SOME DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION

Religion: n. belief in superhuman controlling power, esp. in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience; system of faith and worship; life under monastic conditions. From The New Little Oxford Dictionary. !ford: "larendon #ress, $%&'. (Religion refers to) belief in spiritual beings. From Primitive Culture*+.,. -ylor. .ondon: /ohn 0urray, $%12 3$&4$5. (-he answer) will be found if we turn our attention to the psychical origin of religious beliefs. -hese, which are gi6en out as teachings, are not precipitates of e!perience or end7results of thin8ing; they are illusions, fulfillments of the oldest, strongest and most urgent wishes of man8ind. -he secret of their strength lies in the strength of those7wishes. From The Future of an Illusion*9igmund Freud. :ew ;or8 and .ondon: <.<. :orton = "ompany, $%'$ 3$%>45. Religious distress is at the same time the ex ression of real (economic) distress and the rotest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, ?ust as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. @t is the o ium of the people. -he abolition of religion as illusory happiness of the people is reAuired for their real happiness. -he demand to gi6e up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give u a condition which needs illusions. From "ritiAue of BegelCs #hilosophy of Right*Darl 0ar!. ReligionEshall mean for us the feelings, acts, and e!periences of indi6idual men ( sic) in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themsel6es to stand in relation to whate6er they may consider the di6ineE.Religion, whate6er it is, is a manCs total reaction upon life. From The !arieties of Religious "x erience *<illiam /ames. :ew ;or8: -he 0odern .ibrary, $%%% 3$%1>5. -he first possible definition of the sacred is that it is the o osite of the rofane. -he aim of the following pages is to illustrate and define the opposition between sacred and profaneE0an becomes aware of the sacred because it manifests itself, shows itself, as something wholly different from the profane. -o designate the act of manifestation of the sacred, we ha6e proposed the term hiero hanyE @t could be said that the history of religionsfrom the most primiti6e to the most highly de6eloped is constituted by a great number hierophanies, by manifestations of sacred realities. From The #acred and the Profane$ The Nature of Religion *0ircea +liade. :ew ;or8: Barcourt, $%&4 3$%F45. Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern which Aualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains the answer to the Auestion of the meaning of life. -herefore this concern is unconditionally serious and shows a willingness to sacrifice any finite concern which is in conflict with it. From Christianity and the "ncounter of the %orld Religions *#aul -illich. :ew ;or8: "olumbia Gni6ersity #ress, $%'2.

H religion is 3$5 a system of symbols which acts to 3>5 establish powerful, per6asi6e, and long7lasting moods and moti6ations in men (sic) by 325 formulating conceptions of a general order of e!istence and 3I5 clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that 3F5 the moods and moti6ations seem uniAuely realistic. From The Inter retation of Cultures*"lifford GeertJ. :ew ;or8: ,asic ,oo8s, $%42. (-his boo8) is intended to delineate the 6arious manifestations of religion in comple! waysE.-he se6en (dimensions of religion) are as follows 3the order is rather random5: $. -he ritual and practical dimensionE.>. -he doctrinal or philosophical dimensionsE.2. -he mythic or narrati6e dimensionE.I. -he e!periential or emotional dimensionE.F. -he ethical or legal dimensionsE.'. -he organiJational or social dimensionE.4. -he artistic or material dimension. From Dimensions of the #acred*:inian 9mart. ,er8eley: Gni6ersity of "alifornia #ress, $%%'. H proper definition (of religion) must therefore be polythetic and fle!ible, allowing for wide 6ariations and attending, at a minimum, to these four domains: 3$5 H discourse whose concerns transcend the human, temporal, and contingent, and that claims for itself a similarly transcendent status; 3>5 H set of practices whose goal is produce a proper world and*or proper human sub?ects, as defined by a religious discourse to which these practices are connected; 325 H community whose members construct their identity with reference to a religious discourse and its attendant practices; and 3I5 Hn institution that regulates religious discourse, practices, and community, reproducing them o6er time and modifying them as necessary, while asserting their eternal 6alidity and transcendent 6alue. From &oly Terrors$ Thin'ing a(out Religion after #e tem(er )) *,ruce .incoln. "hicago: Gni6ersity of "hicago #ress, >11' 3>1125.

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