Elements of Religious Traditions
Joycel Agay
REL/134
February 7, 2011
James Scott

Elements of Religious Traditions Believers practice religions. According to Malloy (2010), a traditional dictionary defines religion as a system of beliefs that involves God or gods, rituals, moral codes and prayer. There are many different religions, some has similarities and some do not. Some of these religions are carried from century to century, carrying old traditions and rituals.
Relationships
Though religions may be different from one another, they still encourage different kinds of relationships. Religious traditions encourage relationships with the Divine, with sacred time, with sacred space or natural world, and a relationship with one another.
Divine
Different religions refer to the sacred and originating holiness by various names. Some of these names are Great Mother, Divine Parent, Great Spirit, the Holy, or the Divine. Perhaps, the most familiar term used is God. According to Malloy (2010), the term God carries the notion of a Cosmic Person, a divine being with will and intelligence. Although some religions believe only in one God and others believe in more than one, all religions still believe in having a relationship with the Divine. A relationship with the Divine means spending time with the Divine. A time with the Divine can be spend in various ways such as praying, reading and studying the Bible, Quran, Veda, or whatever Holy Books other religions study. A prayer is an outcome of a continuous relationship with the Divine. Believers pray because of the belief that God is always listening and that praying is a way of communicating with God. For example, Christians pray all the time. Not only do they pray for their own, they also pray for those who are sick and for those who are going through rough times. Although praying is mostly appropriate during