Understanding World Religions

Our quote for today is from Buddha. He said, "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "Tibetan Buddhism"

Tibetan Buddhism may be best known in the West because of the international popularity of its leader, Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhist monks are called lamas, meaning "superior ones." There are two orders of lamas, which the West labels the Red Hats and the Yellow Hats. The Yellow Hats are the larger group and their leader is the Dalai Lama.

Buddhist missionaries entered Tibet from both India and China in the seventh century AD, at the Tibetan king's invitation. The new religion was quickly adopted and had government support. By the fourteenth century, the monks had become so powerful they took over rule and held it until the 1950 Chinese invasion. At this time, the current Dalai Lama and many followers escaped to India, where they currently live in exile. Unlike his predecessors, Tenzin Gyatso has traveled widely as a spokesman for human rights and international harmony. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace.

When a Dalai Lama dies, monks thoroughly search Tibet, checking all boys born within a certain date range to see which might have the traits of the deceased leader. Further tests and divination will be carried out to select which child is the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. Then he will be taken to a monastery and given years of special training to prepare him to take over leadership of the Tibetan community. The death of this Dalai Lama will produce a special challenge, since the Tibetan community is now scattered around the globe and a search of Tibet would be hindered or forbidden by the Chinese authorities. Also, the Chinese government has said China will choose the next Dalai Lama, which most Tibetans are sure to reject. Sadly, the effort to replace a Dalai Lama noted for peace efforts may be marred by violence.

...

Our quote for today is from Anne Graham Lotz. She said, "Abraham is such a fascinating figure. Three world religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- all claim him as a patriarch. He was raised in a religious home. And yet he rejected religion in order to pursue a personal relationship with God."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

"It is impossible to understand modern Judaism without knowing the events and experiences of the Jewish people since the time of Moses. In its number of followers, Judaism is among the smallest of the world's living religions, with slightly more than fourteen million adherents globally, yet it exerts a proportionally larger influence on world affairs today, in part because of the modern state of Israel, formed in 1948.

"Many people, particularly Christians familiar with the Old Testament—the Hebrew Scriptures—think of Judaism in terms of what they've read in Exodus or Deuteronomy. Therefore, we must note that modern Judaism is Rabbinic, or Talmudic. Without a temple or sacrificial system, much of the Law cannot be followed. Over many centuries, influential rabbis have reflected and written on how to practice the Jewish faith under changed circumstances. The Talmud is the collection of those reflections and the basis for modern Judaism.

"Jewish life today is primarily lived out in the home and secondarily in the synagogue. Practicing Judaism is more about daily life than about specific beliefs or formal rituals, although these do exist..."

Our quote for today is from Galileo. He said, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." Garry Morgan is a Professor of Intercultural Studies at Northwestern College. He served with World Venture for 20 years in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Our topic for today is, "Protestant Christianity"

Protestant is an umbrella term generally used to describe a vast variety of churches that are neither Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox. The name comes from the "protests" by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and many others against abuses of power and some doctrines in the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformers were people of the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries who sought to bring change to Christianity in Europe. Their writings continue to exert substantial influence over hundreds of millions of believers today.

Historically, the Protestant Reformation began as an attempt to, as the word implies, reform Christianity. Luther and the others saw their efforts not as bringing anything new to the faith but as restoring biblical teaching and practice established prior to the development of Rome's papal system. They didn't intend initially to form a new church organization—they did so only after they were excommunicated (removed from membership) and threatened with death by the Catholic Church hierarchy. The congregations that followed the Reformers became the Protestant churches.

That the word “reformed” is utilized in countless ways today can be confusing. The Reformation period produced several organizations. The churches following Luther's teaching and leadership came to be called Lutheran, while those that followed Calvin were called Reformed, even though both were part of the Reformation and are relatively similar in doctrine. Over time, the Reformed churches subdivided, usually along national lines, into many denominations (such as the Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Church of America). Calvin's doctrines, with additions by a number of others, came to be called Reformed Theology, best known for its doctrine of God's sovereignty, especially in election -- God's choosing of who will be saved. Over the years, newer denominations, notably the Presbyterians and many Baptist groups, embraced most of Calvin's "reformed" doctrines, while disagreeing with some beliefs and practices of the Reformed Church.

Historically, two core issues framed the Protestant disagreement with Catholicism. The first concerns salvation, the way in which a person avoids God's righteous judgment on the sinful nature and is reconciled into right relationship with him. Protestants insist that the Bible clearly states salvation is "by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone," in contrast to a combination of grace and good works. The second, Sola Scriptura, is the belief that the Bible is the final authority for determining doctrine and practice rather than a combination of Scripture and tradition. Additional areas of divergence grew over time as Protestant leaders refined and developed their doctrines.

The various Protestant churches survived Roman Catholic attempts to exterminate them, in part because many European political leaders saw in them the chance to escape papal oppression and attain greater regional autonomy. Ultimately, Protestants contributed considerably to the rise of nationalism and the development of today's European countries. This association developed into the state church system, in which a whole country officially recognized just one denomination (such as the Lutheran Church in Sweden or Norway).

