WORLD VIEWS,

BELIEF SYSTEM
& RELIGION
LESSON 1 : INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGION AND BELIEF
SYSTEM
WORLD VIEW AND BELIEF
SYSTEMS
 Since childbirth there are rules or traditions that are imposed to
you by your parents and society where you belong. “Do this
because this is right.” “Be good to others!” “Huwag kang
gumawa ng masama kung ayaw mong ma-karma.”. These are
simple reminders of our parents. When you are brought to the
school for your education, same values or beliefs are being
strengthened. In some period in your life you became a member
of a religious organization or perhaps by tradition. The beliefs
and values that you learned from your parents and school are
reinforced by the teachings of that specific religion. All that you
have learned from your parents,, school, religious affiliation and
other influences became your belief system and your worldview.
CAROL HILL DESCRIBES
WORLDVIEW, AS;
 “By worldview (or belief system) I mean the basic
way of interpreting things and events that pervades a
culture so thoroughly that it becomes a culture’s
concept of reality-what is good, what is important,
what is sacred, what is real. It is more than culture,
even though the distinction between the two can
sometimes be subtle. It extends to perceptions of
time and space, of happiness and well-being. The
beliefs, values, and behaviors of culture stem directly
from its worldview.” (Hill, 2007)
 Often times you are not conscious of your own
worldview unless it is challenged or dared by other
belief system. A very simple definition of a
“worldview” is given by Matt Slick. According to
him a worldview is a set of beliefs used to
understand the world. Everyone has a set of
principles by which to judge right and wrong and
which guides them in everyday living. You stop at
a red light and go at a green. ( Cornejo, et al,
2019).
GOOGLE HAS A SIMPLE
DEFINITION, IT SAYS,
 ”Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our
personal sense of ‘reality’ (the way things actually exist). Every
human being has a belief system that he/she utilizes and it is
through this mechanism that we individually “make sense” of
the world around us.” It could be a set of beliefs or a philosophy
of life. Belief system shapes your worldview about the world,
your existence, and relationships with your fellowmen. In other
words, “ a worldview whether religious or nonreligious, is a
personal insight about reality and meaning, often termed a “life
understanding” which I may call a product of belief systems.
Most often worldviews are shaped by religions. Inside the box
are worldviews about man’s perspective of God. (Serapio,2016).
WORLDVIEWS ABOUT MAN’S
PERSPECTIVE OF GOD
1. Naturalism (e.g. Atheism, Agnosticism, Existentialism). It denies the
existence of God. The material universe is all that exist.
2. Pantheism ( e.g. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism; much New Age
Consciousness. They believe that only the spiritual dimension exists. All
else is illusion. Man is spiritual and eternal.
3. Theism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam). They believe that an infinite,
personal God exists. God created the real world. People are created in the
image of God.
4. Spiritism. The world is inhabited by spirit beings who govern earthly
activities. Man is created by gods like the rest of the creatures on earth.
Material things are real but they have spirits associated with them.
5. Polytheism: This is the belief in many gods or deities. The culture of
Ancient Greeks and Romans depict this kind of beliefs.
 Worldviews are not all about God, but these are also about our
views about reality, man, truth and values. There are also
economic, political and social worldviews.
 Worldviews and belief systems are necessary for religions in
order to protect and spread their own particular belief as a
way of “keeping the faith” through generations. Catholic
Christians keep in their hearts the “Apostles’ Creed”, the
Muslims practice “the five pillars of Islam”, the Shinto reveres
the dead ancestors or “Kami”, the Confucians hold dearly the
necessity of past traditions, and the Taoists embrace the
importance of being close to nature.(Cornejo et al, 2019). Your
beliefs shape your worldviews but your beliefs and worldviews
are oftentimes shaped by religion. There is a complex interplay
between religion, belief and worldview. Religions have different
elements and characteristics which are non-negotiable.
Members should follow or undergo the process to become a
genuine believers. The elements of religions written by Maria
Perpetua Arcilla-Serapio lay-down these basic characteristics
at least for the major religions. They are;
1. Belief in supernatural powers: the power which is beyond human powers. The human
sufferings enable human being to seek God’s help for their problems.
2. Belief in the holy or sacred: This is the heart of every religion. Every religion has
sacred books or texts. For example, Scriptures and the Bible are sacred for the Jews
and so with the Christians, Qur’an for Muslims, and Tripitaka for Buddhists and Vedas
for Hindus. But something sacred is not just books but also places, symbols, animals,
rocks and many more. Hindus for example believes that cows are sacred because of
their beliefs in reincarnation.
3. Systems of rituals: these are the different ways each religions expresses their faith.
Catholic Christians have the seven sacraments which include ceremonies and rituals.
For example, Baptism. A child must be baptized at an early age in the church with
the presence of parents, God parents, priest as celebrator and the community that
supports the child. The most important symbol of baptism is 1. Naturalism (e.g.
Atheism, Agnosticism, Existentialism). It denies the existence of God. The material
universe is all that exist. 2. Pantheism ( e.g. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism; much New
Age Consciousness. They believe that only the spiritual dimension exists. All else is
illusion. Man is spiritual and eternal. 3. Theism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
They believe that an infinite, personal God exists. God created the real world. People
are created in the image of God. 4. Spiritism. The world is inhabited by spirit beings
who govern earthly activities. Man is created by gods like the rest of the creatures on
earth. Material things are real but they have spirits associated with them. 5.
Polytheism: This is the belief in many gods or deities. The culture of Ancient Greeks
4. Sinful acts : usually a violation of the laws established by God which each
members has to follow. For example the Ten Commandments for Judaism
and Christians and the Five Pillars of Islam which when violated the
believer commits a grievous sin.
5. The Method of salvation: the belief in the afterlife or the idea of heaven
and hell. If you are a good believer you will go to heaven but if not, you
will go to hell. Islam went further by believing that if one’s life is
sacrificed against the enemies of Islam, their soul go straight to heaven.
6. Mode of worship: each religions has different expressions of worship
which include praying, kneeling, dancing, singing to name a few.
7. Liturgy and Ideology: Liturgy is described as public worship. It is a
gathering of believers with ceremonies such as wedding ceremonies,
worship services or bible studies.
8. Place of worship: Each religion has holy places which they believe God is
present such as churches, temples, mosques and other sacred places.
Activity 1.
Song Analysis Objective: Analyze the nature of God presented in the Song.
Directions:
1. Listen or read the song “Who Am I.”
2. Prepare a separate paper for your answer.
3. Answer the questions below?

