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Revealed religions [1]
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Date: 2023-12-30
Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Let’s start off by talking about revealed religions.
Many of the world’s more than 6,000 religions are revealed religions; that is, the basic premise of the religion was somehow revealed to an individual by a supernatural force or being. In religions which are often classified as “primitive,” “shamanistic,” or “animistic” there is an assumption that each individual has a personal contact with the supernatural or the spirit world. However, this contact reveals a personal spiritual path rather than one which is to be followed by other people. In these shamanistic religions, emphasis is on personal participation, while in doctrinal religions the emphasis is on belief. In the doctrinal religions, the supernatural forces—often called gods—give an individual guidelines, rules, laws, rituals, and other things which are to be followed by the community.
Revealed religions are not really new religions but are simply variations of existing religions. One element that is important, however, is a charismatic leader who can inspire others to follow the revelation. In their book Thinking Big: How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind, Clive Gamble, John Gowlett, and Robin Dunbar write:
“Charismatic leaders play a particularly important role in religion. Most of the doctrinal religions were founded by a single charismatic leader, from Zoroaster to Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ to the Prophet Mohammed. Each of today’s major religions began life as a minority sect of some predecessor religion.”
In his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens describes revelation this way:
“On certain very special occasions, it is asserted, the divine will was made known by direct contact with randomly selected human beings, who were supposedly vouchsafed unalterable random laws that could then be passed on to those less favored.”
Christopher Hitchens goes on to say:
“In some cases—most notably the Christian—one revelation is apparently not sufficient, and needs to be reinforced by successive apparitions, with the promise of a further but ultimate one to come.”
The revelations acquired by the charismatic leader may have a physical or biological explanation. In his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan writes:
“People with temporal lobe epilepsy—involving a cascade of naturally generated electrical impulses in the part of the brain beneath the forehead—experience a range of hallucinations almost indistinguishable from reality: including the presence of one or more strange beings, anxiety, floating through the air, sexual experiences, and a sense of missing time. There is also what feels like profound insight into the deepest questions and a need to spread the word.”
Thus, revealed religions may have their basis in epilepsy. Other researchers have suggested possible origins in schizophrenia.
In most cases the revelation was initially transmitted orally. These revelations often sparked new religious movements, particularly if the leader was charismatic. In most cases, however, the new religion would die with its founder.
When the new religious movement survived the death of the founder and became successful, the revelations might be written down, often long after the founder had died. Once written down, the revelations could become dogma. In her book The Great Transformation: The Beginnings of Our Religious Traditions, Karen Armstrong notes: “The switch from oral tradition of religion to a written text was a shock.” Armstrong goes on to say:
“Religious truth sounded completely different when presented in this way. Everything was clear, cut-and-dried—very different from the more elusive ‘knowledge’ imparted by oral transmission.”
Revealed religions, those stemming from the vision of a single prophet, seem to be most common following the European invasion and forced conversions to Christianity. In his book Lumbee Indian Histories: Race, Ethnicity, and Indian Identity in the Southern United States, anthropologist Gerald Sider writes:
“There are several instances in which, under the stress of domination, native ‘prophets’ emerged with calls for new ways of life and protests against current practices.”
In most cases, the new religion is a form of syncretism which incorporates ideas from the dominant society. In Spirit and Reason: The Vine Deloria, Jr., Reader, Vine Deloria writes:
“For aboriginal peoples, there is not only no need for a messiah, there is really no place for him in the cosmos.”
Throughout the world, most revealed religions die with their prophet. It is unusual for these religions to continue with their charismatic leaders. Thus, most revealed religions are relatively short-lived.
Note: this essay is from my book Sacred Things: Native American Religions.
Open Thread
This is an open thread—all topics are welcome.
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