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Oldest Known Religion:Religion goes back at least as far as human civilizations. Nobody knows what the first religion was.The Egyptians predate the Jews, The esopotamians predate them. The !hinese predate them...

Religions with a creation story often claim to be the oldest, since the world began with that creationand with the god or gods of that religion.

Hinduism: "ince "anskrit is the oldest written language, as far as religion being written down, and asfar as organized religion is concerned, it would be #induism. $t is said that when Rama appeared,according to our calendar, was a million or so years ago %not sure of the e&act date, but it's a longtime() *nd +rishna, od himself according to the -edic scriptures, appeared here ,/// years ago.0uddha, about // 0.!., Jesus, about 1,/// years ago. $f you go through the different religious bookand study this 2uestion deeply, you will find out that #induism is the oldest religion of the world. Thereare no dates and facts, but its history is about more than //// thousands years ago.

 Additional input from our users:

• 3thers say that animism would be the oldest known type of religion. This is a primitive

religion, which sprang up independently in many areas of the world, but in most countries has mainlybeen replaced by more formal religion. $n animism, spirits are considered to inhabit familiar ob4ects inthe landscape. 5or e&ample, *ustralian aboriginal beliefs probably go back 6/,/// or more.

• Remnants of animal worship survived in Judaism and !hristianity. "atan was a serpent7

Jehovah, like 3siris, was worshiped as a bull7 !hrist was the lamb of od, and the #oly hostappeared in the form of a dove. #owever, these are only symbols of the worshiped ob4ect, and are notworshiped in themselves.

• The Egyptian religion can also be considered the oldest religion. $ts origins date back beyond

8/// 0!E.

• 5irst off, this is a very general 2uestion. Religion comes from 9religare,9 which is to bind, or

have union with, etc. so humans throughout our history have been seeking this union. :oga, in"anskrit, means union. This longing for connection to od, to worship od, is innate in most allhuman beings.

• !hristianity, Judaism, and $slam are all *brahamic religions. *braham dates back to ;<// 0!.

• This also depends on religion = my personal belief is Judaism, since *dam and Eve, and then

through Noah. any people don't believe that nature or se& worship, solar worship, or worship ofelements or forces of nature are technically religions. ost such people believe that a polytheistic

worship of gods that represent the values of the people was the first religion %gone from today'sworld).

• 5rom a 0iblical perspective, undoubtedly many of the religions of the world are very ancient,

and no doubt included what is known today as various 'animistic' elements. "uch worship is, accordingto the 0iblical view, the worship of the creature rather than the !reator who made the particularob4ect, whether it be the sun, or a tree etc. $t would be akin to us worshiping and adoring atechnological invention, instead of praising the inventor, as we know that everything has a maker. $nthe same way the 0ible records these religions as a degeneration from the original monotheism wefind in the beginning. The 0ible also records the first type of religious ceremony in enesis 8>8=6

where !ain and *bel both made offerings unto the ?ord, the !reator of all. *ccording to the 0iblicalview, all other religions would have come after this time and developed from it, essentially ascreations of man. enesis @>8= %+ing James -ersion)9*nd in process of time it came to pass, that !ain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering untothe ?3RA. *nd *bel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. *nd the ?3RAhad respect unto *bel and to his offering> 0ut unto !ain and to his offering he had not respect. *nd!ain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.9

• Even before this religious ceremony of the offering of the sacrifice, it is recorded that *dam

had a form of open fellowship with od as #e had spoken to him and received and understood od'sinstructions. This simple understanding and fellowship between persons, which in a sense transcends

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all religious practice as man meets personally with #is maker, is what is restored to a degree when aperson becomes a 9new creation9 in !hrist and receives the in=dwelling #oly "pirit. This re2uires noreligious ceremony, can occur anywhere and anytime, and is open to everyone who wishes to worship9in "pirit and in truth.9 $t also has the assurance that everything has already been done andcompleted through the finished work of Jesus !hrist, not through any amount of religious works whichthe devotee can do.

