Unit 3
Religion
History of Religion Part 2
Mr. Young
Sociology
I CAN:
1. Explain the basic structure of Religion
2. Analyze the 4 major categories of
Religion
3. Evaluate the 4 major religious
organizations
Definition of Religion
• A Unified system of beliefs and
practices concerned with sacred
things
What Religion sets apart
Sacred
• Things set apart from
daily life
Profane
• Nonsacred, everyday
aspects of life
1) Religious Experience
• A sudden awareness
of the supernatural or
a feeling of coming
into contact with God
• Example: born againin Christianity when a
person has
undergone a lifetransforming religious
experience and feel
as if they are a new
person
2) Belief
• Ideas that people
believe to be true
• Includes values (how
people ought to live)
and cosmology (a
unified picture of the
world)
3) Faith
• One of the most
important aspects of
religion is faithunquestioning belief that
does not require proof
or scientific evidence
• Sacred- refers to those
aspects of life that are
extraordinary or
supernatural
• Profane- the everyday,
secular “worldly”
aspects of life
4) Rituals
• Rituals- regularly
repeated and
carefully prescribed
forms of behaviors
that symbolize a
cherished value or
belief
• This can include The
Lord’s Supper,
Muslims bowing
toward Mecca
Rituals videos
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgYEuJ
5u1K0
• Monty Python Monk Video
Symbols
• Symbols- helps to
provide identity with a
particular religion
• Usually sacred
emblems that evoke
feelings of awe and
reverence
Symbols Video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFhJVy
7TLio
• Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 1
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fiVkfQ
n8Jo
• Multiple Meanings of Symbols Part 2
Community
• All of the others lead to this
• Feel a close bond with one another
because their faith and beliefs are usually
the same
• Usually refer to one another as brother or
sister, fosters a sense of family
• Usually very powerful and can help people
that need structure
Doctrine
• A particular principle,
position, or policy
taught or advocated,
as of religion or
government
• Simply put teachings
that a certain religion
is founded upon
4 major categories
•
Religion is based on 4 major categories
1.
2.
3.
4.
Simple supernaturalism
Animism
Theism
Nontheistic Religion
1) Simple Supernaturalism
• The belief that
supernatural forces affect
people’s lives either
positively or negatively
• This type of religion does
not acknowledge specific
gods or supernatural
spirits but focuses instead
on impersonal forces that
may exist in people or
natural objects
2) Animism
• Belief that plants,
animals, or other
elements of the natural
world are endowed with
spirits or life forces that
have an impact on
events in society
• Example: Native
American hunting
rituals
• Everyday life is not
necessarily separated
from the elements of
the natural world
Theism
•
•
Belief in a god or
gods
Christianity, Islam,
Greeks, Egyptians
A) Monotheism
1. a belief in a single,
supreme being or
god who is
responsible for
significant events
such as the creation
of the world
• Worlds major
religions,
Christianity,
Judaism, and Islam,
believe this way
B) Polytheism
1. a belief in more
than one god
• Hinduism,
Shinto, and
many African
religions
4) Nontheistic Religion
• Religion based on a
belief in divine
spiritual forces such
as sacred principles
of thought and
conduct, rather than a
god or gods
• Similar to Buddhism
Types of Religious Organizations
•
Four major types of religious
organizations
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cult
Sect
Church (Denomination)
Ecclesia
Videos on Cults
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXYb3zI
tEdU
• 3D dialogue on Cults
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvvSuv
SA3EI
• What is a cult video (2 min)
1) Cult
• A new, loosely
organized religious
group, with few
followers, with practices
and teachings outside
the dominant cultural
and religious traditions
of a society
• All major religions
began as a cult
• Jim Jones and
Jonestown, Heaven’s
Gate and Hale-Bopp
Comet
Characteristics of a Cult
• Charismatic Leader- someone who exerts
extraordinary appeal to a group of
followers
• Members antagonize the majority because
they believe they have found the truth
• Demands intense commitment, usually a
sense of close community among the
followers
Top 10 Cults
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNOSm
9wvf5o
• (6 min)
2) Sect
• Relatively small religious
group that has broken
away from another
religious organization to
renew what it views as
the original version of the
faith
• Typically appeal to those
who might be
characterized as lower
class
• Loosely organized and
fairly smaller
Sect Cont.
• Stress evangelism- the active recruitment
of new members
• If sects grow they can tend to gradually
make peace with society, move up in
socio-economic status, and can become a
church
A) Denomination
• Midway between church
and sect
• A large organized religion
characterized by
accommodation to
society but frequently
lacking in ability or
intention to dominate
society
• Approximately 38,000
Christian denominations
in the world
3) Church
• A large, bureaucratically organized
religious organization that tends to seek
accommodations with the larger society in
order to maintain some degree of control
over it
• Church membership largely based on birth
• Religious services highly ritualized
• Examples: Lutheran and Episcopal church
4) Ecclesia
• A religious organization that is so
integrated into the dominant culture that it
claims as its membership all members of a
society
• Also known as state religion
• Examples: Church of England, Lutheran
Church in Sweden and Denmark, Roman
Catholic Church in Italy and Spain, and
Islam in Iraq and Iran