1. Latin = “religio” “to have an obligation toward or reverence for”

2. Paul Tillich “Religion is that which is of “Ultimate Concern.” WHAT PROBLEMS DEVELOP WITH THIS DEFINITION?

3. A GOD IS WHATEVER WE PUT FIRST IN OUR LIVES

4. William James “Religion consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies harmoniously adjusting ourselves therto.”

5. Alfred North Whitehead “What an individual does with his solitariness.”

6. Bertrand Russell “RELIGION IS SOMETHING LEFT OVER FROM THE INFANCY OF OUR INTELLIGENCE, IT WILL FADE AWAY AS WE ADOPT REASON AND SCIENCE AS OUR GUIDELINES.”

7. Jesse Ventura, 1999, Playboy Interview “ORGANIZED RELIGION IS A SHAM AND A CRUTCH FOR WEAK- MINDED PEOPLE WHO NEED STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. IT TELLS PEOPLE TO GO OUT AND STICK THEIR NOSES IN OTHER PEOPLE’S BUSINESS.”

8. Daniel C. Maguire “Religion is the response to the sacred. So what is sacred? The sacred is the superlative of precious. It is the word we use for that which is utterly and mysteriously precious in our experience. Since there is no one who finds nothing sacred, religion is all over the place.”

9. Leo Tolstoy “The essence of any religion lies solely in the answer to the question: why do I exist, and what is my relationship to the infinite universe that surrounds me? It is impossible for there to be a person with no religion (i.e. without any kind of relationship to the world) as it is for there to be a person without a heart. He may not now that he has a religion, just as a person may not know that he has a heart, but it is no more possible for a person to exist without a religion than without a heart.”

10. Tolstoy cont. “The principles are very simple, comprehensible and uncomplicated. They are as follows: That there is a God who is the origin of everything That there is an element of this divine origin in every person, which he can diminish or increase through his way of living

11. Tolstoy cont. That in order for someone to increase this source he must suppress his passions and increase the love within himself; That the practical means of achieving this consist of doing to others as you wish to do to you. “All these principles are common to Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.”

12. VOLTAIRE “IF GOD DID NOT EXIST, IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO INVENT HIM.”

13. Theories for where religion came from: ANIMISM  Edward Burnett Tylor  entire world (including AIR) is alive with “spirits”  spirits could be helpful/hurtful -- offended/flattered  pray, sacrifice, appease these spirits  grew to be “POLYTHEISM”

14. Bishop R.H. Codrington took “Animism” a step further – became more concerned with what natives said about their religious experience than with proposed theories  based on emotional experience instead of rational thinking  called it “Mana” – supernatural power that belonged to the region of the unseen Theories for where religion came from:

15. NATURE WORSHIP THEORY  Max Muller  humans developed their religions from their observations of the forces of nature  became aware of seasons, tides, phases of moon  their response was to “personalize” (Apollo) them – gave them names and described the activities of these forces with tales – led to MYTHOLOGY Theories for where religion came from:

16. THEORY OF ORIGINAL MONOTHEISM  Wilhelm Schmidt  found all cultures believed in a distant “High God” although they were animistic/polytheistic  this “High God” was eternal, omniscient, beneficent, omnipotent  after establishing world – went away  over time, the early people became polytheistic because the worship of 1 god was too difficult Theories for where religion came from:

17. AS PROJECTIONS OF HUMAN NEEDS  Ludwig Feuerbach  people view themselves as helpless when faced with the challenges of life – so they overcome their problems by imagining/projecting an “idealized” being of goodness or power that can help them  humanity was not created in image of God, but God created in image of “idealized humanity”  people seek in heaven what they cannot attain on earth  religion is thus a form of “wishing” Theories for where religion came from:

18.  Karl Marx  saw religion in terms of his personal view of history and the economic/social struggle between classes  ”Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again…It is the sigh of the oppressed…It is the opium of the people.”  “Religion is an illusion whose chief purpose is to provide reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. It keeps people going; it is calming, addicting, needed; it controls people but ultimately blinds us to our real problems and how to solve them.” Theories for where religion came from:

19.  Sigmund Freud  saw religion as guilt men supposedly feel in hating their fathers (story of Oedipus)  saw that in all males there was a similar tendency to desire their mothers and therefore hate their fathers  in early people, “alpha male/father” kept women and drove other males away – finally, other males joined and killed the “alpha male/father”  because of this subconcious hate/guilt – people project in the sky a great father image called God Theories for where religion came from: