beings, and thus there emerged rituals to cleanse the
exposed people out of need.

(iii) Naturism
It means the belief that forces of nature have supernatural powers. It was strongly advocated by a
great Sanskrit scholar, Max Muller. He said that the earliest form of religion must have been the
worship of objects of nature.
At the very beginning of the human race on earth, people were completely unaware of the
various events that took place around them in nature. They were curious to know the events,
however, and therefore applied their own efforts. They had to deal with the various natural
disasters such as storms, floods, lightning, dangerous animals, famine, etc. And they couldn't
surmount these situations. As a result, they had to imagine an invisible power, which they
depended on for help, strength and relief. They began to believe in some power inherent in the
sun, thunder, tension, etc. Fear and curiosity are therefore the main factors responsible for the
emergence of religious tendencies in ancient people. They also believed that this unseen and
invisible power would be helpful in their birth, sorrow, old age and finally in obtaining salvation.
They sometimes conceived God as their object of love. There are different forms such as, father,
friend, lover, beloved, master through which they tried to attain relation with God. Thus, in order
to meet their ignorance and to get strength and courage to face natural calamities, men time and
again depended on an imaginary existence, the result of which is named “God” in religion.

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

Sociological theories of religion help us to analyze the relationship between society and religion
and give us insights into the role that religion plays in people's lives. Sociological approach is
mainly influenced by three sociological theorists Marx, Durkheim and Weber.
(i) Emile Durkheim
Durkheim set out to complete two things, build up the way that religion was not supernaturally
or powerfully enlivened and was in truth a result of society, and he looked to recognize the
regular things that religion set an accentuation upon, and additionally what impacts those
religious convictions (the result of public activity) had on the lives of all inside a general public.
He was the pioneer in sociology of religion. In 1912, in his book, ‘The Elementary Forms of the
Religious Life’, he attempted to identify the starting point and the components basic to all
religions. Durkheim contends that religion started in the social occasion of the totemic group.
Conventionally, the individuals of the tribe lived separately. Whenever they assembled, their
sheer contact with each other made an extra ordinary sentiment of vitality and power. They felt
implanted, elevated, and amazing. Realizing that individually they lacked this, they credited it
not to themselves but rather to something outer. They ascribed it to the totemic token and they
took it as the object of worship.
Since the supernatural power that they credited to the totemic seal was in truth their own
aggregate power, the genuine root of religion was their very own shared understanding of
themselves among themselves.
Durkheim's second purpose was in identifying certain elements of religious beliefs that are
common across different cultures. A belief in a supernatural realm is not necessary or common
among religions, but the separation of different aspects of life, physical things, and certain
behaviors into two categories -- the sacred and the profane -- is common. Objects and behaviors
deemed sacred were part of rites, objects of reverence, or simply behaviors deemed special by
religious belief. Those things deemed profane were everything else in the world that did not have
a religious function or hold religious meaning. He also found that all religions develop a
community around their practices and beliefs. Thus according to Durkheim, a religion is a
unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, that is to say,things set apart and
forbidden, which unite into one single moral community called a church, and all those who
adhere to them.2 Throughout human history, the distinction between the profane and the sacred
has been central to all religions. In brief, religion is a system of beliefs and practices
acknowledging the Sacred. Thus, Emile Durkheim perceived that it is the general public, not the
person that recognizes sacred and profane things. There is nothing in an object that makes it
fundamentally sacred. And this sacred is attributed or imparted through rituals
and so accepted by the society. By doing so, religion is able to reaffirm collective morals and
beliefs in the minds of all members of society and thus, acts as a functional source of social

2
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, 1912
cohesion. Religion maintains the influence of society -- whereas "society" represents the norms
and beliefs held in common by a group of individuals.

(ii) Karl Marx

Almost half a century before Durkheim, Karl Marx likewise depicted religion as an impression
of society. At the point when Durkheim underlined the positive elements of religion, Marx
focused on its dysfunctions. As indicated by him, all religions mirror the way that human lives
are controlled by outer controls over which they have no control. They are influenced by the
external forces that control their daily life, where the terrestrial forces assume the form of
supernatural forces.3 Marx made a difference between primitive religions and modern religions.
As indicated by him it was the intensity of nature that controlled man in the primitive society,
while in the modern world it is the powers of social framework, which practice this outside
strength. He believed that religion represents human self-alienation. According to Marx,,m an
projects his own perfection into the supernatural and calls the sum of these qualities as 'God', and
thus he is alienated.
The fundamental principle of Marx's critique of religion is that man makes religion and religion
does not make man.4 Religion is described as the 'moral sanction', the 'solemn completion', and
the 'universal ground for consolation and justification' for this world.5 Hence, according to Marx,
religion has become an integral part of this distorted world. So much so,religion has become
necessary for the consolation of human beings in this world. He thus declared religion to be the
opium of people. 6 Religion is described here as the expression of the distress of this world, as the
"sigh of the oppressed creature.” At the same time, however, religion is also a protest against this
distress. However, according to Marx, this protest remains vain and ineffective because it distorts
attention from this world and focuses on hope. It defers happiness and rewards to the after life,
teaching the resigned acceptance of existing conditions in this life.7 By redirecting their eyes to
future satisfaction and happiness in a coming world, religion takes their eyes off from their

3
Karl Max, On Religion

4
Karl Marx: 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right:
Introduction', On Religion
5
Ibid
6
Ibid
7
Foundations of Sociology, 2012, Jagdish Chandra
sufferings in this world, accordingly diminishing the likelihood of opposing their oppressors.
When Durkheim saw religion as helpful to all fragments of society by advancing social duty,
Marx held the view that religion serves the interests of the ruling elite to the detriment of the
majority. Thus, Marx was of the view that religion in its traditional form will and should
disappear.

