...Elements of Religious Traditions REL/134 May 13, 2013 Elements of Religious Traditions Religious traditions share many common elements. First, religious traditions often describe and encourage a relationship with the divine. Further, religions frequently describe and encourage relationships with sacred times and events, for example, a holy birth. Additionally, religious traditions may possess common beliefs concerning sacred space and the natural world. For example, many religions teach earth is sacred, whereas others teach earth is imperfect. Moreover, religious traditions frequently define relationships with other religions, for example, as good or bad. People who study religion often encounter key critical issues, including limited data, unwritten information, and preconceived ideas. Though many religious traditions share common elements, beliefs, and relationships, religion can be difficult to study. Religious traditions often define their relationship with a divine. Religions usually portray their relationship with a scared as a superior-inferior relationship, where people are inferior to the sacred (Molloy, 2010). Some religions describe their relationship with the divine as special, where other religions do not define their relationship at all. For example, Christians teach the Earth’s inhabitants are a main concern of the sacred, whereas Confucians teach people have no relationship with the divine (Molloy, 2010). Still, Buddhists contend sacred’s...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...REL 134 Entire Course (UOP Course) For more course tutorials visit www.tutorialrank.com Tutorial Purchased: 6 Times, Rating: A+ REL 134 Week 1 Individual Assignment Elements of Religious Traditions Paper (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 1 DQ1 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 1 DQ 2 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 1 DQ 3 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 1 DQ 4 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 2 Individual Assignment Jewish Holy Days Paper (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 3 Learning Team Assignment Christianity and the Arts Presentation (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 3 DQ 1 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 3 DQ 2 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 3 DQ 3 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 3 DQ 4 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 4 Individual Assignment Islam Worksheet (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 4 DQ 1 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 4 DQ 2 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 4 DQ 3 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 4 DQ 4 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Contemporary Issues in Western Religions Paper and Presentation (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 5 DQ 1 (UOP Course) REL 134 Week 5 DQ 2 (UOP Course) ------------------------------------------------------------- REL 134 Week 1 Individual Assignment Elements of Religious Traditions Paper (UOP Course) For more course tutorials visit www.tutorialrank.com Tutorial Purchased: 3 Times, Rating: A+ Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that does the following: Explains how religious traditions describe and encourage the following relationships: Relationship with the divine Relationship...
Words: 832 - Pages: 4
...REL/134 1 Course Syllabus College Of Humanities REL/134 World Religious Traditions Il Copyright © 2010, 2006 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course provides a survey of the major historical developments, structural cosmolo gy, symbolic interpretation, and values of the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religious traditions. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. All electronic materials are available on the student website. Week One: The Nature of Religion Details Objectives 1.1 Describe the common elements of religion. 1.2 Identify issues in the study of religion. 1.3 Describe the sacred in indigenous traditions. Reading Read Ch. 1 of Experiencing the World’s Religions. Reading Read...
Words: 1821 - Pages: 8
...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research DocumentsThe Research Paper FactoryJoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » Religion Topics Elements of Religious Tradition Rel/134 In: Religion Topics Elements of Religious Tradition Rel/134 Elements of Religious Tradition UoP Student REL/134 October 24, 2011 UoP Facilitator Elements of Religious Tradition Religious traditions influence people and even more important cultures across the world on a daily basis. Religions have many differing views on what or who represents the divine and offer many perspectives on exactly how to worship or pay respect to those identified as the divine. The subsequent paragraphs will investigate how religious traditions describe and encourage relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world and relationships with each other will ensure a more thorough understanding of differing religions. Additionally, providing several examples from various religious traditions will go one step farther in enhancing that understanding. The foundation to any successful religious belief is to establish a relationship with the divine. The Divine Since the dawn of time spiritual relationships with the Divine have been prevalent as part of the human existence in the natural world. Different religions refer to the sacred by various names such as Great Spirit, the Holy, the Divine, the Great Mother, the Ultimate, and the Absolute. One of the most...
Words: 472 - Pages: 2
...Question 1: Explain how the study of Hinduism challenges Western and Christian categories of "religion?" Hinduism represents a different approach than it regularly seems from some of the Western and Christian religions. Religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe only in one God while Hinduism believe in various gods and deities. “With its many gods and goddesses, who are understood as manifestations of Brahman or the ultimate, Hinduism understands the entire world as related to and frequently even manifesting the divine” (Valkenberg, pp.133-134). However, Hinduism is not polytheistic religion. Yes, there are many gods to choose, but followers only believe and follow one god. This one god can differ within the Hinduism religion and...
Words: 512 - Pages: 3
...Religion is interpreted differently by all who are affected by it. Some believe in specific Gods, others believe in the general concepts, and some do not believe at all. These extremes and their impacts are clearly portrayed In Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness. The protagonist, Naomi ‘Nomi’ Nickel, is an outlier from the extremist values of her Mennonite community, as she is not a devout Mennonite and often criticizes their ideals. Her mother and sister were exiled because of their non-conforming actions and viewpoints, while Nomi and her father confront the restraining morals and their consequences during their absence. Through the mental and physical challenges that protagonists and minor characters cope with in their daily lives, Toews’s...
