CHAPTER 1

WORLD
RELIGIONS
IN FOCUS

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD
RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS
Religion has been in existence since the earliest
time of humankind. Wherever humankind
inhabits, religion too exists. In all parts of the
world, religious ideas have helped inflame
animosity and discord that shape conflicts and
give rise to oppression and tyranny. Conversely,
religious traditions have also created a strong
backbone that helped shaped the importance of
peace, justice, equality, toleration, and
brotherhood.
 Lesson 1
Understanding
the Nature of
Religion

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD
RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS
 Understanding the nature of religion
enlightens learners about the common
grounds that bind believers into examining
the questions of life and death and why or
how persons yearn for spiritual inspiration.
Recognizing the inherent characteristics of
religion provides the opportunity to deeply
grasp the many beliefs and practices that
mold humankind’s spiritual needs.
Worldview- collection of beliefs about life
and the universe held by people
DIFFERENT KINDS OF
BELIEF SYSTEM
MONISM – there is no real
distinction between god and the
universe
POLYTHEISM – the belief and
worship of many gods
MONOTHEISM – the doctrine or
belief in one supreme god
ATHEISM – disbelief in or denial of
the existence of a personal god
AGNOSTICISM – god cannot be
known
DEFINITION AND NATURE OF
RELIGION
RELIGION – an organized system of
beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used
to worship a god or a group of gods
-Merriam- Webster Dictionary 2014
The latin word RELIGIO refers to
“ something done with overanxious or
scrupulous attention to detail”
-Bowker 1997
This term may have probably been
derived from the latin verb religare
which means “to tie together, to bind
fast”
NATURE OF
RELIGION
 View on Religion
The belief in spiritual beings

Edward Burnett Taylor

(1832-1917)
BACKGROUND

English anthropologist;
founding figure of the science of
social anthropology

James George Frazer
(1854-1941)
BACKGROUND
Scottish social anthropologist;
one of the founding figures of
modern anthropology
View on Religion
a propitiation or
conciliation of powers
superior to man which
are believed to control
and direct
The course of nature
and human life
 View on Religion
a unified system of
beliefs and practices
relative to sacred
David Emile Durkheim things
(1858-1917)
BACKGROUND

French sociologist; father of

sociology
Different characteristics that are
common to most Religions
- belief in a deity’s relationship with the
world
- Places and people believed to be holy and
sacred
- Rules followed as a result of beliefs
- Ways to worship a deity
- Belief in a deity
 THEORIES ON THE
ORIGIN OF RELIGION
 Animistic Theories
Primitive people believed
in souls or anima found
in people (seen in dreams)
and in all of nature. Since
Edward Burnett Taylor spirits could be helpful or
(1832-1917) harmful to human beings,
BACKGROUND
early people had to pray
English anthropologist to these spirits, offer
sacrifices, and appease or
avoid them.
 Animistic Theories
In his investigation, he
found out that the
Melanesian people
believed in mana, a
mysterious force that
Robert Henry Codrington inhabited all of nature.
(1830-1922)
BACKGROUND

Anglican priest and

anthropologist
Nature-Worship Theory
Human beings first
developed their religions
from their observations of
the forces of nature.
 Theory of Original
Monotheism
In Australia and Africa,
basic cultures held a common
belief in a distant high god,
that originally there had
been one great god above all
Wilhelm Schmidt
(1868-1954)
others, and that he may have
BACKGROUND been the creator of the world
or the father of the many
Austrian anthropologist lesser deities.
and ethnologist
 Magic Theory
People had gone three
phases of development
concerning the spirit world:
1. Primitive magic
James George Frazer 2. Religion
(1854-1941) 3. science
BACKGROUND

Scottish social
anthropologist
 Wish Fulfillment Theory
There were no gods was
simply wish fulfillment.
Troubled people who could
not cope with the difficulties
in life projected their wishes
and developed gods and
Ludwig Andreas von religions.
Feuerbach
(1804-1872)
BACKGROUND
German philosopher and
anthropologist
 Wish Fulfillment Theory
Religions were developed by
the few as a means to control
the masses and suppress
revolution as a result of the
continuing struggle between
classes.
Karl Heinrich Marx
(1818-1883)
BACKGROUND
German philosopher and
sociologist
 EXPLORING
SPIRITUALITY
 SPIRITUAL- relating or affecting the human
spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical
things
THEOLOGY- involves the systematic study of
the existence and nature of the divine
- it deals with the study of the nature and
purpose of god that may be undertaken using a
particular perspective
- is a study, not a formulation of religious beliefs
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION- deals primarily
with issues concerning religion, which includes
analysis on the existence of a divine being or on
sacred texts
- may involve studying the “ concepts and belief
systems of the religions as well as the prior
phenomena of religious experience and the
activities of worship and meditation on which
these belief systems rest and out of which they
have arisen” (Hick 1990)