Questions Asked by Primitive Man

Alice C. Linsley

Readers of Just Genesis will find this conversation about Archaic Man interesting. You will note the faulty assumptions made as to what anthropology has demonstrated to be factual.

"To the primitive men all experiences were supernatural. It appeared in different forms and manifestations in accordance with the different civilizations of the clime and climate of the respective country.
 
According to the scientific research and the knowledge of anthropology the conversion of animals to human beings took about 30 hundred thousands years through evolutionary process ; there are two important  periods in the primitive history of mankind.  The first period is called Stone Age, when man used tools made of stone to get his food and other necessities of life to sustain his existence. It was the period when man began to conceive and feel the environment, and the conversion from animal to man had been complete.  Initiation  of awareness of the surroundings began to grow.  With the introduction of the use of Iron, man became more sophisticated and he started to think about the manifestations of nature in different forms.  He could not understand the nature and function of the objects of nature, and therefore surrendered to them . Questions in his mind were :

[a] What is the character and general structure of the universe in which we live?

[b] Is there permanent element in the constitution of the universe? 

[c] How are we related to it?

[d] What place do we occupy in it. 

[e] What is the kind of conduct that befits the place we occupy?

These questions occurred in the mind of the primitive man. When he could not find any satisfactory answers, he created gods, and goddesses to satisfy his passion of curiosity.  It is very interesting that in Neolithic Period of his evolution he had  more interest with Mother Earth because it provided him the necessities of life."  [Extract from Tasavaray Khudha, translated by Muhammad Asghar Butt]


Some responses:

"Anthropology has not demonstrated that humans emerged from lower animals. In fact, no physical evidence has been recovered that supports this assertion."--Alice C. Linsley

"The foundations for many sciences - astronomy, medicine, animal husbandry, metallurgy, etc. - are found among some biblical populations. Why did they pursue knowledge in these areas? What were their aims? Maybe to satisfy curiosity? To seek truth? To feel closer to the Creator? To better understand their place in the cosmos?" - Alice C. Linsley

 

"Scientific outlook gives the objective outlook which totally discard bias and prejudice. On the other hand, religious activities are concerned with the idiosyncrasies, whims  and caprices of the mind.  Moreover, it is directly related to human emotions, passions, sentiments. A religious spirit does not inculcate the scientific bent of mind. It is based upon the personal whims of the believer. Thus, if we take these two spirits apparently, there are poles asunder. 

The essentials of religion are blind faith and supernaturalism for its support to live in a illiterate society."-- Muhammad Asghar Butt

"The fundamental questions that Primitive Man asked are asked by scientists, theologians, and ethicists today. Primitive Man's conclusions constituted the beginnings of science.  For example, the ancient Afro-Asiatics noted a fixed order in creation.  The Sun appears to rise in the East and set in the West. We are able to greet it only as we face East.  The Sun's light is greater than moonlight as the Moon merely reflects the Sun's light. Humans are either Male or Female, and the male is larger and stronger than the female. Primitive Man grasped the binary nature of this fixed order and recognized that one entity in the binary set is greater.  This guided the decision making process of archaic man. The binary pattern observed in Nature led ancient Nilotic peoples to hypothesize about binary stars such as Siruis A and B long before Sirius B was discovered using high-power telescopes.

The binary worldview of the Horim who originated in ancient Kush was diffused by their kingdom-building rulers across a vast expanse from the Nile to Nepal.  There is substantial linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological evidence to demonstrate that this is so. These rulers were the patrons of the earliest stone and metal working technologies."-- Alice C. Linsley

"How did God come about? Imagine yourself with no ceiling, no walls, and no shelter. No beds, no pillows, and no quilts. No clothes, no shoes, no caps—not even a shawl. No factories, no industries, and not even Gandhi’s spinning wheel. No electricity, no air conditioners, and no heaters. Fire has not been discovered yet. No farms, no agriculture, no grocery stores; no food except from the trees and plants and from the animals weaker than you, whom you can kill. No doctors, no surgeons, no quacks, no hospitals, no clinics, no pharmacies—and not even turmeric.

No transportation of any sort, not even a bike or a cart. The wheel, the mother of all transportation, has not yet been invented. No telephones, no faxes, and no computers. No technology of any type — period. You have no idea about the world or its vastness; forget about its flatness or roundness. And you have zero understanding of the natural phenomenas. You have wild and gentle animals, birds, and insects as your neighbors.

Furthermore, it is extremely cold and raining with thunderstorms and lightning. Or it’s hot and humid. Your whole being is enveloped in fear and fear of the unknown.

This then is the most fertile time of your life. You are in the ovulation period. Then comes     pregnancy — not of a child, but a concept. And so during the labor pains and the fear, you give birth. What to? The God Almighty, of course, the Supreme Being.

He is not the Father God. You are the mother of God. You gave birth to God. She, he, I, they, we all are mothers of God. We gave, and give, birth to God in time of our needs." --B. R. Gowani (brgowani-at-hotmail-dotcom)

Another way to look at this topic of primitive and archaic inquiry is to consider the relationship between religion and early science. The Sun was the emblem of the High God. Their ceremonies were patterned on astronomical observations that revealed cycles. The most fundamental cycle was sunrise-sunset, but their ceremonies were patterned also on the seasons, the equinoxes and solstices, eclipses, and the rising of Sirius. As in the heavens, so on earth... celestial archetypes become the pattern for earthly rituals/ceremonies (Mircea Eliade). Such ceremonial repetition grounds us in spiritual reality which is outside time. Profane time is suspended as the participants enter sacred time." -- Alice C. Linsley

 

"And like all other religious people from all other religions, you are making an attempt to mix science with the imaginations of men who existed hundreds and thousands of years ago and created religions." --Shazia Nawaz MD (shazianawazsays-at-gmail-dotcom)

"These questions did indeed occupy the mind of primitive Man. However the archaeological, linguistic and anthropological evidence doesn't support the conclusions that Man created gods and goddesses, or that Neolithic Man was more concerned with Mother Earth than with the Creator and his heavenly domain. Within the Afro-Asiatic Dominion there was a remarkable uniformity of religious doctrine concerning a Supreme Creator whose lesser assisting spirits (henotheism) were associated with natural elements such as rivers, trees, and mountains. Archaic man is often portrayed as an ignorant idol worshiper, but as an acute observer of the fixed patterns in nature, he knew the material world had a Fixer who alone was worthy of adoration.

Further, there is not a single ancient text that speaks of 'Mother Earth.' In ancient Egypt we find exactly the opposite.  The fluid canopy of sky was associated with the feminine principle of Nut. Likewise, firmness such as displayed by stone pillars, was associated with the masculine principle.

The goddess figurines of antiquity were fertility fetishes similar to the fertility paddles worn by young Ashante women today. These are not worshiped by the Ashante. And the earlier Asherahs and Madonnas all seem to be patterned on the mythic Hathor."-- Alice C. Linsley 

Related reading: Theories of Change and Constancy; Theories of Primal Substance and Cause; Ethical Concerns of Archaic Communities; Getting the Facts about Human Origins; Binary Sets in the Ancient World; Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; The Sun and the Moon in Genesis