PERCEPTIONS OF SALVATION

Abstract

The basic concern of all religions is the ultimate meaning of human life, a transition to a better state from the present condition which is generally perceived to be abnormal, bound up in ignorance and suffering. The first impression regarding the present condition of human life is a of a certain disharmony with nature. Hence in the primitive religions salvation is seen as a return to the original innocence of nature through myth, magic and ritual. In these religions the Medicine - man and certain other individuals are supposed to have a secret knowledge of nature transmitted through word of mouth from generation to generation. They can guide people's actions according to that arcane wisdom. Death itself is conceived as a return to the bosom of nature and to the original state of peace and harmony.