THE DOCTRINAL AND
ETHICAL DIMENSIONS
§ DOCTRINE = BELIEF
§ ETHICS = BEHAVIOR
BELIEF
+ BELIEVER
= BEHAVIOR
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE
SIX DIMENSIONS
MYTH
EXPERIENCE DOCTRINE
RITUAL
Inward
Turning Impact
on
Religion
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE
SIX DIMENSIONS
ETHICS
DOCTRINE
SOCIAL
Outward
Turning Impact
on
Society
THE DOCTRINAL AND
ETHICAL DIMENSIONS
§ Religious behavior impacts on the SOCIAL dimension
§ Religion is a MAJOR DETERMINANT of human behavior
§ Religions is a MAJOR DETERMINANT of cultural
experience
§ Belief + Believers = Behavior
RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES
§ Doctrines = belief systems; they provide specific
answers to boundary questions
Definition of Religious Doctrines =
the institutionalization of answers about
the unexplainable (boundary questions)
RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES
§ Death, Suffering, Change = problems that often cannot
be resolved in terms of common sense, logic, or scientific knowledge
§ Faith = a religious way of “knowing” the truth based
on the AUTHORITY of a church, a sacred book, experience, myth, ritual, or the
power of a spiritual leader
FUNCTIONS OF DOCTRINES
§ Doctrines bring order or clarity to myth and ritual
§ Doctrines provide the institutionalization of answers
to the unexplainable
§ Doctrines control the boundaries of religious
expression and experience
§ Doctrines determine what is inclusive and exclusive in
a given religion
EXORCISM
§ Doctrine and Interpretation in Christianity
§ THEODICY = a mythic explanation for the existence of
evil and suffering; Satan causes evil and suffering in the world
§ Ritual of EXORCISM = doctrine bringing order to myth
and guiding ritual practices
PEOPLES TEMPLE:
The Jonestown Apocalypse
§ November 18, 1978 - over 900 people commit
“revolutionary suicide” in a remote a religious compound in Guyana, South
America
§ Leader - Jim Jones (1931-1978)
§ Extreme example of the relationship between DOCTRINE
& ETHICS
§ Rebecca Moore = “a survivor”
PEOPLE’S TEMPLE TRAGEDY: WHY????????
§ Status of African-Americans in a racially divided
society
§ Sacred v. secular tensions in society; establishment
fear of alternative religions
§ Agendas of the left-liberal political movements - capitalism
v. socialism
§ Social and ethical issues: social control, politics,
welfare, public relations, etc.
Doctrine and Ethics in Protestant
Christianity
§
Different
doctrinal interpretations of the life and teaching of Jesus create
different ethical patterns of action:
§ Reverend Cecil Williams = the ethical
dimension is about helping other human beings in need
§ Pastor Walt Stowe = the ethical
dimension is about getting people baptized, saved, and ready for the next
life
DOCTRINE &
INTERPRETATION
§ The Book of Revelation: doctrine
bringing order to myth through biblical interpretation
KEY TERMS:
§ Apocalypticism: visions of the END
TIME revealed by God through chosen prophets
§ Theodicy: explanation for evil and
suffering in the world
DOCTRINE &
INTERPRETATION
§ The Revelation according to John (last book of the
Bible)
§ Religious apocalyptic theodicy; cosmic conflict explains Christian suffering in the
1st century
§ Beliefs + Believers = Behavior example today = the Branch Davidians
§ Note: power of religious belief on society
DOCTRINE &
INTERPRETATION
§
Secular
Apocalyptic Theodicy = a doctrinal interpretation that maintains mythic power
but lacks supernatural elements
§ Secular Apocalyptic Theodicy in the
United States: can ignite violent behavior on the part of militias, patriot
movements, survivalists, anti-government groups = Timothy McVeigh mentality
ROAD TO RAPTURE
§ RATURE = the faithful will be bodily lifted into heaven
before the “end of the world” war between good and evil on the Plain of Armageddon.
§ Source = 1 Thessalonians: 16-18
§ Millions of Christians believe this end-time
prophesy
ROAD TO RAPTURE
§ Doctrine and Interpretation
§ B+B=B
§
Historically,
millions of Christians have dealt with death, suffering, change by
believing in an apocalyptic theodicy
§ 10s of millions of books have been sold; movies; talk
shows; etc.
ETHICS
§ Definition: Religious ethics is that aspect of
religion concerned with proper patterns of action in the situation and
circumstances of the human cycle and social relations.
§ Ethics: key to values/behavior relationship in any
worldview
§ Provides the link between beliefs and right
action (behavior)
ETHICS: Patterns of Action
§ A pattern of obligation that sets standards for
proper action.
§ A pattern of rules (laws) that sets standards
for right action.
§ A pattern of values that sets the standard for good
action (morality)
§ Key questions:
“What is the good life?” “How should we
then live?”.
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
§
Ethical behavior is
guided by laws, customs, morals.
§ Religious doctrines inform or guide laws, customs,
morals.
§ The Ethical Process:
–
obligation
–
responsibility
–
dissonance
–
redemption
ISLAM
§ The Five Pillars of Islam
… a religious doctrine defining ethical
behavior; impacts on the social dimension in Islamic communities
§ Beliefs +
Believers = Behavior
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
1. Profession of Faith = Allah is God
above all and Muhammad is His Prophet
2. Prayer = 5 times each day
3. Almsgiving/charity for the poor
4. Fasting during the Holy month of
Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSLIM MOVEMENT
§ Religion = identity and relationship
§ Identity = self-esteem
§ Relationship = empowerment
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSLIM MOVEMENT
§ Nation of Islam = the reinterpretation of traditional
Islamic (Muslim) doctrine in order to meet ethical challenges in a society that
is perceived to be racist by many African Americans,
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSLIM MOVEMENT
§ Nation of Islam = a new “ethno-religious” identity for
African American believers.
§
Goal = the remaking
of the social dimension according to the new “ethno-religious” identity.
NATION OF ISLAM
§ Key players:
–
Wallace D. Fard = 1st
prophet of the Black Muslim movement
–
Elijah Muhammad = founder of the Nation of
Islam
–
Malcolm X = key leader, assassinated in 1965
–
W. Deen Muhammad = son of Elijah M.
–
Louis Farrakhan = current leader
Western Humiliation
§ Since the 7th century, the Islamic world has enjoyed grand
periods of cultural and geographic dominance on the world stage
§ 1683 – Muslim Ottoman empire stopped at Vienna, Austria
§ By 1918, post-WW1, the entire Islamic empire is broken up and
colonized by Britain, France, Italy, and other European power
Israel - the Focus of Arab/Muslim Rage
§ Zionism = the late 19th- early 20th century
movement to establish a homeland for the Jews
§ 1948 = United Nations votes to create the state of Israel in
Palestine
§ Bloody conflicts in 1948, 1956, 1967, & 1973 humiliate the
Arab Muslim world
§ Jerusalem is the third most holy
place for Muslims
§ Israel could not exist without U.S.
assistance; thus, the USA is the “Great Satan” – the “enemy of Islam.”