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Religious Belief

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Religious belief



 
 
Religious belief refers to a mental state in which faith
Faith

Faith is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, characteristically without proof....
 is placed in a creed
Creed

A creed is a statement of belief ? usually religious belief ? or faith often recited as part of a religious service. The word derives from the for I believe and credimus for we believe. It is sometimes called symbol , signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other....
 related to the supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
, sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
, or divine
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
. Such a state may relate to:
  1. the existence, characteristics and worship of a deity
    Deity

    A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
     or deities;
  2. divine intervention in the universe
    Universe

    The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
     and human life; or
  3. values and practices centered on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
In contrast to other belief systems, religious beliefs are usually codified.

While the term "religious belief" is often considered to have the same meaning as religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, the latter term usually deals with both ideas and practices.






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Religious belief refers to a mental state in which faith
Faith

Faith is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, characteristically without proof....
 is placed in a creed
Creed

A creed is a statement of belief ? usually religious belief ? or faith often recited as part of a religious service. The word derives from the for I believe and credimus for we believe. It is sometimes called symbol , signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other....
 related to the supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
, sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
, or divine
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
. Such a state may relate to:
  1. the existence, characteristics and worship of a deity
    Deity

    A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
     or deities;
  2. divine intervention in the universe
    Universe

    The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
     and human life; or
  3. values and practices centered on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
In contrast to other belief systems, religious beliefs are usually codified.

While the term "religious belief" is often considered to have the same meaning as religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, the latter term usually deals with both ideas and practices. Religious belief can be seen as a focus exclusively on ideas.

Difference between religious and other belief systems

While religion invariably involves a belief system, not all belief systems are religion. Theism
Theism

Theism, in its most inclusive usage, is the belief in at least one deity. Less inclusive usages specify that the deity believed in be a distinct identifiable entity, thereby contrasted with pantheism....
 is often confused with religion. However theism isn't always a belief system. Spirituality
Spirituality

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religion and faith, transcendence , or one or more Deity....
, which deals in matters of the spirit
Spirit

The English word "spirit" comes from the Latin "spiritus" . The term is commonly used to refer to a supernatural being which is transcendence and therefore metaphysical in nature....
, usually considered a part of religion, can also be distinguished from religion. Spirituality may encompass both religious and non-religious practice.

Religious adherents often distinguish religious belief from superstition
Superstition

Superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to supposedly irrational beliefs of others, and its precise meaning is therefore subjective....
. Both superstition and traditional religions are non-materialistic, do not see the world as being subject to laws of cause and effect and presume that there are immaterial forces influencing our lives. Both religion and superstition seek meaning in otherwise random and chaotic events. There is, thus, a continuum between what is termed “superstition” and the ideas in animistic religions.

Religious belief vs philosophy

Philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 is sometimes confused with religion since the two topics cover many of the same issues. Both religion and philosophy address questions such as: Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? What is good? How should we treat each other? What is most important in life? Religion often has rituals marking important life events and times of the year. Unlike philosophy, religion makes a distinction between the sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
 and the profane. Religions also often have a belief in the “miraculous
Miracle

File:Folio 171r - The Raising of Lazarus.jpgA miracle is a sensibly perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can only be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle-worker....
.”

Forms of religious belief


Pluralism


People with pluralist
Religious pluralism

Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of different religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values exist in other religions....
 beliefs make no distinction between faith systems, viewing each one as valid within a particular culture. Examples include:

  • Extracts from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib
    Guru Granth Sahib

    The Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy scripture and the final Guru#Classification of gurus of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 pages, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708....
     Ji (Sikh Holy Scriptures), "There is only the One Supreme Lord God; there is no other at all" (Pannaa 45). "By His Power the Vedas
    Vedas

    The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
     and the Puranas exist, and the Holy Scriptures of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. By His Power all deliberations exist." (Pannaa 464). "Some call Him, 'Ram, Ram', and some call Him, 'Khudaa-i'. Some serve Him as 'Gusain', others as 'Allaah'. ||1|| He is the Cause of causes, the Generous Lord. He showers His Grace and Mercy upon us." (Pannaa 885).


