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61-808: In religion , precepts are usually commands respecting moral conduct. The term is encountered frequently in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures : Thou hast commanded thy precepts to be kept diligently. O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping thy statutes! The usage of precepts in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible corresponds with that of the Hebrew Bible . The Septuagint (Samuel Rengster edition) has Greek entolas , which, too, may be rendered with precepts. The Latin Church of

122-482: 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

183-491: 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

244-493: 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

305-475: A large donation or legacy that comes to the attention of the tax authorities. If the prefecture determines that the association is not in fact in conformity with the 1905 law, its status may be changed, and it may be required to pay taxes at a rate of 60 per cent on present and past donations. According to the 100 Catholic associations that are tax-exempt; a representative of the Ministry of Interior reports that

366-463: A profit-making activity. Although a cultural association is not exempt from taxes, it may receive government subsidies for its cultural and educational operations, such as schools. Religious groups normally register under both of these categories; the Mormons, for example, run strictly religious activities through their association of worship and operate a school under their cultural association. Under

427-400: A school may disqualify a group from receiving tax-exempt status. A common method is to run such activities in another financially separate association ("cultural association" or other similar denomination). According to the 1905 law, associations of worship are not taxed on the donations that they receive. However, the prefecture may decide to review a group's status if the association receives

488-443: 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

549-509: A species of writ issued from a court or other legal authority. It is now chiefly used of an order demanding payment (in the UK, for example, the term is applied by local precepting authorities as part of the Council Tax system). The Latin form praecipe (i.e., to enjoin, command) is used of the note of instructions delivered by a plaintiff or his lawyer to be filed by the officer of

610-655: 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

671-600: 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

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732-483: A venue for discussion of the course material. 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

793-450: 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

854-563: 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

915-400: 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

976-468: 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

1037-520: 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

1098-559: 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

1159-550: 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

1220-424: Is often thought of as other people's religions, and religion can be defined as misinterpreted mythology." Religious organization Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted. For this reason, there generally exist religion-supporting organizations , which are some form of organization that manages: In addition, such organizations usually have other responsibilities, such as

1281-526: 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

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1342-471: 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

1403-486: 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

1464-1074: The Alsace-Moselle area (where four religions are state-subsidized under the local law ), to French Guiana (Catholic priests are employed by the local government, although this situation is likely to change) and to military chaplains (as of 2005 , there are indications that the statute of religious services to the military will be changed). Religious organizations are not required to register, but may if they wish to apply for tax-exempt status or to gain official recognition. The French government defines two categories under which religious groups may register: associations cultuelles (associations of worship, which are exempt from taxes) and associations culturelles (cultural associations, which are not exempt from all taxes). Associations in these two categories are subject to certain management and financial disclosure requirements. An association of worship may organize only religious activities, defined as liturgical services and practices. A cultural association may engage in

1525-522: The Catholic Church 's canon law , which is based on Roman Law , makes a distinction between precept and law in Canon ;49: A singular precept is a decree which directly and legitimately enjoins a specific person or persons to do or omit something, especially in order to urge the observance of law. In Catholicism , the " Commandments of the Church " may also be called "Precepts of

1586-471: The Patimokkha . Eight Precepts are a more rigorous practice for laypeople. Ten Precepts are the training rules for samaneras and samaneris , novice monks and nuns , respectively. The Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for monks, ( bhikkhus ) and 311 rules for nuns ( bhikkhunis ). In secular law , a precept is a command in writing;

1647-561: 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

1708-574: 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

1769-527: 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

1830-492: 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

1891-409: The 1905 statute, religious groups must apply with the local prefecture to be recognized as an association of worship and receive tax-exempt status. The prefecture reviews the submitted documentation regarding the association's purpose for existence. To qualify, the group's purpose must be solely the practice of some form of religious ritual. Printing publications, employing a board president, or running

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1952-735: The Church". In Buddhism , the fundamental code of ethics is known as the Five Precepts ( Pañcaśīla in Sanskrit , or Pañcasīla in Pāli ), practiced by laypeople , either for a given period of time or for a lifetime. The precepts also relate to right speech, action and livelihood aspects of the  Noble Eightfold Path , which is essential in Buddhist practices . There are other levels of precepts, varying amongst traditions. In Theravadin tradition, there are Eight Precepts , Ten Precepts , and

2013-577: The Commission for Relations with Religious Communities in order to regulate legal relations between the state and religious organizations. In Croatia, religious communities have the right to establish religious schools and preschool education institutions, and in accordance with the contract between the religious community and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Religious communities have

2074-528: 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

2135-567: 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

2196-547: 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

2257-422: 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

2318-430: 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"

2379-608: 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

2440-487: The contract between the religious community and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Religious communities can acquire funds through income from their property, from the profits of commercial companies, by providing religious services, by inheritance and by gifts, from voluntary contributions, through charitable, educational and other generally useful activities. Religious communities in Croatia can receive funds from

2501-422: The court, giving the names of the plaintiff and defendant . Princeton University uses the term precept to describe what many other universities refer to as recitations : large classes are often divided into several smaller discussion sections called precepts, which are led by the professor or graduate teaching assistants . Precepts or recitations usually meet once a week to supplement the lectures and provide

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2562-450: 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

2623-434: The formation, nomination or appointment of religious leaders, the establishment of a corpus of doctrine, the disciplining of leaders and followers with respect to religious law, and the determination of qualification for membership. Some countries run the activities of one or more religions as part of their government, or as external organizations closely supported by the government. See state religion . In some countries,

2684-519: The government is prohibited by law from establishing or supporting religions by separation of church and state , though there may be exceptions to such rules. Religions are thus necessarily supported by private organizations, generally funded by those who attend their services. The French Republic is constitutionally laïque (roughly, secular ). It is prohibited by a 1905 statute for the state to subsidize or recognize any religion, or to pay stipends; for historical reasons, this statute does not apply to

2745-424: 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

2806-593: 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

2867-603: The number of non-tax-exempt Catholic associations is too numerous to estimate accurately. More than 50 associations of the Jehovah's Witnesses have tax-free status. In the United States, a faith-based organization (FBO) is an organization that has its mission based on a faith system. The U.S. IRS designates tax exemptions for those legal entities that qualify. To be a legal entity in America each organization must file

2928-428: 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

2989-609: The required documents in the U.S. states in which they operate. The legal status of religious organizations (religious communities in Croatia ) is determined by the Law on the Legal Status of Religious Communities. The Ministry of Justice and Administration keeps records in which all religious communities in Croatia are registered. In Croatia, religious communities are non-profit legal entities. The Croatian government established

3050-419: 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

3111-435: The right to organize religious education classes in public primary and secondary schools, in accordance with the contract between the religious community and the Government of the Republic of Croatia and at the request of the student's parents. Every religious community has the right to pastoral care of their believers who are in health and social welfare institutions, as well as in penitentiaries and prisons, in accordance with

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3172-480: The state and local budgets under special conditions, depending on their contribution to the national culture and in accordance with the generally beneficial activities of the religious community. In Croatia, religious communities do not pay tax on real estate transactions, and tax on contributions made by citizens. Also, religious communities do not pay customs duties and taxes on items they receive from foreign religious communities. The basic conditions for registering

3233-413: 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

3294-521: 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

3355-502: 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

3416-400: 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

3477-439: 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

3538-555: 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

3599-434: 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

3660-524: 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 ,

3721-424: 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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