The document provides an overview of cultural anthropology topics related to worldviews and beliefs. It discusses key concepts like worldview, religion, animism, and folk religion. Specific examples are given to illustrate different elements that make up a worldview like assumptions, narratives, and components of religion. Theories on the origins and evolution of religion are presented, including animism, polytheism, and monotheism. Differences between institutional and folk religion are explored.
17. Definition of Worldview
Worldview is a foundational set of assumptions to which
one commits that serves as a framework for understanding
and interpreting reality and deeply shapes one’s behavior.
(Waddel & Jibben, 2021, “What in the World is Worldview?”)
19. Two ways to describe a worldview
A. Elements (assumptions)
B. Metanarrative (story)
(Waddel & Jibben, 2021, “What in the World is Worldview?”)
20. A. Elements of a worldview
1. What is Ultimate Reality?
2. What is Nature of the Universe?
3. What is Nature of Humans?
4. What is Nature of Truth & Knowledge?
5. What are Ethics (Right & Wrong)?
6. What is the Purpose of Life? (Why are we here?)
(Waddel & Jibben, 2021, “Set of Assumptions”)
21. What are the elements of the
following worldviews?
27. Metanarrative
An overarching account or interpretation of
events and circumstances that provides a
pattern or structure for people’s beliefs and
gives meaning to their experiences.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/de
fi
nition/english/metanarrative
40. A religion is a system of beliefs and practices that by
means of its cultus directs a person toward
transcendence and, thus, provides meaning and
coherence to a person’s life.
(Winfried, 2014, p. 28)
44. Comunism
• Political Ideology doesn’t engage ultimate issues
• Customs & traditions but no religious practices
• Doesn’t actually displace religious belief
46. Components
• Sacred Story (history)
• Sacred Texts
• Sacred Community
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred Beliefs
• Sacred Rituals
• Sacred Objects
• Sacred People
47. What are the components of Christianity?
• Sacred Story
• Sacred Texts
• Sacred Community
• Sacred Space
• Sacred Beliefs
• Sacred Rituals
• Sacred Objects
• Sacred (holy) People
• Sacred Time(s)
48. Identify all the elements of religious
practice in this ceremony
54. 1. Evolution of Religion
• Mana: spiritual forces
• Animism: spirits in things
55.
56. 1. Evolution of Religion
• Mana: spiritual forces
• Animism: spirits in things
• Polytheism: many gods
57. 1. Evolution of Religion
• Mana: spiritual forces
• Animism: spirits in things
• Polytheism: many gods
• Henotheism: favorite god
58. 1. Evolution of Religion
• Mana: spiritual forces
• Animism: spirits in things
• Polytheism: many gods
• Henotheism: favorite god
• Monotheism: Only 1 God
59. What might be some problems with
The Theory of Evolution of Religion?
60. 1. Evolution of Religion
• Mana: spiritual forces
• Animism: spirits in things
• Polytheism: many gods
• Henotheism: favorite god
• Monotheism: Only 1 God
• Secularism: No God
72. Argument for Primitive Monotheism
1. Ubiquitous story of a Creator God, Creation, and Fall of Humans
2. Tied together parallel stories in most global cultures
3. Evolution of Monotheism has not been observed & documented
4. Devolution of religion is readily observed & documented
81. Institutional Religion is Established
• Established Texts (ex. Bible, Quran, Talmud)
• Established Leaders (ex. Rabbi, Priest, Buddhist Monk)
• Established Places of Worship (Synagogue, Mosque, Church
• Established Rituals or Ceremonies (ex. Communion, the Haj, Bar Mitzvah)
• Established Beliefs or Doctrines (ex. Nicaea Creed, Shema 6 Pillars of Islam)
82. Van Rheenen. (n.d) “Folk Religion” in Missiology Retrieved from http://missiology.org/folkreligion/introduction.htm
Folk religions synthesize popular beliefs and practices,
frequently animistic in nature, that are developed within
cultures to handle every day problems. Often, they co-
exist within formal religion and sometimes even with
secular humanism.
83. Popular (Folk) Religion — Ground Up
Formal (institutional) Religion — Top Down
Stan Meyer, PhD
84. Folk Religion
• Grass roots rituals and beliefs
• Meets a need that formal religion failed to meet
• Flexible and not codi
fi
ed
• Varies by region and practice
• No
fi
xed institutions or creeds
• No
fi
xed hierarchy or clergy
85. Folk Religion Over Time…
1. Fades Away
2. Merges with formal religion and becomes part of it
3. Evolves into a formal religion
90. As the sacred and life-giving cross is everywhere set up as a symbol, so
also should the images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the holy angels, as
well as those of the saints…to be revered by all who might see them. For the
more they are venerated, the more they move to fervent memory of their role
models. Therefore, it is proper to venerate them.
https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum07.htm
93. Dear Saint Christopher,
Protect me today in all my travels along
the road’s way. Give your warning sign if
danger is near so that I may stop while
the path is clear. Be at my window and
direct me through when the vision blurs
from out of the blue. Carry me safely to
my destined place, like you carried
Christ in your close embrace.