  • The Qur'an, revealed through Muhammad, states, "Those with Faith, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans, all who have Faith in Allah and the Last Day and act rightly will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow." (Qur'an, Surat al-Baqara; 2:62)


Syncretism


People with syncretistic views blend the views of a variety of different religions or traditional beliefs into a unique fusion which suits their particular experience and context (see eclecticism
Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases....
). Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion religion characterized by its support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth....
 is an example of a syncretistic faith.

Universalism

Some believe that religion cannot be separated from other aspects of life, or believe that certain cultures did not or do not separate their religious activities from other activities in the same way that some people in modern Western
Western culture

File:Clash of Civilizations map.pngWestern culture are terms which are used to refer to cultures of European origin. This terminology originated as a way of describing what was different about the Graeco-Roman culture and its descendants, in contrast to the older neighboring civilizations of the Middle East, which in many ways continued...
 cultures do.

Some anthropologists report cultures in which gods are involved in every aspect of life - if a cow goes dry, a god has caused this, and must be propitiated, when the sun rises in the morning, a god has caused this, and must be thanked. Even in modern Western cultures, many people see supernatural forces behind every event, as described by Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan, Ph.D. was an United States astronomer, Astrochemistry, author, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences....
 in his book The Demon-Haunted World
The Demon-Haunted World

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark is a book by astrophysicist Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan, which was first published in 1995....
.

People with this worldview often consider the influence of Western culture to be inimical. Others with this world view resist the influence of science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
, and believe that science, or "so-called science", should be guided by religion. Still others with this worldview believe that all political decisions and laws should be guided by religion. This last belief is written into the constitution of many Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
ic nations, and is shared by some fundamentalist Christians.

In addition, beliefs about the supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 or metaphysical
Metaphysics

Metaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics....
 may not presuppose a difference between any such thing as nature
Nature

File:Jungle in Punjab.JPGNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe....
 and non-nature, nor between science and what the most educated people believe. In the view of some historians, the pre-Socratic
Socratic

Socratic may refer to:*Socrates*Socratic method*Socratic ...
 Athenians saw science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
, political tradition
Tradition

The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
, culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
, and religion as not easily distinguishable, but all part of the same body of knowledge
Knowledge

Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation....
 and wisdom
Wisdom

Wisdom is knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and Intuition , along with a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems....
 available to a community
Community

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment .In human communities, intention, belief, Natural resource, preferences, Need assessment, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the Identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness....
.

Systemization

In Buddhism, practice and progress along the spiritual path happens when one follows the system of buddhist practice. Any religion which follows (parts of) the fundamentals of this system has, according to the teachings of Buddha, good aspects to the extent it accords with this system. Any religion which goes against (parts of) the fundamentals of this system, includes bad aspects too. Any religion which does not teach certain parts of this system, is not because of this a 'bad' religion; it just lacks those teachings and is to that extent incomplete.

A question by the monk Subhadda to the Buddha: "O Gotama, there are Samana
Samaná

Saman? is a Provinces of the Dominican Republic of the Dominican Republic. Its Capital is Samana, Dominican Republic, also known as Saman? City....
s and Brahmanas
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
 (religious leaders) who are leaders of their sects, who are well-esteemed by many people, such as Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambala, Pakudha Kaccayana, Sancaya Belatthaputta and Nigantha Nataputta
Mahavira

Mahavira is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamana who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism....
. Do all of them have knowledge and understanding as they themselves have declared? Or do all of them have no knowledge and understanding?"
The reply by Buddha was: "Subhadda, in whatever teaching is not found the Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal Dharma of Gautama Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening....
, neither in it is there found a Samana (priest or holy person) of the first stage (Sotapanna
Four stages of enlightenment

The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life....
), nor a Samana of the second stage (Sakadagami
Four stages of enlightenment

The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life....
), nor a Samana of the third stage (Anagami
Four stages of enlightenment

The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life....
), nor a Samana of the fourth stage (Arahant
Arhat

In the shramana traditions of ancient India arhat or arahant signified a spiritual practitioner who had?to use an expression common in the tipitaka?"laid down the burden"?and realised the goal of nirvana, the culmination of the spiritual life ....
)".

