At present, it is very difficult to give an unambiguous and clear answer to the question of which of the religions appeared before the others. Archaeological research provides new information for the next discussion on this topic.
However, you can identify at least a dozen religions, whose history goes back several millennia. Some of them have already sunk into oblivion, while others continue to attract millions of followers to this day.
Are you curious to know which monotheistic religion is the oldest in the world? We present you 10 old world beliefs from India and other countries of the Earth.
10. Hinduism
Hinduism Is a religion (dharma), widespread in South Asia. Hindus believe their religion is the oldest in the world, and they call it “sanatana dharma» («eternal religion»).
Scientists see Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with different roots and without any founder. This Hindu syncretism began to develop between 500 and 300 BC, following the directions of the Vedic religion (which existed between 1500 and 700 BC).
Hinduism contains very diverse doctrines, but supports common roots: recognized rituals, cosmology and pilgrimage to sacred places. Hindu texts are classified into Ruti (“heard” directly from the gods) and smrti (“remembered”, the result of tradition).
These texts discuss topics such as theology, mythology, yoga, Agama rituals, and basic mathematics for the construction of temples and altars. The main scriptures include the four Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita and the Agama.
9. Zoroastrianism
Ancient Indo-Iranian religion Zoroastrianism (known to the natives as Mazdayasna) - dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. e. Zoroastrianism is named for its founder. It is a denomination of religion and philosophy, based on the teachings of the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster (Zarathustra), who recognizes Ahura Mazda as a deity and is considered by Zoroaster as the only creator of everything.
The term “Zoroastrianism” is a modern construction, which, according to the Oxford Dictionary, first appeared in 1874 in the “Principles of Comparative Philology” by Archibald Says. The first mention of Zoroaster in the West is attributed to Thomas Brown, who briefly refers to him in his book.
The term Mazdeism is probably derived from Mazdayasna, an expression consisting of Avistatics that combines the last element of the name Ahura Mazda. Persian king Cyrus the Great was a follower of this religion.
8. Judaism
Being the basis for all other Abrahamic religions and the ancient monotheism that still exists (although it is by no means the first - that is, it is considered a variation on the theme of the ancient Egyptian faith called Athenism, which disappeared in the 14th century BC), Judaism arose in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which first appeared in the Levant around the 9th century BC. e.
Religion was transformed into its current form in the VI century BC. e., evolved from worship of the state God, based on a polytheistic worldview, to the One “True” God described in the Bible. If today it is followed by approximately 11-14 million people, then its two successors - Christianity (1st century A.D.) and Islam (7th century A.D.) - are the most common in the world, having a combined 3.8 billion adherents.
7. Jainism
Jainism - This is a doctrine that arose in India, which was born in the sixth century BC thanks to C. Majavira. He proclaims the philosophical path of salvation, not focused on worshiping any god. His practice is to make efforts to direct the consciousness of the soul to the divine state and liberation (moksha).
That creature that defeats its internal enemies and reaches a higher state becomes known as the “winner” or “conqueror” (yaina). The highest state is known as siddha.
Jain philosophy is widely concerned with the problems of metaphysics, cosmology, ontology, epistemology and divinity. Jainism is essentially a non-theistic religion, although it is not anti-metaphysical, since its followers believe in the existence of the soul. The ancient tradition of the shraman continues to this day.
The distinctive features of Jainist philosophy are dualism, the denial of the creative and omnipotent God, karma, the eternal and uncreated universe, ahimsa (non-violence), the theory of the many facets of truth and morality based on the liberation of the soul.
Jainism is often presented as an ascetic movement due to its strong emphasis on self-control and austerities. He was also called the model of philosophical liberalism because of his insistence that the truth is relative and multifaceted, and also because of his willingness to take into account all possible views of competing philosophies.
Jainism decisively defends the individual nature of souls and personal responsibility for their decisions; and these individual efforts are fully responsible for the release.
6. Confucianism
Confucianism based on the teachings of one person - in this case, the Chinese politician, teacher and philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC). It is worth noting that he himself claimed to be part of a scientific tradition dating back to the earlier Golden Age.
Despite the fact that Confucianism is the most humanistic and least spiritual creed on this list, it does provide for a supernatural worldview (it includes Heaven, God in heaven and divination), formed under the influence of Chinese folk tradition.
Since the teachings were first collected in Analekths one or two generations after the death of Confucius, the tradition has gone through various periods of popularity and unpopularity in China and has been one of the leading teachings that influenced the modern Chinese folk religion. It is said that there are about six million strict Confucians.
5. Buddhism
Buddhism - this is "philosophical and spiritual teaching”, Which does not have a theistic affiliation with a dharmic family, which comes from Brahmanism. It includes many traditions, beliefs. Religious and spiritual practices mainly relate to Buddha Gautama.
Buddhism originated in India between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, from where it spread to most of East Asia. There are two main branches of Buddhism: Theravada (the school of elders) and Mahayana (the great way).
Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world: it has more than 500 million followers. Buddhism now suffers greatly from syncretism with traditional Chinese religion.
Currently, Buddhism is followed by 7-15% of the world's population. Indeed, there are more than 300 million followers of this religion, although this number may be among Buddhists without syncretism in China.
4. Taoism
Taoism (in simplified and traditional Chinese: literally “road training") Is a philosophical and religious tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with Tao (in simplified and traditional Chinese: "way", also denoted as damage) Chinese word Tao (or Tao depending on the latinization used) is usually translated as "way", although it has innumerable nuances in popular Chinese philosophy and religions.
Tao is a fundamental idea in most schools that are part of Chinese philosophy; however, for Taoism, it is referred to as the principle of absolute unity and at the same time variability, which forms the highest reality and the cosmogonic and ontological principle of all things. So for the Taoists Tao makes up Source, structure and essence all that exists.
Tao de jing, also known as Tao te king or Tao Te Ching, Is a book compiling teachings attributed to the philosopher Lao Tzu (also called Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu (in simplified and traditional Chinese: literally “old master") Or Laosio. And although the historical existence of such a person is still under discussion, the book is considered the key to the Taoist tradition.
3. Shintoism
Shintoism Is the name of the local religion in Japan. It is based on the worship of kami or nature spirits. Some kami are local and known as spirits or geniuses of a particular place, but others represent the main natural objects and processes.
2. Religion of the Sumerians
Sumerian Religion almost entirely based on polytheism. No god in this nation was endowed with the status of the supreme deity. Sumerian mythology possessed several supreme deities, where there were certain “beloved” gods of the people, but no more. At the same time, this religion had bright local differences.
Each more or less large region had its own representatives of the pantheon, rites and holidays. Faith among the Sumerians, simply put, was based on the unquestioning fulfillment of the will of the gods and the teachings about life after physical death.
1. Religion of Ancient Egypt
Ancient egyptian religion designated as polytheistic, despite the fact that in ancient Egypt there was a number of cults that had a clear genotheistic character. In addition, at that time for some time there was a cult of atonism, which has the signs of monolatry.
Such a phenomenon sometimes leads to controversy among historians: some researchers build theories about the hidden monotheistic religion of ancient Egypt, and also draw clear patterns between the beliefs of Egypt and Israel.