I. Introduction

A. Geographical Overview

     1. The number of religions in the world:

        a. Countless (living and dead)

        b. 12 or 13 "big name" traditions*,
             usually divided into Western &
             Eastern (with the line drawn
             between Iran and India -- sort
             of through Afghanistan!)

        **Western               **Eastern

          JUDAISM             HINDUISM
       Zoroastrianism              Shinto
     CHRISTIANITY           Jainism
            ISLAM               BUDDHISM
             Baha'i               Confucianism
                                        TAOISM
                                          Sikhism
                                     ***[animism/
                                       shamanism]
 

  *There is some bias in this list: it is
    based upon the religions that have
    been of most interest and had the
    most impact in the Western
    hemisphere. The "big three" would
    probably make any list, despite the
    fact that there is a great disparity in
    numbers of followers (e.g.,
    Christianity claims around 2 billion,
    while Judaism only around 14
    million).  Shinto, Zoroastrianism,
    Jainism, Confucianism, and
    Sikhism have relatively few
    followers and are very geographic-
    ally and culturally concentrated.
    Baha'i, though very widespread across
    the world, has fewer followers than
    even Judiasm).

**Geographical terms are slippery, at
    best: e.g., "Western Civilization"
    includes Europe and "Western
    Hemisphere" and "Country &
    Western" do not.

***Animism/shamanism is very ancient,
     the religion of stone age, tribal,
     peoples around the world (pockets
     of which still exist on every
     continent)

      2. Relative Sizes

                   Religion                  Followers

  a. #1. Christianity ........... 2 billion
  b. #2. Islam .................. 1.3 billion
  c. #3. Hinduism ........... 900 million
  d.  #4. None .................. 850 million
  e. #5. Buddhism ........... 360 million
 f.  #6. Chinese ............... 225 million
 g. #12. Judaism .................. 14 million           
   

      3. Geographical Distribution
        a.  Christianity: Europe, Americas,
              Australia, Russia
        b.  Judaism: Israel, Europe,
             Americas
        c.  Islam:  Middle East, North
             Africa, Central & South-
             east Asia
        d.  Hinduism: India, Nepal
        e.  Jainism: India
        f.  Buddhism: Central, South-
             east, & East Asia
        g.  Sikhism: India
        h.  Confucianism: China &
             Asia
        i.   Taoism: China & Asia
        j.   Shinto: Japan
        k.  Zoroastrianism: India
        l.   Baha'i: worldwide (thinly)
        m. tribal: worldwide (pockets)

B. Historical Overview (Periods and Types)

                 

b. Examples:

    (1) Paleolithic ("Old Stone") - 100,000-
         7,000 BCE; includes Neanderthal and
         later Cro-Magnon, both hunters and
         gatherers; graves and artifacts strongly
         suggest religious beliefs; cave
         paintings

    (2) Neolithic ("New Stone") - 7,000-
         3,000 BCE;  characterized by
         agriculture & settlements;  image of
         divinity emerges here, and it is
         feminine: Mother Earth by a variety
         of names)

c. Characteristics:

    (1) animism - the belief that the world is
         full of (nature) spirits, and that they
         can do you good or harm, and that
         they can be influenced

    (2) mana - the belief in a non-specific,
         amorphous, spiritual power, that can
         invade persons, places, or things,
         making them taboo (i.e., spiritually
         charged, potentially dangerous if
         mishandled, and off-limits)

   (3) shamanism - the belief that certain
        people (shamans) are born gifted to
        handle the spirits and mana (= the
        medicine men and witch doctors of
        the movies)

   (4) magic - the means and methods used
        by a shaman to influence the spirits
        and mana, including

           (a) divination - reading the present
                signs and the future to which they
                point (by reading flights of birds,
                animal guts, heat-cracked bones
                and shells, tossed sticks or stones,
                etc.)

           (b) imitation - performing on a small
                scale in advance, what you want
                to happen on a large scale later
                (e.g., hunting dances, Stone Age
                cave paintings — all done
                beforehand)

           (c) totemism - a tribe's or clan's
                identifying with a totem, i.e., a
                "power animal" (bear, buffalo,
                lion), whose body/blood may be
                ritually eaten/drunk for spiritual
                renewal

          (d) fetishism - use of objects
               (fetishes) to influence spirits
               (e.g., amulets, feathers, pipes)

d. Evaluation -

    (1) These used to be called "primitive"
          religions; now they are called
         "basic" or "primal" or "primor-
          dial," due largely to the work of
          historian of religion Mircea Eliade
          (U. of Chicago), who argued that
          in this period, religion was at its
          purest; reason: their religion was
          their worldview (basic view of
          reality), whereas for us, our
          religions are in tension with our
          worldview (which is modern
          scientific); he called these non-
          literate tribal people homo
          religiosus (humans full of
          religion); by comparison, we
          moderns "dabble" in religion, &
          most of life/world is secular
          (i.e., unsacred)

