The Elements of Religious Traditions

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 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 is often carried using Mushollas (prayer rooms) and prayer rugs and sometimes also use candles. Islam is a monotheistic religion and the belief the Moslems have is that the god is their father and everything is provided by him and everything they do must be acceptable to him. The Moslems have some holy days and one holy month called Ramadan. Practicing Jews celebrate Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, and Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas. One sacred place is shared by all three religions and has been under debate as to who this place should belong to; it is part of Jewish, Christian, and Moslem history.

A sacred place is a special place used for worship and sometimes specific parts of the special place has certain sacred attributes as well. For Christians their church is a holy place and inside the church the alter can be used for worship, sacrifice, and prayer. Jewish devotees have synagogues in which they have an altar and a confessional. Moslems worship at a mosque where they commonly pray on their knees with prayer mats and candles. Sacred burial grounds are common in many Native American religions. Buddhism has sacred places relating to the life of the Buddha and has many temples used for worship as well. Other religions also have their own sacred places that have specific uses that serve functions within the worship of the deity or deities or practices of the religion.

The kind of relationship the devotees carry out with each other and people outside their religion determines who may join the worship. For Christianity all who believe in the sacrifice Jesus made can become a Christian, and some churches will prefer that the believer has been baptized as a way of showing a commitment and preparation to change the way he or she lives. Christians do not have confessionals but confess their sins directly to god. The relationship between the worshipper and the god is very similar in Jewish religion, Christianity, and Islam despite the fact that the three religions have had so much friction with each other throughout history. Despite this common ground the three religions have many differences between them concerning how the god is worshipped and what view they have on Christ, the Christian messiah. One very common way for a person to join a religion or find his or her faith is for the faith to be passed down from the parents to child through the generations.

In this report some broad perspectives of the divine, some sacred place, and some sacred times have been discussed, as well as what each one means to a religion. Knowing these things and some of the specific traits of each religion may help people decide which religion is the best fit for them.

Reference

www.religion traditions