13.8.2: Beliefs
Symbols, including rituals, develop from beliefs. The belief may be vague (“God is”) or highly specific (“God wants us to prostrate ourselves and face Mecca five times each day”). Religious beliefs include not only values (what is considered good and desirable in life—how we ought to live) but also a cosmology, a unified picture of the world. For example, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim belief that there is only one God, the creator of the universe, who is concerned about the actions of humans and who will hold us accountable for what we do, is a cosmology. It presents a unifying picture of the universe.
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