Who Am I ( I am Yours)
Casting Crowns
Who am I that the Lord of all the earth Would care to know my name, Would care to feel my
heart?
Who am I, that the bright and morning star Would choose to light the way From my ever
wondering heart?
Not because of who am I But because of what you’ve done Not because of what I’ve done, but
because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading Here today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean A
vapor in the wind Still you hear me when I’m calling Lord you catch me when I’m falling And
you told me who am I I am yours.
Who am I, that the eyes that seen my sin Will look on me with love And watch me rise again?
Who am I the voice that calm the sea Will call out to the rain And calm the storm in me? Whom
shall I fear, whom shall I fear? I am yours
CRITICAL THINKING
QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song “Who am I?” say
about who we are as a person?
2. What kind of God is presented in the
song? Why?
3. How does faith in God provide answers
to life’s questions? Give example from
your concrete experiences.
RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY & THEOLOGY
 When you become a member of a religious organization, you normally sacrificed
your personal worldview in favor of the religious world view or set of beliefs
offered by that organization. Religion invites a person into a spiritual
relationship with some divine entity. This spiritual relationship stemmed from
the belief that there is a life after this world which is more important than
physical life. Hence it is the role of religion to invite all persons to believe in God
for them to be saved from this world.
 Religion, etymologically is defined as coming from the Latin world,
“religare” or which means “to bind” or “ to tie. “However, Oxford English
Dictionary points out though that the etymology of the word is doubtful. Early
writers like Cicero connected the term with “relegere” which means “to read all
over again.” (Cornejo et al, 2019). Some persons even gave a negative definition
of religion like Karl Marx, the founder of Communism. He said the religion is the
opium of the people. It means we become so dependent with God that we rely
everything to him and we undermine our capabilities as human beings.
Popular view holds that you should become a member of a
religious organization to cultivate your spiritual life. Their views
lead to the misunderstanding between Religion and Spirituality.
The question is: Is religion the same as spirituality? Can you
become a spiritual person without being a member of a
religious organization? What is the difference between being
religious and being spiritual?

