 Under Construction.
In his course "God and Mankind: Comparative Religions", Robert Oden 1, poses several questions:
- What is Religion?
He says most definitions are either too precise or imprecise.
- Why Study Religion?
A. A significant number of people (more that half the worlds population) are involved in religious activities.
B. Religion is inextricably bound up with other areas of human action and conduct.
- How to study it.
He concludes religion is too complex and "we don't know the key to unlocking the understanding of religion."
He gives several approaches to the third question; Comparative approach, historical, ....
I am most interested in:
- Why does religion play such an important role in some people/societies and not in others. I think it is more complex than God blessed some with faith and not others?
There seem to be more books published each year on subjects from the existence of God, God and politics, to the Creation - Evolution - Intelligent Design debate.
- How is the role of religion different between religions?
- Do biblical prophesies and Christ's claim to divinity give Christianity (the world's largest religion) more credibility?
I have not spend a significant amount of time studying these questions, and simply point to some interesting resources (books, web sites, ..) I've come across.
The bottom line for me is best stated by Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French mathematician and scientist who studied religion after a religious experience. His notes were published, posthumously, in Pensées. His conclusion is similar to Oden's; "There is no simple answer or proof". In it he states: :
"All men seek happiness. ... We are incapable of attaining the good by our own efforts."
"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself."
[Pensees #148] (The section number varies by translation)
A similar quote:
"We have God-shaped vacuum in our hearts."
has been attributed to Pascal and C.S. Lewis, but it doesn't exist in either's writings that I could find.
World Religions
Christianity
Why Christianity?
Holy Bible
Reformation
History of Presbyterianism
Web Portal Indexes
Religion and Spirituality at Google & Yahoo
United States Stats
(1,000s)
|
Christian
| Denomination | Number CUNY 1 | Per-
cent | 1995 yrbook 2 |
| Roman Catholic | 46,004 | 26.2% | 59,900 |
| Protestant | 97,591 | 55.6% | |
| (no denomination supplied) | 8,073 | 4.6% | |
| Baptist 3 | 33,964 | 19.4% | 36,400 |
| Methodist | 14,116 | 8.0% | 14,200 |
| Lutheran | 9,110 | 5.2% | 9,100 |
| Presbyterian | 4,985 | 2.8% | 4,300 |
| Pentecostal | 3,116 | 1.8% | 10,300 |
| Episcopalian/Angelican | 3,042 | 1.7% | 2,500 |
| Mormon/LDS | 2,487 | 1.4% | 4,700 |
| Church of Christ | 1,769 | 1.0% | 3,700 |
| Jehovah Witness | 1,381 | 0.8% | 900 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 668 | 0.4% | 800 |
| Assembly of God | 660 | 0.4% | |
| Holiness/Holy | 610 | 0.3% | |
| Nazarene | 549 | 0.3% | |
| Unitarian | 463 | 0.3% | |
| Evangelical/Born Again | 446 | 0.3% | |
| Church of God | 442 | 0.3% | |
| Congregational | 438 | 0.2% | |
| Greek Orthodox | 384 | 0.2% | |
| Russian Orthodox | 85 | 0.0% | 90 |
| Eastern Orthodox | 33 | 0.0% | |
| All Orthodox | | | 1,900 |
| Quaker/Mennonite | 302 | 0.2% | |
| Christian Science | 214 | 0.1% | |
| Brethren | 206 | 0.1% | |
| Disciples of Christ | 144 | 0.1% | |
| New Apostolic | 117 | 0.1% | |
| Worldwide Church of God | 116 | 0.1% | |
| Charismatic | 75 | 0.0% |
| Wesleyan | 58 | 0.0% |
| Christian Reform | 40 | 0.0% |
| Church of God in Christ | 32 | 0.0% |
| Fundamentalist | 27 | 0.0% |
| Independent Church | 25 | 0.0% |
| Four Square Gospel | 24 | 0.0% |
| Dutch Reform | 19 | 0.0% |
| Covenant | 16 | 0.0% |
| Church of America | 11 | 0.0% |
| Four Square | 4 | 0.0% |
| Open Bible | 4 | 0.0% |
| Non-Denominational | 195 | 0.1% |
| (Protestant - no denomination supplied) | 17,214 | 9.8% |
| Total Christian | 151,668 | 86.5% |
1. National Survey of Religious Identification, 1989-1990; City University of New York
2. 1995 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches see Christian Denominations, Sects and Cults
3. The Baptist church is split between the Southern Baptist Convention (15 Million) and other Baptist groups (19 M).
NCC's 2004 Yearbook of American, Canadian Churches
National Council of Churches Membership Statistics
|
Non-Christians
| Religion | Number | Per-
cent |
| Jewish | 3,137 | 1.8% |
| Muslim/Islamic 1 | 1-7,000 | 0.6% |
| Buddhist * | 401 | 0.2% |
| Hindu * | 227 | 0.1% |
| Bahai | 28 | 0.0% |
| Taoist | 23 | 0.0% |
| Rastafarian | 14 | 0.0% |
| Wiccan | 8 | 0.0% |
| Diety | 6 | 0.0% |
| Other |
| Scientology | 45 | 0.0% |
| Humanist | 29 | 0.0% |
| New Age | 20 | 0.0% |
| Eckankar | 18 | 0.0% |
| | 0.0% |
| Other Unclassified | 889 | 0.5% |
| None |
| Agnostic | 1,186 | 0.7% |
| No Religion | 13,116 | 7.5% |
| Refused | 4,031 | 2.3% |
1. According to a national poll conducted in 2001, known as the American Religious Identity Survey, approximately 1,104,000 adult Muslims reside in the United States. National Muslim organizations put the total number of all Muslims in the nation at about seven million, based on a survey that determined that two million Muslims regularly attend weekly Friday prayer services.
|
(From 2004 election exit polls)
Evangelical/Born Again Christians (23%).
Protestant (54%)
Catholic (27%)
Jewish (3%)
Other (7%)
None (10%)
Church Attendance:
More Than Weekly (16%)
Weekly (26%)
Monthly (14%)
A Few Times a Year (28%)
Never (15%)
________________________
American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) City Univ. of NY 2001
The proportion of the [American] population that can be classified as Christian
has declined from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001.
52% Protestant.
25% Roman Catholic.
1.3% Jewish.
0.5% Muslim, followers of Islam.
14% do not follow any organized religion
Median Age in USA
US Population 43 yrs
Catholics 42 yrs
Jews 51
Muselims 28
no religion 36
________________________
Miscellaneous
Collection of statistics about religious groups at www.adherents.com
Comparative Religions - U.S. Religious Landscape Study - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Religious Giving
Politics and Religion
Faith and Reason
Christian Fundamentalism and Fundamentalists
Creation - Evolution - Intelligent Design
Bible Dates
Church and State
Psychology of Religion by Michael Nielsen, Ph.D.
The Holy Bible
Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church
Christianity Today
The Da VInci Code, a best-selling novel by Dan Brown.
God and Mankind: Comparative Religions, 2008, By Robert Oden, Carleton College
Biblical Genealogies.
Bibl:
1. Robert Oden - Oden has an impressive academic background, speaks nine languages and has spent over 25 years studying, writing and lecturing on religion, including serving as chair of the religion department at Dartmouth College.
As of 2003 he was the president of Carleton College.
His course, "God and Mankind: Comparative Religions" is available on Audio CD or for downloading and consists of 8 lectures on a variety of subjects from ancient religions to divine justice.
last updated 3 June 2004
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