Download Religions of the World

Where in the World
Wednesday?
1. What is this?
2. Where is it located?
3. When do you think it
was built?
4. Which culture created
it?
Where in the World Wednesday
• Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Israel
– In Arabic known as el-Mabka or al-Buraq: the
place of weeping
• Wall was built in 19 BCE with layers added on
through time
• Site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage,
originally this wall surrounded the Jewish
Temple’s courtyard
Major Religions of the
Middle East
• Christianity
•Islam
• Judaism
Basic Information
• All three of these major religions are centered in the
Middle East
• All three of these religions believe in ONE god
– monotheism
• All three are considered to be Abrahamic religions
HAGAR
ABRAHAM
Ishmael
SARAH
Isaac
12 Arabian Tribes
Jacob
Esau
12 Tribes of Israel
Judaism
• Adherents known as Jews
– Currently 14 million people practice Judaism
• Worship God (called Yahweh) and follow his
teachings
• Main laws & practice is found in the Torah
– First 5 books of the Old Testament (Bible)
– Additional practices found in the Tenach and the
10 Commandments
Basic History of Jewish Faith
• Divine covenant between
God and Abraham in 2000
BCE
• Prophet Moses led people
to Israel
• Holy city of Jerusalem
– Founded by King David
– First temple built in
Jerusalem but was
destroyed in 70 CE
– In 1948 the nation of Israel
was created as a Jewish
state
Jewish Beliefs
• Services held in synagogues on Saturday
– Led by rabbis
• Beliefs:
– Consider themselves to be God’s Chosen People
– Believe that the Messiah will arrive in the future
to lead all followers to Jerusalem
– Strict Practices
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah
• Food restrictions
Christianity
• Adherents known as Christians
– Over 2.1 billion followers
• Worship God the Father (one God)
– Belief in the Holy Trinity
• God, Son of God, Holy Spirit
• Main religious text is the Bible- the word of God
– Consists of two parts: Old and New Testaments
Christian History
• Break off of Jewish faith
• Leader was Jesus Christ- man
believed to be the Son of God sent
to save humanity from sins
– Jesus was crucified by the Roman
government circa 33 C.E.
• After crucifixion, one of the 12
disciples, Paul of Tarsus, built the
structure of the church
• Constantine adopted Christianity for
himself
– Eventually accepted as the official
religion for Rome
Christian Beliefs
• Services held in churches, mostly on Sunday
– Led by priests, preachers, pastors
• Many different denominations
– Roman Catholic
– Orthodox (Eastern, Greek, Russian)
– Protestants (include Baptists, Methodist, Lutheran,
Amish, Anglican, etc.)
• Holy Cities- Jerusalem and Bethlehem
• Beliefs
– Faith in Jesus (Messiah) will lead to salvation and life
in heaven
Learning Task
• Jerusalem is considered a holy city for all three of the
religions we will study this unit.
• Read about what is going on in Jerusalem.
– This is a class set – do NOT write on it!
• After you read, on your own paper, answer these
questions:
1. Which two religious groups are currently engaged in conflict
over Jerusalem? Why do they feel they should have control?
2. What complaints do Palestinians living in Jerusalem have
about Israel Defense Force? Why do Israelis feel they need the
Defense Force?
3. Create a timeline of the control of Jerusalem with at least 7
dates.
•
•
•
•
Thinking Thursday
Which nation has the largest Islamic population?
Which nation in SW Asia has people who practice mostly Shi’a Islam?
Which percentage of people who practice Islam are Arab?
Which state in the U.S. do you think the dot is located on?
Islam
• Adherents known as Muslims
– 1.5 billion practice Islam
• Worship Allah (the One True God)
– Believe that prophets have brought news from
god, but reject the idea of a savior
• Sacred Texts
– Qur’an- the words of Allah
– Hadith- sayings from Muhammad
Brief History of Islam
• Muhammad the Prophet founded the
religion in 622 CE
– Creation of Islamic city- Medina
– Other Holy Cities- Mecca and Jerusalem
• No true successor to lead the religion
splitting into two major denominations
– Sunni follows the teachings of the Umayyad
leaders – politically based
– Shi’a follow the teachings of Ali (closest male
relative to Muhammad) - conservative
• Islam spread through Middle East,
Northern Africa, Spain
Islamic Beliefs
• Services are held on Friday at a mosque
– Led by an imam
• Five Pillars of Islam
– Shahada- declaration of faith
– Salat- daily prayer routine
– Zakat- tithe or alms (giving to the church)
– Sawm- period of fasting for purification
– Hajj- journey to Mecca
• Follow a strict code of law
– Shar’ia
• Food restrictions
• Instructions on how to live life
Activity
• Compare Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
• Fill out the Venn Diagram with words that are either
unique to those religions or that connect them.
– Must have 10 points per religion!