TREDONE – Fr. Francis Xavier R. Salcedo

Our senses are very limited. They even sometimes

fool us.

The fact remains that Science and Mathemathics are still not able to explain

many things about this world and much more, outside of

this world.

How do we deal with the life's

questions and mysteries?

How do we make sense out of existence?

How do we find meaning out of the seeming

randomness of things?

Is there a Creator?

Why is there evil / sufferring in this world?

Is there a next life?

Belief: An adherence to something or

someone despite the lack of proof or evidence - Penguin Dictionary

Michael Jordan credits his basketball court mastery in

part to his gym shorts. Jordan wore a pair of University of North Carolina shorts (the

university he attended) beneath his Chicago Bulls and Washington Bullets / Wizards uniforms in every

professional game he played. This is the reason why he sported long shorts which

was adopted later on by his contemporary NBA players up

till the present.

Faith: The assurance of things hoped for, the

conviction of things not seen.- Hebrews 11:1

Faith is a very basic element of any relationship in life.

- barber

- cook

- driver

- doctor

- banker

- investor

In an attempt to express their faith,

human beings, since time immemorial, have erected

“altars” to mark sacred “places” where they have encountered the mystery

and the sacred.

* Faith tells us that the universe does not operate by chance:

- beauty and order of nature-complexity of the human body

- natural phenomenons

* Faith tells us that the universe does not operate by chance:

-There must be an Intelligent Designer

Religion: a personal set or institutionalized

system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; a cause,

principle, or system of beliefs held to with faith.

- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary

The word religion is derived from the

Latin noun "religio," which denotes both earnest observance

of ritual obligations and an inward spirit of reverence.

Religion has played a part in all human

culture and so is a much broader, more complex category than the set of

beliefs or practices found in any single tradition.

Belief Religion

Faith

EXISTENCE OF GOD:

Believers Nonbelievers

Believers or Theists

Monotheists Polytheists

Unitarians

Trinitarians

Non-Believers

Atheists Agnostics

Skeptics

Atheism, the denial of or lack of belief in the existence of a

god or gods. The term atheism comes from the Greek prefix a-,

meaning “without,” and the Greek word theos, meaning “deity.”

In the Western intellectual world, nonbelief in the

existence of God is a widespread phenomenon with a long and

distinguished history. For atheists, a better explanation for the

presence of evil in the world is that God does not exist.

Agnosticism, doctrine that the existence of God and

other spiritual beings is neither certain nor impossible. The term,

derived from agnostikos (Greek for “not knowing”), was introduced by

Thomas Huxley.

Although usually regarded as a form of skepticism,

agnosticism is more limited in scope, for it denies the reliability

only of metaphysical and theological beliefs rather than of all beliefs. The basis of modern agnosticism lies in

the works of David Hume and Immanuel Kant.

Skepticism (Greek skeptesthai, “to

examine”), doctrine that denies the possibility of attaining

knowledge of reality as it is in itself, apart from human

perception. It has also come to signify doubt about what is generally accepted as true.

The Greek Sophists of the 5th Cent BC were for the

most part skeptics. Their maxim is “Nothing is; or if anything is, it

cannot be known.” Thus, the Sophist Gorgias declared that all

statements concerning reality are false and that, even if true, their

truth can never be proved.

Believer & Non-Believer at the same time

Pantheists

Acosmic

Cosmic

Pantheism, doctrine that identifies the universe

(Greek pan, “all”) with God (Greek theos). Acosmic

Pantheism starts from an awareness of the divine

reality and then speculates on the relationship of the nondivine to

the divine.

Cosmic Pantheism starts from an apprehension of

the full reality of finite, changing entities and then give the name

God to their all-inclusive totality. The most typical presentations of

acosmic pantheism come from the Hindu tradition.

For those who believe in God, religion is

important because:

1) It offers some background explanation (or theory) for the

origin of the universe.(Where did we come from?)

3) It attempts to explain the wrong stuff (sin, evil) in the world. (Why is the world so messed up?)

2) It provides a basic doctrine or theory about

human nature.(What are we as humans?)

4) It offers solutions to put things right in the world.

(What should we do?)

5) It has some vision for the future. (What may we hope?)

Religious inquiry, is something that nearly all

humans share in common. In all corners of the world and in all eras of history, people have wondered about the meaning of life, how to make the best of it, what happens afterwards,

and if there is anyone or anything "out there."

Sources:

Aune, David E. and John McCarthy (eds). The whole and divided self. N.Y: The Crossroad Publishing Co. 1997

Birch, Charles. Participatory Evolution: The Drive of Creation, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 40. 1972

Meredith, Susan. World Religions, London. 1995.

Netland, H.A. Dissonant Voices: Religious Pluralism and the Question of Truth. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 1991

Parrinder, Geoffrey. Ed. World Religions.From History to the Present. 1971

Pedersen, P. Multiculturalism as a generic approach to counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70(1), 6-12. 1991

Pedersen, P. A handbook for developing multicultural awareness (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. 1994

Schwartz, Linda. Taking Steps Toward Tolerance and Compassion, London: Penguin. 2001.