Analysis of Religious Symbolization

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Name Professor Course Title Date Analysis of religious symbolization In his work on the evolution of religion, Robert Bellah has argued that religion is not only about superstitions and myths, but he defines it as system of symbols. These symbols have evolved over time from ordinary forms to a more complex and differentiated system. Bellah in his works looks at how symbolization has taken different forms over time. He developed five forms that religious symbolism has taken which are the primitive, archaic, historic, modern and contemporary forms. I will review Bellah’s work on how the religious symbols have been used across the different forms that religious symbolization has taken. In primitive religion, the symbols systems used are defined by myths as well as dreaming. These come in the form of stories about ancestors and may involve both humans and animals who typically have heroic tendencies and are more powerful when compared to humans. This world of myths is directly related to the real world and its features and actions of these mythical figures define this form of religion When it comes to archaic religion, the mythical beings are characterized in a more definitive manner. They are thought to have control over the both the natural and human world. The humans directly deal with the mythical beings in a world dominated by these beings. Historic religion tends to remove the mythology associated with primitive and archaic religions. A notion of one god, who created the universe and is its ruler, is created. There is also a strong desire to maintain the hierarchical structure that is common in archaic religions. A supernatural realm is created whose position is above that of the natural world. The main religious concern is life after death in another realm, and this life can either be superior or worse than that lived in the natural

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