SOR 2 Flashcards
What is Religion?
Religion is a distinctive response to human search for meaning in life
What is Supernatural Dimension?
Refers to aspects or elements beyond the customary range of our experiences that cannot be explained according to natural life.
Where is a Supernatural Dimension?
Place where a almighty power exists, meaning that it is greater than the natural world and humankind itself
What are the 3 Semitic (Abrahamic) Religious Traditions?
Christianity, Judaism, Islam
What is a Semitic Religious Tradition?
Emphasise the idea of God being revealed to humankind through an Intermediary
- Someone revealing God to humanity
What is an Immanent Worldview?
Refers to the discovery of spiritual truth from within the human spirit
What are the two Immanent Religions?
Hinduism, Buddhism
Example of Immanent Religion?
Buddhists aim for Englighment guided by the Eightfold Path
What is a Belief?
An acceptance of something as true/real
Example of Belief
Jesus of Nazareth was the Son is God
Jews believe they are in a Covenant with God, and by serving him will be rewarded with blessing and protection
What is a Believer?
People who follow these beliefs, including saints, holy people
What are Sacred Texts and Writings?
Gifted to humanity by God, the result of revelation
Example of Sacred Text -
Qu’ran - revelation by Allah to Prophet Muhammad
What are Ethics?
Things that clarify right from wrong, central to all religions and focus on the belief structure
What are Rituals and Ceremonies?
Expressing religion in terms or prayer, worship, preaching, connecting living believers with the tradition of the Religion
Example of Ritual and Ceremonies
Jewish Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrating the coming of age for teenagers
Shabbat on Friday night, reciting the Torah sharing a meal
How do Individuals contribute to Religion?
Contribute to the search for meaning in the lives of individuals, sense of self, understanding and belonging
How does Society contribute to Religion?
Religion changes, shapes and develops human culture to sustain a diverse society, helping us to understand the meaning of existence, and helping to sustain the
How does Culture contribute to Religion?
Religion has influence on artworks e.g The Last Supper, this creates social cohesion by establishing rites of passage within a culture through rituals and ceremonies
What is the Dreaming?
The centre of Aboriginal Spirituality, life and culture. A Metatemporal concept that encompasses all aspects of Aboriginal life
What is Origins of the Universe?
Every land feature in the enviournment has a dreaming story attached to it.
What are Dreaming Tracks?
All Ancestral spirits left behind a trail of their lives, called Dreaming Tracks. These tracks are recreated in traditional songs and ceremonies
What are Sacred Sites?
Land, rock formations, part of rivers or seas. Knowledge of sites is limited, rarely shared with the wider community
What are Stories of the Dreaming?
Stories that tell aspects of Aboriginal lifestyle and law, explaining the creation of land, the animals and the people
What is Symbolism and Art?
Body painting, drawn on the sand or painted on various surfaces. Art can be used for rituals or to identify the ownership of the Dreaming
What is a Totem?
A natural object or animal that is believed to have spiritual significance
What is Kinship?
Rights and responsibilities they have with the people and the land
What are Areas of Commonality?
Belief of an Ancestral Spirit who came out of a darkened world and created the landscape, landforms, people, plants e.t.c
What are Areas of Diversity?
Each nation has its own particular plant/animal which is a totem for that group of people, their own particular Dreaming bought to the present through songs, sacred sites and paintings
Dialects of Aboriginals -
Each nation had their own dialect, as a result there are differences in Dreaming accounts
Importance of the Dreaming for the life of the Aboriginal people
- Is the essence of their being and permeates every aspect of Aboriginal life
- Aboriginal Law is based on the belief that everything is connected and part of a living system
- Relationships between all living things must be preserved
- Aboriginal people live WITH the land, they do not EXPLOIT it
Land and Dreaming -
- Physical link to the invisible, eternal, spiritual world
- Unbreakable link between humans, ancestral beings and the spiritual world
- Land is a sacred place, the Dreaming occurs on the land (e.g Rituals and Ceremonies, Body Painting and Dancing)
- Follow songlines, providing knowledge, cultural values and wisdom to Indigenous people
Identity -
- They speak of the land as their mother
- Speak of the land as part of their Identity; ‘I AM THE LAND’
- They are part of the land not superior to it
- A formal kinship exists between Aboriginal people and their area of land
- They all came from an ancestral spirit
