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Functional - concerned with the social

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD
consequences of religion.
RELIGION AND BELIEF SYSTEMS
Latin origins of the word religion: religare (to
REVIEWER
bring together) and relegere (to rehearse
painstakingly, as in the case of collective
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF RELIGION
rituals).
Worldview - a collection of beliefs about life
and the universe being held by people.
The French sociologist Emile Durkheim (2001)
Different Kinds of Belief Systems :
has a famous definition of religion as a “unified
Monism - believes that there is no clear
system of beliefs and practices relative to
distinction between God and the universe.
sacred things, that is to say, things set apart
Polytheism - believes that there are many gods.
and forbidden – beliefs and practices which
Monotheism - also known as theism, believes
unite into one single moral community.”
that there is only one true God who have
created the universe.
From the point of view of the social sciences, we
Atheism - denies the existence of God.
approach religion as “a system of beliefs and
Agnosticism - denies the possibility for man to
practices by which a group of people interprets
know the existence of God.
and responds to what they feel is sacred and,
usually, supernatural as well” (Johnstone 2004,
Spirituality - something an individual can have
13).
without being implicated by many people in the
societies and institutions (Grassie 2010). An
1. Religion is a collective phenomenon.
individual can be spiritual without being
2. Religion is concerned with ordering behavior
religious.”
in relation to the sacred and/or supernatural
Theology - involves the systematic study of the
3. Religion involves a body of beliefs and moral
existence and nature of the divine. "Theology is
prescriptions.
a study, not a formulation of religious beliefs.”
4. Religion expects followers to follow a set of
Philosophy of Religion - is not a branch of
practices that relate to the notion of the sacred.
theology but a branch of philosophy, and the
person of faith can and do philosophize about
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION
religion.
Positive Effects of Religion
● Religion Promotes Social Harmony -
WHAT IS RELIGION?
Common participation in rituals
Religion and the Social Sciences
together with basic uniformity of beliefs
● “Religion is a social phenomenon that is
help promote social
not simply about the pursuit of
cohesiveness.religious activities can be
particular beliefs or practices
considered as one component which
prescribed for us by religious leaders.”
helps bind people together and
● “Religion is a search for the order of the
reinforce their identification with a
things.”
particular group.
● “Religion is also a search for personal
● Religion Provides Moral Values - it
meaning."
provides a systematic model of the
universe, which in effect determines
Two Ways of Defining Religion
organized human behavior.
Substantive - concerned with what constitutes
● Religion Provides Social Change - Since
religion.
religion is a source of moral values,
religion provides social change. It can
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be very effective in lobbying and used to teach that the world is flat and
campaigning for certain social issues warned people against going to
using its own moral teachings as the faraway places if they do not wish to
basis of argument. fall off the edge of the earth.
● Religion Reduces Fear of the Unknown - ● Religion Obstructs The Use of Reason -
Religion provides answers for Many question the suitability of
phenomena and questions that religious doctrines to the needs of the
science or reason cannot explain. present and future generations. In order
● Religion Gives Positive Goals In Life - to put these dogma to practice, religion
People were inspired by the stories of should, therefore, evolve and learn to
different prophets from their own adapt to the ever changing world.
religious affiliations. Ancient religious beliefs and practices
● Religion Gives People Sense of which have proven to be inhuman
Belonging - Religion provides people should be replaced with sensible ones.
with personal identity as part of a group
with similar worldviews, beliefs, values,
practices, and lifestyles. JUDAISM
Negative Effects of Religion - Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion
● Religion Affirms Social Hierarchy - Some that traces its origin as an organized belief
religions affirm social hierarchy often system during the Bronze Age in West Asia.
favoring men and as a result, - Judaism centered their doctrine and belief on
perpetuate the notions of class or the covenant revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai
gender discrimination and oppression. and such covenant was written in the Torah,
● Religion Causes Discrimination - also known as the Pentateuch.
Religious fanaticism can lead to - has three notable founding figures or
feelings of hatred, which could lead to patriarchs, namely : Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
racism, and eventually violence. - Judaism is anchored upon God’s revelation to
● Religion Triggers Conflicts and Fights - Abraham that he is the creator and ruler of the
History witnessed numerous lives universe, and that he loves his creatures and
sacrificed and lost in the name of demands righteousness from them.
religion. Wars have been fought in the -The religion of the Jewish people, Judaism is
name of religion, and this phenomenon one of three Abrahamic religions that also
continues up to the present time. include Christianity and Islam.
● Religion As An Economic Tool for - The Jewish people have been called the “
Exploiting The Masses - According to People of the Book” in reference to the Hebrew
the German philosopher Karl Marx, Bible.
“religion is the opium of the masses.”
According to Marx, it maintains social Throughout Judaism’s history, their followers
inequality by propagating a worldview have been called many names, and these
that justifies oppression. He believed names are often confused with one another.
that religion can be effectively used by The following names are listed below:
the ruling class to maintain a social ● “Hebrews” refer to those who accepted
order that is more favorable to them Yahweh as their God, and much of their
● Religion Impedes Scientific Success and history is written in the Hebrew Bible, or
Development - Throughout history, the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
religion has proven to impede scientific ● “Israelites” refer to the descendants of
development. For example, it has often the Hebrews, which originated from
been said that the Catholic Church Abraham. His grandson, Jacob, had 12
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sons, and their descendants became - Exodus

