Unit 3 Religion

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Unit 3 Religion

• History of Religion Part 2
• Mr. Young
• Sociology

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I CAN

1. Explain the basic structure of Religion
2. Analyze the 4 major categories of Religion
3. Evaluate the 4 major religious organizations

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Definition of Religion

• A Unified system of beliefs and practices
  concerned with sacred things

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What Religion sets apart

• Sacred

• Profane

• Things set apart from daily life

• Nonsacred, everyday aspects of life

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1) Religious Experience

• A sudden awareness of the supernatural or a
  feeling of coming into contact with God
• Example born again- in Christianity when a
  person has undergone a life-transforming
  religious experience and feel as if they are a
  new person

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2) Belief

• Ideas that people believe to be true
• Includes values (how people ought to live) and
  cosmology (a unified picture of the world)

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3) Faith

• One of the most important aspects of religion is
  faith- unquestioning belief that does not require
  proof or scientific evidence
• Sacred- refers to those aspects of life that are
  extraordinary or supernatural
• Profane- the everyday, secular worldly aspects
  of life

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4) Rituals

• Rituals- regularly repeated and carefully
  prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a
  cherished value or belief
• This can include The Lords Supper, Muslims
  bowing toward Mecca

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Rituals videos

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vYgYEuJ5u1K0
• Monty Python Monk Video

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Symbols

• Symbols- helps to provide identity with a
  particular religion
• Usually sacred emblems that evoke feelings of awe
  and reverence

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Symbols Video

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?voFhJVy7TLio
• Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 1
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v3fiVkfQn8Jo
• Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 2

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Community

• All of the others lead to this
• Feel a close bond with one another because their
  faith and beliefs are usually the same
• Usually refer to one another as brother or
  sister, fosters a sense of family
• Usually very powerful and can help people that
  need structure

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Doctrine

• A particular principle, position, or policy
  taught or advocated, as of religion or government
• Simply put teachings that a certain religion is
  founded upon

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4 major categories

• Religion is based on 4 major categories
• Simple supernaturalism
• Animism
• Theism
• Nontheistic Religion

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1) Simple Supernaturalism

• The belief that supernatural forces affect
  peoples lives either positively or negatively
• This type of religion does not acknowledge
  specific gods or supernatural spirits but
  focuses instead on impersonal forces that may
  exist in people or natural objects

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2) Animism

• Belief that plants, animals, or other elements of
  the natural world are endowed with spirits or
  life forces that have an impact on events in
  society
• Example Native American hunting rituals
• Everyday life is not necessarily separated from
  the elements of the natural world

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Theism

• Belief in a god or gods
• Christianity, Islam, Greeks, Egyptians

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A) Monotheism

• a belief in a single, supreme being or god who is
  responsible for significant events such as the
  creation of the world
• Worlds major religions, Christianity, Judaism,
  and Islam, believe this way

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B) Polytheism

• a belief in more than one god
• Hinduism, Shinto, and many African religions

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4) Nontheistic Religion

• Religion based on a belief in divine spiritual
  forces such as sacred principles of thought and
  conduct, rather than a god or gods
• Similar to Buddhism

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Types of Religious Organizations

• Four major types of religious organizations
• Cult
• Sect
• Church (Denomination)
• Ecclesia

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Videos on Cults

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vyXYb3zItEdU
• 3D dialogue on Cults
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vnvvSuvSA3EI
• What is a cult video (2 min)

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1) Cult

• A new, loosely organized religious group, with
  few followers, with practices and teachings
  outside the dominant cultural and religious
  traditions of a society
• All major religions began as a cult
• Jim Jones and Jonestown, Heavens Gate and
  Hale-Bopp Comet

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Characteristics of a Cult

• Charismatic Leader- someone who exerts
  extraordinary appeal to a group of followers
• Members antagonize the majority because they
  believe they have found the truth
• Demands intense commitment, usually a sense of
  close community among the followers

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Top 10 Cults

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vKNOSm9wvf5o
• (6 min)

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2) Sect

• Relatively small religious group that has broken
  away from another religious organization to renew
  what it views as the original version of the
  faith
• Typically appeal to those who might be
  characterized as lower class
• Loosely organized and fairly smaller

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Sect Cont.

• Stress evangelism- the active recruitment of new
  members
• If sects grow they can tend to gradually make
  peace with society, move up in socio-economic
  status, and can become a church

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A) Denomination

• Midway between church and sect
• A large organized religion characterized by
  accommodation to society but frequently lacking
  in ability or intention to dominate society
• Approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in
  the world

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3) Church

• A large, bureaucratically organized religious
  organization that tends to seek accommodations
  with the larger society in order to maintain some
  degree of control over it
• Church membership largely based on birth
• Religious services highly ritualized
• Examples Lutheran and Episcopal church

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4) Ecclesia

• A religious organization that is so integrated
  into the dominant culture that it claims as its
  membership all members of a society
• Also known as state religion
• Examples Church of England, Lutheran Church in
  Sweden and Denmark, Roman Catholic Church in
  Italy and Spain, and Islam in Iraq and Iran

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