MODULE 1

Religion: Studies and

Approaches

Prepared by
Dr. Allan C. Orate
 M1. TOPIC OVERVIEW

MYSTERIES OF THE WORLD AND HUMAN EXISTENCE

Why is there a world? Why do I exist?
Why should I do good? Why not bad?
What will happen to me when I die?
Speculation on this thoughts constitute
religion, religious experience and spirituality

Please watch M1. Video 1

“The Big Story: Origins of Religion”
in https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=V9mFNgu6Cww.
 M1. OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lessons, the students are expected to:

1. Describe the approaches to this course.
2. Define religion in various ways.
3. Relate the study of religion to other disciplines.
4. Compare and contrast the terms and theories about religion.
5. Reflect on the importance of religion to one’s life.
 M1. READINGS

M1. Reading 1. Russell Kirkland (1976), “Defining Religion,” in http://

faculty.stage.franklin.uga.edu/sites/faculty.franklin.uga.edu.kirkland/file
s/RELDEFINE.pdf
M1. Reading 2. “World Religions,” in https://courses.lumenlearning.
com/sociology/chapter/wor ld-religions/.
M1. Reading 3. Mohammad, Alashari (2019) “Introduction to Religion,”
in https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336698414_Introduction_
to_Religion.
 M1. VIDEOS

M1. Video 1. “The Big Story: Origins of Religion” (2013) in https://www.

youtube.com/watch? v=V9mFNgu6Cww
M1. Video 2. “What is religion” (2016) in https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=c5KHDR8jdbA
M1. Video 3. “The Academic [Interdisciplinary] Study of Religion
Explained” (2017) in https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAx4jZbBr8
 M1. LECTURES
Religion: Studies and Approaches
Approaches to the Course
Etymology of “Religion”
Dictionary Meaning and Characteristics of Religion
Substantive and Functional Definition of Religion
Consolatory Definition of Religion
Basic Theories and Terms about Religion
Interdisciplinary Approach to Religion
 APPROACHES TO RELIGION,
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY
• OPEN-MINDED APPROACH: We acknowledge that we have our own individual
religious beliefs that we so dearly hold. We may encounter ideas which may be
in direct contradiction to our beliefs, but we have to welcome them for our own
intellectual growth in this course.
• ACADEMIC APPROACH: We bear in mind that this course is a requirement in
the college program being one part of the school curricula which all of you as
students must take up.
• INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH: We will study religion, religious experience
and spirituality from the perspectives of many different disciplines such as
philosophy, history, psychology, anthropology, ethics, law, political science.
• BELIEVER’S OR OBSERVER’S APPROACH: Depends upon the positionality of the
student, whether he or she is a faithful member of the religion or outside of it.
 WHAT IS “RELIGION”?

Etymological Definition
LATIN re elegare = “to rebind” ENGLISH
Based on Christian biblical theology, when Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden
fruit, their relationship with God was broken by sin; and the human race was
separated from God. Through religion, people would again be united with God.

Religion is the means of rebinding the relations between

human beings and God.
 “RELIGION”
Etymological Definition
LATIN religio distinct from superstitio

• In Roman culture, the term “religion” was opposed to “superstition.

• Religion referred socially acceptable practices that the Roman people
considered to be the proper way of relating to their gods.
• Superstition meant what the Romans regarded to be unconventional and
incorrect beliefs about god and improper manner of worship

Christianity was in the beginning a superstition, but had become a

religion when institutionalized in the Roman empire.
 DICTIONARY MEANING
Religion is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used
to worship a god or a group of gods” (Merriam Webster Dictionary).

Organized: Social institution such as a church, an association or a nation

System of Beliefs: Body of dogmas, doctrines, conventions or traditions that the

members adhere to in every religion

Ceremonies: Formal activities that people do like praying or performing rituals

Rules: Principles of ethics or moral codes that regulate people actions

God: Supernatural, divine or sacred beings as subject of worship
 CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGION
No exact definition of religion, only similar characteristics called “family
resemblances” based on the philosophy of language by Wittgenstein.

