The Role of Sacred Space in Judeo-Christian Religions Essay -- Religio

The Role of Sacred Space in Judeo-Christian ReligionsCertain physical locations birth on important meanings in the worlds religions. Religions consider various geographic elements such as different cities, regions, surveys, and rivers to be inviolate. For example, Hindus travel to the Ganges River to clean themselves from their sins (Momen 157). champion of the requirements of all Muslims is that they make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (Eastman 398). Judeo-Christian religions also have certain places that are held sacred to their followers. The concept of sacred space is important to Judeo-Christian religions, because it helps to explain the questions of existence. Sacred space provides something tangible to represent religions while reducing the obstacles that prevent religious people from having religious experiences. Judeo-Christian religions have extensive histories in which the concept of sacred space has been instrumental to their developments. Today, sacr ed space remains important in separating these religions from the rest of the world. As seen in historical stories and reflected through the symbolism of religious architecture as well as in nature, sacred space is an important aspect of Judeo-Christian religions.One reason that believers of Judeo-Christian religions find certain locations to be important is that God has declared that certain places should be considered sacred. In the Book of Exodus, the Lord speaks to Moses on the mountain of Horeb, saying Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground (Exo. 3.5 NAB). In the Book of Genesis, God sends Abraham to the land of Moriah. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar t... ...stance religions from distributively other by fostering a feeling of superiority among some religions and inferiority among others. Judeo-Christian religions rely on sacred space to do these things for believers. whole kit and ca boodle CitedBarbour, Ian G. Religion and Science Historical and Contemporary Issues. San Francisco HarperCollins, 1997.Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion An Introduction to the Major Traditions. New York Oxford University Press, 1999. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane The Nature of Religion. San Diego Harcourt, Inc., 1987.Holy Bible, New American Bible (Iowa Falls, Iowa, 1986)Johnson, Kevin Orlin. Why Do Catholics Do That? A Guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church. New York Random House, Inc., 1994.Momen, Moojan. The Phenomenon of Religion. Oxford Oneworld Publications, 1999.