...University of Phoenix Material Deities and Lesser Spirits Worksheet Choose one myth from each of the following myth categories: the Supreme Being, the Great Mother, the dying god, and the trickster. Answer the following questions: Supreme Being Myth |Myth: yahweh |Religion or culture of origin: hebrew | What are the characteristics of the Supreme Being? The Supreme Being according to Hebrew scripture is called Yahweh. Yahweh is the “sky storm god” (Leeming, 1990, p. 130). The Hebrew Supreme being is strong, he can “shut up the sea with doors”, “put wisdom in the inward part”, “give understanding to the heart” (Leeming, 1990, p. 131). Yahweh has the ability to part the light, change seasons, and changes the weather. How did the Supreme Being create humanity? According to Hebrew myth the Supreme Being created humanity from the ground, in his image, from the breath of Yahweh, and no other creature is created with his likeness (Bergant, & Karris, 1992, p. 41). Great Mother Myth |Myth: gaia |Religion or culture of origin: Greco-Roman | What are the characteristics of the Great Mother? The Great Mother is the source of life. Out of her body came the necessary nourishment and she has the ability to give birth to things that already seemed dead. How did the Great Mother protect or look after humanity? The...
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...Christ truly is God, He must have certain attributes that qualify Him to be so. Many doubt the deity of Christ. There are many different viewpoints as to why Christ is not God. Each detracts from the strength of the gospel. If Christ was not God, then He lied when He claimed that He was. If He is a lair, then He was not a sinless sacrifice when He died on the cross. If He was not sinless, He loses the ability to save man from sin. Therefore, it is so important for Christians that Christ be God. Christ is one hundred percent God even though He was one hundred percent man. The evidence is displayed in His attributes through His power, His holiness, and His omniscience. First, Jesus displays His deity through His Power. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus claims to possess all power in heaven and in earth. Where did this power come from? No power over the heaven and earth, either authoritative or supernatural power, can be given by man. The power must come from God. God has the authority over heaven and earth as said in Isaiah 66:1. Because Jesus contained this power, He must be God. Many times Jesus displayed his power over nature. He calmed the storm with His words, fed over five thousand people with just five loaves and two fishes, walked on water, turned the water into wine, exists eternally, and performed many more miracles. “How did Jesus calm the storm? Again, the answer is obvious: His deity. Jesus had such power over creation that His words instantly changed the weather. He did not...
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...the people and culture in India. It does not have a single founding figure, neither has a "church" or institution to ensure its application, and no single holy text like other religions, but several. Hinduism is characterized by the belief in reincarnation, one absolute being of multiple manifestations, the law of cause and effect, and the desire for liberation from the cycle of birth and death. It is globally accepted as a polytheistic religion; however, many Hindus believe in one supreme and ultimate being named Brahman. Hinduism personalizes Brahman in three main deities: Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. Hindu temples are built to worship God and Gods, through offerings, rituals and prayers. Worship is primarily individualistic rather than congregational, and also it can be practiced every day, there is no a particular day to go to the temple. The reason for attending the Hindu temple is to visit a particular Deity, in order to receive her or his great blessings. The Hindu temple is a special space where we can experience the Divinity. I had the chance to visit the Hindu temple located in Southwest Ranches, Florida. I have a prior knowledge of Hinduism, but I have never gone to a temple before. I called to the temple days prior to my visit, and explain to them that I was very interesting in knowing more about their culture and religion, which is “a way of life”. He suggested that the day of my visit I should look and feel my best, because it...
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...omniscience, in either their absolute or relative form, with the occurrence of evil or suffering in the world 3. Theomorphism, The term literally means "God-shaped", corresponding to the Hebrew name Michael. 4. Theophany. This term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions. While the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in the Classical tradition 5. Religion. A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. 6. Atheism, is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1][2] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. 7. Polytheism. refers to the worship of or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals. 8. Monotheism, as belief in the existence of one god or in the oneness of God. 9. Mysticism. is "a constellation of distinctive practices, discourses, texts, institutions, traditions, and experiences aimed at human transformation, variously defined in different traditions."[web 1]...
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...practitioners have with what is divine consists mostly with an understanding of what is divine and what or who is sacred. Some religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered monotheism because they have only one god (Molloy, 2010). Other religions, such as Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other ancient religions are considered polytheism because they have many gods involved in their belief and worship (Molloy, 2010). A third kind of religion is pantheism, referring to religions that worship nature. These religions see their God as existent beings. Many of the polytheistic belief systems include worship of people, animals, or idols. Many monotheistic belief systems see a deity as a spirit that cannot be touched or seen (Molloy, 2010). These religions believe that the deity or deities can observe the worshipper and deliver rewards and punishment according to the believer’s behavior (Molloy, 2010). Religious Tradition Proceedings Some examples of sacred times that can be found in religions are feasts or fasts and special days or times of worship. One example is that Christians usually meet on Sunday to worship together; another good example is that the Jews meet on the Sabbath (Vosko, 2010). Both of these religions...
