Religion as a Vehicle of Civilization

Abstract

Religion is not civilization, but one of its vehicles which shows the ethos of a given civilization, creates a moral code and a value system for its participants, formulates social norms, and shapes its mentality and social order. It is impossible to answer the question whether it is religion which produces civilization, or vice versa—it is civilization which contributes to the emergence of a religion. There is no regularity in it. Each specific case should always be studied separately and, then, we will be able to discern civilizations that make up religions, or religions that create civilizations by pulling all the aspects of individual and social life into the sacred sphere.