Unit 3 Religion History of Religion Part 2

Unit 3 Religion History of Religion Part 2 Mr. Young Sociology

I CAN: 1. Explain the basic structure of Religion 2. Analyze the 4 major categories of Religion 3. Evaluate the 4 major religious organizations

Definition of Religion • A Unified system of beliefs and practices concerned with sacred things

What Religion sets apart Sacred • Things set apart from daily life Profane • Nonsacred, everyday aspects of life

1) Religious Experience • A sudden awareness of the supernatural or a feeling of coming into contact with God • Example: born againin Christianity when a person has undergone a lifetransforming religious experience and feel as if they are a new person

2) Belief • Ideas that people believe to be true • Includes values (how people ought to live) and cosmology (a unified picture of the world)

3) Faith • One of the most important aspects of religion is faithunquestioning belief that does not require proof or scientific evidence • Sacred- refers to those aspects of life that are extraordinary or supernatural • Profane- the everyday, secular “worldly” aspects of life

4) Rituals • Rituals- regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a cherished value or belief • This can include The Lord’s Supper, Muslims bowing toward Mecca

Rituals videos • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Yg. YEu. J 5 u 1 K 0 • Monty Python Monk Video

Symbols • Symbols- helps to provide identity with a particular religion • Usually sacred emblems that evoke feelings of awe and reverence

Symbols Video • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=o. Fh. JVy 7 TLio • Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 1 • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=3 fi. Vkf. Q n 8 Jo • Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 2

Community • All of the others lead to this • Feel a close bond with one another because their faith and beliefs are usually the same • Usually refer to one another as brother or sister, fosters a sense of family • Usually very powerful and can help people that need structure

Doctrine • A particular principle, position, or policy taught or advocated, as of religion or government • Simply put teachings that a certain religion is founded upon

4 major categories • Religion is based on 4 major categories 1. 2. 3. 4. Simple supernaturalism Animism Theism Nontheistic Religion

1) Simple Supernaturalism • The belief that supernatural forces affect people’s lives either positively or negatively • This type of religion does not acknowledge specific gods or supernatural spirits but focuses instead on impersonal forces that may exist in people or natural objects

2) Animism • Belief that plants, animals, or other elements of the natural world are endowed with spirits or life forces that have an impact on events in society • Example: Native American hunting rituals • Everyday life is not necessarily separated from the elements of the natural world

Theism • • Belief in a god or gods Christianity, Islam, Greeks, Egyptians

A) Monotheism 1. a belief in a single, supreme being or god who is responsible for significant events such as the creation of the world • Worlds major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, believe this way

B) Polytheism 1. a belief in more than one god • Hinduism, Shinto, and many African religions

4) Nontheistic Religion • Religion based on a belief in divine spiritual forces such as sacred principles of thought and conduct, rather than a god or gods • Similar to Buddhism

Types of Religious Organizations • Four major types of religious organizations 1. 2. 3. 4. Cult Sect Church (Denomination) Ecclesia

Videos on Cults • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=y. XYb 3 z. I t. Ed. U • 3 D dialogue on Cults • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=nvv. Suv SA 3 EI • What is a cult video (2 min)

1) Cult • A new, loosely organized religious group, with few followers, with practices and teachings outside the dominant cultural and religious traditions of a society • All major religions began as a cult • Jim Jones and Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate and Hale-Bopp Comet

Characteristics of a Cult • Charismatic Leader- someone who exerts extraordinary appeal to a group of followers • Members antagonize the majority because they believe they have found the truth • Demands intense commitment, usually a sense of close community among the followers

Top 10 Cults • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=KNOSm 9 wvf 5 o • (6 min)

2) Sect • Relatively small religious group that has broken away from another religious organization to renew what it views as the original version of the faith • Typically appeal to those who might be characterized as lower class • Loosely organized and fairly smaller

Sect Cont. • Stress evangelism- the active recruitment of new members • If sects grow they can tend to gradually make peace with society, move up in socio -economic status, and can become a church

A) Denomination • Midway between church and sect • A large organized religion characterized by accommodation to society but frequently lacking in ability or intention to dominate society • Approximately 38, 000 Christian denominations in the world

3) Church • A large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that tends to seek accommodations with the larger society in order to maintain some degree of control over it • Church membership largely based on birth • Religious services highly ritualized • Examples: Lutheran and Episcopal church

4) Ecclesia • A religious organization that is so integrated into the dominant culture that it claims as its membership all members of a society • Also known as state religion • Examples: Church of England, Lutheran Church in Sweden and Denmark, Roman Catholic Church in Italy and Spain, and Islam in Iraq and Iran