CHAPTER ONE:

WORLD RELIGIONS IN
FOCUS
LESSON 1:
UNDERSTANDING THE
NATURE OF RELIGION
World view – a collection of beliefs about life and the
universe being by people.

Social environment and up bringing are critical in the development

of a religious life.

Belief in God or Gods is found in almost all religions.

 RELIGION

MONOTHEI POLYTHEIS
MONISTIC AGNOSTIC ATHEISTIC
STIC TIC
KINDS OF BELIEF SYSTEM
KINDS DESCRIPTION

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
Atheism Disbelief or in denial of the existence
Agnosticism God cannot be known
Theism – is a belief in the existence of one God viewed as the
creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is
immanent in the world.
Monotheistic religions claim that there is only one God who
could have designed ang created the universe or may have directed all
events that led to the creation of everything. There is one supreme God
who is both personal and moral, and who seeks a total and unqualified
response from human. (Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
Polytheistic religions that were common among early
people recognize many principal gods among whom no one
is supreme. These include the ancient religions of Egypt,
Greece, and Rome wherein people worship a multitude of
personal gods.
Agnostics deny the possibility for man to acquire
knowledge of the existence of God.
Monism asserts that there is no genuine distinction
between God and the universe. Two implications arise from
this belief:
1.That God is dwelling in the universe as part of it 2.The
universe does not exist at all as a reality but only as
manifestation of God.
Atheists deny the existence of God.
Definition of Religion
Religion
– an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to
worship a god or group of gods. Latin word “religion”
– something done with overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail
Latin verb “religare” – to tie together or to bind fast. In its original
sense, the word refers to the expression of proper piety
(devotion/respect), that is, binding to god.
 Nature of Religion
Name of Social Scientist  Background View on Religion 
Edward Burnett Tylor (1832- 1917)  English anthropologist; founding The belief in spiritual beings 
figure of the science of social
anthropology 
James George Frazer (1854-1941)  Scottish social anthropologist; one of A propitiation or conciliation of
the founding figures of modern powers superior to man which are
anthropology believed to control and direct the
course of nature and human life 
Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski  An eminent 20th-century Polish  A body of self-contained acts being
(1884-1942) anthropologist  themselves the fulfillment of their
purpose; an affair of all, which
everyone takes an active and
equivalent part
 David Ëmile Durkheim (1858-  French sociologist; Father of A unified system of beliefs and
1917)  sociology practices relative to sacred things
 The essential qualities of religion are maintained and passed from
generation to generation by source called authorities, which the
followers accept as sacred. The most important religious authorities are
writings known as scriptures.
 Bibles of Christians and Jews
 Koran of Muslims 
 Vedas of Hindus
 Religious authority also comes from writings of saints and other holy
persons and from decisions by religious councils and leaders. Unwritten
customs and laws known as traditions also form a basic part of
authority.
1. Belief in deity
Three philosophical views:
Atheists believe that no deity exists.
Theists believe in deity or deities.
Agnostics say that the existence of deity cannot be proved or
disproved.
2. A Doctrine of Salvation
It is based on the belief that people are in some danger from which
they must be saved.
Major religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism
tress that salvation is the highest goal of the faithful and one that all
followers should try to achieve.
3. A Code of Conduct
Is a set of moral teachings and values that all religions have in some form.
Such a code or ethics tells believers how to conduct their lives.
It instructs them how to act toward the deity and toward one another.
4. Religious Rituals
These include the acts and ceremonies by which believers appeal to and serve God,
deities and other sacred powers.
The performance of a ritual is often called a service.
The most common ritual is prayer or for some Asian religions, meditation.
Many religions have rituals intended to purify the body. Some have pilgrimages.
Rituals commemorate events in the history of religions and mark important events
in a person’s life.
Elements of Religion
The 4 C’s
1. Cult Belief in Deity (how we worship)

