INTRODUCTION TO

WORLD RELIGIONS AND

BELIEF SYSTEMS
PREPARED BY:

BRIAN REYES GANGCA

• What is RELIGION?
- It is an organized systems of beliefs,
ceremonies, and rules used to worship a
god or group of gods
- An interest, a belief, or an activity that is
very important to a person or group
(Webster Dictionary)
• 8 Elements of Religion
1. BELIEF SYSTEM or WORLDVIEW: Many beliefs that fit
together in a system to make sense of the universe
and our place in it.
2. COMMUNITY: The belief system is shared, and its
ideals are practiced by a group.
3. CENTRAL STORIES/MYTHS: Stories that help explain
the beliefs of a group; these are told over and over
again and sometimes performed by members of the
group. They may or may not be factual.
• 4. RITUALS: Beliefs are explained, taught, and made
real through ceremonies.
• 5. ETHICS: Rules about how to behave; these rules
are often thought to have come from a deity or
supernatural place, but they might also be seen as
guidelines created by the group over time.
• 6. CHARACTERISTIC EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES: Most
religions share emotions such as awe, mystery,
guilt, joy, devotion, conversion, inner peace, etc.
7. MATERIAL EXPRESSION: Religions use things to
perform rituals or to express or represent beliefs,
such as: statues, paintings, music, flowers, incense,
clothes, architecture, and specific sacred locations.
8. SACREDNESS: Religions see some things as sacred
and some not sacred (or profane). Some objects,
actions, people and places may share in the
sacredness or express it.
The Elements of Religion in Your Life
1. BELIEFS: What is one central belief of your
religion?
2. COMMUNITY: How is your religion shared with
others in your religious community?
3. CENTRAL STORIES/MYTHS: What is one of the
myths or stories from your religion?
4. RITUALS: What ritual do you find meaningful in
your religion?
5. ETHICS: What is one rule from your religion you
are supposed to follow?
6. EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES: Have you ever had
an emotional religious experience? What was it
like?
7. MATERIAL EXPRESSION: What is one thing used
in your religion? What is it used for?
8. SACREDNESS: Can you think of a sacred place
associated with your religion? Why is it sacred?
10 Elements of Spirituality
1. Being on a spiritual journey, not earthly, but having a temporary
mortal body, with a potential for reincarnation.
2. The existence of a higher power (Universe/Nature), or other kind
of generalized deity, which is not attached to any one religion or
gender; a loving, benevolent power that is more guide than
dictator.
3. An automatic intuitive connection with every other spiritual being
on earth
4. The power and centrality of instinct and intuition to guide life and
its outcomes.
5. Emphasis on loving and emotionally supporting others, and
reaching out to them as a natural way of living.
6. Keen appreciation of, and interest in, the wonders of
nature and its possibilities.
7. Feeling of serenity, fearlessness, contentment and
acceptance of one's life and fate.
8. Independence of thought and the desire to stand apart
from the crowd, while responding to the world's beauty
and consciousness.
9. A feeling of being very special, knowledgeable,
unselfish, empathetic and grateful.
10. A strong and routine feeling of gratitude for blessings,
possessions, friendships and interactions.
Religion vs Spirituality
Spirituality gives the individual autonomy over his or
her interpretation of the soul or spirit,
whereas religion implies participation in a communal
practice and interpretation of divine belief and worship. It
should be noted that many religious traditions contain a
“spiritual” element to them.
An easy way to differentiate between the two today
is via structure. Religion requires membership and
embodies practices and beliefs shaped over the
course of history. 
Religion vs Theology
Religion and Theology are two terms that are often
confused when it comes to their study. Religion is based
on faiths and beliefs when it comes to the acceptance of
superhuman powers in the form of God or Gods. On the
other hand theology is the study of theistic thought. This
is especially true of Christianity. Theism is the acceptance
of the presence of God or superhuman power.
Religion does not deal with any sort of rational analysis.
On the other hand theology deals with the rational
analysis of a religious faith.
RELIGION vs Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy in general is the rational investigation
of truth, whereas Religion often makes the same
kind of truth claims but doesn't claim to base it on
reason or rationality, but instead it is based on
other things like faith.
3 Kinds of Religious Beliefs
Polytheistic (Many Gods)
- is the worship of or belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled
into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and 
rituals.
- the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or 
ancestral principles, and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects
or emanations of a creator God or transcendental absolute principle (
monistic theologies), which manifests immanently in nature (panentheistic
and pantheistic theologies).Most of the polytheistic deities of ancient
religions, with the notable exceptions of the Ancient Egyptian and Hindu
deities, were conceived as having physical bodies.
- Example: Chinese traditional religion, Hinduism, Japanese Shinto,
Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism
Monotheism
- the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is all-
powerful and intervenes in the world.
- distinguished from henotheism, a religious system in which the believer
worships one god without denying that others may worship different
gods with equal validity, and monolatrism, the recognition of the
existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity.
- The broader definition of monotheism characterizes the traditions of 
Bábism, the Bahá'í Faith, Cao Dai (Caodaiism), Cheondoism (Cheondogyo
), Christianity, Deism, Eckankar, Hindu sects such as Shaivism and 
Vaishnavism, Islam, Judaism, Mandaeism, Rastafari, Seicho no Ie, Sikhism
, Tengrism (Tangrism), Tenrikyo (Tenriism), Yazidism, and Zoroastrianism,
and elements of pre-monotheistic thought are found in early religions
 such as Atenism, Ancient Chinese religion, and Yahwism.
Atheism
- the absence of belief in the existence of deities
- is contrasted with theism, which, in its most
general form, is the belief that 
at least one deity exists.