The Sacred Quest Summary

This paper has presented a definition of religion, as well as an examination of its parts to determine if the definition is adequate to apply appropriately. Secondly, this paper has examined several practices and experiences common to both major religions of the worlds, as well as indigenous religions. Lastly, the key critical issues of the study of religions and reasons for their consideration have been identified and discussed.

Religion is defined as A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual being (Mifflin). It is known that many of our behaviours are determined by the presence of religion in one's life. Religion implants its principles in a person and their attitudes, personality, morals and ethics and alters it to a great extent. This

Since the beginning of time humans have endeavoured to explain the causes and reasons behind their existence. As a result of this thirst for knowledge many different beliefs and values have been formulated with the aim of explaining this age-old question. Most of these beliefs are prevalent today in the form of institutionalised religions. In order to gain an understanding of the word 'religion', we need to fully analyse and compare the components of religions in order to gain a more cultivated understanding of this enigmatic term. An extremely valuable way of classifying religion and its many aspects is through the Seven Dimensions, developed by Ninian Smart. (See Appendix 1) These dimensions explore the many aspects of religion in a

Martin uses a functionalistic approach to understand the role religion plays in society, exploring each object with hermeneutical suspicion, believing, for the sake of this study, that any supernatural claims are false. By exploring such concepts as classification, structured society, and habitus, Martin explains how “we, as humans, are a product of society”. He focuses on answering questions such as “what’s going on” and “whose interests are served” by skeptically looking at the way in which people use legitimation, authority, and authenticity to push their own agendas.

In Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, he accentuates the inevitable distinction between the sacred and profane.This develops when an individual tries to establish himself in his world and acknowledges his own individuality of the worldly and physical spaces he takes up. Chaos seems to be in the areas where the profane governs and there are no principles in a profane universe. The idea of the sacred comes from knowledge itself. The brahmanas defines religion and human existence with the sacredness embedded in water which brings forth life.

In the study of religion, one can quickly discern that there are two major differentiations between the anthropological definition of religion, and that of religion in the context of belief systems. Religion, in the context of anthropology, can often be related to social institutions. On the other hand, religion in the context of belief systems indicate faith in something or someone...such as oneself, a god, or object. As identified by scholar Clifford Geertz, the anthropological definition of religion is “a system of symbols which acts to (1) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (2) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (3) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality

This will be based on the chapter 4 Religion as "Truth-Claims", posted on Blackboard. First of all, Dianne L. Oliver makes a preface about her writings saying that religions claim to get the truth, and followers of diverse religions say that their truth is the only one true, and cannot be compare with any other. Also, she remarks that many of those religion followers use violence to uphold their own version of truth. Moreover, she let us know that she is going to consider the "True-Claims" of different religions, and show how those claims can influence the practices, behaviors, and ideas of religion followers. Next to the introduction, she considers that religion is very essential for understanding the fundamental questions in our daily lives.

For purpose of this essay, religion will be defined as a collection of institutional beliefs and customs concerning humanity and the purpose of the universe [1]. Key beliefs within religion that will be explored, as well as there relation to reason, are:

Religion and faith play numerous roles in people’s lives. From being a unifying factor to alienating people, and from comforting people to terrifying others, the roles of religion is vast and boundless. In The Crucible and “Upon the Burning of Our House”, it is evident that religion and faith play a subconscious role in the lives of people by acting as an inner conscience and by giving people a spiritual peace of mind.

Religion is a species-specific human universal phenomenon, complex, full of paradoxes, and found in all cultures. Social scientists and anthropologists since the late 17th century have attempted to rationally answer questions about religion, and while we can't evaluate the veracity of religion’s claims, we can attempt to understand its functions.

The meaning of religion is something that scholars, along with society at large, have attempted to define for centuries. Although the term cannot truly have one solid meaning, it is clear that religion is much more than a set of beliefs and practices. In Religion: The Basics, author Mallory Nye discusses his approach to studying religion. In arguing that culture and religion strongly influence each other, he explains that those studying religion must make people and culture their focus, as variations even within the same religions exist and must be considered. Moreover, Nye explains how religion is, essentially, a universal concept, as it takes form in an array of shapes across the globe. With Nye’s argument, I have developed new insights

Before deciding on the definition, I considered religion as being an “organised system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules to worship a god or a higher being”. The only phrase that I agreed with was the fact of religion being an “organised system” mainly because of the fact that there is a set way of practising the religion by, for example, praying and attending mass. In contradiction, the rest of the definition makes it seem as if religion is straight-forward on a community basis, in contrast to a personal one. Use of “a god or a higher being” contradicts the idea of polytheism, associated with religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism (Theism.net, 2014).

David Chidester defines religion as the ways of being a human person in a human place. He further goes on to describe it as “the practices and discourses that negotiate what it is to be human in person in relation to the superhuman or in relation to whatever might be treated as subhuman” (Chidester). As such religion can be said to encompass the beliefs customs and even the cultures of the people. It defines and shapes the human out view to life and how they relate to each other based on the morals and ethical guidelines outlined in the various doctrines governing the religions. Over the years, religion has been interpreted from different perspectives. Over time in history, religion was directly intertwined with the activities and the lives of the people. For instance, where the people practiced farming, they had deities or gods which were thought to control and protect the seasons which were an integral part of the farming activities. The same case applied to those who practiced pastoralism activities. In all aspects, the religion was in tandem with their activities.

In this essay we will discuss the importance of religion in society. We will attempt to explain why societies have religions and what functions their belief system has for them. We will also ask if these functions are now out-dated and if religions have any meaningful function in today's world or are they just stained glass windows into a bygone era? 'Religion' can be defined by two main groupings. 'The inclusive definition' covers all topics and subjects of a persons life including, not only, their belief in a deity but also their belief and belongingness to music, sport and any other interests the person may hold. 'The exclusive definition' refers to just their belief system regarding a 'supra-human' (Browne 2005, p. 311). It is mainly

Religion and spirituality reach into the depths of the human psyche and strongly influence a nation’s way of life.