Natural religion (term)

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The whole of nature - in the western sense the counterpart to "man-made" - was only rarely the central object of worship in the so-called "natural religions" . As a rule, there were certain natural objects that were of particular importance to humans, such as the bison among the prairie Indians

The collective term natural religion is a term that many ethnologists and religious scholars reject as outdated and misleading for the ethnic religions of non-scripted cultures . In contrast to the terms "primitive religion", "archaic religion" or "tribal religion", which were also objected to, natural religion is still used frequently in popular literature.

use

Udo Tworuschka writes in the Bertelsmann Handbook Religions of the World : “Older representations often contrast 'natural religions' with 'cultural religions'. This pair of terms resonates with values: nature, primitiveness and lack of civilization are placed in stark contrast to culture. The terms natural religions and indigenous peoples also refer to a supposedly ideal original state, to the dream of the holistic nature of life. […] These are important components of this idealized conception of nature, which makes the use of the term natural religion problematic. ” In this context, Peter J. Bräunlein states in the dictionary of religions :“ Such terms [natural, tribal, primitive religions, archaic or animistic religions and the like] convey one-sided reductions (to 'stem', 'nature', the […] 'archaic'), imprecise and derogatory judgments ('primitive') or relics of outdated theories ('animism'). "

Against this background, the term “natural religion” is rejected by most authors.

Interpretations such as “religion of the worship of nature” or “religions that are closely related to the phenomena of nature” are also considered problematic. First, they transferring all the Euro-centric embossed understanding of "nature" without reflection on other cultures. On the other hand, it is suggested that the ways of life, which are closely linked to the natural conditions, require the (direct) belief in a “holistic godlike nature”, as is the case in pantheism . In fact, only a few "natural religions" are pantheistic. In many cases, only certain animals, plants - sometimes also people - and other natural phenomena are considered to be the domicile of gods or spirits or symbols for divine powers.

A number of authors no longer use the term natural religion . Instead, they use the term ethnic religion, which is now quite frequently used, or prefer their own word creations.

The Theologische Realenzyklopädie (by far the largest German-language book project on religion, published 1977-2004) maintains the designation natural religion in its latest edition , although the religious scholar Hans-Jürgen Greschat as the author of the article criticizes the use and in another publication of ethnic Religions speaks.

The theologian Peter Godzik ( The Path into Light: A Reader on the Last Questions of Life , 2015) and the ethnologist Thomas Schweer ( keyword natural religions , 1995) continue to use the term. The ethnologist Josef Franz Thiel ( Religionsethnologie , in: Theologische Realenzyklopädie , 1997) and the religious scholar Ina Wunn ( The religions in prehistoric times , 2005) sometimes speak of “ so-called natural religions”.

Regardless of its use in the history of science, some supporters of neo-pagan movements also refer to their convictions as a “natural religion”. "Ethnic religions are mainly perceived as natural religions, and selective access to them is part of late modern spirituality ."

History of science

The term has undergone a radical change in meaning.

In the second and third chapters of Romans , Paul sets up a typology of religion : He distinguishes between “natural religions”, “law religions” and the “freedom religion” (Christianity). The followers of the natural religions, who would worship created things instead of God and because of their own ethics , he considers perverse.

In antiquity, however , religio naturalis also referred to the knowledge of transcendent truths that humans could naturally recognize without the assistance of the gods (cf. natural theology ). The first missionaries in North America in the 16th century also attached this importance to the term when they were confronted with the Indian religions, in which they believed to recognize parallels to Christianity. This came into play even more strongly in the Age of Enlightenment, when religio naturalis became the embodiment of innate rational truths .

The next phase of the change in meaning, which began before the 18th century, is what " natural religion " calls the stage of being moved by the phenomena of nature who later became personal deities (for example, in Friedrich Max Müller 1889).

The term was last changed in the late 19th century into a designation for religions of the so-called undeveloped " primitive peoples " and therefore used as a contrast to so-called developed "cultural religions " , but appeared in Hegel as early as the 1820s .

The term u, coined by evolutionary theory , became popular . a. by Ernst Haeckel . Even in Meyers Konversationslexikon of 1909, they are compared to the allegedly further developed ethical and symbolic religions as "real and mythological " religions of "degenerate and feral" peoples "who have no real history".

This contrasts with the ecology movement of the 1970s, which stylized natural religions as a critical counter-image to Western civilization.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Udo Tworuschka: Ethnic Religions In: Monika and Udo Tworuschka (Hrsg.): Bertelsmann-Handbuch Religionen der Welt. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh / Munich 1992, ISBN 3-570-01603-X . P. 405.
  2. ↑ a b Peter J. Bräunlein (author) in Christoph Auffarth , Hans G. Kippenberg u. Axel Michaels (Hrsg.): Dictionary of Religions. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-520-14001-2 . Pp. 136–138 (keyword: ethnic religion).
  3. ↑ Carola Meier-Seethaler: Beyond God and Goddess: Plea for a spiritual ethic. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47564-7 , p. 22.
  4. ↑ for example in Jonas Balys: Gods and Myths in Old Europe. Volume 1. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1973, ISBN 3-12-909820-8 , p. 385.
  5. ↑ Natural religion . Duden-Online; accessed on September 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ Monika u. Udo Tworuschka: The world of religions. Wissen Media Verlag, Gütersloh 2006, ISBN 3-577-14521-8 . P. 329 (African religions), 343 (Traditional religions), 422 f. (Religions of the Adivasi).
  7. ↑ Natural Religions - The Divinity of Nature . reli4you.de; Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ Michael Weidert: 'Such men conquer the world.' - Constructions of gender and ethnicity in the Catholic missions in German East Africa, 1884-1918. Doctoral thesis for obtaining a doctorate, submitted to Trier University, Faculty III, 2006. hbz-nrw.de (PDF) p. 167, there footnote 669.
  9. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Greschat: Naturreligionen, published in: Horst Balz et al. (Ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Volume 24: "Napoleonic Epoch - Authorities". Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, ISBN 978-3-11-019098-4 . Pp. 185-188.
  10. ^ Hans-Jürgen Greschat: Ethnic Religions, in: Peter Antes: Religions of the present. Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-41165-7 . Pp. 261-263, 265.
  11. ↑ a b Christoph Auffarth (author) in Christoph Auffarth, Hans G. Kippenberg u. Axel Michaels (Hrsg.): Dictionary of Religions. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-520-14001-2 . P. 368 (keyword: natural religions).
  12. ↑ Roland Mixture: Naturreligion , in: Walter Hirschberg (founder), Wolfgang Müller (editor): Dictionary of Ethnology. New edition, 2nd edition, Reimer, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-496-02650-2 . P. 268.
  13. ↑ Ina Wunn in: Peter Antes (Ed.): We believe in it - diversity of religions. Pp. 243-244.
  14. ^ Walter Jaeschke, Andreas Arndt: The classical German philosophy according to Kant: Systems of pure reason and their criticism 1785-1845. CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63046-0 , p. 677.
  15. ↑ Natural religion . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 14, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1908, p.  458 .