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76-467: The religious, cultural, or legal significance of consummation may arise from theories of marriage as having the purpose of producing legally recognized descendants of both partners , or of providing sanction to their sexual acts together, or both, and its absence may amount to treating a marriage ceremony as falling short of completing the state of being married, or as creating a marriage which may later be repudiated. Thus, in some legal systems,

152-590: A civil marriage varies by jurisdiction. For example, under section 12 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 , a refusal or inability to consummate a marriage is a ground of annulment in England and Wales , but this only applies to heterosexual marriage because Paragraph 4 of schedule 4 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 specifically excludes non-consummation as a ground for the annulment of

228-513: A same-sex marriage . Other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia , have abolished the legal concept of consummation. In some countries, such as Egypt , Syria , Jordan , the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia , Yemen , Libya , Mauritania , and Indonesia , religious marriage is the only legally binding marriage. In other countries, a religious marriage without civil registration may or may not be legally binding. In

304-482: A Church, all those who adhere to them". Sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. On the contrary, a sacred thing can be "a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred". Religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are attributed to them. Echoes of James' and Durkheim's definitions are to be found in

380-491: A concrete deity or not" to which the individual feels impelled to respond with solemnity and gravity. Sociologist Émile Durkheim , in his seminal book The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things". By sacred things he meant things "set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called

456-493: A definition of religion. There are, however, two general definition systems: the sociological/functional and the phenomenological/philosophical. The concept of religion originated in the modern era in the West . Parallel concepts are not found in many current and past cultures; there is no equivalent term for religion in many languages. Scholars have found it difficult to develop a consistent definition, with some giving up on

532-459: A marriage may be annulled if it has not been consummated . Consummation is also relevant in the case of a common-law marriage . The historical importance of consummation has resulted in the development of various bedding rituals . In addition to these formal and literal usages, the term also exists in informal and less precise usage to refer to a sexual landmark in relationships of varying intensity and duration. The relevance of consummation in

608-404: A marriage may be a ground for annulment (an annulment is different from a divorce because it usually acts retrospectively). This stipulation has been in recent years heavily criticized on a wide variety of grounds, ranging from the mixing of religious doctrine into secular law, to being degrading to women given its negative historical connotations of ownership of the wife. It has been argued that

684-424: A marriage. In many traditions, consummation is an important act because it suggests the bride's virginity ; the presence of blood is erroneously taken as definitive confirmation that the woman was a virgin. In the family law defining civil marriage in some jurisdictions, particularly those where the civil marriage laws remain influenced by religion (albeit they are officially secular), non-consummation of

760-435: A remainder of an oppressive tradition. Commenting on the case of R v R , which criminalised marital rape in England and Wales, Harris-Short and Miles write: [A] historical view again throws useful light on the matter: until 1991, husbands were permitted to have sexual intercourse with their wives regardless of whether they were then actually consenting, the original act of consummation and the resultant marital status entitling

836-443: A similar union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. Though traditions, sacred texts, and practices have existed throughout time, most cultures did not align with Western conceptions of religion since they did not separate everyday life from the sacred. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and world religions first entered

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912-655: A subject of interest to philosophers and theologians. The word myth has several meanings: Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of Greece, Rome , and Scandinavia , are usually categorized under the heading of mythology . Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are similarly called myths in the anthropology of religion . The term myth can be used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs. Joseph Campbell remarked, "Mythology

988-600: A transcendent deity and all else, between the creator and his creation, between God and man. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined religion as a: ... system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. Alluding perhaps to Tylor's "deeper motive", Geertz remarked that: ... we have very little idea of how, in empirical terms, this particular miracle

1064-450: A wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology , philosophy of religion , comparative religion , and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief. The term religion comes from both Old French and Anglo-Norman (1200s CE ) and means respect for sense of right, moral obligation, sanctity, what

1140-563: A word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written. For example, there is no precise equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. One of its central concepts is halakha , meaning the walk or path sometimes translated as law, which guides religious practice and belief and many aspects of daily life. Even though

1216-400: Is accomplished. We just know that it is done, annually, weekly, daily, for some people almost hourly; and we have an enormous ethnographic literature to demonstrate it. The theologian Antoine Vergote took the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency. He also emphasized the cultural reality of religion, which he defined as: ... the entirety of

1292-468: Is also the product of the dominant Western religious mode, what is called the Judeo-Christian climate or, more accurately, the theistic inheritance from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The theistic form of belief in this tradition, even when downgraded culturally, is formative of the dichotomous Western view of religion. That is, the basic structure of theism is essentially a distinction between

