Understanding Religion and Belief Systems: Concepts, Major Faiths, and Purposes, Exercises of Religion

Download Understanding Religion and Belief Systems: Concepts, Major Faiths, and Purposes and more Exercises Religion in PDF only on Docsity! 4 » Unit 2: Religion and Belief systems Unit in Brief ● Concepts of Religion (important terms and definitions) ● Major Religions ● Religion and Human Interaction ○ Expansion/Conversion ○ Conflicts between/within faiths ○ Impact on Culture ○ Secularism ● Animism ● Hinduism ● Buddhism ● Sikhism ● Confucianism ● Taoism ● Judaism ● Christianity ● Islam Important Terms ● Theism ● Religion ● Deity/Deities ● Atheism ● Nontheism ● Agnosticism ● Deism ● Secularism What is Religion? ● A religion is a set of values, morals, rules, and/or traditions that accompany the supernatural or divine ● To date, there are around 4,200 different religions practiced around the world Largest World Religions Christianity 2.1 billion Islam 1.3 billion Hinduism 900 million Buddhism 376 million Sikhism 23 million Judaism 14 million Dao (Way, Path)  With a partner... What are the purposes of a religion? Brainstorm some different reasons about why human beings have religion Purposes of Religion ● Religion is typically used for three main things: ○ Explaining natural events and phenomena ○ Providing a set of ethics and morals ○ Eschatology Natural Events and Phenomena What areas of the world appear to be the most religious? Why might some countries be more religious than others? Atheism vs. Agnosticism ● Atheism is the total lack of belief in deities or the supernatural ○ Usually cites lack of evidence ○ Atheism is different than non-theism, because non-theists still believe in the supernatural Atheism vs. Agnosticism Agnosticism and atheism are not the same ● Gnosis is knowledge of spiritual mysteries (God’s existence, the future, God’s will) ● Agnosticism: The idea that the existence of a deity/deities is unknowable ○ Has nothing to do with whether a deity exists or not ● So… ○ An agnostic Christian still believes in God, but doesn’t believe his existence can be proven ○ Becomes a matter of faith Religion can be as simple or complicated as people make it For example… a e ee ee e f oor ae =% ‘i pe = <7 aa eae ca - Papers . x La a PISS ti coed el 7 en ag —— im ~~ Sere a 1 ar eed ay Porn weapon See fo / a | 7 | - P- 7 " 7 Rd Pence aay maker shubarugothew a) Korean i . eX ay