Words: 677 - Pages: 3
...Elements of Religious Tradition Torri Greer REL/134 February 26, 2014 William Sunday Elements of Religion There are many common elements of religion, even if the characteristics of the religion vary widely. Some of these elements include a belief system, community, ritual, ethics, emotional experiences, material expression, and sacredness. This paper discusses how some of the elements encourage relationships with the divine, with sacred time, sacred space or the natural world, and the relationships with each other. The paper will also outline critical issues when studying religion (Molloy, 2010). A religion may have a clear interpretation of the universe and what humans’ place is in it. These belief systems may see human beings’ roles are to take care of nature, and hold it sacred, whereas other religions view humans’ role is to conquer nature. Human purpose is also a part of the worldview in religion. Even though the purpose of a human beings life varies among religion, it is a common characteristic of religion to help identify that purpose (Molloy, 2010). Rituals are beliefs enacted and made real through ceremony. Many religious traditions are rich in ritual reenactments. These reenactments may use sacred materials. Other rituals are used to give homage to their divine. A ritual may be a small act of lighting a candle and praying, to dancing and chanting, reenacting past sacred events. Going to church on Sunday could be considered a ritual, and is done...
Words: 704 - Pages: 3
...Religious Traditions REL/134 Jeffrey Wisdom May 5, 2014 In today’s society there are many different religion groups, and although some of them share common beliefs and practices, there are many different traditions and rituals that are practiced across the world. At any given point in a typical day it is possible to come in contact with many people that practice a religion other than one most comfortable to you. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how religious beliefs describe and encourage relationships with the divine, Relationship with sacred time, relationship with natural space or natural world, and relationships with each other. The relationship with the divine is basically having a precise view of whom or what is viewed as sacred in a particular religion. Some religions have more than one god they view as sacred; this practice is known as “polytheism”. Polytheism is most commonly practiced amongst religions such as Hinduism, and Buddhism, while other religions such Christianity, and Judaism practice “Monotheism” meaning having one sacred god. It is the belief of monotheism religions that God is a spirit that can be felt not seen. They believe that he sits high and watches and hears all that is being done. Polytheism believes the contrast that their god is in the form of an actual being such as an animal, statue, person, or another physical “thing”. Sacred time is viewed as how and when the group chooses to observe there religions. This could be things...
Words: 650 - Pages: 3
...Elements of Religious Traditions Rel/134 September 23, 2013 I will be writing about some of the elements of religion and how religion encourages relationships among some of the characteristics of religion. Religion is a system of beliefs and rituals in which humans build a community based on those beliefs. Religion also encourages relationships with the natural world, sacred time and space, the divine, as well as each other. Many of this beliefs have emerged from tribal cultures whom sometimes conformed their lives to certain mythic events. Throughout this this paper I will touch bases on some of this elements and how they influence human’s lives and how much religion has changed in today’s world. The natural world and how religion influences its relationships. They believe that humans are a part of nature and everything in the universe is seen as being alive and that all life force is present in all living things. It is believed that an individual spirit lives within things such as rocks, trees, and rivers. Some religions such as the ones that follow have gods they pray to “The Yoruba of Africa, storms are the work of the deity Shangó, a legendary king with great powers who climbed to heaven. The Igbo pray to Ala, an earth-mother deity, for fertility of the earth Women also pray to her for children, and men pray to her to increase their crops. In the Ashanti religion, Ta Yao is the god of metal. The work of blacksmiths and mechanics is under his charge.” (Molloy &...
Words: 737 - Pages: 3
...REL/134 December 16, 2013 Dr. Paxton Reed Religion plays a large role in the lives of many whether they are religious or not. Many of the laws that we follow today have their foundation in religious teachings. Some people would argue that society needs religion. We live in a society where interactions between people of different cultures is increasing so it is important that we attempt to understand religious traditions that are not historically our own. In the following text I will explain how religious traditions describe and encourage relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space, and between people. Religious traditions vary across the many different religions however some religious traditions include prayer, pilgrimage, ritual, and worship. The study of religion can be very complex. Approximately 21 major religions exist and while some are similar others are very much different. Studying religion almost undoubtedly forces one to ask philosophical question that some of the greatest philosophers have struggled with for large parts of their lives. Often engaging in dialogue involving religion can be unnerving because people tend to personalize conversations about religion. Some believe that discussing religion becomes an issue because of the very nature of some religions. Religion encourages faith, which requires complete confidence and discourages doubt. “All religions are concerned with the deepest level of reality, and for most religions the...
