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The Religions of the World
Religion is big part of human life. Every area of the world has some kind of religion or belief system. Religion is defined as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” (“Religion” Def.2). With such a large amount of religions today, religion is widely variegated, usually with divisions in each one. Despite the large amount of religions, I will only be covering only three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Christians are those who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came down to earth from Heaven in order to save humanity from its’ sins. The reason for Jesus dying for the human race is traced back to the beginning of time, in the Garden of Eden (Bowker 136). After God had made the universe and everything in it, He saw that everything He had made was good (New American Standard Bible, Genesis 1-2). After that, the serpent, who has been determined to be Lucifer, tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was the only tree that God had told them not to eat from. Because of this, God cursed humanity and the earth, causing hardships and pain for them to endure (Genesis 3). The rest of the Old Testament is about God leading His people on the path to the Savior to come, who was Jesus Christ.
Jesus was born through Mary, who willingly obeyed God’s instruction to her in which she was to give birth to Jesus as a virgin, despite her confusion as to how this would happen (Luke 1:26-38). Soon after, she conceived, and eventually gave birth to the foretold Messiah, Jesus Christ.
After Jesus was baptized by the John the Baptist, he fasted in the Desert for 40 days and nights in order to face the temptations that...
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Works Cited
Bowker, John. World Religions. New York: DK Pub., 1997. Print.
New American Standard Bible. Chicago: Moody, 1977. Print.
Johnston, Patricia. "Bibles for China." Magazine of the United Free Church of Scotland [Glasgow]. United Free Church of Scotland. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .
"Major Religions Ranked by Size." World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .
"Religion." Def. 2. Merriam Webster. Merriam Webster Inc. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .
Robinson, B.A. "World Religions." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .
Thursby, Gene R. Religious Worlds. Gene R. Thursby. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
In today’s society, there are roughly around 4,200 religions that exist on this planet. Some define "religion" as a cultural system of behaviors and practices that help people make important decisions in life. Out of the many religions, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism have many similarities that connect them to one another. Themes of morality, justice, love are found through both the Buddha's teaching and the Hebrew and Christian Bible.
Religion reinforces the beliefs of individuals within a society. Additionally, religion has played a vital role in society since it influenced the way they lived and the rituals they may or may not have practiced. Different regions of the world during ancient time held a distinct set of beliefs, each based on different or similar principals. Deriving from the polytheistic set of beliefs, monotheism came in place of many Gods, holding just one god accountable for the creation and the existence of mankind. Christianity and Buddhism share similarities and differences, but most importantly the impact that each had on the culture is what is mostly referred to.
Religions of common geographical origins tend to differ from those that begin in other parts of the world. Inversely, religions that were from similar geographical areas tended to have somewhat similar codes of behavior and/or reason for existence. Throughout history there were three big geographical centers of religious origins: Southwestern Asia, South Asia, and East Asia.
Melton, J. Gordon, and Martin Baumann. Religions of the World a Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Open WorldCat. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
"Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. 27 July 2010. .
Religion cannot be lived in textbooks, it is about the personal consciousness of those that believe and “their own account of their religion and its relevance in contemporary life” (Fisher, 1996). It is performed, experienced by the individuals living within society and communities. For some it is a sense of hope, to connect with a supreme power, to end the cycle of birth and death, find inner peace and/or a way of life. Traditional understanding of religion through textbooks, television, and internet does provide one with understanding about the religion doctrine and what they believe in. The majority of people will know what religion is when seeing it, for example, a Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation. However, it is important to study religion off campus in order to grasp an explanation and a clear understanding of how beliefs change personal lives, how individuals tackle certain situations due to belief for example, Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation, but w...
Religion, “part of the human experience that has to do with a god or gods, a higher power, or the ultimate values of life” (Cason & Tillman 6-7), is one of the most controversial and interesting subjects for humanity. It has been around for as long as anyone can recall and they have difference and similarities in their founders, beliefs, and history. Religion has served to give some sort of a meaning to life and everything around it. In modern society, some religions have grown and expanded significantly. These larger religions have been classified as world religions. In addition, these world religions have been split into two categories known as Eastern and Western religion.
Religion usually plays a big part in the cultures of the world and is the basis for their beliefs and values. In many countries religion is very important, so important that some cultures use it in every aspect of their lives. China l...
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
"Major Religions Ranked by Size." World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics. Web. 19 June 2011.
Christianity started as a missionary religion and has now become the world's most widespread faith. It focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The traditional story of Jesus tells of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem in the Holy Land, to a young virgin called Mary who had become pregnant with the son of God through the action of the Holy Spirit. The story of Jesus' birth is told in the writings of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament of the Bible. The New Testament, a collection of twenty-seven books written in the century after Jesus' death in 30 C.E., has had importance by shaping the church's teachings, ethics, ritual, organization, and mission in the world (Van Voorst 245). His birth is believed by Christians to be the fulfillment of prophecies in the Jewish Old Testament which claimed that a Messiah would deliver the Jewish people from captivity ("The Basics").
“In thinking about religion, it is easy to be confused about what it is.” (Smart, 1992) To combat this, Smart uses seven dimensions to define common characteristics of religion. Much of what will be explored will fit his dimensions. The practical and ritual dimension can been seen in all three religions through worship and rituals and patterns of behaviour. The latter are those acts that help the believer develop spiritual awareness or ethical insight, such as yoga or meditation in Buddhism and Hinduism. The experiential and emotional dimension of religion explains that religion feeds on human emotions and key events from history to illustrate this is, the enlightenment of the Buddha, or the visions of Muhammad. A person will not follow something without meaning or emotion driving it. The narrative or mythic dimension of religion refers to the use of story telling in religion. Typically, all faiths use stories to illustrate their beliefs or events in history, whether they might be of things to come, or like in this essay, stories of the Buddha, or Muhammad. The use of story telling is important as the stories are often based on accounts of history or documents that have been found. Story telling can enhance the believers faith and are often integrated into rituals. The doctrinal and philosophical dimension of religion talks about the importance of the holy books/ doctrines. Since the doctrines typically have an account of the leaders life, and the leaders are usually educated, believers read the doctrines to gain an insight into the leaders life; and thus strive to become more like them or abide by their teachings. The ethical and legal
The story of Jesus begins with his birth. Jesus was born as baby from a human mother Mary and a human father named Joseph. Most people widely think that Jesus was born around 4 B.C. When Jesus was born, his first breath came in the smell of a stable and his first bed made
It has been an outstanding five weeks. This was the course that I've been waiting to take since I started Capella back in April of 2004. Finally after weeks of reading World Religions by Huston Smith, I have developed an understanding of some of the world's religions. I can never be an expert in this field, and I don't want to, but at least I have an idea where these religions originated and have a general concept of the beliefs behind each religion. Each of the religions we covered have one thing in common that stick out, and that is promoting peace and harmony.