1368-520: Is derived from religare : re (meaning "again") + ligare ("bind" or "connect"), which was made prominent by St. Augustine following the interpretation given by Lactantius in Divinae institutiones , IV, 28. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders : "we hear of the 'religion' of the Golden Fleece , of a knight 'of

1444-534: Is flushed out of the system through menstruation . Oocytes (female germ cells) located in the primordial follicle of the ovary are in a non-growing prophase arrested state, but are able to undergo highly efficient homologous recombinational repair of DNA damages including double-strand breaks. This capability allows the maintenance of genome integrity and protection of the health of offspring. Human reproduction normally begins with copulation, though it may be achieved through artificial insemination , and

1520-402: Is followed by nine months of pregnancy before childbirth. Pregnancy can be avoided with the use of contraceptives such as condoms and intrauterine devices . Human reproduction naturally takes place as internal fertilization by sexual intercourse. During this process, the man inserts his erect penis into the woman's vagina and then either partner initiates rhythmic pelvic thrusts until

1596-559: Is found in texts from the 17th century due to events such as the splitting of Christendom during the Protestant Reformation and globalization in the Age of Exploration , which involved contact with numerous foreign cultures with non-European languages. Some argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply the term religion to non-Western cultures, while some followers of various faiths rebuke using

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1672-433: Is known as human embryogenesis, and this starts the typical 9-month gestation period that is followed by childbirth . The fertilization of the ovum may be achieved by artificial insemination methods, which do not involve sexual intercourse. Assisted reproductive technology also exists. In order for human reproduction to be achieved, an individual must have undergone puberty first, requiring ovulation in females and

1748-550: Is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine , sacredness , faith , and a supernatural being or beings. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories , narratives , and mythologies , preserved in oral traditions, sacred texts , symbols , and holy places , that may attempt to explain

1824-460: Is not concerned with the capacity of either or both parties to procreate, still less with the ability of the parties to satisfy each other sexually during the marriage.   [...] It remains a rather curious anomaly in the law, a relic perhaps of medieval times, when the first act of intercourse was thought to 'mark' a new bride as the 'property' of her husband. Whatever its origins, it is not entirely clear what modern purpose this ground serves and it

1900-485: Is outdated and must be abolished "in a modern society committed to equality and human rights in personal relationships". In a 2001 report, the Law Society of Ireland 's Law Reform advocated abolishing the concept of a voidable marriage altogether (since divorce had been introduced in 1996) and criticized the consummation ground, writing the following: The rationale behind this ground is not immediately apparent. It

1976-505: Is particularly relevant in a Catholic marriage . Within the Catholic Church , if a matrimonial celebration takes place (ratification) but the spouses have not yet engaged in intercourse (consummation), then the marriage is said to be a marriage ratum sed non consummatum . Such a marriage, regardless of the reason for non-consummation, can be dissolved by the pope . Additionally, an inability or an intentional refusal to consummate

2052-526: Is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical criticisms (e.g., those made by Richard Dawkins ) do not necessarily disturb its adherents. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Traditionally, faith , in addition to reason , has been considered a source of religious beliefs. The interplay between faith and reason, and their use as perceived support for religious beliefs, have been

2128-471: Is sacred, reverence for the gods. It is ultimately derived from the Latin word religiō . According to Roman philosopher Cicero , religiō comes from relegere : re (meaning "again") + lego (meaning "read"), where lego is in the sense of "go over", "choose", or "consider carefully". Contrarily, some modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell have argued that religiō

2204-417: Is suggested that it should be dispensed with. Another concern is sexual violence , especially since in most countries the criminalization of marital rape is recent, having occurred from the 1970s onwards; the maintaining in law of the concept of consummation is argued to foster cultural and societal attitudes and understandings of marriage that make it more difficult to acknowledge these violations; and to be

2280-422: Is the pushing stage. The third stage involves the delivery of the placenta. And the last stage is the contraction of the uterus. Once the fetus is sufficiently developed, chemical signals begin the process of birth, which begins with the fetus being pushed out of the birthing canal. The newborn, which is called an infant in humans, should typically begin respiration on its own shortly after birth. Not long after,

2356-486: The Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism , while others are arguably less so, in particular folk religions , indigenous religions , and some Eastern religions . A portion of the world's population are members of new religious movements . Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates. The study of religion comprises

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2432-561: The medieval period . In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations, but up to the mid-1600s translators expressed din as "law". The Sanskrit word dharma , sometimes translated as religion, also means law. Throughout classical South Asia , the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions . Medieval Japan at first had

