Introduction
Keith Ward, is known as an Anglican priest and has held positions in social theology, history, and philosophy of religion at King’s College, University of London. Ultimately, Ward held religious Professor chairs at The University of Oxford and Cannon of Christ Church Cathedral. Ward has released numerous publications in philosophy and theology throughout his time employed as Professor at these Universities. From Ward’s series of comparative theology publications came, Religion and Human Nature. In General, this book examines religious views of human nature and fate. The philosophies of many cultures are presented and theories discussed are arranged according to distinct traditions that represent specific religions.
Themes
In Religion and Human Nature, Ward presents the reader with six major religious backgrounds that center as major themes in this novel. Ideals presented are: Advaita Vedanta there is on supreme self, Vaishnava there is an infinite number of souls, Buddhist there is no eternal self, and Abrahamic persons are embodied souls. Subsequent to these philosophies are Indian ideas of rebirth, Semitic belief, and the impact of scientific theories of biological evolution. Next, Ward presents Christian Doctrine of original sin where he emphasizes the concept of soterial. The final theme illustrated is a Christian view of personal immortality compared to Jewish and Muslin beliefs of resurrection.
Book Content Review
In the beginning chapters, Ward examines the non-dualism outlook to human nature. Here he relates his works to the Advaita Vedanta movement of the Hindu at the turn of the century. Ward’s focus centered on the fact that Hindu believed the individual soul is only that of manifestation and beyond that...
... middle of paper ...
...lysis that was significantly informative to read. The book was well-written though at time it seemed hard to follow the generally wrap up of ideologies where understandable. It was entertaining to read the wide variety of Christian doctrine and how it effects human thought. More than entertaining this book allows individuals and understanding among cultures, religions, beliefs and how they affect personal actions that is an educational aspect that can be hard to grasp. Though this publication argued why some religions had specifics that remain unanswered; it provided major insight into the customs of an array of cultures. As a society work like this should lead us into the future with understanding of one another and should push us all for as a civilization. This work was stimulating in its insight into religions and the contributions that have had on human nature.
There are several aspects to consider when exploring the Christian worldview. There are many facets or denominations and they each have their own distinct beliefs and practices, but they all share the same fundamental beliefs. In this Paper we will explore the character of God, His creation, humanity and its nature, Jesus’ significance to the world, and the restoration of humanity, as well as my beliefs and the way that I interact with Christianity and my personal worldview.
My father has always reminded me that religion plays a big role in one’s morals. Of course that only applies if a person is religious and has a religious background. There are a lot of religious people in this world, and if one were to ask them where their morals came from, they would say that it is based on their religion. So what is it that makes these two things so similar and distinct? Iris Murdoch, author of “Morality and Religion,” discusses how morals and religion need each other in order to work. Morals without religion is nearly impossible because; religion influences our morals, religion allows to set better morals for one’s self, and ideally morality is essentially religious.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
The purpose of this reflective outline is to demonstrate a thorough understanding of theories, concepts, and/or strategies relating to cultural and social religions. “Whale Rider” (Caro, 2002) , is a depictive representation of a cultural religion that has survived on the belief of male inheritance as their form of guidance; however, history has shown that change is inevitable. For example, throughout history, religion has played a pivotal role in the development of individuals, including the evolution of societies. This shows that because religion/s around the world have practiced their core beliefs in an attempt to guide humanities behaviors, yet , as we can observe with the “Whale Rider,” even the most influential community and cultural leaders can become miscued in their ideologies. Because The Maori of New Zealand have developed deep seated beliefs within natural creatures; Katu is term used to relate to their god (Maori.com, 2014) steaming for their ancestral Polynesian descendants. In addition to what can be observed, such as beliefs, practices, and/or symbolic terminologies, each religion will ensure its presidential knowledge is passed to those who receive it accordingly. The factual concept stands and history has proven is evolution that without guidance and continuous religious and cultural support, decedents of a heritage may become lost and/or miscued within their mislead ideology. Although many religions are centered on the belief of normality’s cultural expectance, often times we can observe drastic changes in the reorganization of a cultural religion.
The book “Human Nature and Jewish Thought” from the author Alan Mittleman is one of the bases used in the class Humanity 2.0 to try to reach an understanding about human nature. The book uses the comparison between Jewish tradition and lessons and the western thoughts to dig about the core of the human nature. In the chapter two of the book “Persons in the Image of God”, the author talks about the hybrid nature of the human, and our potential for both good and evil.
Religion usually plays a big part in the cultures of the world and is the basis for their beliefs and values. In many countries religion is very important, so important that some cultures use it in every aspect of their lives. China l...
Molly, Michael. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2013.
Religions play a crucial role in impacting how adherents live their lives and their understanding of humanities enduring questions of life. Religion is an active system of faith. Christianity is a religion centred on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the bible. A living tradition is one that is active amongst followers in present society. Whereas a dynamic tradition is capable of adapting and amending in order to meet the needs of society. Christianity is formed as a living and dynamic tradition, which is defined by its distinct characteristics. Characteristics include, sacred texts and writings, rituals and ceremonies, beliefs and believers and ethics. Ultimately, Christianity is shaped as a living and dynamic tradition through the characteristics of religion’s impacts on adherents.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
In Chapter 1 of Keith Ward’s, The Case for Religion, Ward discusses Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s concept of the term “Religion” and his definition of the term and critically responds to it. In one of Smith’s own books, The Meaning and End of Religion, he discusses both his interpretation of the term “religion” and his opinion that the term should no longer be used. Smith’s skepticism of the term, together with his attempt at defining it, creates a contradiction that Ward critically unpicks and responds to.
Fisher, Mary Pat. "HINDUISM." Living Religions. 1991. Reprint. Upper Saddle River: Person Education, 2011. 73-120. Print.
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
Modern society and its people have the ability to make a vast range of choice when it comes to anything in their lives. People to today have the ability and free will to choose their partners, their careers, their aspirations in life and their own religion. In the opinion of Peter L. Berger, written in his 1979 book ‘The Heretical Imperative’, modern times provide three fundamental options in relation to religion; the first being ‘The deductive option’, which reaffirms a certain religious tradition in spit of counter claims against it (e.g. Islamic fundamentalism); the second is the reductive option, which modernizes a religious tradition in term which make it sensible or understandable in todays most important modes of though. The final option is called the ‘inductive option’, which turns external forms of authority to individual experience (e.g. William James and the varieties of religious experience). By looking at these options deeper and look at opposing views to Berger’s theory and personal religious preference will give the reader a clearer view of Berger’s ‘The Heretical Imperative’.