INTRODUCTION TO
WORLD RELIGIONS
AND BELIEF SYSTEM
“Understanding the Nature of Religion”
JAN MARIANNE P. PAROHINOG, LPT
RELIGION
ATHEISTIC
MONOTHEISTIC
MONISTIC
POLYTHEISTIC
DEVELOPING BELIEFS AND WORLDVIEW
 Every individual sees and interprets the world quite differently from one
another. This overall perspective is also termed “worldview”.
KINDS OF BELIEF SYSTEM
 MONISM – there is no real distinction between god and the universe.
 POLYTHEISM – the belief and worship of many gods.
 MONOTHEISM – the doctrine or belief in one supreme god.
 ATHEISM – disbelief in or denial of the existence of a personal god.
 AGNOTICISM – god cannot be known.
 Theism, often used as a synonym to monotheism, is defined as a “belief
in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human
race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world.
 Monotheistic religions, claim 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.
Examples: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
 Polytheistic religions, they recognize many principal gods wherein no
one is extreme.
Examples: 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.
- god is only dwelling in the universe as part of it.
- the universe does not exist at all as a reality but only as a
manifestion of phenomenon of god.
Furthermore, while ATHEIST deny the existence of god,
AGNOSTICS deny the possibility for man to acquire knowledge of
god.
 Agnoticism is a belief that god is unknown and unknowable.
DEFINITION AND NATURE OF RELIGION
 RELIGION – an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules used
to worship a god or a group of gods.
- from the Latin word “religio” which means
“something done with overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail.”
- from the Latin verb “religare” which means
“to tie together, to bind fast.”
It its original sense, the word refers to the expression of proper piety
(devotion/respect) that is binding to god.
DEFINITION AND NATURE OF RELIGION
Religion commonly refers to an institution that has a
set of organized practices and a structured belief
system shared by and among those who are
member of institution.
Belief of a
community about a
deity’s relationship
with the world.
Belief of a
community about a
deity.
RELIGION
Ways in which the
community
worships the deity.
Places and people
which the
community believe
to be holy and
sacred.
Rules which the
community follows
as a result of
beliefs.
THEOLOGY – involves the systematic study of the existence
and nature of the divine.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
– deals primarily with issues concerning religion that includes
an analysis on the existence of a divine being or on sacred
texts.
- It seeks to analyze various concepts such as god, spirit,
karma, creation, immortality, heaven, hell, purgatory among
others.
ORIGINS OF RELIGION