Introduction to Religion and

Belief systems
 Belief System or Worldview
•‘Belief system’ refers to a particular
way of ordering the realities of one’s
world. It is often interchangeable
with the term ‘worldview’, hence,
the two shall be predominantly used
as synonyms in this book.
 BELIEFS WORLDVIEW
• To define the terms • Derived from the German term
further, a belief system “weltanschauung”, the term
refers to ideology or set of “worldview refers to the cluster of
principles that assists us in beliefs an individual holds about
interpreting our everyday the most significant concepts of
life such as God, the cosmos
reality. This could be in the
(universe), and humanity. These
form of philosophy,
beliefs, which may or may not be
political ideology, true, form a general picture, a
spirituality, or religion, broad-spectrum outlook, or a
among many other grand perspective on life and
things. the world.
 BELIEFS WORLDVIEW
• These sets of beliefs are molded • A worldview creates a
and influenced by a number of mental structure that
various factors. Our knowledge
organizes our basic or
on some topics, the way we
were raised, and even some ultimate beliefs. This
peer pressures can impact us to cognitive frame provides a
form or change our belief comprehensive view of
systems. Belief systems are what we deem real, true,
further reinforced by culture, rational, good, valuable
religion or theology, experience
and beautiful
and training as to how the world
works, traditional and modern
values, stereotypes, political
viewpoints, and others
 BELIEFS WORLDVIEW
• Belief systems are like “stories” • Worldview responds to the big
we tell ourselves to outline our questions of life, focusing on issues
personal sense of reality. We all central to human concern. These
have a belief system that we issues especially include thoughts
about the human predicament and
employ, and it is through this
explore how human beings derive
mechanism that we individually
meaning, purpose, and significance.
‘make sense’ of the world
around us, As human beings, we
tend to use different belief • Worldviews affect our decisions and
systems to varying degrees to actions in everyday life. They are
cope with events in our lives. dominant factors influencing and
Ultimately we need the world to shaping our decisions and actions
while we live in this world.
make sense at some level.
 BELIEFS WORLDVIEW
•Belief systems are often •A worldview also serves
deemed as convictions, as a life’s road map.
often in the form of More than just an
supernatural or religious explanatory ‘lens’, a
beliefs, though they worldview provides a
may also take the form perspective that
of scientific views or any shapes, influences and
philosophical belief even directs an
relating to the sphere of individual’s entire life. As
daily life. we behave as we
believe.
 “The Big Questions of Life”
1. Ultimate reality (What kind of God, if any, actually exists?)
2. External reality (Is there anything beyond the cosmos?)
3. Knowledge (What can be known, and how can anyone know it?)
4. Origin (Where did I come from?)
5. Identity (Who am I?)
6. Location (Where am I?)
7. Morals (How should I live?)
8. Values (What should I consider of great worth?)
9. Predicament (What is humanity’s fundamental problem?)
10. Resolution (How can humanity’s problem be solved?)
11. Past/Present (What is the meaning and direction of history?); and
12. Destiny (Will I survive the death of my body and, if so, in what state?)
 Theism as a Belief System
•Theism can be deemed as an umbrella worldview
among the world religions, for generally, all religions
are theistic. That is, in one way or another and in
varying degrees, world religions have a belief in god
or deity.
•Theism or theistic worldview holds that a deity or
deities exists. Many theistic worldviews consider this
supernatural being as an infinite personal God who is
the creator of the universe, and who supernaturally
acts on things in it.
•In answering the questions that come up throughout
life, theistic worldviews generally base their responses
on what the Holy Scriptures say. Commonly, theism is a
worldview built by faith that the sacred text is an
infallible and credible source for absolute truth.
•As regards morality, theistic ethics believes that a
supernatural being called God is the foundation of
morality. God is viewed as the true source of all moral
laws, and as the only plausible cause of moral
obligations which possess overriding and binding
character.
While other ethical views can be just
postulate good moral principles, only a
theistic view can justify them. Filipino
Philosophy Professor Jensen DG. Mañebog
gives at least four (4) reasons for this.
1.There are moral absolutes, like this statements,
“Helping the victims of calamities is good” and
“Killing babies for fun is immoral.” Now, unless
morality is grounded on the unchangeable
nature of a morally perfect being (God), there is
no basis for believing in moral absolutes. Only
an absolute Moral Law-Giver is a sufficient
foundation for absolute moral laws;
2.If everything is relative, then there is no good
reason why we ought to abstain from doing
anything we wish to do, including rape, murder,
and unreasonable maltreatment. Yes, those
who refute moral absolutes may also believe in
general moral principles, many of which are
agreeably righteous. However, what they
cannot do is to justify this belief, since
according to relativism, there is no real ground
for such a conviction.
3. Only in theism are all persons held morally
accountable for their actions in the real sense.
With this theory, we can, with consistency,
make moral choices which run contrary to our
self interest and even carry out acts of
extreme self-sacrifice, knowing that such
decisions are not just empty and meaningless
gestures, rather, our moral lives ultimately
have a paramount significance in the sight of
a moral and benevolent God.
4.Finally, only the ethics rooted in a Moral Law-Giver
can be truly prescriptive in any objective sense of the
word. A descriptive ethic is no ethics at all – it merely
tells us what people are doing, not what they ought
to do. An ethics that is merely descriptive is flawed
since we see people doing all kinds of evil acts which
even relativists and non-theists do not approve. To
prove it, just try insulting, raping, or killing and relativist
or non-theist. His reaction will betray his true belief
that these acts are wrong.
 ATHEISM, NATURALISM,
AND MATERIALISM AS
C

