Religion
ARMENIAN; ARYAN; RELIGION [isbe]
ARMENIAN; ARYAN; RELIGION - ar-me'-ni-an, ar'-i-an. This greatly resembled that of Persia, though Zoroastrianism and its dualistic system were not professed. We are thus enabled to judge how far the religion of the Avesta is due to Zoroaster's reformation. Aramazd (Ahura Mazda), creator of heaven and earth, was father of all the chief deities. His spouse was probably Spandaramet (Spenta Armaiti), goddess of the earth, who was later held to preside over the underworld (compare Persephone; Hellenistic). Among her assistants as genii of fertility were Horot and Morot (HaurvataT and AmeretaT), tutelary deities of Mt. Massis (now styled Ararat). Aramazd's worship seems to have fallen very much into the background in favor of that of inferior deities, among the chief of whom was his daughter Anahit (Anahita), who had temples in many places. Her statues were often of the precious metals, and among her many names were "Golden Mother" and "Goddess of the Golden Image." Hence to the present day the word "Golden" enters into many Armenian names. White heifers and green boughs were offered her as goddess of fruitfulness, nor was religious prostitution in her honor uncommon. Next in popularity came her sister Astghik ("the little star"), i.e. the planet Venus, goddess of beauty, wife of the deified hero Vahagn (Verethraghna). He sprang from heaven, earth, and sea, and overthrew dragons and other evil beings. Another of Anahit's sisters was Nane (compare Assyrian Nana, Nannaea), afterward identified with Athene. Her brother Mihr (Mithra) had the sun as his symbol in the sky and the sacred fire on earth, both being objects of worship. In his temples a sacred fire was rekindled once a year. Aramazd's messenger and scribe was Tiur or Tir, who entered men's deeds in the "Book of Life." He led men after death to Aramazd for judgment. Before birth he wrote men's fates on their foreheads. The place of punishment was Dzhokhk'h (= Persian Duzakh). To the sun and moon sacrifices were offered on the mountain-tops. Rivers and sacred springs and other natural objects were also adored. Prayer was offered facing eastward. Omens were taken from the rustling of the leaves of the sacred Sonean forest. Armavir was the religious capital.Among inferior spiritual existences were the Arlezk'h, who licked the wounds of those slain in battle and restored them to life. The Parikk'h were evidently the Pairakas (Peris) of Persia. The Armenian mythology told of huge dragons which sometimes appeared as men, sometimes as worms, or basilisks, elves, sea-bulls, dragon-lions, etc. As in Persia, the demons made darts out of the parings of a man's nails to injure him with. Therefore these parings, together with teeth and trimmings of hair, must be hidden in some sacred place.
LITERATURE.
Eznik Goghbatzi; Agathangelos; Moses of Khorene; Eghishe; Palasanean; Faustus Byzantinus; Chhamchheantz; Plutarch; Strabo; Tacitus. See my "Conversion of Armenia," R.T.S.; The Expositor T, II, 202 ff.
W. St. Clair Tisdall
RELIGION [isbe]
RELIGION - re-lij'-un: "Religion" and "religious" in Elizabethan English were used frequently to denote the outward expression of worship. This is the force of threskeia, translated "religion" in Acts 26:5; Jas 1:26,27 (with adjective threskos, "religious"), while the same noun in Col 2:18 is rendered "worshipping" ("cult" would give the exact meaning). And in the same external sense "religion" is used by the King James Version for latreia, "worship" (so the Revised Version (British and American)), in I Macc 1:43; 2:19,22. Otherwise "Jews' religion" (or "religion of the Jews") appears in 2 Macc 8:1; 14:38 (the Revised Version (British and American) bis); Gal 1:13,14 (Ioudaismos, "Judaism"); and "an alien religion" in 2 Macc 6:24 (allophulismos, "that belonging to another tribe"). The neglect of the external force of "religion" has led to much reckless misquoting of Jas 1:26,27. Compare Acts 17:22.See SUPERSTITION.
Burton Scott Easton
Religion [nave]
RELIGION.False
Deut. 32:31-33.
