REL 405 mojeda wa1 Essay

Tomoko Masuzawa’s literary work, The Invention of World Religions, provides a meticulous analysis of how the term “world religions” is categorized and used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Masuzawa addresses how the categorization of world religions has changed throughout history and how different elements of each religion, such as texts, origin, and ability to expand have shaped the classification of that religion by scholars. By using the works of well-established scholars, she is able to provide an accurate account of how the perception and analysis of these religious occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Institutions within the public domain, such as universities and hospitals, can then shape interaction with their specific audiences to abide by the practices of these world religions in order to connect with the public in a culturally competent manner.

Within many known religions, the devotional practices has been known to acquire great importance. The essence of practicing what you preach has scolded many religious groups, introducing true beliefs, righteousness, and a wider connection to the supreme being . In the book entitled “ Living religions” by Mary Pat Fisher, clarified and firm descriptions were introduced about religious rituals. Surprisingly; the author utilized small parts of modern concepts, limiting the reader from a full comprehension of religious practices today, therefore; I will only discuss the basic and traditional rituals. To elaborate; in this paper, I will be providing an opinionated but also, comparative description of the major practices and rituals that undergo in both the Abrahamic and indigenous religions.

Bruilly, E., O'Brien, J., Palmer and Palmer, M. (1997) Religions of the World, Great Britain: Macdonald Young.

Review of a Year 12 Major Examination Paper – 2015 HSC, Stage 6, Studies of Religion 1 Unit Exam - http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/2015/exams/2015-hsc-sor-1.pdf

This will be based on the chapter 4 Religion as "Truth-Claims", posted on Blackboard. First of all, Dianne L. Oliver makes a preface about her writings saying that religions claim to get the truth, and followers of diverse religions say that their truth is the only one true, and cannot be compare with any other. Also, she remarks that many of those religion followers use violence to uphold their own version of truth. Moreover, she let us know that she is going to consider the "True-Claims" of different religions, and show how those claims can influence the practices, behaviors, and ideas of religion followers. Next to the introduction, she considers that religion is very essential for understanding the fundamental questions in our daily lives.

The North American community in today’s worlds has embraced Christianity, Muslim and other popular religious beliefs. Finding the ancient religious practices in action is rare, but not impossible. The communities had their own believes concerning gods and philosophies of good and evil before they were colonized. The communities have lost most of their beliefs and practices as they took place in the earlier community to popular religions which were introduced during and after the colonialism periods (Bonvillain and Porter 23-43).

When we interact with people from other cultures it is important to understand that there is a history behind how they view us and how we view them. Many cultures within our country, as well as throughout the world, have such different belief systems from ours that if we don’t make a point of learning about the history behind other belief systems

What expert and professional sources have you found in these first three weeks that aid your efforts in this Religious Quest? The internet has served as a great help in performing research for this class. Since the beginning of this course, not a single day has gone by, that I have not used the internet as a source or reference for a posting or a class assignment. The book used in the course of our study, The Sacred Quest: An Invitation to the study of Religion, has been the most valuable book reference during this first half of the course. With its insight and user friendly approach, it is a book that tends to make the challenging task of religion not such a difficult quest to endure.

Religion is a fundamental element of human society. It is what binds a country, society or group of individuals together. However, in some instances it destroys unity amoungst these. Religion is a belief in a superhuman entity(s) which control(s) the universe. Every religion has its differences but most strive for a just life and the right morals. The three major groups are the primal regions which consist of African, Aboriginal and Native American religions, Asian which consist of South Eastern Asian religions and Abrahamic religions which consist of Middle Eastern religions. The foci of this essay are the differences between the Abrahamic religion, Christianity, and the Asian region Buddhism as well as making reference to the Islamic

I am an agnostic, meaning I am open to the existence of god or gods but I don’t affiliate with any religions. I haven’t always been though. I was born into a Christian family and raised going to church and being taught the Bible. But recently, I’ve gotten to thinking and just stepped outside the box to look at Christianity and what I’ve been taught. I found that the only real reason that I was a Christian and probably the only reason my parents and their parents were Christian was that they were born into that belief as part of their culture.

All religions are centered around the unconditioned reality, “what we usually call the Divine or the Ultimate Reality.” (lecture, slide 18) Despite the differences on how religions explain and teach about it, they still possess certain similarities or traits. A sociologist by the name of Joachim Wach identified that religion is expressed in three forms. The three forms of religious expression are theoretical, practical, and sociological. Combined, these forms of expression work together to create a linked and complete religious experience for participants.

Students studying Religions in the non-confessional way as Chryssides and Geaves says are expecting to receive fully in depth information on the main six religions and that’s all. But instead of that the study of religion focuses on how the study of religions began. They would research different approaches to religion and they will realise that religion involves different academic disciplines that for some might be surprising

Religion is a belief and worship of supernatural powers that affect human being’s daily lives. It can also be defined as a collection of cultural systems, beliefs, and worldview that it relates humanity to an order of its occurrence. There have being been many questions about which religion is which. For example, “can someone be a Wiccan and a Christian at the same time?” or is Buddhism a religion? These questions can be answered by Ninian Smart’ seven dimensions which will later be discussed in the essay. Being a Christian myself, and having learned about the three Abrahamic religions for the past 5 months, and choosing to continue a deeper research and understanding on this topic wasn’t a difficult choice.

Introduction to Religious Quest has given me a more solid understanding on the history of religion. It also gave me a vivid explanation on how and why the world operates in a certain manner and how religion cannot be overlooked because it plays an important role in shaping the human life and character in relation to human experience. Initially, in the first few weeks of classes I had the idea that the class will mainly cover the moral characteristics and obligations in respect to religion placing more emphasis on Christianity given the nature of the Institution. But as time went by, other religion and their ideas were introduced. This made me realize that I have been biased about the term “Religion” in general. Because I come from a Christian background I never really considered how and what other religion and their ideas were like. The only idea that came to my mind was Christianity.

Abstract: this paper examines the philosophy of religion and its branches, it discusses the history of philosophy and the types of religious philosophy.