Religion and the Human Race
Audio File
While the belief in spirits, dreams, and diverse other superstitions all played a part in the evolutionary origin of primitive religions, you should not overlook the influence of the clan or the tribal spirit of solidarity. In the group relationship, there was presented the exact social situation which provided the challenge to the egoistic-altruistic conflict in the moral nature of the early human mind. But the social group is not the source of religious experience. Regardless of the influence of all these primitive contributions to man’s early religion, the fact remains that the true religious impulse has its origin in genuine spirit presences activating the human will to be unselfish.
Later religion is foreshadowed in the primitive belief in natural wonders and mysteries, the impersonal mana. But sooner or later the evolving religion requires that the individual should make some personal sacrifice for the good of their social group, should do something to make other people happier and better. Ultimately, religion is destined to become the service of God and fellow human beings.
Religion is designed to change man’s environment, but much of the religion found among mortals today has become helpless to do this. Environment has all too often mastered religion.
Remember that in the religion of all ages the experience which is paramount is the feeling regarding moral values and social meanings, not the thinking regarding theologic dogmas or philosophic theories.
Man evolved through the superstitions of mana, magic, nature worship, spirit fear, and animal worship to the various ceremonials whereby the religious attitude of the individual became the group reactions of the clan. (Religion evolves favorably as the element of magic is replaced by the concept of morals.) And then these ceremonies became focalized and crystallized into tribal beliefs, and eventually these fears and faiths became personalized into gods. But in all of this religious evolution the moral element was never wholly absent. The impulse of the God within man was always potent. And these powerful influences — one human and the other divine — insured the survival of religion throughout the vicissitudes of the ages and that notwithstanding it was so often threatened with extinction by a thousand subversive tendencies and hostile antagonisms.
Free PDF Download: Religion as Expanded by Revelation
Amazon Kindle and Paperback Editions: Religion as Expanded by Revelation
Truth, Error (Evil), and Knowledge
