The purpose of religious traditions goes beyond the preservation and transmission of the religion itself. Religious traditions go beyond the simple religious education of the individual as well. Religious traditions also serve the important function of describing and encouraging significant spiritual relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world, and other believers. These descriptions and the actual relationships in turn reveal critical issues in the study of religion.
The primary focus in general of any religion is an identification of the divine. This necessarily establishes a point of reference for the non-divine – in other words, the worshiper, that entity which seeks the divine. Religious tradition represents a “set of practices and beliefs, liturgy” which unite the worshiper in a relationship with “a personal God” (Schroeder, 2003, p. 209). For example, the practice of Communion in the Christian denomination Catholicism represents a way in which the worshiper partakes of the divine (the Body and Blood of Christ) which is intended to draw the worshiper closer to the divine. In Jainism everything contains divinity; the practice of prayer or mantra is intended to facilitate connection with that divinity by freeing the worshiper from worldly desires and material attachments which in turn liberates the soul.
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"Religious Traditions and Relationships".
The practices and beliefs which represent religious tradition often explain the ideal time at which to perform those practices and beliefs. In other words, the tradition identifies the sacred time – the sacred when – which is most appropriate for the performance of certain sacred actions. Sacred time may also be thought of as a return to the “primeval state of being” as compared to profane time, which is a state of suffering and being removed from the divine (Stirrat, 1984, p. 202). One may think of sacred time as ritual seasons or cycles. For example, in the Christian tradition one may point to the Lenten season, the season of deprivation and purification prior to the Easter season. In Muslim traditions Ramadan is the annual season of fasting which is considered one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
If there is sacred time, there must be sacred space, since it is difficult to separate time and space. Sacred spaces are those physical (and sometimes metaphysical) places which are imbued with spiritual significance within the sacred framework. Religious traditions identify these spaces or ways in which to sanctify spaces in which religious practices may be effected. In some traditions sacred spaces are built or made, such as churches or mosques. In some traditions sacred spaces are the site of religious experiences, such as Golgotha, the site of the Crucifixion. In certain traditions, the whole of the natural world is considered sacred, being the Creation of a superior being. In many naturalistic religions, such as Native American traditions, in which all of nature is considered sacred space.
The nature of tradition means that there are people who not only report or teach on the religion, there are people who receive the teaching, producing groups of like-minded individuals who share beliefs and practices. This makes for communities of believers. Most traditions also make provisions for how non-believers fit into the religious framework of the believer. For example, the Jains believe in ahimsa, the principle of non-violence, which dictates that all living beings should be treated compassionately and without violence (hence their practice of vegetarianism). Most religions have directives regarding social and sexual practices, such as the Christian and Mormon practices of abstention of premarital and extramarital sex.
In regards to critical issues in the study of religion, the preservation of sacred time and space are perhaps the most critical – how laws protect these institutions and how modern life impacts them. These circumstances also reveal how and why these practices change and adapt.
- Schroeder, B. (2003). Religion and violence: Philosophical perspectives from Kant to Derrida.
Ars Disputandi, 3(1), 206-209. - Stirrat, R. L. (1984). Sacred models. Man, 19(2), 199-215.