Unfortunately, this also led to a number of wars, both civil (within one country) and between Catholic and Protestant countries. Some nations were tolerant of those whose beliefs were not in step with the state church, such as Holland, which, although officially Dutch Reformed, became a haven for persecuted Christians from France, England, and elsewhere (such as the Pilgrims who later settled Plymouth Colony in North America). Elsewhere, persecution of dissenters ranged from moderate to severe. In some Protestant countries, Catholics were persecuted, and many Protestants were killed in France and other Catholic countries.

Persecution extended even to other Protestants of the "wrong" variety. The Baptist pastor John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, spent much of his adult life in prison for refusal to "conform" to the Anglican Church.

New denominations proliferated as Protestant Christianity spread across Europe and then into North America. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the changes reached Africa and Asia. Without the central leadership authority that characterizes the Catholic Church, ...

Our quote for today is from Luther Standing Bear. He said, "Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power, and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." Garry Morgan is a Professor of Intercultural Studies at Northwestern College. He served with World Venture for 20 years in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. And, I want to remind you to take advantage of our special offer. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase a copy of the book that we are using -- "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day" by Garry R. Morgan. It is available on our website for just $20. You can make your purchase today at understandingworldreligionspodcast.com.

Our topic for today is, "Native American Religions"

Like all animistic religions, Native American religions (NARs) provide a variety of beliefs and practices that make generalizations challenging. Thus it is necessary to speak in the plural of Native religions. Depending on where they have settled, the various Native American people groups, or tribes, have made their living through agriculture, pastoral tending of livestock, or hunting and gathering. Some have lived in settled towns or small cities. Others have lived nomadically, following herds of buffalo or other wild game. One consequence has been an assortment of religious expressions and rituals.

Another factor inhibiting description of these religions is that in most cases Native Americans left no written records of life before the arrival of European immigrants. Written sources, therefore, usually have been produced by outside observers of Native life, which inserts a non-Native worldview into depictions and explanations, even when the writer strives to avoid bias. Many early sources, unfortunately, did not even attempt neutrality but describe these religions in negative terms.

Finally, Native American interactions with European settlers from the seventeenth century onward resulted in extensive conversion, at least outwardly, to Christianity. By the mid-twentieth century, most Native people professed to be Christian, though many mixed traditional practices with their new faith. Since 1960, there has been a massive resurgence of interest in Native culture and religions, with a subsequent reversal of the number of Native Americans professing Christianity. However, we cannot always know whether today's post-Christian Native practices and rituals are the same as they were before interaction with Europeans.

One applicable generalization is that Native American religions have a strong emphasis on the spirit world, something they share with the rest of the huge animistic category. But specific beliefs about its traits vary. Some Native tribes have worship rituals of key spirits such as Mother Earth, thunder and/or lightning, and guardian spirits; these might be considered polytheistic, since they lack one central deity. Many other tribes, however, believe in a Great Spirit or Creator Spirit who exists above the rest of the spirit world. This spirit may be impersonal, leading to Deism, or personal and so more monotheistic in nature. Still others see this Great Spirit as a divine force in nature and, accordingly, are more pantheistic in outlook.

Another generally valid observation is that Native peoples highly value living in balance with the natural environment. While traditionally this was a physical necessity, it also found and continues today to find validity in their respect for the spirits they believe live in the natural realm. There have been exceptions on both sides, but among the most common sources of conflict between Native American and European American cultures has been disparity in how the land and nature are treated. As European settlement moved west across the continent, the cutting of forests, plowing of the soil, and decimation of buffalo herds and other game were viewed by Native peoples as a physical encroachment on their livelihood and an attack upon the spirits that were the providers of and even dwellers in those natural resources.

The focus of Native religions, even for believers in a Great Spirit or Creator, is not typically on that central deity (as in monotheistic religions), but rather on the surrounding spirit world that is believed to impact daily life. As with other animistic systems, maintaining good relations with the spirit realm is at the core of most beliefs and practices. Again, these religions are often described as practical, as they deal primarily with the pragmatic present.

Because the spirits are nearby and have certain demands or requirements in order to keep relationships with humans, it is possible to offend t...

Our quote for today is from Edwin Lewis. He said, "A religion without the element of mystery would not be a religion at all."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

Our Understanding World Religions topic for today is, "New Age Religions"

New Age is an umbrella term for a host of recent religious startups, most originating since 1970. The name comes from the expected dawning of a new age of human consciousness and development, often referred to as the Age of Aquarius from its connection to astrology. Although not original with her, Marilyn Ferguson’s The Aquarian Conspiracy, considered by many the “bible” of New Age religions, did much to popularize the term.

There is no New Age “central headquarters” or mother organization. Most have developed independently of (sometimes in competition with) other, similar movements. They now exist in a vast network of autonomous groups held together by a few common beliefs.

New Age religions exhibit a wide variety of organizational variation as well. There are New Age churches with clergy, buildings, and regular services. Some practices, on the other hand, while based on the same core beliefs as other New Age faiths, may not seem connected to any particular organized religion at all. The use of crystals for physical healing and emotional improvement is one example. New Age books number in the thousands, and New Age bookstores everywhere in the West also offer products of many kinds to aid people in their quest for fulfillment. Shirley MacLaine’s autobiographical works on reincarnation and other New Age topics have sold in the multimillions.

...