Words: 532 - Pages: 3
...Elements of Religious Traditions Edward Mendoza Rel/134 Jan 28, 2011 Joseph Swoboda Elements of Religious Traditions o In the following I will be discussing about how religious traditions describe beliefs and encourage practices in the relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or natural world, and with each other. I also will explain about the issues that are critical and then I will give important examples of many religious traditions. The relationship with the divine is power of being or the realm of understanding different religious person’s to be present and to have revolution impact on their lives. Earlier in days man believed that divinity is to help converse away natural occurrences, such as, hurricanes, earthquakes, lunar eclipses, solar and, volcanic eruptions. But however the modern man continues to utilize divinity to push away supernatural phenomena, at which one usually refers to as miracles. I will give an example: a sudden and total recovery from a disaster, life threatening conditions, and surviving a deadly occurrence. In those conditions as a belief of the divine intervention was mainly responsible in taking place and reflection of the truth of the person’s religion. The Relationship with the sacred time defines as life goes on as time goes on. When it comes to sacred time the greater power and divinity breaks through. The eternity is the sacred time that many religions live by. Time has no sacredness of its own, but instead...
Words: 675 - Pages: 3
...Lakisha Minnis REL/134 - World Religious Traditions II Instructor: Kenneth Lee 10/14/2013 There are many different religions in the world today, all of which worship and practice differently. Most of the traditions, beliefs, and rituals these religions are consisted of our exclusive to only on religion. Some common traits of most religions are that most of them have sacred areas, sacred times, and the worshippers usually have a relationship with a divine presence. 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...
Words: 763 - Pages: 4
...Studying Religion Paper Andrea Mateo University of Phoenix World Religious Traditions II REL/134 Rafael Frim October 19, 2015 Today, there is a vast variety of religions and beliefs all around the world. These Religions may have similar and different views and beliefs, but at the end, despite the differences in religious, cultures and practices, certain fundamentals in religion remain the same. The following paragraphs will discuss the essentials in the practices and beliefs for a tradition to be called religion, the commonalities of the three Western religions, how do different fields of study approach religion and some critical issues in the academic study of religion. All religions share the same essential element, the sacred or the holy, is not palpable and cannot be seen or explained by language, it is beyond humans’ imagination. Although they share the same sacred, they may differ in their traditions, organization, and beliefs. Traditions are the grounds and organization in each religion. Some of the key elements found in these traditions are the beliefs, practices, and structure. The Believe system, also known as a worldview, is a group of beliefs that explains the human being place in the universe. The Ethic Rules specifies how the community should live by, and establish how followers should behave based on their beliefs. Myths are the stories that support the religion held as truths are fundamental to their beliefs. A supporting element of religious traditions...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...Norman W Johnson III REL-134 "November- 04, 2013” Ed Schoenfeld Elements of Religious Traditions In the world we live in today, there are many different types of religions. No one religion is the same. Religion is practiced and different gods are worshiped in a various ways. Each religion has their own unique traditions, beliefs, and observances that they practice. Religious traditions influence people and even more important the various cultures throughout the world. One thing that all religions will have in common is the fact they all embody some tradition. Most religious teachings have been taught and passed on from generation to generation. Even though, thousands’ of years and many generations of religious teachings have been passed through the ages, many of the traditions and beliefs of the religion remain intact. Nearly all religions have a center or origin of everything that is Holy and sacred and mysterious. It is also very common for many religions to believe in a divine entity. It may be one true God, multiple gods, nature’s elements, or deceased ancestors and in some religions animals. “This sense of a mysterious, originating holiness is called by many names: Brahman, Dao, Great Mother, Divine Parent, Great Spirit, Ground of Being, Great Mysterious, the Ultimate, the Absolute, the Divine, the Holy” of Holy’s, and Father to mention a few. The relationship with these divine entities, comes in many different forms depending on what each religion believes and an understanding...
Words: 789 - Pages: 4
...Elements of Religious Traditions Paper Pamelia J. Pointer University of Phoenix World Religious Traditions ll Religion 134 Dr. Johnny Boudreaux July 30, 2010 Elements of Religious Traditions Paper All regions are different some have certain things in common while others are completely different, but there are numerous religious, some of these religion are: Buddhism – this is a means of existing based on the experience of Siddhartha Gautama, Christianity – earth’s largest belief, foundation of Jesus Christ teachings, Hinduism – collection of faiths, embedded in the religious thoughts of India. Islam – discovered by the Prophet Muhammad. These are just some of the many religions that this world consist of, but overall all religions serve a higher purpose. Having a connection with the divine is very important in all religions, without a relationship with God, life as we know it will not be the same. http://www.hqfights.com/media/895/chicks_go_at_it tribulations and experiences encountered daily becomes difficult to handle because the testing of his or her faith and being disobedient to the word of God. The relationship as well as the fellowship with the divine helps him or her to walk in the light and to live in total honesty toward God as well as with each other, without the consistent relationship and fellowship it causes he or she to be out of character and have broken fellowship with the divine. Sacred time is the “time of eternity” (Molloy, 2010, p...
Words: 891 - Pages: 4