Catholicism

William Connor Dillion

Professor Walter Conser

PAR 103

11 April 2016

Academic Paper on Catholicism

On Sunday, April 4, 2016, I happily attended a church service at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Wilmington, NC. My best friend growing up went to school at this church and attended this church’s services sine he could walk. Having a friend as a roommate that is so passionately into Catholicism made it a fairly easy task to find a pass into the world of the religiously unknown. The service lasted about an hour and a half, which is about 30 minutes longer than the average Baptist or Methodist Church services.

I. Study of Religion

While attending this service, I attempted by best to examine the religion from a theological standpoint. The form of conducting was theological because it was conducted in a seminary. The priest was attempting to answer your typical, theological questions like how to live your life and what direction you are leading it. By studying Catholicism in a theological aspect, I was even influenced in the way that I presented myself within the holy halls. Instead of dressing rather casual, I started wearing a collared shirt and khaki pants to the services.

II. Magic

The service that I attended did not possess the use of magic, and I am using the academic study of religion and there was no magic. According to Robert Bellah, a follower of the neo-evolutionary approach, Catholicism along with all forms of Christianity falls under the classical religious group. The classical religious groups applies to Catholicism because it believes in hope in the future, the followers have a high degree of literacy understanding, and holy books are prevalent.

III. The Holy

In the categories of the holy, Catholicism would be in the theistic form. To further classify Catholicism in the category od the holy, it is labeled a monotheistic religion due to the nature that Catholics worship a single, divine being. Within Catholicism, the holy can be defined as...