The Nature of Religion
and its Meaning
• Religion- is a powerful institution that connects
human beings, both as individuals and collectively
as groups, to a transcendent reality.
The Latin word “religio”- something done with
overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail
Latin Verb “religare”- to tie together or to bind
fast.
It its original sense, the word refers to the
expression of proper piety (devotion/respect), that
is, binding to God.
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• As people rely more and more on scientific reason and
method to explain natural events and so-called miracles,
supernatural occurrences, and mysteries, many critics of
religion SIGMUND FREUD, the founder of psychoanalysis,
and KARL MARX, the father of scientific socialism,
believed that religion will gradually disappear.
• This view is called Secularization (from the Latin word
saeculum, which means “worldly.”)
• Surprisingly, in the 21st century, religion seems to have
grown stronger, with no sign of waning.
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• .The essential qualities of religion are maintained and
passed from generation to generation by a 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.
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Common Characteristics among Religions
• 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.
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Common Characteristics among Religions
• 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.
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Common Characteristics among Religions
• A Code of Conduct
• Is a set of moral teachings and values that all religions
have in some form.
• Such a code of ethics tells believers how to conduct their
lives. It instructs them how to act toward the deity and
toward one another.
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Common Characteristics among Religions
• 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.
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ELEMENTS OF RELIGION
• The 4C’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
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Types of Religious
Organizations
10
CHURC
H
• Is a religious
organization that
claims to possess the
truth about salvation Click icon to add picture
exclusively.
• A classic example is
the Roman Catholic
Church.
• The church includes
everybody in a
society.
• Membership is by
childbirth: new
SECT
• Perceives itself as a
unique owner of the
truth. However, it
constitutes a minority Click icon to add picture
in a given society.
Recruitment takes
place through
conscious individual
choice.
• A good example is the
resurgence of “born
again” Christianity
that recruits members
SECT
• Sects tend to depict
society as a place full of
dangers and moral and
religious decay.
• Sects often are breakaway
groups from the Click icon to add picture
mainstream churches.
• An example of a sect in the
Philippines is the Iglesia ni
Cristo (INC), the INC was
established in 1914 by
Felix Manalo. As a sect, the
INC believes itself to be the
one “true” universal
church.
DENOMINATI
ON
• Is oriented toward
cooperation, at least as it
relates to other similar
denominations.
• People join through
individual and voluntary Click icon to add picture
choice, although the most
important form of
recruitment in established
denominations takes place
through childbirth.
• The demands for activity
and compliance are
moderate, and there is a
relatively harmonious
DENOMINATI
ON
• The liberal branches of
Protestant groups belong
to this category.
• In the Philippines, the
religious groups affiliated
with the National Council Click icon to add picture
of Churches in the
Philippines (NCCP) are
usually tolerant of other
forms of religious
organizations.
• The NCCP, founded in
1963, is composed of ten
mainline Protestant and
non-Catholic
CULT
• Considered as deviant
groups within society.
• They were considered
“brainwashed” by their
religious organizations.
• “Brainwashing” means that
cult members were forced Click icon to add picture
to believe in the doctrine of
the group by force.
• Cults include the Moonies of
the Unification Church, the
Hare Krishna of the
International Society for
Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON), the Church of
Scientology, and the people
