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03/28/24
WELCOME
TO

CLASS
CHARACTERISTICS
OF
RELIGIONS
 WHAT MAKES RELIGION-
RELIGION?
1. Many scholars have divergent views
concerning the distinctive features of
religion. The question is ‘What makes
religion-religion?’
2. According to Jordan Lyons, there are
four basic characteristics of religion.
3. Niels Nielsen contends that in reality,
religion has twelve characteristics.
Here is Jordan’s submission
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
RELIGIONS
All these characteristics may not be
explicit in every religion. They are,
however, present in most world
religions in one way or the other. A
characteristic which is dominant in
one religion may be present but
hidden in another.
 1. AWE BEFORE THE SACRED

This is the feeling you have as you appear

before the great God. It involves a sense of
mystery, a sense of guilt, and adoration. These
are "religious feelings" which tend to be
aroused in believers when they come in the
presence of Sacred, sacred objects, sacred
places, and during the practice of sacred
rituals. Usually, these feelings are connected
with the supernatural
 2. SACRED TEXTS & STATEMENTS
These may include writings, codes, and statements that are
believed to be the actual copies of the words of God or
words written down by people inspired by God. These
Sacred Texts, statement and Writing contain important
doctrines and practices that guide the activities of the
members.
Some examples include: The Torah, (The Bible-10
commandments, the Beatitudes; Quran- shari'ah ("Islamic
law"), the Tripitaka; for those in Buddhism taking vows
of poverty and chastity are required.
a) In some places, these statements are not
written down but are passed orally from
one generation to another.
b) The oral method of communication is
used to express the religious beliefs and
practices in the forms of stories, songs,
parables, wise statements, myths,
legends and parables among others.
 In Africa
Africans who follow a traditional religion
rely on no scriptures, canonical texts, or
holy books to guide them. In African
traditional religion guidance is provided
through myths, which are handed down
orally. Elders, kings, queens, priests,
priestesses and medicine men have served
as guardians of the sacred traditions.
 3. MYTHS
In this context, myth is the means or vehicle of
communicating values, morals and how one
should live among other things. There are
different kinds of myths as shown below:

a) THE COSMOGENIC MYTHS

b) THE SOCIOGENIC MYTHS
c) LIFE CRISIS MYTHS
d) HUNTING/AGRICULTURAL MYTHS
e) MYTHS ABOUT EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
 4. MAGIC
Defining magic and its various types is a complicated exercise.
Not all magic has the same intention and each magic
practitioner will use different approaches his or her objectives.
Magic is using the powers in nature through words and or actions
to achieve your desired objectives. Magic evokes some sort of
change in the physical world through non-scientific means.
What makes it good or evil, is not the kind of Magic that you use,
but the use to which you put it. On a general note, when magic
is put to a good use for humanity’s advantage it is called ‘white
magic.’ When magic is used for a wrong purpose or to achieve
a devilish objective, it is generally termed ‘black magic.’
 Types of magic
1. Natural magic, the magic of nature.
2. Talismanic magic.
3. Ceremonial magic
4. Invocative magic
5. Sympathetic magic
6. Illusionary magic
7. Divinatory magic
8. Folk Magic
9. Left and Right Hand Magic
10. Arcane Magic
11. Divine magic
12. Psychic magic

Natural Magic: can be divided into two categories:

(a) using the secrets of nature
(b) using the powers of nature.
There are eight schools of magic:
1. Abjuration
2. Conjuration
3. Divination
4. Enchantment
5. Evocation
6. Illusion
7. Necromancy
8. Transmutation
 5. PRAYER
Because the supernatural is so often personalized in religions, it
only makes sense that believers would seek interaction and
communication with the Divine. Many rituals, like sacrifices, are
one type of attempted interaction.
Prayer is a very common form of communication with God/gods
which might occur quietly with a single person, loudly and
publicly, or in the context of a group of believers.

