Which Religion is the Oldest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can’t be Hinduism. Africa is the birthplace of civilization. India was not populated too much later.

Is religion a requirement for civilization?

Not according to Nat Geo.

Settlements, government, divided labor, class structure, food surplus. Maybe a written language.

No mention of religion.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/civilizations/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All serious independent historians acknowledge beef eating at the time of the earliest Veda. The fact that there has been a serious effort by Hindu nationalist historians to discredit this is interesting from the perspective of modern Indian politics, but it does not change the scholarly consensus.

Let me guess, you would not expect Christian or Catholic clergy to not nave any credible say about their own religion, or Muslim clergy to not be credible about their religion, or Jewish clergy to not be credible about their own religion.

But with Hinduism, it’s the ‘independent historians’ that are the final word on what is Hinduism is and what it is not.

Nice how their version works out well for everyone else huh?

Now back to the OPs topic, mind sharing your thoughts on the oldest religion? To add, how does it or does it not contradict your belief system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All serious independent historians acknowledge beef eating at the time of the earliest Veda. The fact that there has been a serious effort by Hindu nationalist historians to discredit this is interesting from the perspective of modern Indian politics, but it does not change the scholarly consensus.

Let me guess, you would not expect Christian or Catholic clergy to not nave any credible say about their own religion, or Muslim clergy to not be credible about their religion, or Jewish clergy to not be credible about their own religion.

But with Hinduism, it’s the ‘independent historians’ that are the final word on what is Hinduism is and what it is not.

Nice how their version works out well for everyone else huh?

Now back to the OPs topic, mind sharing your thoughts on the oldest religion? To add, how does it or does it not contradict your belief system?

Clearly they would have a lot to say about their own religion. But they also, of necessity, take the position that their religion represents eternal verities. This position can, unfortunately, lead them to be at odds with the historical record.

As to the question, I already shared my thoughts above, which is that this is an unanswerable question given that the history of many religious systems goes back to prehistoric times, and therefore we have no written, and insufficient archaeological, evidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All serious independent historians acknowledge beef eating at the time of the earliest Veda. The fact that there has been a serious effort by Hindu nationalist historians to discredit this is interesting from the perspective of modern Indian politics, but it does not change the scholarly consensus.

Let me guess, you would not expect Christian or Catholic clergy to not nave any credible say about their own religion, or Muslim clergy to not be credible about their religion, or Jewish clergy to not be credible about their own religion.

But with Hinduism, it’s the ‘independent historians’ that are the final word on what is Hinduism is and what it is not.

Nice how their version works out well for everyone else huh?

Now back to the OPs topic, mind sharing your thoughts on the oldest religion? To add, how does it or does it not contradict your belief system?

Clearly they would have a lot to say about their own religion. But they also, of necessity, take the position that their religion represents eternal verities. This position can, unfortunately, lead them to be at odds with the historical record.

As to the question, I already shared my thoughts above, which is that this is an unanswerable question given that the history of many religious systems goes back to prehistoric times, and therefore we have no written, and insufficient archaeological, evidence.

Translation of the Vedas is religious and spiritual. Western religions rely on proving history with their scriptures, such as the Bible or the Torah. It’s exactly this mentality that causes ‘historians’ to view every religion through the lens of Western religions.
The actual verses that are cherry picked to prove this are literally mistranslated not at odds with historical record.

As to your original post about would Hinduism still be the oldest do to changes that have evolved. I ask, does Christianity or Judaism or Islam or any religion look exactly as it did in the early days. Are those historical stories from the Bible ( new or old version) the same as the way people live and act today?

I think the OP should probably clarify the definition of oldest religion. Since, as you say, there may be some with no written or archeological evidence that may have existed. The Vedas were also an oral only tradition passed down until they were finally written and complied some 5000-7000 years ago. I don’t think most people viewed the question like that, more like what is the oldest still practiced religion that we know of. But absolutely, details matter.

[Anonymous]

Zoroastrian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s Debate.

As others have indicated, it's not an issue for debate.

In contrast, "Which religion is the best" would be a matter of debate -- and intense disagreement, and very personalized.

[Anonymous]

Adam and Eve technically had no religion but if you believe that is the start of men no one was in India for thousands of years later.

I think Africa is more logical choice. That is birthplace of civilization.

[Anonymous]

Nabta Playa (modern Sudan), ca. 6000 BC

Early African religion – what was the first religion?

The earliest evidence we have for religious faith anywhere in the world is from Blombos Cave in South Africa, where people may have been using red ochre for funerals about 100,000 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Atheism.

(but it isn't a religion)

[Anonymous]

Ancestor worship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adam and Eve technically had no religion but if you believe that is the start of men no one was in India for thousands of years later.

I think Africa is more logical choice. That is birthplace of civilization.

If you believe the story of Adam and Eve to be literally true, then they absolutely had religion. They talked to God. The difference is that he talked back. I don't happen to believe that, but clearly if someone is a Christian Young Earth Creationist, then you believe that Adam and Eve's religious beliefs were the first, and that there was an unbroken chain between them and modern Christianity.

I think that the question OP asked is what tradition has had the longest continuity of religious beliefs. Not beliefs that stay the same but that connected to each other. We know the Hindus had that longer than other religions with strong written traditions. But there are other groups, animists in Africa, indigenous Australians, who believe that their oral traditions go back further than that. It's not settled that Hinduism is the oldest, or that it isn't.

If OP was actually asking which religious beliefs were the first, then I apologize for misunderstanding. Beliefs like those of the Ancient Egyptians happened a long time ago, but they died out.

[Anonymous]

Religion practiced by the Indus Valley Civilization - Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.

Did your White-centric world view just got blown to smithereens?😱😱😱😱

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Religion practiced by the Indus Valley Civilization - Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.

Did your White-centric world view just got blown to smithereens?😱😱😱😱

Who are you accusing of white-centric views in an argument when the following religions have been proposed

Hinduism

Indigenous Australian Dreamtime Religion

Zoroastrianism

African Animism

Ancestor Worship

Sundanese religion

[Anonymous]

Religion predates writing. We will never know the answer. Especially when things like this are found that are estimated to be 35,000+ years old.

https://www.world-archaeology.com/world/europe/germany/worlds-oldest-venus/

[Anonymous]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_religion#Neolithic