Religious Change

There are a lot of people who figure that there is only one thing or set of characteristics that can define a particular religion or belief system. This, however, is pretty much wrong. Each system of belief changes over time and across cultural boundaries, discarding old ideas and absorbing new ones based on each new context. In fact, religions have been so influenced by the societies, both local and global, in which they have existed that it is not far-fetched to say that each religion takes something from its fellows, giving something in return. I will discuss Christianity as an example, only because that is the tradition with which I am most familiar.

Christianity, it is important to remember, began as an offshoot of Judaism. The founders of the religion were all born and raised as Jews, including Jesus himself. Christianity also went on to become in turn a jumping-off point for Islam. In addition to that, Christianity has borrowed ideas from all over the world, not stopping short of "pagan" religions of Northern Europe and the British Isles. The dates of the two biggest holidays of the Christian year, Christmas and Easter, were chosen expressly to coincide with the festivals of solstices and equinoxes that were already being celebrated in many parts of the world. Through study of the text of the Christmas story in the Bible and the historical events it mentions, it becomes clear that the birth of Jesus probably actually occurred sometime in the spring, not in midwinter at all. There is also the question of the Spanish Inquisition, which most Christians would hesitate to put forward as representative of the belief system, not to mention the Crusades, the idea of Purgatory and the sale of indulgences, and the very concept of the Pope's infallibility. The Pope is, after all, a human, chosen by humans, and humans do make mistakes. The belief held by Roman Catholic Christians that he is necessarily infallible recalls religions in which the ruler of a society is also regarded as a god, a la Xerxes or the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Other religions, I am sure, have as much or more to tell of the diffusion of ideas across time and culture, showing that religions are neither fixed nor pure, no matter what their practitioners may think or want to think. There is no reason for upset at such a statement; every kind of institution, organization, or even loose group of people borrows ideas from society at large and gives some ideas back to society to be borrowed by other groups. This discussion of the constant ebb and flow of ideas, concepts, beliefs, and conventions makes one wonder if there is a time when all known religions may eventually merge, when all the ideas that have proven useful, acceptable, and reasonable will combine into one sort of world religion. If such a time is in the offing, it will surely be far in the future, but the idea of everyone living in accordance with the same "general order of existence" gives one hope that there will not always be that difference, at least, as an excuse for exclusion, exploitation, alienation, and even war.