Concretization Of Religion

Describing the Indescribable: The Problem of Concretization in Religious Teachings

An institutional complexity may be viewed as a concretized embodiment of a cultural theme in the on-going life of a society, as the reduction of a set of attitudes and teachings in religious world. These institutionalized expectations includes the definitions of abstract symbols, rituals and images and how they articulate with the culture of the society from different religious background be it Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and or Confucianism. It is of great virtue to understand the clear relationship between religion and philosophy behind it, from the institutional point of view that provide stability in a world of inconstancy. The unusual
and creative performance of each religious hero, sage or saint are of great exemplary and the surrounding genetic importance is so unpredictable or judgmental of what each religion beliefs and teach, to become the basis of everyday life. Hence, the human world would be an unsteady and incalculable society indeed if chiefly the problem of concretization phenomena remains unresolved. Though the achievement of its necessary stability involves a price, a certain loss of spontaneity and creativity.
Philosophy is broadly, an empirical or logical deduction of principles that are mutable and that which follows multiple schools of philosophic thought. On the otherhand Religion is narrow based, dictated by the God/Gods/Goddesses, immutable and with very few exceptions and it is impossible to follow multiple religions simultaneously. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims are all scattered around the globe. There is an estimated 2.2 billion followers of the Christian faith, based on 2009 estimates. Based on the same estimation in 2009, there are 1.5 billion followers of the Islamic faith. In Israel and scattered among the world, there are more than 14 million Jews. There are major similarities between the religious history and theory practiced in each religion. Though these religions are based on similar principles and beliefs, each is unique of its own traditions, customs, and followers. It's important to understand the impact which concretization plays in these religions in both their teachings and philosophical beliefs as to one being supreme to another.
Religion is first of all a response and a response is to something experienced through teachings and practice. The religious teachings is the dissemination of knowledge, culture and character as the ultimate and the sacred which are grasped as relevant to human life and its fundamental significance. From the unusual religious experiences of unusual people the founded religions emerge, translating and transforming the insights of founders into institutional structures. Thus there arise the formed and formulated entities of belief-systems, systems of ritual and liturgy, and organization. It is important therefore especially in the study of the problem of concretization in religions teaching to begin with a phenomenological analysis of the religious experience as such, for out of it emerge the chief dimensions of religious institutions as well as their chief functional problems and individual beliefs.
In order to affect the lives of men, the import of a religious teaching was translated into terms that have relevance with respect to the prosaic course of everyday life. This translation is first of all a process of concretization. It involves the application of the religious insight to the small and prosaic events of ordinary life as lived by quite ordinary people. In that process the religious ideas and ideals themselves came to appeared as unlimited prosaic significance. Concretization may result in finitizing the religious teachings itself. For example, ethical insights are translated into a set of rules. Since rules elaboration, cannot make explicit all that is implied in the original ethical epiphany, the process of evolving a set of rules becomes a process of delimiting the import of the original teaching where each religion preach its beliefs and abstract symbol as supreme over the others.
Translation becomes a betraying transformation.
Moreover, the more they elaborate their rules, the attempt to meet real complexities and render a profound and many-sided ethic tangible and concrete, the greater the chance of transforming the original insight into a complicated set of legalistic formulae and the development of legalistic rigorism. Then, as St. Paul put it, "The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life" in the Christianity religion. Yet the fact is that the ethical insight must be given some institutionalized concretization or it will remain forever beyond the grasp of the ordinary man. The high call of the ethical message may well, however, be reduced to petty conformity to rules in the process. Brahmanic developments of ritual piety, Pharisaic rituals in late classical Judaism, and legalism in Catholicism and the delimitation of the religious and ethical message may contribute to and be affected by the loss of interior resonance of the verbal and other symbols that is
involved.
Modern day skeptics and theologists continue to analyze passages of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. There are both similarities and stark differences among these three prominent religions. Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all considered monotheistic religions. This means people that practice these religions and their associated rituals pray to one God. While the religions are similar in this regard, the perception of God varies by religion. For example, Christians believe that god exists in three forms: the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. The son represents Jesus Christ, who is considered the messiah in the Christian faith, but not in the Jewish and Muslim religions. Muslims pray to a single God in the name of "Allah". People of the Jewish faith pray to a single God as well, referred to as "A'donai" in the historic Hebrew language.
While the religions have similarities, there are divisions within Judaism, Christianity, and Islamic faiths.
Christianity is divided into three prominent denominations: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. Judaism also has several divisions, with differences in faith, region, and theory. Some Jewish sub cultures include Orthodox, Traditional, Conservative, and Reform. In the Islamic religion, there are two groups: Sunni and Shia. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all regard Israel as the Holy Land. Jerusalem is considered to be one of the most spiritually significant cities in all three religions. The iconic city is also the capital of Israel. The Torah, considered the Old or First Testament, makes many references to Israel as the Holy Land. It is also referenced in Christian and Islamic religious texts. All three religions are linked to Israel as Holy Land in some form and philosophy. While the religions contrast in overall theory, all three have historic religious or Holy Scripture. Followers of the Jewish faith read passages from the Torah, including the ten books of Moses. The Christians acknowledge the Torah as the "Old Testament," the precursor to the Christian based bible. Muslim religious leaders and followers depend on their religious theory and ideology on the Koran, which Muslims believe was passed down from the Islamic prophet
Mohammed.
Afterlife in Islam is believed that when someone dies and get buried, he/she get asked questions, if they were true believer of Islam. They believed that the grave squeezes believer with affection like a mother who hugs her loving child and squeezes an unbeliever so much that his ribs and bones get intertwined munkir and nakeer who are said to be the two angels who have dreadful appearance i.e. cauldron-like burning eyes and the whole body (from the head to the toe) covered with big hairs. They ask the dead in stern rebuke to sit and harshly questions are being asked such as: "Mar-Rabbuka" (Who is your Creator?), "Maa Deenuka" (What is your faith?) and Pointing towards the Holy Prophet Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa (may Allah's choicest blessings & peace be upon him), they ask: "Maa Kunta Taqoolu Fee Haazar Rajul" (What did you use to say about him)?. Jews, unlike their Christian counterparts, do not believe in the concept of eternal suffering or damnation in the afterlife. An emphasis is placed on this life rather than the life to come. Torah descriptions of the afterlife are left quite vague, as the emphasis is placed heavily on how Jews treat their fellow human beings and how they live their lives.
In conclusion, the institutionalized expectations of religion teachings include the definitions of abstract symbols, rituals and images and how they articulate with the culture of the society from different religious background be it Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and or Confucianism. The way in which each religion’s tradition warns against concretization becomes a solution to the problem of concretization in our society, and while this religions have similarities and difference, there are claims that each religion believed it alone has ‘‘the one true teaching’’ which has not in any way beneficial to the society than the atonement of supremacy over others. Therefore the problem of concretization in religious teaching has major role to play in our society in order to make the world a peaceful place for the generations to come.

Reference
Thomas F. O'Dea and J. Milton Yinger: Five Dilemmas in the Institutionalization of Religion, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Oct., 1961), pp. 30-41 Published by: Wiley. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1385174