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Form of religious tradition
Look up
urreligion
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Urreligion
is a postulated "original" or "oldest" form of
religious tradition
(the
German
prefix
ur-
expressing the idea of "original", "primal", "primitive", "elder", "primeval", or "
proto-
"). The concept contrasts with later
organized religions
such as the early
theocracies
of the
Ancient Near East
and in later
world religions
.
The term
Urreligion
originated in the context of
German Romanticism
.
History
[
edit
]
Friedrich Creuzer
put forward the notion of a monotheistic primeval religion in 1810 ? an idea taken up by other authors of the
Romantic period
, such as
J. J. Bachofen
,
[1]
but decidedly opposed by
Johann Heinrich Voss
.
[2]
Goethe
, in a conversation with
Eckermann
on 11 March 1832, discussed the human
Urreligion
, which he characterized as "pure nature and [pure] reason, of divine origin".
[3]
The final scene of his
Faust Part Two
(1832) has been taken as evoking "the 'Urreligion' of mankind".
[4]
Often used in the sense of
natural religion
or
indigenous religion
, the religious behaviour of pre-modern
tribal societies
such as
shamanism
,
animism
and
ancestor worship
(e.g.
Australian aboriginal mythology
[5]
), the term
Urreligion
has also been used by adherents of various religions to back up the claim that their own religion is somehow "primeval" or "older" than competing traditions. In the context of a given religious faith, literal belief in a
creation
may be the base of primality. (e.g.
Biblical literalism
, or literal belief in the
Hindu
Puranas
).
In particular,
Urmonotheismus
comprises the historical claim that primeval religion was
monotheistic
. Some have rejected this hypothesis,
[6]
and certain
Christian apologetics
circles defend it.
[7]
Nineteenth-century
Germanic mysticism
sometimes claimed that the
Germanic runes
bore testimony of a primeval religion.
[8]
Some more recent
new religious movements
that claim to restore primeval religion include
Godianism
[9]
and
Umbanda
.
[10]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
In his
Mutterrecht und Urreligion
, Bachofen connects primeval religion and
matriarchy
.
- ^
Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Volker, besonders der Griechen. In Vortragen und Entwurfen.
Leipzig and Darmstadt, Heyer und Leske, 1810?1812.
- ^
Gesprache
- ^
O. Durrani, "Biblical Borrowings in Goethe's 'Faust': A Historical Survey of Their Interpretation",
The Modern Language Review
1977
- ^
Dayton, Leigh (2 November 1996).
"Flood gave birth to world's oldest religion"
. Retrieved
15 August
2020
.
- ^
Gnuse, Robert Karl (1997).
No Other Gods: Emergent Monotheism in Israel
. Sheffield Academic Press. p. 136.
ISBN
1-85075-657-0
.
- ^
Pajak, Sylwester,
Urreligion und Uroffenbarung bei P. W. Schmidt
, St. Augustin 1978.
- ^
J. L. Studach,
Die Urreligion oder das entdeckte Uralphabet
, 1856
- ^
Onyioha, K. O. K. (1980).
African Godianism : a revolutionary religion for mankind through direct communication with God
.
Owerri
; New York: Conch Magazine. pp.
124
.
ISBN
0914970313
.
- ^
Gerhard Muller
,
Theologische Realenzyklopadie
,
De Gruyter
(2003), p. 265