As a religious tradition, Hinduism has experienced many attempts at systemization. In medieval times, Shankara
Shankara

Shankara can refer to:*Shiva, the Hindu god*Adi Shankara, 9th century Hindu philosopher*Psychological Reaction of Clinging or Aversion*with honorific: Shankaracharya ...
 advocated for the Advaita system of philosophy. In recent times, Tamala Krishna Gosvami has researched the systemization of Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
 theology as expounded by Srila Prabhupada. (See Krishnology
Krishnology

Category:KrishnaKrishnology is an academic neologism. It is a scholastic vehicle for placing theology discourse concerning the Hindu deity Krishna, within the context of Vaishnava theology "Krishnaism"....
)

Approaches to the beliefs of others

Adherents of particular religions deal with the differing doctrines and practices espoused by other religions in a variety ways. All strains of thought appear in different segments of all major world religions.

Exclusivism

People with exclusivist beliefs typically explain other religions as either in error, or as corruptions or counterfeits of the true faith. Examples include:
Redentor
* Christian scripture states that Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6. It also says things such as: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).

  • Islamic scripture states: "O you who believe, do not take certain Jews and Christians as allies; these are allies of one another. Those among you who ally themselves with these belong with them. Surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." Qur'an 5:51. and "O you who believe, do not befriend those among the recipients of previous scripture who mock and ridicule your religion, nor shall you befriend the disbelievers. You shall reverence GOD, if you are really believers." Qur'an 5:57


  • Hebrew scripture states that God said to Israel through Moses: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."


  • The Buddhist
    Buddhism

    Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
     scriptures of the Dhammapada
    Dhammapada

    The Dhammapada is a versified Buddhism scripture traditionally ascribed to the Gautama Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada Pali Canon....
     states: "The best of paths is the Eightfold Path. The best of truths are the Four Noble Truths
    Four Noble Truths

    The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhism teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation....
    . Non-attachment (viraga or Nirvana
    Nirvana

    In sramana thought, Nirvana is the state of being free from both dukkha and the cycle of rebirth. It is an important concept in Buddhism and Jainism....
    ) is the best of states. The best of bipeds is the Seeing One. This is the only Way
    Middle way

    In general, the Middle Way or Middle Path is the Buddhist practice of non-extremism.More specifically, in Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon, the Middle Way crystallizes the Gautama Buddha's Nirvana-bound path of moderation away from the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification and toward the practice of wisdom, morality an...
    ; there is none other for the purity of vision. Do follow this path; it is the bewilderment of Mara
    Mara (demon)

    In Buddhism, Mara is the demon who tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beauty women who, in various legends, are often said to be his daughters....
    ". Dhammapada verse 273 & 274


Inclusivism

People with inclusivist
Inclusivism

Inclusivism, one of several approaches to understanding the relationship between religions, asserts that while one set of beliefs is absolutely true, other sets of beliefs are at least partially true....
 beliefs recognize some truth in all faith systems, highlighting agreements and minimizing differences, but see their own faith as in some way ultimate. Examples include:
From Christianity:
  • Jesus
    Jesus

    Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
     said, "Whoever is not against us is for us." Mark 9:40 (NIV) However, this use of Mark 9:40 distorts the true meaning of what Jesus said, since the verses prior to this one indicate that the man was driving out demons in Jesus' name. Therefore, the man driving out demons had to have been for Jesus. Jesus then follows that quote by saying this, "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." (Mark 9:41) So it would seem that this passage indicates that one would in fact have to belong to Christ to be blessed.
  • "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7 (NRSV)
  • The Apostle Peter wrote of God: "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
  • "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." (KJV)
  • Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (KJV)


From Islam:
  • The Qur'an
    Qur'an

    The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
     states: "Only argue with the People of the Book
    People of the Book

    In Islam, the People of the Book are non-Muslim peoples who, according to the Qur'an, received scriptures which were revelation to them by God before the time of Muhammad, most notably Christians and Jews....
     in the kindest way - except in the case of those of them who do wrong - saying, 'We have faith in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are one and we submit to him.'" (Qur'an, Surat al-'Ankabut; 29:46)
  • "Among the people of the Book there are some who have faith in God and in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down to them, and who are humble before God. They do not sell God's Signs for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord. And God is swift at reckoning." (Qur'an, Surat Al 'Imran; 3:199)
  • "...You will find the people most affectionate to those who have faith are those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because some of them are priests and monks and because, they are not arrogant. (Qur'an, Surat al-Ma'idah; 5:82)
  • The Quran says: "O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly the most honored of you in God’s sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware (Quran 49:13).


