Religion can be identified as a cultural system of set behaviors and practices that relates a given part of humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. While region and cult both portray strong beliefs towards a given high or sacred figure, the difference lies in the fact that religion ascribes to the worship of a being that is considered deity (one deity) while a cult involves the worship of a person, idea or object that is highly revered but not considered deity.
It is not only the spirituality and sacredness that distinguishes religion from a cult; there are other factors that may be called the essentials of religion. These are the factors that determine the sacredness, and thereby spirituality of any given tradition. They include the intellectual component. This is the belief; the sensation of the brain that we have an almighty being who created the universe and all that there is and that He deserves honor and reverence. In Judaism, this Supreme Being is called YHWH, pronounced as Yahweh; the Christians have their God while Islam’s believe in Allah. Each of these three religions believes their supreme being is the sustainer of life and deserves to be worshiped (Renfrew, 1994). The second essential is organization. Since religion is a cultural system, it cannot survive without proper organization. Every member has a role to play, but above all, the organization conforms to the structure and doctrines. These doctrines are captured down in special books that are considered holy by the religions. Judaism has Torah, as the book of law and commandments, Christians use the Bible, which contains God's word, ordinances, and hope for eternity. The Islam’s, on the other hand, follow the teachings of the Quran. The third critical element is emotions. Belief cannot be classified as an emotion because it is what sets up the religion. But sentiments of hope, faith, reverence, and humility are the products of religion.
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Scholars across various disciplines have continued to dig into the subject of religion as it relates to the said disciplines. Psychology, for instance, developed a phenomenon called the psychological approach to religion and studies the way in which religious belief operates in the mind of an individual to inform their choices and actions in life. The psychological approach has a whole emphasizes unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives, and early childhood interactions influence one's personality. This perspective examines how these social and cultural environments influence behavior. The approach in regards to religion builds on how one's faith in religion affects their behavior. It takes into account their obedience to the doctrines preached (Spilka, 2002). But one field whose interactions with religion have continued to raise controversy is science. While science believes in physiological processes and explanations for the formation of nature, religion attributes every existence to God. Christianity builds on God revealing Himself through two books, that is, the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture which deals with historical narratives and accounts of miracles while the former deals in orderly laws. Science continues to debate on how these two books interrelate and gives a hermeneutical approach to Bible interpretation, where the Bible foretells scientific theories, like the evolutionary theory. While scientists continue to oppose some statements from the Bible, they agree that it set the path for scientific discoveries (Barbour, 1997).
The study of religion is quite fragmented since it comprises of the psychology of religion, the sociology of religion, the anthropology of religion, to name but a few. Some of the critical issues of these disciplines include conversion. It is essential to understand the psychology behind conversion. Another aspect is the role of religion in the society as far as sociology is concerned. In anthropology, how does faith relate to a culture at large, and what is the role of ritual within a religion. It is crucial for any person studying religion to understand these critical points since they have a massive impact on their understanding thereof.
References
Barbour, I. G. (1997). Religion and science: Historical and contemporary issues.
Renfrew, C. (1994). The archaeology of religion. The ancient mind: elements of cognitive archaeology , 47-54.
Spilka, B. (2002). Psychology of religion: Empirical approaches. In Religion and Psychology (pp. 42-54). Routledge.