2508-574: The origin of life , the universe , and other phenomena. Religious practices may include rituals , sermons , commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints ), sacrifices , festivals , feasts , trances , initiations , matrimonial and funerary services, meditation , prayer , music , art , dance , or public service . There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions— Christianity , Islam , Hinduism , and Buddhism —account for over 77% of

2584-403: The ovaries of the female fetus before birth. They are mostly fixed in location within the ovary until their transit to the uterus, and contain nutrients for the later zygote and embryo . Over a regular interval known as the menstrual cycle , in response to hormonal signals, a process of oogenesis matures one ovum which is released and sent down the fallopian tube. If not fertilized, this egg

2660-406: The ovum by the sperm to form a zygote. While normal cells contain 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), gamete cells only contain 23 single chromosomes, and it is when these two cells merge into one zygote cell that genetic recombination occurs and the new zygote contains 23 chromosomes from each parent, giving it 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). The zygote then undergoes a defined development process that

2736-527: The religion of Avys '". In classic antiquity, religiō broadly meant conscientiousness , sense of right , moral obligation , or duty to anything. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religiō was understood as an individual virtue of worship in mundane contexts; never as doctrine , practice, or actual source of knowledge . In general, religiō referred to broad social obligations towards anything including family, neighbors, rulers, and even towards God . Religiō

2812-475: The spermarche in males to have occurred prior to engaging in sexual intercourse or achieving pregnancy through non-penetrative means. Before puberty, humans are infertile , as their genitals lack reproductive function (only being able to discharge urine ). Legal factors also play a vital role in the achievement of human reproduction: a minor under the age of consent cannot give legal consent to sexual intercourse or artificial alternatives to reproduction,

2888-405: The testicles where sperm are produced, and the penis where semen is ejaculated through the urethra . In humans, both of these organs are outside the abdominal cavity . Having the testicles outside the abdomen facilitates temperature regulation of the sperm, which require specific temperatures to survive about 2-3 °C less than the normal body temperature i.e. 37 °C. In particular,

2964-492: The 1500s to distinguish the domain of the church and the domain of civil authorities ; the Peace of Augsburg marks such instance, which has been described by Christian Reus-Smit as "the first step on the road toward a European system of sovereign states ." Roman general Julius Caesar used religiō to mean "obligation of an oath" when discussing captured soldiers making an oath to their captors. Roman naturalist Pliny

3040-528: The Elder used the term religiō to describe the apparent respect given by elephants to the night sky . Cicero used religiō as being related to cultum deorum (worship of the gods). In Ancient Greece , the Greek term threskeia ( θρησκεία ) was loosely translated into Latin as religiō in late antiquity . Threskeia was sparsely used in classical Greece but became more frequently used in

3116-567: The English language. Native Americans were also thought of as not having religions and also had no word for religion in their languages either. No one self-identified as a Hindu or Buddhist or other similar terms before the 1800s. "Hindu" has historically been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent . Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of religion since there

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3192-547: The West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia ). The MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions states: The very attempt to define religion, to find some distinctive or possibly unique essence or set of qualities that distinguish the religious from the remainder of human life, is primarily a Western concern. The attempt is a natural consequence of the Western speculative, intellectualistic, and scientific disposition. It

3268-510: The abdomen; they normally remain slightly cooler than body temperature, facilitating sperm production. Male germ cells produced in the testes are able to perform special DNA repair processes during meiosis that act to repair DNA damages and to maintain the integrity of the genomes that are to be passed on to progeny. Two of these DNA repair processes are homologous recombinational repair and non-homologous end joining . The female reproductive system likewise contains two main divisions:

3344-422: The belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies. In his book The Varieties of Religious Experience , the psychologist William James defined religion as "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine". By the term divine James meant "any object that is god like , whether it be

3420-430: The beliefs and traditions of Judaism are found in the ancient world, ancient Jews saw Jewish identity as being about an ethnic or national identity and did not entail a compulsory belief system or regulated rituals. In the 1st century CE, Josephus had used the Greek term ioudaismos (Judaism) as an ethnic term and was not linked to modern abstract concepts of religion or a set of beliefs. The very concept of "Judaism"

3496-438: The body. The resulting embryo can then be reinserted into the womb of the woman. Pregnancy is the period of time during which the fetus develops, dividing via mitosis inside the uterus. During this time, the fetus receives all of its nutrition and oxygenated blood from the mother, filtered through the placenta , which is attached to the fetus' abdomen via an umbilical cord . This drain of nutrients can be quite taxing on

