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1. Ritual/Performative

2. Narrative/Mythic

3. Experiential/Emotional

4. Social/Institutional

5. Ethical/Legal

6. Doctrinal/Philosophical

7. Material/Artistic

The Seven Dimensions of Religion

Ninian Smart, Phenomenologist Scholar

Ritual/

Performative

1

Symbolic actions done collectively or privately that transform the experience of the world from profane to sacred. May portray/enact a portion of a myth. Includes: holidays, religious meals, rites of passage

Narrative/

Mythic

2

Stories (often regarded as revealed) that provide a meaning or explanation for the world as it is or should be. May be found in sacred scripture. Includes: Creation stories, histories of the gods, moral parables, life stories of religious figures or exemplars, stories celebrating a particular people, place, or time.

Experiential/

Emotional

3

A change in consciousness, emotion, sensation, bodily states brought about through religious practices of any sort, including ritual, meditation, music, or social interaction. Includes: dread, guilt, awe, mystery, devotion, love, hate, liberation, ecstasy, inner peace, bliss, conversion.

Social/Institutional

4

Rules for identifying community membership, roles, identities and participation. Includes: Leaders, teachers/gurus, clerical designations/hierarchies, social/racial/political divisions, gender roles, family expectations, educational systems, sects.

Ethical/

Legal

5

Rules about human behavior (often regarded as revealed from supernatural realm). Includes: Purity regulations, including those concerning bodily processes like food, sex, birth, and death; principles for achieving personal and social well-being or harmony; social/familial duties

and obligations; provisions for meting out judgment and justice; general morals.

Doctrinal/Philosophical

6

Systematic formulation of religious teachings in an intellectually coherent form. May be found in sacred scriptures. Includes: official dogma, theologies, delineations of godly powers/ roles, cosmologies, theodicies (theories of suffering and evil), beliefs about death and the afterlife, reincarnation, the soul, the meaning of life, human nature.

Material/

Artistic

7

Objects or places that symbolize or manifest the sacred or supernatural. May be used in rituals. Includes: Icons, churches, temples, clothing, the human body, animals, instruments, sacred texts, food implements, statuaries, prayer/meditation facilitators.

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