英语国家概况论文

J

I A N G S U

U N I V E R S I T Y

Religion in America and China

学院名称：

外国语学院

专业班级：

英语（研）

11

姓名学号：

戴薇

s1100001

任课教师姓名：

吴庆宏

2012

年

6

月

Religion in America and China

英语研

11 s1100001

戴薇

Abstract:

When

religion

jumps

to

life,

it

displays

a

startling

quality.

Religion

has been linking people together while creating and preserving their culture

’

s world

view for thousands of years. In America and China, religions are different. This paper

will have some detail information to illustrate them so that you can have a brief idea

about

religion

in

them,

and

the

differences

between

them

and

the

reasons

for

the

differences.

摘要：宗教从出现在人们的生活里

,

就扮演着重要的角色。宗教通过建立一

种文化的世界观把人们紧密地联系起来。

在美国和中国，

两国 宗教不尽相同，

本

文通过对比两国的宗教，

让人们更多地了解宗教，

了解两国宗教的具体在哪些方

面不 同以及引起这些不同原因。

Key words:

Religion; America; China

1. Introduction

Religion

is

a

set

of

beliefs

concerning

the

cause,

nature,

and

purpose

of

the

universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies,

usually

involving

devotional

and

ritual

observances,

and

often

containing

a

moral

code

governing

the

conduct

of

human

affairs.

It

is

a

specific

fundamental

set

of

beliefs

and

practices

generally

agreed

upon

by

a

number

of

persons

or

sects.

In

somehow, it is something one believes in and follows devotedly as well. Mostly, when

defining

religion,

people

tend

to

emphasize

religions

as

structured

social

systems,

institutions, or organizations.

Studying religion is very important. Since the “great” religions of the world have

all evolved in historic times, it may be assumed that animistic emphases dominated

the

globe

in

the

prehistoric

era.

In

societies

lacking

any

doctrinal

establishment,

a

closed

system

of

beliefs

was

less

likely

to

flourish

than

an

open

one.

There

is,

however,

no

ground

for

supposing

that

polytheistic

and

monotheistic

ideas

were

excluded. But what is plain today

—

that no historically given creed has an inevitable

appeal to the educated mind

—

had scarcely gained a place in scholarly argument more

than 100 years ago.

2

There are three great world religions: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity. Buddhism

was originated in India about 500B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, who was also called

Sakyamuni. Its doctrine is found in the Buddhist Scriptures.

It is mainly distributed

over

Southern

and

Eastern

Asia.

Its

symbol

is

the

Lotus.

Islam

was

founded

in

the

Arabian Peninsula in the early 7

th

century by Mohammed. Mohammed preached that

Allah is the sole sovereign and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah. The doctrine of

Islam is found in the Quran. Christianity was founded in 30 A.D. when the Apostles

received the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the resurrection and gospel of Jesus

Christ. Jesus Christ had placed the Jewish idea of the Kingdom of God at the centre of

his teaching, but give the idea a new spiritual universal meaning. Paul, the founder of

Christian theology. Christianity established itself throughout the Roman Empire as a

highly

organized

hierarchy

separate

from

the

State,

between

two

periods

of

persecution in the latter half of the 1

st

and 3

rd

centuries. Christianity has molded the

shape

of

Western

civilization.

Its

doctrine

is

the

Holy

Bible

.

Christianity

has

three

major

groups:

the

Roman

Catholic

Church,

the

Eastern

Orthodox

Church

and

the

Protestant Church.

The paper is to talk about religions in America and China. It includes the main

religion,

the

features

of

religion

in

America,

the

effect

of

religion;

and

Buddhism,

Taoism, Islam, Christianity in China. From this paper, we will know more information

about religion in detail, and its effects.

2. Religion in America and China

2.1 Religion in America

It is almost universally acknowledged that the United States is probably the most

religious

country

in

the

developed

countries,

not

only

in

terms

of

the

number

of

religious believers, but also in terms of Church attendance. While industrialization ,

consumerism,

materialism,

hedonism,

and

mass

culture

in

other

countries

have

all

significantly

diminished

the

importance

of

religion

in

the

their

societies,

if

not

completely secularized it, this has not been the case in the United States, as has been

attested by the religious revival of the past forty years in America. Such being the case,

it

can

be

comfortably

argued

that

religion

plays

a

crucial

role

in

the

shaping

of

3