Task Of Religion Research Articles

Metamorphosis

Approaching the numinous is something that has forged a deep bond between art and religion in European cultural history. In the wake of Kant and Schleiermacher, the German theologian Ulrich Barth elaborates four constitutive elements that distinguish both aesthetic and religious experience: Fullfillment of meaning, interruption, passivity, and transcendence. From Raphael to Caspar David Friedrich to Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, impressive examples can be found of how these dimensions oscillate between religion and art. Nevertheless, there is a limit: art can, but does not have to, approach the numinous. Art can act as an eye-opener, as a school of perception, as an initiation into what Robert Bellah calls "beyonding"; art can lift the veil that lies over our everyday perception. Religion lives from the numinous. The task of religion is to use symbolic, ritual, and conceptual means to present the mystery of the world and the prospect of salvation in a way that is so tangible and concrete that people can receive support and comfort for their lives from it.

ІРРАЦІОНАЛЬНЕ ТА РАЦІОНАЛЬНЕ В РЕЛІГІЙНОМУ І НАУКОВОМУ ПІЗНАННІ

In the article, the author reveals the metaphysical systems of the irrational justification for the existence of the supernatural. It is shown that diverse arguments in the protection of the supernatural are based on references to the limited and historical underdevelopment of human practice, the evidence of the presence of uncontrolled and therefore incomprehensible phenomena of nature, society and the human psyche. A characteristic feature of theological cognition is not systematic, but spontaneous, irrational at its basis. The process of cognition for Orthodox theologians involves the domination of faith and the silence of the mind. A similar understanding of the process of cognition and the role of science has changed over time. The logic of the structure of religious consciousness shows that the mind in this process plays only an auxiliary role along with the intuitively gained faith. With this understanding, the role of faith significantly increases and the role of knowledge diminishes and therefore thought of a person, his scientific search is completely ignored. At the same time, the idea that cognitive activity should be focused above all on the comprehension of God is embedded in the consciousness of a person. Under the influence of the growing role of science, theologians began to point out in some questions not only the possible combination of religion with scientific knowledge, but also to prove the beneficial influence of religion on science. In theological understanding, this indicates the leading role of religion in the emergence of science. The task of religion is the knowledge of the supernatural through the suggestion, conviction of people in its reality. Scientific knowledge strives for objective significance and maximum accuracy, excluding all personal and subjective. Religion not only recognizes subjectivism but also brings theological faith and inner experiences to the rank of criteria of truth. Science is characterized by dynamism and development. It relies on rational knowledge. Religion is conservative, static in nature. Its support is irrational consciousness. Science is based on experience. However, the basis of religion is a belief in supernatural, mystical experience. The comparative analysis of scientific and religious knowledge indicates that their purpose, methods and criteria of knowledge are essentially opposite.

What's art got to do with happiness in farabian utopia

Farabi has put the artists on the second level of his utopia seeing them as ‘the carrier of the task of religion’. The first level, of course, belongs to God’s prophet and his successors. This might seem, at first, as some sort of religious mumbo-jumbo but with some speculation on the age Farabi was living in, one could see that it is a rarity for artists to be such noteworthy entities in a philosopher’s utopia. This philosopher, of course, is deeply influenced by Greek philosophy, as it was the case for Islamic philosophy before Abu-Hamid Al-Ghazali shattered it into pieces. The level of importance that Farabi imagines for the artists is hardly traceable in Greek philosophy or any other philosophy before him. This importance, however, comes at a price. The artist has a task like that of the prophets. In the prophet’s case, the angel of revelation bestows the rational concepts to his rational faculty and then to his imaginative faculty. The majority of people are not able to obtain rational happiness through reasoning because they are not used to implement their rational faculty. So the prophet, who is well aware of the truth, conveys the truth to peoples’ imagination through allegories and examples. The artist too, in Farabi’s eyes, is a person who can transfer rational happiness to the minds of the masses through sensible and imaginative forms. DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00009.2

