There are different versions of the origin of the word "religion" itself. According to one of them, this word comes from the Latin verb religare, which means "to bind" or "to connect."
Instructions
Step 1
Unfortunately, even many educated people confuse religion and faith. There is a significant difference between these concepts. Faith is the fundamental principle, it is a person's need to unconditionally trust or believe in the existence of some higher observing, protecting or punishing force. Faith has no framework, canons and dogmas, since each person has his own.
Step 2
Religion is always based on faith, this is a necessary condition for its emergence. Religion in the general sense can be called a formalized way of communicating with God. If faith is a purely individual matter, then religion is always a mass enterprise that unites a certain group of people. Religion cannot be individual, for its existence it is necessary to have a group of followers of the doctrine.
Step 3
Religion can serve both to unite groups of people and to separate them. It should be noted that in antiquity, periods when religion (church) provided the basis for the development of sciences were replaced by dark periods, when outstanding people of the era were persecuted for religious reasons.
Step 4
In the history of mankind, religion has often been used by rulers to justify their actions. Unfortunately, many religious teachings over the years of their existence have become inseparable from politics and power.
Step 5
Existing religious teachings can be divided into several main groups - atheism, which denies the existence of God, monotheism, which presupposes the worship of one god (this is precisely the direction of the main world religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam), polytheism, which presupposes the worship of several gods, and theism, which generally recognizes the right of existence of all religions, since it contains an understanding of the single nature of God.
Step 6
Many people feel the need to become part of something larger, to make their individual faith a part of some group phenomenon. They often have trouble choosing a particular religion. To make it easier to understand which particular religious path to choose, it is necessary to carefully study the available information about the principles of different religions, their goals and ways to achieve this goal. And then formulate your life principles and goals as concisely and clearly as possible. The absence of an internal conflict between personal principles and the principles professed by the alleged religion is a prerequisite for such a choice.