Deepak Chopra has a very interesting

differentiation between religion and spirituality. He said,
“Religion is a belief to someone else’s experience while
Spirituality is having your own experience.” Let us take a
look at this illustration below to emphasize their differences by
starting with questions. (taken from the book, “Fundamentals of
World Religions” authored by Cornejo,Nigel,Ebia, Erlito and
Ferrer, Paciano, 2019.p16)
RELIGION VS. SPIRITUALITY
 For religion the questions are: What is true or false? What is
right or wrong? Where do I belong? What rituals, sacraments
should I do?

 For spirituality the questions are: Where do I find meaning?

What is my purpose? Where do I find my direction in life? What
are my values?
RELIGION VS. SPIRITUALITY
From the questions above you can deduce that religion and spirituality have
different concerns.
Spirituality is more of a personal experience concerns with what are the
essentials in life while religion focuses more on membership, rituals, right and
wrong or truth and falsity.
Religion is more legalistic in terms of practice of beliefs while spirituality entails
more freedom in exercising what they believed.

For Dejan Davchevski, religion and spirituality are two different phenomena ( lifecoachcode.com)
RELIGION VS. SPIRITUALITY
Religion Spirituality
Religion makes us vow Spirituality sets us free
Religion shows us fear Spirituality shows courage
Religion tells us the truth Spirituality allows us to discover the
truth
Religion separates from other religions Spirituality unites them
Religion makes us dependent Spirituality makes us independent
Religion applies discipline Spirituality applies destiny or faith
Religion makes us follow its journey Spirituality allows us to create our own
personal journey.
 Going back to the question, “Can you become a spiritual person without
becoming a member of a religious organization? Definitely the answer
is ,”Yes.” The line between what is spiritual or religious may not be always
clear or distinct depending on the interpretation. (Serapio, 2016).
 At this point, I think you can now describe the characteristics between
religion and spirituality. The descriptions above are not exclusive for
each other. In fact, religion and spirituality can blend harmoniously as
Serapio expressed. The kernel of religion is spirituality, and the essence of
spirituality is God or the Supreme Being (Serapio, 2016). She added that
Spirituality is: 1. Beyond all religions yet containing all religions. 2. Beyond
all science yet containing all science. 3. Beyond all philosophy yet
containing all philosophy
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY
 Most often theology and religion brought confusion in terms of meaning
and practise. Theology also believes about God just like religion but it
utilizes more the intellect to understand everything about God rather than
faith alone. Theology is a systematic study of God just like other disciplines
such as philosophy, psychology, sociology and other sciences. The priests,
pastors, ministers or even lay people must undergo theological trainings
before they are ordained to become a priest or pastor or minister.
Theology is normally taken in the Seminaries or theological schools as an
academic subject. A priest who is a major in theology should undertake a
four-year course to get an AB Theology degree. Then he proceeds his
masters and doctoral degree in theology to become full pledge theologian.
There is a saying that most theologians lost their faith in God because they
use only their mind in knowing God more than faith.
PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY:
 Philosophy uses reason to explain the essence or the
ultimate reasons why things exist and where they
come from. Philosophical theology uses reason alone
in knowing about God. A famous theologian in the
Catholic Church in the 13th century, St. Thomas
Aquinas exemplify this approach. His work is called
the “Summa Theologiae” wherein one summa is
devoted to the “Five Ways of Knowing God.” Here the
existence of God can be proven in five ways using
logical argumentation.
ACTIVITY 1.
1. Draw-out
 Objective:

Ponder on the difference between a religious person and a spiritual person

through a sketch.
 Directions:

1. Sketch an image of a person who is “religious” but not spiritual” and a

person who is not religious but a “spiritual” person.
2. Use separate coupon bonds (short) in your illustration and then answer
the following guide questions below the illustration.
 GOODNESS OF GOD
I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your
hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of
God
 'Cause all my life You have been
faithful
And all my life You have been so, so
good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night You are close like no
other
I've known You as a Father
I've known You as a Friend
'Cause all my life You have been faithful, oh yes You have
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
Your goodness is running after, it's running after me
Your goodness is running after, it's running after me
With my life laid down, I surrendered now
I give You everything, oh Lord
Your goodness is running after, it's running after me
Your goodness is running after, it's running after me (oh
yeah, oh yeah)
Your goodness is running after, it's running after me
With my life laid down, I surrendered now
I give You everything
Your goodness is running after, it keeps running after me
 And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God
I'm gonna sing
All my life You have been faithful
(All of my life You've been faithful)
All my life You have been so, so good
(So good with every breath)
every breath that I am able
(Every breath I'm able)
I will sing (I'm gonna sing)
Of the goodness (of the goodness of God, yes I
am)
I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God
Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God