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INTRODUCTION
TO WORLD
RELIGIONS AND
BELIEF SYSTEMS
(Quarter 1 - Module 1/Week 1)

Department of Education SDO- City of San Fernando (LU)

Region 1
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INTRODUCTION
TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND
BELIEF SYSTEMS
(Quarter 1 - Module 1/Week 1)
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF
RELIGION

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

Differentiate the concept, elements and characteristics of
belief system, world view, religion, and spirituality.
(HUMSS_WRB12-I/III-1.1)

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 Our
Guide
For the parents:
1. Please guide your child while he is studying and answering the tasks provided in
this module.
2. Remind your child about his study time and schedule so he can finish the module.
3. Let your child answer the module activities independently however, assist him
only when necessary.
4. I will call on a certain time based on the schedule to explain the lessons in the
module.
5. Kindly return the whole module and answer sheets on during Fridays at
.

For the learners:

1. Read carefully the directions so that you will know what to do.
2. If there are directions or topics in the module that are difficult for you to
understand, feel free to ask from your parents or companions at home. However, if
you still could not understand, you can call me at this number, so I could
explain it to you clearly.
3. Answer the activities in the module on the specific day for the subject. Use a
separate sheet of paper for your answers. Avoid writing or tearing the pages of this
module because this will be used by other pupils/students like you.
4. Write important concepts in your notebook regarding your lesson. This will help
you in your review later.
5. You need to finish the activities in this module so that you can give this to your
parents on .

Always remember these health tips:

1. Remember to wear your face mask properly and regularly.
2. Always wash your hands with clean water and soap.
3. Cover your mouth and nose with handkerchief whenever you cough or sneeze.
4. Follow the one-meter distance so that you will prevent the spread of the virus.

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 INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGION

Confucianism
Judaism

Hinduism
Buddhism

Christianity
Shintoism
Daoism

What I Need to Know

Why is there a need to study religion? Religion is existing since the earliest time of humankind.
Whenever humankind inhabits, religion too exists. Presently, we are all witness as to how religion
continues to play crucial roles in world politics in the twenty-first century as can be seen from the various
political conflicts that have their roots in religious differences. This chapter will introduce you to various
concepts related to religion, expound in the origin of religion, and evaluate the many roles played by
religion in people’s everyday lives.
In all parts of the world, religious ideas have helped inflame animosity and discord that shape
conflicts and give rise to oppression and tyranny. Conversely, religious traditions have also created a
strong backbone that helped shape the importance of peace, justice, equality, toleration, and brotherhood

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 What I know
PRE-TEST IN INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSYTEMS

DIRECTIONS: Read and analyze the statements and identify the concept being
asked. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.
1. These are structures of norms that are interrelated and that vary mainly in
the degree in which they are systematic.
a. religion b. belief system c. spirituality

2. These are the sets of beliefs, feelings, dogmas, and practices that define the
relations between human being and sacred.
a. religion b. belief system c. spirituality
3. It is a sacred writing of the Muslim.
a. Quran/Koran b. testament c.new testament
4. Islam was founded by this prophet.
a. Jesus Christ b. Abraham c. Muhammad
5. He is the Gods of Muslim.
a. Buddha b. Allah c. Jesus
6. This is called the law of cause and effect.
a. Nirvana b. Karma c. Theravada
7. It is the country where Hinduism and Buddhism were originated.
a. India b. Japan c. Nepal
8. It is called the study of Theology.
a. religion b. supreme being c. doctrines
9. This was given to Moises at Mt. Sinai
a. Ten Commandments b. 8 Beatitudes c. prayer
10. It is the month of abstinence and fasting among Muslims.
a. Ramadan b. holy week c. sacrifice

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 What’s New
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF RELIGION
Understanding the nature of religion enlightens learners about the common
grounds that bind believers into examining the question of life and death and why
or how persons yearn for spiritual inspiration. Recognizing the inherent
characteristics of religion provides the opportunity to deeply grasp the many beliefs
and practices that mold humankind’s spiritual needs.
Every individual sees and interprets the world quite differently from one
another. This overall perspective is also termed worldview which is a collection of
beliefs about life and the universe being held by people.
Theism, often used as a synonym to monotheism, is defined as “belief in the
existence of one god viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world
who transcends yet is immanent in the word.”
On the other hand, polytheistic religion that are common among early people
recognize many principal gods among whom no one is supreme. These include the
ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, and Rome wherein people worship a multitude of
personal gods.
Meanwhile, monism asserts that there is no genuine distinction between god
and the universe.
Atheists deny the existence of god, agnostics deny the possibility for man to
acquire knowledge of the existence of God.

KINDS OF BELIEF SYSTEM AND WORLDVIEW

KINDS DESCRIPTION

Monism There is no real distinction between God and

the universe.
Polytheism The belief and worship of many Gods.