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...your internal soul. Scientology is completely different from this. Scientologists believe that they can be like deities themselves and that wealth and knowledge are idols that require worshiping as well. There beliefs are particularly different from the other Western mainstream beliefs, mainly because of the bold worship of money as a physical idol to themselves. Besides the underlining fact that Judaism not only demands that you worship their creator, they insist that their neighbors and kin follow in suit. This of course is a conflict with the existence of Scientology. Not only is Scientology completely denying the Judaism creator, but they are also worshiping themselves as Deities. Another conflicting ideology between the two religions, is the creation of our universe. Scientologists believe that many gods, that are on the same level as the average person, decided to make the world together. Judaism believes that there is a single God that made the world; as do their cousin faiths believe. Scientologists do not worship their creators because they perceive themselves to be equals or even directly the Gods that created our world, they reference us as Thetans. This leads to a related conflict of divine knowledge. Thetans, Scientologists, charge their religious members in order to gain knowledge about their religion and your wealth determines your status as a Deity. Where as in Judaism, all the knowledge is obtained by their one God. This...
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...Personal Truth and The Essential Question There are many personal truths that I believe in, one being that there is no God, that there is no superior. I am the type of person that likes to question everything, and if those questions cannot be answered, than there is something wrong. There was a study in East Germany conducted in 2012, that was unable to find a single person under the age of 28 who believed that there is god. I am an atheist, and many people like to call me arrogant, but just because I don’t believe that billions of galaxies, trillions of stars, and trillions of planets were created just so we can worship 1 out of 2,000+ deities that have supposedly existed through tout history, all so we can spend an eternity hanging out with everyone righteous enough to please that all-knowing, all-powerful deity. I believed that there was god in my childhood, however as I grew up, I started thinking differently. Religion is just peoples beliefs that have been passed down from generations to generations. I like to think of religion as the biggest control system there is, religion controls whole communities, telling them what they can or cannot do. One day, I just woke up and decided I did not want to believe in religion, and that there is no superior being than us. My mom still hates the fact that I am an atheist and she will continue to hate it since she believes in it. The reason that science cannot prove that there is a higher superior being, makes me believe that there...
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...Ancient Connections Julia Wilson Kaplan University RELG-2001-5 October 27, 2013 This paper is a reflection on Ancient Connections. It contains a discussion on two ancient religions and four resemblance characteristics, which I compared to my own belief system. The paper ends with a summary of how ancient religions still connect to today’s modern beliefs. Concept of Ultimate Reality The practices of Egyptian religion were efforts to provide for the gods and gain their favor. These gods included the royal patron Horus, the sun god Ra and the mother goddess Isis. According to Nigosian (2008), “The worship of one god (monotheism) took place during the reign of Pharaoh Amen-hotep.” They concept of ultimate reality was that dead components passed into a dark bleak realm that represented the opposite of life. Pharaoh when he was deceased was believed to ascend to the sky and dwell among the stars. Mesopotamian religion referred to the religious beliefs and practices of Assyrian, Babylonian and Chaldean people living in Mesopotamia. There was one supreme god or absolute lord of the city.(Nigosian 2008, p.45) Their concept of ultimate reality was known as the great below. When comparing these tw0 religions with my own belief system, I recognize the similarities. My concept of ultimate reality is that I believe in one God, and I believe that the deceased go to dwell in either Heaven (above the earth) of hell (beneath the earth). Survival after Death According to...
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...The relationship the practitioners have with what is divine consists mostly with an understanding of what is divine and what or who is sacred. Some religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered monotheism because they have only one god. Other religions, such as Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other ancient religions are considered polytheism because they have many gods involved in their belief and worship. A third kind of religion is pantheism, referring to religions that worship nature. These religions see their god as existent beings. Many of the polytheistic belief systems include worship of people, animals, or idols. Many monotheistic belief systems see the single deity as a spirit that cannot be touched or seen. All these religions believe that the deity or deities can observe the worshipper and deliver rewards and punishment according to the believer’s behavior. Some examples of sacred times that can be found in religions are feasts or fasts and special days or times of worship. One example is that Christians usually meet on Sunday to worship together; another good example is that the Jews meet on the Sabbath. Both of these religions have a leader that guides them on their holy day. Moslems stop their daily duties and pray several times every day at predetermined times. Their prayer...
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...Elements of Religious Traditions Francisco Dias REL/134 August 1, 2013 Christian Escariot Elements of Religious Traditions The familiar scripture found in most Christian Bibles, “this means everlasting life, their taking knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3) resonates among Christian followers. However, other deities require more than just knowledge. Religious worship of old and new continue with the fundamental requirement that the worship of a god is to gain a closer relationship with the divine. Relationships with a deity, the physical world, human beings, or Mother Earth normally require a form of tradition that passes on from being to being. A deity requires a form of worship that includes deep-seated traditions in an effort to demonstrate loyalty and harmony. For example, Jesus Christ made a new covenant with his disciples the night before his execution and commanded they “keep doing this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). The tradition of the Jews that celebrated Passover was replaced by the Christian faith to commemorate Jesus’ death on the same date, Nisan 14 (Passover). Although this is one example of how the relationship, built by tradition, between Jesus and his followers continues to grow to this day. The connection between humankind and sacred time goes beyond just looking at a watch. Imagine if time were infinite even here on earth. Humans use a clock to live everyday life based on a 24-hour...