From Judaism:
  • The Talmud states: "The righteous of all peoples have a place in the World-To-Come" (Tos. to Sanhedrin 13:2, Sifra to Leviticus 19:18), and affirms that the great majority of non-Jewish humanity will be saved, due to God's overwhelming mercy (BT Sanhedrin 105a).
  • The Torah mentions a number of righteous gentiles, including Melchizedek who presided at offerings to God that Abraham made (Gen. 14:18), Job, a pagan Arab of the land of Uz who had a whole book of the Hebrew Bible devoted to him as a paragon of righteousness beloved of God (see the book of Job), and the Ninevites, the people given to cruelty and idolatry could be accepted by God when they repented (see the Book of Jonah).
  • Rabbinic tradition asserts that the basic standard of righteousness was established in a covenant with Noah: anyone who keeps the Noahide Laws
    Noahide Laws

    The Seven Laws of Noah , often referred to as the Noahide Laws, are a set of seven moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by Names of God in Judaism to Noah as a binding set of laws for all Human....
     of this covenant has "a share in the world to come".


From the Bahá'í Faith:
  • Shoghi Effendi
    Shoghi Effendi

    Shogh? Effend? Rabb?n? , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bah?'? Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957....
    , the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith states: "The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh
    Bahá'u'lláh

    Bah?'u'll?h , born M?rz? usayn-`Al? Nuri , was the founder of the Bah?'? Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of B?bism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shia Islam, but in a broader sense claimed to be a Manifestation of God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatology expectations of Islam, Christianity, and other major rel...
    , the followers of his Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society." (The Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in World Order, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1972-73)) The Bahá'í faith extends hypothetical affirmation to various religious faith traditions as among the Native Americans
    Indigenous peoples of the Americas

    The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
     and others to the extent that individuals and institutions may accept for their own purposes that various cultural heroes may have been in fact a Manifestation of God
    Manifestation of God

    The Manifestation of God is a concept in the Bah?'? Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization....
    .

From Hinduism:
  • A well-known Rig Vedic hymn stemming from Hinduism
    Hinduism

    'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
     claims that "Truth is One, but sages call it by many names."


  • Krishna
    Krishna

    Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
    , incarnation or avatar
    Avatar

    Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
     of Vishnu
    Vishnu

    Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
    , said: "Whoever resorts to Me in whatever manner, in the same manner do I favour them; men experience Me alone in different ways, O Arjuna." (Bhagavad Gita
    Bhagavad Gita

    The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
    : 4:11);


  • Krishna said: "Whatever may be the form [of the deity] a devotee - whosoever he may be - desires to worship with faith, I assume that form which is firm and is according to [his] faith. Endowed with that faith, he seeks to worship that deity and therefrom receives his desired objects that are ordained by none but Me.(Gita: 7:21-22)


  • Another quote in the Gita states: "O Arjuna, even those devotees who worship other deities (e.g.,Devas
    Deva (Hinduism)

    Deva is the Sanskrit word for "god, deity". It can be variously interpreted as a god, spirit, demi-god, Celestial, deity or any supernatural being of high excellence....
    ) with faith, they also worship Me, but following non-injunction" (Gita: 9:23)


Modern reasons for adherence to religion

Young Monks of Drepung
Typical reasons for adherence to religion include the following:

  • "Experience or emotion": For many, the practice of a religion leads to religious experience
    Religious experience

    Religious experience is a subjective experience where an individual reports contact with a transcendence , an encounter or union with the Divinity....
    s and pleasurable emotional highs. Such emotional highs can come from the singing of traditional hymns to the trance-like states found in the practices of the Whirling Dervishes and Yoga, among others. People continue to associate with those practices that give pleasure and, insofar as it is connected with religion, join in religious organizations that provide those practices. Also, some people simply feel that their faith is true, and may not be able to explain their feelings.


