The document provides information about religious beliefs and practices of Christians, Taos Pueblo people, and Bahai faith. For Christians, the key beliefs include the Bible as the inspired word of God, the Trinity of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Jesus' death and resurrection providing salvation, and developing a relationship with God. For Taos Pueblo, their religion integrates Catholicism, their indigenous kiva-based religion, and Peyotism, with secretive kiva rituals and male initiation rites. For Bahai, they believe in progressive revelation through manifestations of God including Baháʾu'lláh, oneness of humanity, and no priesthood or prescribed worship forms.

1. Chapter 4
Religious Beliefs and
Practices

2. Christians…
• Christianity is more about a relationship than
religious practices. Instead of adhering to a list
of “do’s and don’ts,” the goal of a Christian is
to cultivate a close walk with God. That
relationship is made possible because of the
work of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. They believe jesus died for our
sins, was buried, was resurrected, and thereby
offers salvation to all who will receive Him in
faith.

3. Religious beliefs…
• Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired, “God-breathed” Word of God and that its teaching is the final
authority in all matters of faith and practice.
• Christians believe in one God that exists in three persons—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy
Spirit.
• Christians believe that mankind was created specifically to have a relationship with God, but sin separates all
men from God.
• Christians believe that after His death, Christ was buried, He rose again, and now lives at the right hand of the
Father, making intercession for the believers forever .
• Christianity proclaims that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to completely pay the sin debt owed by all
men and this is what restores the broken relationship between God and man
• Christians believe that in order to be saved and be granted entrance into heaven after death, one must place
one’s faith entirely in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
• Christians believe there is nothing more to be done, because Christ has done all the work. When He was on
the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished” meaning that the work of redemption was completed.

4. Religious
Practices…
• Prayer: Prayer is the means by which Christians communicate with God. Prayer can be formal and
informal. The Christian church is fundamental to believers. It is recognised as the Body of Christ on
earth.
• Baptism: The Christian church believes in one baptism in the Christian Church, whether this be as an
infant or as an adult, as an outward sign of an inward commitment to the teachings of Jesus. This ritual
cleansing with water is universally used in Christianity as an initiation rite. The ritual originally involved
complete immersion of the body, but some forms of Christianity require that only the head be sprinkled
with water.
• Eucharist: In Greek means thanksgiving. It celebration is to commemorate the final meal that Jesus
took with his disciples before his death. The Eucharist is central to the Church and is recognised as a
sign of unity amongst Christians. Early Christians, met weekly to imitate the Last Supper, which was
probably a Passover meal. At this Meal of bread and wine, they prayerfully recalled Jesus's death and
resurrection.
• Confirmation: The sacrament of confirmation ("strengthening") is a blessing of believers after baptism.
In the Orthodox church, confirmation is often administered with baptism.
• Reconciliation: The sacrament of reconciliation (or penance) takes place when a repentant person
admits his or her sins before a priest and is absolved.
• Teaching: Preaching and teaching from the Bible is a central part of what we do when we gather. Every
Christian needs to regularly be listening to good teaching.
• Singing: God deserves a joyful response from us because of who he is and what he has done. He is a
great God and Savior. One way we express our thankfulness and praise to him is by singing.

5. Taos ..
• Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-
speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. The pueblos are
considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the
United States. Natives will almost never speak of their religious customs to
outsiders, and, because their language has never been written down, much of the
culture remains unknown to the rest of the world.

6. Religious beliefs &
Practices
Three religious systems are active at Taos which is the kiva-based aboriginal religion,
Catholicism and Peyotism. Taos is the only Pueblo where the Peyote religion was
accepted. The Indians have been most secretive concerning their kiva religion, so that a
full understanding remains impossible. The six active subterranean kivas together with
their constituent societies are Big Earring, Day, and Knife on the north side, Water, Old
Axe, and Feather on the south.
Extended and rigorous male initiation (six-eighteen months) between the ages of seven
and ten culminate and are tribally validated at the annual August pilgrimage to Blue Lake.
No non-Taos in this century have been permitted to observe these rites. The ceremonial
round, with public performances as integral parts, generally follow Catholic ritual
observances such as Saints' Days, Christmas, New Year's Day, and the like and are
laced with aboriginal elements.
They are paralleled by more or less constant kiva activity about which little has been
revealed. There are a host of animistic spirits including prominently Father Sun, Mother
Earth, and the cloud spirits. Except for the publicly performed ceremonials, the activities
of the kiva societies are poorly described. Prayer sticks, corn meal, pollen, and other
standard Pueblo ritual equipment, often referred to as "Medicine," are used, but little is
known of their true role and significance.

7. Religious
Practitioners
• Kiva priests conduct rituals
aimed at community welfare
and rites of intensification
directed toward game
animals and agriculture. A
few men and women are
skilled in the arts of
individual curing.

8. Death and
Afterlife.
A Catholic mass is held at death with the deceased buried immediately
following in the open area of the old mission church destroyed in 1847. It
has served since then as the Pueblo cemetery. A four-day observance of
general inactivity by the deceased's family follows and closes with a
feast celebrating the departure of the dead person's soul to the abode of
the cloud spirits in the depths of Blue Lake, although some today regard
the Christian heaven as the final place for departed souls.

9. Bahai …
Bahāʾī Faith, religion founded in Iraq in the mid-19th century by Mīrzā Ḥosayn ʿAlī
Nūrī, who is known as Bahāʾ Allāh , which in Arabic means “Glory of God. The
cornerstone of Bahāʾī belief is the conviction that Bahāʾ Allāh and his forerunner,
who was known as the Bāb were manifestations of God, who in his essence is
unknowable. Bahāʾīs believe that all the founders of the world’s great religions
have been manifestations of God and agents of a progressive divine plan for the
education of the human race. Despite their apparent differences, the world’s great
religions, according to the Bahāʾīs, teach an identical truth. Bahāʾ Allāh’s peculiar
function was to overcome the disunity of religions and establish a universal faith.
Bahāʾīs believe in the oneness of humanity and devote themselves to the abolition
of racial, class, and religious prejudices. The faith has no priesthood and does not
observe ritual forms in its worship.

10. Religious
beliefs…
• Baháʼí notions of progressive religious revelation result in their
accepting the validity of the well known religions of the world, whose
founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God. In
Baháʼí belief, the process of progressive revelation of religion will not
end. However, it is believed to be cyclical. Baháʼís do not expect a
new manifestation of God to appear within 1000 years of
Baháʼu'lláh's revelation.Baháʼís assert that their religion is a distinct
tradition with its own scriptures and laws, and not a sect of another
religion. The religion was initially seen as a sect of Islam because of
its origins. Most religious specialists now see it as an independent
religion, with its religious background in Shiʻa Islam being seen as
analogous to the Jewish context in which Christianity was
established. Baháʼís describe their faith as an independent world
religion, differing from the other traditions in its relative age and in
the appropriateness of Baháʼu'lláh's teachings to the modern
context.