Master of Religious Philosophy
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Final Essay
This certainly has to be one of the more deeper courses, besides comparative religions, that I've taken. In the introduction I am told that this course " takes a look at the very basis of religion itself, and that Religious Philosophy first began as an academic pursuit during the 18th century in Europe." I'll have to admit that this course worked my 51 year old brain cells pretty good. Although that doesn't take much.
As I progressed through this course week by week I learned the definition of religion, the difference between a religion and an ethical system, and also the difference between a concept and a precept. I also learned the fundamentals most religions share. The 16 fundamentals this course listed were (1) Deity/Ultimate Reality (2)Theophany (3) Prayer (4) Soul (5) Worship (6) Sacrifice (7) Salvation (8) Mysticism (9) Death (10) Dualism/Monism (11) Orthodoxy (12) Orthopraxy (13) Pantheism (14) Universality (15) Uniqueness (16) Truth. I also found out that organized Religion consists of a common methodology and devotional focus. What I also found interesting was that cults, according to sociological criteria, don't necessarily have to be dangerous. The Old Order Amish for ex.,met 4 or 5 of the criteria, yet we all know that the Amish are far from dangerous.
In lesson 4 I learned that approximately 98% of the genetics of humans and chimpanzees is the same. Chimpanzees have also showed evidence of religious practices. Also Neanderthals and Cromagnon man constructed alters, sacrificed animals and had burial practices. It certainly seems that where religion began is easier to answer than why it began. According to this course there are several interesting theories. Marx believed that religions were illusions that humans had created to solve their various economic, material conditions they experienced in their lives. Durkheim believed that religion was a cultural tool. And of course Freud saw religion as a projection of Man kinds psychological woes. There were several other theories mentioned in this course.
As I journeyed on through the course I learned about the Five A's. They are (1) Awareness- that there are other religions in the world. (2) Acknowledgement - recognizing someones, somethings validity, authority etc. (3) Acceptance- is a process of acknowledging something as proper, usual or right. (4) Appreciation- a favorable opinion or judgment, recognizing the the significance, value and quality of people and things. (5) Amalgamation- merging of 2 distinct groups into 1 group.
Lesson 10 talked about Doctrine. What does it mean when we use the term doctrine? This course taught that Doctrine is all about dogma, principle, sets of principles and religious theory that constitute a key part of a religious believe system. One would think that every religion has, religious theory, dogma and doctrine. That's what I used to think to. I learned through this course that the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers) claim that they have no creeds, dogma or doctrine. Another group in the Universalist movement, the Unitarians, make similar claims. Interesting to say the least.
It never ceases to amaze me how words evolve over time and how their meanings change. For example scripture is such a word. It comes from the Latin word scribere which simply meant to write. Since early writing was done by scratching on all sorts of materials, scribere early on in time could have meant simply to scratch. So in the big picture scripture can mean any thing written or a document. As time progressed scripture became defined as any written material as definitive and authoritative. Of course today in modern times scripture refers to any sacred book or sacred writing.
This was a deep and informative course and I only scratched the surface of it in this small essay of mine. Since I am studying to hopefully be a chaplain someday I lot of times I privately wonder whether religion has a future or not. This course brings up several interesting points. Religious history has taught us that religion will probably not be knocked out politically, however there could be other forms of religious destruction. For example like technology, culture, and environmental issues. Even still I learned that religion will probably exist in the future in some way but it will it will probably in all likelihood not look like it does today. This certainly gives me hope. I like what French philosopher Voltaire once said, "If GOD did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him." For people of faith of course they don't have to invent GOD they just believe. In my heart of hearts I believe that religion will always be, in what ever form it takes in the future, a valuable asset for a lot of reasons. Hope being one of them.
Good course
God Bless
Rev. Terry G. Rempel
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