Religion Provides a Humane Society as a Whole

Where does religion come from and what is its function? This simple question has been studied, defined, and debated by a variety of individuals with differing schools of thought throughout history. Although the conjunction of different ideologies from many of these theorists would provide the most comprehensive solution to this question, Mircea Eliade’s theory as a whole most convincingly addresses this question compared other separate theories as a whole. In particular, Eliade’s emphasis of studying religion via a cross-cultural comparison method and his notion of “the sacred and the profane” results in a deeper understanding of a given religion and the function it provides to human society as a whole.
In contrast to many of the earlier theorists such as Tylor, Frazer, and Freud; Eliade suggests that to truly understand the function of a particular religion or religious practice, one must compare it to other religions across the world. For instance, the study and comparison of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious stories and practices led to the key generalization of the human need for religion to cope with and explain the chaotic disturbances in life. In particular, Egyptians believed that the forces of nature were deities. One particular god, Horus, was needed to maintain order against chaos, the god Set. Therefore, a complex set of rituals were required to be performed by humans to sustain Horus in his battle against chaos (Ludwig, p326-327). Likewise, a variety of rituals common in ancient Mesopotamia were vial to harmonize the gods and goddesses to better ensure a stable cosmos (Ludwig, p329). Additionally, The Great Flood Story further validates to importance of harmony not only between the gods but also between the...

... middle of paper ...

...eation” of the soul, in which the soul ascends to the realm of the divine through seven gates (Meyer, p200). This experience exemplifies a sacred “path of transformation” where the soul is to experience an ideal state, to give a source of life and meaning (Ludwig, p16). Overall, the importance of the experience of the sacred is evident in many different religious traditions and is integrated in main, everyday life activities suggesting that religion serves to fulfill this desire.
Overall, I believe that Eliade’s theory provides the most comprehensive solution to study and understand the function of religion in comparison to the other theories as a whole. The comparison of intentions behind different religious practices and the importance of religion for experiencing the sacred have begun to shed some light on the important function religion serves in human life.