How many religions do you know about? Religion can be simply said to be a system that relates humanity to spiritual elements. Let’s find out more.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic, you are expected to;
Religion refers to a social-cultural system of specific behaviors and practices, texts, morals, worldviews, prophecies, sanctified places, ethics or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, spiritual or transcendental elements. However, there isn’t a scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.
Various religions may or may not contain certain elements that range from the sacred things, divine, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings. Some of the religious practices are rituals, sermons, feasts, festivals, sacrifices, public service, meditation, prayer, funerary services, initiations and other aspects of human culture. Religions have sacred narratives and histories. These may be preserved in sacred symbols, scriptures and holy places that aim mostly at giving meaning to life. Religions may also contain symbolic stories, that are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and other things. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has been considered to be a source of religious beliefs.
The approximate number of different religions in the world is 10 000. However, approximately 84% of the population of the world is affiliated with one of the five largest religious groups, called Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those that do not identify with any particular religion, agnostics, and atheists. Despite the number of religiously unaffiliated persons growing globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have certain religious beliefs.
The study of religion covers a wide variety of academic disciplines such as theology, social scientific studies, and comparative religion. Theories of religion give different explanations for the workings and origins of religion, including the ontological foundations of religious belief and being.
ASPECTS
BELIEFS. Traditionally, faith, in addition to the reason has been considered a source of religious beliefs. The interplay between reason and faith, and their use as perceived support for religious beliefs, have been a subject of interest to theologians and philosophers.
MYTHOLOGY. The word myth refers to a traditional story of historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, natural phenomenon or belief. Ancient polytheistic religions like those of Rome, Scandinavia, and Greece, are usually categorized under the heading of mythology.
WORLDVIEW. Religions have sacred narratives, mythologies, and histories which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, holy places, and symbols that aim at explaining the meaning of life, the origin of the universe or life.
PRACTICES. The practices of religion include sermons, rituals, veneration or commemoration of (gods, goddesses or deity), festivals, sacrifices, initiations, feasts, prayer, meditation, sacred dance, and others.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. Religions have a societal basis, either as a living tradition carried by lay participants, or with an organized clergy, and a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership.
