Understanding the Nature of Religion

Worldview

It is a collection of beliefs about life and the universe being held by people (The Free Dictionary 2014).

Different Kinds of Belief Systems or Worldviews

• Monism

• Polytheism

• Monotheism

• Atheism

• Agnosticism

Theism or Monotheism

• It is the belief in the existence of one god viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world.

• Examples: Judaism

Polytheism

• It recognize many principal gods among whom no one is supreme.

• Examples: Greek mythology

Monism

• There is no genuine distinction between God and the universe.

• God is dwelling in the universe as part of it.

• The universe does not exist at all as a reality but only as a manifestation of God.

Atheism

They deny the existence of God.

Agnoticism

They deny the possibility for man to acquire knowledge of the existence of God.

Religion

It is an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.

Religio

It refers to "something done with overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail" (Browker 1007).

Religare

It means “to tie together, to bind fast.”

Origin of Religion

Expressions of proper piety, that is, binding to god (Grassie 2010).

Nature of Religion

• Religion may be universal in all stages of human history.

• It does not follow that all individuals are religious or even religious to some degree.

60,000 years ago ( Homo sapiens )

• Archaeologists believe that they have discovered elements of religious belief.

• Foods, tools, and other objects were placed inside the site.

• Why? They were weak and ignorant.

19th Century

• Development of the fields of the social sciences.

• Scholars applied a more scientific way of explaining phenomena.

• Through field research, observations, and analysis of historical docüments, scholars formulated a number of theories that have endured well into the present time.

Animistic Theories ( Edward Barnett Tylor (1832-1917) )

• English anthropologist.

• Primitive people believed in souls or anima found in people (seen in dreams) and in all of nature. Since spirits could be helpful or harmful to human beings, early people had to pray to these spirits, offer sacrifices, and appease or avoid them.

Animistic Theories ( Robert Henry Codrington (1830-1922) )

• Anglican priest and anthropologist.

• In his investigation, he found out that the Melanesian people believed in matta, a mysterious force that inhabited all of nature. All early people began their religion in cognizance of such force: the destructiveness of the mana can be avuided by establishing taboos.

Nature-Worship Theory

Human beings first, developed their religions from their observations of the forces of nature. Early people became aware of the regularity of the seasons, the tides and the phases of the moun, and began personalizing them by giving them names, describing their activities with tales that transformed into mythology. Primitive peaple identified the forces in nature, personified them, created myths, and developed religions around them.

Wish-Fulfillment Theory ( Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (1804-1872) )

• German philosopher and anthropologist.

• There were no gods and that belief in gods was simply wish fulfillment. Troubled people who could not cope with the difficulties in life projected their wishes and developed gods and religions.

Wish-Fulfillment Theory ( Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) )

• German philosopher and sociologist.

• Religions were developed by the few as a means to control the masses and suppress revolution as a result of the continuing struggle between classes. Rulers and allied priests wished to control all wealth so they had to create a scheme of gods, heavens, and hell. Masses were persuaded to accept poverty and be obedient to inherit bliss in another life.

Wish-Fulfillment Theory ( Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) )

• Austrian neurologist and founder/father of psychoanalysis.

• Religion originated from the guilt that individuals supposedly feel in hating their fathers. All males possess a similar tendency to desire our mothers and hate our fathers. As a result of this subconscious hatred and ensuing guilt, a great father image was projected in the sky called God. A healthy mature person can face problems without the need for gods or religions.

Spiritual

• It is relating or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

• A person can also have a feeling of oneness or a bond with other living beings.

Origin and Nature of Spirituality

• Spirituality is derived from the Latin word spiritus.

• Its verb root is spirare which means "to breathe."

• People are surrounded by a "divine reality as pervasive, intimate, necessary, and invisible as the air we breathe."

• One can be spiritual without being religious.