When the Deity has been accorded anthropomorphic attributes,

prayers will normally be accompanied with adoration, confession,
atonement, supplication and thanksgiving among other.
 6. BELIEF IN MANA

BELIEF IN MANA: mana is a Melanesian word which

was adopted by anthropologists as a designation for the
belief in occult force or indwelling of the supernatural
power. The role of this force differs from one region to
another.
It is however powerful, works silently on things,
persons and also works in addition with all other natural
or available forces. It is further taken to be a force
which is transmissible from one object in nature to man,
and from one individual to another.
 7. ANIMISM

ANIMISM: This is based on the generally accepted

belief that all motionless objects both living and non-
living have spirit or souls in them and that these spirits
finally leaves those hey occupy at the death of those
objects.
 8. VENERATION AND WORSHIP
OF POWERS
This is the art of regarding something with deep sanctity
and respect. In this context, it stands for the respect and
acknowledgement accorded the presence of sacred power
in the air, trees, water, stones, plants, animals and man.
Have you ever considered why some strong animals, birds,
leaves, or any other object are found in the coat of arms or
even in the national flags of many nations today?
In some places, if you kill an animal, you will be forced to
give it full funeral rites. Why????
 9. TABOO/RELIGIOUS ETHICS
All religions have some codes of approved moral conduct.
This code may be derived through tenets and practices
may be written or oral. When some one goes against
any of the codes, then he/she is considered to have
committed a taboo.
Taboo is a social or religious custom prohibiting or
restricting a particular practice or forbidding association
with a particular person. It is also called ‘No Go Area’.
Examples of Taboo activities
1. Infanticide - killing an infant
2. Intermarriage - marriage between people who are closely related
3. Inter-religion marriage - marriage between people of different religions
4. Masturbation - manipulation of one’s own genitalia
5. Matricide - killing one’s mother
6. Miscegenation - sexual relations or marriage between different racial groups.
7. Murder - considered taboo unless in war or self-defense
8. Necrophilia - sexual attraction or intercourse with a corpse
9. Offensive language - obscenity or vulgarity
10. Patricide - killing one’s father
11. Pedophilia - having a sexual interest in prepubescent children
12. Polygamy - having more than one spouse at the same time
13. Pornography - showing body parts for sexual excitement
14. Pregnant bride - this was a forbidden topic of conversation
15. Sex selective abortion - terminating a pregnancy based on gender, usually female
16. Sex selective infanticide - killing an infant based on gender, usually female
17. Slavery - humans are treated as property and made to work for no pay
18. Suicide - the taking of one’s own life
19. Wearing shoes inside - in some places, shoes are not worn inside a house
1. Abortion - terminating a pregnancy
2. Addiction - addiction to legal or illegal drugs, including alcoholism
3. Adultery - sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse
4. Bestiality or Zoophilia - sexual relations between a human and an animal
5. Bigotry - speaking negatively about someone of another race
6. Blood products - Jehovah Witnesses are forbidden to use blood products, including blood transfusions
7. Cannibalism - a human being eating the flesh of another human being
8. Circumcision - this is practiced by Jews for religious reasons
9. Flowers - giving an even number of flowers is taboo in Russia because they are for the dead
10. Fornication - sexual relations between people not married to one another
11. Gestures - certain gestures are considered obscene
12. Head position - in Indonesia, it is taboo to have your head higher than an elderly person
13. Homosexuality - sexual attraction or relations with people of the same gender
14. Illegal drugs - using or abusing illegal drugs
15. Incest - sexual relations between relatives. Different cultures have different definitions of how close a
relative would be considered taboo.
Taboos on Bodily Functions
1. Belching
2. Defecation
3. Flatulence
4. Menstruation - in some cultures a woman is secretive about
her monthly cycle
5. Nose blowing in public - this is taboo in Turkey
6. Spitting
7. Urination
There are also Dietary Taboos
 10. PURIFICATION RITES

Ritual purification is the purification ritual

prescribed by a religion by which a person
about to perform some ritual is considered to
be free of uncleanliness, especially prior to
the worship, special celebration, ceremony,
etc. Purification rites are required whenever
there has been some kind of polluting
contact.
 Types of purification rites
The polluted individual might be required to swim or bathe in the sea, a river, a pond,
or special tank. Bathing in swift-flowing streams is often considered especially
effective because the rapidly flowing water not only removes the impurities but
carries them away.
• Water may be poured, sprinkled, thrown, or blown upon it in some parts of the
world. Simply touching water or gazing at it is considered purificatory in many
parts of the world. When there is no water, clay, mud, wet herbs, flowers, use of
salt, or plants could be used. In cultures in which saliva is not considered polluting,
expectorating or even breathing on something may be viewed as purificatory
gestures.
• Ordinary sweeping a house or certain area of the ground or brushing the polluted
person or object, often with a brush made of fibres from a symbolically pure source;
scraping the surface of a polluted object or utensil; shaving and cutting the hair and
nails; removing clothing and washing it or destroying it; and putting on clean or
new clothes.
• The use of purgatives to induce internal cleansing/vomiting is also used in some
places. Sweat and steam baths are believed to bring the impurities out of the person
as symbolized by the emerging sweat. Bloodletting is another form of purification.
Purification by water
Purification by water
Fire purification
 11. SACRIFICE

