Diary Entry 1.

8/2/11
By :Anna Ayvazyan
John Paul 2 campus
Class :11S241

Today,while looking through my glossary of terms I came across something I haven't learnt before,
a supernatural dimension. When I first saw this, honestly I though it had to do something with
magic, mostly because that's what is commonly associated with the word supernatural.
Even though I thought about this term in this way I decided to do my own research into it.
I looked to my Religion text book ( Living Religion fourth edition) to see how it describes
'supernatural dimension' … it was described as a dimension which is “above or beyond what is
natural- not able to be explained by known natural laws”
Then I decided I wanted a more detailed explanation so I went onto the Internet to see how others
define it.
There were many definitions and many different views on it as some people believe that
supernatural dimension exists and others do not.
Through reading different articles I came up with my own definition of a 'supernatural dimension' :
A supernatural dimension is a dimension in which things are above, super than the natural world.
It all depends if you believe in a supernatural being such as God, or a supernatural dimension, such
as heaven, - the most significant element of a religious world-,view is this belief in a divine being or
power. This being or power is believed to be responsible for the creation of the world, for providing
a moral framework for human life and being the ultimate destiny of a human person at the end of
their mortal life.
Many people&religions argue that there is no such thing as a supernatural dimension, different
religions have their own unique responses to the question of the exact nature of the supernatural
dimension.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam believe that the supernatural dimension is a single divine being or
power. This belief is known as monotheism. Hinduism and Buddhism, reason from an
understanding of a number of divine beings or powers, a belief known as polytheism. Even with
these differences, the belief in the existence of beings or powers beyond the natural world is an
important defining element of a religious world-view.
Another two terms I found in my glossary were 'transcendent religious world-view ' & 'immanent
religious world-view'
I knew that transcendent meant 'exceeding or surpassing usual limits especially in excellence' and I
thought to myself , “which religions have a belief in a divine power or powers that surpass
mankind?”

The three religions Judaism,Christianity and Islam have this belief, the idea of God being revealed
to humans from beyond the human spirit. Christians believe that the will of God is written through
the Bible, highlighting key beliefs and determining the practical application of legal, ethical and
ritual dimensions and is seen to provide guidelines for ritual, prayer and worship .
The Bible provides the guidelines for life actions particularly in relation back to ethical guidance .
Jesus Christ was sent to us to cleanse our sins and is seen as the Messiah by his followers .The reign
of God mentally creates a world where God's values such as love, peace and cooperation are seen.
Until then it is the responsibility of the followers of Jesus to live in unison with these values and to
lead others with them. Afterwards, the reign of God is considered to be a present yet future reality.
Jesus is the model for Christian life because he embodies the reign of God, that is God's dream for
humankind that lies at the heart of Jesus' life and ministry.
This is a transcendent world-view because the divine being such as God is seen to be separate and
outside of the humans and revealed to humankind through a mediator and is in control of everything
that happens in the whole universe and that God's presence is felt in special ways, or at special
times and special places.
When people say that God is a transcendent they mean to make statements like the following:

• God is not limited to particular places and times as human beings are.
• God lives outside the 'natural world' - where human beings live.
• Human beings can never fully understand or know the will or the thoughts of God. He is
beyond our understanding.
• God is always there first: He is the creator of all things and is the leader of all events.
• We as Christians feel awe when we remember the presence of God. He is good and
trustworthy in a way that we're not.
Many religious thinkers believe that God is in a living relationship with the whole universe at all
times and that the relationship between God and the world is a universal.
The definition of 'immanent religious world-view' is the belief that supernatural powers or divine
beings ( Gods, Goddesses or Divine Spirits) are within the human being. Divine Spirits dwell in
sacred places like mountains, streams or forests. Human Beings are to acknowledge these spirits
through worship and in particular , through respect for places in which spirits dwell. Two religions
share this belief are Hinduism and Buddhism as they highlight on the finding of truth from within
the human spirit.
Hinduism is the religion of the people and it developed through the long centuries of their life as a
nation, giving rise to a great variety of beliefs and practices. There are at least three differences
between Hinduism and the other great religions of the world.
1. Hinduism has no founder. There is no information on how or when Hinduism came into
being.
2. Hinduism has no common creed.
3. Hinduism is not institutionalised. It does not have a body of believers who follow one
common part of worship, or live with a common way to act in life.
The Hindu tradition is full with a wide variety of images of the divine. The Supreme is seen
as a personal God, as a transcendent Being, as immanent within each person as
Antaryamin('inner controller')