OPPOSING WORLDVIEWS
 Atheism
•Atheism refers to the disbelief, denial of, or
lack of belief in the existence of God or
gods. The term comes from the Greek
prefix a-, meaning “without” and the
Greek word theos, which means “god”.
 Naturalism
•Naturalism is a belief system that rejects all
spiritual and supernatural explanations of the
world and affirms nature as the totality of
reality. It holds that we can comprehend
nature only through scientific investigation
since science is the sole basis of what can be
known.
 Materialism
• Materialism is the philosophical doctrine that physical
matter is the only ultimate reality. It maintains that all that
exists is reducible to the matter or qualities or upshots of
matter. For instance, human consciousness is explained by
physiochemical activities in the nervous system. Hostile
toward any non-material and theistic belief system, it
declares that things like feelings, emotions, reason, thought,
dreams, wishes, desire, and even morality will ultimately be
explained as physical functions.
 RELIGION VS.
SPIRITUALITY, THEOLOGY
C

AND PHILOSOPHY OF
RELIGION
• “Religion” refers to the pursuit of transformation guided by a
sacred belief system. It is defined as “people’s belief and
opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of the
deity and deities, and the divine involvement in the universe
and human life.

• Etymologically, the word “religion” is a compound of the Latin

“re” and “ligare,” meaning “to bind back”. Thus, for the
religionists, there is a bond that exists between the Creator
and his human creatures. This bond involves the feeling of
being morally obligated to live up to some moral laws that
press down on everyone which express God’s will and nature.
 Religion vs Spirituality
• “Spirituality” is one’s integrative view of life. It involves a quest
for the meaning and ultimate value of life as opposed to an
instrumentalist or materialistic attitude to life.
• In its traditional sense, spirituality refers to “a religious process of
reformation which aims to recover the original shape of man,
oriented at the image of God exemplified by the by the Torah,
Christ, Buddha, Muhammad and others”
• The term ‘spiritual’ pertains to matters concerning the spirit,
Etymologically, the term ‘spirit’ comes from the Latin word
‘spiritus’ which means soul, courage, vigor, or breath.
•So, what is the difference between religion and
spirituality? Before enumerating some differences, we
just have to realize that in their truest meanings, the
two concepts are not in any way opposing, much
less contradictory. The two, are very much
complimentary instead. In fact, the perfect blend of
both is needed, even in the present days, for people
to succeed in life. For instance, we need to be
spiritually strong to react to successes and failures of
life and we also need to be religiously tough in order
to properly shape our character.
The following are some of the differences
between religion and spirituality;
1.Religion may focus on doctrines and rules to be
followed by its adherents whereas spirituality focuses
on the soul that dwells within a person
In other words, religion also cares whether or not the
creeds are observed by its members, whereas
spirituality is not much on doing things to make sure
that other people are practicing the dogmas.
2.Religion may focus more on the outside
expressions of faith; spirituality focuses on the
within.
Religions may have systems to check if the
members are explicitly professing the faith.
Because that is one of the ways to find out if
adherents are maturing spiritually. Spirituality, on
the other hand, involves personal spiritual
development, and may focus more on the
implicit or internal aspect.
3. Religions are institutions and may work on institutionalizing
some of its sectors, whereas spirituality does not
necessarily involve the idea of institutionalization.
• Religions, as social institutions, necessarily include group of
people in its membership, while spirituality may work on the
personal level. This is the reason some people profess to
belong to a specific religion, while others say that they are
only spiritual. Moreover, religions may have institutionalized
sectors like the clergy or ministry that lead the rituals for the
general populace. On the other hand, people who claim
they are spiritual may simply work to grow and better the
‘inner force’ with or without spiritual leaders.
4. To some outsiders, religion may appear all about rituals, while
spirituality may seem avoiding anything that can become
‘meaningless’ through repetition.
• Religion uses specific rituals and definite sacred literatures
especially in its worship, whereas spirituality may just use
personalized prayer and meditation. Religion may center on
some rituals and a set of sacred stories that sketch a basic
moral code and belief system. Religion may ask specific things
of its followers like praying at certain times or the day or week,
abstaining from certain foods or deeds, studying from particular
sacred texts, or learning some songs or chants. But people who
say they are spiritual may just try to achieve a higher spiritual
state through other forms like meditation, chanting, prayer, or
contemplation.
5. Especially from a sociologist’s point of view, the rituals of
religion are intended to foster a community of believers that
provide both spiritual and physical support to it members,
whereas people who consider themselves to be only spiritual
are usually left to their own devices.
• Often referred to as a community of believers, religion is “a
social force for unity within a group. It strives for uniformity of
thought and action in its members. At the same time, it
provides these members with a community for spiritual and
physical support. Most religions have charitable arms that
distribute food and clothing to needy parishioners”.
