REL 10200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Pantheism, Theism, Polytheism
23 Feb 2017
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About Religion:
● Religion: belief in reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator or
governor of the universe
○ Personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief & worship
● Religious studies: study of different religious beliefs, institutions, behaviors
● Theology: study of gods or deities
● Functions of religion:
○ Having means to deal with our mortality
○ Help us cope with death (can comfort us)
○ Helps us respond to natural wonder about ourselves & cosmos
○ Human attempt to feel more secure in unfeeling universe
○ Provides answers to great questions asked
● Why study religion:
○ To receive full education
● Theism:
○ Monotheism: One god
○ Polytheism: man gods
○ Pantheism: everything is god
● Different types of religions:
○ Temple: many religions throughout ancient world
■ Israelites, babylonians, sumerians
○ Prophetic: believe in a prophet
■ Someone who speaks on behalf of deity
■ Can see visions given by deity
● Abrahamic Traditions
○ Shamanism: practice that involves practitioner who acts as conduit between
worlds
■ Animals are divine
■ Cosmology
Indigenous Traditions:
● Problems with terminology:
○ Indigenous: those who belong or are native to land
■ Term for exertion of power
■ Helpful in declaring “indigenous to the land”
■ Kinship
■ Location
● Colonization & problems with it:
○ Derogatory terms used
○ Practices misunderstood
■ Saw practices as “superstition”
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