Download WORLD RELIGIONS

WORLD RELIGIONS
RELIGION
An organized collection of beliefs,
cultural systems, and world views that
relate humanity to an order of
existence.

RELIGION
 Polytheistic-
Believing in many gods
 Monotheistic-Believing in one god
 Deity- A god
 Sect-Sections within a religion usually separated by
subtle differences in their beliefs within the same
religion
 Prophet- someone who speaks the word of God
RELIGION
Western
Religions
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Eastern
Religions
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism
JUDAISM
Founded about 2000 BC BY ABRAHAM
Judaism’s Key Beliefs
 Holy
book: The Torah(1st 5 books of the bible), The Hebrew
Bible (Old Testament)
 Place
 First
Of Worship: Synagogue
monotheistic religion
 Deity:
Belief in one god – Yahweh
 Sacred
Place: Jerusalem, Israel
JUDAISM’S KEY BELIEFS

10 Commandments given by Yahweh (God) to Moses who is a prophet Includes:

Do not steal, kill or lie

Honor (respect your parents)

There is only one god

Believe in Afterlife- Heaven

A person serves Yahweh (God) by studying the Torah and living by its teachings

Leadership: Rabbi

God holds you accountable for your sins and shortcomings

Covenant with God - Agreement to uphold moral obligations

Divisions (Sects):

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform
JUDAISM’S KEY BELIEFS

How it’s Practiced:

Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah - at age 13
boys/girls celebrate their entrance into
adult religious community

Several holidays that honor their history &
god.

Holy day (Sabbath or Shabbat) is from
sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Services led by Rabbi
OTHER INFO:
Founded by Abraham
Same God as
Christians and Muslims
Kosher = Various
dietary restrictions as
interpreted in the
Hebrew Bible
JUDAISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS
CHRISTIANITY
Christianity’s Key Beliefs
† Founded 30AD by Jesus
† Holy Book: The Holy Bible. Consisting of the
Old Testament and the New Testament
† Place of Worship: Church
† Monotheistic
† Deity: God, Jesus as the son of God
† Christ or Messiah
† Sacred Place: Jerusalem
How it is Practiced:
†
10 Commandments given by God to Moses
†
Believe that Jesus died and then rose from the dead to save people from
sin.
†
Resurrection
†
Believe in heaven and hell
†
Christians believe they can serve God and achieve salvation by following
the teachings of Jesus.
†
Many Christians have a practice of baptism where they are washed of
their sins and accept Jesus and their Lord.
†
Christmas is the when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and Easter is
when they celebrate His resurrection after being crucified
†
Other sites centered around Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection
†
Holy Day: Sunday
† Christianity’s Divisions (Sects):
† Roman Catholics
† Eastern Orthodox
† Baptist
† Lutheran
† Presbyterian
† Etc.
† Other Info:
† For many sects the cross represents a symbol
of victory over death
CHRISTIANITY- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS
ISLAM
Islam’s Key Beliefs
Founded 622AD BY MUHAMMAD
Holy Book: QUR’AN
Places of Worship: MOSQUE
Monotheistic
Deity: BELIEF GOD, ALLAH – ARABIC FOR GOD
Sacred Place: Saudi Arabia - cites of Mecca and
Medina, Jerusalem – Dome of the Rock, Muhammad
ascended to heaven from there
5 PILLARS:
1.ONLY ONE GOD - ALLAH & MUHAMMAD
IS HIS PROPHET
2.PRAY 5X A DAY
3.CHARITY
4.FAST DURING RAMADAN
5.PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
How’s it’s Practiced:
Ablution – cleansing before prayer
Don’t eat pork or drink alcohol
Halal – dietary restrictions based on the slaughtering of meat
Holidays that celebrate their history
Holy Day: Friday
Spiritual Leader: Imam
Only Arabic can be used in worship
Word of Allah as given to Muhammad
Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven over a period of
time where he received messages from Allah through the angel
Gabriel
Believe in heaven and hell
Islam’s Divisions (Sects)
Sunni and Shi’a
The division began with disagreements about
who should lead after the death of Muhammad.
Sunnis believe that anyone with a deep
understanding of Islam and the Qur’an can lead
Muslims
Shi’as believe that only direct descendants of
Muhammad can lead Muslims
Other Information
Consider Jews and Christians to be “People
of the Book”
Both have a holy book with many of the
same messages as Qur’an
Muslims think Moses and Jesus are
prophets, with Muhammad being the final
prophet
ISLAM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS
HINDUISM
 3rd
most popular religion with
900 million followers around
the world- NO FOUNDERfounded out of Brahmanism
 Brahmanism-
Brahmans were
the priest class in society.
Brahman- the supreme
power
HINDUSIM

