REL 133 rewriting work

Although religions today tackle many shapes and forms, it might appear dramatically unique in relation to every other, to study and understand these religions, their similitudes must be distinguished. Religious thoughts and practices filter through many aspects of society. Religion is defined as someone’s belief in one particular God or several Gods. Religion can be defined as a blueprint of beliefs, practices, and guidelines used to worship God or multiple Gods.

The academic study of religion describes and interprets the historical religious manuscripts such as the Bible and the Koran. The devotional practices of religion involve activities being performed in accordance with the interpretation of religious readings. The academic study of religion is more descriptive than normative. The academic study of religion is not concerned with evaluating truth claims. The academic study of religion seeks not to discover what is religiously true or false, but to understand the truth claims made by particular religious traditions. Unlike the devotional practice of religion, the academic study of religion seeks to understand the truth claims not in order to evaluate their validity but to understand how those claims influence the lives, beliefs, and practices of their adherents. Religious study is the examination of religions and their practices. Devotional practice in religion is different than academic study because it is the actual involvement and practice of the religion, the individuals own religion.

There are many key characteristics of religion that might be similar to none at all in all religions. A characteristic of most religions includes the beliefs and believers that make up the religion. The beliefs and believers are what brings things together communities and the people in the communities. Religions strongly encourage or require prescribed ritual activities for individuals and communities of faith. Religions commonly promote a moral code or ethical principles for individuals and communities to show them how to implement religious behaviors in their daily lives. Religions both encourage communication and provide ways to communicate or connect with the divine.

Religion seeks to search for a deeper meaning to life and provide guidance to individuals to help them find their way and common practices and experiences across world religions are shared such as reincarnation, Gods in human form, sacred texts, the spirit world, body mutilation, and the afterlife. Sacred text and/or scriptures are very significant to many religions because it is believed that many of these writings are thought to have come directly from a God usually as a miraculous revelation. Sacred text can also prompt experience because it is believed that through those texts and scriptures allow individuals to encounter deities while performing rituals and ceremonies. Indigenous religions share common practices and experiences that are similar to religions worldwide the only difference is that their practices and experiences are more in rooted to specific communities because they were separated and from others, their focus is more on the local and less universalizing, unlike world religions that continue to expand.

COMMON PRACTICES IN RELIGION

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Characteristics of Indigenous religions would be not the same as a world religion, but more like a spiritual or religious belief system that originated or began in a certain geographic region. Scholars often distinguish between two types of indigenous religions. One type has been practiced by tribes of people that have lived in the same region of the world for perhaps thousands of years. These religions would be indigenous to that region of the world. The other type includes indigenous religions that were carried by people to other regions of the world. People continue to practice those religions, often in combination with more dominant religions such as Christianity, but they are not indigenous to their new surroundings and lives.

References

Barber, C. (2012). Spirituality and religion: a brief definition. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 6(8), 378-381. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=104422099&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Bassett, M. (2011). Indigenous religions, global. Encyclopedia of women in today’s world. doi:10.4135/9781412995962.n405

Martin, L. (2014). Deep history, secular theory : Historical and scientific studies of religion. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu

Molloy, M. (2012). Experiencing the Worlds Religions. Tradition, Challenge, and Change (6th ed.)