INTRODUCTIO

N TO

RELIGION

WHAT IS RELIG

ION?

LECTURE SERIES BYProf. Jeff Clyde CorpuzDe La Salle University

INTRODUCTORY QUESTION

Why is religion such a sensitive topic?

Its ok to debate politics, products (mac vs pc) but not religion.

DATA

View: animated map

SOME IMAGES

Religare Latin root Re plus ligare ‘again’ combined with

‘to bind’ meaning ‘to tie fast’

Religia Latin – ‘obligation’ or

‘bond’Religian Old French

WHAT IS RELIGION?

Some Definitions

A. GARY COMSTOCKthat part of some

people’s lives which involves rituals, beliefs, organizations, ethical values, historical traditions and personal habits or choices – some of which refer to the transcendent.

“The sacred always manifests itself as a reality of a wholly different order from ‘natural’ realities. ...The first possible definition of the sacred is that it is the opposite of the profane.”

sacred: Set apart for worship of a deity or as worthy of worship.

profane: Nonreligious. Outside the sphere of religion.

B. MIRCEA ELIADE: PHENOMENOLOGY

Religion as a phenomenon looked on as universal—Eliade’s concept of the

“sense of the sacred”   

“The sacred always manifests itself as a reality of a wholly different order from ‘natural’ realities. ...The first possible definition of the sacred is that it is the opposite of the profane.”

sacred: Set apart for worship of a deity or as worthy of worship.

profane: Nonreligious. Outside the sphere of religion.

C. Anti-Rationalistic Definitions

1. Lucretius—an anti-rational, coercive force.

2. Reinanch—a sum of scruples which impede the free exercise of our faculties.

3. Marx—a pathological manifestation of protective forces, deviation caused by ignorance of natural causes and their effects.

D. Metaphysical DefinitionMax Mueller wrote that religion is a mental factor independent of sense and reason to apprehend the infinite in different names.

E. Emotional Definitions

1. Schleiermacher saw the essence of religion as an emotion and consists of feelings of absolute dependence.

2. McTaggert said religion is best described as an emotion resting in conviction of harmony between ourselves and the universe at large

F. Religion as Morality Immanuel Kant saw religion as the recognitions of our duties as divine commands, the driving force of the sacred is morality, e.g., tabu, holiness

G. Psychological Definition

William James said that religion comes from the feelings and experiences and individual people

WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1910)

Major work, Varieties of Religious Experience

James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion.

Institutional Religion: This refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in society’s culture.

Personal Religion: This refers to the individual who has a mystical experience, one that can be experienced regardless of the culture.

SIGMUND FREUD1856-1939

Religion is about projecting our childhood experiences with our parents onto a God or gods

CARL JUNG1875-1961

Individuation or personal fulfillment

Symbols particularly important

CARL JUNG (1875-1961)Jung was concerned with the interplay

between conscious and unconscious forces. He proposed two kinds of unconsciousness:

1. Personal Unconscious (or shadow): This includes things about ourselves that we would like to forget.

2. Collective Unconscious: This refers to events that we all share by virtue of our common heritage (humanity).

GORGON ALLPORT (1897-1967) Classic work, The Individual and His ReligionAllport made important contributions to the

psychology of personality, refining the concept of “traits.”

Allport classified the use of religion as:1. Mature: Mature religious sentiment occurs

when a person’s approach to religion is dynamic, open-minded, and able to maintain links between inconsistencies.

2. Immature: Immature religious sentiment is self-serving and generally represents the negative stereotypes that people have about religion.

ABRAHAM MASLOW (1908-1970)Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, ranging from lower level physiological needs, through love and belonging, to self-actualization.

Self-actualized people are those who have reached their potential for self-development.

Maslow claimed that mystics are more likely to have had “peak experiences,” experiences in which the person feels a sense of ecstasy and oneness with the universe.

Maslow’s theory of “psychological health” is value-based.

