Religion: Difference between revisions
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When someone uses the word religion today they might think the word means: | |||
[http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/ThatWordnwv.php What did the word Religion mean when it was written in the constitution?] | “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs or a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects...”<Ref>Dictionary.com says it means based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.</Ref> | ||
But if you look up the same word in a dictionary published just a hundred years before, when many words we commonly used today were being changed, you will see that the word “religion” according to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) meant: | |||
“The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honor are due; the feeling or expression of human love, fear, or awe of some superhuman and over ruling power, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies..." | |||
In these two definitions we see that “religion” in a hundred years went from meaning, “The outward act or form ” to meaning "a set of beliefs.” | |||
Changing the meaning of the word religion from an “act” to a “belief” was no small step to say nothing of the rest of the definition. But the change did not begin there. If we go back just a little over fifty years before that to John Bouvier's 1856 Law Dictionary adapted to the Constitution of the United States we find that religion was first defined: | |||
real religion“Real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men.” | |||
Do not be confused or put off by the word piety. While the word “piety” has come to mean “making a hypocritical display of virtue”<Ref>Definition of pious in the British & World English dictionary </Ref> it use to mean duty especially to your parents and specifically to your father. Duty to your natural father was the origin of the original patriotism before the state became your father.<Ref>'''Call no man Father''', What was Christ trying to tell us about fathers on the earth? | |||
http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/fatherabba.php</Ref> | |||
[http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/ThatWordnwv.php From '''What did the word Religion mean''' when it was written in the constitution?] | |||
Revision as of 21:31, 15 December 2013
Religion is simply how a nation, a people, or a society takes care of its needy.
The word religion is mentioned five times in the Bible. Only once is it in a positive sense:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
More
When someone uses the word religion today they might think the word means:
“a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs or a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects...”[1]
But if you look up the same word in a dictionary published just a hundred years before, when many words we commonly used today were being changed, you will see that the word “religion” according to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) meant:
“The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honor are due; the feeling or expression of human love, fear, or awe of some superhuman and over ruling power, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies..."
In these two definitions we see that “religion” in a hundred years went from meaning, “The outward act or form ” to meaning "a set of beliefs.”
Changing the meaning of the word religion from an “act” to a “belief” was no small step to say nothing of the rest of the definition. But the change did not begin there. If we go back just a little over fifty years before that to John Bouvier's 1856 Law Dictionary adapted to the Constitution of the United States we find that religion was first defined:
real religion“Real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men.”
Do not be confused or put off by the word piety. While the word “piety” has come to mean “making a hypocritical display of virtue”[2] it use to mean duty especially to your parents and specifically to your father. Duty to your natural father was the origin of the original patriotism before the state became your father.[3] From What did the word Religion mean when it was written in the constitution?
Part of the "Understanding Religion" series includes these audio files on Civil Religion.
Liberty Radio Live - this is a 2 hour program with in-depth discussion and Q&A from callers and the chat room.
<mp3player width="300">http://KeysOfTheKingdom.info/KOK-130622.mp3</mp3player> Download
The Sabbath Hour - This is a one hour program on Freedomizer Radio to round out the day's discussions. The Sabbath Hour series make for a good entry-level discussion.
<mp3player width="300">http://KeysOfTheKingdom.info/TSH-130622.mp3</mp3player> Download
Additional Research
NewsWithViews: Are You Using that Word - Religion?
Pure Religion: What is it and who does it? What is all this talk about religion?
The Merchants of Men: The man and his religion.
Religion of the People: From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 40
False Religion
I wanted everyone to know that false teachers have been around for some time getting better at spreading falsehoods about the gospel. There is the Gospel of Christ who was accepted by thousands of Jews and also by gentiles like the Roman centurion and Samaritans and people all over. Paul preached the gospel of Christ and his "good news" was no different than Christ's Gospel.
These kinds of drawing and the philosophies of deception they spread have been around for some time and are full of distortions and twists of what the Bible really says. Read more...
See more Forbidden Definitions
Footnotes
- ↑ Dictionary.com says it means based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
- ↑ Definition of pious in the British & World English dictionary
- ↑ Call no man Father, What was Christ trying to tell us about fathers on the earth? http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/fatherabba.php