3572-411: The case of common law marriage, consummation may be a required component in the creation of the marriage itself. According to traditional Christian theological interpretations , "It is intended by God for the husband to be the one to break his wife's hymen ", which when perforated during intercourse creates a blood covenant that seals the bond of holy matrimony between husband and wife. Consummation

3648-608: The communication of supernatural beliefs, defining religion as: ... the communicated acceptance by individuals of another individual’s “supernatural” claim, a claim whose accuracy is not verifiable by the senses. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as das schlechthinnige Abhängigkeitsgefühl , commonly translated as "the feeling of absolute dependence". His contemporary Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel disagreed thoroughly, defining religion as "the Divine Spirit becoming conscious of Himself through

3724-726: The ejaculated sperm will reach the fallopian tube. The egg simultaneously moves through the fallopian tube away from the ovary. One of the sperm encounters, penetrates and fertilizes the ovum, creating a zygote . Upon fertilization and implantation , gestation of the fetus then occurs within the uterus. Pregnancy rates for sexual intercourse are highest during the menstrual cycle time from some 5 days before until 1 to 2 days after ovulation. For optimal pregnancy chance, there are recommendations of sexual intercourse every 1 or 2 days, or every 2 or 3 days. Studies have shown no significant difference between different sex positions and pregnancy rate, as long as it results in ejaculation into

3800-415: The external genitalia (the vulva ) and the internal genitalia. The ovum meets with the sperm cell : a sperm may penetrate and merge with the egg, fertilizing it with the help of certain hydrolytic enzymes present in the acrosome. The fertilization usually occurs in the fallopian tubes , but can happen in the uterus itself. The zygote then becomes implanted in the lining of the uterus, where it begins

3876-448: The extraperitoneal location of the testicles may result in a 2-fold reduction in the heat-induced contribution to the spontaneous mutation rate in male germinal tissues compared to tissues at 37 °C. If the testicles remain too close to the body, it is likely that the increase in temperature will harm the spermatozoa formation, making conception more difficult. This is why the testes are carried in an external scrotum rather than within

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3952-410: The fetal stage, which revolves around the development of bone cells while the fetus continues to grow in size. It is estimated that about 3-5% of couples are infertile and the fecunditity of couples is around 30% for each menstrual cycle. Labor is separated into 4 stages. The first stage involves latent phase and active phase separated by the dilation of the cervix for 6 to 10 cm. The second stage

4028-450: The finite spirit." Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion in 1871 as "the belief in spiritual beings". He argued that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or judgment after death or idolatry and so on, would exclude many peoples from the category of religious, and thus "has the fault of identifying religion rather with particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them". He also argued that

4104-534: The former case of which is liable to have the older party charged with statutory rape , depending on jurisdictions. Even for minors above the age of consent, comprehensive sex education advises both consenting parties to use contraception to avoid both sexually transmitted infections and early, unplanned/unwanted pregnancies . Pregnancy in girls under the age of 15 is especially discouraged due to their reproductive systems having yet to reach full maturity. The male reproductive system contains two main divisions:

4180-457: The husband to sexual relations thereafter. Human reproduction This is an accepted version of this page Human reproduction is sexual reproduction that results in human fertilization to produce a human offspring. It typically involves sexual intercourse between a sexually mature human male and female . During sexual intercourse, the interaction between the male and female reproductive systems results in fertilization of

4256-424: The linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. Peter Mandaville and Paul James intended to get away from the modernist dualisms or dichotomous understandings of immanence/transcendence, spirituality/materialism, and sacredness/secularity. They define religion as: ... a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses

4332-427: The man achieves orgasm , which leads to ejaculation of semen containing sperm into the vaginal canal. The sperm and the ovum are known as the gametes (each containing half the genetic information of the parent, created through meiosis ). The sperm (being one of approximately 250 million sperm in a typical ejaculation) travels through the vagina and cervix into the uterus or fallopian tubes. Only 1 in 14 million of

4408-465: The marriage is probable grounds for an annulment . Catholic canon law defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh". Thus some theologians, such as Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. , state that intercourse with contraception does not consummate

4484-454: The mother, who is required to ingest slightly higher levels of calories . In addition, certain vitamins and other nutrients are required in greater quantities than normal, often creating abnormal eating habits. Gestation period is about 266 days in humans. While in the uterus, the baby first endures a very brief zygote stage, then the embryonic stage, which is marked by the development of major organs and lasts for approximately eight weeks, then

