Religious Traditions

As time has progressed, religious scrutiny has expanded. Systems of faith are often written off as fruitless, but religion holds strong purposes. Cultures have religion to explain surroundings, unite individuals, and provide hope.

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

The participation in these events and overall repetition enforces the religious content and provides an optimistic vision of existence and eventual transcendence for the participant. It provides a break from a temporal and profane duration of time and into a sacred time of importance and meaning for a religion and its followers.

There are many religions throughout the world today. Although there are several different religions, many individuals are not educated about the other beliefs besides there own. Religions today do have differences but are also very much the same. This is demonstrated between the religion of Yoruba, and Christianity. The Gods that the people in these religions worship are different but have the same purpose throughout the lives of each individual. Each individual’s purpose and goal in these religions also display similarities. Furthermore the rituals that are done throughout these religions are done for directions and to improve the relationship between the individual and their god. There are various differences and similarities between

Explain the key beliefs within two religious traditions in a relation to a significant religious question.

Religion manifests itself everywhere around the world. Although all beings are different we come together as one transcendence being the host. Sacred rituals are performed, honoring beliefs in accordance to ones religion. Rituals are performed for a wide array of reasons, some being a sort of rite of passage, healing the sick and even birth or death rituals. Judaism, Santeria, and Christianity all have ceremonies and rituals, some carried out as different as night and day, and some for the same purposes. These religions in depth have more in common than the eye can see, devotion, transcendence and worship to a higher absolute power. All participating in Sacred Ritual.

Scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions rather than just “religion” because religious traditions are “a tradition is an historical context or network of linguistic, personal, and cultural relationships” (Portier 19). Traditions can be limiting like the legal tradition in America where we carry it around because it shapes our ideas of what is right and what is wrong. Traditions can also be freeing like the civil rights movement which ended slavery and ended a limiting tradition. Traditions are used as a resource to answer the deeper questions about life. Also, scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions due to a problem associated with “religion”. The problem with “religion” is what does the term “religion” actually refer to?

Religion is a set of beliefs and practices that generally involves praising of a higher being or power. Religions are defined between two categories, immanent and transcendent. Immanent religions are generally non-theistic and focus more in the presence rather than what is ahead and recognises a divine being or power as a constantly reality. Transcendent religions tend to have a belief in a divine being or powers whose existence goes beyond human limitations and focuses on the consequences of an action (Douglas, 2015). There are four main aspects that all religions have in common, these are beliefs, sacred texts and writings, ethics and rituals.

Eastman, Roger (1999). The Ways of Religion An Introduction to the Major Traditions, 3rd edition. New York, Oxford University Press. Print

The traditions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism do have their teachings and ideas about justice and charity that are very similar but also distinctive in some ways. Each of these religious traditions feature the same One God, who is said to have created the entire Universe, and everything in it, and is omniscient and omnipotent, and has chosen to intervene in life’s history on Earth as well as humanity’s history. In the traditions of Judaism, God chose the offspring of the original Patriarch, Abraham, who would provide this Earth with God’s Chosen, Blessed People, the Jews or Hebrews, who would be given special status and enjoy a special covenant with God. This covenant included the Promised Land and the Torah, which is the holy book of Judaism. All the laws, instructions, and guidelines for God’s vision for His Chosen People is contained in the Torah. Justice is primarily originated and served by God in Heaven. He is the final arbiter and final judge on humans. As the Judaic tradition reveals, at times, God gets very angry with the Chosen People, the Jews, and these Jews are severely punished and horrifically brutalized as evident in the Torah version of the Great Flood as well as the wanderings in the Sinai Desert for forty years due to lack of faith. Justice is served by God in a punishing, cruel way at times in order to teach the Jews harsh lessons about disobedience and unfaithfulness. On the other hand, when the Jews display strong faith and love for

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.

A religious persons' reality sees an otherworldly measurement to life-that there is an extraordinary power past people creatures. Religion has diverse implications to distinctive individuals, it is in light of how a man is influenced by the individuals who raised them. It could have been an ordeal that is traumatic which can push somebody to take after an alternate life as far as religion. The ordinary lives out of every other person on earth are comprised of ceremonies and customs. Christians revere God, who they accept is the inventor of the whole world. Muslims who love Mohammed, in which they accept is a prophet from God, Buddhist have faith in Buddha, and Hindus have confidence in Brahma. This paper will clarify how religious customs depict

The overarching theme in the sacred spaces that were discussed in this course was the role of religion. All the sacred spaces had a religious purpose or meaning behind them. Although the cultures’ sacred spaces differed in the forms of religion (or the God they praised), the cultures’ sacred spaces remained the same in that they all had some form of religious reasoning. Also, the religious purpose or demonstration varied from each culture. The culures’ sacred spaces that will be compared include; Ancient Mesopotamian, Ancient Egyptian, Minoan, Ancient Greek, Andean, Maya, and Uluru.

We all have family traditions, some of which we take pride in, some of which we dread and despise but, whether you know it or not they are what make us who we are. One of my favorite traditions that I can truly say I’m passionate for would have to be Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner for the holiday goes by in a blink of an eye because of all the enjoyment. However, the preparations that lead up to the day are long and prestigious even though they are what make the dinner so great. Since the holiday comes up before we know it, we get started as soon as the year hits mid fall.

Explain how religious traditions describe and encourage the following relationships: o Relationship with the divine