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6.2 Why Do Religions Have
Different Distributions?
Objectives!
 Describe, compare, and contrast the origin and
diffusion of the major universalizing religions
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Christianity
Islam
Buddhism
Origin of Buddhism
 Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama
 Born in 563 BCE in present day Nepal
Upper class, son of a lord
 On a series of trips he saw the pain and suffering of others, before
ultimately meeting with a monk who instructed him about
spiritual detachment
 At 29, left his palace to live alone in the forest for six years of
meditation
 Emerged as the Buddha and spent 45 years teaching across India,
beginning in the northeast

Origin of Buddhism
 Four Noble Truths
 All living beings must endure suffering
 Suffering caused by a desire to live leads to reincarnation into
new bodies
 Attainment of Nirvana through mental and moral purification
ends the cycle of suffering
 Nirvana is attained through the Eightfold Path: belief, resolve,
speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, meditation
Origin of Buddhism
 Origin of Theravada – “the way of the elders”
 Older of the large branches
 Buddhism is a full time occupation; requires living as a monk
 Emphasizes solitary self-reflection
 Focuses on Buddha’s wisdom
 Origin of Mahayana – split from Theravada about
2,000 years ago
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Less demanding, so it can be more all encompassing for great
numbers of people
Emphasizes teaching and helping others
Focuses on Buddha’s compassion
Origin of Buddhism
 Origin of Vajrayana – emphasizes the practice of
rituals, Tantras
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Believe that Buddha practiced Tantras
Other branches assert that Tantras evolved from Mayahana
Buddhism several centuries later
Origin of Christianity
 Jesus of Nazareth was born between 8 and 4 BCE
 Crucified in Jerusalem (modern day Israel) in about 30 CE
 The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John chronicled
his life and teachings
 Origin of Roman Catholic Branch
 Follow the Bible as interpreted by the Catholic hierarchy,
headed by the Pope
 Connection to God occurs through the Church’s seven
sacraments
Origin of Christianity
 Origin of the Orthodox Branch


Comprises the faith and practices from a collection of churches from
the eastern Roman Empire
Split with Catholicism occurred in 1054, in part from rivalry between
the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople

Same sacraments as the Catholic church, but reject doctrines added
after 8th century
 Origin of the Protestant Branch


Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Church
Primary difference is that Luther asserted that individuals are
responsible for attaining personal salvation via direct prayer and
faith, rather than sacrament
Question Time!
 How are the origins of Buddhism and Christianity
representative of universalizing religions?
 How are the origins of Protestantism and Orthodox
Christianity similar?
 How are they different?
Origin of Islam
 Muhammad was born in Makkah/Mecca (in modern day
Saudi Arabia) in 570 CE
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
Visited by the angel Gabriel and the Quran is accepted as the written
record of these revelations
Five pillars of faith
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Shahadah – recitation affirming one God and Muhammad as the messenger
Salat – five daily prayers facing Mecca
Zakat – giving generously to charity as an act of purity and growth
Sawm of Ramadan – fasting during the month of Ramadan as an act of selfpurification
Hajj – pilgrimage to Mecca if possible
 Share a common thread with the other Abrahamic religions
 Adam was the first male and Abraham was one of his descedants
Origin of Islam
 Shiite vs Sunnis
 Reflects the disagreement over the line of succession


Caliph – successor of the prophet
Three caliphs expanded the territory into Egypt and Persia
 Sunni branch
 Views it self as orthodox and traditionalist

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Historically under state control
Codified system of Islamic Law (Sharia Law)
 Shiite branch
 The Shiite branch acknowledges Ali as a legitimate caliph, while the
Sunni branch disagree among themselves about the line of succession
 Often the poorest populations in predominantly Sunni governed
countries
Origin of Hinduism
 No specific founder
 Existed prior to recorded history
 The word Hinduism originated in the 6th century
BCE
 Earliest Hindu documents dating to 1500 BCE
 Central Asian tribes invaded India in 2500 BCE

Brought Indo-European language in addition to proto-Hindu
religion
Question Time!
 Compare and contrast the origins of Islam and
Hinduism in context of the differences between
universalizing and ethnic religions.
 Why are the Abrahamic religions labeled as such?
 How do the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam
differ?
Diffusion of religion
Diffusion of Christianity
 Hierarchical
 Emperor Constantine spread Christianity hierarchically
through the Roman Empire
 Relocation
 Missionaries – individuals who spread religious teachings into
new areas via relocation
 Contagious
 Radiating spread of Christianity via person-to-person
exposure and conversion
Diffusion of Islam
 Contagious
 Muhammad’s successors spread militarily through Africa,
Asia, and Europe
 Relocation
 Missionaries to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia
Diffusion Buddhism
 Diffused slowly from NE India
 Indian Emperor Asoka sent missionaries into countries
neighboring the empire
 His son Mahinda led missionaries to Sri Lanka

As a result, Sri Lanka asserts itself as the country with the longest
tradition of continuous Buddhism
 Introduced to China along trade routes during the 1st
century AD
Lack of Diffusion in Ethnic Religions
 Mingling of ethnic and universalizing religions
 African traditional customs mingle with Christianity
 Buddhism in China mixed heavily with Chinese traditional
customs
 Buddhism in Japan mixed heavily with Shintoism
Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
 Diffusion of ethnic religions occurs through
relocation diffusion

Example: Mauritius – an island off the coast of Madagascar

Uninhabited until 1683 – immigrants from India brought
Hinduism
Diffusion of Judaism
 Uniquely wide distribution for an ethnic religion
 Origin in the Eastern Mediterranean
 70 CE – the Romans forced Jewish populations to disperse
 The origin of the first Jewish diaspora – retained their
essential cultural and religious identity
 Faced persecution due to their religion

Often, Jewish populations were concentrated into ghettos
 Neighborhoods set up by law to be inhabited exclusive by
Jewish people
Question Time!
 Compare and contrast the diffusion of Christianity,
Islam, and Buddhism
 Why does Judaism’s diffusion make it a unique
example of an ethnic religion?