...Elements of Religious Traditions In striving to understand religious traditions it is important to understand what religion is. The common translation of religion is “to join again,” “to reconnect” (Molloy, 2010, p. 5). Religion cannot be accurately defined with a single definition because there are many differences. Most definitions found in dictionaries are not completely accurate or complete. Dictionary definitions according to Molloy, 2010, p. 5, indicates religion is a belief system that consists of the worship of a single God or multiple gods, ceremony, ethical and moral code, and prayer. To define better religion one should identify the characteristics commonly found and accepted as religions (Molloy, 2010, p. 5). To identify the elements of religious traditions one must explain religious traditions relationship with the divine, sacred time, sacred space, and their relationship with each other. Scholars believe the following eight elements are commonly found in most religions (Molloy, 2010, pgs. 6-7): * Belief System * Community * Central Myths * Rituals * Ethics * Characteristic Emotional Experiences * Material Expression * Sacredness Understanding the key critical issues in the study of religion will help one understand that there is a vast number of religions with a vast number of beliefs (Johnson, 2013). Religions Relationship with the Divine To identify religious traditions relationship with the divine, one must be acquainted...
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...Religious Traditions This paper is going to highlight and take an in depth look into the world of religion. Topics such as the relationship with the divine, sacred time, sacred space and or the natural world and with each other will be discussed and scrutinized within this writing. Belief in the Supernatural or “Higher Power” Every religion; in some way, shape, or form believes in a supernatural being or higher power. Some consider this supernatural power to be formless; almost as if to say it cannot be seen. They may even have a sacred space or time for which the divine power exists or began. They believe that this unseen power influences every aspect of human life; from the way we raise our children to our morality in deciphering between what is right and wrong. Religious Traditions all Together Religious traditions are practices within religions that are passed down from generation to generation amongst others of any one religion. Different religious traditions such as the last supper (breaking bread and drinking wine in representation to Jesus’ flesh and blood) or Easter (the day that Jesus raised from the grave) all represent traditions that correlate with and complement each other to reinforce Christian beliefs (Bible Gateway, 2011). Issues in the Study of Religion There can be many issues that arise within the study of religion due to the diverse beliefs about how religions came to be or even coexist with humans today. For example, there are many different denominations...
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... There are many different religions in the world today, all of which worship and practice differently. Most of the traditions, beliefs, and rituals these religions are consisted of our exclusive to only on religion. Some common traits of most religions are that most of them have sacred areas, sacred times, and the worshippers usually have a relationship with a divine presence. The relationship the practitioners have with what is divine consists mostly with an understanding of what is divine and what or who is sacred. Some religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered monotheism because they have only one god. Other religions, such as Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other ancient religions are considered polytheism because they have many gods involved in their belief and worship. A third kind of religion is pantheism, referring to religions that worship nature. These religions see their god as existent beings. Many of the polytheistic belief systems include worship of people, animals, or idols. Many monotheistic belief systems see the single deity as a spirit that cannot be touched or seen. All these religions believe that the deity or deities can observe the worshipper and deliver rewards and punishment according to the believer’s behavior. Some examples of sacred times that can be found in religions are feasts or fasts and special days or times of worship. One example is that Christians usually meet on Sunday to worship together; another good example...
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...Elements of Religious Traditions Throughout time there have been many religions that people have turned to for comfort and answers to their deepest questions. Religion is learned at a young age and is shared through many generations, from young to old. Followers of many religions go to sacred places to worship the divine god or gods of their specific religion. Many religions also have certain times of worship. Religion provides people with three main functions, which are emotional comfort, social solidarity, and ultimate meaning. Many people turn to religion for answers to the questions that seemingly cannot be answered. These questions range from, why do I exist, is there a heaven, and why is there suffering. Religion provides emotional comfort to people in the form of reassurance after a tragedy or death, even in the event of a birth, there is some emotional comfort knowing that everything went alright. “One of the functions of religion is to justify, rationalize, and support the sentiments that give cohesion to society.” (Davis, 1949 p.519) This quote explains what social solidarity is. In a simpler way, social solidarity is uniting followers into a community that shares values. A few examples of social solidarity are weddings, funerals, and birthdays. One reason people believe in god is because of life and death. When a loved one dies, the people they leave behind want to be assured that they are going to a good place in the afterlife. A place where they know they will...
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...Elements of Religious Traditions Many religions exist in the world today all of which worship and practice differently. Most traditions, beliefs, myths, and rituals present are not exclusive to only one religion. Common aspects between religions are that most have sacred areas, sacred times, and worshippers have a relationship with a divine presence. Though the definition of religion is “to join again” or “reconnect” with the natural or sacred realm (Molloy, 2010). The basic characteristics of religious traditions are content, proceedings, and arrangements in relation to beliefs. Religious Tradition Content The relationship the practitioners have with what is divine consists mostly with an understanding of what is divine and what or who is sacred. Some religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered monotheism because they have only one god (Molloy, 2010). Other religions, such as Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other ancient religions are considered polytheism because they have many gods involved in their belief and worship (Molloy, 2010). A third kind of religion is pantheism, referring to religions that worship nature. These religions see their God as existent beings. Many of the polytheistic belief systems include worship of people, animals, or idols. Many monotheistic belief systems see a deity as a spirit that cannot be touched or seen (Molloy, 2010). These religions believe that the deity or deities can observe the worshipper and deliver rewards...
