The Mythology of Religion -The Existence of Spirituality

The minds of most people in western civilization turn to religion when they contemplate the thought of a higher intelligent power. Throughout history religion has played an important part in mankind's interpretation of life here on Earth. As man's knowledge has evolved, religion has evolved. From the sun worshippers of Stonehenge, the many gods and goddesses of the ancient Egyptians, to the relatively new religions, for example the Scientologists of today just created in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard.

Some of the religions of ancient peoples are now considered the mythologies that are studied in 8^th grade English classes of today. How can religion be considered mythology? Mythology is generally thought of as the study of ancient Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Norse beliefs. The silly things that people believed before science evolved man's knowledge into 'knowing better." If we look at the definition of mythology, the dictionary tells us that mythology is a set of stories, traditions and beliefs associated with a particular group or history of events arising naturally or deliberately fostered.

Consider now that the definition of religion is defined as a set of beliefs concerning cause, nature and purpose of the universe involving devotional rituals and observances containing moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Surprisingly similar.

The mythology of religion varies radically with each individual faith. However, for all the differences there are always a few similarities, the focus of most are based on the same fundamental similarities; creation, what to believe, how to practice that belief (traditions and rituals) the main characters (past and present) and the rewards expected for practicing the belief.