Anthropology of Religion

That there is a connection between the shape of cultural development and the language of a given culture has long been acknowledged by the scholarly community. As Wells puts it: "[W]hat a common language does do, is to show that a common intercourse has existed, and the possibility of intermixture; and if it does not point to a common origin, it points at least to a common future" (Wells 125). Undoubtedly, a religious belief helps define the shape of a given culture. But this definition has a certain circularity, inasmuch as religious expression must be a product or function of embedded--and idiosyncratic--cultural forms and customs. As Eliade explains:

If one goes to the trouble of penetrating the authentic meaning of an archaic myth of symbol . . . this meaning shows a recognition of a certain situation in the cosmos and that, conse

. . .
gels likens the gnostic focus on "the solitary, interior path" to that of Buddhism (174). Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, tended to "sacralize" religious experience, finding ritual coincidences to "sanction" major events and stages of the (social) human life cycle: "the sharing of food, in the eucharist; sexuality, in marriage; childbirth, in baptism; sickness, in anointment; and death, in funerals" (Pagels 176). The gnostic line of thought was consistent with a life of religious solitude. The effect of inventing orthodox ritual to invite theology itself, or the elaboration of supporting or explanatory texts with regard to ritual, as well as a community of faith and eventually an institutional framework marked by a whole range of ritual codes and a specific canon of doctrinal authority. An authorized belief system codified in such text-driven rituals as the mass and the sacraments enabled Christianity to conform as it spread, irrespective of political or ethnic organization and despite the eventual division between secular and religious institutions. The authority of text also meant that Christianity could even survive internal reformation and sectarianism; Protestant sects "remained within the basic framework of ortho
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Native American, Theravada Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, American Plains, Sun Dance, Self Atman, Creation God, Christianity Pagels, According Keane, Christianity Buddhism, native american, sun dance, ritual life, christianity buddhism, vision quest, theravada buddhism, black elk, orthodox christianity, tsunoda et al, shape culture, religious experience,
Approximate Word count = 2813
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Anthropology of Religion