(iii) Max Weber

Karl Marx enlivened Max Weber's enthusiasm for religion to a few degree. Like Marx, Weber
gave a lot of his scholarly life to researching the historical backdrop of free enterprise and
capitalism. He credited Marx for highlighting the role of economics in history. However, Marx
trusted that all history could be clarified as class struggle based on economics, while Weber
contended financial aspects as just a single of the numerous factors affecting the course of
history. Marx held the view that
religion is a deterrent to social change, though Weber contended that religion could likewise be
an operator of social change in his book ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’8,
Max Weber holds that the Protestant conviction was one of the numerous components that added
to the ascent of capitalism. In spite of the fact that he couldn't help contradicting Marx's
monetary determinism, he didn't refute the role of economics ever. The point of this book was to
demonstrate that history couldn't be decreased to one-factor clarifications and that religion could
be a driving force of social change.

From the above viewpoint, religion could be comprehended and translated as instrumental to
uncover human issues and furthermore to discover solutions from the sociological point of view.
The Sociologists perceive that religion is vital to each culture and they look to see how religious
convictions and practices direct human social orders. Sociologists concur that religion is an
important social institution that must be comprehended in the setting of the society. As indicated
by them religion advances social attachment by uniting members of a society through shared
images, qualities and standards.

8
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethnic and The Spirit of Capitalism
FUNCTIONAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

Present day sociologists have been trying logical endeavors to comprehend and clarify the non-
logical social marvel that comprise of convictions and practices. In their endeavors to do as such,
they have established the frameworks of some social hypotheses of religion. The practical
hypothesis of religion is essentially a sociological hypothesis which has been produced by
scholars, for example, William Robertson Smith, Emile Durkheim, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, B.
Malinowski, Max Weber, Talcott Parsons, and their adherents.
The essential presumption of the functionalist way to deal with religion is that religion is all
around found since it has a fundamental capacity in keeping up the social framework all in all.
The principle social prerequisite that religion is esteemed to satisfy has been "the need of
ideological and nostalgic union, or solidarity. The unity and solidarity of the community is further
increased by the rituals that are enacted on religious occasions. These rituals also have the capacity of
bringing people together and reaffirming the values and beliefs of the group. They also help to transmit
the cultural heritage from one generation to the next.
The rituals maintain taboos and prohibitions and those who violate them are punished. The
disobedient or violators of norms may even be required to undergo ritual punishment or
purification. The rituals have another function also. In times of individual distress or group crisis
the rituals provide help and comfort. According to Durkheim, much of the social disorder in
modern times is due to the fact that people no longer believe deeply in religion and that they
have found no satisfying substitute for that. Lacking commitment to a shared belief system,
people tend to pursue their private interests without regard for their fellows.

The criticism of structural-functional approach to deal with religion is that it ignores religion's
dysfunctions. For example, religion can be utilized to legitimize psychological oppression,
terrorism and savagery. Religion has frequently been the justification of war. In one sense, this
still fits the basic utilitarian methodology as it gives social attachment among the individuals of
one party in a clash. For example, the social cohesion among the individuals of a terrorist group
is high, however in a more extensive sense, religion is clearly bringing about clash without
scrutinizing its activities against different individuals of society.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

Religion is not a psychologically important area of interest. Many psychological textbooks

devote little attention to religious issues. In some instances, this attitude is suspicious and even
hostile. However, it is not possible to ignore the contribution of many psychologists to religion
and its role in Human life. Some are very important and worthy of study. Most theories of
psychology stress upon the emotional aspects of religion.

(i) William James

His book The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human instinct (1902)is considered
by numerous individuals to be the exemplary work in the field, not just on the grounds that it was
one of the primary investigations on religious experience by a psychologist, yet in addition due
to his approach. This book gave an early catalyst to the psychology of religion. As indicated by
him there is plausibility of both a healthy and sick type of religion. He thinks that there is
something in human consciousness different from particular sensations. He differentiated
between institutional religion and personal religion. Institutional religion alludes to the religious
gathering or association, which plays an critical part in a general public's way of life. Individual
religion, in which the individual has a mysterious ordeal, can be experienced irrespective of
culture. He was essentially intrigued by understanding individual religious encounters. Religious
cognizance begins in the individual through an otherworldly ordeal. It very well may be
transmitted and created with the assistance of worship, prayer, meditation and the like with the
help of institutional religion.

(ii) Sigmund Freud

Freud's critique of religion is well known to academic community. In his writings, he tries to
explain how we are influenced by the past events and by things outside our conscious mind.
According to Freud, people experience conflicts between what they desire to do (represented by
our id) and the social control over our desires (represented by the Superego). These conflicts are
resolved, to a greater or lesser degree, by the Ego. It is the guilt feeling of the people who cannot
accept their desires and hatred that lead them to postulate and to fear a god. According to Freud,
the faith in God and religion need not always be wrong. If at all it is illusory, all illusions need
not always be false. He thinks that religious doctrines can be illusions, because there is no proof
for them and that they seem to contradict our scientific knowledge. Further, it is felt that their
authenticity cannot be proved. He called them illusions because he believed that they were the
fruits of human wishes rather than of rational inquiry. The desire for security and companionship
is fulfilled through religion. He considered religious practices as neurotic. He saw religious ritual
as something similar to the obsessional neurotic of patients (who did things for no apparent
reason). Freud often describes the religious beliefs and practices as expressions of illusions and
neurosis. Freud's views on religion seem to have considerably influenced our society.

All these theories point to the fact that man is by nature religious. This religious nature seeks to
fulfill itself in peaceful and proper relations. If we see religion as a relationship with one another,
with others and with the Divine, it becomes even more true.