known as the 12 tribes of Israel. - Leviticus
● “Israeli Jews” refer to citizens of the - Numbers
land. - Deuteronomy
● “Jew” comes from Yehudah or Judah, ● Prophets (Nevi'im)
the southern Kingdom of Israel. Now, it Earlier Prophets
is used to refer to someone who - Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings.
practices Judaism and takes part in Later Prophets
Jewish culture. (Morrison and Brown - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Book of
1991,8) the Twelve Minor Prophets
( Hoseah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah,
The Beliefs of Judaism Micah, Nahum, Hauk,
● Judaism can be considered as a way of Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah,
life rather than a set of beliefs. Malachi)
● The, which contains the Jewish laws, ● The Writings (Ketuvim)
concentrates on the duties every - Psalms, Proverbs , Job, Song of
individual in following the law of God. Songs, Ruth, Lamentations,
● God is one, eternal, omnipotent (all- Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel,
powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles
immortal, creator of the universe who is
omnipresent (ever-present) in the
history of people.

The Practices of Judaism

● The Jews also observed other religious
festivals including Rosh Ha-Shanah -
New Year and Yom Kippur - The Day of
Atonement.
● They also observe Pesach or the Feast
of the Passover, the Shavuot or the
Feast of Weeks or The Day of Pentecost.
● They also have the Feast of
Tabernacles, the Sukkot.
● The feast of Purim is being celebrated
by sending food and gifts. They also
dress in costumes and hold carnivals
and dances.

Sacred Scriptures
● Hebrew Bible, also called Tanakh, is a
collection of 24 books divided into 3
parts :
- The Torah (Teaching or Law)
- Nevi'im (Prophets)
- Ketuvim (Writings)
● Pentateuch (Torah)
- Genesis
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ISLAM Sacred Texts

