UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF RELIGION

At the end of this session the learners are able to:

1.1. Give an example of a belief system or a worldview.(HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIa-1.1)

1.2. Differentiate religion from Spirituality,Theology,Philosophy of Religion (HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIa-1.2)

1.3. Infer that:

A belief system or worldview is a particular way of ordering the realities of one’s world.

Religion is the pursuit of transformation guided by a sacred belief system.

Spirituality is one’s integrative view of life. It involves a quest for the meaning and ultimate value of life as
opposed to an instrumentalist or materialistic attitude to life.

The elements of religion are: (a) reflects an effort to elevate their whole self to a higher

dimension of existence, (b) a framework of transcendent beliefs, (c) text or scriptures, (d) rituals, and (e)
sacred spaces (e.g., church, temple, mosque, synagogue).

Understanding the worldview of each of the world’s major religions is critical in appreciating their rituals
and practices. These worldviews are:

All is one (Monistic)

Many Gods (Polytheistic)

One God (Monotheistic)

No God (Atheistic)

The elements of spirituality are: (a) holistic (fully integrated view to life), (b) quest for meaning (including
the purpose of life), (c) quest for the sacred (beliefs about God), and (d) suggests a self-reflective existence.
(HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIa-1.3)

1.4. Prepare character sketches of a person who is spiritual but not religious and a person who is religious
but not spiritual(HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIa-1.4)
DEFINITION OF TERMS:

RELIGION - the belief in Spiritual Beings" (Edward B Tylor, Primitive Culture). "A religion is a unified system
of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and
practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."

Religion -is"the self-validation of a society by means of myth and ritual." (Émile Durkeim, The Elementary
Forms of the Religious Life). Modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell favor the derivation
from ligare "bind, connect", probably from a prefixed re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or "to reconnect",
which was made prominent by St. Augustine, following the interpretation of Lactantius.

Religion is a social institution involving beliefs and practices based upon a conception of the sacred. The
sacred is that which is defined as extraordinary, inspiring a sense of awe, reverence and even fear.

RELIGION – involves the following of certain rules and regulations that help us realize and experience higher
spiritual truths.

Religion – collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that
relate humanity to spirituality and sometimes to moral values.

RELIGIOUS PERSON - someone who e who adheres to the set norms and practices of a particular religious’
tradition.

BELIEF SYSTEM - is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs of any such system can be classified as
religious, philosophical, ideological, or a combination of these. Something that affect our everyday lives.
They are commonly associated with religions. A religious belief system is usually structured around a moral
code, the belief of one or more deities, and the ability for supernatural occurrences to affect us and the
universe that we exist in.

SPIRITUALITY – involves the study and understanding of matter, spirit & the controller of both, God. More
of an individual practice and purpose, it also relates to the process of developing beliefs around the
meaning of life and connection with others.
SPIRITUAL PERSON – is one who seeks to elevate himself, to connect w/ a higher power, or simply his higher
self. He believes there is more to the world than what is easily seen, that what is merely physical. He will
have certain guidelines of behavior and diet that he will go by, but all in the name of properly attaining w/
the infinite & entering some higher state of consciousness. EX: Tibetan Monks.

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION - is the philosophical study of the meaning and nature of religion. It includes the
analyses of religious concepts, beliefs, terms, arguments, and practices of religious adherents. The scope of
much of the work done in philosophy of religion has been limited to the various theistic religions. A branch
of philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion, including arguments over the
nature and existence of God, religious language, miracles, prayer, the problem of evil, and the relationship
between religion and other value-systems such as science and ethics.

THEOLOGY - The word "theology" comes from two Greek words, theos meaning 'God' and logos meaning
'the word about (or the study of) God' as He is revealed in the Scriptures. Even though our attempts to
understand an infinite God will fall short because of our limited understanding (Romans 11:33-36), God has
given us the Bible for us to study and understand who He is. Some people try to avoid theology because
they believe it is divisive. However, understanding God as He is revealed is uniting and a beneficial thing (2
Timothy 3:16-17). The field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to
the universe; study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.

