Showing papers on "Supreme Being published in 1979"

Prayer in primitive religion

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the several aspects of prayer in primitive, i.e. nonliterate religions. The contention is that prayer does in fact exist among primitive people in their religious practices and that prayer does have a functional aspect in primitive religion. The extent to which a Supreme Being, gods, spirits, religion and prayer exist in preliterate society is, by and large, a matter of definition. With the full appreciation of the pitfalls inherent in any attempt to define religion and prayer, but with the firm conviction that to be understood scientifically religion and prayer must be defined in a broad way, and that each writer has the right to define the terms used in his writing, as long as he remains consistent, the definition of prayer in primitive religion is as follows: Prayer is man's words to God, or gods, or other supernatural beings, as expressed in terms of his entering into a relationship with such Being or beings. Thus it follows that the title of this paper could very well have been: 'Words to the Supernatural in Primitive Society'. Some writers claim that many primitive peoples have no notion what soever of praying to God or the gods or making any type of an appeal to the supernatural. Closer examination, however, nearly always proves that the people do at times call upon the unseen for assistance, or to be present at a feast or to join in a hunting party. Driver (I963) in a report concerning the Chichimecs, a very primitive nomadic band in Mexico, writes: They have little or no interest in religion, no idols, no altars, no sacrifices, no prayers, no fasting, no letting of blood from tongue or ears... In considering this report, one wonders, in view of the 'religious criteria' cited by Driver, whether (i) he has a realistic conception of 'religion', or (2) as is often reported by other ethnographers, the group may have carried out its religious activities in secret, or (3) he only observed his subjects in 'good times' cf. the Baganda. Even such societies as the Tierra Del Fuegians of Chile and Argentina and some Western Pacific Islanders, who compete with each other for the lowest position on the totem pole of cultural achievement, have a form of religion and have prayers as a part of their religion. In fact, religion does appear to be inherent in all cultures.