Download File - Josh Goellner

World Religions
Religion- a unified system of beliefs and
practices concerned with sacred things
Sacred- Holy; set apart and given a special
meaning that goes beyond , or transcends,
immediate existence
Profane- Non-sacred
CHANGE OVER TIME RELIGIONS
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UNIVERSALIZING vs. ETHNIC RELIGIONS
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OVERTIME:
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ANIMISM, SHAMANISM
ANTHROPOMORPHIC POLYTHEISM
ELABORATED POLYTHEISM WITH PRIESTS, RITUAL, DOGMA
HINDUISM
SHINTO
ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES AND RELIGIONS BLEND
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RISE OF PERMANENT RELIGIOUS CASTE, MORAL CODES INCLUDING SOME CASTING
ANIMISM/SHAMANISM TO GENERALIZED ANTRHOPOMORPHISM T0 POLYHEISM
PHILOSOPHIES AND MONOTHEISMS DEVELOP AT END OF PERIOD
EARLY RELIGIONS
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MAJOR FEATURES OF EACH, WHERE ARE RELIGIONS LOCATED
CHINESE RELIGIOUS COMPLEX: TAOISM, CONFUCIANISM, LEGALISM
JAINISM, BUDDHISM
HELLENIC PHILOSOPHY
MONOTHEISM: EXCLUSIVITY
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JUDAISM
CHRISTIANITY
ISLAM
World Religions
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18
16
Jewish
Confucian
Buddhist
Christian
Hindu
Muslim
Roman Catholic
Atheist
Other
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1st Qtr
CONFUCIUS’ SEARCH FOR ORDER
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Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.)
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A strong-willed man, from an aristocratic family
Traveled ten years searching for an official post
Educator with numerous disciples
Sayings compiled in the Analects by disciples
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Fundamentally moral and ethical in character
Restore political and social order; stress ritual
Formation of junzi - "superior individuals"
Edited Zhou classics for his disciples to study
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Ren - a sense of humanity
Li - a sense of propriety
Xiao - filial piety
Cultivating of junzi for bringing order to China
5 Relationships and filial piety as basis of society
Confucian ideas
The key Confucian concepts
CONFUCIAN SOCIAL HIERARCHY
Confucian Scholar Official
THE
CONFUCIAN
WORLD
Siddhartha Gautama “Buddha”
• Founder of Buddhism
• Called the Enlightened
One
• Lived 563-483 BCE
• Originated in India
Beliefs
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Reincarnation
Recycle: birth, death, rebirth
Seek detachment from worldly desires
Four noble truths
Nirvana- release from selfishness and pain
Eight fold path
WORLD OF BUDDHISM
Christianity
• Jesus born in Bethlehem taught forgiveness,
mercy, and sympathy
• He was later crucified by the Romans for
claiming to be the Messiah
• After his death a band of Apostles believed
Jesus rose from the dead, and help to preach
Jesus’ message (Paul’s Journeys)
• Christians were killed because they refused
to worship the emperor
• Emperor Constantine had a vision before a
battle that convinced him to become
Christian, which he later made Christianity
the official Roman religion
THE CHRISTIAN WORLD
Muhammad
Teachings
Written in the Qur’an
Monotheism
Economic and Social
Justice
Muhammad the last &
greatest of all the
prophets sent by
Allah
--Abraham, Moses, Jesus
among the earlier prophets
Muhammad
Teachings, continued
Five Pillars
__Believe in One God (Allah) &
that Muhammad is His Prophet
__Pray 5x a day facing Mecca
__Give to the Poor
__During Holy Month,Ramadan,
fast during daytime
__At least once in life, take hajj to
Mecca
TRADE ROUTES c. 500 CE
SPREAD OF ISLAM
ISLAM
Hinduism
Major beliefs of Hinduism
• Many gods but they all come from one central God
• At death a person’s soul is reborn into another living
thing creating an endless cycle of rebirth
(reincarnation)
• Karma is your behavior in life and good karma
means better placement in the next life
• Hindu’s belief in sacred objects such as the cow and
the Ganges River which has the power to wash away
evil and sin
Caste System
Priests
Warriors
Landowners
Peasants
Untouchables
• The Aryans created this to secure their stature
among the Dravidians (only Aryans could
occupy the higher castes)
• Caste is based on birth, and one could only
move up through reincarnation
SPREAD OF INDIAN FAITHS
Judaism
• Abraham, 3rd century BCE (Israel Egypt)
Diaspora
• Moses, circa 1200 BCE (back to Israel from
Egypt) Diaspora
• Torah and Talmud are sacred writings
• First monotheistic faith
• Ten Commandments
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Religious Hearths
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