The Meaning of Religious Symbols

1)What is the importance of religious symbols? Do they convey meaning other than as an identifier of a religion? If yes, how? If no, what role do you think they have in society?

Religious symbols may have any number of meanings and usually convey ideas that are underlying features of wider forms of cultural expression beyond those of a merely religious or theological nature. In older polytheistic religions, for instance, religious symbols normally indicate the relationship between humanity and the natural world. The many gods of ancient peoples would typically personify various natural forces with regards to the individual god’s personality or function in the pantheon of divinity. The various symbols utilized by these religious traditions would in some way indicate the interconnectedness of the various aspects of nature. One of the most significant indicators of this kind is the role played by sun gods, and the symbols representing sun gods, in the mythology of most religious traditions. The fascination with the sun exhibited by many of the earliest religious traditions is clearly derived from the centrality of human dependence on the sun’s heat and energy in so many ways. Human beings measure time in terms of the orbital relationship between the sun and the earth. Likewise, throughout many different systems of religious and mythological tenets, there are themes is of dying and rising gods, ranging to Hercules to Isis/Osiris to Jesus Christ (Murdock 27). The concept of dying and rising gods represents the cycle of rebirth found in nature and the temporal nature of life.

2)There are numerous similarities between Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism. List at least 3 similarities and how they are shared among the religious.

A great many similarities exist among the three great religious traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism. One of these is the idea of personal rebirth, change, and alteration of one’s life course that accompanies conversion. When one converts to Christianity one is “born again” and turns over a new leaf - living life by God's standards. Likewise, conversion to Buddhism involves the renunciation of desire as a means of avoiding suffering. Judaism includes a concept of redemption where adherence to divine law allows the individual to rise above base desires. Each of these three religions also involves the principle of sacrifice. A Christian is expected to avoid worldly temptations in order to live a morally upright life and help others. A Buddhist is likewise expected to renounce material gain as a means unto itself in favor of self-enlightenment. Conversion to Judaism brings with it a sense of identity and loyalty pertaining to the traditions of the Jewish people, their culture, and their faith. Each religion also teaches certain fundamental moral values. Both Christians and Jews recognize the Ten Commandments as a cornerstone of personal morality and social ethics. Buddhism contains certain moral teachings that overlap with those of the Judeo-Christian traditions. Each religion, for example, contains some variation of the so-called “golden rule” of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Work Cited

Murdock, D.M. (as Acharya S). Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and ChristUnveiled. Kempton, Illinois: Adventures Unlimited Press, 2004. Print.