Holy Book- Vedas- written in Sanskrit


Four books, originally not written, verbally passed down, each is broken down into four sections.
Hymns, mantras, everyday life
Place of Worship- Most people have shrines at home

Mandir- temple, most often visited on the weekend

Polytheistic

Dieties: THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS of gods and goddess that they worship


These gods and goddesses represent various aspects of Brahman, and there are none that are
‘required’ to worship

Most notable are:

Vishnu: creator and preserver

Shiva: destroyer
Sacred place: Indus River Valley, various pilgrimage sites throughout India
HINDUISM





More of a way of life that also includes
religion- beliefs, traditions, ethics, rituals, and
philosophies
Also believe in reincarnation- soul is
immortal and lives in many lifetimes, in
various vessels
Karma- happiness in life is dependent on
how last life was lived
Moshka- being one with Brahma, ultimate
goal, reincarnation ends
Upanishads- individual and universal soul,
first mentions of reincarnation
HINDUISM- ORGANIZATION

Caste system- occupational groups, dictates
professional life for people. Not changeable,
however now it is illegal to discriminate against
those in other castes than your own

Brahmana- those in spiritual education and
teaching

Kshatriya- pubic service, maintain order, defense

Vaishya- business people

Shudra- semi- skilled and unskilled workers

Untouchables- shunned out of caste
HINDUISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS
BUDDHISM

4th largest religion in the world

Founder- Siddhartha Gotama- Buddah


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‘Buddha’ means enlightened one
Sacred text- Sutras/Sutta- spoken word of
Buddha. Many books, very complicated and
complex scriptures

Theraveda- Writings are broken into three parts

Mahayana- different than Theraveda, not considered
authentic scripture, writings broken into two parts
Place of worship- Go to temples to ‘worship’,
meditate- working towards enlightenment
BUDDHISM

Non-theistic- not based on a concept of a supreme god-so it is
neither monotheistic or polytheistic

Deity- none though they pay respects to images of Buddha

Sacred place: Lumbini- Buddha’s birthplace, Bodh Gaya- place of
his enlightenment, Sarnath- delivered first teachings, Kusinarawhere Buddha died

Was in a wealthy family but realized wealth was not all that was
needed to find happiness

He meditated and studied until he reached enlightenment at the
age of 35
BUDDHISM

Four Noble Truths
 First-
life is suffering. We cannot deny that bad things happen, instead of
being sad about it, find ways to avoid sadness, and accept it to be truly
happy
 Second- Getting what you want does not equal happiness.
 Third- Do not dwell in past or crave something we do not have will result in
happy life. Live one day at a time
 Fourth- Noble Eight Fold path results in happiness

Eight Fold Path
 Being
moral, focused and aware of thoughts and actions
 FOLLOWING THESE WAYS OF LIFE WILL LEAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Karma- All actions have an effect
BUDDHISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS
Confucianism
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Founder- Confucius born in 551 BC
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Sacred Text- five books- book of history, book of
poems, book of changes, book of rites, book of
spring and autumn annals
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Place of worship- temples

Nontheistic- way of life

Deity- None, this is a movement aimed at better
society

Sacred place- temple in Qufu in Shandong
Province, Cemetery of Confucius , Temple of
Confucius and the Confucius Family Mansion is
regarded as one of the holy cities in the world.
CONFUCIANISM

Respect, fair, polite, honor, morality

Strong organized government

Confucius taught five basic virtues:
 kindness
 righteousness
 sobriety
 wisdom
 trustworthiness
THE CODE OF HAMMURABI
 King
of Mesopotamia
 Conquered
 Had
built
neighboring kingdoms
canals, temples, and city walls
 Code
of Hammurabi- his 282 laws were
written down, carved into stone
columns- everyone knew what they
were, united them all