Spirituality
By ‘spirituality’, I mean ‘religion’, defined
not as belief in a God who is, as the comedian Marcus Brigstocke suggests, ‘bearded, bathed in light, lives up in Heaven, has a staff
of angels ... the fella with the booming voice’ (87), but in a rather broader
sense. Religion is notoriously difficult to define, but perhaps we can say that a religion has some of the following characteristics, usually with at least one from each category:
Beliefs:
1. Belief in an ultimate Reality, the ‘divine’ (which may be personal and/or impersonal), and/or a system of doctrines which give ultimate meaning and purpose to human life.
2. Belief that the existence and nature of the divine is revealed to human beings by means of sacred writings, religious experiences and/or human reason.
3. Belief that the divine and/or the system of doctrines requires adherence to a specified code of behaviour.
Experiences/practices:
4. A sense of dependence upon and reverence for something of ultimate importance and external to oneself.
5. The making of a commitment, often recognised by means of a ceremony, to a system of beliefs and a way of life.
6. The use of sacred writings, symbols, sounds, and personal and community rituals which help believers to recognise and acknowledge the divine and adhere to a specified code of behaviour.
7. The use of a building/place or the gathering of a community which provides ‘sacred’ space for communal worship and/or contemplation of the divine, and the performance of ceremonies and rituals.
Benefits:
8. The offer of ‘salvation’ – a better, and perhaps eternal, state of being. This might take the form of forgiveness following repentance of sins, freedom from fear, a new or renewed sense of purpose, continued existence after death, or reincarnation leading eventually to nirvana, the end of suffering with the extinction of the individual.
Reference
Brigstocke, Marcus God Collar, London: Bantam Press, 2011.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Charles Neave, Stephen Balogh and John Heyderman for suggested amendments to points 6. and 7.
© Elizabeth Burns, 2015
Beliefs:
1. Belief in an ultimate Reality, the ‘divine’ (which may be personal and/or impersonal), and/or a system of doctrines which give ultimate meaning and purpose to human life.
2. Belief that the existence and nature of the divine is revealed to human beings by means of sacred writings, religious experiences and/or human reason.
3. Belief that the divine and/or the system of doctrines requires adherence to a specified code of behaviour.
Experiences/practices:
4. A sense of dependence upon and reverence for something of ultimate importance and external to oneself.
5. The making of a commitment, often recognised by means of a ceremony, to a system of beliefs and a way of life.
6. The use of sacred writings, symbols, sounds, and personal and community rituals which help believers to recognise and acknowledge the divine and adhere to a specified code of behaviour.
7. The use of a building/place or the gathering of a community which provides ‘sacred’ space for communal worship and/or contemplation of the divine, and the performance of ceremonies and rituals.
Benefits:
8. The offer of ‘salvation’ – a better, and perhaps eternal, state of being. This might take the form of forgiveness following repentance of sins, freedom from fear, a new or renewed sense of purpose, continued existence after death, or reincarnation leading eventually to nirvana, the end of suffering with the extinction of the individual.
Reference
Brigstocke, Marcus God Collar, London: Bantam Press, 2011.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Charles Neave, Stephen Balogh and John Heyderman for suggested amendments to points 6. and 7.
© Elizabeth Burns, 2015