Yom Kippur’s Call for Environmental Repentance

Yom Kippur’s Call for Environmental Repentance

English

This paper discusses the role of religion in modern society. Religion no doubt in the perception of faithful is truly the opium of the masses, it cushions the effects of living in a problem-stricken world characterized by faithlessness and hopelessness.  It is the task of religion, once the other-world of truth has vanished, to establish the truth of the world. It is the immediate task of philosophy, which is in the service of religion to unmask self-estrangement in its unholy forms once the holy form of human self-estrangement has been unmasked; religion provides a vent and creates a disconnect between man and hopelessness while reminding us of a life in the hereafter, it absorbs the heart of the pounds of suffering, and puts on man a garb of hope which will get to be shown off on the spiritual and mundane runway. The data used in the study are derived from three sources: a structured questionnaire, documentary sources, and direct observation. The findings revealed that religion as a tool for integration has played more divisive roles than integrating roles and that either in terms of its facilities, personnel, or programs, religion is not predisposed to performing the original function it set out to accomplish. After making short and long term recommendations, it was concluded that, in order for religion to effectively discharge its responsibilities, fundamental steps must be taken to control the socio-psychological basis of religion.   Key words: Religion; Society: Masses: Opium; Development. &nbsp

Menimbang Gagasan Farid Esack Tentang Solidaritas Lintas Agama

<p>Inter-religious conflict has been part of the history of religions. To the dismay of many, the conflict has escalated from time to time overshadowing the benevolent nature of religions as a blessing for mankind. Hence, instead of addressing the formidable problems of poverty, backwardness, ignorance, injustice, oppression and the like, people of different religions in one way or another are dragged into the acts of violence. It is this unfortunate development in the history of religions that we are interested in discussing by appealing to the ideas of Farid Esack who has established himself as an international scholar of Islam. We portray Esack as a man whose attention is being paid solely to promote the inter-religious dialogue with a single purpose in mind, to push peace and harmony for all regardless of their race and religion. We are particularly interested in developing further the idea of what he calls a “productive dialogue” in which an awareness of religious solidarity constitutes an integral part. We will try to expose the “hermeneutics of awareness” to get a better idea of what Esack is trying to do as far as social harmony is concerned. Within this scheme we will also discuss some other related issues such as the problem of pluralism and liberation. We argue that Esack sees the problem of social harmony as essentially theological and not simply political. It is therefore the task of religion—and not simply of politic—to deal with such problem.</p>

UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO HUMAN EVIL: A MULTICAUSAL APPROACH

Abstract.One task of religion is delivering human beings from evil within and between themselves. Defining good as well‐being or functioning well, evil as impaired functioning, and doing evil as impairing the functioning of others, this essay explores how religions in consort with other social institutions might understand and respond to evil in light of contemporary scientific knowledge. To understand evil I use a multicausal approach that includes both biological and sociocultural environmental causes. I illustrate the use of this approach by analyzing how we might understand and respond to human rage and violence.

Human Rights in Traditionalist Islam

The vaunted clash of civilizations has grown into a Fourth World War of demonization against Islam. The newest strategy is to single out Islam’s essential values, deny that they exist, and assert that their absence constitutes the Islamic threat. This article shows the common identity of classical American and classical Islamic thought so that Muslims, Christians, and Jews can unite against religious extremism. Muslim jurisprudents developed the world’s most sophisticated code of human responsibilities and rights. This is now being revived as the common heritage of western civilization based on the premise that justice reflects a truth higher than man-made positivist law and on the corollary that the task of religion is to translate transcendent truth into the transcendent law of compassionate justice.

Human Rights in Traditionalist Islam

The vaunted clash of civilizations has grown into a Fourth World War of demonization against Islam. The newest strategy is to single out Islam’s essential values, deny that they exist, and assert that their absence constitutes the Islamic threat. This article shows the common identity of classical American and classical Islamic thought so that Muslims, Christians, and Jews can unite against religious extremism. Muslim jurisprudents developed the world’s most sophisticated code of human responsibilities and rights. This is now being revived as the common heritage of western civilization based on the premise that justice reflects a truth higher than man-made positivist law and on the corollary that the task of religion is to translate transcendent truth into the transcendent law of compassionate justice.

Global Healing and Reconciliation: The Gift and Task of Religion, a Buddhist-Christian Perspective