Spirituality, on the other hand, is more of an individual
phenomenon.
RELIGION VS
THEOLOGY
C
Simply put, theology is the study of God. It comes from the word
‘theos’ which is Greek for ‘God’, and ‘logos’, meaning ‘word’ or
‘study’. Literally then, the term ‘theology’ means “the study of
God”
Mostly, theology gained its content and method from
Christianity. The themes of the discipline include God, humanity,
salvation, and the study of last things, among other topics.
Theology has as its goal the attainment of truth. Theologians also
seek harmony, formulating explanations that make sense of the
various parts of Scripture. They desire a consistent perspective
regarding God, formulating sensible, reasonable, and non-
contradictory picture of who God is and what He expects of the
human race.
In other words, theology in one of its definitions can be
defined as a set of intellectual and emotional
commitments, justified or not, about God and man
which dictate one’s beliefs and actions. In this sense,
the term theology becomes much like worldview or
religion.
However, there are various points on which religion
and theology differ.
1.Theology works on religion; religion and its
principles, doctrines, beliefs and thoughts
should have been established in the first place
for the subject of theology to develop.
2.Rational evaluation of its faith is not the main
concern of religions, whereas, theology, as
essentially an academic discipline,
fundamentally deals with the rational analysis
of religious faiths.
3.Unlike theology, religion deals also with the
customs and manners observed by a certain
community or society when it comes to
practicing any specific belief or faith.
4.The religious leaders establish religious truths
whereas theological leaders establish
analytical truths.
5.Finally, we can say that religion is human’s way
to God, whereas theology is a study of God’s
way to humans.
 RELIGION VS
PHILOSOPHY OF
C

RELIGIONS
‘Philosophy of religion’ refers to the philosophical study
of the main themes and concepts involved in religions.
It may also include an inquiry into the religious
significance of historical events (e.g., holocaust) and
the general features of the cosmos, the laws of nature,
and the occurrence of conscious life.
•Philosophers dealing with philosophy of
religion examine the nature of religion and
religious beliefs, the idea related to the
existence and nature of the deity, the
arguments or proofs for the existence of
god, and clarifications of apparent
inconsistencies in the description of the
nature of God.
The following are some of the differences
between religion and philosophy of religion:
1.Religion is humans’ way to God, whereas
philosophy of religion is a reflection of humans’
lived experience of God.
2.Religion is about profession and practice of
one’s held faith, whereas philosophy of
religion, as a branch of philosophy, is about
examination of the principles and
presuppositions of religion.
3. Philosophy of religion essentially involves other main
areas of philosophy such as metaphysics,
epistemology, logic, and philosophy of language.
Religion may also deal with these philosophical
disciplines but only accidentally and not as its main
concerns.
4. Religion normally affirms the existence of a deity,
whereas philosophy of religion rationally inspects
religious issues and concerns without a presumption
of the existence of a god or reliance on acts of faith.
5.Religion is about faith in a supreme power and
worship of Him as the Creator and Controller of the
universe without necessarily involving reasoning,
whereas philosophy is a pursuit of wisdom by
intellectual search necessarily involving logical
reasoning.
6.Religion is also about practices, customs, and the
performance of rituals, whereas philosophy is about
metaphysics and does not emphasize the actual
practice of rituals.
THE ELEMENTS OF
RELIGION
C
A. It reflects an effort to elevate man’s whole
self to a higher dimension of existence.
Religion reflects man’s effort to elevate his whole self to a
higher dimension of existence because in the first place, it is
religion that affirms that man has a higher dimension of being.
Having spirit and soul makes man higher than animals and
other lesser creatures. One way to elevate oneself to a higher
dimension of existence is to become spiritually developed or
mature. This involves tending primarily the soul, not the
physical body, through the things advocated by religions like
prayer, meditation, self-discipline, and obedience to God’s
will
B. It is a frame work of transcendent
beliefs.
Religion’s transcendent beliefs refer to its convictions that
spiritual and supernatural beings exist. It categorically rejects
the materialistic doctrine that physical matter is the only
ultimate reality. Life itself depends on forces and energies of
nonmaterial kinds. Consciousness and our thoughts
themselves have undeniable spiritual aspects. People also
have “experience of pure light, divine music, perfect love,
boundless grace, and cosmic consciousness”
 C. Texts or scriptures
Religious scriptures are the so-called sacred texts
which religions consider to be central to their
faith. Religious texts may be utilized to “evoke a
deeper connection with the divine, convey
spiritual truths, promote mystical experience,
foster communal identity, and to guide
individual and communal spiritual practice”
 D. Rituals
‘Religious rituals’ refer to the behavior performed by a
religious member or a group of believers with
reference to supernatural power or a deity. It includes
varieties of behavior such as reciting prayers, singing of
hymns, dancing, fasting, putting on of special types of
cloth, taking birth in holy rivers, crawling, etc. religious
rituals covers a very wide range and it is sometimes
manifested in the form of ceremony or festival.
 E. Sacred spaces

