Elements of Religious Traditions - Essay Example

Several religions exist depending on how an individual is swayed by different religious principles. Despite existence of variations in religious traditions and rituals, certain common themes that guide humanity are, however, shared in various religions. This paper, in effect, discusses some elements of religious traditions. Relationship with Divine Divinity, according to Keene (2006), relates to a supernatural being; a God, god, or a goddess. In religious traditions, relationship with divine explores how human beings relate to these supernatural beings.

Smith (1991) explains that human beings consider themselves inferior and unworthy to stand before these paranormal beings. Relationships humans establish with supernatural beings depend on religious teachings or life events an individual has experienced. Therefore, depending on how a person understands the concept of divinity, an individual can have a strong relation with a spiritual being than with a mortal man. According to Smith (1991), human species consider relationship with a high power as an inevitable act.

There are, therefore, systems of laws and guidelines that dictate how human beings should respond to various religious wants or responsibilities. In different religions, these set of laws and regulations are well documented in holy books. For instance, in Christianity, Christian principles are safely kept in the Bible. Judaism and Muslim, on the other hand, use Torah and Koran, respectively, as religious reference materials. Since there is no direct communication between humans and high powers, faith is a crucial element of relationship with divinity.

Through faith, humans believe that some supernatural beings are watching them and assess their everyday life (Smith, 1991). Relationship with Sacred Place In religious traditions, the term “sacred” has different meanings and uses, depending on beliefs an individual has. Sacred, in some religions, is attached to God. For instance, in monotheism sacredness is used to refer to one God. In a different context, sacred is perceived as a mysterious power or an influential energy. In other words, in religious traditions, the concept of sacredness is not only attached to possession of special personal attributes, but also ownership of mysterious power.

Sacred is also viewed as something tangible which exists in the natural world (Smith, 1991). In other words, natural world is considered sacred and is thus, regarded as a way through which supernatural beings prove their existence. Humans perceive nature as a holy part of the divine. Therefore, natural world is seen as something to be praised. Native religions, also known as animism, believe that the world and all its contents have special relationships with god. Animists believe that there is a slight difference between human and non-human and between natural and supernatural.

Relationship with Each Other In all religions, there is an emphasis on God/god-human relationships and human-human relationships (Keene, 2006). Every religion acknowledges that a strong relationship with powerful beings is established when relationship among human beings is strong. As a step in ensuring that a healthy human-human relationship exists, reconciliation is an integral part of life. Peaceful coexistence of human beings is ensured by emulating the believed characters of supernatural being