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Taxonomy of Faiths: A semantic journey



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Taxonomy of Faiths: A semantic journey**

by Dr. Mohamed Taher

Sample maps 

    • The Practical and Ritual Dimension

    • The Experiential and Emotional Dimension

    • The Narrative or Mythic Dimension

    • The Doctrinal and Philosophical Dimension

    • The Ethical and Legal Dimension

    • The Social and Institutional Dimension

    • The Material Dimension

[source: The World's Religions: Seven Dimensions of Religions, Extract by Ninian Smart, University of California,  www.uwec.edu/greider/WorldReligions/world2k.Ninian.Smart.htm]
Basic Beliefs of Christians and Muslims
side by side
Belief in What Christians Believe What Muslims Believe
God God is three gods merged into one God. This one God is called a Trinity. However, to say that God is three is a blasphemy of the highest order. All three parts of the Trinity are "coequal" "co-eternal" and "the same substance." For this reason, this doctrine is described as "a mystery."  God is one God in the most basic, simple, and elementary meaning of the word. He has no children, no parents nor any equal. In Islam God is known by the name "Allah" and more than 99 other venerated names, such as "the Merciful," "the Gracious

http://www.islam101.com/religions/christianity/christ_islam.html

Abraham and his Sons

Isaac

    

Ishmael

  
Isaac was the second son of Abraham, born of his wife Sarah. Isaac's son was Jacob, later renamed Israel.   Ishmael was the first born of Hagar the concubine of Abraham.  

Judaism

 

  

Islam*

  
Judaism traces its roots back to Abraham and God's promise to him. The foundation of Judaism rests in the Covenent between God and Israel and his 12 sons. Israel, or Jacob, is one of two sons of Isaac. Isaac had twins, Esau and Jacob (Gen 25). Jacob was later named Israel. Jacob's twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.   Islam traces its roots to Abraham through Ishmael. Ishmael was the son of a concubine (first born of Abraham). Ishmael and Hagar, his mother were eventuatly forced to leave. Ishmael later had 12 sons. Islam is the restoration of the original montheistic faith through the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was to be the final prophet and is called "The Seal of the Prophets." Muhammad did not found Islam. Islam was created by Allah at the beginning of time, and in fact Muslims regard Adam as the first Muslim.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030925015925/http://www.crossandflame.com/abraham.htm

 1. Instrumental ("I want..."): petitionary prayers to obtain goods and services for individual and social needs.

2. Regulatory ("Do as I tell you..."): prayers to control the activity of God, to command God to order people and things about on behalf of the one praying.(15)

3. Interactional ("me and you..."): prayer to maintain emotional ties with God; prayer of simple presence.

4. Self-focused ("Here I come. . .; here I am..."): prayers that identify the self -- individual and social -- to God; prayers of contrition and humility, as well as boasting and superiority.

5. Heuristic ("Tell me why...?"): prayer that explores the world of God and God's workings within us individually and collectively; meditative prayers, perceptions of the spirit in prayer.

6. Imaginative ("Let's pretend..."): prayer to create an environment of one's own with God; prayers in tongues and those recited in languages unknown to the pray-er.

7. Informative ("I have something to tell you"): prayers that communicate new information: prayers of acknowledgment, praise and thanksgiving.(16)

Prayer, In Other Words:: New Testament Prayers in Social-Science Perspective, Jerome H. Neyrey
University of Notre Dame, 

 

Figure 1.
A Map of the World's Religions

1. Personal God
2. Singularist
3. Universalist
4. Personal Soul
5. Eternal Life

 1. Not God
2. Pluralist
3. Particularist
4. No Soul
5. Nibbana

 

Occidental Religions
Kitab - The Book (OT)


Oriental Religions
Teachings of the Buddha
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Judaism

Christianity

Islam

Hindu-
ism

Pure         

Amalgamated

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Protestant Orothodox
   Catholic
Sunni Shia
North
Tantric
Lamaism		 South
Hinayana
Theravada		 East
Mahayana		 Chinese
Daoism
Confucian-
ism
Buddhism		 Japanese
Shintoism
Confucian-
ism
Buddhism

 
Secular:
Israel
(U.S.A.)		 (Liberalism)
N. America
N.W. Europe		 (Marxism)
S. America
S.W. Europe
Poland
Hungary
Philippines		 (Anarchism)
Russia
S.E. Europe		 (Gandhism)
Tibet
Mongolia
 
Sri Lanka
Borma
Thailand
Malaysia
Kampuchea
Laos
Vietnam
Korea
China
Japan		 (Maoism)
China
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Singapore		 (Japanism)
Japan

http://www.crosscurrents.org/galtung.htm

Bibliography:

The German Islamic scholar Anne-Marie Shimmel has discussed the dialogical power of mystical experiences. She has noticed that those who have a deep and intense commitment to their religion are often open minded about the conviction of others. Such experiences are not universally common. This open-mindedness corresponds to existential communication in Jaspers' terms. In the development of stages of faith in Fowler's taxonomy, it is the sixth -universal / mystical -way to understand religions and cultures [p.91][see the full version of this taxonomy of faith: Stages of Faith : The Psychology of Human Development, J. W. Fowler (1995)]

**A taxonomy is a controlled vocabulary of terms and or phrases. more...

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last updated 09/19/2006