LESSON 1: UNDERSTANDING
THE NATURE OF RELIGION
UNDERSTANDING BELIEFS AND WORLDVIEWS
• Worldview – a collection of beliefs about life and the
universe being held by people.
• Social environment and upbringing are critical in the
development of a religious life.
• Belief in god or gods is found in almost all religions.
KINDS OF BELIEF SYSTEM
• Theism – is a 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.
• Monotheistic religions claim that there is only one
God who could have designed and created the universe
or may have directed all events that led to the creation of
everything. There is one supreme God who is both
personal and moral, and who seeks a total and
unqualified response from humans. (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam)
• Polytheistic religions that were common among
early people recognize many principal gods among
whom no one is supreme. These include the
ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, and Rome
wherein people worship a multitude of personal
gods.
•Agnostics deny the possibility for man
to acquire knowledge of the existence of
God.
• Atheists deny the existence of God.
DEFINITION OF RELIGION
• Religion– an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules
used to worship a god or group of gods.
• Latin word “religio” – something done with overanxious or
scrupulous attention to detail
• Latin verb “religare” – to tie together or to bind fast.
• In its original sense, the word refers to the expression of proper
piety (devotion/respect), that is, binding to god.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS AMONG RELIGIONS
• The essential qualities of religion are maintained and
passed from generation to generation by source called
authorities, which the followers accept as sacred. The
most important religious authorities are writings known
as scriptures.
• Bibles of Christians and Jews
• Koran of Muslims
• Vedas of Hindus
• Religious authority also comes from writings of
saints and other holy persons and from decisions
by religious councils and leaders. Unwritten
customs and laws known as traditions also form a
basic part of authority.
1. Belief in deity
Three philosophical views:
Atheists believe that no deity exists.
Theists believe in deity or deities.
Agnostics say that the existence of deity cannot be
proved or disproved.
2. A Doctrine of Salvation
It is based on the belief that people are in some
danger from which they must be saved.
Major religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and
Hinduism tress that salvation is the highest goal of the
faithful and one that all followers should try to achieve.
3. A Code of Conduct
Is a set of moral teachings and values that all
religions have in some form.
Such a code or ethics tells believers how to
conduct their lives.
It instructs them how to act toward the deity and
toward one another.
• 4. Religious Rituals
• These include the acts and ceremonies by which believers
appeal to and serve God, deities and other sacred powers.
• The performance of a ritual is often called a service.
• The most common ritual is prayer or for some Asian
religions, meditation. Many religions have rituals intended to
purify the body. Some have pilgrimages.
• Rituals commemorate events in the history of religions and
mark important events in a person’s life.
EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY
• “Spiritual” means “relating or affecting the human spirit or soul as
opposed to material or physical things”.
• From the Latin word spiritus, its verb root spirare means “to breathe”.
there is an impression that people are surrounded by a “divine reality as
pervasive, intimate, necessary and invisible as the air we breathe”
• The main belief of spirituality is of having an invisible spirit or soul
which is enjoying an earthly experience, or journey, in a visible body.
• One may find inner peace and contentment in life that are truly
independent of religious dogmas and tenets.a
ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUALITY
• 1. An automatic intuitive connection with every other spiritual
being on earth
• 2. The power and centrality of instinct and intuition to guide
life and its outcomes.
• 3. Emphasis on loving and emotionally supporting others, and
reaching out to them as a natural way of living.
• 4. Keen appreciation of, and interest in, the wonders of nature
and its possibilities.
• 5. Feeling of serenity, fearlessness, contentment and acceptance
of one's life and fate.
•What are the differences
between spirituality,
theology and philosophy?
• Spirituality is a personal discovery of,
and personal relationship to, the apparent
meaning and purpose of life itself or reality as
a whole, primarily through one’s own insights
and choices rather than adherence to
predefined doctrines, and often inspired by
experiences of self-transcendence.
•Philosophy applies logical analysis
and rational argument to
examine/discuss the possible
meaning(s) of life, reality and
existence
•Theology is a branch of philosophy that
applies logical analysis and rational
argument to examine/discuss religious
doctrines (such as the possible nature of
God.).
• For your reflection:
• [Link] you agree that the universe is designed and created
by a single divine being or God? Explain your answer.
• [Link] can you lead a spiritual life? Cite at least 3
examples.