See: Idolatry; Intolerance; Teachers, False.
Family
See: Family.
National
Supported by taxes, Ex. 30:11-16; 38:26.
Priests supported by the State, 1 Kin. 18:19; 2 Chr. 11:13-15.
Subverted by Jeroboam, 1 Kin. 12:26-33; 2 Chr. 11:13-15.
Established by Jeroboam, 1 Kin. 12:26-33.
Natural
Job 12:7-16; Job 35:10-12; Job 37:1-24; Psa. 8:1-9; Psa. 19:1-6; Acts 14:17; Acts 17:23-28; Rom. 1:18-20; Rom. 10:16-18 See: Revivals.
True
Matt. 5:1-48; Matt. 6:1-34; Matt. 7:1-29; Matt. 22:36-40; Acts 10:34, 35; Rom. 8:1-18; Rom. 10:1-13; Rom. 12:1-21; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Gal. 5:22-25; 1 Thess. 5:15-23; Jas. 1:27; Jas. 2:8-26; 2 Pet. 1:5-9; Jude 20, 21 See: Blessings, Spiritual; Commandments; Duty; Graces; Formalism; Regeneration; Repentance; Sanctification; Sin, Forgiveness of.
Instances of Conspicuously Religious Persons
Abel, Gen. 4:4-8; Heb. 11:4.
Noah, Gen. 6-9.
Abraham, Gen. 12:1-8; 15; 17; 18:22-33.
Jacob, Gen. 28:10-22; 32:24-32.
Moses, Ex. 3:2-22; Deut. 32; 33.
Jethro, Ex. 18:12.
Joshua, Josh. 1.
Gideon, Judg. 6; 7.
Samuel, 1 Sam. 3.
David, See: Psalms of David.
Solomon, 1 Kin. 5:3-5; 2 Chr. 6.
Jehu, 2 Kin. 10:16-30.
Hezekiah, 2 Kin. 18:3-7; 19:14-19.
Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 17:3-9; 19; 20.
Jabez, 1 Chr. 4:9, 10.
Asa, 2 Chr. 14; 15.
Josiah, 2 Kin. 22; 23.
Daniel, Dan. 6:4-22.
The three Hebrews, Dan. 3.
Zacharias, Luke 1:13, 67-79.
Simeon, Luke 2:25-35.
Aa, the prophetess, Luke 2:36, 37.
The centurion, Luke 7:1-10.
Cornelius, Acts 10.
Eunice and Lois, 2 Tim. 1:5.
See, for additional instances, each of the apostles, disciples, and John; Paul; Peter; Stephen; also each of the prophets.
Religion [baker]
[N]Due to the wide range of its usage, the English word "religion" (from Lat. religio) is not easily defined. Most commonly, however, it refers to ways in which humans relate to the divine (a presence [or plurality of such] or force [sometimes construed as plural] behind, beyond, or pervading sensible reality that conditions but is not conditioned by that reality). All such "ways" include a system of beliefs about the divine and how it is related to the world. Most also involve an attitude of awe toward the divine, and a pattern of actions (rituals and an ethical code). By extension, "religion" is often used to refer to systems of belief and related practices that play an analogous role in people's lives (e.g., Buddhism, Confucianism, and even humanism). The word is, thus, an abstract term adaptable to a great variety of referents.
Neither the Hebrew nor the Aramaic languages of the Old Testament have a word with a corresponding semantic field. For that reason, one does not find "religion" or "religious" in most English versions of these Scriptures. English translators of the New Testament do use these words at times to render various forms of three Greek terms: deisidaimonia [deisidaimoNIVa], threskeia [qrhskeiva], and eusebeia [eujsevbeia]. Yet all three words also fail to fully capture the import of the more abstract English "religion."
Both Old and New Testaments speak pervasively about matters "religious." Every word in these writings is in one way or another focused on the Creator-creature relationship. Every line revolves around that thematic center of gravity: how the Creator relates to his creation, especially humanity, and how humanity does and/or ought to relate to the Creator. In fact, every line of Scripture seeks to evoke from the reader right ways of relating to the Creator. In that sense, "religion" is pervasively the theme of Scripture.
