WORLD RELIGION IN

FOCUS
Lesson 1: Understanding the Nature of Religion
 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

 MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITY

• In the context of religion, list down 10 things that you

believe in by completing the following statements.
What have you observed in your own belief system?
• I believe in/that ____________________________
 WORLDVIEW
•A collection of beliefs about life
and the universe being held by
people
DIFFERENT KINDS OF BELIEF SYSTEMS OR
WORLDVIEW

1. MONISM- there is no real distinction between god and the universe

2. POLYTHEISM- the belief and worship in many gods
3. MONOTHEISM- the doctrine or belief in one supreme god
4. ATHEISM- disbelief or denial of the existence of a personal god
5. AGNOSTICISM- god cannot be known
 THEISM
• “is a belief in the existence of one god
viewed as the creative source of the human
race and the world who transcend yet is
immanent in the world”
 MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION
• Claims that there is only one God who could have designed
and created the universe or may have directed all events that
led to the creation of everything.
• There is one Supreme God who is both personal and moral,
and who seeks a total and unqualified response from humans
• Judaism, Christianity and Islam
 POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION
• Common among early people who recognize many
principal gods among whom no one is supreme
• It include the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece,
and Rome wherein people worship a multitude of
personal gods.
 MONISM
• Asserts that there is no genuine distinction between god and the
universe.
• TWO IMPLICATIONS
1. It contends that God is dwelling in the universe as part of it
2. The universe does not exist at all as a reality but only as a
manifestation of God.
• ATHEISTS- deny the existence of god
• AGNOSTICS- deny the possibility for man
to acquire knowledge of the existence of
god.
 AGNOSTICS
• a person who believes that nothing is known or can be
known of the existence or nature of God or of
anything beyond material phenomena; a person who
claims neither faith nor disbelief in God (Oxford
Dictionary)
• Neither believes nor disbelieves in god or religious
doctrine
 RELIGION
• An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules
used to worship god or a group of gods
• Latin-religio –somethings done with overanxious or
scrupulous attention to detail
• Religare – to tie together or to bind fast.
 Belief in a
deity’s
relationship
with the
world

Rules
followed as a Belief in
result of deity
beliefs
RELIGION

Place and
Ways to people
worship a believed to
deity be holy and
sacred
 ORIGINS OF RELIGION
• ARCHAEOLOGISTS- HOMO SAPIENS- 60,000
YEARS AGO
• Aside from burying the dead, various items such as
foods, tools and other objects were placed inside the
site.
 DIFFERENT THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF
RELIGION

1. ANIMISTIC THEORY- Edward Burnett Tylor- believed

in souls or ANIMA
• Robert Henry Codrington- Melanesian people believed
in MANA- a mysterious force that inhibited all of nature.
It can be avoided by establishing TABOOS.
2. NATURE WORSHIP THEORY
• Humans developed their religion through their
observations
• Sun
• Moon
• Mythology
3. THEORY OF ORIGINAL MONOTHEISM
• Wilhelm Schmidt –Austrian anthropologist
• Australia and Africa
• One great god above all others
• Creator of the world
• Father of the many deities
• Originally monotheistic but because it was difficult to worship just
one god, religion was corrupted to polytheism
 4. MAGIC THEORY
• James George Frazer- Scottish social anthropologist
• Three Phases of Development
1. Primitive magic- control nature -rituals should be done
properly
2. Religion- nature cannot be coerced
3. Science- rational understanding of nature is operative
 5. WISH FULFILLMENT THEORY
• Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach- German philosopher and
anthropologist
• There were no gods and that belief in gods was simply wish
fulfillment.
• Troubled people who could not cope with the difficulties in
life projected their wishes and developed gods and religions
• Karl Heinrich Marx-German philosopher and anthropologist
• Religions were developed by the few as a means to control the
masses and suppress revolution as a result of the continuing struggle
between classes
• Rulers and Priests- wish to control all wealth so they had to create a
scheme of gods, heaven and hell
• Masses were persuaded to accept poverty and be obedient to inherit
bliss in another life
• SIGMUND FREUD- Austrian neurologist and founder Father of
Psychoanalysis
• Religion originated from guilt that individuals supposedly feel in
hating their fathers.
• All males possess a similar tendency to desire our mothers and hate
our fathers
• A great father image was projected in the sky called God.
• A healthy mature person can face problems without the need for gods
or religions.
 SPIRITUALITY
• Comes in with the term “spiritual” being defined as “relating
or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or
physical things”
• Derived from the Latin word “spiritus” its verb root is
“spirare” which means “to breathe”
• People are surrounded by a “divine reality as pervasive,
intimate, necessary and invisible as the air we breathe, which
is similar to Hindu “prana” and Chinese “chi.”
 DIFFERENCE

RELIGION- viewed as set of ideals practiced and followed

by organized group
SPIRITUALITY- something an individual can have without
being implicated in the ambivalent complexity of human
societies institutions.
One may find inner peace, satisfaction and contentment in life
that are truly independent of religious dogmas and tenets.
 THEOLOGY
• A study and not a formulation of religious
beliefs.
• A collection of assembled religious beliefs
or is the study of God and religion
 PHILOSPHY OF RELIGION
• deals primarily with issues concerning religion, which includes
analysis on the existence of a divine being or on sacred texts.
• Involves in studying the concepts and belief systems of the religions
• It is not a branch of theology but a branch of philosophy
• It seeks to analyze various concepts such as god, spirit, karma,
creation, immortality, heaven, hell and purgatory among others.
 ACTIVITY
• Write a one-page essay on the topic “ Religion: What Does
it Mean to Me? Guided by the following questions:
• What different values have your religion instilled in you?
• What various guiding principles which may have been
influenced by your religion do you adhere to in your life?
 RUBRICS

• CONTENT 7
• ORGANIZATON 7
• DEVELOPMENT 6
• TOTAL 20
THANK YOUR FOR
LISTENING