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Worldviews are not all about God, but these are also about our views about
reality, man, truth and values. There are also economic, political and social
worldviews.
Worldviews and belief systems are necessary for r eligions in order to protect
and spread their own particular belief as a way of “keeping the faith” through
generations. Catholic Christians keep in their hearts the “Apostles’ Creed”, the
Muslims practice “the five pillars of Islam”, the Shinto reveres the dead ancestors or
“Kami”, the Confucians hold dearly the necessity of past traditions, and the Taoists
embrace the importance of being close to nature.(Cornejo et al, 2019). Your beliefs
shape your worldviews but your beliefs and worldviews are oftentimes shaped by
religion. There is a complex interplay between religion, belief and worldview.
Religions have different elements and characteristics which are non-negotiable.
Members should follow or undergo the process to become a genuine believers. The
elements of religions written by Maria Perpetua Arcilla-Serapio lay -down these
basic characteristics at least for the major religions. They are;
1. Belief in supernatural powers: the power which is beyond human powers. The
human sufferings enable human being to seek God’s help for their problems.
2. Belief in the holy or sacred: This is the heart of every religion. Every religion
has sacred books or texts. For example, Scriptures and the Bible are sacred for
the Jews and so with the Christians , Qur’an for Muslims, and Tripitaka for
Buddhists and Vedas for Hindus. But something sacred is not just books but
also places, symbols, animals, rocks and many more. Hindus for example
believes that cows are sa cred because of their beliefs in reincarnation.
3. Systems of rituals: these are the different ways each religions expresses their
faith. Catholic Christians have the seven sacraments which include ceremonies
and rituals. For example, Baptism. A child must be baptized at an early age in
the church with the presence of parents, God parents, priest as celebrator and
the community that supports the child. The most important symbol of baptism is
1. Naturalism (e.g. Atheism, Agnosticism, Existentialism). It denies the
existence of God. The material universe is all that exist.
2. Pantheism ( e.g. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism; much New Age
Consciousness. They believe that only the spiritual dimension exists. All
else is illusion. Man is spiritual and eternal.
3. Theism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam). They believe that an infinite,
personal God exists. God created the real world. People are created in the
image of God.
4. Spiritism. The world is inhabited by spirit beings who govern earthly
activities. Man is created by gods like the rest of the creatures on earth.
Material things are real but they have spirits associated with them.
5. Polytheism: This is the belief in many gods or deities. The culture of
Ancient Greeks and Romans depict this kind of beliefs.