Religions consider some places or areas as

sacred or holy. Foremost among these are
the places of worship. Almost all religions
have their respective definite place of
worship in which their followers offer their
prayers to the supernatural power.
 Some Theological Worldviews
All is one (Monistic)
Monism is a philosophical, cosmological, and metaphysical
stand which proposes an ultimate unity of all things, and that
all seeming differences, distinctions, divisions, and separations
are ultimately only apparent or partial aspects of an ultimate
whole.
It is a theological stance that “all is one”, that there are no
fundamental divisions, and that a unified set of laws underlie
all of nature. The universe, at the deepest level of analysis, is
then one thing or composed of one fundamental kind of stuff.
Many Gods (Polytheistic)
“Polytheism” refers to the worship of or belief in more than one deity,
especially several deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and
goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals. Especially in a
sociological perspective, the emergence of polytheism has been
attributed to the desire to pacify the uncontrollable forces of nature, the
need for supernatural moral sanctions, and the attempt to justify
specialization and class distinctions.

Not all polytheists worship all the gods equally. Some are ‘henotheists’
that is, specializing in the veneration of one specific deity. Other
polytheists are ‘kathenotheists’, that is, worshipping different gods or
goddesses at different times.
One God (monotheistic)
• ‘Monotheism’ is the “belief in a single God: the belief that there is only
one God”. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian church defines it as
the “belief in one personal and transcendent God”. Within theism,
monotheism is opposed to polytheism and pantheism (the belief that
God is everything)
•
• The term ‘monotheism’ comes from the Greek ‘monos’ meaning
“single” and ‘theos’ meaning “god”, It characterizes the traditions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – religions that had grown up in
opposition to polytheism. Christian tradition holds that monotheism
was the original religion of humanity, but was lost after ‘the fall of
man’ or after the first couple (Adam and Eve) transgressed the will of
the single omnipotent God.
No God (Aetheistic)

