Rel 134 - Studying Religion

Studying Religion

Jaynice Harden

April 4, 2016

REL/ 134 World Religious Traditions II

James Davidson

Studying Religion

When it comes to religion, it plays a huge role in people’s lives and an even more important role in cultures all over the globe on a day to day basis. There are different views on religion and who and what represents the divine yet it offer a number of different perspectives on how a person should worship and so appreciation to whomever they consider to be divine. In this paper, I will further analyze all the necessary essentials that play a role in the practices and what it is that a person has to believe in to be considered a religion, the commonalities that of the three different religions, and some issues it can create.

Essentials

In every religion there is a similarity of what is the essential element. This is something that one person would not be able to explain in plain English because it is beyond a person’s imagination where it is the sacred or the holy. Even though they share a number of things that are sacred, there are some differences when it comes to the traditions that are celebrated, the organization and what their beliefs are. Traditions are the foundation of the religion. Elements that are found in the traditions include but are not limited to are beliefs, practices, and structure. The ethical rules is what says how those in the community should live and how they should conduct themselves according to the religion. Myths are what people tell in order to try to support the religion. The elements that back-up the truths in these myths is sacraments. Sacredness is how a person worship and practice their beliefs and turn them into reality via ceremonies. During these ceremonies, people take the time out to have a conversation with their God and while doing so they alleviate emotional experiences that they are dealing with through guilt. Praying is what more people do in different religions which are considered a ritual.

Western Religions

Following this further, there are a number of religions that share the same ritual. These religions include the Western religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three of these religions meet every week in their sacred place (synagogue, church, mosque) to study the word. The monotheism is what is considered the common core because they only believe in one God, one creator and he is the only judge. All three religions practice fasting at a certain time of the year for a certain time period. This is determined depending on what their religion is and this is done as a sign for praising their God. Heaven and hell, with angels representing heaven and demons representing hell, is what all three religions believe in. There are a number of studies that goes further into details about these commonalities.