Religion: Part 1

1.

Course «Sociology»
Lecture
Religion Part 1
Lecturer:
Valentina V.
Gersonskaya,
associate professor,
Foreign Languages
Department

2.

“…religion seems to be organized around
attempts to make sense of an irrational and hostile
world”. (Weber)
“… the opiate for the masses” (Marx)
“religions are culturally transmitted systems of
beliefs and rituals set forth to distinguish between
sacred objects and times and profane realities…”
(Durkheim)
“the belief in spiritual beings” (Tyler)

3. What is good and what is bad about Religion?

Sociology

4.

Religion
Religion is any culturally transmitted system
of beliefs and rituals that people use to
orient themselves to their world and its
meaning in relation of some reality regarded
as sacred.

5.

Religion
Religion is any cultural system of designated
behaviors and practices, world views, texts,
sanctified places, ethics, or organizations,
that relate humanity to the supernatural or
transcendental.

6.

Religion & Spirituality
• Spirituality is an individual practice and
belief, whereas religion is centered on a
set of organized practices that a larger
group shares.
• It is possible to be spiritual without being
religious.

7.

Functions of Religion
Religions helps to:
• integrate individual members into the group;
• regulate daily activities;
• empower activities with a sense of meaning and
purpose;
• interpret the social and natural world;
• represent or express relation to the social group.
Currently – some 4,200 religions

8.

The Parish of St. Denis
1. baptism, communion, marriage, burial
2. bringing people physically in one place
3. dividing life into sacred and profane
activities
4. empowering individuals
5. interpreting events
6. symbolism

9.

Religions
• Theistic
• Nontheistic
• Animistic

10.

Theism
Monotheism
Polytheism (paganism)

11.

Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Types of monotheism
Theism
Trinitarian
monotheism
monotheism
Name of Yahwe/ Elohim
God
The Holy Trinity
Allah
Characte Non-physical,
r of God non-gender
+ physical, man
(Jesus)
Non-physical, nongender
Human
Nature
“original sin’,
tendency
towards evil.
Innately good, equal
ability to do good or
bad.
Two equal
impulses, good
and bad
Salvation Correct belief,
good deeds
Correct belief,
Correct belief, good
good deeds, faith deeds, faith in Allah
in God, baptism
Sociology

12.

Non-theism
Agnosticism
Ignosticism
Ietsism
Skepticism
Pantheism
Pandeism
Transtheism
Atheism
Apatheism

13.

Animism
Belief
innumerable
spiritual
beings
concerned with human affairs and capable of
helping or harming human interests.

14.

Types of Religion
• Abrahamic – Judaism, Christianity, Islam…
• Dharmic – family of religions that
originated in southeastern Asia (Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism)
• Taoic – religious philosophy based on the
concept of Tao (‘way’) – Taoism,
Confucianism, Shinto.

15.

Types of Religion
• world
religions
transcultural,
international faiths.
• indigenous religions - culture-specific or
nation-specific religions.
• new religious movements recently
developed faiths.

16.

Church
Church is a religious organization that exists
in a fairly harmonious relationship with a
larger society.

17.

Church
• Denomination is a
• Ecclesia – a
church that is not
church which is
formally allied with
formally allied
the state.
with the state
and is the official
religion of the
society.

18.

Denominations
• The Catholic
Church
• Latin Church and 23 Eastern
Catholic churches
• Eastern
Christianity
• Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental
Orthodoxy, and the Church of
the East.
• Protestantism
• Anglicanism,
Baptism,
Calvinism,
Lutheranism,
Methodism, etc.

19.

Church
• people are born into
the church/voluntary
• formal
• mass
• conservative
• different background
Sect
• voluntary association
• informal
• small in number
• people
consider
themselves special
• radical
• similar background

20. Religious Practices

• rituals
• sermons
• commemoration or
veneration
(of deities)
• sacrifices
• festivals
• feasts
• fasts
• services
(funeral,
marriage)
• meditation
• prayer
• music
• art
• dance
• trances
• initiations

21. World Religions

• Bahai
• Judaism
• Spiritism
• Sikhism
• Chinese Traditional
religion
• African traditional
religion
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Islam
• Christianity

22. Table Legend

• Religion
• Founder
• Deity/deities/beliefs
• Foundation (date)
• Symbol(s)
• Scriptures
• Holy places
• Number of
adherents

23.

• Animal sacrifices
and magic
• Immortal spirits
• One god of all
people
• Trinity: God Father,
God Sun and the
Holy Spirit
Religion is based
on research and
testimony
Allan Kardec
Enlightenment
• Nirvana

24. World Religions

25.

Questions:
1. Why is religion so important for
many people?
2. What is the difference between
ecclesia and denomination?
3. What characteristics does a sect
have?
4. What is specific about a church?
5. What do religious practices include?

26.

Thank You
©Kazakh-American Free University

27.

REFERENCES:
Macionis, J. J. (2012). Sociology (14th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.

28.

Camera and Video Editing:
Kirill Komnev
Daria Ryabichenko
Technical support:
Igor Biryuchenko
Natalia Moshenskaya
©Kazakh-American Free University