  • "Supernatural connection": Most religions postulate a reality which includes both the natural and the supernatural. Most adherents of religion consider this to be of critical importance, since it permits belief in unseen and otherwise potentially unknowable aspects of life, including hope of eternal life.


  • "Rational analysis": For some, adherence is based on intellectual evaluation that has led them to the conclusion that the teachings of that religion most closely describe reality. Among Christians this basis for belief is often given by those influenced by C. S. Lewis
    C. S. Lewis

    Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as Jack, was an academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist....
     and Francis Schaeffer
    Francis Schaeffer

    Francis August Schaeffer was an United States Evangelicalism theology, Christian philosophy, and Bible Presbyterian Church pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri in Switzerland....
    . This reason is closely tied to fields of study like the Philosophy of religion
    Philosophy of religion

    Philosophy of religion' is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion, including arguments over the nature and existence of God, religious language, miracles, prayer, the problem of evil, and the relationship between religion and other value-systems such as ethics.'...
    .


  • "Best Working Model": For some (e.g. John Polkinghorne
    John Polkinghorne

    John Polkinghorne, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society is a UK particle physics and theology. He has written extensively on matters concerning science and faith, and was awarded the Templeton Prize in 2002....
    ) religion makes the most sense of The Way the World is. Religion is not regarded as proven but as the best available reflection of things which are intractable to other analysis.


  • "Moderation": Many religions have approaches that produce practices that place limitations on the behaviour of their adherents. This is seen by many as a positive influence, potentially protecting adherents from the destructive or even fatal excesses to which they might otherwise be susceptible. Many people from many faiths contend that their faith brings them fulfillment, peace, and joy, apart from worldly interests.


  • "Authority": Most religions are authoritarian in nature, and thus provide their adherents with spiritual and moral role models, who they believe can bring highly positive influences both to adherents and society in general.


  • "Moral framework": Most religions see early childhood education in religion and spirituality as essential for instilling and internalizing moral discipline. Belief in God, for example, is seen by some to be necessary for moral behavior.


  • "Majesty and tradition": Many people consider religious practices to be serene, beautiful, and conducive to religious experiences, which in turn support religious beliefs.


  • "Community and culture": Organized religions promote a sense of community among their followers, and the moral and cultural common ground of these communities makes them attractive to people with the same values. Indeed, while religious beliefs and practices are usually connected, some individuals with substantially secular beliefs still participate in religious practices for cultural reasons (see Secular Jewish culture
    Secular Jewish culture

    Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena; above all, it is the culture of Secularity communities of Jewish people, but it can also include the cultural contributions of individuals who identify as secular Jews, or even those of religious Jews working in cultural areas not generally considered to be connected to religion....
    ).


  • "Fulfillment": Most traditional religions require sacrifice of their followers, but, in turn, the followers may gain much from their membership therein. Thus, they come away from experiences with these religions with the feeling that their needs have been filled. In fact, studies have shown that religious adherents tend to be happier and less prone to stress than non-religious people.


  • "Spiritual and psychological benefits": Each religion asserts that it is a means by which its adherents may come into closer contact with God, Truth, and Spiritual Power. They all promise to free adherents from spiritual bondage, and bring them into spiritual freedom. It naturally follows that a religion which frees its adherents from deception, sin, and spiritual death will have significant mental health benefits. Abraham Maslow
    Abraham Maslow

    Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychology. He is noted for his conceptualization of a "Maslow's hierarchy of needs", and is considered the father of humanistic psychology....
    's research after World War II
    World War II

    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
     showed that Holocaust
    The Holocaust

    The Holocaust , also known as , Churben is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler....
     survivors tended to be those who held strong religious beliefs (not necessarily temple attendance, etc), suggesting it helped people cope in extreme circumstances. Humanistic psychology
    Humanistic psychology

    Humanistic psychology is a school of psychology that emerged in the 1950s in reaction to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis. It is explicitly concerned with the human dimension of psychology and the human context for the development of psychological theory....
     went on to investigate how religious or spiritual identity may have correlations with longer lifespan and better health. The study found that humans may particularly need religious ideas to serve various emotional needs such as the need to feel loved, the need to belong to homogeneous groups, the need for understandable explanations and the need for a guarantee of ultimate justice. Other factors may involve sense of purpose, sense of identity, sense of contact with the divine. See also Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, detailing his experience with the importance of religion in surviving the Holocaust. Critics assert that the very fact that religion was the primary selector for research subjects may have introduced a bias, and that the fact that all subjects were holocaust survivors may also have had an effect. According to Larson et al. (2000), "[m]ore longitudinal research with better multidimensional measures will help further clarify the roles of these [religious] factors and whether they are beneficial or harmful."


