Lesson Objectives
• Appreciate the Greek influences on our conception of religion
• Appreciate how religio and fides were discussed in Roman society
• Understand the impact of the Medieval Church on modern religion
• Appreciate how other religions came to be viewed as such
• Understand how religions today are fundamentally diverse
• Appreciate why religion and religious literacy matter today
Key Terms
Threskeia
Religio
Fides
Belief
No True Scotsman fallacy
From the Greeks...
Sacred: Totem & Taboo (Review)
• Totems: Objects or acts symbolically good for the tribe
• Examples: bald eagle, national flag in American culture
• Symbolic representation of tribal identity
• Taboos: Objects or acts symbolically detrimental to the tribe
• Example: the American flag touching the ground
• Establishing boundaries and cultural norms • Rituals are sacred sequences of actions rooted in tribal traditions
• Example: Carving the Thanksgiving turkey in American culture
• Rituals shape human behavior and foster social cohesion
Before Religion (Review)
• Absence of conceptual framework for "Religion" in ancient societies
• Pre-Roman societies practiced diverse rituals
• Greeks: totems, taboos, and sacred civic practices
• Hebrew and Indian Culture: "sacred" and "law" but no "religion"
• daht and dharma later translated as "religion" by the West
• Ancient Chinese Culture: "ancestral teaching" but no "religion"
• zong-jiào later translated as "religion" by the West
400s BCE | Temple Practices & Ancient Greece
• Herodotus: 'Father of History', aims to preserve human events, cf. Historia
• Focus on both Greek and non-Greek achievements
• Desire to prevent erasure of historical traces
• Herodotus' examination of foreign cultural practices
• Study includes foreign temples and priestly activities
• Herodotus coins the term "threskeia" for ceremonial observances
• Significance of "threskeia" — for "religion"
• Marks initial conceptualization of religious practices
• Sets foundation for further religious studies and discourse