• Borship of *nimals and Clants = $n the infancy of the world animals were deified and adored,

and trees and plants were regarded as sentient beings and received the homage of man. Nearly everyanimal has been an ob4ect of worship. This worship flourished for ages in Egypt and $ndia. $n Egyptthe worship of the bull %*pis) was associated with that of 3siris %"erapis). The cow is still consideredsacred in $ndia. "erpent worship has e&isted in every part of the world.

• *ustralian aboriginal religion began about 6,/// years ago, not 6/,///. #owever, the age of

ancient religions predate !hristianity's claim of a young earth.

• *ccording to *5R3?.com>

"Archaeologists have discovered what seems to be remains of the world's earliest religious worshipsite in the remote Ngamiland region of Botswana. Here, our ancestors performed advanced rituals,

worshiping the python some 7, years ago. !he sensational discovery strengthens Africa's position

as the cradle of modern man. ... hile, up until now, scholars have largely held that man's first ritualswere carried out over #, years ago in $urope, it now appears that they were wrong about boththe time and place. Associate %rofessor &heila oulson, from the (slo )niversity, however claims tohave proof that modern humans started performing advanced rituals in Africa 7, years ago. &hediscovered man*ind's oldest *nown ritual in Botswana.' 

• No doubt it's $slam. The first man also the the first prophet was *dam on the Earth,

*dam%Ceace be upon him) taught that *llah is the name of the od and follow the commands of *llahwas the religion.

• -edic #induism and Doroastrianism are considered the oldest organized religions.

• $ would place #induism as the first known religion, although it is not strictly a religion in the

formal sense of the word, but a spiritual Tradition.

The origins of #indu tradition have been traced as far as the ancient -edic civilization %1nd and ;stmillenia 0!E up to 6th !entury 0!E) and ancient $ndus -alley civilization %c8,///= ;// 0!) althoughthere are archaeological indications that strongly suggest such spiritual Traditions whether #induismor not e&isted long before that = into pre=history

• $'m sure neolithic man and even earlier "pecies of ankind had their form of Ritualistic

Borship or Traditions. $t's possible we might never discover the first true religion and still others maywish to e&press their points of view or further this 2uestion based on their knowledge or e&pertise onthe sub4ect.

• The practice of seeking and sharing %or hoarding) scarce resources, or alternately, practices

and traditions that strengthened clan loyalty.

• The oldest documented religion still in e&istence today is a form of paganism, believing in a

god and goddess, it is over @/,/// years old, and was once practiced everywhere, though loosely, byNative *mericans, !elts, and ancient Romans and tribal *fricans. #owever, it is not as strong because

of conviction and genocide by the catholic church.

• The oldest known religion is shamanism, e&amples of this date back to when Neanderthals still

accompanied us on the planet. The wisest and usually the oldest of a tribe would be appointed the"haman. Responsible for guidance and medical treatment the "haman defined religious rites andpractices for his tribe. This is only one step away from the family unit which is usually not described asa religious group. "hamanism is found in the all parts of the world. *n interesting note, a tribe that

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was e&pelled due to religious persecution from Egypt, migrated west and carried their religiouspractices and some Egyptian traditions with them, they still practice that same religion to this day inali. The Aogon worship *ma, a god who came down on an ark and a wave of fire and landed in astorm who came from the "tar "irrus 0, a star that is too far for the naked eye to see, yet they knowe&actly where it is using a special tool and information given to them by their god more than athousand years ago.

• This is easy to answer, "umerians have the oldest +N3BN religion.+nown is the key point,

"umerians have the 3?AE"T form of communication that told about their religion. Therefore,"umerians have the oldest +N3BN religion.

• *nimism is believed to be the oldest religion on earth. *nimism has been practised by

*ustralian aborigines for at least si&ty thousand years. There is also early evidence of animism inEuropean cave art.Note> There are comments associated with this 2uestion. "ee the discussion page to add to theconversation.

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