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BIBLE STUDY
RELIGIONS
OF
THE WORLD
The origin of some of these
religions are as follows:
Buddhism ……560-490 BCE
Christianity.…30+ CE
Hinduism ……400-2500 BCE
Islam ………….622 CE
Judaism………2000 CE
Shinto…………500BCE
Presented by:
Dr. Alma Blair
July 15 2012
INTRODUCTION
Today, we begin the study on
another of the major religions
of the world:
QUICK FACTS
Judaism is the oldest of the
world's four biggest monotheistic
religions (religions with only one
god). It's also the smallest, with
only about 14 million followers
around the world.
A study in 2001 shows the
following statistics about religions
of the world:
1. Christianity- 2.1 billion (33%)
2. Islam – 1.5 billion (21%)
3. Secular/Non-religious/Atheist –
16 billion (16.1%)
4. Hinduism– 900 million(14.3%)
5. Chinese Traditional religion –
394 million (6%)
6. Buddhism – 376 million (6%)
7. Primal-Indigenous- 300
million (6%)
8. African Traditional- 100
million (6%)
9. Sikhism- 23 million (0.22%)
10.Juche – 19 million (0.36%)
11.Spiritism – 15 million
12.Judaism – 14 million (0.22%)
There are ten (10) other
religions totaling about 26
million people comprising
the following sects:
Baha’i, Jainism, Shinto, Cao
Dai, Zoroastrianism,
Tenrikyo, Neo-Paganism,
Unitarian-Universalism,
Raftafarianism, Scientology
QUICK FACTS
Place of Origin
Israel
Founder
Abraham
Sacred Text
Torah
Sacred Building
Synagogue
Holy Place
Jerusalem
Major Festivals
Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur,
Pesach (Passover), Shavuot
(Pentecost), Sukkot (Tabernacles)
Main Branches
(Orthodox, Liberal, Reform,
Messianic, Hellenistic
INTRODUCTION
Judaism, Christianity,
Islam and the Baha’i faith all
originated with a divine
covenant between the God of
the ancient Israelites and
Abraham around 2000 BCE.
(Genesis 12 1-5).
The next leader of the Israelites,
Moses, led his people out of
captivity in Egypt and received the
Law from God. (Exodus 20:1– 17).
Joshua later led them into the
promised land where Samuel
established the Israelite Kingdom
with Saul as its first king,
(1 Samuel 8: 1-6; 9: 1, 2, 15- 10: 1-2).
King David established
Jerusalem and King
Solomon built the first
temple there.
(1Kings chapters 5 & 6).
In 70 BCE the temple was
destroyed and the Jews were
scattered throughout the world
until 1948 when the state of Israel
was formed.
Jews believe in one creator, who
alone is to be worshipped as
absolute ruler of the universe. He
monitors people activities and
rewards good deeds and punishes
evil.
The Torah was
revealed to Moses
by God and cannot
be changed, though God
does communicate with
the Jewish people through
prophets.
Jews believe in the inherent
goodness of the world and its
inhabitants as creations of God
and do not require a saviour to
save them from original sin.
They believe they are God’s
chosen people and that the
Messiah will arrive in the
future, gather them into Israel,
there will be a general
resurrection of the dead.
They further believe that
Jerusalem’s Temple which
was destroyed in 70 BCE will
be rebuilt.
What is Judaism?
It is said that Judaism is a
religion of new beginnings,
and a religion of hope.
Judaism is one of the oldest
religions known to people. It
was born about 4000 years
ago.
It is a monotheistic religion,
which means that Jewish people
pray to only one God. There
weren’t too many religions like
this when it originated, which
made Judaism very unique at
the time.
Most of the religions of that
period were polytheistic, which
means that they prayed to more
than one god.
The Star of David is the
symbol of the Jewish
religion. It is a six-pointed
star. In Hebrew it is known
as the Shield of David
because King David
had this star on
his shield.
Judaism is not a race
 Judaism is not a race because Jews
do not share one common ancestry.
For instance, Ashkenazi Jews and
Sephardic Jews are both "Jewish."
 However, whereas Ashkenazi Jews
often hail from Europe, Sephardic
Jews often hail from the Middle
East. People of many different races
have become Jewish over the
centuries.
Judaism is not a nationality
Although today Israel is often
called the Jewish homeland,
being Jewish is not a
nationality because Jews have
been dispersed throughout the
world for almost two thousand
years.
Judaism is both a Cultural and
Religious Identity
Being Jewish means that you are
part of the Jewish people,
whether because you were born into
a Jewish home and culturally
identify as Jewish or because you
practice the Jewish religion (or
both).
Cultural Judaism includes
things such as Jewish foods,
customs and rituals. For
instance, many people are born
into Jewish homes and are raised
eating blintzes and lighting
shabbat candles, but never step
foot inside a synagogue.
A Jewish identity is automatically
bestowed on babies of Jewish
mothers (according to Orthodox
Judaism) and of Jewish mothers or
fathers (according to Reform
Judaism).
This Jewish identity stays with
them throughout life even if they
don't actively practice Judaism.
Religious Judaism includes
the beliefs of the Jewish
religion. The way a person
practices the Jewish religion
can take many forms and
partially for this reason there
are different movements of
Judaism.
The main denominations
of Judaism are:
Orthodox,
Liberal, Reform,
Messianic and
Hellenistic.
Many people who are
born into Jewish homes
affiliate with one of these
branches, but there are
also those who do not.
Orthodox Jews
Reform Jews
If a person is not born Jewish, that
person can convert to Judaism by
studying with a rabbi and
undergoing the process of
conversion.
Merely believing in the precepts of
Judaism is not enough to make
someone a Jew. They must complete
the conversion process in order to
be considered Jewish.
Though the different
branches of Judaism have
varying requirements for
conversion, it is safe to say
that the conversion process
is very meaningful for
whoever decides to
undertake it.
An important element in every
Jewish home is the Mezuzah.
This is a small hand-writing
scroll containing the shema.
The Shema is the Jewish
statement of belief. It takes its
name from the first word of
Deuteronomy 6:4.
This small scroll is placed in a
case and attached to the
doorpost of the house. Some
Jews touch the mezuzah with
their finger tips and lightly kiss
them as they go in and out of
their house.
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