‘Atheism’ stands for the disbelief, denial of, or

lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
The term comes from the Greek prefix ‘a-‘,
meaning “without”, and the Greek word
‘theos’, which means “god”
• Atheistic worldview rejects any supernatural being and the beliefs in a
supernatural origin of the universe, an afterlife, the authority of the so-
called Holy Scriptures, and any theological foundation of morality.
• Naturalism is a belief system that discards all spiritual and supernatural
explanations of the world and affirms nature as the totality of reality.
• Darwinism the advocacy of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and
evolutionism, the belief in the theory of evolution by natural selection,
are fundamentally related.
• Evolutionists claim that the existence of all is explained by natural
selection which for them is a “blind, unconscious, no purpose, no mind,
no vision, no foresight, no sight at all, automatic process”. In other words,
all life allegedly originated through intrinsically directionless series of
processes as opposed to the planned and decisive creation by god.
THE ELEMENTS OF
SPIRITUALITY
C
 A. Holistic (fully integrated view to life)
• in spirituality’s holistic perspective of looking at a person, the body, spirit, and mind are
intersected and interact in a dynamic way in the ‘whole person’, making it hard and
artificial to try to separate these three dimensions. One way to differentiate between
these dimensions is the following:
•
• “The physical dimension (body) is world-conscious. It is that aspect of individuals that
allows them to taste, feel, see, hear, smell, and be experienced by others. The
psychological dimension (mind) involves self-consciousness and self-identity. It is that
aspect of an individual that deals with issues related to human interactions (and
associated emotions such as grief, loss, and guilt) on an intimate level. The spiritual
dimension (spirit) is described as a unifying force within individuals, integrating and
transcending all other dimensions. This dimensions is also described as God-
consciousness, or related to a deity or supreme values. It is concerned with the
meaning of life, individual’s relationship to the Ultimate Being.”
B. Quest for Meaning (including the purpose
of life)
It is said that another vital element of spirituality is finding meaning and
purpose in life. The quest to determine meaning in life arises as a central
theme in spirituality, with the relationship to self, others, and God
contributing to its discovery.
Yearning for purpose and meaning in life seems to be a universal trait and
may be critical to life itself. If a person is unable to find meaning and
purpose, all aspects of his or her life may be adversely affected as a sense
of emptiness and unworthiness may result. Spiritual distress may be felt,
which can contribute to emotional distress, and can eventually lead to
physical ailments.
C. Quest for the Sacred (beliefs about God)

The concept of beliefs and belief systems is

another fundamental element of spirituality. In
spirituality, nonetheless, “the cognitive factors
involved in beliefs have less to do with facts and
more with feelings; they represent a personal
confidence or faith in the validity of some
person, object, or idea”.
D. Suggests a Self-reflective Existence
Through self-reflection, some so-called spiritualists
claim derive meaning even from adverse
experiences. It is thus submitted that meaning in
life can be an outcome of spiritual self-reflection
which can be found contemplatively and
creatively through painting or poetry, adherence
to a political ideology, or in relationships with
other people.
A spiritual Man vs. A religious Man
Many are still not comfortable in distinguishing between a
religious man and a spiritual man. For they believe that
essentially, being religious encompasses being spiritual and vice
versa. But if one limits the meaning of being religious to
something like being a member of or adhering to an
institutionalized ritualistic religious organization and treats being
spiritual as possible without any affiliation to any church or sect,
then we could make character sketches of a person who is
spiritual but not religious, and an individual who is religious but
not spiritual.
A Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR) Man
A spiritual but not religious (SBNR) individual associates faith with the
private realm of personal experience rather than with the public realm of
religious institutions, creeds, and rituals. He or she may ignore membership
in religious institutions, participation in formal rituals, and adherence to
official denominational doctrines.
A SBNR person may have no or low levels of interest in church attendance
and commitment to orthodox beliefs. Instead, as one research shows, he
or she has “higher levels of interest in mysticism, experimentation with
unorthodox beliefs and practices, and negative feelings toward both
clergy and churches”
SBNR people also throw away the idea that traditional organized religion is
the sole or even the most valuable means of fostering their spiritual growth.
A religious But Not Spiritual (RBNS) Man
Interestingly, the ones who positively claim that there are indeed
religious but not spiritual people are those who profess that they are
spiritual but not religious. Accurately or otherwise, some of them give as
examples of people who were religious but not spiritual the bible
characters Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
Cain, so they claim was a ‘deeply religious man’ who believed in
offering sacrifices to God. Cain is seen as the type of people who offer
external things to God like money, services, time, etc. Religious But not
spiritual (RBNS) man is thus sketched as someone who can give gifts,
pray, and do many good works, but he or she does not understand
what it is to offer oneself. Accordingly, this person may pay ‘tithes’
exactly, but he or she will not put himself or herself to death in the
moments of temptation.
Balaam is also depicted as a religious man, as he was preacher who wanted
to serve God. However, he was also interested in making money and meeting
great men in the world. He sought monetary gain and honor for himself in the
name of the Lord. The preachers today whose doctrines may be all
fundamentally right according to the letter of the word, but are motivated by
the spirit of Balaam are also given as examples of RBNS people.
Korah is another man seen as religious as he was from the priestly tribe of Levi.
He was however discontented with the ministry assigned to him by the Lord. He
wanted to be more prominent, like Moses was. Korah’s covetousness and his
rebellion against the authority that God himself had appointed over his people
were what proved to be his painful destruction.
But then again, one may claim that Cain, Balaam, and Korah were not really
‘religious’ in the true sense of the word. For if they were, then they must have
been submissive and obedient to the will of the Lord, part of it is being truly
spiritual.
THANK YOU!