1. Belief in a supernatural being (God)

2. Distinction between sacred and profane
3. Ritual acts focused on sacred or profane object
4. Religious feeling of awe
5. Direct communication with divine being
6. Worldview concerning the rule of humanity in the universe
7. Collective organization bound up in this worldview
Anything to be considered a religion have these characteristics, but not
necessarily all.
Please watch: M1. Video 2. “What is religion” (2016) in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5KHDR8jdbA
Please read: M1. Reading 1. Russell Kirkland (1976), “Defining
Religion,” in http://faculty.stage.franklin. uga.edu/sites/faculty.
franklin.uga.edu.kirkland/files/RELDEFINE.pdf

Substantive Definition: “What religion is.”

• Religion is the worship of sacred being
• It teaches doctrines and moral codes
• It is about formal ceremonies and rituals

Functional Definition: “What religion does.”

• Religion unites the people in a community together.
• It regulates people’s moral life and actions.
• It provides acceptable cultural behaviors of the members
of the society.
By Emile Durkheim

“A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative

to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden–
beliefs and practices which unite in one single moral
community called a Church, all those who adhere to them”.
Consolatory Definition: Religion satisfies our philosophical and
psychological longing for the explanations regarding our lives and
the existence of the universe.

• Premise: As human beings, we encounter difficulties in life.

• We experience uncontrollable events, sickness and death,
uncertainty, injustice, scarcity or deprivation, hostility of others.
• “Religion is humanity’s means of coping with these basic
problems of human existence.”
This consolatory definition is the one we will use in our course.
“Religions brings out the ultimate meaning of life experiences; it
provides models and guideposts for the meaningful integration of all
one’s experiences.
That is, it not only allows the person to understand what phenomena
and events mean singly; but it also shows him how they fit together
into a single homogenous reality. It thus provides a comprehensive
worldview, and means of orienting one’s life in all its facets.
If dissected, this comprehensive system might be seen to consist of a
conceptual complex and a set of values pertaining to various aspects
of life.” (Russell, “Defining Religion”)
 BASIC THEORIES ABOUT RELIGION
• THEISM is a theory which affirms the existence of God.
• ATHEISM denies God’s existence.

• MONOTHEISM theorizes that there is only one God.

• POLYTHEISM says that there are many gods.
• PANTHEISM asserts that everything is God.

• ANIMISM views that God resides in natural or inanimate objects such

as stones, trees or rivers.

• AGNOSTICISM stresses that God cannot be known by human reason;

whatever we claim to know about God cannot be certain and always
subjected to doubt.
• FIDEISM maintains that God can only be known by faith.
 BASIC TERMS ABOUT RELIGION
• CULT refers to an underground, small, organized religion that is generally not
socially acceptable and with unconventional and radical beliefs and teachings.

• SECT is a religion with unpopular and usually fundamentalist doctrines formed by a

minor group of people who separated themselves from one major religious group.

• DENOMINATION is a mainstream religion with big membership but not officially

sponsored by any secular entities.

• ECCLESIA originally referred to an assembly of the citizens of the Greek city-states.

Now, it refers to a religion where most or all members of the society belong; this
group has a national boundary and officially connected with the state.

Please read: M1. Reading 2. “World Religions,” in https://courses.lumenlearning.

com/sociology/chapter/world-religions/.
 INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
Please watch: M1. Video 3. “The Academic [Interdisciplinary] Study of Religion
Explained” (2017) in https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAx4jZbBr8

• Religion and History: the development of religions defends on the prevailing

historical events of the period, and history unfolds as conditioned by religion.

• Religion and Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology: We look at religion as an

essential part of the behavior and culture of people in the society.

• Religion and Law/Political Science: . Religion interacts with the fields of law
and political science in the context of power relations that have been going on
ever since the beginning of nation-states.
• Religion and Philosophy. Both of these fields of learning deal with the ultimate
cause, such as the reality and existence of the world, the meaning of human
life, and the relation between human beings and God.
• Religion and Ethics. Religion has ethical component because of the moral codes
inherent in its doctrines, such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.
• Religion and Theology. Religions of the world have their own theologies. The
Christian religion, particularly Catholicism, has a very rich and consistent body
of theological doctrines which have spanned for a period of two thousand
years. There are Biblical Theology, Dogmatic Theology and Moral Theology, and
major topics like Christology, Mariology and Eschatology.
Please read: M1. Reading 3. Mohammad, Alashari (2019) “Introduction to
Religion,” in https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336698414_Intro
duction_to_Religion.
THANK YOU.