Amen
95. Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda says: Two angels accompany a person on
Shabbat evening from the synagogue to his home, one good angel
and one evil angel. And when he reaches his home and
fi
nds a
lamp burning and a table set and his bed made, the good angel
says: May it be Your will that it shall be like this for another Shabbat.
And the evil angel answers against his will: Amen.
(B Shabbat 119b)
https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.119b.3
96. But…if a person’s home is not prepared for Shabbat in that manner,
the evil angel says: May it be Your will that it shall be so for another
Shabbat, and the good angel answers against his will: Amen.
(B Shabbat 119b)
https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.119b.3
97. Good angel & bad angel accompany Jews home from on Friday night
106. Folk Religion
• Oral traditions
• No established texts
• Self-appointed or popular Leaders
• Informal places of worship
• Rituals vary from community to community
• Beliefs vary by interpretation (if they exist at all)
108. The attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects,
and natural phenomena. the belief in a supernatural
power that organizes and animates the material universe
Oxford Dictionary
109. Animism, belief in innumerable spiritual beings
concerned with human affairs and capable of
helping or harming human interests.
Park, G. Kerlin (2020, October 29). Animism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism
110. Theory of Animism
Theorized Animism is the most basic,
primitive form of religion, that religions
evolve from
Sir Edward Tylor (1832 - 1917)
McClenon, James. (1998). “Edward Tylor” in William Swatos Ed. Encyclopedia of religion and society. Sage Publication. Retrieved from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Tylor.htm
111. Theory of Animism
Taylor studied ancient religions of
Mexico and published theories in
Researches into the Early History of
Mankind and Development of
Civilization (1865), and his book
Primitive Culture (1871)
Sir Edward Tylor (1832 - 1917)
McClenon, James. (1998). “Edward Tylor” in William Swatos Ed. Encyclopedia of religion and society. Sage Publication. Retrieved from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Tylor.htm
112. Theory of Animism
1. There is a soul that survives death
2. There are spirits and deities inhabiting things
and animals
Sir Edward Tylor (1832 - 1917)
McClenon, James. (1998). “Edward Tylor” in William Swatos Ed. Encyclopedia of religion and society. Sage Publication. Retrieved from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Tylor.htm
113. Tyler’s Theory how Animism Developed
1. Human attempted to explain dreams, trances, apparitions, visions,
unconsciousness, and death.
2. If humans have souls, then so do living & moving things
3. If souls exist, then so must other spirits as well
4. If other spirits exist, then there must be hierarchies & spiritual world
5. If there are hierarchies, the there must be deities in charge.
114. How did Animist practices develop?
1. If souls live on as departed ancestors, and
2. If spirits and deities control our world,
3. Then there should be rituals to communicate with ancestors & spirits
4. There should be rituals to venerate deities, and
5. Spirits & Deities must have sacred places where they live, and
6. Only sacred people are allowed to communicate with them.
115. What are common animist practices?
1. Funeral rites: to honor departed ancestors
2. Rituals to help lingering ancestors move on
3. Shamanistic rituals: To communicate with spirits
4. Fetishism: Veneration to articles representing spirit entities of animals,
trees, and objects in nature
5. Veneration of deities who control the world
117. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances - people dream of dead relatives & believe they’re
still alive, and believe that the dream state is a spiritual realm & their
dead relatives are trying to communicate with them.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
118. Example of Dreams & Trances
• Student trance- is the student day dreaming, zoned out, or soul
traveling?
119. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds - A spiritual world intersects the physical
world in which spirits, ancestors, and gods live.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
120. Example
• House inexplicably burns down - someone angered the spirits of
the property who burned the house down. Maybe it was built over an
ancestral sacred site.
121. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animated things have souls - Things that move (rivers, animals, wind)
have souls and are imbued with humanlike qualities.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
122. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animate things possess souls
• Animal Spirits - Animal spirits display their personalities according to
how they act toward humans (ex. A deer gives itself up to be hunted).
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
123. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animate things possess souls
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces - Places where the spiritual world intersects the physical
and special people can communicate or interact with it.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
124. Examples
• Hunting - Native Americans ask animal spirit to guide their hunt, and
then thank the spirit before killing it.
• Sacred Trees - Many societies revere a sacred tree (mountain,
volcano, lake) and forbid touching them.
126. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animate things possess souls
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred People (Shamans) - Humans with the ability to interact with the
spiritual world and communicate with spirits.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
127. Themes in Animism
• Dreams & Trances
• Spiritual & Physical Worlds
• Animate things possess souls
• Animal Spirits
• Sacred Spaces
• Sacred People (Shamans)
• Ancestors - Departed family members still part of the community.
Swancutt, Katherine. (15 June 2019). Animism. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
