Religious Traditions
Elements of Religious Traditions
Chantal Schneider
REL/134
May 30, 2011
Elements of Religious Tradition
The term religion can bring up mixed emotions in people. Many people have different religious views and their traditions usually follow that religion. Religion is very vast and there are many different forms, views, traditions, and beliefs within each religion. Certain religions are monotheism, some are polytheism, and others are pantheism. Each religion encourages relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world, and relationships with others.
Relationships with the divine According to Molloy (2010), “All religions are concerned with the deepest level of reality, and for most religions the core or origin of everything is sacred and mysterious” (p 7). Each religion often calls the sacred by name such as Divine Parent, Great Spirit, the Divine, and the Holy to name a few (Molloy, 2010). Monotheism is a term that means belief in one God (Molloy, 2010). Polytheism is the belief in many Gods or Goddesses; the multiple Gods may be separate or a multiple manifestation of the same sacred reality (Molloy, 2010). Pantheism is the belief that the sacred as being discoverable within the physical world, in other words nature itself is holy (Molloy, 2010). Recently there are people who tend to deny the existence of any God or gods which is described as atheism (Molloy, 2010).
Relationship with Sacred Time According to Molloy (2010), “Our everyday lives go on in ordinary time, which we see as moving forward into the future. Sacred time, however, is the time of eternity”(p 43). Many people have different names for this measurement of time such as the Artic people refer to it as “distant time”, Australian aboriginals refer to it as “dream time”(Molloy, 2010). Although there are many different names for sacred time they all refer to the time of eternity and each religion
Chantal Schneider
REL/134
May 30, 2011
Elements of Religious Tradition
The term religion can bring up mixed emotions in people. Many people have different religious views and their traditions usually follow that religion. Religion is very vast and there are many different forms, views, traditions, and beliefs within each religion. Certain religions are monotheism, some are polytheism, and others are pantheism. Each religion encourages relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world, and relationships with others.
Relationships with the divine According to Molloy (2010), “All religions are concerned with the deepest level of reality, and for most religions the core or origin of everything is sacred and mysterious” (p 7). Each religion often calls the sacred by name such as Divine Parent, Great Spirit, the Divine, and the Holy to name a few (Molloy, 2010). Monotheism is a term that means belief in one God (Molloy, 2010). Polytheism is the belief in many Gods or Goddesses; the multiple Gods may be separate or a multiple manifestation of the same sacred reality (Molloy, 2010). Pantheism is the belief that the sacred as being discoverable within the physical world, in other words nature itself is holy (Molloy, 2010). Recently there are people who tend to deny the existence of any God or gods which is described as atheism (Molloy, 2010).
Relationship with Sacred Time According to Molloy (2010), “Our everyday lives go on in ordinary time, which we see as moving forward into the future. Sacred time, however, is the time of eternity”(p 43). Many people have different names for this measurement of time such as the Artic people refer to it as “distant time”, Australian aboriginals refer to it as “dream time”(Molloy, 2010). Although there are many different names for sacred time they all refer to the time of eternity and each religion
References: Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.