To be sure, the Bible speaks of all creatures, resounding to God: they do his bidding (angels, Psalm 103:20; Heb 1:14; storm winds, Psalm 104:4; 148:8) and they rejoice before him with songs of joy and praise (Job 38:7; Psalm 89:12; 96:11-13; 98:7-9; Isa 44:23; 49:13; 55:12; see especially Psalm 103:22; 145:10; 148 ). But the concern of the biblical texts is to promote among humankind right beliefs about God, right attitudes toward God, and right conduct before the face of God. Biblically, religion has to do with human responses to the Creator.
That religion has a place in human life springs from two fundamental realities: (1) humans have been created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27; 9:6; Psalm 8:5; 1 Cor 11:7; Col 3:10; James 3:9), and so are both addressable by God and capable of responses appropriate to persons (beliefs, attitudes, and conduct that is consciously chosen); and (2) the Creator has disclosed himself to humankind and continues to address them. The whole visible world proclaims that its Creator has been and still is at work. It reflects his power, wisdom, righteousness, glory, and goodness (Psalm 19:1-4; 29:3-9; 97:6; Isa 40:12-14, 21-22, 26, 28; Acts 14:17; 17:24-29; Rom 1:19-20). What Psalm 104 makes its central theme is elsewhere many times assumed or hinted: that the secure order of creation, sustaining as it does a profusion of life, is the visible glory-robe of the invisible Creator (see esp. vv. 1-2). So the creation itself is theophanous—and not just here and there in special "holy" places. The visible creation is itself the primal temple of God not built by human hands, where his "power and glory" are ever on display (Psalm 29:3-9; 63:2).
Nor are the effects of the Creator's actions in and on the creation discernible only in what is commonly referred to as "nature." God is equally engaged in the arena of human affairs. So, for example, he knows both the external Acts of all human beings and the secrets of every human heart. And he deals with persons accordingly. He even intersects the flow of human affairs at their fountainhead, as the teachers of Yahwistic wisdom summed it up for ancient Israel: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Prov 16:9); "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases" (Prov 21:1); "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Prov 19:21; cf. Isa 10:6-7).
The arenas of such divine intersection extend from individual lives to the rise and fall of empires. God appoints nations their place and establishes their boundaries (Deut 32:8; Amos 9:7). He makes them great, and destroys them (Job 12:23). He summons international armies to be "the weapons of his wrath" against an arrogant empire (Isa 13:4-5; Jer. 50-51 Ezek 30:25). To serve his historical purposes, God calls Assyria "the rod of my anger … , the club of my wrath" (Isa 10:5), Nebuchadnezzar "my servant" (Jer 25:9), and Cyrus "my shepherd" to "accomplish all that I plan" (Isa 44:28).
Ancient peoples believed that the gods intersected human affairs, determining the outcome of battles and the fortunes of kingdoms. Hence, in the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires the peoples of ancient Israel's world assumed that they experienced the workings of the gods. In that environment, Yahweh's sovereign control over the fortunes of nations, kings, and peoples (especially their downfall) humbled human arrogance (Gen 11:1-9; Psalm 9:20; Isa 31:3; Ezek 28:2), exposed the powerlessness of the gods that humans made to fill the void left by their "forgetting" the Creator (Psalm 96:5; 115:4-7; 135:15-18; Isa 44:9-20; 46:1-7), and testified to the sole rule of Yahweh (Exod 9:16; 14:17-18; Psalm 106:8; Ezek 25:11, 17; 26:6; 28:22-24; 29:6, 9, 21; 30:8, 19, 25-26; 32:15; 35:15). Paul pointed to this divine disclosure in history when he said to the Greek intelligentsia, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:26-28).
So, according to the Bible, humankind is addressed by God through every component, process, and event in so-called nature and through every event, big and small, that makes up human history. Human beings live and move and have their being within the arena of God's creation. And through God's pervasive engagement with his creation as he sustains and governs it, they are always and everywhere confronted with the display of his power and glory. Wherever humans turn and by whatever means they experience the creation, the Creator calls to them for recognition and response. From this perspective, all human life is inherently "religious."