Global Healing and Reconciliation:The Gift and Task of Religion, a Buddhist-Christian Perspective Peter C. Phan "No peace among nations without peace among the religions. No peace among the religions without dialogue between the religions. No dialogue between the religions without investigation of the foundation of the religions." Hans Küng's oft-quoted dictum proves even more apposite in the current international situation. Whether or not the September 11, 2001, tragedy and its aftermath can be accounted for in religious terms, there has been a widespread perception that they were part of the conflict between Islam and the West and that this "clash of civilizations" has deep roots in different religious worldviews. Hindsight now shows us that "smart bombs" and armies do not and cannot resolve political problems in Afghanistan and Iraq or spread democracy in the world no matter how one judges the morality of these wars. The question then arises whether there are other ways and means to achieve world peace and reconciliation, to bring about healing among nations, and whether religions can be counted among these. More specifically, if religions can be harnessed to this task, which elements of the "foundation of the religions"—to use Hans Küng's words—need to be investigated in the dialogue among religions in order to bring about reconciliation among religions that in turns leads to reconciliation among nations? This essay explores how Buddhists and Christians can together serve the cause of peace and reconciliation among nations. I will first reflect on the nature, strategies, and spirituality of reconciliation. Next, I consider how the Buddha's and Jesus' teachings on justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation can contribute to global healing. To show the transformative power of these teachings, I conclude with some reflections on how the followers of the Buddha and Jesus can work together for world peace and global healing. Global Healing and Reconciliation: Strategies and Spirituality At first sight it seems preposterous and hypocritical to speak of global healing and reconciliation as the gift and task of religion. A brief glance at the history of global [End Page 89] warfare will persuade us of the sad fact that, in the words of Charles Kimball, "more wars have been waged, more people killed, and these days more evil perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history."1 One is reminded of Jesus' injunction that we must first take the log out of our own eyes before attempting to take the speck out of our neighbor's (Matthew 7:5). Yet, religion is arguably the most powerful and effective institutional force for peace and reconciliation. To see how religion can bring this gift of peace to the world and achieve this task of global healing, a brief consideration of the nature and process of reconciliation is helpful. Etymologically, reconciliation means to cause two estranged persons or groups to meet each other again (re-, again + concilium, meeting). By extension, it means to resolve a dispute and to re-establish friendship and harmony, or, at a minimum, peaceful coexistence between opposed individuals or groups.2 Reconciliation is both a process and a state of affairs. As process, it sets into motion a complex of agencies and strategies that cannot be used as a universally applicable recipe but requires appropriate tailoring to diverse contexts.3 The process includes certain intermediate stages as conditions of possibility for achieving the desired result. As a personal and sociopolitical state of affairs, reconciliation is an ever-fragile and elusive reality. Ultimately, because of human propensities toward violence and domination, total reconciliation and perfect peace is not achievable by human efforts but is hoped and prayed for as an eschatological gift bestowed by God or as a transcendent blessing beyond this world. This fact does not of course diminish our responsibility to bring about global healing by means of all the resources available, religious and otherwise. What Reconciliation Is Not In our work for reconciliation it is essential to ascertain what it is not. In a helpful study on reconciliation Catholic theologian Robert Schreiter distinguishes three concepts that are allied to reconciliation but can distort its true sense. The first...

The Task of Judaism

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Task of JudaismRabbi Solomon GoldmanRabbi Solomon Goldman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 14, Number 1Jan., 1934 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/481381 Views: 3Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

George Santayana's Theory of Religion

Santayana offers a new appreciation of the value of religion as poetry. He is a naturalistic philosopher, treating religious ideas as compensatory constructions, as objectified aspirations and ideals. The ideal values presented by religion in allegorical form are not to be mistaken for natural existences. To the wise they portray the pathos and nobility of life, the necessity of discipline, the possibility of sanctity, the transcendence and the humanity of the divine. The article presents and criticizes Santayana's theory of the origin of the religious experience in fear: his treatment of the rise of ideas of God, sacrifice, prayer; his estimate of the superior value of ritual. For Santayana ritual is of primary importance. By emphasizing belief and minimizing ritual and symbolism, Protestantism, in his opinion, put back religion ten centuries. On the great traditional questions, such as God and immortality, Santayana has definite opinions. God has no existential reality; he is the embodiment of our highest human aspirations. Personal immortality is a foolish figment of the brain. True immortality is the immortality of life's values. Evil is imperfect adjustment and not an essential aspect of the nature of being. The task of religion is to give man another world to live in, an imaginative world of beauty, harmony, and perfection, that the soul of man may be strengthened and deepened by contemplating it, and its beauty and serenity fill the mind.

The Religion of Love

We have been told that human nature cannot change, that it must always fight. From our point of view we venture to hope that slowly but surely the attitude of men's minds changes as new interests develop. It is a part of the business of the church to lay emphasis upon those interests that look toward co-operation rather than hostility. And quite as fundamental is the duty of the church to develop a social-mindedness that is ready to sacrifice some of its privileges in the interest of larger social justice. As in so many other cases, the task of religion is fundamentally psychological. A world without good-will will be a world continually facing tragedy.