Seven Dimensions
ceremonies
What is ritual?
While not the only traditions that call Abraham a founder of the faith, we are focusing on these three.
What are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?
this kind of definition explains what a religion is; focuses on the content of a religion
What is substantive?
the story of Abraham's near sacrifice of his son takes place in this book for Judaism and Christianity
What is Genesis?
the Holy Book of Islam
What is the Qur'an?
stories related to sacred things
What is narrative/mythic?
his son with Hagar
Who is Ishmael?
this kind of definition explains what a religion does; how it operates in an individual or society
What is functional?
how many days does it take for Abraham, his son, and the servants to get to the mountain
What is three?
the ram's horn blown during Rosh Hashanah is called this
What is a shofar?
feelings of awe, guilt, bliss
What is emotional or experiential?
his son with Sarah
“Any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy.”
What is social, neutral, and substantive?
this is caught in the thickets
What is a ram?
the dimension that deals with laws and moral codes
What is ethical/legal?
What is material?
The Qur'an tells the story of Abraham being thrown in the fire because he destroyed these
What are idols?
Religion “relieves anxiety and enhances social integration.”
What is individual AND social, positive, and functional?
Christians believe the near sacrifice is a foreshadowing of whose death
Who is Jesus?
dimension that covers creeds and theologies
What is philosophical/doctrinal?
religious organizations
What is social/institutional?
Islamic traditions say Abraham and Ishmael did this in Mecca
What is rebuilt the Ka'ba?
Religion is belief in “an eternal principle ... that has created the world, that governs it, that controls its destinies or that intervenes in the natural course of its history.”
What is social, neutral, substantive or functional?
these characters leave together at the end of the sacrifice
Who are Abraham and the servants?
most Muslims believe this son was almost sacrificed by Abraham (and that he went willingly)
Who is Ishmael?