Verified Document

Religion The Word Religion Is Thesis

The collective power of communal worship cannot be underestimated. Anyone who has attended a religious service knows that being surrounded by like-minded individuals helps solidify and focus faith. Prayers for the ill and petitions to God seem more powerful when they are collective. Whether through song, chanting, repetition of prayers, or silent worship, communal worship is the key to communicating effectively with God. Worshipping with a community enables honesty, humility, and self-awareness. A community of caring people creates social stigmas and other restraints on deviant behaviors. Those deviant behaviors may be sinful and therefore detrimental to spiritual attainment. Similarly, the act of collective worship creates opportunities for intimacy and honesty. Members of the spiritual group can help each other become better people and more valuable members of their community.

In the Bible, Jesus played a primarily social role by gathering together disparate people around core spiritual principles. Jesus' disciples became the first Christian community and their story survives as one that offers testimony to the power of collective worship. Jesus could not have delivered his message of love and peace without the aid of his supporters, and his supporters could not have spread that word if they were acting independently.
Religion reminds individuals of their relationship with God. Collective worship helps otherwise self-centered people be reminded of their relatively small stature, of their faults, and of their weaknesses. Being willing to become humble and accept life on life's terms is a religious realization and one that only comes from contact with other human beings.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Religion -- Books of the Old and
Words: 1160 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Religion -- Books of the Old and New Testaments The Bible contains many types of genres, themes, events and characters illustrating the seeds of Christianity in the Old Testament and the Old Testament's fulfillment by Jesus and the young Christian Church of the New Testament. Using the genres of epic and simple narratives, law, prophecy, wisdom, pastoral letters and apocalyptic expression, both Testaments show the struggle of ordinary people trying to

Religion in Indonesia Islam in
Words: 2136 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

A key celebration in the village invites a festive dance in which the performers fall into a stupor and try to stab themselves with knives (Heinrich, 2005 p. 78). Rituals in life are pertinent events for religious display and artistic expression. Events of puberty, marriage life and burial offer opportunities for Balinese to express their notions regarding statuses, society and the afterlife. The Balinese denomination organizes their faith in a

Religion Anselm, Aquinas, and Hume
Words: 2500 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Thus, Sam argues that although the world often seems unjust (and is filled with innumerable instances of evil), yet P. is solved through the belief that every condition (good, in this case) necessitates an equal and opposite condition (evil, as it were.) However, Gretchen counters by asking whether those who behave in an evil way are ever punished for their transgressions, and whether there is any motivation for people to

Religion in the Modern World Religion Modern
Words: 2625 Length: 9 Document Type: Essay

Religion in the Modern World Religion Modern World Religion is something that is as old as man. It means "almost everything because religions deal with the whole of human life -- and death" (Bowker 2006). Since the beginning of mankind, individuals have searched themselves and others, contemplated the universe and all its elements, and religions are what were formed through these personal and public explorations. But what exactly are religions? What does

Religion in the Resurrection of Christ, Wallace
Words: 658 Length: 2 Document Type: Article Critique

Religion In "The Resurrection of Christ," Wallace outlines an argument against the watering down of gospel by denying the resurrection. Wallace points out that many modern "Christians" are trying too hard to fit the gospel truth into the modern world, due largely to pressures from the media and the dominant culture. A denial of anything that resembles the "supernatural" is a trend among academics and all who also deny the power

Religion Saint Anselm, the Duke of Canturbury,
Words: 640 Length: 2 Document Type: Article Critique

Religion Saint Anselm, the Duke of Canturbury, was "one of the most important Christian thinkers of the eleventh century," (Sadler). This is because Anselm used a reasoned philosophical argument to address theological questions. In Cur Deus Homo, or Why God Became Man, the author addresses the Incarnation of Christ and the theme of Atonement for sin from this philosophical perspective. Anselm distinguishes between "different ways in which an action or state

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now