The Type Of Religious Tradition

I waited till exactly 12:00 to get out of my car at St. John's. Shaking, I walked to the entrance. The huge double-doors welcomed me to the church. I had to rethink my decision if I was really going to go in there. I didn’t know who was in there or what they wanted. Still shaking, I slowly and steadily tipped toed inside. I popped off the ground like a cat when the double-doors slammed together making a violent ruckus. The only light that shined in the church was at the end of the long walkway. It was a note that

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?

A church had agreed to lets us live in their church for three days. The church was beautiful. It was a large, looming, castle like, church that on it’s own would have seemed huge. But it wasn’t on it’s own. It was right in the middle of the city, right next to a bunch of skyscrapers, which is a shame because it muffles the awesomeness of the church. The church looks old from the exterior but the inside proves just how new it is. It has three stories, and a basement. It has mounted tvs everywhere, and two full elevators. It was a pretty cool place, but it didn't have those windows I loved so

The edifice in itself was rather imposing. It was a large construction similar to European cathedrals. From the point of view of the religious feeling, I considered it to be more appropriate than catholic churches that resemble more to museums and are extraordinary in their art. Usually in catholic churches the edifice is impressive in its shape and construction and the first thought is to associate it to a pierce of art rather than a place of prayer. By comparison, this Orthodox Church was not that lavishing in details or artistic nature and the outside paintings set a religious feeling as I entered. A cemetery or a place for holy burials such as the former priests that served at the Church surrounded this church. This is not mandatory to happen but most of the times, Orthodox churches have in the vicinity the cemetery.

First Purchase was unceiled and unpainted within. Along its walls unlighted kerosene lamps hung on brass brackets; pine benches served as pews. Behind the rough oak pulpit a faded pink silk banner proclaimed God Is Love, the church’s only decoration except a rotogravure print of Hunt’s The Light of the World. There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books, church programs—the familiar ecclesiastical impedimenta we saw every Sunday. It

As we walk into this church, we will walk into a warm and friendly atmosphere. The ceilings will be made of glass which would make one feel closer to nature which symbolizes being closer to God. My inspiration for this church is Arkansas' Thorncrown Chaple. Just like this chapel, my church will have warm light to make people feel welcome and at home, just like a person would in heaven. When we walk in we would see the baptismal font as a fountain that runs all around the church. This water surrounding the church is showing how God surrounds us. As we go further along in the church, we will see the pews made of solid maple wood stained very dark with bright blue cushions symbolizing the dark dirt under the blue sky and God all in between. The

The entry doors of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral humbly open under cross-carrying façade leading into a small lobby, architecturally known as the narthex. Resting on a table is a small woven basket marked with a sign requesting an atmosphere is quiet and donations, if at all possible. Tall, intimidating, wooden doors with metal handles stand between the lobby and the nave. Inside is somber, an environment created by the dimmed lights, flickering candles, and the setting sun through the blue-tinted stained windows. In conjunction with the towering columns and cathedral ceiling, the atmosphere connotes reverence and authority. There is no superfluous décor; the floors are cement and the creaking pews echo throughout the place. The high church formalities were juxtaposed with the casual behavior of those visiting.

Ralph Nader's Seventeen Traditions, published in 2007 is a short and slim 150 page novel. Nader was born and raised in Winsted, Connecticut and is an American political activist, author, lawyer, and lecturer. Nader reflects on the seventeen traditions that shaped his life as a child of Lebanese immigrants, growing up in a small town. The traditions reveal the importance of social values and the role families play as the transporter of those values which explains Nader's purpose that, traditions offer guidance and inspiration for the parents, children and grandchildren of today. This novel not only reveals much about Nader's own life and values, it also challenges the reader to

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

The Cathedral of Saint Paul lies in Downtown Saint Paul, MN, where hundreds attend mass daily. This 102-year-old Cathedral’s Neoclassical-like double stone pillars separate two outer doors and a main door. This main entrance is double door with a Roman vault sitting on top. The massive size of the Cathedral makes the doors look unproportionable. The entrance for the people is below the low vault, but the door for the spirit is through the above colossal vault. Inside, each door has a Roman vault above it, near tangent to the wall itself, shaping the doors below appear larger. The gold handles on these doors shape a Holy entrance, an emphasis of the importance of attending mass. The squares on the dark finished wood create a character for the

The sanctuary had a vaulted ceiling with great wooden beams running the length and width of the room. The walls were covered in decorated wood panels, marble slabs, and stained glass windows. Scenes of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus could be seen literally everywhere, on the stained glass, carved in the wooden panels, and in statues around the room. The pews were very traditional in contrast to the theater seats at my home church. The room smelled heavily of incense and the priest continued to burn more throughout the mass. The front of the sanctuary included a large statue of the crucifixion of Christ and a table covered in candles with golden holders. The church was beautiful and had an air of

All religions and beliefs are different. Some religions share the same characteristics, while some do not. Religion varies from culture to culture. Certain religions worship a divine being, have a sacred book, or commandments which they follow. “Shinto, for example, does not have a set of commandments, nor does it preach a moral code; Zen Buddhism does not worship a divine being; and many tribal religions have no written sacred scripture” (Molloy, 2010).

Some Jewish holidays are solemn occasions while others are festive, but they are all rich in history and tradition.

Men make up nearly 80% of all committed suicides, and behind almost all of these cases is someone who as a young boy was told not to cry or express emotion, because it was not “manly’ and defied “traditional gender roles.” This is not a coincidence, as those two factors are intrinsically connected, and show in certain cases how something like tradition can be incredibly harmful. Tradition is

Many people have preconceived notions of how a religious service is conducted and looks like, even if they are not a practitioner or have never attended a service. With Catholicism, people expect that the services are only held in churches that are set aside from other institutions. People imagine the attendees in semi-formal and conservative dress. The times of a service are even held to an imaginary guideline. If a religion breaks from the pattern, people are inclined to believe that the service is of a lesser quality or may not truly be affiliated with the Catholic Church. The Church has had to adapt to the situations it has been placed in because of the ever changing world it resides in. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the ideas and images of a traditional Catholic Mass change based upon the place Mass occurs, I am looking specifically at the service at the Interfaith Center located on the University of California Irvine (UCI) campus.