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...Comparing and Contrasting Judaism, Christianity, and Islam “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” This was said by Stephen R. Covey and it means that similarities relate people to each other but differences cause them to become stronger by making them stand alone. Though they are similar in ways such as having multiple denominations, holy locations, and being linked to Abraham, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are different. They are unique in how they live their daily life, the way they worship, and their ages. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share many similarities but also many differences. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity have many things in common. For example, they all have multiple denominations within their religion....
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... Corinna Sullwold |Religion Name |Cult of Pharaoh - Ancient |Mayan/Aztec - Ancient | |Origins of the religion: |Between 10000 and 7000 BCE a group of ancient Egyptians settled in the Nile Valley. |Mayan religion was founded c.250AD which is the rise of the Mayan civilization | |It's Founder, dates, Key Figures, Historical |7000 – 3000 BCD the people became organized into separate villages. After 3000 BCE |(http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan-religion) | |Development, Cosmogony (creation stories), |hieroglyphics were developed after the independent villages become united under one |Aztec formed between the 12th and 15th centuries AD. | |Myths |kingdom. They were then ruled by one imperial Pharaoh. |(http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-timeline.html) | | | |Religion for both cultures was a central part of their daily lives. They prayed and | |HOW THE RELIGION STARTED … | ...
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...Hindu Religious Traditions Hindu Religious Traditions People around the world worship something, depending on their beliefs. Christians worship God believed to be the creator of the entire universe. Muslims worship Mohammed believed to be a prophet from God, Buddhist believe in the founder Siddhartha Guatama known as Buddha and Hindus believe in Brahma who is known to dwell in all part of reality, and existence throughout the whole universe. I will be writing on Hinduism religious traditions and beliefs. Hinduism is considered one of the largest religions in the world and dates back to 8000 BCE (Fisher, 2002 p. 83), recognized as one the complex and different religions because of the many gods they worship. Hinduism has no founder but has enlarged slowly over the period of years and widely practiced in Nepal and India. Settlers who lived by the Indus River obtained the name Hinduism. “It is derived from a name applied by foreigners to the people living in the region of the Indus River, and introduced in the nineteenth century under colonial British rule as a category for census-taking” (Fisher, 2002, p. 79). Today the preferred name for Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, which means eternal religion. According to the Indian tradition, there are as many as 333 million deities (Fisher, 2002, p .79). However, the three major deities of Hinduism are Shiva, believed to be the creator and destroyer of every living thing, Brahma, known as the creator, and Vishnu considered...
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...Traditions Religion is crucial to many people and groups around the globe. Individuals can learn, have belief and opinions, and worship within their traditions. Most strive for peace and comfort in the elements of religion. Religion is important to citizens and to the community throughout the world. People study, judge, and view the Bible differently because of the diverse cultures. Some people believe in and worship only one God although others believe in many Gods. Some religions believe that every entity and object on the planet are sacred and worthy of worshiping. It is important to know and understand his or hers own religious beliefs such as prayer, ceremonies, and pilgrimage, and understand and respect the religious beliefs of others to obtain world peace. The author of this paper will provide information about what a religious tradition says, what it does, how it organizes, and critical issues involved in these practices. What a religious tradition says/critical issue Many differences of oral and written traditions exist in the various religions. Sacred texts and oral traditions exist and are well-known by the various religions around the world. Many indigenous religions have only oral traditions that have not been written down. There are some indigenous people who do not have a written language and so their religious tradition is passed down orally from generation to generation. Some native religions have been comprised oral...
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...is University of Phoenix | Hinduism | Religion | 7/20/2010 | Basically, anyone can be of Hindu religion. When we are born we are giving a choice of what religion we want to peruse. A person is not forced to worship or be of one type of religion, but what religion that is chosen predicts was the person will be in the next life. People of Hindu religion are considered to have pure hearts so if you feel that your heart is pure you can consider yourself Hindu. Although flexibility is good is does bring up an argument about the real meaning of Hinduism. Whether or not a person is Hindu or not. The one thing about Hinduism that I believe to be true is that the religion is very flexible. It doesn’t have strict rules on how to worship or what to worship and still can be considered as practicing Hinduism. Hinduism is a different but interesting religion because of its beliefs and how open and flexible it is. “According to historians, the origin of Hinduism dates back to 5,000 or more years. The word “Hindu” is derived from the name of River Indus, which flows through the northwestern India. In the ancient times the river was called the “Sindhu”, but the Persians who migrated to India called the river Hindu (Melissa Lorentz, 2008).” Hinduism is the belief of what you feel such as peace and freedom. People of Hindu religion believe and accept that there is a higher power that is makes the world go round. God is known to have a higher power, and if you believe...
