The following is a working definition for the term "Religion". This definition was taken verbatim from Wikipedia, online Encyclopedia and from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. I believe this definition is accurate regarding the use and meaning of the term "Religion" as referenced in this book, "Practice What You Preach, Preach What You Practice"
Most organized religions have organized behaviors, clergy, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, holy places, and scriptures. The practice of a religion may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of a deity, gods, or goddesses), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions may also contain mythology.
1 an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods
2 an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group
According to Webster dictionary to be Religious means:
1) "of or relating to religion"
2) "believing in a god or a group of gods and following the rules of a religion"
3) "very careful to do something whenever it can or should be done"
Religions are comprised of a complicated variety of doctrines that support beliefs; a mixture of parables, revelations, mysticism, myth, knowledge and life lessons. There are thousands of religions followed by people throughout the world. The variety of religious beliefs makes one wonder: What is the real religion? What is the truth regarding God, origin, existence and after life? These are but a fraction of the many dilemmas of religion. Considering the many religions followed and believed by the billions of people throughout the world; there are many truths regarding God, origin, life, existence and afterlife. For Example, consider the Christian religion. There are many versions of Christianity and many denominations within each version of Christianity.
Even the Bible is re-written, redacted and edited into many versions. Why?
The American Standard Version the King James Version
New King James Version Common English Bible
Contemporary English Version New Living Translation
Catholic Public Domain Version Darby Translation
English Standard Version Modern English Version
New American Bible New English Translation
New International Version Orthodox Jewish Bible
(Anglicized)
World English Bible New Revised Standard
Version Bible (NRSV)
Which version of the Christian Bible (Old and New Testament) is the real word? Which should be followed? The obvious answer one would give to this question depends on which version of Christianity one follows.
Another thing that complicates real understanding of the Bible, it's entire truth and accuracy, is that the original Bible was written in Hebrew and the first translation of the Hebrew Bible was the old testament translation into Greek around the 2nd or 3rd century B.C. The Greek translation became the generally accepted version although there were versions of the Bible translated into Latin based on the Hebrew version.
There are a total of 66 books in the Christian Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The New Testament Books of the Christian Bible were originally written in Greek. The New Testament was written many years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To put the Bible argument, I am making into perspective, I will share a learning exercise my 7th Grade elementary school teacher taught the class. There were 20 kids in the class. She had 10 kids line up on one side of the room and 10 kids line up on the other side of the room. She wrote a sentence on a sheet of paper, (a different sentence for each line) and had the first person at the head of each line read the sentence silently then repeats it only to the person immediately behind them. Each student repeated the sentence only to the person behind them until the sentence was repeated to the last person in each line. By the time the sentence reached the 10th and last person in each line, it was completely different than the original sentence read by the first person in each line. considering this basic exercise for one sentence, what would one imagine happened to the christian Bible that was translated from Hebrew to Greek to English (one language to another) and many other languages over centuries? In addition, both New and Old Testaments were written years after the events occurred. In no way am I questioning the existence, presence and omnipotent reality of God. I believe wholehearted in "God the father maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son." What I am questioning is the belief by many christians every word of the entire Bible should be taken literally. This is a mind boggling notion that would be totally confusing and almost impossible for the layperson to unravel (what parts of the bible is God inspired; which parts are man-made) nevertheless this is a perspective that I, and many other religious scholars, believe should be taken into consideration when reading the Holy christian Bible.
CHAPTER 2Religious Concepts, Terms and Definitions
The Primary Religions in the world addressed in this book are Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Muslim), Hindu, and Buddhism. Judaism, although small in the number of actual followers has a significant impact on the world stage. Also Judaism has been influential in the Christian and Islamic religions
Because most religions have an invisible God or invisible Gods as their object of worship, relationship with and understanding of God / Gods can only be experienced through symbols that give definition and conceptual perception to the relationship one has with their God as well as with their own existence. The terminologies in this chapter describe some basic common symbols that give conceptualization for one to relate to their God. One's relationship with their God can be a simple or complex relationship. St. Augustine revealed himself to have developed a complex and intense relationship with God, in his "Confessions". However, I believe most common human beings have a relatively simple relationship with their God ranging from no relationship at all; to belief in God demonstrated by no church attendance or irregular church attendance; to belief in God demonstrated by regular church attendance; to a life commitment of service to God. For the most part, I believe most people accept their religious convictions without the stress or anxiety that accompanies other important decisions one makes in life; such as job choices, decision to get married, who to marry, which house to purchase, to have children etc. Acceptance of their actions and sins within a religious context is another matter.
The influence of religion in one's life raises their conscious awareness of right and wrongful acts; of behavior that is ethical, moral or unethical and immoral. However, it does necessarily follow that one who is considered religious acts in ways that coincide with their awareness of right and wrongful, ethical and moral behavior. Also it does not follow that people without religious convictions are unethical and do not have a moral compass that meters and directs their behavior. It is not a prerequisite that one must have religious conviction to be a good person. Conversely, people can profess to have strong religious convictions and perform evil, immoral and unethical acts.