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...Hinduism is the primary religion found in the Indian subcontinent. This religion is indigenous to the area. The common beliefs and rituals make Hinduism differ from other commonly found religions. The belief system of followers of Hinduism is based on the belief that the soul is eternal, and is based on the follower’s ways of lives. In contrast to other types of organized religion, such as Christianity, in which those followers are required to heed to abstract rules and regulations, pre-determined for generations to come, Hinduism is based around an individual’s way of life and that follower’s individual soul. This is reflected in the culture and societal area of India. In terms of other religions, Hinduism in currently the third largest religion in practice. Another important aspect of this religion is Sanatana Dharma. This belief is that of that eternal existence of customs. Dharma has the following in its basis: natural law, duty, social welfare, health, ethics, and transcendental realization. The search for liberation is a major factor in the Hindu religion. This is based on the belief that your soul is free from the confines of your physical body. Their body is not a large contributing factor to whom they are, it is simply a vessel to get one throughout daily life. The soul, however, in the ultimate liberator because it loves on, even after their physical body deteriorates. Karma is another large basic aspect of Hinduism. This is belief of “what goes around comes...
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...Theological stage refers to explanation by personified deities. During the earlier stages, man believed that all three phenomena of nature are the creation of the divine or supernatural. Man and children failed to discover the natural causes of various phenomena and hence attributed them to supernatural or divine power. Comte broke this stage into 3 sub-stages: 1A. Fetishism- Fetishism was the primary stage of the theological stage of thinking. Throughout this stage, the primitive people had a belief that inanimate object had living spirit in it, also known as animism. People worshipped inanimate objects like tress, stones, a piece of wood, etc. Fetishism is present in all religions, but the use of the concept in the study of religion derives from studies of traditional West African religious beliefs, as well as from Voodoo, which in turn derives from those beliefs. 1B. Polytheism - The explanation of things through the use of many Gods. Primitive people believe that each natural force were controlled by different Gods; a few examples would be God of water, God of rain and God of fire, God of air, etc. Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally, but can beHenotheists, specializing in the worship of one particular deity. Other polytheists can beKathenotheists, worshipping different deities at different times. 1C. Monotheism - Monotheism means believing in one God or God in one; attributing all to a single, supreme deity. Monotheism is characteristic of Atenism, Bahá'í...
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...evolves with its followers. The religion is comprised of teachings from several sources. The Vedas is one of the oldest collections of scripture attributed to Hinduism. Centuries later the Upanishads were introduced to reinforce the more inward teachings of the Vedas, such as yoga and reincarnation. Unlike most popular religions that are exclusively monotheistic, Hinduism allows for multiple paths to the divine. This gives its followers a lot of flexibility in finding the path that fits their life. A follower may opt to choose a path of the Shaktas, Shaivites, Vaishnavites, or to recognize a genderless deity. Each group typically worships a specific deity, but will also recognize and honor others. Many of the teachings surrounding Hinduism focus on inner peace, reflection, and respect for nature. The Shaktas in particular have a deep connection to feminine deities. These deities are much more accessible than those of many other religions. The local goddesses are believed to have personal knowledge of the local area. The desire to ascend to something greater than an earthly existence is a common thread found in almost every religion; Christians aspire to gain entrance into heaven, the Vikings sought to earn their place in...
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...The flood story begins in a time before humans existed. The universe happens to be split between three gods,excluding one other lower class of gods who worked tirelessly to provide for the higher gods. As they multiplied they got louder and louder. One of the gods named Enil, who was in charge of the Earth wanted to be rid of the noise made by the lower gods. So he hatched several plans to get rid of the lower deities,which ended up being foiled by a wise lower deity named Atra - Hasis. In desperation Enil decided to flood the Earth and swore the other higher gods to secrecy. Enki the smartest of the higher gods delivers the message to Atra - Hasis while technically not breaking his promise. He.delivered the message to Atra - Hasis' walls of...
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... Mother Earth (source of all new life) and Father Sky (all powerful). There is also evidence of burial of the dead. • Neolithic Religion • Led to reverence of ancestors – Old persons often received elaborate burials • Religious worship of early farming communities were centered around Mother Earth (source of life)and Sky God(all powerful male) • Megaliths were erected to relate to religious beliefs • Megaliths included burial chambers, calendar circles, or marking celestial occurrences – Rising sun, solstices, equinoxes • Neolithic goddess • Life in New Towns and Villages • Religious shrines could be found (2 per household) – A goddess was the venerated central deity • Metalworking became a predominant activity around 6400 BC – Abundance of copper and lead in the area – Gold and silver also appear • Farmers had to produce a larger surplus to account of non-farmers (priests and artisans) living in the villages • Mesopotamia • Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria • Gods, Priests, and Temples • The Sumerian gods embodied forces of nature and were adopted by the Semitic people – Polytheistic – Gods were imagined as anthropomorphic – Religious belief instilled fear of the gods...
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