Download 3 Main Religions of the Middle East

3 Main Religions of the Middle
East
Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Judaism
• The oldest of the three faiths is _Judaism. It developed
among a people called the ___Hebrews________ . Much
of what we know about the Hebrews comes from their
writings which later turned into the ____Bible. The
founder of the Hebrews was a shepherd from Sumer
named _____Abraham______________.
• Around 2000 B.C., __Abraham_ led his family to an area
called _Palestine_. The Bible says ___God_ commanded
them to move there. If Abraham obeyed, God
promised him ___a new nation_. That agreement gave
birth to ____Israel. Descendents lived there for many
years but eventually moved to __Egypt_. In Egypt, they
were ______enslaved_______________.
Judaism
• ___Moses_ led the Jews out of __Egypt_ and in
search of the “__Promised Land_”. Today, Jews
still celebrate the _Exodus, the escape from
__slavery_ in Egypt.
• During Moses’ journey, the Bible tells that
__Moses_ brought the Ten Commandments, The
Hebrew God’s laws, to his _people_. They
stressed the _importance_ of worshiping _God_.
They also taught people to honor__ their
parents and how to live together in __peace_.
People should not _lie_, __steal__, or __kill__.
Judaism
• God’s Rule is an _agreement__to live by _God’s_ laws in
return for his _protection__ called a ___covenant_.
• Judaism is a ___monotheistic__religion. They believe in only
one God.
• The Jewish religious text of ___Moses__ is known as the
___Torah__. These are the first ___5__ books of the teachings
of Moses. Torah means “to teach.”
• Mosaic law values _human life_ more than older laws. It
also guides Hebrews’ __daily_ lives. Hebrews cannot work
on the ___Sabbath_, the 7th day of the week. It is a day of
__worship_ and rest.
Christianity
• Jesus was born in __
____ during troubled
times. He was born to a poor young woman and her
carpenter husband. He grew up a faithful _
_ in
Nazareth.
• Most of what we know of Jesus comes from the first ______
books of the New Testament in the Christian Bible. These
books are known as _______________, and tell that Jesus
studied the writings of Jewish prophets. Eventually, Jesus
began to preach.
• The people who followed him were called _______________
and help spread his messages. He told people that God
would judge __humanity_. Those who asked for
________________ for their sins and believed in God would live
with God forever.
Christianity
• He had TWO basic teachings: love __God____ above
all else, and love __others_____ as much as they
loved themselves. All people should be humble
and kind. His message of love and forgiveness
drew large crowds.
• Authorities in Jerusalem felt Jesus was putting
himself above religious and civil law. According to
the Gospels, the __Romans_______ crucified Jesus.
He was nailed to a _cross_ and left there to die.
After death, he was buried, but rose from the dead
three days later, leading to the ___Resurrection__.
Christianity
• Jesus lived among his disciples for 40 days and
then rose into heaven. This led the disciples to
believe he was the _Messiah_. They called him
Jesus _Christ_. Christos was the _Greek_ word for
______Messiah__. From this word we get the name
for __Christianity_.
• Early Christians taught that because Jesus died for
them and __conquered_ all death, all people could
be ___saved____________. Everyone’s sins could be
_forgiven_ and they could live again after _death_.
CHRISTIANITY
• At first, disciples only preached to Jews, but
_Paul__said people didn’t have to be Jews to be
Christians. His encouraging letters to Christian
communities makes up a large portion of the
__New Testament. This part of the Bible tells the
stories of _Jesus___, __his followers_, and later
__Christian ideas_. The Christian faith is based on
the message of the New Testament.
ISLAM
• The third of the _great religions is Islam. It developed in
__Southwest__________ Asia and is _monotheistic_. It began
in the town of __Mecca______ in Saudi Arabia.
• _Muhammad____ heard a voice of an ____angel_____. It
ordered Muhammad to _tell__ about the glories of Allah___-“God” in Arabic. Over the next ___22__ years, Muhammad
received __hundreds_ of messages. Those messages were
either memorized or _written_ down. After his death,
followers put down those messages in one book called the
__Koran. It is written in ____Arabic_____________ and contains
_114__ chapters.
Islam
• Muhammad began with two basic ideas:
– First, there is only one _God__________.
– Second, everyone who believed in _God_ had to
follow his ____laws___________.
– Islam was founded in _Mecca_. In 622,
Muhammad and his followers fled to _Medina_.
That was called a __hijrah, or flight. It marked
the beginning of the Islamic ___calendar_.
ISLAM
– Five Pillars of Islam:
• 1:_Say there is only one God and Muhammad is God’s
prophet
• 2:_Pray 5 times a day toward Mecca
• 3:_help the poor
• 4:Fast during holy month of Ramadan
• 5:Go on a pilgrimage to Mecca
• Other rules of Islam: _No Alcohol or ___pork; 4 wives
but treat with respect; rules about inheriting
property and treatment of slaves.
• Muslims believe that people who obey God’s _rules go to a
_Paradise____ when they die.