Introduction to World Religions and Belief System

• Elements of Spirituality


  Understanding spirituality involves instinct, intuition, love for others, and a sense of serenity.
• Monotheism


  Belief in one God (e.g., Christianity, Islam, Judaism).
• Religion 


  Comes from the Latin term religare, meaning "to bind together."
• Polytheism


  Belief in multiple gods (e.g., Ancient Greeks, Hindus).
• Animism


  Belief that all things possess a spiritual essence.
• Monism


  The idea that there is no distinction between God and the universe.
• Atheism


  Denial of the existence of a supreme being or deity.
• Karl Marx


  Religion is the "opium of the masses" and a tool used by the elite to suppress societal

  change.
• Sigmund Freud


  Religion is an expression of unconscious desires and fears, particularly tied to the family and authority figures.
• Emile Durkheim


  Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, which fosters social cohesion.
• Judaism


  Belief in one all-powerful God (Yahweh).
• The Covenant


  Abraham’s agreement to follow God, highlighted by his willingness to

  sacrifice Isaac.
• Relegere


  “Constantly return to.”, speaks about religious observances.
• Religion


  An action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a God, Gods, or similar superhuman power, the performance of religious rites or observances.
• Religare


  “To be tied into.”, speaks about commitment.
• Re-eligere


  “To choose again.”, refers to conversion.
• Friedrich Schleiermacher


  “The feeling of absolute dependence.”
• Rudolf Otto


  Grows out of, and gives expression to, experience of the holy in its various aspects.
• Mysterium Tremendum


  Appropriate expression. Sweeping like a gentle tide;

  pervading the mind with a tranquil mood of deepest worship.
• Paul Tillich


  “Ultimate concern for the ground of being.”
• William James


  “The feeling, acts, and experiences of individual people in their solitude as they stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine.”
• Victor Frankl


  “Function of the spiritual unconscious, which is the source of the will to

  meaning.”
• Theology


  The study or discourse about God/s.

  Greek word: “Theos” — “Deity” or “God” ; “Logos” — “Word” or “Discourse”
• Spirituality


  Non-material dimension of man; Latin word

  “Spiritus” — “Breath” Greek words: “Pneuma” — “Breath” & “Psyche” — “Soul”
• Belief


  A mental state; a disposition or attitude toward a particular thing, people, place, or event. Does not need empirical evidence.
• Deism


  Does not believe in numerical views.

  There is a higher being who created the universe, but does not intervene in human affairs.
• Pantheism


  Everything is God.
• Panentheism


  Everything is in God.
• Agnosticism


  One cannot prove nor disprove the existence of higher beings or Gods.
• Monism


  There is no distinction between God and the universe.
• Christianity


  Based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, including concepts of salvation

  and love.
• Islam


  Derived from the Qur'an, with Sharia law guiding societal justice.
• Moksha (Hinduism)


  Liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
• Nirvana (Buddhism)


  Achieving spiritual enlightenment.
• Judaism


  One of the 3 Abrahamic faiths; Monotheistic religion.
• Menorah


  7 Candles symbolizing the days of creation; 9 for Hanukkah Menorah.
• Star of David


  12 sides symbolizing the tribes of Israel, all for the 12 sons of Jacob.
• Tanakh


  Hebrew Bible; Given to Moses in Mt. Sinai; 613 laws; 24 books divided into 3.
• Torah


  Sacred text of Judaism
• Nevi’im


  About the prophets.