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[Under Construction]

 

DEFINITION OF RELIGION
(By the authors of The Study of Religion in an Age of Global Dialogue)

Religion is an explanation of the ultimate meaning of life, based on a notion of the transcendent, and how to live accordingly; it normally contains the four C’s: Creed, Code, Cult, Community structure

CREED

Creed refers to the cognitive aspect of a religion; it is everything that goes into the "explanation" of the ultimate meaning of life.

Apostle’s Creed—Christian

Example of Creed:

The Apostle’s Creed in the Christian religion

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Creator of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
    born of the Virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
    and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
    whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
    the communion of saints,
    the forgiveness of sins,
    the resurrection of the body,
    and life everlasting.

Amen.

CODE

Code of behavior or ethics includes all the rules and customs of action that somehow follow from one aspect or another of the Creed.

Example of Code:

The Decalogue in the Hebrew Scriptures

(The Ten Commandments)

Within Judaism, they have historically been accepted as a summary of the most important ten rules of behavior which God expects all Jews to follow. The Torah records that God gave the Decalogue to Moses on Mount Sinai, inscribed on stone tablets, and intended for the guidance of the ancient Hebrews

EXAMPLE OF CODE:

Exodus 20

The Decalogue

20:11 God spoke all these words:2

20:2 "I,3 the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

20:3 "You shall have no7 other gods before me.8

20:4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image9 or any likeness10 of anything11 that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.12 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,13 for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous14 God, responding to5 the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations16 of those who reject me,17 20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness18 to a thousand generations9 of those who love me and keep my commandments.

20:7 "You shall not take20 the name of the Lord your God in vain,21 for the Lord will not hold guiltless22 anyone who takes his name in vain.

20:8 "Remember23 the Sabbath24 day to set it apart as holy.25 20:9 For six days26 you may labor27 and do all your work,28 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it29 you shall not do any work, you,30 or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.31 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

20:12 "Honor32 your father and your mother, that you may live a long time33 in the land34 the Lord your God is giving to you.

20:13 "You shall not murder.35

20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.36

20:15 "You shall not steal.37

20:16 "You shall not give38 false testimony39 against your neighbor.

20:17 "You shall not covet40 your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor."41

CULT

Cult means all the ritual activities and spiritual disciplines that relate the follower to one aspect or other of the transcendent, either directly or indirectly. Prayer is an example of the former, and certain formal behavior toward representatives of the transcendent, such as priests, is an example of the latter.

EXAMPLE OF CULT

Buddhist meditation

Catholic Mass

Jewish Sabbath Celebration

COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

Community Structure refers to the relationships among the followers. This can vary widely, from a very egalitarian relationship, as among Quakers, through a "republican" structure as Presbyterians have, to a monarchical structure, as with some Hasidic Jews, e.g., their Rebbe.

EXAMPLE OF COMMUNITY STRUCTURE:

The Natchez: (American Indian)

The Great Sun, the nobles, the honored, the "stinkards"

At Great Sun's death, many drugged and sacrificed to go with the Great Sun.

Congregationalist (varies): (Protestant Christian)

Pastor

Deacons

Board

Superintendent/Sunday School Teachers

Ushers

Women’s Fellowship

Men’s Fellowship

Youth Fellowship

Choir

Readers

Home Groups/Leader

Singles Group/Leader

Bible Study Group/Leader

Prayer Group/Leader

Attending Members

THE TRANSCENDENT

The Transcendent means "that which goes beyond" the everyday, the ordinary, the sensate experience of reality—scientific reality. It can mean spirits, gods, a personal God, an impersonal God, Emptiness, and more.

EXAMPLE OF THE TRANSCENDENT:

Spirits: Angels, Demons, Ghosts …

Gods: Shiva, Vishnu …

Personal God: Yahweh, Father of Jesus Christ

Impersonal God: The Holy Spirit, Parashakti (God in His perfections of Pure Consciousness)

Emptiness: The Void, Cloud of Unknowing

Introduction to Why Religion Matters

"The finitude of mundane existence cannot satisfy the human heart."

  1. We are in a crisis!
    1. The loss of religious certainties
      1. The scientific world view
    2. We are called to connect with the symbolic roots in our past, so that we can take the next step into the future.
  2. What satisfies the human longing?
    1. God, by whatsoever name
    2. Rainer Maria Rilke’s suggestion
      1. Think of God as a direction rather than an object. That direction is always toward the best that we can conceive
  3. Part 1
    1. Why we are in this crisis.
  4. Part 2
    1. Features in religion that are unchanging.

INTRODUCTION TO: THE SACRED AND THE PROFAN

  1. EXTRAORDINARY EVENT IN 1919
  1. Rudolf Otto, theologian and historian of religions
    1. Wrote the book called, The Sacred
  • B. Ideas of God—written about previously
  • C. Content and specific characteristics of religious experience (by Otto)
  1. God as an idea vs. God as a "terrible power"
  2. All experiences of God, the Mystery, the awe, Otto called experience of the "numinous"
  1. THE *NUMINOUS
  1. Presents itself as "wholly other"
  2. As basically and totally different than "natural realities"
  1. MIRCEA ELIADE’S APPROACH
  1. A look at "the sacred in its entirety", to present the specific dimensions of religious experience, and to bring out the differences between the sacred and profane experience of the world.
  2. The Sacred manifests itself
    1. *hierophany--the manifestation of the sacred
    2. The sacred tree, the sacred mountain, the sacred stone…
    3. When the sacred is manifest, a tree is no longer a tree
    4. It remains itself, yet becomes something else
    5. For tribal peoples, the sacred is a power, is reality. The sacred is saturated with "being."
    6. Example of the Australian indigenous peoples, the aborigines.
  1. The profane
    1. Absence of the sacred
    2. The wholly profane world is a recent discovery of the human spirit
    3. This is the experience of non-religious man in our world today

CLASS DISCUSSION

"What is religion?"

CLASS UNDERSTANDINGS OF RELIGION 101

JANUARY 25 , 2006

What is Religion?

A divinely inspired system of control

An answer for difficulties

Guidance

Confusion

A Search for truth rather than search for facts

A Vehicle for community

A Tool to help you

A Way to make connection with divine intelligence

A common set of thoughts that binds a group together

A Spiritual Belief in something greater than the human

Seeking the Father

A system of rituals for a group

Seeking the Mother

An answer to life after death

Recognizing a prime mover

A therapeutic outlet

Provides a feeling of connection

A Scapegoat…used as an excuse for war

A Search for purpose

An Illusion…a figment of the imagination

A Way of learning lessons

Intangible

Explains what happens after death

A tool used to live your life

Law

An Ego Booster…makes you feel good

A Source of moral values

A Source of cultural values

A part of one’s life

Tradition to keep community together

Offers an explanation of the intangible

Defines a community

Made by the human

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last modified: February 27, 2008