Western Religion Characteristics

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Other meaningful characteristics for western religions include the ethical orientation, eschatological world view, and the paternal, fully external view on God. It is crucial for the believers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to have a life conforming the rules and morals as god pleases. The eschatological world view concept consists of these religions’ belief that there is an “end” to our days, a specific moment in time where every individual will receive its final “judgment” for all their deeds in life. The western philosophy strives to prove the truth not by meditation but by seeking to comply to the moral and ethical norms by acting the way God would like the individual to act. God and nature are highly separate in the western…show more content…
It is based on the teachings of Buddha, the “awakened one” who is believed to have lived in northern India around 6-4th century BC. The religion has been influential not only in India but massively in South Eastern and Southern Asia. The last but not least important one, Taoism, is a philosophy and religion, wide-spread in China and considered to be very important for the Chinese culture itself. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a Taoist attitude toward life can be seen in “the accepting and yielding, the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese character.” The characteristics that bring these three religions together are many. The concept of God in eastern religion is impersonal. In Hinduism, Brahman, the supreme god, pervades the whole universe. The religion has various beliefs in other deities which are derivations of Brahman, and it is sometimes up to the individual or families and tribes to believe in different forms of these deities. In Buddhism, the concept of god is highly dependent on individual choices. Puligandla argues in his article “Could There Be an Essential Unity of Religions” that in Buddhism, whether or not there is a God is irrelevant to the problem of man’s suffering. Man can obtain salvation by his own efforts. Buddha is not considered as a God but only as a spiritual leader who got closer to the truth. In Taoism, Tao is also not a god in the sense of a powerful omnipotent…show more content…
As it was discussed above for these religious groups as separate, the concept of God seems clearly different. In an article on Revelation by Avery Dulles, the author states the following: “The Eastern mind tends to see God everywhere, in all things and to see everything as sacred. The Western mind considers it heresy to believe that God pervades all things and makes a strong difference between what is sacred and what is profane. “ It is clear that in the West, God is an omnipotent being with endless power that watches every step an individual takes in life, while in the East god is impersonal and everything. However, if we think analytically and watch closely, both groups have some sort of concept of a supernatural power or a powerful force. Whether god has a shape or a limitation or an individual or common definition, all of these religions have the need to believe in something that is “stronger” or “wiser” than the human being alone. It is, if nothing else, a psychological need for human beings to accept that there exists something beyond their control, something spiritual that they cannot see or touch or experience, but still believe

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