  • "Practical benefits": Religions may sometimes provide breadth and scale for visionary inspirations in compassion, practical charity, and moral restraint. Christianity is noted for the founding of many major universities, the creation of early hospitals, the provision of food and medical supplies to the needy, and the creation of orphanages and schools, amongst other charitable acts. Many other religions (and non-religious organisations and individuals, eg: humanistic Oxfam
    Oxfam

    Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice....
    ) have also performed equivalent or similar work.


  • Crisis of faith is a term commonly applied to periods of intense doubt and internal conflict about one's preconceived beliefs or life decisions. A crisis of faith can be contrasted to simply a period of doubt in that a crisis of faith demands reconciliation or reevaluation before one can continue believing in whichever tenet is in doubt or continuing in whatever life path is in question - i.e., the crisis necessitates a non-compromisable decision: either sufficiently reconcile the cause of doubt with the belief or decision in question, or drop the belief. Religious doubt could lead to anxiety over the doubter’s supposed eternal future (e.g. going to Hell if they believe it exists). The friends or relatives of freethinkers
    Freethought

    Freethought is a philosophy viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logic, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any other dogma....
     can also experience distress over the supposed eternal future of a loved one. While many religious adherents derive happiness from their religion, some religious beliefs may cause unhappiness to some. Similarly many freethinkers derive happiness from being able to decide philosophical
    Philosophy

    Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
     and moral
    Morality

    Morality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct which is held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong....
     issues for themselves, and some become unhappy in their state.


Modern reasons for rejection of religion


Typical reasons for rejection of religion include the following:

  • "Irrelevancy": Many find the beliefs, moral practices, and rituals of a religion to hold no meaning in the modern world, and find no effect from them if applied, and conclude that the religion is irrelevant. Likewise, many who live a contemporary lifestyle find that modern lifestyles conflict with traditional religious understanding, and so reject religion in favour of the current lifestyle, finding the religious beliefs to be outdated or pointless.


  • "Alternative Explanations": Some see religion as merely an attempt at explaining observed phenomena in the world by attributing it to the actions of an omnipotent deity. Now that science has been able to solve many of these problems, religion is no longer necessary. This is effectively a God of the Gaps
    God of the gaps

    The God of the gaps refers to a view of God deriving from a theistic position in which anything that can be explained by human knowledge is not in the domain of God, so the role of God is therefore confined to the 'gaps' in scientific explanations of nature....
     argument.


  • "Promotion of guilt
    Guilt

    Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person understanding or belief - whether justified or not - that he or she has violated a Morality standard, and is responsible for that violation....
    , fear
    Fear

    Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of pain....
     and shame
    Shame

    Shame is, variously, an Affect_, emotion, cognition, state_of_being. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
    "
    : Many atheists, agnostics, and others see religion as a promoter of fear and conformity, causing people to adhere to it to shake the guilt and fear of either being looked down upon by others, or some form of punishment as outlined in the religious doctrines (e.g. Hell). In this way, religion can be seen as promotional of people pushing guilt onto others, or becoming fanatical (i.e. doing things they otherwise wouldn't if they were non-religious), in order to shed their own guilt and fear ultimately generated by the religion itself.


  • "Irrational and unbelievable creeds": The fundamental doctrines of some religions are considered by some to be illogical, contrary to experience, or unsupported by sufficient evidence, and are rejected for those reasons. Even some believers may have difficulty accepting particular religious assertions or doctrines. Some people believe the body of evidence available to humans to be insufficient to justify certain religious beliefs. They may thus disagree with religious interpretations of ethics and human purpose, or various creation myths. This reason has perhaps been aggravated by the protestations of some fundamentalist Christians
    Fundamentalist Christianity

    Fundamentalist Christianity, also known as Christian Fundamentalism or Fundamentalist Evangelicalism, is a movement that arose mainly within United Kingdom and United States Protestantism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among Christian conservative Evangelicalism, who, in a reaction to modernism, actively affirmed a Fund...
    .


