THE NATURE OF RELIGION AND ITS MEANING

Religion
- Religion is come from the Latin verb religare, which means “to tie” or
“to bind fast”.
- Religion is defined as a powerful institution that connects human beings,
both as individuals and collectively, to a transcendent reality.

Historical Background of Religions and the Systems of Belief in the Philippines

Earliest Time
- Early Filipinos practice Animism.
- This refers to the belief of spirits and supernatural entities dwelt
everywhere in the world, including plants and animals, rivers,
mountains and forest.
- Their Supreme Being is called BATHALANG MAYKAPAL.
- Early priest/priestess are called Babaylan o Katalona.
Early 14th Century
- Islam reached the Philippine Island through the Arab trader, Karim
ul’ Makhdum
- Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism were brought by the migration of
Chinese, Indian, and Jews to the Philippines, respectively.
th
16 Century
- Spanish missionaries brought Christianity in the country.

Types of Business Organization

1. Church
- An organization of religious believers: as the whole body of
Christians.
2. Cult
- Cult was introduced by sociologist Howard Becker in 1932
- The most deviant and abusive religious organization.
3. Sect
- Sect perceives itself as a unique owner of the truth
- A religious group that is a smaller part of a larger group and whose
members all share similar beliefs.
- An example is Iglesia ni Cristo.
4. Denomination
 - A religious organization whose congregations are united in their
adherence to its belief and practices

Religion and Women

Women have been equated with religion and with the role of transmitting
religious beliefs and practices to the children (Adryle 1958,2006,p.51)
- Men are considered as the leaders of the religious
organization. In short, religious leadership are always been dominated
by men, while women tend to become its major transmitters.
- However, matriarchy or the rule and dominance of women in
political and social life, religion was also dominated by women.
- Hence, many feminist scholars tend to argue and recover
“goddess religion.” Goddess Feminism arose out of goddess religion in
US in the late 1960s and was inspired by the countercultural ferment of
the period.

Religion in the Age of Globalization

Secularization Thesis Reconsidered
Peter L. Berger (1999) briefly summarized the THESIS OF
SECULARISM: “Modernization necessarily leads to ‘a decline of religion,’
both in society and in the minds of individuals”.
- Modernization drastically replaces tradition with science-based
knowledge. And as science dominates the entire cognitive of society, it
pushes the split between religion and other institutions.

- According to SWS Survey, the weekly church attendance among Catholic

adults in the Philippines has been declining from 64% in July 1991 to
only 37% in February 2013. However 81% claim that they identified
themselves as belonging to the Catholic faith.

Pantecostalism
- The term Pantecostal is derived from Pantecost, the Greek
name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event
commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of
Jesus Christ, as described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts.

The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism

 Secularization thesis or the prediction that religion will decline
steadily, may still be saved by arguing that perhaps what is threatened today are
the traditional, mainstream religions in the West like Christianity. And they are
declining because of secular humanism. The modern period saw the scientist and
scholars questioning the authenticity of “divine inspiration” of the Bible.
Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory questions the authenticity of
Biblical explanation for the origin of human beings and other species. Albert
Einstein’s Big Bang Theory provides an alternative explanation of the creation of
the universe.
The revival of religion is facilitated by the growing interconnection of
the different geographical regions through globalization. Globalization is allowing
religions to travel faster from one are to another. Indeed, religion contributes in
the globalization since its creation.