Elements of Religious Traditions REL/134 November 28, 2011 Page Brooks Elements of Religious Traditions
Religion is an understanding that there is someone, or something greater than us guiding our lives, it is a belief that we have come from a divine being and that by following the laws of our religious belief that spiritual being will guide us and protect us in life. Religion is thought to serve as a meaning system for people, by which people interpret their experience and their existence Steger, M. F., Pickering, N. K., Adams, E., Burnett, J., Shin, J., Dik, B. J., & Stauner, N. (2010).Religious traditions are considered to provide us with a way to incorporate our experiences into a logical whole. Despite the differences in religious cultures and practices certain fundamentals in religion remain the same. How do religious traditions describe and encourage relationships with the divine, scared time, scared space, or the natural world and with each other? What are key critical issues in the study of religion? For many, the standpoint of our religion or personal faith will provide a starting point for thinking about these questions.
Divinity or divine is the power, being, or realm understood by religious persons to be at the core of existence and to have a transformative effect on their lives and destinies (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008). Early man believed in divinity to help explain away natural occurrences that he had no way explanation for such as earthquakes, hurricanes, solar and lunar eclipses, volcanic eruptions, and so forth. However, the contemporary man continues to use divinity to explain away supernatural phenomena which one commonly refers to as miracles. For example: a sudden and total recovery from an ailment or life threatening condition, surviving a near fatal