What Is Religion?
Religion is the system of faith and worship which a person or group of people adopts for their inner and outer life. It usually includes the recognition of a supreme personal Being, the belief that He or She is the creator and sustainer of the universe and all that exists, and the observance of His or Her commands in the life of this world. Religion also encompasses the moral code of behavior, the concept of good and evil, and a number of other beliefs and practices.
It is the most important of human activities, being the guiding and controlling influence in the lives of many, and the source of much of the enduring cultural heritage of mankind. In the course of its development, religion has taken on a variety of forms and functions. It may be conceived of as a social function; it is to a large extent in the interests of the community, and its chief rites are public rites performed in the name, and for the benefit, of the whole clan or people. The codes of recognition and behaviour, extending well beyond the scope of ethics, which it creates bring order into society, organizing hierarchies. It is a source of great and moving art, music, drama, literature and poetry, of explorations of nature which eventually issued into natural science, and of practical applications ranging from the organization of society to the cultivation of plants and animals, food production, medicine and health.
In its higher form, religion is a form of hope, which enables a man to endure a series of limitations that lie across the project of his life and to understand and accept them. It also fosters love of God or a feeling of filial affection for Him, although this is absent in some lower religions.
The root of the word “religion” is “subjection.” It denotes a voluntary submission to the free and supernatural Being to whom or which man feels himself in utter dependence, the Being of whose power he believes to be the sole source of his perfection and happiness. Religion is therefore a virtue, since it is a practical determination to observe the right order of things, prompted by the conviction that there is one which is of the highest excellence and rightly paramount over self-serving objects of desire.
In most cases, individuals do not arrive at the intellectual basis of religion through independent exercise of reason; they come to know it from authoritative teaching. It is a common feature of nearly all religions that there are teachings of this kind, which are considered to be so holy and ancient that to reject them would be reprobated as impiety. Religious life is consequently characterized by devotion, self-denial, and sacrifice; by an attitude of fearlessness and of ecstasy, awe, or awe; by prayer; and by an earnest striving for spiritual union with the Deity. These are the basic features of religion, which in the course of time may develop in diverse ways among different cultures.