4560-673: The naked eye, it was only after his invention of the microscope that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered spermatozoa in 1677. Mitosis and meiosis were not discovered until the late 1800s. Altrui - The Human Egg Cell Explained Religion Antiquity Medieval Early modern Modern Iran India East-Asia Religion is a range of social - cultural systems , including designated behaviors and practices, morals , beliefs , worldviews , texts , sanctified places , prophecies , ethics , or organizations , that generally relate humanity to supernatural , transcendental , and spiritual elements —although there

4636-593: The nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. According to the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions , there is an experiential aspect to religion which can be found in almost every culture: ... almost every known culture [has] a depth dimension in cultural experiences ... toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for

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4712-536: The placenta eventually falls off on its own. The person assisting the birth may also sever the umbilical cord. While most ancient human societies believed that sexual intercourse was necessary for reproduction, the reasons some sex did not result in children, and the mechanism by which mating produced children were not understood. The theory of preformationism was popular in Ancient Greece and Christendom for centuries. Because they are too small to see with

4788-428: The possibility of a definition. Others argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply it to non-Western cultures. An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservations about ever defining the essence of religion. They observe that the way the concept today is used is a particularly modern construct that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside

4864-440: The processes of embryogenesis and morphogenesis . When the fetus is developed enough to survive outside of the uterus , the cervix dilates and contractions of the uterus propel it through the birth canal, which is the vagina , and thereby gives external life to the newborn infant . This process is called childbirth . The ova, which are the female sex cells, are much larger than the spermatozoon and are normally formed within

4940-578: The purpose of this ground is not clear: it is neither procreation (the act need not end in pregnancy, and neither is there a need of the possibility of it, given the fact the consummation is legally valid even if one or both parties is sterile), neither is it the expectation of sexual satisfaction in marriage (one single act of sexual intercourse is sufficient, even if the spouse following the consummation says they will never again engage in intercourse). Andrew Bainham argues that this law (in England and Wales )

5016-419: The rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behavior are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this structure constitutes religion in its historically recognizable form. Religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience—varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture. Anthropologists Lyle Steadman and Craig T. Palmer emphasized

5092-413: The term superstitio (which meant too much fear or anxiety or shame) to religiō at times. When religiō came into English around the 1200s as religion, it took the meaning of "life bound by monastic vows" or monastic orders. The compartmentalized concept of religion, where religious and worldly things were separated, was not used before the 1500s. The concept of religion was first used in

5168-406: The vagina. As an alternative to natural sexual intercourse, there exists artificial insemination , where sperm is introduced into the female reproductive system without the insertion of the penis. There are also many methods of assisted reproductive technology , such as in vitro fertilization , where one or more egg cells are retrieved from a woman's ovaries and co-incubated with sperm outside

5244-521: The word to describe their own belief system. The concept of "ancient religion" stems from modern interpretations of a range of practices that conform to a modern concept of religion, influenced by early modern and 19th century Christian discourse. The concept of religion was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred texts like the Bible , the Quran , and others did not have

5320-502: The world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious , meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists , and agnostics , although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs. Many world religions are also organized religions , most definitively including

5396-400: The writings of Josephus in the 1st century CE. It was used in mundane contexts and could mean multiple things from respectful fear to excessive or harmfully distracting practices of others, to cultic practices. It was often contrasted with the Greek word deisidaimonia , which meant too much fear. Religion is a modern concept. The concept was invented recently in the English language and

5472-439: The writings of, for example, Frederick Ferré who defined religion as "one's way of valuing most comprehensively and intensively". Similarly, for the theologian Paul Tillich , faith is "the state of being ultimately concerned", which "is itself religion. Religion is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life." When religion is seen in terms of sacred, divine, intensive valuing, or ultimate concern, then it

5548-555: Was invented by the Christian Church , and it was in the 19th century that Jews began to see their ancestral culture as a religion analogous to Christianity. The Greek word threskeia , which was used by Greek writers such as Herodotus and Josephus, is found in the New Testament . Threskeia is sometimes translated as "religion" in today's translations, but the term was understood as generic "worship" well into

5624-434: Was most often used by the ancient Romans not in the context of a relation towards gods, but as a range of general emotions which arose from heightened attention in any mundane context such as hesitation , caution, anxiety , or fear , as well as feelings of being bound, restricted, or inhibited. The term was also closely related to other terms like scrupulus (which meant "very precisely"), and some Roman authors related

5700-524: Was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning, but when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this idea. According to the philologist Max Müller in the 19th century, the root of the English word religion, the Latin religiō ,

5776-424: Was originally used to mean only reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety (which Cicero further derived to mean diligence). Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, and India, as having a similar power structure at this point in history. What is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Scholars have failed to agree on

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