Download World Religions Comparison Chart

NAME _________________________________________________________ DATE _________________
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Judaism
1) Considered to be the oldest monotheistic religion –
_________________________________
2) God is referred to as Yahweh, “I am who am,” and do not call him that or
refer to him as that.
3) Their stories are collected in the Hebrew Bible or ________________
(Torah, Nevee’eem, Ketuvim). The people were ________________ from
the land of ___________________-- therefore referred to as Judaism.
4) __________________ is considered the founder of the faith, over 4000
years ago, and he made a ______________- or agreement with the one
God and moved his family to Canaan or the land god promised him.
(Present day Israel).
5) In order to avoid death the Jewish people moved to _______________and
were enslaved, years later ___________________-, born a Jew, led them
out of Egypt after the ___________________________, and brought them
back to the promise land.
6) Many famous leaders led the Jewish people, Abraham, Moses, David,
Solomon. They made _____________________ their holy city.
7) ________________________- built a temple to honor their god. That temple
was later destroyed and then it was built again. The
_____________________- then destroyed the 2nd temple and exiled them
out of their empire and all that is left of the temple is the western wall or
______________________________.
8) Throughout history they have always been seen as “different” and were
often ________________, blamed for things, and _______________
because of their faith.
9) They have still remained a close knit community. Basic principles of the 10
___________________--, dietary laws, prayer, honoring the
_______________- (Saturday), charity, waiting for the messiah, and the
synagogue are constants.
10)
Branches of Judaism; Reform Judaism, Orthodox Judaism,
Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism.
Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Christianity
1) The Christian religion grew out of the _________________ faith. Jesus, the
founder, was born and raised a Jewish male in the land of the Jewish
community outside of ______________. He was raised by his “virgin”
mother _______________--and Joseph.
2) When he was around _____________- he began to walk around teaching,
healing and speaking to any who would listen. Because he taught and
helped anyone he was labeled as a __________________.
3) Those that followed him were called _____________________-. Later the
twelve closest to him were called the twelve _____________________.
Over time those that followed him were called Christians after the Greek
word for _________________________________-.
4) When Jesus preached to the people he told stories called
_________________- or short stories with a moral lesson. These lessons
appealed to many people because he spoke in simple ways for all to
understand.
5) Jesus was turned into the _______________- authorities for blasphemy and
organizing a ____________-against the Romans. He was sentenced to
death by ____________________-and was nailed to the cross so his
followers _________________________________-. When he died he was
taken down and placed in a tomb. It is believed that three days later he rose
from the dead. This is known as ____________________or the resurrection.
6) After his death the ideas of Jesus where spread through the lands and his
ideas grew. Many died for believing in them, _____________-, and the
religion spread rapidly through the Roman Empire. The faith was saved
when Emperor __________________________ converted and saved it.
7) Jesus main ideas where to: love god, love your _____________, forgive and
________________________-. These simple ideas allowed the religion to
spread. The patriarch of Rome became known as the _______________and
today is in charge of the ____________________ Church.
8) As differences occurred the Christian Church began to divide, The Church of
_______________ became known as Catholic, the Church of
__________________ became known as Eastern Church. From the
Catholic Church many groups broke off after the Protestant Reformation.
Today there are about _____________________ Christian Denominations.
9) Most Christian denominations believe in the Christian Bible, made up of the
____________ Testament (Jewish Bible) and the _______________Testament (stories of Jesus and after). The ideas of Baptism, Marriage,
Easter, Christmas, the Cross and forgiveness are common in most.
10)
Christianity is the largest religion in the world today, 2.1 Billion.
Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Islam
1) Islam means _____________________-. Someone who follows the Islamic
faith is called a ___________________- or one who submits.
2) Muhammad is the ________________-- of Islam and founder. The belief is
that he was in a cave fasting and praying when the _________________
visited him and told him to be the last and final messenger of god or
_________.
3) During this time period Muhammad recorded all the words of the Angel
Gabriel in their holy scripture called the ________________. It was during
this time that Muhammad traveled from Jerusalem to the heavens and met
with the great prophets, Moses, Abraham and Jesus. This is also known as
the holy month of ______________________-. During this month many will
make the _________ to Mecca. They will also fast from sun up to sun down.
4) Muslims follow the ___ Pillars of Islam; proclamation of faith, the Salat (pray
5x a day), Charity, Fast during Ramadan, make a hajj to Mecca.
5) _______________ is the holy city of Islam and is where Muhammad was
born and raised, where he was inspired and where the _______________
(sacred shrine/cube from Allah) is located. This is where they must face
when praying and must try to make a hajj.
6) When Muhammad began to preach he was not accepted by the Meccans
because they feared he would _______________________ network. He
was eventually forced out and went to Medina where he converted the
people there to his ideas. This became known as the _______________ or
turning point in Islam. He returned to Mecca with an army of his followers
and captured the city.
