Introduction To World Religions
And Belief System
Lesson 1: Understanding the Nature of Religion
Religion
- is an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
- is the pursuit of transformation guided by a sacred belief system
Spirituality
- reflects one's integrative view of life while affecting the human soul
Monism
- there is no real distinction between god and the universe
Polytheism
- the belief and worship of many gods
Monotheism
- the doctrine or belief in one supreme god
Atheism
- disbelief in or denial of the existence of a personal god
Agnosticism
- god cannot be known
Examples of Monotheistic religions:
- Judaism
- Christianity
- Islam
• The Latin word religio refers to "something done with overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail" (Bowker 1997)
• The verb religare which means "to tie together, to bind fast"
SEVERAL SOCIAL SCIENTISTS ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION
•Edward Burnnet Taylor
- English anthropologist founding figure of the science of social anthropology
-belief in spiritual beings
•James George Frazer
- Scottish social anthropologist; one of the founding figures of modern anthropology
-a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to control and direct the course of nature and human life
•Bronislaw Kasper
-an eminent 20th-century Polish anthropologist
-a body of self-contained and acts being themselves the fulfillment of their purpose; an affair of all, in which everyone takes an active and equivalent part
•David Emile Durkheim
-French sociologist: father of sociology
-a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things
NATURE OF RELIGION
-belief in a deity's relationship with the world
-belief in a deity
-ways to worship a deity
-places and people believed to be holy and sacred
-rules followed as a result of beliefs
ORIGINS OF RELIGION
-nineteenth century people began to show great interest in explaining the origins of religion
-Archeologist believed that they have discovered elements of religious belief practised by Homo sapiens almost 60,000 years ago
DIFFERENT THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION
•Animistic Theory
-Edward Burnett Taylor
(1832-1917) English anthropologist
-Primitive people believed in souls or anima found in people and in all nature.
•Animistic Theory
-Robert Henry Codrington
(1830-1922) Anglican priest and anthropologist
-In his investigation he found out that the Melanesian people believed in mana, a mysterious force that inhabited all nature.
•Nature-Worship Theory
-Human beings first developed their religions from their observation of the forces of nature. So in other words, people worship the creation not the creator.
•Theory of Original Monotheism
-Wilhelm Schmidt (1868- 1954)
Austrian anthropologist and ethnologist
-belief in a distant high god
-belief only in one god
•Magic Theory
-James George Frazer (1854-1941)
Scottish social anthropologist
-People had gone three phases of development concerning the spirit world