  • "Restrictiveness": Many religions have (or have had in the past) an approach that produces, or produced, practices that are considered by some people to be too restrictive, e.g., regulation of dress, and proscriptions on diet and activities on certain days of the week. Some feel that religion is the antithesis of prosperity, fun, enjoyment and pleasure. This causes them to reject it entirely, or to see it as only to be turned to in times of trouble.


  • "Self-promotion": Some individuals place themselves in positions of power and privilege through promotion of specific religious views. Such self-promotion has tended to reduce public confidence in many things that are called "religion." Similarly, highly publicized cases of abuse by the clergy of several religions have tended to reduce public confidence in the underlying message.


  • "Promotion of ignorance": Many see religion as a primitive attempt to understand nature and the world at large, and that it has since been superseded by scientific inquiry. They therefore conclude that religious beliefs, founded in superstition and ignorance, merely perpetuate said ignorance onto future generations for the sake of tradition.


  • "Childhood indoctrination and ethics": Many atheists
    Atheism

    Atheism is the absence or rejection of belief in deity, or the explicit view that Existence of God.Many list of atheists are Skepticism of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empiricism evidence for the existence of deities....
    , agnostics
    Agnosticism

    Agnosticism is the philosophy view that the logical value of certain claims ? particularly metaphysics claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deity, ghosts, or even ultimate reality ? is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently impossible to prove or disprove....
    , and others see early childhood education in religion and spirituality as a form of brainwashing
    Brainwashing

    Brainwashing consists of any effort aimed at instilling certain attitudes and beliefs in a person ? beliefs sometimes unwelcome or in conflict with the person's prior beliefs and knowledge, in order to affect that individual's value system and subsequent thought-patterns and behaviors....
     or social conditioning
    Conditioning

    Conditioning may refer to:* In probability theory, the use of conditional probabilities, expectations and distributions; see conditioning * In mathematics, the property of a matrix as "well-conditioned" or "ill-conditioned"; see condition number...
    , forcing a child to accept certain ideas before he or she is old enough to fully understand them and make an informed decision whether or not to agree. Some argue that simplistic absolutism taught by some religions impairs a child's moral capacity to deal with a world of complex and varied temptations which, in reality, is far different from what they have been brought up to believe.


  • "Unappealing practices": Some people consider religious practices and ceremonies to be distasteful, boring, antiquated, or needlessly arcane, and reject religion for that reason.


  • "Detrimental effect on government": Many atheists, agnostics, and others believe that religion, because it insists that people believe certain claims "on faith
    Faith

    Faith is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, characteristically without proof....
    " without sufficient evidence, hinders the rational/logical thought processes necessary for effective government. For example, a leader who believes that God will intervene to save humans from environmental disasters may be less likely to attempt to reduce the risk of such disasters through human action. Also, in many countries, religious organizations have tremendous political power, and in some countries can even control government almost completely. Disillusionment with forms of theocratic government, such as practiced in Iran, can lead people to question the legitimacy of any religious beliefs used to justify non-secular government.


  • "Detrimental effect on personal responsibility": Many atheists, agnostics, and others believe that many religions, because they state that God will intervene to help individuals who are in trouble, cause people to be less responsible for themselves. For example, a person who believes that God will intervene to save him if he gets into financial difficulties may conclude that it is unnecessary to be financially responsible himself. (Some believers, however, would consider this a misrepresentation of religion: they would say that God only helps people who take initiative themselves first.) This attitude can be taken to extremes: there are instances of believers refusing life-saving medical treatment (or even denying it to their children) because they believe that God will cure them. Many atheists, agnostics, and others also find the assertion that 'circumstances are overpowering because they are the will of God' to be a negation of personal responsibility.


  • "Exclusivism": Many major world religions make the claim that they are the one true religion, and that all other religions are wrong (see exclusivism
    Religion

    A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
    ). This, to many, is a logical contradiction, as many religions possess similar, or identical, understanding of issues. Many also find exclusivism repulsive. However, it should be noted that exclusivism is not central to religious beliefs, and few seem to leave a religion fully based on a rejection of exclusivism.