Hinduism, in it's
higher forms,
expresses the human
search for reality,
light and
immortality.
Hindus follow
the(books)
Mahabharata,
Ramayana & The
Bhagavad Gita [The
technical part of Book 6 of the Mahabharata]. Hindus believe that every person has an indwelling
spirit. This spirit is their divine nature,or the spirit of God dwelling within. They refer to this spirit
as 'Atman' or their true-self, it us their body that is imperfect, I found that fact interesting as I didn't
know that it was the body which is imperfect, not the spirit. As this spirit is an indestructible
essence of the living being, when the body dies, the Atman does not, it leaves it's temporary home
and is reincarnated in another body/Through this books Hindus believe that they will maintain their
ethics& principles such as forbidding murder and adultery, theft, consumption of alcohol and
promote kindness, respect for elders and will eliminate such mental impurities as greed and
egoism, for the ultimate attainment of the highest good. They also believe that ego of a person is the
root to all suffering and that the world is an illusion 'maya', attachment to it causes birth or death
and that all beings have souls. Hinduism believes in the concept of incarnation of God.
This is an immanent religious world-view because the divine power is believed to be found within
the human and awaits discovery through following the prescribed path.

Reactions

The Books:
The first few lines of each book I essentially knew, though as soon I read further I learnt things and
gained more knowledge on things I thought I already knew about transcendent religions and
immanent, each book had more information than the last and I incorporated this information into
this diary entry. These books also had information on the other diary entries which will be written in
the coming weeks. The book which helped the most was ' A Guide to the religions by David A.
Brown' it covered almost everything I was looking for. The way it was written didn't include
complex sentences or words so I understood the information without difficulty .

The Internet:

The sites I looked at helped add to the information I read in the books. Although there weren't many
sites that had the exact information, they had information relating to what I was looking for.
The site which helped me the most was the one titles ' Nature of Religion and beliefs and the
dreaming' there was not enough information, but it was straight to the point.
The Prelim SOR website also had limited information but added onto the information I found in the
previous site.
God is Transcendent & Immanent helped to add the information I got from the previous two sites.
 Bibliography:
Books:

• Morrissey,J [et al.] {2010} Living Religion fourth edition. Pearson. Melbourne.

• King [et al.] {2010} Studies of Religion Oxford Unit Press. Melebourne

• Holm,J [et al.] {1994} Picturing God Pinter publishers. London

• Juergensmeyer,M [et al.] {2003} Global Religions Oxford University Press. New York
• Fisher,MP [et al.] {2002} Religions Today Routledge . London

• Brown,AD [et al.] {1975} A guide to religions SPCK. London

Websites:
• No author stated. (2008) Prelim: SOR [internet] No place of publication stated.
http://59.167.253.39/metatemporal/notawiki/doku.php?id=preliminary_course_study_notes-
source_unknown [Accessed 10th of February, 2011]

• No author stated (2006) Nature of Religion and beliefs and the dreaming [internet] No place
of publication stated.
feenstar.wikispaces.com/.../Nature+of+Religion+and+Beliefs+and+the+Dreaming.doc
[Accessed 16th of February 2011]
• Mendieta, E (2010) Religion as a catalyst of rationalization [internet] No place of
publication stated. http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/11/03/religion-rationalization/ [ Accessed
17th of February,2011]
• Collins,T (2007) The Contribution of Religion to Society [speech] Canada.
http://www.archtoronto.org/pdf/empireclubofcanadaspeechmay3107.pdf [Accessed 18th of
February,2011]