Bishop David Doyle: Elements Of Religious Traditions
Elements of Religious Traditions Paper
Jennifer Kilburn
REL133
April 25, 2012
Bishop David Doyle
Elements of Religious Traditions
Customs of religions are past down from one generation to another within a religious organization. An individual’s family is another way that religious traditions can be passed down. Customs and traditions of a religious faith are sought out by the individual, and still play a big role in his or her belief system. All religions say, do, and organize traditions in certain ways that are helpful to teach the belief systems to others. There are also critical issues in the study of religion that may occur or have a reason to be questioned.
Religious Traditions
There are many religions in the world.
In all religions a person can find what is taught in some sort of text, doctrine, stories, and myths. Although there are many written texts for different religions, most tribal religions don’t have a written sacred text. According to most scholars a centralized story is a myth, such as the life of the Hindu god Krishna, the enlightenment of the Buddha, the Israelites becoming free of Egypt, the death and resurrection of Jesus, or Muhammad’s escape from Mecca to Medina (Molloy, 2010). Just because scholars call these stories myths does not make the events that happen untrue. All of these myths are what make up the central belief systems of the religions they are from. Besides myths, religions also have other stories that are told like the great flood story, the story of how the world is going to end, and other stories that show how one is to act toward others.
Many religions, a person can find some sort of worship, prayer, pilgrimage, and ritual. Beliefs that are made real through ceremonies are called rituals (Molloy, 2010). This can be found in how one prays and worships. A pilgrimage of a religion usually is some sort of travel that one will make to fulfill some sort of need to complete the person’s spiritual needs.
Religions have a structure to the individual organization based on the leadership and relationships among members. The leadership role can be filled by a teacher of some sort or a big role such as the Pope. When a person belongs to a religion, he or she belongs to a community. This community shares a belief system and for the most part practices in a group (Molloy, 2010). Not all people in a community feel the need to join the group. When practicing what he or she believes, outside the group setting, does not make that person any less part of the community.
Critical Issues of Religion
There are people that need to have physical proof of something and if there is none that person will just think that it just cannot exist. Religion is based off of faith and believing in the words that are handed down over the years. There are many that would argue that religions have been lost in translation and editing. Whether it was taught by the spoken word or text, all it takes is one person to misinterpret what was taught to have the world doubt that belief. Just because one Muslim decides to take lives does not mean that is what that religion is about.
Conclusion
A traditional definition of religion is a system of belief that involves worship of God or gods, prayer, ritual, and a moral code. Another way to think of religion is to describe it as a way of life based on apprehension of sacredness (Molloy, 2010). There are many different belief systems out and they are all based on customs that are past down from one generation to another.
Reference
Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition challenge and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Jennifer Kilburn
REL133
April 25, 2012
Bishop David Doyle
Elements of Religious Traditions
Customs of religions are past down from one generation to another within a religious organization. An individual’s family is another way that religious traditions can be passed down. Customs and traditions of a religious faith are sought out by the individual, and still play a big role in his or her belief system. All religions say, do, and organize traditions in certain ways that are helpful to teach the belief systems to others. There are also critical issues in the study of religion that may occur or have a reason to be questioned.
Religious Traditions
There are many religions in the world.
In all religions a person can find what is taught in some sort of text, doctrine, stories, and myths. Although there are many written texts for different religions, most tribal religions don’t have a written sacred text. According to most scholars a centralized story is a myth, such as the life of the Hindu god Krishna, the enlightenment of the Buddha, the Israelites becoming free of Egypt, the death and resurrection of Jesus, or Muhammad’s escape from Mecca to Medina (Molloy, 2010). Just because scholars call these stories myths does not make the events that happen untrue. All of these myths are what make up the central belief systems of the religions they are from. Besides myths, religions also have other stories that are told like the great flood story, the story of how the world is going to end, and other stories that show how one is to act toward others.
Many religions, a person can find some sort of worship, prayer, pilgrimage, and ritual. Beliefs that are made real through ceremonies are called rituals (Molloy, 2010). This can be found in how one prays and worships. A pilgrimage of a religion usually is some sort of travel that one will make to fulfill some sort of need to complete the person’s spiritual needs.
Religions have a structure to the individual organization based on the leadership and relationships among members. The leadership role can be filled by a teacher of some sort or a big role such as the Pope. When a person belongs to a religion, he or she belongs to a community. This community shares a belief system and for the most part practices in a group (Molloy, 2010). Not all people in a community feel the need to join the group. When practicing what he or she believes, outside the group setting, does not make that person any less part of the community.
Critical Issues of Religion
There are people that need to have physical proof of something and if there is none that person will just think that it just cannot exist. Religion is based off of faith and believing in the words that are handed down over the years. There are many that would argue that religions have been lost in translation and editing. Whether it was taught by the spoken word or text, all it takes is one person to misinterpret what was taught to have the world doubt that belief. Just because one Muslim decides to take lives does not mean that is what that religion is about.
Conclusion
A traditional definition of religion is a system of belief that involves worship of God or gods, prayer, ritual, and a moral code. Another way to think of religion is to describe it as a way of life based on apprehension of sacredness (Molloy, 2010). There are many different belief systems out and they are all based on customs that are past down from one generation to another.
Reference
Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition challenge and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.