INTRODUCTION TO

WORLD RELIGIONS AND

BELIEF SYSTEMS
PREPARED BY:

BRIAN REYES GANGCA

• What is RELIGION?
- It is an organized systems of beliefs, ceremonies, and
rules used to worship a god or group of gods
- An interest, a belief, or an activity that is very
important to a person or group (Webster Dictionary)
• 8 Elements of Religion
1. BELIEF SYSTEM or WORLDVIEW: Many beliefs that fit together
in a system to make sense of the universe and our place in it.
2. COMMUNITY: The belief system is shared, and its ideals are
practiced by a group.
3. CENTRAL STORIES/MYTHS: Stories that help explain the
beliefs of a group; these are told over and over again and
sometimes performed by members of the group. They may or
may not be factual.
• 4. RITUALS: Beliefs are explained, taught, and made real
through ceremonies.
• 5. ETHICS: Rules about how to behave; these rules are often
thought to have come from a deity or supernatural place, but
they might also be seen as guidelines created by the group
over time.
• 6. CHARACTERISTIC EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES: Most
religions share emotions such as awe, mystery, guilt, joy,
devotion, conversion, inner peace, etc.
7. MATERIAL EXPRESSION: Religions use things to perform
rituals or to express or represent beliefs, such as: statues,
paintings, music, flowers, incense, clothes, architecture, and specific
sacred locations.
8. SACREDNESS: Religions see some things as sacred and some
not sacred (or profane). Some objects, actions, people and places
may share in the sacredness or express it.
The Elements of Religion in Your Life
1. BELIEFS: What is one central belief of your religion?
2. COMMUNITY: How is your religion shared with others in
your religious community?
3. CENTRAL STORIES/MYTHS: What is one of the myths or
stories from your religion?
4. RITUALS: What ritual do you find meaningful in your religion?
5. ETHICS: What is one rule from your religion you are
supposed to follow?
6. EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES: Have you ever had an
emotional religious experience? What was it like?
7. MATERIAL EXPRESSION: What is one thing used in your
religion? What is it used for?
8. SACREDNESS: Can you think of a sacred place associated
with your religion? Why is it sacred?
10 Elements of Spirituality
1. Being on a spiritual journey, not earthly, but having a temporary mortal body, with a
potential for reincarnation.
2. The existence of a higher power (Universe/Nature), or other kind of generalized deity,
which is not attached to any one religion or gender; a loving, benevolent power that is
more guide than dictator.
3. An automatic intuitive connection with every other spiritual being on earth
4. The power and centrality of instinct and intuition to guide life and its outcomes.
5. Emphasis on loving and emotionally supporting others, and reaching out to them as a
natural way of living.
6. Keen appreciation of, and interest in, the wonders of nature and its
possibilities.
7. Feeling of serenity, fearlessness, contentment and acceptance of one's life and
fate.
8. Independence of thought and the desire to stand apart from the crowd, while
responding to the world's beauty and consciousness.
9. A feeling of being very special, knowledgeable, unselfish, empathetic and
grateful.
10. A strong and routine feeling of gratitude for blessings, possessions,
friendships and interactions.
Religion vs Spirituality
Spirituality gives the individual autonomy over his or her
interpretation of the soul or spirit, whereas religion implies
participation in a communal practice and interpretation of divine belief
and worship. It should be noted that many religious traditions contain
a “spiritual” element to them.
An easy way to differentiate between the two today is via
structure. Religion requires membership and embodies practices
and beliefs shaped over the course of history.
Religion vs Theology
Religion and Theology are two terms that are often confused when it
comes to their study. Religion is based on faiths and beliefs when it
comes to the acceptance of superhuman powers in the form of God or
Gods. On the other hand theology is the study of theistic thought. This
is especially true of Christianity. Theism is the acceptance of the
presence of God or superhuman power.
Religion does not deal with any sort of rational analysis. On the other
hand theology deals with the rational analysis of a religious faith.
RELIGION vs Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy in general is the rational investigation of truth,
whereas Religion often makes the same kind of truth claims
but doesn't claim to base it on reason or rationality, but instead
it is based on other things like faith.
3 Kinds of Religious Beliefs
Polytheistic (Many Gods)
- is the worship of or belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into
a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals.
- the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or ancestral
principles, and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a
creator God or transcendental absolute principle (monistic theologies), which
manifests immanently in nature (panentheisticand pantheistic theologies).Most of the
polytheistic deities of ancient religions, with the notable exceptions of the Ancient
Egyptian and Hindu deities, were conceived as having physical bodies.
- Example: Chinese traditional religion, Hinduism, Japanese Shinto, Mahayana Buddhism,
Confucianism and Taoism
Monotheism
- the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is all-powerful and
intervenes in the world.
- distinguished from henotheism, a religious system in which the believer worships one god
without denying that others may worship different gods with equal validity,
and monolatrism, the recognition of the existence of many gods but with the consistent
worship of only one deity.
- The broader definition of monotheism characterizes the traditions of Bábism, the Bahá'í
Faith, Cao Dai (Caodaiism), Cheondoism
(Cheondogyo), Christianity, Deism, Eckankar, Hindu sects such
as Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Islam, Judaism, Mandaeism, Rastafari, Seicho no
Ie, Sikhism, Tengrism (Tangrism), Tenrikyo (Tenriism), Yazidism, and Zoroastrianism, and
elements of pre-monotheistic thought are found in early religions such as Atenism, Ancient
Chinese religion, and Yahwism.
Atheism
- the absence of belief in the existence of deities
- is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is
the belief that at least one deity exists.