ERIK ERIKSON (1902-1994)Erikson is best known for his

psychology of development.Erikson believed that proper

psychological development occurs in a series of eight stages that follow a sequence.

Associated with each stage is an identity conflict involving a positive resolution (or, “virtue”) and a negative resolution (or, “pathology”).

Erikson considered religions to be important influences in successful personality development, promoting virtues and prohibiting pathologies.

View: History of ideas: Religion

Dimensions of Religion Not a definition, but identifying features

that help us understand the way academics think

about the topic.

a. Prayerb. Asceticismc. Possessiond. Modes of dresse. Pilgrimagef. Ritual

1.THE PRACTICAL AND RITUAL DIMENSION: WHAT THE ADHERENTS OF A RELIGION DO AS PART OF THAT RELIGION

A. : subjective, emotional side of religion. What goes on inside the person.B. Basis of religious vitality and human significance, central to ongoing individual religiosity, to the founding of a tradition itself Muhammad, conversion of Paul, Buddha’s enlightenment; devotional movements; mystical traditions (direct experience of the divine or ultimate)   C. The very core of religion is experience and emotion – all else revolves around experience         William James

2. THE EXPERIENTIAL AND EMOTIONAL DIMENSION

Rudolf Otto Mysterium

tremendum fascinans – a mysterious something that draws you in and inspires both awe and fear

EXPERIENTIAL OR EMOTIONAL

Bernini, GianlorenzoEcstasy of St. Teresa1647-52Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome

Mysticism key here- Intuitive- Beyond reason

Myth – a vehicle that relates a truth defying normal expression and sets pattern for human behaviors Cosmogony

Accounts of creation of the world

Eschatology Accounts/Beliefs about

the end of the world

Scriptural or canonical (kanon is Greek for measuring rod)

3. NARRATIVE OR MYTHIC DIMENSION

i. Historical narratives: Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad -- Histories of: a people; saints; prophets; nations and lands; wars .... ii. Creation narratives: before history, before time1. How the universe began - cosmogony.2. How is creation organized -- cosmology. iii. Destruction narratives: eschatological (death and final destiny)1. Nataraja: Lord of the Dance, circle of fire2. Revelations: describes the signs and events of final days when Christ comes to reclaim the faithful. Final days = eschaton. Flood myths3. Creation and destruction narratives tell us about a tradition’s notion of time: i.e., cyclical, linear. iv. Divine narratives: stories about the gods

KINDS OF NARRATIVE

The principles of a tradition

Typically explain complex ideas

May or may not be familiar to the average believer, but is part of the scholarly tradition

4. DOCTRINAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSION

5. ETHICAL OR LEGAL DIMENSIONThe things required of a believer.Ethics concerns what is good and

bad, how one should live.Law concerns what you must do

and what will happen if you don't (rules and punishments). 

                                                        i.      Examples: Shari'a (Law): pray (5) times daily, give alms, four wives.…  Torah ("law"): hundreds of laws, dietary (milk and meat)

6. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION

how people's interactions are organized as part of their religion

7. MATERIAL DIMENSION

Artifacts Buildings Art Music Symbols Natural World

physical forms in which a religion is embodieda. Structures: churches, temples, synagogues.b. Architecture, theology, religious practice are interconnected.

Representations of divine beingsRitual objects and substances: the physical objects used in religious ritualNatural Features: sacred landmarks such as mountains, rivers, treesSacred cities

Religions help us deal with a variety of human needs. For example: Give us a way to think about

our own mortality Help us to find security in an

insecure world Organize us socially Assist the poorest and the

weakest with survival Stimulate artistic production

View: origin of religions

WHY DO RELIGIONS EXIST?

Theistic Religions based on a

relationship with a divine being

Monotheistic The Divine in a

Singular formPolytheistic Multiple forms of the

divine

Monistic Beneath multiple

apparent forms of the divine there is one ultimate reality

Atheism Non-belief in any deityAgnosticism No knowledge if the

divine exists or can be known

SOME KEY TERMS