what is the oldest belief system to have survived since ancient times?

Answer 1

.Survival of the fittest.






g-day!

Answer 2

While studying a few years back the lecturer told us that certain/small sections of Modern Greek Society were in fact turning their backs on Christianity and turning back to thier (what christians would call pagan) ancestoral beliefs in the Olympian Gods Zeus et al (polytheism). These when visiting Greece became more apparent when visiting the ancient Pan Hellenic centre of Delphi and realising that a visitors code exsists (t-shirts on, no bare flesh, no cursing, etc..) because they still respect what the site stands for and respect that some still follow those beliefs of ancient times. Although small and not as ancient as some beliefs it shows that small minorities of all kinds of belief systems are still in exsistance another example would be the Druids belief in the UK its celtic past, tradition and impact still apparent on much of the country so much so that again a minority still strongly believe in druidism, an example would be the summer and winter soltices ceremonies held at the countries oldest religous site at stone henge.

Answer 3

Of the major world religions still practised today Hinduism is the oldest. It is impossible to place an exact date on the origins of Hinduism, as it did not have one single founder, but it probably began with ancient Dravidian and Aryan civilisations. Historians are still debating the date of origin of these people, but many have settled for around 2600BC as the date when the great Dravidian cities such as Harrapa were built.

Other religions and belief systems may well be older eg tribal beliefs in Africa, but Hinduism is the oldest of the 'big 6'.

Answer 4

Probably Hinduism, its origins go back around 1500BC, weirdly enough not in india originally but the near east where a people called the Mittani worshipped the gods such as Indra and Varuna.

Judaism is obviously still alive, and is possibly older than hinduism if you take the first written mention of the Hebrews in around 1800BC, by mesopotamian kings.

Zoroastrianism and Yazidism, are ancient Persian religions, and there are still some followers around, although they are much persecuted by muslims in Iran and Iraq respectively.

The Mandeans have a religion that is just about pre christian, in that they worship John The Baptist as the true Messiah. They are Aramaic speakers, and are badly persecuted in Iraq.
Most of the people of Ancient mesopotamians became christian, and still are(chaldeans/assyrians), but there is some evidence that some still worshipped Ashur, Haddad, Tammuz, Shamash etc right into the middle ages! And that religion goes back to 3300BC!

Answer 5

I would say that many forms of paganism comprise the oldest belief system still surviving since ancient times.

Three main forms of paganism are: pantheism (belief that the whole of reality is divine), polytheism (belief in many gods), and animism (belief that the natural features of the world have divine powers).

These name only a very few, a sort of 'overview.' Check my source for a list of many other pages to visit in that research tool!

Answer 6

The belief in some sort of God dates back to the first cave wall writings. The oldest current religions would be Asian some go back over 5000 years. Christianity is only 2000 years old.

Answer 7

Zoroastrianism (also known as / related to Mazdaism), is the earliest surviving unified religion.

This religion was first mentioned by Herodotus ( 440 BCE or shortly before) but dates from somewhat earlier - opinions differ as to how much earlier.

Its still practised in Iran, and possibly other countries in the vicinity.

The belief system of animism is probably earlier, but as its adherents have seldom, if ever, been literate, its history among groups over time is not really known.

Answer 8

I think that the aboriginal Australians' belief in Dreamtime is the oldest. This is estimated to be 65,000 years old and it explains the origins and culture of the land and people.

It's a very interesting belief system and you ought to find out more about it.

Answer 9

Religion

Answer 10

Earth, Fire, Air, Water. The four elements have been believed in by humans in one form or another since the beginning of recorded history and they will be in the future.

Answer 11

That we think we know a lot about the world we live in! Relative to all knowledge.... the human race knows next to nothing! Many people forget this xx