In two other ways "religion" (humankind's ways of relating to the divine) encompasses the whole of human life. First, humans are created in God's image to be his stewards of the creation—as vocation, not avocation (Gen 1:26-27; 2:15; Psalm 8:6-8). In whatever ways they act on the creation they do so as faithful or unfaithful stewards of God's handiwork. Second, humans live and prosper in all they undertake only by God's gifts and blessings (Gen 1:28-29; 9:1-3; Deut 7:13; Psalm 34:8-10; 127; Hosea 2:8-9). Thus in everything humans have to do with God.
But a breach has brought alienation between the Creator and humankind. Humanity has claimed autonomy as the implication of human freedom to make moral choices (Gen 3:5-6) and self-sufficiency as the implication of humankind's power to "rule" and "subdue" God's earthly creatures (Gen 4:19-24; 11:3-4). As Job said of the "wicked": "They say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?'" (21:14-15). They lean on their own understanding (Prov 3:5), being wise in their own eyes (Prov 3:7; 26:5, 12; Isa 5:21). In a very real sense, as Habakkuk (1:11) wrote of the Babylonians, they have become people whose own strength is their god.
Still, this alienation from the Creator has left a void at the center—and there are obviously powers in the world not subject to human control that impinge on human existence and radically relativize humanity's self-sufficiency. So people have conceived of many gods, composed mythologies expressing what is believed about them, and devised ways to worship and appeal to them. Religion has broken up into many religions. Yet these have all been responses to the inescapable manifestations of the Creator's glory in the creation and the pervasive experience of humanity's existence being conditioned by a power or powers other than its own (Rom 1:21-23).
This radical breach and its massive consequences have occasioned a second work of God, a work that rivals the first in its disclosure of the Creator's glory. Not willing to let the alienation stand or to yield his glory to other gods (Isa 42:8; 48:11), the Creator has undertaken to effect reconciliation. It is with this mission of God to his world that the Bible is centrally concerned. It bears witness to God's "mighty Acts" of redemption in the history of Israel, and to the culmination of those Acts in the earthly ministry and heavenly reign of Jesus Christ. By this invasion of the alienated world with its many gods (2 Kings 17:29-33; Jer 2:28; 1 Cor 8:5), the Creator calls all peoples of the world to turn from the sham gods they have made and return to him. Only as people rightly relate to him, "the true God" (Jer 10:10; cf. 1 John 5:20), can their religion be "true."
What, then, constitutes the religion that God accepts as pure and faultless?
First, it believes the testimony of the spirit of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments that arose in conjunction with God's saving Acts in Israel's history and culminated in Jesus Christ.
Second, it is filled with reverent awe before the majesty of the One who discloses himself in creation, history, and redemption. It bows in humble repentance before the Holy One for the alienation that turned to other gods and corrupted the "heart" from which springs every belief, attitude, and action. It receives in faith the grace of God offered in Jesus Christ. And in gratitude it dedicates the whole of self to the service of the Creator-Redeemer.
Third, certain activities or life expressions fall within its sphere: worship, prayer, and praise, both private and communal, and proclamation—telling the story of what the one true God has done (Isa 43:10, 12; 44:8; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). But to Israel God gave directives for more than cultic worship. All of Israel's life was to be brought into accordance with the will of the Creator, whose concern about his whole creation remained undiminished. And because no listing of do's and don'ts could be adequate in themselves, an all-encompassing commandment had to be appended: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength [power and resources] … [and] love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-31; and parallels cf. Lev 19:18, 34; Deut 6:4-5; John 13:34; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14; James 2:8).
In biblical perspective, no human activity is any less "religious" (how humans relate to God) than worship, prayer, and praise. For that reason the apostle Paul instructed the church at Corinth, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). And for that reason James wrote, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (1:27).
John H. Stek
See also God; Providence of God; Worship
Bibliography. R. A. Clouse, The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories; R. Otto, The Idea of the Holy; J. Wach, The Comparative Study of Religion.
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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
