1. Exploring Religion

3. The Common Features of Religion
Belief in “Sacred” and “Soul”
Scripture
Organized Institutions
Family/Community
Rituals and Festivals
Rules/Guidelines
System of ethics
Inspired founders or leaders
Search for salvation
Faith and Worship

4. Why is Religion Practiced?
Wonder
Fear
Intuition
Identity
Questioning

5. Fear Life is scary and uncertain
People can be afraid that their lives have no meaning and that there is no purpose
Out of that fear, some turn to religion

6. Wonder
The world can be an astounding place, leading one to ask big questions?
How did we get here? Is there a guiding force that has created the world?
Some turn to religion for these kinds of questions

7. Questioning
Further to wonder, people often ask hard questions about the unseen world for which science doesn’t have an answer.
What happens after I die?
How can I be a better person?

8. Identity
Some seek a deeper sense of identity than just a physical description.
People seek a deeper, more lasting reality.
Some would describe that deeper identity as a soul.

9. Intuition
People often feel that there’s something more to life than the material world.
It can be as basic as a hunch, or as vivid as a vision, but some feel a fundamental connection to a larger reality.

10. Terms You’ll Need to Know:

11. Animatism
The belief that all the energy in the world is a result of a single unifying force.
Is an impersonal, supernatural force, which inhabits all objects, fire, weather, water, and living things.
Is not good or bad; it is just more or less, and it is by nature out of human control.
Austronesians called this force “mana” (a term since borrowed by Magic: The Gathering and some video games to describe a supernatural energy source)
Pictured: Mana

12. Animism and Totemism Animism Totemism
The belief in spirits (both human and non human).
All natural things that move are believed to be inhabited by these spirits.
These spirits do things without reasons.
These unpredictable spirits can be bribed or flattered to assist people.
Totemism
A sub-group of animism in which a mystical union exists between members of a social group and members of a class of things (e.g. the Bear Clan).
Fertility goddess
ca BCE, Mesopotamia

13. Polytheism A belief in more than one god.
A religion where themes or ideas are deified as divine persons. Ex: Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea and horses

14. Monolatry
A sub-group of polytheism in which people are aware of all the gods but believe that one god is the leader (e.g. Zeus in the ancient Greek religion).

15. Monotheism Monotheism = The belief that there is only one God.
There are different kinds of monotheism, though

16. Pantheism
A sub-group of monotheism that believes that the Universe is one and the same as God.
God is not personal
God and nature are one and the same (nature worship).

17. Deism
A sub-group of monotheism that believes that Divine revelation has not and cannot happen.
Humans know intuitively that there is a God, and this knowledge is reinforced when they observe the orderliness of the universe.
This belief is centred around a creator God who has laid down fixed laws
God does not intervene in the world that God created. The laws are absolute and those breaking them are punished.

18. Theism
A sub-group of monotheism that believes in a personal and caring God.
God cares about individuals and is involved in the world.
God is forgiving and is responsive to individual needs.
Theism is the basis of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

19. More terms you need Anthropomorphic = In the shape of humans.
Non-anthropomorphic = Not in the shape of humans.
Atheist = One who has examined all explanations for God and has decided that “there is no God.” 
Agnostic = One who holds the view that it is impossible to know God or know if God exists.
Gnostic = One who believes it’s possible to know God through introspection, meditation, mysticism
Ignostic = One who has no knowledge of God.

20. Families of Religions

21. Ancient Religions
cosmic, nature orientated religions of ancient civilization. Ex. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, Greece, Rome, Indus Valley, Mexico, etc.
often city-state religion whose kings and priests served the great gods of the universe.
nature controlled by the gods.
highest importance of humans was to serve those divine powers and live in harmony with their will.

22. Tribal/Indigenous Africa, Australia, Americas
strong sense of the presence of the sacred in various forms. Ex. Spirits, ancestors, gods.
myths and rituals are closely related to life in hunting, farming, etc.
the tribe itself is the central social reality. (No distinction is made between religion and the traditional way of life.)

23. Vedic Religions (Started in India)
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism
one “Sacred” controls all
do have gods, but many thinkers go beyond the idea of a personal creator God, holding to the vision that the inner soul of reality is the sacred ultimate.

24. East Asian Religion/Philosophy
China and Japan
Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism
centre on harmony and divine flow of nature, and reverence for the ancestors and family.

25. Abrahamic Religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam
envision one God who creates all
God is almighty and in charge of everything
all started in the same area. (Middle East)