7) The religion of Islam spread more after his death under the 1st 4
_______________ or successor to the prophet. The religion spread rapidly
during this time and took over much of the Middle East. During this time
there was a division on who should be the successor. Those that supported
that any right Muslim male could be caliph are called
________________(majority). Those that said that it had to be a relative of
Muhammad are called __________________ (minority).
8) The religion grew out of ideas from both the _________________ and the
Christian faith. Muhammad called Jews and Christians
“_____________________” because they believed in the
__________________. He was just the final prophet. Not all Muslims are
Arabs. An Arab is some one who’s native language is _________________.
However Arabic is the language of Islam and therefore most Muslims will
learn the Arabic language.
9) Islamic house of worship is called a ________________-. They will gather
on _________________ to pray in unison. It is usually led by an Imam or
________________. But it is not necessary because in Islam there is no
need for someone to interpret the meaning like in other religions. This is also
what makes Islam the most growing religion today.
10)
The other main book in Islam is the Shariah or ______________. It is
the interpretations of the Qur’an in order for people to live a devout life. In
many countries the Shariah is the basis for their everyday laws. Today the
Islamic faith has over 1.5 billion members.
Hinduism
1) The chief religion of India, __________________ - no formal
church/house, roots from ancient Aryan beliefs. It is a ______________,
a social system and culture. It shapes and unifies ______________in
India.
2) No 1 sacred text, multiple, all telling a different part of the religion.
a. ______________ – defining scriptures, 4 books, most ancient
b. Ramayana and Mahabharata, Bhagwad Gita, Upanishads
1. Contains __________________________
2. __________________ and epics- long narrative poems
3) It is ___________________, Thousands of Gods- _________________,
a. Each god is part of a single supreme force, ________________
ii. Nameless, formless and unlimited
b. Three main gods of Hinduism or ____________________
iii. ________________- creator
iv. ________________- preserver
v. ________________- destroyer
c. Each god can take many ___________, Each sect__________________________- worship one or another these
gods or their wives and children
4) Each person had an ____________________- essential self or
__________________, that will never die and continue to live lives past
the death of the ____________________.
5) True goal is __________________- freeing the soul from body so that
the soul can unite with Brahman, ________________ happen in 1
lifetime.
6) Follows the ideas of Reincarnation = ___________________________.
Body dies- soul may be _____________ as anything from a god to a
flower to a snake but is only temporary, continues until soul reaches
_______________________
7) ___________________ = duties and obligations/law of morality that you
must follow. Obedience to caste rules or moral laws will improve
_____________________________ by carrying their duties in this life
8) Karma means- “______________”, law of cause and effect, Mental and
physical deeds in life will affect a person’s
___________________________, Present situation a result or past
existence.
“Follow your _____________ and you will have good _____________”
9) Broke society into the ___________ System (Varna). Based on four
social classes and occupation, ________________________________,
Born into certain caste and remain there for life, Can marry only within
cast
10) Most ___________________ religion in the world today as it continues
to grow and add new ideas to the old ones.
Buddhism
1) Siddhartha Gautama – born about 560 B.C- in ________, was a son of
local ruler who kept him away from human sorrow because of the
interpretation ___________________________.
2) Escaped the palace and saw ____________, dead man, and a
__________, realized suffering of life, so he left family and wealth- set out
to find out cause of ________________________
3) After six years of searching- sat ___________________ under a sacred
tree- reached __________________________, Understood cause of
human suffering and its cure Became known as ____________ or
“Enlightened one”
4) Buddha’s teaching = __________________________
a. Suffering is ________________ = Everyone suffers pain,
sickness and death
b. Cause of suffering is _______________ =People desire riches
and long life
c. To end suffering you must ________________ = Give up desired. To end desire –follow Noble Eightfold Path
5) Eightfold Path = ______________________________________
1. Understanding of suffering, ____________________for all
creatures, kindness and truthfulness
6) If you follow the eightfold path you will achieve _________________freedom from the cycle of birth and death or _______________________
e. Buddha thought himself as a _________________, Believed
salvation achieved when individual self escaped body, Believed in
_______________________________, but denied existence of any
gods
7) After his death his ideas spread, however not in India or Nepal. Ideas
were passed on by followers and eventually written in the a series of
books called the _________________________________________
8) Two main sects developed after:
1. ______________________-_-Buddhism= Stressed monastic
life as way to reach nirvana, Buddha as teacher- not
worshiped as god, Spread to Ceylon, Burma, and Thailand
2. ______________________ Buddhism = Spread to China,
Tibet and Korea, Worshiped Buddha and other enlightened
gods
9) Ideas flourished and took route in many other cultures because it
answered what happened when you died. However Buddha did not want
________________________________________.