Religion Essays

Religion is a system of several characteristics combined together to form a dynamic, living reality. These characteristics are sacred texts and writings, ethics, rituals and ceremonies and beliefs and believers. These characteristics are established in both immanent and transcendent worldviews.

Pakistan, May 2007 around 8:00 pm, I existed the local madrasa (religious school), completing the 5th daily prayer and recitation of the Quran, and proceeded to head home wearing my light blue Kameez, White Salwar, and a Kufi on my head to offer a sign of humility before God. The reason I remember that warm windy night is because that day the mullah taught me that we humans are sent to earth by almighty god so he can test our loyalty to him. Those who follow his true path will ascend to the heavens upon death, and those who disobey him and his prophets will suffer in hell for eternity. I was 8 back then and life was good. Despite the Taliban decapitating captured soldiers and letting them rot in the intersections to

Before deciding on the definition, I considered religion as being an “organised system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules to worship a god or a higher being”. The only phrase that I agreed with was the fact of religion being an “organised system” mainly because of the fact that there is a set way of practising the religion by, for example, praying and attending mass. In contradiction, the rest of the definition makes it seem as if religion is straight-forward on a community basis, in contrast to a personal one. Use of “a god or a higher being” contradicts the idea of polytheism, associated with religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism (Theism.net, 2014).

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important" (C.S. Lewis). Christianity is a religion based on the life and teaching, in the New Testament, of Jesus. It is a type of religion that only believes in one God. People who follow this religion are called Christians. Most Christians believe that God is one eternal being who exists as three distinct, eternal, and indivisible persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ the eternal Word), and the Holy Spirit. Most Christians says that the work of the "Spirit of God", the Holy Spirit, is truly important.

Christianity, one of the western religion which is accepted by more than 30% of the world population. Actually, I am not part of this religion: I am from Hindu religion, an eastern religion. In my religion, there are thousands of gods, but I don 't even know the name of more than 50 gods. Unlike Hindu, in Christianity, there is only one God, Jesus Christ, who is the central figure in Christianity. Among the Christianity community, it is believed that God sends his son to the earth to free the people from pain and suffering. For the salvation of the people son of God took an avatar of Jesus Christ. It is also believed that Jesus came back after the third day of his death. As I am the person from a different religion, I find the different concept of God in western religion. We, Eastern people worship many gods and we have many festivals to celebrate but in Christianity, people only follow to Lord Jesus. For them, Christmas is their main festival as it is the birth date of Christ, Easter as the day that Jesus came back from his death.

This chapter is discussing the topic of religion. Identifying key elements of religion and what is is, defining the world’s religions and outlining the different types of religious organizations. Religion is a social construct that is made up of accepted beliefs, rituals and symbols. Religion provides knowledge of how to act and provides a purpose to life while bringing a community together. For example, Christianity is a group of people united together in Christ. When Pentecostalism began, it broke racial norms, people were united in Christ despite what race they were classified as.

The artwork is The Wheel of Life and was originally designed by Buddha and is seen in Tibetan Buddhism.

From what was discussed in the videos, how did the Age of Enlightenment lay down the foundation for the academic study of religion?

What is Christianity? Some might say that Christianity is simply the belief in Jesus Christ. They would be correct, but Christianity is so much more than that. It is also the belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins and just like he came back from the dead, he will come back once again for all who have faith in him and for those who do not will wish they had. It is also the belief that God is the Trinity which is the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. In my opinion, Christianity is made up of a few things: understanding the basics of the bible, faith in Jesus Christ, and spreading the word of God.

Christianity is defined as, “A major religion, stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, or the Anointed One of God) in the 1st century AD.” (Shelton) It has become the largest of the world’s religions. Yet in Ancient Rome in the first century A.D. they were not welcome. Christians were burned and tortured, and persecuted for just over three hundred years because of their beliefs. Why? We may never fully know, but I believe it was mostly out of fear. Fear of the new, and fear of change.

Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups--Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox. These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings. But all consider Jesus central to their religion. Most Christians believe God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior. Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus.

     According to the American College Dictionary, religion is a noun defined as the quest for the values of the ideal life. This definition is vast and general, allowing for a variety of interpretations by people from all cultures. There is no single path to follow in order to lead an ideal life, only personal beliefs and experiences. Religion is non-finite so there is no way of determining a boundary (Smart, 5). In my quest for a true understanding of what religion is I explored my own traditions and religious beliefs as well as life experiences. Slowly, with the added insight from the text and videos, my own definition of religion has begun to take shape.

     Throughout the Hindu and Christian religion various rituals are performed by followers. These rituals allow the followers to celebrate in their beliefs. The most popular practice performed in almost every religion is prayer and or meditation. Prayer and meditation allow followers to come together and praise a God or gods. Hinduism has commonly been viewed as a polytheistic religion, one that worships multiple deities: gods and goddesses, while Christianity is a Monotheistic tradition.

Religion can be defined with six characteristics: Sacred, myth, ritual, community, morality, and religious leaders. The first concept of religion is sacred, which is the idea that religion binds individuals and communities together. Myth is not the conventional definition we think of rather a much deeper concept. Myth is derived from the Greek word of “mythos” and is defined as a story that “ties and binds” humans into a powerful story about their destiny and origins. These stories, however, have profound truths behind life and should not be confused with fake stories.

What religion am I? In my life, I have been told many things about my religion. My mother is a Roman Catholic, while my father is Jewish. I have learned about both religions, and I have tried to practice both as best I could, but I am now faced with the decision; which one am I?