Faith- originated from the Latin term fides w/c means “trust”, or “beliefs”. It is a free acceptance of what a
person does and says because of trust and commitment, to have faith is to trust in a relationship that make
us fully man. Faith directs us to what is “so essential or important to us”. It directs us to our ultimate
concern in life, to make life worthy and meaningful.

Religious faith – means a belief to God and the messages that are expressed in different ways, as in
scriptures, doctrines or creeds.

Religion – humans’ way to God.

Theology – study of God’s way to humans

Philosophy of Religion – a reflection of humans’ lived experience of God.

Sprirituality- one's integrative view of life.

Reflects an effort to elevate their whole self to a higher dimension of existence

framework of transcendent beliefs

Text or scriptures

Rituals

Sacred spaces (church, temple, mosque, synagogue)

Theism, often used as a synonym to monotheism, is defined as “a belief in the existence of one god viewed
as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world”
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2014). Monotheistic religions claim that there is only one God who could
have designed and created the universe or may have directed all events that led to the creation of
everything. There is one supreme God who is both personal and moral, and who seeks a total and
unqualified response from humans (Hick 1990). Modern-day examples of monotheistic religions include
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. On the other hand, polytheistic religions that are common among early
people recognize many principal gods among whom no one is supreme. These include the ancient religions
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome wherein people worship a multitude of personal gods.

Meanwhile, monism asserts that there is no genuine distinction between God and the universe. Two
implications arise from this belief. Firstly, it contends that God is dwelling in the universe as part of it.
Secondly, the universe does not exist at all as a reality but only as a manifestation of God.

Furthermore, while atheists deny the existence of God, agnostics deny the possibility for man to acquire
knowledge of the existence of God.

Religion may be defined as “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or
a group of gods” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2014). The Latin word religio refers to “something done with
overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail” (Bowker 1997). This term may have probably been derived
from the Latin verb religare which means “to tie together, to bind fast.”

In its original sense, the word refers to expression of proper piety, that is, binding to god (Grassie 2010).
Quite later, religion was used to designate formal belief systems and tenets. The term was eventually
applied to what we now call as religion because of the manner in which people performed rituals during
those days. While religion may be universal in all stages of human history, it does not follow that all
individuals are religious or even religious to some degree (Parrinder 1971).
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGION

It illustrates the different characteristics that are common to most major religions. (Common characteristics
among religion are belief in deity or God and belief in a deity’s relationship with the world, ways of worship
or the religious rituals performed by the believers such as prayers, chants, dances, and the likes, rules
followed or codes of conduct as a result of beliefs and places and people to be holy and sacred. Some also
has a doctrine of salvation)

ELEMENTS OF RELIGION

Reflects an effort to elevate their whole self to a higher dimension of existence

framework of transcendent beliefs

Text or scriptures

Rituals

Sacred spaces (church, temple, mosque, synagogue)

The concept of spirituality comes in with the term “spiritual” being defined as “relating or affecting the
human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things” (Oxford Dictionaries 2014). One author
points out that it is quite common for people to say that they are “spiritual, not religious” (Grassie 2010).
Spirituality may be manifested in quite a number of ways. For example, a person may believe in the
presence of an overwhelming power greater than oneself or perhaps a person can be fully mindful of one’s
purpose in life. That person can also have a feeling of oneness or a bond with other living beings.

ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUALITY:

Holistic (fully integrated view to life)

Quest for meaning (including the purpose of life)

Quest for the sacred (beliefs about God)

Suggests a self-reflective existence

While religions are frequently viewed as set of ideals practiced and followed by organized groups,
“spirituality is something an individual can have without being implicated in the ambivalent complexity of
human societies and institutions” (Grassie 2010). Although traditional spirituality is frequently associated
with religiosity, many people assert that personal spirituality can grow separately from religion. One may
find inner peace, satisfaction, and contentment in life that are truly independent of religious dogmas and
tenets.

