Question One
Religion has multiple definitions according to Cunningham and other sources. Religion is a way of organizing the world, and it has the aim of bringing people to the sacredness and ensures they live in togetherness, unborn, and the dead. Religion is a way to display a sacred-regarding intention. Religion can be anything that facilitates people in coping with the limits of the existence of humans such as death and suffering. Religion is a belief and trust in God who is the creator, sustainer, and governor of the universe with his power and goodness (Cunningham). The best definition; religion is a cultural setup of practices and behavior, holy places, societal organization, and ethics that is necessary in the relation of humanity to the order of existence. This is because religion may differ from society-to-society and various people have their ways of life depending on their religion.
Question Two
Sociology of religion tries to understand the organizational, beliefs, and practices of religion by utilizing sociology tools and methods like surveys. An example is when a survey is done in a community to know how many Muslims and Christians are there in a community.
Religious ethics studies ethical theories and methods within an individual religious system and its traditions. Religion is used to monitor how people respect the society values such as children being taught what is right and wrong in the church.
Theological religion biblically evaluates the religious phenomenon. It answers the actual questions about salvation and God. An example is trying to understand the different nature of God and the Bible in Christian and Muslim context.
Question Three
A ritual is a collection of activities such as objects, gestures, and words that take place in a sacred place, time, and in a given sequence. Religious people who believe in rituals have developed an understanding of the proper rituals to perform, when, where, and how to do them. The knowledge gained helps the people or community to know the rituals and their observation such as the reason Muslims fast during Ramadhan period.
Question Four
Religion has a definite differentiation between good and evil and knows that doing well is following the set laws and regulations while bad entails going against the religious norms. Religion assumes that God is good because he want the best for his creation, sustains it, and he is powerful. The tension exists because if God has all the listed attributes of being (Cunningham) powerful, just, and good, then it is assumed that evil should not exist because he does not want anything bad to happen to his people. An example is that why do God allow people to suffer from environmental conditions like earthquakes.
Question Five (2)
Religious people believe in worship, prayer, and mysticism in their daily life. Muslims and Christians believe in prayers as a way to communicate to their creators and make life requests. There is a belief in Cunningham’s book that when worshipping the presence of God comes near the people, and it is a way to prepare God to hear their problems and solve them (Cunningham). Mysticism aims at the human transformation from one tradition to another. Prayer, Mysticism, and worship exemplify the religious activity and commitment towards God since the people find it necessary to respect the virtues that bring them near to God. In addition, the aspects bring about a better feeling towards God. An example is that religious people use prayers and worship to communicate their problems to their creator.
Work Cited
Cunningham, Lawrence. The Sacred Quest. New York: Pearson, 2012. Print
