1.

THE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION

Cosmology

 An explanation for the origin or history of the world. Religious cosmologies provide “big picture”
explanations for how human life was created and provide a perspective on the forces or powers
at work in the world. 

Supernatural

 A realm beyond direct human experience. This belief could include a God or gods, but this is not
a requirement. Quite a few religious beliefs, as discussed below, involve more abstract ideas
about supernatural forces. 

Rules Governing Behavior

 These rules define proper conduct for individuals and for society as a whole and are oriented
toward bringing individual actions into harmony with spiritual beliefs. 

Ritual

 Practices or ceremonies that serve a religious purpose and are usually supervised by religious
specialists. Rituals may be oriented toward the supernatural, such as rituals designed to please
the gods, but at the same time they address the needs of individuals or the community as a
whole

2. TYPES OF RELIGION

Judaism
 Judaism is a strictly monotheistic religion practiced by the Jewish people, an ethnic and religious
nation descended from the historic peoples of Israel and Judah.

Christianity

 Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered around the personage of Jesus of Nazareth, or

Jesus Christ.

Islam

 Islam is a strictly monotheistic faith founded by the prophet Muhammad in the year 607 in
present-day Saudi Arabia. 

Baha'i

 Baha'i is the youngest major world religion, founded in 1863 by the prophet Bah'u'llh. Baha'i grew
out of the earlier religion of Babism, whose founder the Bab presaged the coming of another
great prophet like the coming of Muhammad.

Zoroastrianism

 Zoroastrianism is perhaps the world's oldest monotheistic religion, founded by the Persian
prophet Zoroaster
Shinto

 Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan, which incorporates a vast array of local beliefs and
customs across the nation. 

Hinduism

 Hinduism is by many accounts the oldest religion in the world, due to its origins in Vedic beliefs
dating as far back as the 1500s BCE. The religion has no founder, and is a synthesis of many
different Indian religious traditions.

Buddhism

 Buddhism is a religious tradition founded by Gautama Buddha in the early 400s BCE, drawing
from (or opposing) many of the same Vedic traditions that inform Hinduism. 

Jainism

 Jainism is an ancient religious tradition from India; per its practitioners Jainism is eternal, or at
least older than Hinduism, but many historical estimates will place it contemporary with Buddhism
as a Classical offshoot of old Vedic tradition.

Sikhism

 Sikhism is a young religion founded in the early 1500s CE in Punjab (Northern India) by the Guru
Nanak. Guru Nanak was raised as a Hindu in the Muslim-ruled Mughal Empire, but he rejected
both dominant faiths and began preaching his own religion. 

Confucianism

 Confucianism, it must be said, is not a religion in a strict sense. It is a philosophy that draws on
the folk religion of China. 

Taoism

 Taoism is a philosophy and religion originating in China around the same time as Confucianism,
and was the primary rival to Confucian thought out of the Hundred Schools. 

3. PERSPECTIVE I RELIGION

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  also known as symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details
of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. 

Functionalist Perspective

 also called functionalism, each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's

functioning as a whole. The government, or state, provides education for the children of the
family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. 

The Conflict Perspective

 The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marx's writings on class struggles,
presents society in a different light than do the functionalist and symbolic interactionist
perspectives. While these latter perspectives focus on the positive aspects of society that
 contribute to its stability, the conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever‐
changing nature of society.

4. The World’s Major Religion

The world’s primary religions fall into two categories: Abrahamic religions, such as
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; and Indian religions, which include Hinduism, Buddhism,
Sikhism, and others differ in many respects, including how each religion is organized and the
belief system each upholds. Other differences include the nature of belief in a higher power, the
history of how the world and the religion began, and the use of sacred texts and objects.

Judaism
 Judaism is a strictly monotheistic religion practiced by the Jewish people, an ethnic and religious
nation descended from the historic peoples of Israel and Judah.

Christianity

 Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered around the personage of Jesus of Nazareth, or

Jesus Christ.

Islam

 Islam is a strictly monotheistic faith founded by the prophet Muhammad in the year 607 in
present-day Saudi Arabia. 

Baha'i

 Baha'i is the youngest major world religion, founded in 1863 by the prophet Bah'u'llh. Baha'i grew
out of the earlier religion of Babism, whose founder the Bab presaged the coming of another
great prophet like the coming of Muhammad.

Zoroastrianism

 Zoroastrianism is perhaps the world's oldest monotheistic religion, founded by the Persian
prophet Zoroaster

Shinto

 Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan, which incorporates a vast array of local beliefs and
customs across the nation. 

Hinduism

 Hinduism is by many accounts the oldest religion in the world, due to its origins in Vedic beliefs
dating as far back as the 1500s BCE. The religion has no founder, and is a synthesis of many
different Indian religious traditions.

Buddhism

 Buddhism is a religious tradition founded by Gautama Buddha in the early 400s BCE, drawing
from (or opposing) many of the same Vedic traditions that inform Hinduism. 

Jainism
  Jainism is an ancient religious tradition from India; per its practitioners Jainism is eternal, or at
least older than Hinduism, but many historical estimates will place it contemporary with Buddhism
as a Classical offshoot of old Vedic tradition.

Sikhism

 Sikhism is a young religion founded in the early 1500s CE in Punjab (Northern India) by the Guru
Nanak. Guru Nanak was raised as a Hindu in the Muslim-ruled Mughal Empire, but he rejected
both dominant faiths and began preaching his own religion. 

Confucianism

 Confucianism, it must be said, is not a religion in a strict sense. It is a philosophy that draws on
the folk religion of China. 

Taoism

 Taoism is a philosophy and religion originating in China around the same time as Confucianism,
and was the primary rival to Confucian thought out of the Hundred Schools.