Religion defined - - Difinition of Religion - Ingredients of a True Religion?

Ingredients of a True Religion

A true religion is meant for the regeneration of humanity. Religion wants to uncover, or develop the latent faculties of human being. An all round and harmonious development of what God has given us. A true religion is not just a combination of worships or myths but a complete code of life. A true religion followers are those who avoid evil, believe in the unseen, keep up prayers, and spend out of what God has given them. A true religion is not based on impracticable theories and incomprehensible philosophies but a path which promises prosperity and perfection not only in the world hereafter but in this lethal world also.

History of the Religion.

The history of religion is as old as the rise of self-consciousness in man, but its origin, as that of man, is shrouded in obscurity. Religion can be traced back to the dawn of human civilization. It would seem that no sooner had man attained the stage of mental development, represented by self consciousness, and started on the road to civilization, than his breathless wonder at the world around him gave way to speculation on his origin and destiny and on the power which created the world and sustains it. He felt intensely an infinite power at work in the world around him. The urge to worship appears to have always been there, but man can worship only that which he believes to be both good and powerful, because of his own helplessness.

In the modern world, religion is visible in many different aspects – sometimes it is looked upon as a natural phenomenon and as such it falls within the sphere of science. But, as the experience of individual man, it falls within the purview of psychology, while, as a special fact, it is the concern of the sociologist.

Definition of Religion:-

Let us examine few definitions of religion, which serves as the clue to a comprehensive definition:-

“Religion is (subjectively regarded) the recognition of all duties as divine commands. (Kantt).

Religion is to take everything individual as a part of the whole, everything limited as a representation of the infinite. (Schleiermacher). That which expresses the innermost tendency of all religions is the axiom of the conservation of values. (Hoffding).

The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine. (Wiliam James).

Religion is the vision of something which stands beyond, behind and within, the passing flux of immediate things; something which is real, and yet waiting to be realized; something which is a remote possibility, and yet the greatest of present facts; something that gives meaning to all that passes, and yet eludes apprehension; something whose possession is the final good, and yet is beyond all reach; something which is the ultimate idea and the hopeless quest. Whitehead’s.

The element which is found common to most of the definitions is the belief in the existence of a transcendent cosmic power to which the term “Divine” is usually applied. This supreme power has been conceived as God, and different writers on the subject of religion described It as “moral law-giver”, “the Higher part of the universe”, “the power that makes for righteousness”, “the Greatest of mathematicians” and “Love and the Beloved”.Indeed, God is an authority which may be sensed but cannot be comprehended.

What is religion all about?

The primary role of a religion in the human life is the development of human personality. A true religion determines man’s outlook on life and makes life meaningful to him. It aims at the transformation of man’s character by organizing his desires into a harmonious system of living. The idea is that just as by breaking the virgin soil, one brings out the hidden faculties of the land, and consequently gets a good harvest, similarly the religion from God develops, the latent faculties of man to their perfection.

To the extent that religion succeeds in this aim, it eliminates the sources of internal conflict and enables man to live at peace with himself and at peace with his environment. Success and happiness are basically the fruits of a genuine personal conviction.

A religion has its social side as well. Religion is concerned with man as he exists in a network of social relationship. It does not isolate man from his social setting; rather, it brings him closer to his fellow-beings. A religion leads man to the realization that he can develop his potentialities only by cooperating with his fellowmen in the attainment of common ends.
Religion involves the belief in a transcendent world. It teaches us that the sensible world is an abstraction from the Supreme Reality and that we should adjust ourselves to the whole concrete Reality and not to one of its aspects. The object of institutions of a true religion is to edify man, to bring out and develop his innate faculties to their full capacity.

In short, progress on the right lines in every walk of life is the object of the religion.
In the end, I must say that men have certainly fought among themselves in the name of religion. Their motives were political or economic, masquerading is religious. But the man believing in religion is unwilling to impose his view on others.