- an arabic term which means surrender, - Qur’an (Arabic “recitation”)
particularly putting faith in and entrusting - it is a written record of the words of Allah
oneself totally to the will of the on God. spoken through divine messenger.
Origins of Islam - the fact that such a beautiful message came
● Arabs were tent-living nomads or to be expressed through an illiterate prophet is
Bedouin also taken as miraculous evidence of its divine
● Tribe - it is the largest social unit. origins.
- Shaykh was the leader. A man of - Abu Khar - prophet’s immediate successor.
ability and judgment. - Zayd Ibn Harithah - his secretary who
- Individuals were identified through originally written down the content of the
ancestry or kinship. Qur’an.
- Lived in traditional rules ‘Sunnah” (well - Uthman Ibn Affan - third caliph and ordered
trodden path) and by honor and the compilation of a standard version.
retaliation. - Qur’an is divided into 114 portions called
● The City of Meccah Surahs that contains approximately six
- “Makkah’ means sanctuary thousand verses called Ayat (Arabic “signs,
- Located on the central western coast proof and evidences”)
of the Arabian Peninsula.
- it is a holy place Five Pillars of Islam
- Pre-Islamic people worshipped ● Shahada (Faith) - to believe in no God
pantheon of local and tribal deities. but Allah and that Muhammad is his
● Al-Ka’bah - it is a famous black prophet and the messenger of Allah.
meteoric stone that was venerated as a ● Salat (Prayer) -to pray five times each
symbol of divine power and enshrined day : dawn, noon, mid-afternoon,
in a cubic enclosure “The Cube” sunset, bedtime
- the first ka’bah was constructed by ● Zakat (Almsgiving) - to give a share of
Ishmael (Son of Abraham and Hogar) personal wealth to help people in need
Yathrib- second most important city in and support the Muslim community.
Islam. City that was later called Medina ● Sawm (Fasting) - to give up food and
or Madinah City. drink during daylight hours in the
● Prophet Muhammad month of Ramadan.
- “Muhammad” means worthy of ● Hajj (Pilgrimage) - to perform a
praise. pilgrimage to Makkah atleast once in
- revealed the undiluted truth from their lifetime.
Allah which is expressed in the Qur’an.
- He wander the hills of Makkah to fast, CHRISTIANITY
pray and do religious meditation. - developed out of Judaism in the 1st century
- Inside a cave on Mount Hira during a C.E.
lunar month of Ramadan, he was -It is originated on the life, teachings, death,
visited by an angel, Gabriel. and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who
- He recited the divine messages and follow him are called "Christians."
teach them to his companions who -The three major branches of Christianity are
would write them on leaves, stones, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and
bones or parchment - Qur’an Protestantism, with several subdivisions within
- There is only God, the one called Allah. each of these branches.
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JESUS CHRIST PRACTICES

• The central principle of Christianity is the belief • Baptism - to signify repentance and cleansing
in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah • Last Supper - Eucharist (communion):
(Christ). symbolic meal of Jesus' last meal with
- Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, disciples; taken in thanks and celebration.
was anointed by God as savior of humanity and • Confirmation -a blessing of initiation after
hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of baptism.
messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. •Reconciliation (Confession)- someone
• According to the canonical gospels of confesses his/her sins.
Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the • Matrimony (Marriage)- where two people
Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. commit themselves with each other for life with
God as the centre.
DEATH AND RESURRECTION •Holy Orders -where someone commits himself
• Betrayed by disciple Judas to priesthood.
• Put on trial for being a revolutionary & a •Anointing of the Sick-taken usually by the sick
political threat to Roman and Jewish authorities person.
• Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate
-condemned and put to death by means of
crucifixion
•The following Sunday, He appeared to his
followers as a triumph over death
• Later ascended into Heaven.

SALVATION
• The Catholic Church teaches that salvation
does not occur without faithfulness on the part
of Christians; converts must live in accordance
with principles of love and ordinarily must be
baptized. In Protestant theology, Jesus' death is
regarded as a subsidiary penalty carried by
Jesus, for the debt that has to be paid by
humankind when it broke God's moral law.
Martin Luther taught that baptism was
necessary for salvation, but modern Lutherans
and other Protestants tend to teach that
salvation is a gift that comes to an individual by
God's grace, sometimes defined as "unmerited
favor", even apart from baptism.

SACRED TEXT
• The sacred text of Christianity is the Bible,
including both the Hebrew scriptures (also
known as the old Testament) and the New
Testament. Fundamental to Christian practice
is the gathering at churches for worship,
fellowship, and study, and engagement with the
world through evangelism and social action.