9. Religare
Latin root
Re plus ligare
‘again’ combined with ‘to
bind’ meaning ‘to tie fast’
Religia
Latin – ‘obligation’ or
‘bond’
Religian
Old French
WHAT IS RELIGION?
11. A. 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.
12. “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.
B. MIRCEA ELIADE: PHENOMENOLOGY
13. Religion as a phenomenon looked on as
universal—Eliade’s concept of the
“sense of the sacred”
14. “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.
15. C. Anti-Rationalistic Definitions
1. Lucretius—an anti-rational, coercive force.
2. Reinanch—a sum of scruples which impede the free exercise of our faculties.
3. Marx—a pathological manifestation of protective forces, deviation caused by ignorance
of natural causes and their effects.
16. D. Metaphysical Definition
Max Mueller wrote that religion is a
mental factor independent of sense
and reason to apprehend the infinite
in different names.
17. E. Emotional Definitions
1. Schleiermacher saw the
essence of religion as an emotion
and consists of feelings of
absolute dependence.
2. McTaggert said religion is best
described as an emotion resting
in conviction of harmony between
ourselves and the universe at
large
18. F. Religion as Morality
Immanuel Kant saw religion as the recognitions
of our duties as divine commands, the driving
force of the sacred is morality, e.g., tabu,
holiness
20. WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1910)
Major work, Varieties of Religious
Experience
James distinguished between
institutional religion and
personal religion.
Institutional Religion: This refers to the
religious group or organization, and plays an
important part in society’s culture.
Personal Religion: This refers to the
individual who has a mystical experience,
one that can be experienced regardless of
the culture.
23. CARL JUNG (1875-1961)
Jung was concerned with the interplay
between conscious and unconscious
forces. He proposed two kinds of
unconsciousness:
1. Personal Unconscious (or shadow): This
includes things about ourselves that we
would like to forget.
2. Collective Unconscious: This refers to
events that we all share by virtue of our
common heritage (humanity).
24. GORGON ALLPORT (1897-1967)
Classic work, The Individual and His Religion
Allport made important contributions to the
psychology of personality, refining the
concept of “traits.”
Allport classified the use of religion as:
1. Mature: Mature religious sentiment occurs
when a person’s approach to religion is
dynamic, open-minded, and able to maintain
links between inconsistencies.
2. Immature: Immature religious sentiment is
self-serving and generally represents the
negative stereotypes that people have about
religion.
25. ABRAHAM MASLOW (1908-1970)
Maslow developed a hierarchy of
needs, ranging from lower level
physiological needs, through love
and belonging, to self-
actualization.
Self-actualized people are those
who have reached their potential
for self-development.
Maslow claimed that mystics are
more likely to have had “peak
experiences,” experiences in
which the person feels a sense of
ecstasy and oneness with the
universe.
Maslow’s theory of “psychological
health” is value-based.
26.
27. ERIK ERIKSON (1902-1994)
Erikson is best known for his
psychology of development.
Erikson believed that proper
psychological development
occurs in a series of eight
stages that follow a
sequence.
Associated with each stage is
an identity conflict involving a
positive resolution (or,
“virtue”) and a negative
resolution (or, “pathology”).
Erikson considered religions to
be important influences in
successful personality
development, promoting
virtues and prohibiting
pathologies.
31. Dimensions of Religion
Not a definition, but identifying features that
help
us understand the way academics think about
the topic.
32. a. Prayer
b. Asceticism
c. Possession
d. Modes of dress
e. Pilgrimage
f. Ritual
1.THE PRACTICAL AND RITUAL DIMENSION:
WHAT THE ADHERENTS OF A RELIGION DO AS
PART OF THAT RELIGION
33. A. : subjective, emotional side of religion. What goes on
inside the person.
B. Basis of religious vitality and human significance,
central to ongoing individual religiosity, to the founding
of a tradition itself
Muhammad, conversion of Paul, Buddha’s
enlightenment; devotional movements; mystical
traditions (direct experience of the divine or ultimate)
C. The very core of religion is experience and emotion –
all else revolves around experience
William James
2. THE EXPERIENTIAL AND EMOTIONAL
DIMENSION
34. Rudolf Otto
Mysterium tremendum
fascinans – a mysterious
something that draws you
in and inspires both awe
and fear
EXPERIENTIAL OR EMOTIONAL
Bernini, Gianlorenzo
Ecstasy of St. Teresa
1647-52
Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
Mysticism key here
- Intuitive
- Beyond reason
35. Myth – a vehicle
that relates a truth
defying normal
expression and
sets pattern for
human behaviors
Cosmogony
Accounts of creation of the
world
Eschatology
Accounts/Beliefs about
the end of the world
Scriptural or
canonical (kanon is
Greek for
measuring rod)
3. NARRATIVE OR MYTHIC DIMENSION
36. i. Historical narratives: Moses, Buddha, Jesus,
Muhammad -- Histories of: a people; saints;
prophets; nations and lands; wars ....
ii. Creation narratives: before history,
before time
1. How the universe began - cosmogony.
2. How is creation organized -- cosmology.
iii. Destruction narratives: eschatological
(death and final destiny)
1. Nataraja: Lord of the Dance, circle of fire
2. Revelations: describes the signs and events
of final days when Christ comes to reclaim the
faithful. Final days = eschaton. Flood myths
3. Creation and destruction narratives tell us
about a tradition’s notion of time: i.e., cyclical,
linear.
KINDS OF NARRATIVE
37. 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
4. DOCTRINAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL
DIMENSION
38. 5. ETHICAL OR LEGAL DIMENSION
The things required of a believer.
Ethics concerns what is good and bad,
how one should live.
Law concerns what you must do
and what will happen if you
don't (rules and punishments).
i. Examples: Shari'a
(Law): pray (5) times daily, give
alms, four wives.… Torah
("law"): hundreds of laws,
dietary (milk and meat)
39. 6. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION
how people's interactions are organized
as part of their religion
40. 7. MATERIAL DIMENSION
Artifacts
Buildings
Art
Music
Symbols
Natural World
physical forms in which a religion is embodied
a. Structures: churches, temples, synagogues.
b. Architecture, theology, religious practice are
interconnected.
41. Representations of
divine beings
Ritual objects and
substances: the
physical objects used
in religious ritual
Natural Features:
sacred landmarks
such as mountains,
rivers, trees
Sacred cities
42. 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
View: origin of religions
WHY DO RELIGIONS EXIST?
43. Theistic
Religions based on a
relationship with a divine
being
Monotheistic
The Divine in a Singular
form
Polytheistic
Multiple forms of the
divine
Monistic
Beneath multiple
apparent forms of the
divine there is one
ultimate reality
Atheism
Non-belief in any deity
Agnosticism
No knowledge if the divine
exists or can be known
SOME KEY TERMS