Vaughn Weston

Fall 2014 MWF10:00-10:50

HUMANITIES 2120
Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
Page 1


VOCABULARY WHAT IS RELIGION?
Morality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality
morality
[ mralt, m- ] noun
1. principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
synonyms: virtue goodness good behavior righteousness rectitude
2. a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified
person or society:
"a bourgeois morality"
Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is the
differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or
right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong).
[citation needed]
Morality can be a body of
standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy,
religion, culture, etc., or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be
universal.
[1]
Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness" or
"rightness." Immorality is the active opposition to morality (i.e. opposition to that which is
good or right), while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference
toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles.
[2][3][4]

Moral philosophy includes moral ontology, or the origin of morals, as well as moral
epistemology, or what is known about morals. Different systems of expressing morality
have been proposed, including deontological ethical systems which adhere to a set of
established rules, and normative ethical systems which consider the merits of actions
Vaughn Weston
Fall 2014 MWF10:00-10:50

HUMANITIES 2120
Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
Page 2


themselves. An example of normative ethical philosophy is the Golden Rule which
states that, "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself."
[5]

Functional
http://spatel93.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/substantive-definition-of-religion/
Functionalist definition of religion defines religion in terms of what it does and how
religion contributes to the wider society. Nevertheless both substantive and functionalist
definition about religion can be board, as long as you can relate anything considering
religion.
Substantive
http://spatel93.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/substantive-definition-of-religion/

Substantive definition means that youre looking at religion as simply a type of
philosophy in a system of belief. Hence substantive definitions are exclusive as they
draw clear line between religious and non-religious beliefs.
Religion
A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that
relate humanity to an order of existence.
[note 1]
Many religions have narratives, symbols,
and sacred histories that are intended to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain
the origin of life or the Universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature,
people derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle. According to some
estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world.
[1]

Vaughn Weston
Fall 2014 MWF10:00-10:50

HUMANITIES 2120
Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
Page 3


Definitions
There are numerous definitions of religion and only a few are stated here. The typical
dictionary definition of religion refers to a "belief in, or the worship of, a god or gods"
[22]

or the "service and worship of God or the supernatural".
[23]
However, writers and
scholars have expanded upon the "belief in god" definitions as insufficient to capture the
diversity of religious thought and experience.
Peter Mandaville and Paul James define religion as "a relatively-bounded system of
beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which
communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually
transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing".
[24]

This definition has the virtue of taking into account the emphasis in the literature on the
relationship between the immanent and transcendent without treating it in the modern
way as a dualism of two separate worlds. There is no mention of 'God' or 'gods',
allowing Buddhism, for example, to be considered a religion.
Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion as "the belief in spiritual beings".
[25]
He argued,
back in 1871, that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or
judgment after death or idolatry and so on, would exclude many peoples from the
category of religious, and thus "has the fault of identifying religion rather with particular
developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them". He also argued that
the belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies.
The anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined religion as a "system of symbols which acts
to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by
Vaughn Weston
Fall 2014 MWF10:00-10:50

HUMANITIES 2120
Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
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formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions
with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely
realistic."
[26]
Alluding perhaps to Tylor's "deeper motive", Geertz remarked that "we have
very little idea of how, in empirical terms, this particular miracle is accomplished. We
just know that it is done, annually, weekly, daily, for some people almost hourly; and we
have an enormous ethnographic literature to demonstrate it".
[27]
The theologian Antoine
Vergote also emphasized the "cultural reality" of religion, which he defined as "the
entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a
supernatural being or supernatural beings"; he took the term "supernatural" simply to
mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency.
[28]

The sociologist Durkheim, in his seminal book The Elementary Forms of the Religious
Life, defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred
things".
[29]
By sacred things he meant things "set apart and forbiddenbeliefs and
practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who
adhere to them". Sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits.
[note 2]
On the
contrary, a sacred thing can be "a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a
house, in a word, anything can be sacred".
[30]
Religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and
legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the
virtues and powers which are attributed to them.
[31]

In his book The Varieties of Religious Experience, the psychologist William James
defined religion as "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their
solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may
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Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
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consider the divine".
[32]
By the term "divine" James meant "any object that is godlike,
whether it be a concrete deity or not"
[33]
to which the individual feels impelled to respond
with solemnity and gravity.
[34]

Echoes of James' and Durkheim's definitions are to be found in the writings of, for
example, Frederick Ferr who defined religion as "one's way of valuing most
comprehensively and intensively".
[35]
Similarly, for the theologian Paul Tillich, faith is
"the state of being ultimately concerned",
[36]
which "is itself religion. Religion is the
substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life."
[37]
Friedrich
Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as das schlechthinnige
Abhngigkeitsgefhl, commonly translated as "a feeling of absolute dependence".
[38]
His
contemporary Hegel disagreed thoroughly, defining religion as "the Divine Spirit
becoming conscious of Himself through the finite spirit."
[39]

When religion is seen in terms of "sacred", "divine", intensive "valuing", or "ultimate
concern", then it is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical
criticisms (e.g. Richard Dawkins) do not necessarily disturb its adherents.
[40]

Transcendence
In religion, transcendence refers to the aspect of a god's nature and power which is
wholly independent of the material universe, beyond all physical laws. This is contrasted
with immanence, where a god is said to be fully present in the physical world and thus
accessible to creatures in various ways. In religious experience transcendence is a
state of being that has overcome the limitations of physical existence and by some
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Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
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definitions has also become independent of it. This is typically manifested in prayer,
sance, meditation, psychedelics and paranormal "visions".
It is affirmed in the concept of the divine in various religious traditions, and contrasts
with the notion of a god, or the Absolute, existing exclusively in the physical order
(immanentism), or indistinguishable from it (pantheism). Transcendence can be
attributed to the divine not only in its being, but also in its knowledge. Thus, a god may
transcend the universe, but may also transcends knowledge (is beyond the grasp of the
human mind).
Although transcendence is defined as the opposite of immanence, the two are not
necessarily mutually exclusive. Some theologians and metaphysicians of various
religious traditions affirm that a god is both within and beyond the universe
(panentheism); in it, but not of it; simultaneously pervading it and surpassing it.
Immanence
Immanence refers to those philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence
in which the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. Immanence is
usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, pandeistic, or panentheistic faiths to
suggest that the spiritual world permeates the mundane. It is often contrasted with
theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world.
Major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the
relationship between immanence and transcendence but do so in different ways, such
as: casting immanence as a characteristic of a transcendent god (common in
Abrahamic religions), subsuming transcendent personal gods in a greater immanent
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Sacred Traditions
Suzanne Jacob
Page 7


being (such as with Brahman in Hinduism), or approaching the question of
transcendence as something which can only be answered through an appraisal of
immanence.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in
particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation or worship. While sacrifice often implies
ritual killing, the term offering (Latin oblatio) can be used for bloodless sacrifices of
cereal food or artifacts. For offerings of liquids (beverages) by pouring, the term libation
is used.
Sacred
Sacred means revered due to association with holiness. Holiness, or sanctity, is in
general the state of being holy (perceived by religious individuals as associated with
divinity) or sacred (considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or
reverence among believers).
From an anthropological or atheistic perspective, the religious view of the sacred is a
emic perspective on a culture's collection of thoughts and practices that function as a
basis for the community's social structure.
Objects are often considered holy or sacred if used for spiritual purposes, such as the
worship or service of gods. The property is often ascribed to people ("a holy man", a
"holy prophet" who is venerated by his followers), objects (a "sacred artifact" that is
venerated and blessed), times ("holy days"), or places ("holy places", "sacred ground").