An offering presented to the

Divine as a token to express
thanksgiving, to acknowledge
guilt, and to restore good
relations with him.
The Eucharist as sacrifice: “La Ultima Cena,” oil painting by
Juan de Juanes (c. 1523–79). In the Prado, Madrid. Archivo
Mas, Barcelona
An illustration from a reproduction of the Codex Magliabecchi depicting an Aztec priest
performing a sacrificial offering of a living human heart to the war god Huitzilopochtli.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZC4-743)
 12. ATTITUDE TOWARD THE DEAD
Death in Africa is perceived as the beginning of a person's deeper
relationship with all of creation, the complementing of life and the
beginning of the communication between the visible and the invisible
worlds. The goal of life is to become an ancestor after death. This is
why every person who dies must be given a “befitting burial
ceremony", by his children.

If this is not done, (it is believed) the dead person may become a
wandering ghost, unable to "live" properly after death and therefore a
danger to those who remain alive.
The attitude towards the dead and funerals would seem to indicate that
a dead Nigerian is worth far more than a living one. Note this: when a
man is admitted to hospital for one sickness or the other, and he
recovers from his ailment. He is discharged but is forced to remain in
the hospital for a very long time because he has no family to pay his
hospital bills.
• But this same individual, after four weeks the doctor sends a
message out the man has died. The very next day
sympathizers and mourners arrive at the hospital, they are
ready to pay all the bills and arrange for the body to be put
in the mortuary until burial.

• There is no question about there being no money to pay the

hospital bills once the man has died.
• This man’s body is kept in the morgue until a house is
rehabilitated, a new roof fixed and a fresh coat of paint is
put on it. In about eight cases out of 10 when you see a
house being painted (in Nigeria), it means there is a death in
the family.
 13. CEREMONY

A sacred rite, a formal act or series of acts prescribed by ritual.

Ceremony is also a visual demonstration of responsibility and
accountability between the human devotees and the Divine.

PURPOSE OF CEREMONY
1.To renew, strengthen the bond between devotees and
Deity/spirits and ancestors.
2.Provides socio- psychological affirmation for devotees
3.Serving as social conduct – mechanism in society by
prescribing accountability patterns or loyalty,.
4.prescribing parameter for acceptable conduct.
 14. RITUALS
A ritual is a prescribed pattern of religious behaviour. Rituals
contain definite structures and use symbols to make them
effective by the religious leaders. These rituals are often
regarded as revealed by the Divine
To be meaningful, rituals must takes place at sacred times, in
sacred places, and/or with sacred objects. These rituals serve as
unifying factors between the members of the organization, with
their God, as well as with their ancestors according to their
tenets.
Some of these rituals are associated with rites performed at birth,
puberty, marriage, death and even after death.
15. RITUAL EXPRESSION AND
ANXIETY
A. RITUAL EXPRESSION AND ANXIETY:
Closely connected with rituals are the
expressions and anxiousness devotees have
before, during and even after the rituals have
been performed.
B. RITUAL EXPENTANCY: This is connected
with the final result or outcomes of the rituals.
Devotees look forward to some favorable results
after performing rituals to the great One.
 16. RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES
These include sacred time/periods, sacred
space/places and special persons set apart to
take care of these structures. This involves the
when, how and where people worship as well
as important people within those religious
structures.
 17. SACRED SYMBOLS
All religions have their unique symbols.
Through these, the adherents try to capture
in visual form something that is important or
central to that religion. These symbols are
visual representations of the whole religion.
Consider the cross in Christianity. In the same
way, the moon and star are symbols unique
to Islam
 17. DISTINCTION BETWEEN
SACRED AND SECULAR
Religion distinguishes between the sacred and
the secular. Adherents know where to draw
the line when it comes to what is common and
what is not. Mircea Eliade, have argued that
this distinction should be considered the most
outstanding defining feature of religion.
This distinction helps believers differentiate
between sacred people, sacred periods, sacred
places, and sacred objects.
 18. BELIEF IN SUPERNATURAL
BEINGS
Belief in the supernatural, that is God or gods,
is one of the common features of religion.
This belief could be monotheistic or
polytheistic. Indeed, all religions share their
beliefs in God or gods as well as beliefs
about human nature, the meaning/purpose of
life, how to live one’s life and where one is
going after death.