This document provides an overview of how religion can be defined. It discusses religion as involving a belief in supernatural beings and commitment or effort. The origins of the word "religion" are explored from Latin roots referring to constant return, being tied into something, and choosing again. Several definitions of religion from scholars are presented focusing on dependence, meaning, community, and the spiritual unconscious. Key components of religion discussed are creed, code, and cult. Theology, religious studies, and other fields related to the academic study of religion like philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology of religion are also outlined. The document concludes with proposing seven basic elements of religion and suggesting reflective activities for students.
This document provides an overview of how religion can be defined. It discusses religion as involving a belief in supernatural beings and commitment or effort. The origins of the word "religion" are explored from Latin roots referring to constant return, being tied into something, and choosing again. Several definitions of religion from scholars are presented focusing on dependence, meaning, community, and the spiritual unconscious. Key components of religion discussed are creed, code, and cult. Theology, religious studies, and other fields related to the academic study of religion like philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology of religion are also outlined. The document concludes with proposing seven basic elements of religion and suggesting reflective activities for students.
This document provides an overview of how religion can be defined. It discusses religion as involving a belief in supernatural beings and commitment or effort. The origins of the word "religion" are explored from Latin roots referring to constant return, being tied into something, and choosing again. Several definitions of religion from scholars are presented focusing on dependence, meaning, community, and the spiritual unconscious. Key components of religion discussed are creed, code, and cult. Theology, religious studies, and other fields related to the academic study of religion like philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology of religion are also outlined. The document concludes with proposing seven basic elements of religion and suggesting reflective activities for students.
reach its summit? Pause and Reflect… • How do you describe your commitment to your religion? • How do you and your friends observe your religious practices? • Is it valid to think that a particular religion is the only true religion in the world? What is Religion? • “Action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods, or similar superhuman power; the performance of religious rites or observances.” Two important essentials components of religion:
1. Belief in a supernatural being
2. Effort or commitment. Etymology of Religion • Relegere – “constantly return to”, speaks about religious observance such as Holy Week, Ramadan, or Passover. • Religari - “to be tied into”, refers to the commitment to one’s own religion. • Re-eligere - “to choose again”, refers to conversion or going back to one’s roots or goals. • Religio - which means “conscientiousness” or “reverence”, referring to the awe or fear felt in the presence of a spirit or diety. Some definitions… • Friedrich Schleirmermacher – Religion is “the feeling of absolute dependence.” • Victor Frankl – Religion is a “function of the spiritual unconsciousness, which is the source of the will to meaning. • Emile Durkheim – Religion is “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things which unite into one single moral community all those who adhere to them.” • For one, religion may be understood as an institutionalized systems of beliefs and practices from which an individual or community derives meaning and significance and to which community formally adheres in response to ultimate questions and the struggles of everyday life in the light of transcendent reality. Intellectual Definition – Max Mueller wrote that religion is a mental factor independent of sense and reason to apprehend the infinite in different names Emotional Definitions – 1. Schleiermacher saw the essence of religion as an emotion and consists of feelings of absolute dependence – 2. McTaggert said religion is best described as an emotion resting in conviction of harmony between ourselves and the universe at large Psychological Definition – William James said that religion comes from the feelings and experiences and individual people • As a consequence, no one has the right to claim that his or her religion is the only true one. Respect builds harmony and avoids contempt. • Each particular religion is a worldview, a lens through which human beings see themselves and their ultimate purpose and engage with their fellow beings (human and nonhuman) • Creed [ from the Latin credo meaning “I believe”] consists of fundamental religious beliefs and assumptions. • Code refers to the norms of behavior that every adherent of a religion seeking well-being and fulfillment is expected to observe. • Cult [ from the Latin cultus, meaning “worship”] comprises practices that nourish believers’ interiority/spirituality and their union with ultimate realities, whether solitary or communal. For an activity or ritual: 1. What is this activity or ritual? 2. Describe how it is performed. 3. How does it connect you to God? 4. What does it say about God? 5. How is it supposed to guide the believer on how to behave and relate with others? Religion as Morality – Immanuel Kant saw religion as the recognitions of our duties as divine commands, the driving force of the sacred is morality, e.g., tabu, holiness Theology • Theology is one way of engaging in a formal study of a particular religious tradition. • The term theology originated from the Christian tradition and is rooted in two Greek words, theos meaning “god” and logos, “word” – the verbal expression of the human experience of transcendent reality. • Theology is the formal, systematic attempt to give a rational explanation of the beliefs and practices of a religious institution and of the religious experiences of its adherents. • It is an intellectual exposition of a religious tradition from within its community of adherents. • In other words, theology is done by insiders, as practitioners of a religion expressing personal convictions within a like-minded community. Religious Studies • Are another way of engaging in an academic study of religion and differ from theology in a number of ways. • While religious studies can be and often are conducted by people who are in some way insiders, scholarship in religious studies is written to purposely include readers who are outsiders – those who have little or no previous knowledge of or investment in that particular religious tradition. • While theology assumes certain shared beliefs, attitudes, or practices, the audience of religious studies is assumed to be open to the logical persuasion of evidence, but is not ultimately expected to make a religious commitment. • Religious studies include, but are not limited to, such fields as history of religions, philosophy of religion, psychology or religion, sociology of religion, and anthropology of religion. Philosophy of Religion • As the philosophical study of the nature and meaning of religion, consists in analyzing religious concepts, beliefs, and practices of religious adherents. • While dealing with the same concerns as theology, it usually asks more critical questions pertaining to a religious tradition, as it claims to be free from the religious assumptions taken for granted by adherents and therefore, supposedly, more objective. Psychology of Religion • Attempts to explain religious behavior by making use of current theories in psychology. Sociology of Religion • Describes religious phenomena in terms or their function in human societies. Religious Anthropology • Studies the cultural significance of religious experiences, ideas, and institutions. 7 Basic Elements of Religion 1. Beliefs. It is the sensation of brain we have beliefs in one God, Dooms day, Angels, Sacred books, good and bad Luck, while Hindus believe in more than one God. 2. Religious Organization. Religion is an organization of beliefs, rituals and emotions. No religion without organization can survive.. 3. Emotions. Emotions of hope, fear, reverence and humility are the products of religious rituals. 4. Ritual & Ceremonies. All religions have their own ritual and ceremonies. These are the emotional and ceremonial practices. 5. Sacred Objects. It has its own sacred objects. For Hindus idols, temples, Cow, river of Ganga and Jamna are sacred. For Christians the cross, Church, and Bible are the sacred objects while for Muslims. The holy Quran, Mosque, Baithullah, Crescent are sacred objects. 6. Symbols. Symbols are the signs used for sacred objects or situation. Symbols give meaning t human behavior. 7. Sects. There are small groups within a religion called sects. Sects have their own religious followers. In Christianity, there are Catholics, and protestants while is Islam these sects are Shias, Sunnis, Ahle Hadith, Wahabies etc. Student Activity: Reflect Upon 1. How does the discussion lead you to check your views on religion now? 2. What is the image/face of your religion? Draw an image that describes your religion. Group Task • Bring a religious item or a picture that shows a part of a religious activity/ritual. Describe the item or activity/ritual guided by the questions below. For religious item: 1. What is this item? 2. What is it used for? What is its meaning or importance? 3. How does it connect you to God? 4. What does it say about God? 5. How is it supposed to guide the believer on how to behave and relate with others?