Seven Dimensions of Religion

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Seven Dimensions of Religion

• Understanding a human phenomenon

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The Seven by Ninian Smart

• Practical and Ritual Dimension
• Experiential and Emotional
• Narrative or Mythic Dimension
• Doctrinal and Philosophical Dimension
• Ethical and Legal Dimension
• Social and Institutional Dimension
• Material Dimension

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Practical and Ritual

• Practices such as
• Worship, Praying, Regular Gatherings, Rites of
  Passage

http//www.huntington.edu/worship/images/Worship-0
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http//www.farsipraise.net/blog/uploaded_images/wo
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http//patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/muslims-p
raying.jpg
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Experiential and Emotional

• People react when they have encountered something
  which they believe is very profound.

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Narrative or Mythic

• Stories which explain and inspire.
• One such story is the Hopi tradition of how
  peaches became sweet and the bees got wings.

http//www.zoopy.com/photo_image/large/1180376216.
jpg
http//www.greengiantfresh.com/images/peaches.jpg
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Doctrinal and Philosophical

• Provides rational for many of the practices and
  ideas of the religion.
• Trinity
• Bodhisattva

http//www.lemoyne.edu/philosophy/images/thinker.j
pg
http//www.rothburycommunity.org/images/RCC220Log
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Ethical and Legal

• Ideas and laws that shape behavior.
• Laws of Manu
• 5 Precepts
• Ten Commandments
• Beatitudes

http//minimediaguy.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/12
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Social and Institutional

• Social outgrowth of religious experience.
• Masjid
• Church
• Synagogue
• Sangha

http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thum
b/e/e4/Jama_Masjid.jpg/800px-Jama_Masjid.jpg
http//www.jeffooi.com/Sangha_0044.jpg
http//www.diamond-congress.hu/mdo2006/images/mdo/
pict/synagogue.jpg
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Material

• An outgrowth of religious experience/encounter.
• Music
• Art
• Symbol
• Architecture

http//www.ethnicpaintings.com/images/buddhist-art
-thanka-life-mandala.jpg
http//www.hindunet.org/hindu_pictures/symbols/ima
ges/dharma.gif
http//www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/Previous/Images/ISLA
MIC.JPEG
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Sources

• Seven Dimensions of Religion are from The Worlds
  Religions by Ninian Smart