What Is Religion

What is religion? According to an Oxford dictionary, religion is the

belief in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, the creator and

controller of the universe, who has given to man a spirtual nature which

continues to exist after the death of the body. Religion appears to be a simple

idea on the surface, but in reality it is a very complex system of ideas that

many base their lives upon.

There are many religions in the world. Christianity seems to be the one

religion believed widely in the modern world. However, this is not the case in

a group of five people in a World Religion class. These five people share

common knowledge on several aspects of religion, yet they have some major

conflicts. The focus of this paper is to explore the ideas and beliefs of the

group, analyze the importance of religions dialogue, and to discuss the

challenge of religious pluralism in the contemporary world.

The first group member states her firm Christian views. Melissa

recognizes all the religions of the world, but she holds Christanity to be the

only true religion. To her, Christianity is the only way one person can attain

salvation. All other religions are false and those who do not follow

Christanity are misguided and will not attain salvation. It is only through

Jesus Christ's death on the cross that one can repent, be forgiven, and attain

salvation.

Melissa feels that others who are non-Christians believe that their

religion is true. Afterall everyone is brought up to believe in the faith or

religion they are taught. If this was not the case, no one would have any

beliefs. Although their religions are not true religions Melissa respects their

views of being true.

Quite similar to Melissa's opinion, Jason feels that there is only one

true religion in the world, which is Christianity. However, he recognizes that

there are many other religions in the world in which their followers believe are

true. He does not believe that one should criticize others for their beliefs,

and that they should respect each person's beliefs even if they are different

from his.

For Jason, Christianity is the true religion. It is the only religion

that he believes Has the right answers for life, and the correct way to

salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. So his position is that there is only

one true religion in the world, but that there are other religions in the world

that people follow and their followers hold their religion to be true. Jason

feels that other religions of the world are important and are held true by their

followers. If this were not so, then why would anyone follow a religion that

they did not believe was true.

Michele believes Christianity is the one true religion. However, she

recognizes that other religions exist, and they are held true by their

respective adherents. She does not believe that non-Christian religions are

right, but she respects other people's rights to choose whatever faith they want

to follow.

Michele has been raised a Roman Catholic and is checking out other

Christian religions to see what they offer. She still believes that

Christianity is the one true religion, but she is curious to learn more about

the other Christian denominations.

Lori believes that since there are so many diverse religions today that

it is impossible to say that only one religion is correct. Lori feels that if

she said there was only one true religion she would be forcing her religion onto

others. For her, religion is an opinion. If you were to ask almost anyone

which religion was the one true religion of the world, they would say their

religion. She also feels that there are so many unanswered questions in every

religion therefore, she can not justify saying there is only one that is right.

She does believe that there is only one true God. Overall, she believes in one

true God, while recognizing the fact that there are other religions besides the

one of which she is a part.

Finally, Tony expresses his views which are quite different from the

rest of the group members. A few years ago Tony was a Christian and believed

that the god he worshiped was the one and only true god. He not only had a

strong faith in his relgious beliefs, but also felt that all the other religions

in the world were false, and that the followers of these teachings were

misfortunately misguided. He was going to heaven because he was right and they

(those of other faiths) were wrong and unfortunately