What Is Religion? Essay

What is religion? Each person's definition of religion is different. Each person's faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not areligion. Others may say Taoism is not a...show more content...

They are teachings learned by previous generations then passed down, they are not always actions. The fifth feature of religion is grace. Grace is defined by Smith as "the belief and assurance that reality is on our side and can be counted on." Lastly there is mystery. For this there is no exact definition, but it is all of what a religion cannot explain, it is all that the human mind cannot grasp, it is the certain "higher power" that religion offers. Of these six features, there are three that are present in most all religions, they are: authority, tradition, and mystery. Authority, tradition, and mystery further explore and define religion when looking specifically at Primal Religions, Confucianism, and Taoism. Primal Religions are often mistaken to be the religion of the primitive man, often thought to be unintelligent. There is a definition of "primal" that is better suited than unintelligent or primitive. Primal in terms of religion, refers to the lack of exposure to technology, it is not "knowing" the state of consciousness given to many by the technological environment. Primal religions preceded organized religion as we know it today by thousands of years, in some cases millions, but are still present in the world today; we now call them tribal religions. Within primal religions there are people who are knowledgeable about life, who are knowledgeable about Defining Religion–4 traditions, and who are Get more content

Growing up, church was never a huge aspect of my life, but it was always around me. My grandmother was a deeply religious Catholic, and many of the kids on my street went to the church around the corner. Despite this, my mother never forced my sisters and I to go. She wanted us to choose our own beliefs. The proximity to Christianity influenced what I believe in today. I believe inGod and that he created everything in the observable universe. The rest of the Bible, well, is debatable to me. Some call me an agnostic Christian, but the label doesn't matter. As long as I can find faith and solace in something when I need it, I'm happy. What I ponder the most is the final chapter: death and the afterlife. What I hope is that everyone is delivered what they...show more content...

To another, they might believe it's nothing at all. Even fire and brimstone is in some people's future if they think they deserve it. There are an infinite number of heavens to every person. It is a self–determined fate. However, if I am to be quite honest to myself, my own belief written here is always changing. Nothing is really ever set in stone. Even my own personal heaven is shifting constantly, based on what I believe I deserve at that point in my life. If you had asked me as a child what my heaven was, it would be being able to wrestle with my sister without getting injured for hours on end. If you asked me after my grandmother died, it would be on her lap as I listened to childhood stories. A week later, I would have said Hell for not listening to more of them. Right now, my heaven is a road trip's summer night. Great music with great people on the highway is a lovely way to spend a teenage eternity. Of course, my best friend Elyse Leskovic is there (and of course she is driving). A song with too much bass is blasting. I can feel the beat in my chest and I'm singing along at the top of my

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The many religions of the world exhibit a large amount of different beliefs and philosophies. Some believe in many gods, some believe in just one god and yet there are those that believe in no god. One of the things that I agree with is that you can not love anything else unless you first learn to love and respect yourself. I also think that after one?s physical body is deceased, you become reincarnated. And lastly, I don?t recognize one god or overall being, but rather follow the example made by others. These are some religious elements I follow.

First of all, you can not love anything unless you love yourself. If you go around with self hate and little confidence, it gives you no room for any other...show more content...

When a person dies, their physical body and life comes to an end. I think that their soul or karma continues to strive and find a new inhabitant. I always believed that if you can have a body without a soul, you can have a soul without a body. This is stressed in Hinduism and Buddhism They call reincarnation ?samsara?. I also agree with the fact that if you lead a good life, you will come back as something great in your next life. For instance, if you start an orphanage and spend your whole life devoted to saving children, you will come back as something like a queen or king. On the other hand, if you are a criminal, you will come back as a bug or worm. Hindus also believe in that rule. One thing I disagree with is the fact that anyone can exit this cycle of reincarnation. In Hinduism, they think that at some point you will be released and cease to exist. Sort of like a final death. I think that you will continue this cycle of life and death indefinitely. Those are my points of view on reincarnation.

Last, I do not believe in gods or overall power. In many religions, (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) they are monotheistic and worship one god. There are also religions that worship many gods such as Hinduism and Native American Religions. I do not believe in any god. I think that our life should be based upon the mistakes and accomplishments of past human beings. Even though people do not realize

Defining Religion

The most fundamental question when examining a religion is "what is religion?" That is a distinctly hard question to answer considering that what is ordinarily considered to be religion is not all it is, and what many consider not to be religion may be near religious (i.e. sports).

