The Oldest Religion In The World.

[denis123]

This seemed an interesting topic. Any one any ideas? I thought that it was an Indian religion.

Another question, are the Vedas older than the old testament?

[lynx]

I think you may have started a hot one here.

Who's calendar are you going to use?

Carbon dating has been brought into question because of the possibility that some so-called 'known' events may not have taken place when they were first thought to have done, but these were the origins for the basis of carbon dating.
Note: this is not related to the half-life of carbon isotopes, which is physical fact, but to the amounts of those isotopes in samples at times in the past, which is subject to atmospheric conditions, plant growth rates etc.

For instance, it is now thought that certain egyptian event streams may actually taken place simultaneously (ie they overlap), whereas it was previously thought that there was a gap of several hundred years.

Hope you are going to referee this.

[hypoluxa3k]

i always thought Islam was the oldest
wasn't Hinduism another form of Paganism that spread from Babylon?


found this:

People have a misconception that islam is 1400 Years old and that Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) is the founder of this religion. Islam existed since time immemorial, ever since man first set foot on this earth. Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) was not the founder of Islam. He was the final messenger of Allah.

and this:

A Religion Cannot Be Claimed To Be Most Pure And Authentic, Only On The Criterion That It Is The Oldest. It Is Similar To A Person Saying That The Water He Has Kept In An Open Glass, In His House, Outside The Refrigerator, For Three Months Is Purer Than The Water Which Has Just Been Collected In A Clean Glass, Immediately After It Has Been Purified.

[thewizeard]

Originally posted by lynx@24 July 2003 - 10:54
I think you may have started a hot one here.

Who's calendar are you going to use?

Talking of calendars an interesting calendar is the Mayan calendar. But I am not sure that use of a calendar will give proof of the oldest religion.
Over the Vedas; they are written in the very ancient language Sanscrit.( I dont know if I have spelt it correctly). I thought that Sanscrit is the oldest written language. More important is if a religion can bring, tolerance, peace and harmony to this world. Peace alone is just not good enough; although I would settle for "peace" in the beginning.....

[ilw]

Hinduism has the oldest recorded roots of the popular religions and is considered by many to be the oldest (still living) religion.

Most reference books list Hinduism as the oldest world religion. This is probably because Hinduism has the oldest recorded roots, which lie in Dravidianism. Dravidianism is estimated to have been practiced around 6,000 to 3,000 BCE and as such predates the Sumerian, Egyptian, and Babylonian cultures.

[echidna]

in northern australia there are paintings [with spiritual significance] that are at least 24,000 years old, likely to be about 60,000 years old and may be as ancient as 120,000 years old

that's a long time ago
and there are still law keepers alive who keep the knowledge relating to them

PS can people reference sources for their quotes when possible, it makes the who discussion thing a much richer experience for everyone
and it makes you look like you've researched

[Neil__]

echidna

You forgot to post the source of your data.
Or didn't you research?

Neil

[Illuminati]

AFAI can tell, this cannot be answered in current times.

There is likely that at least one religion would have since ceased to exist; it's happened to some languages before.

However, I think ancient texts spoke of a world library of knowledge in Egypt, probably Alexandria - But I think the whole place burned down for some reason Probably myth though.

Either way - AFAIK this cannot be answered in that way. Ones that still exist, I think that the egyptians have the eldest known roots and worshipped gods (e.g. Osiris, Anubis). I think that would be the oldest religion, even though it's not as much in use now outside Egypt

[lynx]

Originally posted by Illuminati@24 July 2003 - 14:16
Ones that still exist, I think that the egyptians have the eldest known roots and worshipped gods (e.g. Osiris, Anubis). I think that would be the oldest religion, even though it's not as much in use now outside Egypt

I don't think it is used much inside Egypt either.

[Rat Faced]

The oldest religion, although no one knows what it is, would have to be a nature based religion.

Wicca is probably the "oldest" in UK, followed by Druidism...these would have evolved from similar Pagan religions on Mainland Europe, prior to the Viking, Roman and Greek "gods" taking over there.

I would have thought that these would have evolved from still earlier Pagan religions in Africa/Middle East and so on back...


Wicca never died in UK, and bears no relationship to the "wicca" that is now flourishing in the USA....

So, i'd say Wicca (Old Wicca, not the new Fad) is probably the oldest Religion in Europe, but not the world...(unless there are Pagan religions related and still being practised in mainland Europe?)