In the study of religion, there are basic concepts that need to be understood such as theology, philosophy
of religion, and spirituality. While religion refers to any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices concerning a
supernatural power—theology involves the systematic study of the existence and nature of the divine. It
deals with the study of the nature and purpose of god that may be undertaken using a particular
perspective. Theology is a study, not a formulation of religious beliefs.

On the other hand, philosophy of religion deals primarily with issues concerning religion, which includes
analysis on the existence of a divine being or on sacred texts. It may involve studying the “concepts and
belief systems of the religions as well as the prior phenomena of religious experience and the activities of
worship and meditation on which these belief systems rest and out of which they have arisen” (Hick 1990).
It seeks to analyze various concepts such as god, spirit, karma, creation, immortality, heaven, hell, and
purgatory among others. Philosophy of religion is not a branch of theology but a branch of philosophy. It is
said that this particular study need not be undertaken from a religious perspective at all because atheists,
agnostics, and the person of faith can and do philosophize about religion (Hick 1990).

Meanwhile, spirituality is something an individual can have without being implicated in the ambivalent
complexity of human societies and institutions (Grassie 2010). Thus, spirituality can be described as one's
integrative view of life and involves a quest for the meaning and ultimate value of life as opposed to an
instrumentalist or materialistic attitude to life. Hence, one can be spiritual without being religious.

ORIGIN OF RELIGION

Since the nineteenth century, people began to show great interest in explaining the origins of religion. In
fact, numerous theories have been postulated to explain the origin of religion while looking at primitive
societies for ideas concerning the development of belief systems (Hendry 1999).

Archaeologists believe that they have discovered elements of religious belief practised by Homo sapiens
almost 60,000 years ago. Apart from burying the dead, various items such as foods, tools, and other objects
were placed inside the site. All these rituals imply reverence to their loved ones and perhaps the thought
that the dead will utilize these materials in the afterlife. While they believe in the presence of supernatural
entities, they also try to communicate with them (Ember & Ember 1996).
Various explanations have surfaced that somehow tend to simplify or even denigrate primitive religions.
Others maintain that since early humans are weak and ignorant of the different forces of nature, they had
to invent religion to explain the seemingly unexplainable mystery and fury of nature. In the process, they
had to create a scheme of deities and spirits. Still others contend that religion was conceived by the few to
stifle and repress the ideals of the masses (Hopfe 1983).

The nineteenth century witnessed the development of the fields of the social sciences that enabled scholars
to apply a more scientific way of explaining phenomena rather than speculate on matters concerning the
origin of religion. Through field research, observations, and analysis of historical documents, scholars
formulated a number of theories that have endured well into the present time.

The table summarizes the different theories on the origin of religion and the major proponents of these
theories.

 
 
 
 
The word “Islam” means “submission to the will of God.” Followers of Islam are called
Muslims. Muslims are monotheistic and worship one, all-knowing God, who in Arabic is
known as Allah. Followers of Islam aim to live a life of complete submission to Allah.
 
Islam is an Abrahamic religion teaching that there is only one God, taking Muhammad as a
messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with 1.9 billion followers or
24.9% of the world's population, known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the
population in 49 countries.
The prophet Muhammad, sometimes spelled Mohammed or Mohammad, was born in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 570 A.D. Muslims believe he was the final prophet sent by God to
reveal their faith to mankind.

According to Islamic texts and tradition, an angel named Gabriel visited Muhammad in 610
A.D. while he was meditating in a cave. The angel ordered Muhammad to recite the words
of Allah.

Muslims believe that Muhammad continued to receive revelations from Allah throughout
the rest of his life.

Starting in about 613, Muhammad began preaching throughout Mecca the messages he
received. He taught that there was no other God but Allah and that Muslims should devote
their lives to this God..

FIRST PERIODICAL EXAMINATIONIN INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Follow the instructions in each test number. Notfollowing instructions will be considered wrong.

NO ERASURES except Test VI.

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”

I.