Introduction to Religion

What is Religion?

Images of Religious Life

Symbols

Images of Religious Life

Religion

Religare Latin root Re plus ligare To bind, to tie fast

Religia Latin – obligation or bond

Gary Comstock

“That part of some people’s lives which involves rituals, beliefs, organizations, ethical values, historical traditions and personal habits or choices – some of which refer to the transcendent.”

Mircea Eliade

“The sacred always manifests itself as a reality of a wholly different order from ‘natural’ realities. ...The First possible definition of the sacred is that it is the opposite of the profane.”

  Sacred: set apart for worship of a deity or

as worthy of worship.  Profane: nonreligious.

Outside the sphere of religion.

Ninian Smart

Seven Dimensions of Religion.

Not a definition, but identifying features that help us understand the way academics think about the topic.

Practical or Ritual

Formal or informal

Temporal and spatial

Experiential or Emotional

Rudolf Otto

– Mysterium tremendum fascinansa mysterious something that draws you in and inspires both awe and fear

Mysticism key here- Intuitive- Beyond reason

Experiential or Emotional

Narrative or Mythic Dimension

Myth a vehicle that relates a truth defying

normal expression and sets pattern for human behaviors

Usually considered poetry (metaphors!) rather than prose

Narrative or Mythic Dimension

Symbolsomething that stands for or suggests

something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance

Roses = romance Lion = bravery

Narrative or Mythic Dimension

Metaphora word or phrase for one thing that is

used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar

Broken Heart Wounded King Achilles Heel

Narrative or Mythic Dimension

Cosmogony Accounts of the creation of the world  Cosmology is different (the nature and structure

of the universe – can be scientific, too)

Eschatology  Accounts/Beliefs about the end of the world

Morality Tale How to behave in relation to others; your

code

Joseph Campbell’s Work

MythologistComparative Religions/Mythologies

MonomythOne single great storyTemplate/Model

All of the great myths have a common pattern; Famous example – Hero Tales

Video

Doctrinal or Philosophical Dimension

The principles of a tradition  Typically explain complex ideas  May or may not be familiar to the

average believer, but is part of the scholarly tradition

Ethical or Legal Dimension

  The things required of a believer

Social and Institutional Dimension

Material Dimension

Artifacts– Buildings– Art – Music – Symbols– Natural World

Why do religions exist?

Religions help us deal with a variety of human needs. For example: – Give us a way to think about our own mortality

 – Help us to find security in an insecure world

 – Organize us socially – Assist the poorest and the weakest

with survival – Stimulate artistic production

Sigmund Freud

  1856-1939 Religion is about projecting our childhood experiences with our parents onto a God or gods

Carl Jung

1875-1961

Individuation or personal fulfillment

 Symbols particularly important

Some Key Terms

Theistic – Religions based on a Multiple relationship

with a divine being; apparent forms of the divine; there is one ultimate reality

Monotheistic – The Divine in a

Singular form 

Polytheistic – Multiple forms of the divine  Atheism – Non-belief in any deity  Agnosticism – No knowledge if the divine exists or can be known

Why Study Religions ?

Insight into other cultures and into the lives of other people. Religion is a key to the way many people live.

Understanding religious practice helps us to better understand others’ lives and hopefully, to be tolerant of people not like us.

  Improve your appreciation of new places because you can understand what you see and hear and experience more fully.

Why Study Religions ?

• To assist in your own religious quest. Summed up simply: we can learn from others who do not practice as we do. 

• To appreciate everyday life more fully. You cannot see a movie, read a book, hear a song, listen to a Presidential debate without some mention of religion it seems. Knowing more is a positive. 

• To make you a better citizen of the world