WORLD STUDIES The Basics of Religion

What is religion? Religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people. Religion is human beings' relation to the things that they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Humans often get their sense of purpose and moral values from religion. Religious beliefs are found in virtually every society throughout human history.society

What questions does religion answer? Origins (where did we come from?) Purpose/meaning (why are we here?) Destiny (where are we going? what happens when we die?) Who are we? (the nature of human nature) Who/what is god? (the nature of Ultimate Reality)

Mono and Polytheism Monotheism- Any religion that is centered on the belief in one god (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). Polytheism- A religion based around two or more gods (Hinduism, Animism, Ancient Greek or Roman).

Ethnic and Universal Religion Ethnic religion: the religion of a particular people or culture (e.g., Judaism, Shinto, and Hinduism) (tend to be localized and do not actively seek converts) Universal religion: a religion which sees its message as true for all people (e.g., Christianity, Islam, Buddhism) (have spread throughout the world and tend to be very large in population, have actively sought converts from many cultures)

The Evolution of Religion Primal: prehistoric (more than 10,000 years ago) and "living" oral/tribal traditions Archaic: religions of ancient civilizations no longer in existence ( years ago) Classic: the great "living" religions originating between 2500 and 500 years ago Modern: contemporary variations of classic religions (developed since the 16 th century) as well as truly new, independent religions

Religions of the World