What is Religion?

1. University of Cambodia
Lectured by:
Mut Somoeun, M.Ed
RGL 101: Introduction to religion

2. Religion?
Why Religion?
Human and God/ gods?
Religion and Morality/ Ethics?
Religion to Peace and Human
Rights?

3. What is Religion?
• In narrow sense:
– Teaching, advice, and command of a respectfully
recognized teacher (may be considered as a God)
• In broad sense:
– Set of belief recognized and followed by the followers as
the influence of the super/hero man
– The belief in supernatural influences
– Belief in the holy teaching and command (doctrine) of
the God man…
– Teaching people to be moral
– The aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical
experience

4. What is Religion?
 Religare
– Latin root
– Re plus ligare
– ‘again’ combined with ‘to
bind’ meaning ‘to tie fast’
 Religia
– Latin – ‘obligation’ or ‘bond’
Religion deals with the big
issues in life – good and evil –
important to people.
- Ex. Some believers cling to
their faith and even prepared
to die for it.

5. Meaning of “Religion”
• Religion is “to join again,” “to reconnect.”
• The Latin roots of the word religion are thought to be re
and lig
– Re means “again”
– Lig means “join” or “connect” (as in “ligament”)
• The word religion suggests the joining of our natural,
human world to the sacred world.

6. Types of Religion
• Religion of Animism / Super-Naturalism
– Belief in super nature (natural influence)
– Ex: belief in mountains, sea, lakes, trees,…
• Religion of God Existence
– Belief in God/ gods
– Ex: God creates everything and destroy it,…
• Religion of Non-God Existence/ Religion of
truth Philosophy
– Philosophy of life, reality, rationality, logics,…
– Ex: Life is suffering,…

7. “Religion is the substance of culture, and
culture the form of religion”

8. Why do religions exist?
• Religions help us deal with a variety of human
needs. For example:
–Give us a way to think about our own mortality
–Help us to find security in an insecure world
–Organize us socially
–Assist the poorest and the weakest with
survival
–Stimulate artistic production

9. Why Religion Exist? (continued)
 Reasons why religion exists:
1. It serves many human needs. One primary need is
having a means to deal with our mortality.
• Religion can help us cope with death, and
religious rituals can offer us comfort.
2. It helps us to respond to our natural wonder about
ourselves and the cosmos
3. It’s a human attempt to feel more secure in an
unfeeling universe.
4. It grows out of psychological needs
5. It is a way of life founded upon the apprehension of
sacredness in existence

10. Why study the religion?
 Each religion is interesting in its own right, as a complex
system of values, relationships, personalities, and human
creativity.
 The study of religions require sympathy and objectivity.
While it is true that being a believer of a particular
religion brings a special insight that an outsider cannot
have, it is also true that an outsider can appreciate things
that are not always obvious to the insider.
 In a multicultural world, tolerance of differences is
valuable, but enjoyment of differences is even better.
 The value of the study of religions is that it helps us
recognize and appreciate the religious influences that are
everywhere.

11. Major Religions in the World Today
• 1. Christianity
• 2. Islam
• 3. Hinduism
• 4. Buddhism
• 5. Judaism

12. Key Elements of Religions
• Religion is simply defined as belief system which consists of
7 features:
– Doctrine (basic principles & teachings)
– Mythology (stories of gods & history of RGL)
– Concept of religious experiences (consciousness)
– Institutions (Church, Buddhist monastery...)
– Ethical content (practical instructions)
– Rituals (ceremony, sacrifice)
– Sacred objects & places (inanimate items...)
(Ninian Smart, British Philosopher & theologian)

13. Religious Doctrine
• The written body of teachings of a religious group that are
generally accepted by that group
• The basic principles of any religion are known as doctrine
– believers are taught to understand and accept.
• Some religions open to interpret then leads faith to
change and diversify, but some do not.
• Sources of doctrines: scriptures; sacred texts; and
continual process of reading & interpreting texts

14. • Doctrine (from Latin: doctrina) is a codification of
beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught
principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a
given branch of knowledge or belief system.
• Religious doctrine - the written body of teachings of a
religious group that are generally accepted by that group
• Tenet; dogma; religious doctrine; reading; version; creed
Religious Doctrine

16. Doctrinal or Philosophical Dimension
• The principles of a tradition
• Typically explain complex ideas
• May or may not be familiar to the average
believer, but is part of the scholarly tradition

17. Religious Mythology
• A mythology is a collection of stories about God/
gods, covering particularly the origins of the cosmos
and humanity, and the role of divine.
• A religion’s mythology underpins its beliefs, explains
the way of the world is, and provides moral lessons to
guide the followers

18. Religious Experiences
• Common to all religions is the idea that worshippers ,
in some way or another, can experience the absolute,
or God. This experience is most obviously
recognizable as a kind of heightened state of being –
ecstasy, trance, exaltation, or calm – reaches beyond
the everyday.

19. Religious Experiences (continued)
• Founders, Prophets, and Heroes
• Leaders and Visionaries
• Followers and Worshippers

20. Religious Institutions
• Religious Institutions are the groups of people who
come together to lead a faith.
• A religion may have a single, central leader, who
presides over a highly organized administration; or it
may have a less formal governance, or consist of
several churches with local leaders.

21. Religious Institutions (continued)
• Monasteries/ temples; Mosques.....
– Priests
– Teachers
– Types of organization (structure)

22. Social and Institutional Dimension

23. Ethical Content
• Common to all the world’s religions is the idea that we
should try to live better lives.
• Sacred texts and later teachings brim with the moral
instructions of early leaders, of prophets, and of God
himself.
• The result is a rich framework of ethical values for all
followers to live

24. Ethical or Legal Dimension
• The things required for a believer

25. The Buddhist Code of Moral Conduct
 1. To abstain from taking life
 2. To abstain from taking what is not given
 3. To abstain from sensuous misconduct
 4. To abstain from false speech
 5. To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud
the mind

26. Rituals
• A common theme runs through practice of rituals in
all the world’s religions: rituals that resonate with the
regular of human life give believers chances to
connect with the absolute – at specific stages of
development, at particular times of years, or as part of
regular worship.

27. Rituals (continued)
• Rites of Passage
• Calendar Festivals
• Regular Worship

28. “Science investigates; religion interprets.
Science gives man knowledge which is
power; religion gives man wisdom which is
control.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

29. Sacred Objects and Places
• Held in special reverence, sacred places and objects
are often linked with specific deities, religious
leaders, or specific times in a faith’s history. Places
may be marked with grand temples or monuments,
but even a wayside shrine used for spiritual
contemplation can be sacred.

30. Sacred Objects and Places
• Natural Sites
• Historical Sites
• Pilgrimage (Ex. Becca/ Bakkah in Saudi Arab)
• Holy Objects

31. Questions?