Download Background of Religion in Central and Southwest

Warm ups 2.06.2017
*What is happening regarding possession of land in
Israel today?
Lesson Objective:
*list the three monotheistic religions that come from
Southwest Asia
*discuss similarities and differences among those
religions
Disclaimer:
*I am not, by any means, a religious scholar
*We will simply look into common backgrounds of
these religions in order to compare similarities and
differences
Monotheism
* “theist” means belief in god, and it comes from the
Greek word “theos” which means “god”
*so, what do you think monotheism and polytheism
mean?
Oldest Major Monotheistic Religion
*What is the oldest major monotheistic religion
widely practiced today?
Judaism, whose followers are called Jews, began
around 3,800 years ago when God and Abraham
made an agreement (covenant)
Judaism
*Jewish people refer to themselves as “the chosen”,
because they believe God made the first covenant
with them
*in a very basic sense, God told Abraham to follow
certain rules and he would take care of them
Judaism
*in Genesis 12:1-2, God said,
“Leave your country, your people and your father's household
and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great
nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and
you will be a blessing.”
*Any guesses what area this “great nation” promised to the
Jews from God is in?
Judaism
*in oversimplified terms, the holy book of the Jewish
people would be what Christians call the Old
Testament”
*Jews do not believe in any prophets after the
Jewish prophets, including Jesus and Muhammad
Judaism
*an afterlife is not discussed much in Judaism
*the focus is more about what you do during your life
on Earth, not with punishments or rewards
depending on your behavior on Earth
Christianity
*Christianity developed from the monotheistic
traditions of Judaism
*its followers believed that Jesus (who was a Jew)
was the son of god, and they followed his teachings
Christianity
*Holy books of Christianity include the Old
Testament, and the New Testament (which are
books of the bible written by the followers of Jesus
and tell about his life and teachings, along with other
early Christian writings)
Christianity
*Christians believe in an afterlife, and where you go
in the afterlife depends on your behavior during your
current life
Islam
*Islam developed in present-day Saudi Arabia in the
600s
*its followers are called Muslims
Islam
*Islam also developed from Judeo-Christian ideals
*it is their belief that the archangel Gabriel spoke to
their most important prophet Muhammad and gave
him “revisions” in where Christianity and Judaism
were going wrong
Islam
*their holy book is the Quran, which is said to be
what Gabriel said to Muhammad over time about
their religious practices
Islam
*Muslims believe in Jewish and Christian prophets,
including Jesus
*However, they do not believe Jesus was the son of
God, just a messenger of God, similar to Muhammad
and Abraham
Islam
*they refer to Christians and Jews as “People of the
Book”, and they are held in higher esteem than
pagans and “non-believers”, even though they
believe they have strayed from the teachings God
Islam
*Muslims also believe in a Day of Judgement, where
it is decided if you will go to the good place or the
bad for your afterlife
Similarities / Differences?
Similarities
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Differences