RE: Reflecting on Atheism.
November 15, 2013 at 8:43 am
(This post was last modified: November 15, 2013 at 8:45 am by arvind13.)
It was St. Augustine who made the word re-ligare prominent. The well-known etymological remark that brings ‘re-ligion’ in connection with ‘re-ligare’ (to tie together, to link) makes us see religious phenomena as instruments of connection, as modes of union.
For the pagans, 'religio' and re-ligare meant something completely different. Here is a quote from cicero, a Roman philosopher:
"For religion has been distinguished from superstition not only by philosophers but by our own ancestors. Persons who spent whole days in prayer and sacrifice to ensure that their children should outlive them were termed ‘superstitious’…Those on the other hand who carefully reviewed and so to speak retraced all the lore of the ritual were called ‘religious’ from relegere (to re-trace or re-read), like ‘elegant’ from eligere (to select), ‘diligent’ from diligere (to care for), ‘intelligent’ from intellegere (to understand); for all these words contain the same sense of ‘picking out’ (legere) that is present in ‘religions’."
This interpretation of the word 'religio' by Cicero, in its turn, appeals to his culture and tradition. For the pagans, religio was almost synonymous with 'traditio'. From the pagan perspective, Religion simply meant the traditions handed down by your ancestors The ideas of carefully reviewing, or retracing, and ‘picking out’ do make sense when religion is the tradition handed down by your ancestors.
Whereas in Judeo-Christian theology, religion becomes inextricably linked to belief. From the Christian perspective, practices and rituals are based on beliefs. This was not the case with pagan cultures like Ancient Greece, China, and India.
and that is why the term 'religion' as it is presently used is derived from Christian theology and doesn't apply to these traditions.
For the pagans, 'religio' and re-ligare meant something completely different. Here is a quote from cicero, a Roman philosopher:
"For religion has been distinguished from superstition not only by philosophers but by our own ancestors. Persons who spent whole days in prayer and sacrifice to ensure that their children should outlive them were termed ‘superstitious’…Those on the other hand who carefully reviewed and so to speak retraced all the lore of the ritual were called ‘religious’ from relegere (to re-trace or re-read), like ‘elegant’ from eligere (to select), ‘diligent’ from diligere (to care for), ‘intelligent’ from intellegere (to understand); for all these words contain the same sense of ‘picking out’ (legere) that is present in ‘religions’."
This interpretation of the word 'religio' by Cicero, in its turn, appeals to his culture and tradition. For the pagans, religio was almost synonymous with 'traditio'. From the pagan perspective, Religion simply meant the traditions handed down by your ancestors The ideas of carefully reviewing, or retracing, and ‘picking out’ do make sense when religion is the tradition handed down by your ancestors.
Whereas in Judeo-Christian theology, religion becomes inextricably linked to belief. From the Christian perspective, practices and rituals are based on beliefs. This was not the case with pagan cultures like Ancient Greece, China, and India.
and that is why the term 'religion' as it is presently used is derived from Christian theology and doesn't apply to these traditions.
