Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Soul
Based on Young's discussion in chapter 1 of The World's Religions, religion has been understood and described primarily as a way for man to contextualize his existence and to reconcile that with the notion of a higher power. There are also certain basic things that virtually all religions do, such as provide answers to questions concerning how the world was created, what man's role is in it, and what fate awaits man after his physical demise. In this sense, religion merely provides answers to many of the questions that man might have regarding the cosmos and the place of man within a larger, more universal existence. Thus, I believe that it is accurate to define or describe religion or the sacred as man's organized interpretation of questions of a divinity and man's existence. That which man holds sacred is largely that which religion considers sacred. There are a lot of sociologically organizing factors of religion as well. Still, the sacred to the individual who eschews religion is that which plays an integral role in whatever form of spirituality he or she chooses to practice.
Personally, I do not consider myself religious because I do not need...
The ways that I connect to the sacred are largely through prayer. Any form of direct communion with the divinity for someone who is spiritual represents something that is sacred. In its most basic definition the term sacred means holy. Therefore, whatever is sacred to a spiritual person who is not religious is that which they utilize for the purpose of their spirituality. In summary, religion is man's intervention with the divinity, while there are sacred things that spiritual people access to directly relate to the divinity without manmade rules for doing so. Those rules constitute the basis for religion.
There are a number of reasons that Moody cites the tale of The Hymn of the Pearl in The Five Stages of the Soul section of his book entitled, The World's Religions: Worldviews and Contemporary Issues. One of those reasons is to emphasize the viewpoint that the soul of man is divine in nature, and is not innately of the world. One of the salient reasons that Moody includes this story in this particular part of his book is to stress that the soul will eventually return to a divine state, and that it's time on…
References
Mead, G.R.S. (No date). The hymn of the pearl. www.marquette.edu. Retrieved from http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/The%20Hymn%20of%20the%20Pearl.pdf
Moody, H.R., Carroll, D.L. (1997). The Five Stages of the Soul: Charting Spiritual Passages That Shape Our Lives. New York: Doubleday. Retrieved from http://csp.org/chrestomathy/five_stages.html
Religious Persecution Wienclaw, R.A. (2009). Religion and Society: Religious Persecution. 1-5. The article is examines the issue of religious persecution from a theoretical perspective. The author places the challenge of international persecution within the most appropriate theoretical context. Theory seeks to accomplish three purposes namely to describe, explain or predict phenomenon. This work attempts to accomplish the first two objectives. The author describes the nature of religious persecution. Following the description the
Learning that we all believe in one force, yet a force that is represented with different entities and faith demonstrated through various traditions and practices, I have learned to reconcile these differences by just believing in a force, without any subsistence to religious names and labels and traditions. As what I have discussed earlier, what used to be my religion was the belief I was exposed to since birth. However,
Questions of Religious Thought 1. The sociological perspective is an immensely important lens with which to view various occurrences, phenomena, conceptualizations, and ideas. Essentially, it is a way of analyzing all of these factors and others in regards to their effect upon society. The sociological perspective is concerned with assessing the social repercussions of something, as well as its origination, in terms of how it impacts society. This perspective can acknowledge other
Thus, Blake presents an explicit condemnation not only of organized religion, but specifically those religions which seek official legitimization and control over non-adherents; considering that the Church of England was (and is) the official religion of England, whose leader simultaneously serves as the head of state, Blake's condemnation of religions and religious adherents who presume to "[govern] the unwilling" must be recognized for the rebellious and almost revolutionary statement
Accounting for Religion at Work In general, religious discrimination is intolerable. This fact certainly applies to human resources management, in which department heads are tasked with hiring various people for positions in any number of organizations across vertical industries. However, the reality of this situation is that religious practices and observances can create substantial complications for organizations that can actually interfere with the fulfillment of organizational objectives. On some occasions, certain
As the roles and functions of religions and their leaders changed according to the changing needs of the communities they served, they provided both stability in times of change as well as the leadership to effect changes as necessary. Of the three theorists, Marx appears to include the most negative elements in his considerations of religion. It must also be noted however that Marx places more focus on elements other than