Monotheism The doctrine or belief in one supreme God.

Atheism Disbelief in or denial of the existence of a

personal God.
Agnosticism God cannot be known.

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 What is it

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING
1. Religion is the pursuit of transformation guided by a sacred belief system.
2. Spirituality reflects one’s integrative view of life while affecting the human
soul.

DIRECTIONS: Read and analyze the sentences below and identify if it is

“Spirituality” or “Religious”. Place your answers on the blank before the number.
1. Maria attended the 6 am mass, she received the holy
communion. After the mass she went out and saw her neighbor with another man,
not her husband, she concluded and told her friends that her neighbor is having an
affair with another man.
2. Peter reads the Bible every day, goes to the church
every Sunday and prays three times a day but the people around him notice that he
is a selfish, unkind in words, and dishonest in his job.
3. Mario underwent to a rigid INC teaching and
eventually baptized into its faith and so, he is now a certified INC member.
4. I am a Born-again Christian, having no religious
affiliation but follow religiously the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.

DEFINITION AND NATURE OF RELIGION

Religion may be defined as “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and
rules used to worship a God or a group of Gods” (Meriam-Webster
Dictionary,2014). The Latin word “religion” refers to “something done with
overanxious or scrupulous attention to detail” (Bowker 1997). This term may have
probably been derived from the Latin verb “religare” which means “to tie together,
to bind fast.”

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGION

Belief in a
deity’s
relationship
with the Places and
world people
believed to
Belief in RELIGION be holy and
deity sacred

Rules
Way to followed
worship because
a deity of
beliefs
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EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY
While spirituality is derived from the Latin word spiritus, its verb root is
“Spirare” which means “to breathe” literally. There is an impression that people are
surrounded by a “divine reality as pervasive, intimate, necessary, and invisible as
the air we breathe” which is like Hindu Prana and Chinese.
While religions are frequently viewed as set of ideals practiced and followed
by organized groups, “spirituality is something an individuality can have without
being implicated in the ambivalent complexity of human societies and institutions.”
While religion refers to any set of attitudes, beliefs and practices concerning
a supernatural power theology involves the systematic study of the existence and
nature of the divine. It deals with the study of the nature and purpose of god that
may be undertaken using a perspective. Theology is a study, not a formulation of
religious beliefs.

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Philosophy of religion deals primarily with issues concerning religion, which includes
analysis on the existence of a divine being or on sacred texts. It may involve studying
the “concepts and belief system of the religions as well as the prior phenomena of
religious experience and the activities of worship and meditation on which these belief
systems rest and out of which they have arisen.”

ORIGIN OF RELIGION
NAME OF THEORY PROPONENT EXPLANATION

Animistic Theory Edward Burnett Primitive people believed in

Tylor (1832-1917), souls or anima found in people
English (seen in dreams) and in all of
anthropologist nature.
Nature-worship Human beings first developed
Theory their religions from their
observations of the forces of
nature.
Theory of Wilhelm Schmidt In Australia and Africa, cultures
Original (1868-1954), held a common belief in a
Monotheism Austrian distant high god that originally
anthropologist and there had been one great god
ethnologist above all others, and that he
may have
been the creator of the world or
the father of the many lesser
deities.
Magic Theory James George People had gone three
Frazer (1854- phases of development
1941), Scottish concerning the world.
social
anthropologist
Ludwig Andrea’s von There were no Gods and that
Feuerbach (1804- belief in gods was simply wish
Wish 1872), German fulfilment.
Fulfilment philosopher and
Theory anthropologist
Karl Heinrich Marx Religions were developed by the
(1818- 1883) few to control the masses and
German suppress revolution as a result
philosopher and of the continuing struggle
sociologist between classes.
Sigmund Freud Religions originated from the
(1856- guilt that individuals supposedly
1939), Austrian feel in hating their fathers.
neurologist and
founder father of
psychoanalysis

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 What’s More

Exercise 2
DIRECTION: Read and understand the questions and identify the concept being
asked. Write your answers on the blank .
1. What is that organized system of belief, ceremonies, or rules to reverent a
God?
A. Religion C. Spirituality
B. Worldview D. Theology
2. This refers to a belief system which assert the existence of only one God?
A. Monotheism C. Theism
B. Agnosticism D. Polytheism
3. Which belief system believes that god cannot be known?
A. Monotheism C. Theism
B. Agnosticism D. Polytheism
4. Which one studies the existence and nature of the divine?
A. Religion C. Philosophy of Religion
B. Theology D. Philosophy
5. Mr. Valdez does not go to church nor participate in any religious
activities. However, he finds existential satisfaction by being kind to people and
doing good deeds. Mr. Valdez is ?
A. Atheistic C. Religious
B. Theist D. Spiritual
6. A figure was formed in a tree comparable to the face of Jesus after it
was being hit by a lighting. Most of the residents believe that it might be a message
from God. Mr. Valdez is agnostic, what is the closest possible reaction of him.
A. Reject people’s belief and tell them that his can be explained by
science
B. Take the image and worship it.
C. Second the people’s belief about it.
D. Laugh at people and tell them they are stupid.
7. What word is different among the others?
A. Polytheism C. atheism
B. Monogamy D. monotheism
8. What is the meaning of “Spirare”?
A. Spirit C. air
B. Breath D. world