  • "Tensions between proselytizing and secularizing": Increasingly secular beliefs have been steadily on the rise in many nations. An increasing acceptance of a secular worldview, combined with efforts to prevent "religious" beliefs from influencing society and government policy, may have led to a corresponding decline in religious belief, especially of more traditional forms.


  • "Cause of division, hatred, and war": Some religions include beliefs that certain groups of people are inferior or sinful and deserve contempt, persecution, or even death, and that non-believers will be punished for their unbelief in an after-life. For example, some Muslim
    Muslim

    :A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
    s believe that women are inferior to men. Some Christian
    Christian

    A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
    s share this belief. At the time of the American Civil War
    American Civil War

    The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
    , many Southerners used passages from the Bible
    Bible

    The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
     to justify slavery
    Slavery

    Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
    . The Christian religion has been used as a reason to persecute and to deny the rights of homosexuals, on the basis that God disapproves of homosexuality, and by implication homosexuals . Adherents to a religion may feel antipathy to unbelievers. There are countless examples of people of one religion or sect using religion as an excuse to murder people with different religious beliefs. To mention just a few, there was the slaughter of the Huguenot
    Huguenot

    The Huguenots were members of the Protestantism Reformed Church of France of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries....
    s by French Catholics in the Sixteenth century; Hindus and Muslim
    Muslim

    :A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
    s killing each other when Pakistan
    Pakistan

    Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
     separated from India in 1947; the persecution and killing of Shiite Muslims by Sunni Muslims in Iraq and the murder of Protestants by Catholics and vice versa in Ireland
    Ireland

    Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
    , (both of these examples in the late Twentieth century); and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
    Israeli-Palestinian conflict

    The Israeli?Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between Israelis and the Palestinian people. It forms part of the wider Arab?Israeli conflict....
     that continues today. According to some critics of religion, these beliefs can encourage completely unnecessary conflicts and in some cases even wars. Many atheists believe that, because of this, religion is incompatible with world peace, freedom, civil rights, equality, and good government.


  • "Opportunity cost
    Opportunity cost

    Opportunity cost or economic opportunity loss is the value of the next best alternative foregone as the result of making a decision. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement....
     of resources"
    : Many believe that the resources spent on religious practice, such as the cost of building and maintaining places of worship or the time necessary to participate in religious ceremonies, are better spent in other places. (On the other hand, the fact that many believers choose to spend time and money practicing religion voluntarily may indicate that they, at least, believe the benefits are worth the costs.)


  • "Immoral doctrines": Some people may be unable to accept the values that a specific religion promotes (e.g., Islamic attitudes towards women) and will therefore not join that religion. They may also be unable to accept the fact that those who do not believe will go to hell or be damned, especially if said nonbelievers are close to the person.


  • Crisis of faith is a term commonly applied to periods of intense doubt and internal conflict about one's preconceived beliefs or life decisions. A crisis of faith can be contrasted to simply a period of doubt in that a crisis of faith demands reconciliation or reevaluation before one can continue believing in whichever tenet is in doubt or continuing in whatever life path is in question - i.e., the crisis necessitates a non-compromisable decision: either sufficiently reconcile the cause of doubt with the belief or decision in question, or drop the belief. Religious doubt could lead to anxiety over the doubter’s supposed eternal future (e.g. going to Hell if they believe it exists). The friends or relatives of freethinkers
    Freethought

    Freethought is a philosophy viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logic, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any other dogma....
     can also experience distress over the supposed eternal future of a loved one. While many religious adherents derive happiness from their religion, some religious beliefs may cause unhappiness to some. Similarly many freethinkers derive happiness from being able to decide philosophical
    Philosophy

    Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
     and moral
    Morality

    Morality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct which is held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong....
     issues for themselves, and some become unhappy in their state.


See also

Doxastic attitudes
Doxastic attitudes

Doxastic - Pertaining to belief. Alternatively, also pertaining to states sufficiently like beliefs .Evidentialism is generally applied to separate justified beliefs from unjustified beliefs one may hold in a doxastic attitude....


External links