I have an alternate purpose for writing this book. It is to introduce religions to each other or better stated to introduce people who follow a specific religion to become familiar with religions different from their own. Being a Christian, naturally, I am more familiar with the Christian faith however; I have discovered the major world religions have overlapping beliefs. I have the thought religions consider themselves so different from each other they maintain a wall of separation. In my opinion, the walls need to be removed. Religions should follow the example set by the removal of the Berlin wall that separated East and West Germany from 1961 until it was removed in 1990. I believe the people on both sides of Germany were happy the wall was removed. My objective is neither to argue the values or beliefs of any religion nor to express an opinion on which religion is preferable to the other. My only intention is to give a general overview of the origins, development, philosophies and beliefs and evolution of 5 major religions in the world (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam); to remove the walls of separation. The reader hopefully will gain a basic understanding of the different religious beliefs and develop a basic knowledge and cause for finding common synergy among the religions as well as a common respect for each other. Being a Christian, naturally my knowledge of Christianity is greater than that my knowledge of other religions. It is likewise a learning experience for me to discover the basic beliefs of other religions, a worthwhile learning experience. What I learned is that all religions have a foundation in beliefs that man is not the ultimate being, all support positive behavior and respect, one human being to the other, in their doctrines. Thought there are noticeable differences between religions but none have a basic doctrine or philosophy that is incompatible with positive human behavior and respect for human beings toward each other.
This chapter also gives the reader insight into how to interpret and understand scripture text such that it is meaningful to the life experience of the reader. when reading religious text, the reader should be aware of how to interpret parables, myths, anecdotes and stories conveyed in religious doctrines, not only how to understand the purpose of the stories but also the reader should understand how to interpret the meaning of what is being conveyed in religious text. This will give more meaning and understanding to the reader regarding the true intent of religious doctrine, as well as better clarity of how religious textual conveyance is meaningful to one's own life, one's lived experience.
I came across a startling article that raised question regarding how well Christians and Religious "believers" know religion. The startling part was the article stated atheist and agnostics are more knowledgeable about religion than religious people, "believers". The conclusion in one article was "Atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups in a 32-question survey of religious knowledge by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. On average, Americans got 16 of the 32 questions correct. Atheists and agnostics got an average of 20.9 correct answers; Jews 20.5 and Mormons 20.3; Protestants got 16 correct answers on average, while Catholics got 14.7 questions right."
A basic foundation of Christianity and most other religions is "faith", belief in that which has no logical explanation. However, experience, articles I've read, the observation of human behavior, and media coverage make me wonder -- Do Christians use faith as a crutch not to read the Bible, not to thoroughly understand or study their chosen religion? When people secure mortgages to purchase homes, or select schools for their children to attend, or purchase an automobile, or even decide which clothing to purchase when shopping. I believe more time energy and concern go into these decisions than to learn about the religion people adopt and follow, at least according to the conclusions of the Pew study. Normally, Christians gain religious knowledge through Sunday sermon when the minister references and explains bible passages that give context to his message. Sunday school and bible study groups are other methods by which Christians gain knowledge of religion. But how effective are these methods that give fragmented impressions of religion without consistency or continuity to understand how religion should frame our daily lives. The Bible and other religion's primary scriptures are considered holy books, but they are more. They are books of life lessons, history books and books that detail how humans should live their lives. I get the impression the Pew Forum article insinuates that atheists take their non-belief more serious than "believers" take their religious convictions.
Christian Symbols, Concepts and Terms that influence Religious thought and Explanations
Paul Ricreur (February 27, 1913 – May 20, 2005) was a French philosopher best known for combining phenomenological with hermeneutics. In religious context phenomenology and hermeneutics are primarily concerned with the systematic reflection on and study of the structures of written, spoken or conscious acts and the phenomena that appear in such acts. Ricouer's thought is within the same tradition as other major hermeneutic phenomenologists, Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer. In 2000, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy for having "revolutionized the methods of hermeneutic phenomenology, expanding the study of textual interpretation to include the broad yet concrete domains of mythology, biblical exegesis, psychoanalysis, theory of metaphor, and narrative theory." Ricoeur devoted much thought and writing to what her refers to as "Symbols of Evil", including defilement, sin, and guilt. He also gives thought and reflects on how symbols of evil relate to salvation. Another of the concepts Ricoeur expounds on is time, as it relates to life and death. He also explains the role of narratives and myths and how they impact the understanding of religion, and give interpretation to the doctrines of religion. The Bible is full of parables, narratives and myths. He also writes about how religion is understood, should be understood and how the bible should be read and interpreted.
Hermeneutics is the theory of text interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom, literature, and philosophical texts. The terms "hermeneutics" and "exegesis" are sometimes used interchangeably as synonyms for "interpretation and analysis". Hermeneutics is a wider discipline; however, that includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon texts. Hermeneutic, as a singular noun, refers to a single particular method or strand of interpretation. A thorough understanding of any written text requires hermeneutics. Hermeneutics initially applied to the interpretation, or exegesis, of scripture. It emerged as a theory of human understanding beginning in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey. Modern hermeneutics include both verbal and nonverbal communication as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and pre-understandings. Hermeneutic consistency refers to the analysis of texts to achieve a coherent explanation of them.
Phenomenology is the philosophical study and reflection of the structures of experience and consciousness and the acts that are manifested in experience and conscious. Phenomenology is in a sense the study giving interpretation to written text or a study to give interpretation to reality in human behavior. The expansive depth of hermeneutical phenomenology is when one gives interpretation to acts that are reactions and responses to acts that are stimulus and responses to behavior acting in continuous response to other acts.
Some of the symbols expressed in the following terms are referenced from the writings of Paul Ricoeur "Time and Narrative" and "Symbolism of Evil." Religious symbols are significant to the understanding of scripture. Symbols give context and meaning to religion, events described in the scripture and parables. The same process of understanding is necessary for a thorough understanding of scripture in every religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism Christianity and Islam).