2. Creed A Doctrine of Salvation (what we believe)

3. Code A Code of Conduct (how we live)

4. Community The believers
Exploring Spirituality
“Spiritual” means “relating or affecting the human spirit or soul as
opposed to material or physical things”.
From the Latin word spiritus, its verb root spyware means “to
breathe”. there is an impression that people are surrounded by a “divine
reality as pervasive, intimate, necessary and invisible as the air we breathe”
The main belief of spirituality is of having an invisible spirit or soul
which is enjoying an earthly experience, or journey, in a visible body.
One may find inner peace and contentment in life that are truly
independent of religious dogmas and tenets.
Elements of Spirituality
1. An automatic intuitive connection with every other spiritual being on
earth
2. The power and centrality of instinct and intuition to guide life and its
outcomes.
3. Emphasis on loving and emotionally supporting others, and reaching out
to them as a natural way of living.
4. Keen appreciation of, and interest in, the wonders of nature and its
possibilities.
5. Feeling of serenity, fearlessness, contentment and acceptance of one's life
and fate.
 LESSON 2:
ORIGIN OF THE WORLD
RELIGION
ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING
• Religions have their origin stories and are
universal in nature.
• Geography and culture have an effect on the
establishment and development of religions.
A.HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• Prehistoric humans, such as the Neanderthals and Cro- Magnons,
have practiced a set of belief systems like in burying their dead, painting
on the walls of caves and carving images from stones.
• The existence of humankind for so long a time has resulted in the
formation of religion and belief systems. It is certain that many religions
may have been unrecorded in the past. Others may have gradually died
down like Zoroastrianism that once flourished in South Asia but is now
only confined in Iran, India and Central Asia.
IMPORTANT DATES ON THE ORIGIN OF WORLD RELIGIONS
THE PATRIARCH ABRAHAM
• Played a major role in the establishment of the three monotheistic
religions: namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which account for
more than half of the world’s total population. As such, these organized
religions are collectively known as ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS.
• The importance of Abraham in these three religions lies in the fact
that the patriarch appears as an elemental (primary) figure for
monotheistic belief system and a paragon (exemplar) for extreme
devotion.
LESSON 3 POSITIVE
AND NEGATIVE
EFFECTS IN
RELIGION
 Religion has become a very important aspect in
development of civilizations and cultures. In fact, most
ancient societies based their worldviews on religion,
and it has been proven to be beneficial to the
attainment and maintenance of social stability and
cohesiveness.
Positive Effects of Religion
1. Religion Promotes Social Harmony
• Religion believes in supernatural beings and powers. It practices a set of rituals and ceremonious rites
of passage of intensification. It also regards religious leaders such as priests, priestesses and shamans in
high esteem. These characteristics help advance social harmony by assimilating and stabilizing cultures
and nations. 
2. Religion Provides Moral Values
• Perhaps one of the most significant functions of religion is that it encourages moral values. It provides
a systematic model of the universe, which effect determines organized human behavior. By providing moral
values, one is able to distinguish right from wrong, good or evil. It also provides a systems of reward and
punishment that administers and standardizes people behavior in society
3. Religion Provides Social Change
• Since religion is a source of moral values, religion provides social change. It can be very effective in
lobbying and campaigning for certain social issues using its own moral teachings as the basis of argument.
For example, the Church in the US has been active in the campaign for civil liberties as well as the
antislavery movement.
4. Religion Reduces Fear of the Unknown
• Religion was developed from man’s need to have a sense of origin and destination; to discover where
they came from and where they are bound to go when they die. Religion provides answers for phenomena
and questions that the science or reason cannot explain.
5. Religion Gives Positive Goal in Life
• People were inspired by the story of different prophets from their own religious affiliations, like that
Moses, Siddharta Gautama, and Muhammad. The people showed how ordinary people them were given
important missions in life, and how they struggled to carry out their respective missions. 6. Religion Gives
People a Sense of Belonging
• Just as family, ethnicity, or nationality give people a sense of belonging, so does religion. For some,
religion provides people with personal identify as part of a group with similar worldviews, beliefs, values,
practices, and lifestyles. It provides communities with prospects to recognize and offer vital action and
service to provide the needs of the larger community.
Negative Effects of Religion
1. Religion Affirms Social Hierarchy
• Some religions affirm social hierarchy often favoring men as and result, perpetuate
the notions of class and gender discrimination and oppression. Another example of religion
reflecting the hierarchy of political structures would be the Confucians emphasis on the
relations between the ruler and the subjects, with the former exercising the authority over
the latter.
2. Religion Causes Discrimination
• There are some who say that religion, after turning people against themselves, turn
people against each other. This happens when people do not tolerate religious ideologies
different from the one they follow.
• Religion can also be a source of discrimination, or the prejudicial treatment of
different categories of people or things especially on the basis of race, religion, age and
sex.
3. Religion Triggers Conflicts and Fights
• Religion also has some aspects which make it susceptible to be a source of conflict and war. History
witnessed numerous lives sacrificed and lost in the name of religion. Wars have been fought in the name of
religion, and this phenomenon continues up to the present time.
4. Religion As An Economic Tool for Exploiting The Masses
• According to the German philosopher Karl Marx, “religion is the opium of the masses.” This is in
relation to his critical approach to religion in which he proposed that the bourgeoisie keep the proletariat in
control through religion. 5. Religion Impedes Scientific 5. Success and Development
• Throughout history, religion has proven to impede scientific development. For example, it has often
been said that the Catholic Church used to teach that the world is flat and warned people against going to
faraway places if they do not wish to fall off the edge of the earth.
6. Religion Obstructs the Use of Reason
• Many question the suitability of religious doctrine to the needs of the present and the future
generations. In order to put these dogma to practice, religion should, therefore, evolve and learn to adapt to
the ever changing world.
Historical Events Caused By Religion
• Self-Immolation of a Buddhist Monk in Vietnam
- or the killing of oneself as a form of sacrifice
• Widows Burning Among the Hindus in
- the practice of self-immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre
• The Inquisition
- refers to the Roman Catholic Church groups charged subduing heresy from around
1184
• The Godhra Train Incident in 2002 
- mostly Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodha after a
religious ceremony at the disputed