Sociology of Religion

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Sociology of Religion

Week 3. Dimensions of Religious Commitment (March 7th 2019)

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Seven Dimensions of Religion

Understanding a human phenomenon

 Practical and Ritual Dimension

 Experiential and Emotional

 Narrative or Mythic Dimension

 Doctrinal and Philosophical Dimension

 Ethical and Legal Dimension

 Social and Institutional Dimension

 Material Dimension

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1.Belief/intellectual dimension

 meaning of life, beginning of life, end of life

 Reincarnation or migration of the souls throughs many lifetimes..

 Heaven, paradise, nirvana

 Sets of doctrines

 Myths and stories

 Sectarians

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2.Ritual

 Being religious entails more than holding certain beliefs.

It is about doing things especially certain kind of actions..

Namaz,

 Rituals can be simple, barely attracting notice (e.g..,

saying ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes)

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3.Experiential and Emotional

 People react when they have encountered something which they believe is very profound.

 To be religious is not just to think in certain ways or not just during the performance of rituals: it is about feeling certain ways as well.

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

Religious Knowledge (The Intellectual Dimension)

 It is constituted by the expectation that the religious person should have some knowledge about the basic tenets of his/her faith and its religious scriptures.

 The intellectual dimension also can be divided into two components:

religious knowledge and intellectual scrutiny."

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Social and Institutional

 Social outgrowth of religious experience.

 Masjid

 Church

 Synagogue

 Sangha

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Ethical and Legal

 Ideas and laws that shape behavior. Sins, mitzvah

 Laws of Manu (for Hindu law)

 5 Precepts (for Buddhist ethic)

 Ten Commandments ( for Jews)

 Beatitudes

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Narrative or Mythic

 Stories which explain and inspire.

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Material

 An outgrowth of religious experience/encounter.

 Music

 Art

 Symbol

 Architecture

 Seven Dimensions of Religion are from The World’s Religions by Ninian Smart

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 Anne Warfield Rawls. 2005. Epistemology and Practice: Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Cambridge University Press.

 *Lorne L. Dawson, Joel Thiessen. 2014. Socıology of Religion- Canadian Perspective . Oxford University Press. (Chapter 3).

 * Glock Y. C. (1962). On The Study Of Religious Commitment, Religious Education,

“Dindarlığın Boyutları Üzerine”, (2007), Eds. Aktay, Y. & Köktaş, M.E. Din Sosyolojisi, Ankara: Vadi Yay.