Durkeim on Religion

he world. Religions practical function, helping people to conduct their lives, would continue to be of the utmost importance. Through its various rituals, religion releases energy within the committed followers of a religion in a particular community. This energy gives rise to a sense of security, happiness, belonging and inner strength." (Clarke 13). Durkheim is saying that religion gives man an explanation for things in life that can't be explained while providing a strong sense of belonging and a firm belief system. Religion helps man to make decisions and it provides support and guidance throughout life. This applies to all religions. Even religions that are completely opposite share many of the same traits and ideas. For example in the Hebrew culture it is believed that there is only one God. God created everything and controls everything. In the Greek culture there are several gods which each have their own special region to control like the sky, sea, earth, etc. These two belief systems are demonstrated in the literature of these two cultures. They share many similarities and differences. One of the main similarities between the Hebrew and Greek belief systems is the incredibly strong faith and trust in their gods. One main source of Hebrew literature is the The Bible as/in Literature, by James S. Ackerman. The Bible as/in Literature illustrates the strong beliefs in God through short stories. A few stories in particular do and exceptional job of illustrating the strong belief in God. In the following stories people chose to risk dying without a child, dying period, and being alone in the world just to do what they believe is right. In "The Story of Ruth", Ruth stays with the mother of her dead husband and she remains faithful to her mother-in-law and is eventually rewarded with a new husband, Boaz, and she conceives a child. This story shows how god rewards faithfulness (Ackerman 158). In "The Great Flood", God asks Noah to build an ark and put two of each kind of animal in it to live till the earth is dried up, after the flood. God is flooding the earth because he is

Some topics in this essay:
Emile Durkheim, King Die, Jerome Lawrence, , Nebuchadnezzar God, Antigone's Polyneices, God Jesus, Ackerman Bible, James Applegate, God God, strong beliefs, bible as/in literature, belief systems, trust gods, bible as/in, as/in literature, decisions life, beliefs decisions, man's relationship, man's beliefs decisions, greek culture, beliefs decisions life, man's beliefs, man's relationship influences, adventures world literature,