The truth is that there are no genuine answers to the question of "what is religion". Definitions of religion tend to suffer from one of two problems: they are either too narrow and exclude many of the belief systems which most people will agree are religious, or they are too vague and ambiguous, leading one to conclude that just about any and everything is actually a religion. Thus defining...show more content... This assumption often tends to confirm for the student the value of being religious.

There are basically two approaches students tend to adopt when studying religion. The first is a dogmatic approach, which assumes that the truth about God is "out there" to be grasped by us human beings. The second approach is that of the sceptic, who assumes there is no way we can grasp any knowledge of God. Interestingly, dogmatists and sceptics seem to share a common assumption because they both believe that what we find as a result of studying God or religion will be something objective, something quite distinct from the investigator's own heart and mind. They differ only in how they view the "object" towards which the religious search is directed. Dogmatists believe this object must lie at least partly within the grasp of human knowledge, whereas sceptics believe it does not.

But how should a religion be examined? There is no recipe in doing this, but there are certain rules which can be followed.

(1) First, the study of religion requires comparison and contrast. That means when we study religion, we have always to ask ourselves what we are doing and why we are doing it. The study of religion always involves

Religion is a topic that varies from person to person and culture to culture. Although religion is broadly defined as "the belief or worship of a spirit or god" (Hopfe and Woodward ), each religion of the world has their own beliefs and worship strategies that defines that particular religion. Across the world, religions have their own beliefs and rituals; however, they are all commonly linked with the tradition of beliefs, holy places of worship, and celebrations. While each contrasting world religion will be discussed in this paper; they will collectively be centered around the question of how each religion practices their own beliefs, places of worship, and celebrations.

The first religion that I am going to discuss is Buddhism....show more content...

(White) Since the beginning of the Buddhist religion, believers visit temples and shrines in order to pay their respects to Buddha and worship with other Buddhists. Because Buddha believed that Buddhism is a way of life, Buddhists often believe that attending a place to worship is not critical. Some Buddhists even have their own shrines so their worship can be done in a more convenient and timely manner. The Buddhist's shrine originated as a place built to worship the ashes of Buddha. More shrines were continued to be built in order to hold additional sacred items. Today, shrines and temples are built in various ways however; many of them consist of 5 tiers representing the five elements of the universe – earth, wind, fire, water, and emptiness. They were also built taller in the belief that their place of worship was reaching "out of the physical world and towards wisdom" (White). Different cultures celebrate Buddhism in various ways but, all cultures celebrate the greatest moments of Buddha's life. For instance, in Japan, Buddha's birthday is celebrated with the Flower Festival where, in India, Buddha's first teaching is celebrated with the Festival of the Sacred Tooth. Buddhism is a religion that is based on a person's mental enlightenment and is one of the bigger religions of the world. Christianity is one

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Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox. These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings. But all consider Jesus central to their religion. Most Christians believe God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior. Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus. Jesus lived in Judea (later called Palestine), a Middle Eastern land ruled by the Romans. The Romans crucified Jesus about A.D. 30. Jesus' followers were convinced that He rose from the dead, and they soon spread Christianity to major cities throughout the ...show more content...

Two practices important to Christian worship usually take place in churches. These practices are (1) baptism and (2) the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper. The ceremony of baptism celebrates an individual's entrance into Christianity. The Eucharist represents the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus shared with His disciples. Worshipers share bread and wine in the Eucharist as a sign of their unity with each other and with Jesus. Christians see Jesus as continuous with the God of Judaism. A collection of Christian writings was added to the Jewish scriptures known as the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible. The Christian writings, called the New Testament, record the life and teachings of Jesus. They also describe the development of the early church and explain what faith in Jesus means. The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments. Some Christian groups also accept as part of the Bible a collection of writings called the Apocrypha. The origin of Christianity Jesus' ministry. Christianity originated in the ministry of Jesus. During His lifetime, Jesus preached the gospel, meaning good news, that God was coming to earth to be among His people in a special way. Jesus called this special way the Kingdom of God. He warned His listeners to repent their sinful ways to be ready for the approaching Kingdom of God. In urging

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