Commonalities in Religions - 550 Words

The pre-Columbian religions found outside of Eurasia were wildly diverse, but they nearly always emphasized a few basic beliefs. Perhaps this was because they stemmed from a similar progenitor religion in the distant past, perhaps they picked up on some basic part of the human psyche. While there were many differences in the intricacies of the religions of Polynesia, the Andes, and Mesoamerica, they all shared a polytheistic faith, a belief that gods are derived from nature, and a belief that sacrifice was needed to maintain the natural order of the world. In polynesia, the dominant pre-columbian religion was animism–the belief that all things have some sort of spiritual power. In Polynesia, this power was called mana (Encyclopedia Britannica). Polynesians believed that this spiritual power, this mana, could be negated by human actions. As a result of this, many tapu (brought into English as taboo) were set up in order to prevent humans from upsetting the natural order of the world. As with their neighbors in Mesoamerica, the polynesians believed in a form of human sacrifice to right the unbalance in the mana of a person or a thing. This was especially clear when someone walked over the shadow of a chief or a noble. It was thought that this would damage the mana of the person and only the death of the offender would correct this unbalance. Like most cultures, the Polynesians had many gods which would personify some part of nature and who would be deeplyShow MoreRelatedThe Three Abrahamic Religions And Islam994 Words   |  4 PagesThe Three Abrahamic Religions – Incongruity despite common Foundation Christianity evolved from Judaism, and Islam evolved from – mainly Syrian – Christianity. Naturally the three religions share a lot of common elements, but also many differences. Like most religions, the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic religions see themselves as a true religion based on godly revelation, and claim universal validity. Because of the many different appearances of religious phenomena, many see themselves faced withRead MoreUnderstanding Religion: Reflection Essay916 Words   |  4 PagesUnderstanding Religion: Reflection Essay People need something to believe in. Even if an individual says that they are an atheist and that there is no God or a controlling presence of any kind, they have a religion. Of course then the religion is not believing in anything, supposedly. The fact that religions are formed by societies, and individuals, using basically the same rules is a context that has persisted over the years, and bears some investigation. This paper examines two religions, ChristianityRead MoreComparing The Two Billion Christians And 1.6 Billion Muslims1316 Words   |  6 Pageslargest religions in the world. Although the two monotheistic faiths have many differences, they also share many commonalities as well. 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