____________ 9. It is the collection of beliefs regarding human being and

universe
A. World view C. system
B. Religion D. spirituality
10. A Latin word which means “something done with over anxious or
scrupulous atttentions detail”.
A. Religare C. Religion
B. Spirare D. Spiritus

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What I have Learned

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 What I can do

Exercise 3
DIRECTIONS: Match the descriptions of Column A to the concepts of Column B.
Write the letter of the correct answer on the blank ..

Column Column B
A A. POLYTHEISM
1. It is a belief in the existence of
one God viewed as the creative source of
B. THEISM
human race and the world.
2. It is relating or affecting the
human spirit or soul that is one’s personal C. RELIGION
integrative view.
3. It is the belief in many
principal Gods among whom no one is D. SPIRITUALITY
supreme.
4. It is the belief that God’s
existence is unknown and unknowable.
E. AGNOSTICISM
5. It is an organized system of
beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to
worship a God or a group of Gods.

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 Assessment

Exercise 4
DIRECTION: Read and analyze the statements given. Write C if the statement is
true and write W if the statement is false.

1. Theism is an antonym to monotheism as the latter believes only in the

existence of one God.
2. Atheists deny the existence of God while agnostics confirm the possibility
for man to the existence of God
3. Religion is the study of the nature of God.
4. Philosophy of religion deals primarily with issues concerning religion
5. Religion is a response to the need of man for the explanation of their
dreams and experiences.

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 Additional Activities

Enrichment Activity
DIRECTION: Answer the questions briefly, clearly, and substantially.
1. Explain the difference between a person who is spiritual but not
religious from a person who is religious but not spiritual.

2. What different values have your religion instilled in you?

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 RUBRICS FOR ESSAY

CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS

OBTAINED
CONTENT The content was well- 4
written and guide
question were thoroughly
answered.

ORGANIZATION The subject was well- 3

written. It has ideas
easily conveyed to
readers.
DEVELOPMENT Points are thoroughly 3
developed.
Total: 10

GENERALIZATION
 Religion may refer to any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices aimed at communicating
or propitiating with supernatural beings, humans may recognize a superhuman being
controlling power (such as a god or spirit) that seeks worship and obedience from them.

 Various theories have been formulated that try to explain the origin of religions. Religion
may have originated in response to human’s need to explain their dreams and experiences
as well as the need to understand the different forces of nature, especially so that humans
may have faced pain and ignorance in their daily struggle for existence in early times.

 While religions are frequently viewed as sets of ideals practiced and followed by
organized groups, spirituality involves one’s integrative view of life that is more personal
while affecting the human soul.

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 Answer Key

Pre-test
1. B 6. B
2. A 7. A
3. A 8. B
4. C 9. A
5. B 10. A

Exercise 1 Exercise II Exercise III

1. Spirituality 1. a 5. d 9. a 1. b
2. Spirituality 2. a 6. a 10. d 2. d
3. Religious 3. b 7. b 3. a
4. Religious 4. b 8.b 4. e
5c

Exercise IV
1. C
2. W
3. W
4. C
5. C

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 Development Team of the Module

Writer/Illustrator/Layout Artist: Florfina Flora Q. Gaspar- Teacher II

Editor/Evaluator/Reviewer: Maria Rhea Reyes, EPS In-Charge

Management Team: Dr. Rowena C. Banzon, CESO V, SDS

Dr. Agnes B. Cacap, Chief- CID
Dr. Jose Mari P. Almeida, Chief- SGOD
Genevieve B. Ugay, EPS- LRMS
Hazel B. Libatique, Librarian II
Aurelio C. Dayag, Jr., PDO II

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REFERENCES:

BOOKS:
Ong, Jerome A. Jose, Mary Dorothy DL., Introduction to World Religions and Belief
Systems. Textbook. Vibal Group, Inc. 1253 Gregorio Araneta Avenue, Quezon City. All
rights reserved. Copyright 2016.
Cornelio, Jayeel S. PhD., Calano, Mark Joseph T. PhD., Sapitula, Manuel Victor J., PhD.
Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems. Rex Bookstore Publishing. 1977 C.M.
Recto Avenue. Copyright 2016.

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