What is Religion?
Religare
 Latin root
 Re plus ligare
 To bind, to tie fast
Religia
 Latin – obligation or bond
“That part of some people’s lives which
involves rituals, beliefs, organizations,
ethical values, historical traditions and
personal habits or choices – some of which
refer to the transcendent.”
“The sacred always manifests itself as a reality of a
wholly different order from ‘natural’ realities.
...The First possible definition of the sacred is
that it is the opposite of the profane.”
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Sacred: set apart for worship of a deity or as
worthy of worship.
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Profane: nonreligious.
 Outside the sphere of religion.
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Seven Dimensions of Religion.
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Not a definition, but identifying features that
help us understand the way academics think
about the topic.
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Formal or informal
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Temporal and spatial
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Experiential or Emotional
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– Mysterium tremendum fascinansa
mysterious something that draws you in and
inspires both awe and fear

Mysticism key here
- Intuitive
- Beyond reason
Experiential or Emotional
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Myth
a vehicle that relates a truth defying normal
expression and sets pattern for human
behaviors
Usually considered poetry (metaphors!)
rather than prose
Symbol
something that stands for or suggests something
else by reason of relationship, association,
convention, or accidental resemblance
Roses = romance
Lion = bravery
Metaphor
a word or phrase for one thing that is used to
refer to another thing in order to show or
suggest that they are similar
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Broken Heart
Wounded King
Achilles Heel
Cosmogony
 Accounts of the creation of the world
Cosmology is different (the nature and structure of the
universe – can be scientific, too)
Eschatology
 Accounts/Beliefs about the end of the world
Morality Tale
 How to behave in relation to others; your code
Mythologist
Comparative Religions/Mythologies
Monomyth
One single great story
Template/Model
All of the great myths have a common pattern;
Famous example – Hero Tales
Video
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The principles of a tradition

Typically explain complex ideas

May or may not be familiar to the average
believer, but is part of the scholarly tradition
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The things required of a believer
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Social and Institutional Dimension
Artifacts
– Buildings
– Art
– Music
– Symbols
– Natural World
Religions help us deal with a variety of
human needs. For example: – Give us a
way to think about our own mortality
– Help us to find security in an insecure
world
– Organize us socially
– Assist the poorest and the weakest with
survival
– Stimulate artistic production

1856-1939
 Religion is about projecting our
childhood experiences with our
parents onto a God or gods

1875-1961
 Individuation or personal
fulfillment
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Symbols particularly important
Theistic
– Religions based on a
Multiple relationship
with a divine being;
apparent forms of the
divine; there is one
ultimate reality
Polytheistic
– Multiple forms of the
divine
Atheism
– Non-belief in any deity
Monotheistic
Agnosticism
– The Divine in a Singular
– No knowledge if the
form
divine exists or can be
known
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Insight into other cultures and into the lives of
other people. Religion is a key to the way many
people live.

Understanding religious practice helps us to
better understand others’ lives and hopefully, to
be tolerant of people not like us.

Improve your appreciation of new places
because you can understand what you see and
hear and experience more fully.
•
To assist in your own religious quest. Summed up
simply: we can learn from others who do not
practice as we do.
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To appreciate everyday life more fully. You cannot
see a movie, read a book, hear a song, listen to a
Presidential debate without some mention of
religion it seems. Knowing more is a positive.
•
To make you a better citizen of the world