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...Religions Catholic The Catholic religion believes in only one God, but they also believe and worship Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary and the Saints. They do not believe in reincarnation, but they do believe in the afterlife, Heaven or Hell. Their sacred text they read is the Holy Bible. A few rituals they perform and celebrate are confirmation, baptizing, and celebration of Easter. Some assumptions made about Catholicism are that they worship statues, which has been claimed many times as untrue. I uncovered that Catholic actually means “throughout the whole, universal.” My religion, Christianity, does have a few things in common with Catholicism; we worship the same God and Jesus Christ, we use the Bible as our sacred text, and we believe in the afterlife of Heaven or Hell. Protestant The Protestant religion believes mainly in the glorification and worship of Jesus Christ, but also worships God as well. They believe in the afterlife; when you die you either go to Heaven or Hell. Their sacred text is the Bible. Protestant rituals include communion and baptism. Something I found interesting about Protestants is that they believe that the Bible, God’s word, is the supreme source of authority over the Church. My religion is close to this one; we both believe in Heaven and Hell, as well as angels and demons and also following God’s word. Methodist Methodists’ believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. They believe in the afterlife of both Heaven and Hell. Their sacred...
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...dead. With a fallen spirit and a blinded mind, man who was created with an intuitive belief and knowledge of the existence of God was drawn by the religious instinct within him to worship something or someone. Unable to find his creator, man produced deities out of his own imagination to worship. Deities of stone, wood, water, fire, air, sun, moon, stars, mountains, birds, kings, emperors etc. giving birth to several religions, the majority being polytheistic and some are still today. Man missed the object of his worship, worshipping the creation rather than the creator. The bible says “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.”(Romans 1:25). God none the less had an elaborate and well-designed plan for the restoration of fallen man. A plan which existed from the very beginning even before man transgressed, to show the fallibility of proponents of Deism that present an absentee god who created the universe and went into oblivion, leaving man to his own fate and the universe to run itself. The deistic view of God falls short of the truth because the bible reveals God laid His plan of salvation from the foundations of the earth. The bible says in the book of Revelations “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written...
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...Comparison between Places of Worship of Islam and Hinduism People do their worships according to the place requirement of their relevant religion. The same case is for the peoples belong to the religion of Islam and Hinduism. The people belongs to Islam are called as Muslims whereas people belongs to Hinduism are called as Hindu. Muslims do their worships in a building called as Mosque and another name of Mosque is Masjid came from original Arabic. Hindus do their worships in a building called as Temple and another name came from original Sanskrit is Mandir. Introduction to Place of Worship The Mosque is the house of God, which is spiritual center of worship for Muslim community and considered as the principal point for the activities of Islam. Mosque merits to be treated with due respect and reverence. There is a place outside every mosque or just inside the entrance, where people have to remove and leave their shoes. The worship place of Hindus is known as Mandir or Temple, which is devoted to particular god or goddess (idol). The Hindus considered Mandir as home of god on earth. The inner shrine, which is called as Garbhargriha, where statue of god or goddess situated considered as the most holy part in the whole Mandir. Comparison between Mosque and Mandir The main hall of Mosque is a plain room largely empty of furniture. There no any kind of statue or picture in the Mosque because Muslims believe that these are irreligious, and there is no image of God, Who is Wholly...
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...first of three locations to be observed, reporting will commence. On the area in North America known as the south or southern area, the researcher observes that this area has many different religious beliefs and practices. But in general they all believe in one thing “God”. As the researcher learns, the God they all believe in have some form of the same worship practices. Christians worship with prayer and gatherings on Sundays and read from a book called The Bible. Baptist does the same, although they have more singing during their worship hour.Catholics, Baptists, Christians, all say that God had a son named Jesus. The son named Jesus had lived a pure life and died for the sins of everyone. People believe that praying to him would help solve their problems. Looks like their belief systems are much alike in similar ways. The second destination of observation is another area called Africa. Here in Africa the researcher learned that most people here believe that Muslim is the religion of the black man, and christianity is the religion of the white man. Muslim is carried from Islam and people who practice this religion read from a book called The Quran. They also are told to dress differently. Others practice Christianity, and they read from the Bible, but African Christians read the bible in their own african languages. In some cases some have...
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...Hinduism HUM 130 Byrl Shaver Hindus believe in the sacred act of different rituals. Hinduism is considered as of today the 3rd largest religion in the entire world. The concept behind Hinduism is taught to be based around different people’s way of life rather than focusing on a religion. Another word that coincides with this particular religion is Sanatana Dharma. What this religion reflects is the belief that different kinds of customs have existed, this includes natural law, health, duty, social welfare, ethics and also transcendental realization. A doctrine that is considered to be from Sanatana Dharma is reincarnation, which is expres5sed solely by the Upanashidas. What this means is that when a person dies, their soul will then leave the body to enter into either another human life or it can also be present in a specific animal or other living source. Hindus practice this belief. Whenever the soul is present in a human being it then will advance to the ultimate goal of liberation while still living in the absolute reality. This goes on until the living form dies. Karma is another strong belief that the Hindus practice. Outsiders of this religion mar consider this belief to be negative. What the true meaning is has to do with an action and deals with the consequences leading to the action. Karma has a phrase which says “what goes around comes around”. Another belief is that each persons’ actions will affect the future outcome of that person based on what thought...
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