    (2) Many of our modern behaviors
         may be holdovers or throwbacks
         to tribal religion, especially (but
         not only) our "superstitions."  Are
         sports teams' names and mascots
         totems?  Are many of our taboos
         really taboos?!  What about our
         lucky charms and mementos?
         What is flipping a coin, if not
         divination?  Is building a scale
         model of a building before
         construction imitation?  Why do
         you say "Gesundheit" and "Knock
         on wood"???  Is Holy Communion
         a totemistic ritual?!

         a. Definition: Those religions flourishing (at
             least in the Eastern hemisphere) between
             about 3,000 BCE and around 600 BCE
             and associated with specific ancient civili-
             zations/culture

         b. Examples: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India,
             China, Japan, Greece Rome (later, in
             Americas: Mayans, Incas, Aztecs)

         c. Characteristics:

            (1) polytheism - many gods/goddesses
                 (from tens to thousands to millions)

            (2) ritualism - mostly sacrifices to
                 appease gods

            (3) priesthood - a formal office of
                 ritualists

            (4) temple - a set place to do the rituals

            (5) scriptures - sacred writings emerge,
                 mostly inscriptions

            (6) no missionary zeal: these culture-
                specific religions didn't travel well and
                either died out or were replaced; two
                modern survivors:  Hinduism and
                Shinto (only!)

     3. Classic (Universal) Religions Period

         a. Definition: Those religions that emerged
             between 600 BCE. and 600 or 800 CE,
             had widespread appeal, and survived by
             traveling beyond their home cultures

         b. Examples: (in chronological order)
             Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism,
             Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism,
             Christianity, & Islam [added to Hinduism
             and Shinto from the Ancient Period,
             Sikhism & Bah'ai from the Post-Classic
             (see below), and animism-shamanism from
             the Prehistoric = a baker's dozen big-name
             religions in the world today]

         c. Characteristics:

            (1) nameable founders (with legendary
                 elements and historical problems)

            (2) a focus on Unity of Ultimacy: one
                 personal God (mono-theism) or
                 one impersonal Power (monism)

            (3) canons of scripture (i.e., focal,
                 authoritative writings): Bible, Quran,
                 Tripitaka, etc.

            (4) missionary zeal --> geographical
                 spread

            (5) pattern: founder with simple
                 teachings; with disciples, doctrine
                 becomes complicated and contro-
                 versial; organization becomes more
                 rigid, and institutions result; schisms/
                 splits occur; schools, sects, denom-
                 inations result; worstens as religion
                 travels to different regions/cultures,
                 picking up extraneous beliefs and
                 practices; effect: all universal
                 religions are complicated, variegated,
                 fragmented, and "messy"

     4. Post-Classic (Synthetic) Religions Period

           a. Definition:

           (1) arose after 600-800 CE to the present
                day, while older "Classic" religions
                were developing in their typical ways
                (comlications, institutions, schisms,
                geographical dispersion)

           (2) either conscious combinations of or
                variations of existing Classic religions;
 
         b. Examples:
        
           (1) Sikhism (16th century, India)

           (2) Baha'i (19th century, Iran)

           (3) other new Western religions:
                e.g., Religious Science (19th c.),
                Scientology (20th c.), & many more

             (4) new Eastern religions, e.g., Juche (19M),
               Cao Dai (3M), Tenrikyo (2.4M)

         c. Characteristics:

           (1) like the Classic religions, a
                Unity of Ultimate Reality
                (monotheism or monism)

           (2) small, but aggressive

           (3) eclectic in belief and practice
  
           (4) deeply affected by
               
                (a) awarness of other religions;

                (b) the emerging and increasingly
                     dominant modern scientific
                     worldview, a by-product of
                     the Enlightenment

C. The Enlightenment and Its Impact on Religion

     1. Definition:

        a. 17th-18th c. Europe, later America

        b. scientific-philosophical movement$

        c. focus: humanity and its abilities, esp.
           (1) reason (mind) & (2) experiences (5 senses)
                (rationalism)          (empiricism)
       
        d.  assumption: natural law
                                (naturalism)

        e. result: the modern scientific worldview

     2. Shapers:

        a. Nicolaus Copernicus (d. 1543) & Galileo
            Galilei  (d. 1642): heliocentrism

        b. Francis Bacon (d. 1626): induction

        c. John Locke (d. 1704): empiricism

        d. Isaac Newton (d. 1727): natural law

     3.  Forerunner: William of Ockham (or
          Occam, d. 1347): Law of Parsimony/
          "Ockham's Razor"
    
     4. Characteristics:

        a. rational (-istic)

        b. empirical (-istic)

        c. material (-istic)

        d. natural (-istic)

        e. mechanical (mechanistic)

     5. Challenges (indirectly):

        a. God/Ultimate Reality

        b. spirit/soul

        c. heavenly or other spiritual realms/
           dimensions

        d. revelation/revealed truth

        e. miracles

    
                     (On to Section 2)