Download Ancient Religions and Beliefs

Ancient Religions and Beliefs





Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Hinduism
Islam
 Judaism
 Zoroastrianism
 Daoism
 Legalism
Zoroastrianism
 Founded by Zoroaster. Persian prophet and
religious reformer tried to answer the
question, “Why should so much suffering
and chaos exist in the world?”
 Purpose – to rid the world of suffering and
chaos.
 About 140,000, most in India
Zoroastrianism
 Followers of Ahura Mazda, the God of Truth and
Light also called the Supreme God, would
receive paradise.
– Ahura Mazda - Paradise
 Followers of Ahriman, the God of Evil and
Darkness, would suffer forever in a fiery pit.
– Ahriman = fiery pit
 Process – People’s own choices control their fate.
Zoroastrianism
 Teachings:
 Gathas – Most sacred texts – Hymns and poetry
– Belief was that two spiritual armies fight for
possession of a person’s soul.
– Developed ideas about heaven & hell, God & Satan,
human soul and final judgment that had a great impact
on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
– "Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed worldreligions, and it has probably had more influence on
mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single
faith." Mary Boyce.
Judaism
 Founded by
– Abraham was chosen as the “father” of the Hebrew
people.
– Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery.
 Purpose – To be made a great nation, protected
by god and blessed by him.
 Relationships –
– Obey God – Yahweh
– Community, Live justly with one another
 Approximately 15 million followers of
Judaism today.
Judaism
 Process –
– Monotheism, a belief in a single god.
– A covenant was formed between God, Yahweh, and
the Hebrew people that if they obeyed Him, they
would be protected.
 Teachings –
– Torah – 1st 5 books of the Old Testament
– Talmud – Laws given to Moses by Yahweh
– The Ten Commandments were given to the Hebrews
as civil and religious laws which regulated social and
religious behavior.
• 10 Commandments = civil and religious laws
Definitions

The Ten Commandments
I am the Lord, thy God and Thou shalt not have any
other gods before me.
2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain.
4) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5) Honor thy father and thy mother.
6) Thou shalt not kill.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8) Thou shalt not steal.
9) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
10) Thou shalt not covet.
1)
Judaism
 Judaism has influenced human behavior
for thousands of years, not only in
Judaism, but in Christianity, and Islam.
– Has influenced Christianity and Islam beliefs
Review Questions 1
1. What was the purpose of Zoroastrianism?
2. How was it determined if people’s god was Ahriman or
Ahura Mazda?
3. What did Mary Boyce say in regards to the influence
Zoroastrianism has had on other religions?
4. What’s the difference between civil and religious laws?
5. What are 3 of the first 5 commandments?
6. Who were the two founders of these two religions?
7. Name 3 of the 5 books in the Old Testament contained
in the Torah.
8. Which other 2 religions has Judaism influenced?
Islam
 Founded by Muhammad in 620 B.C.E.
 Relationships – Belief in one God - Allah.
 Islam – means “submission to Allah”
 Muslim – One who follows Islam
 1.6 billion Muslims today (Approx. 23% of
world population)
 Process –
– Life long acts of worship
• The Five Pillars
Islam
 Teachings –
– Five Pillars of Islam
•
•
•
•
•
Faith – One God, Allah, Muhammad is his messenger.
Prayer – 5 times a day, facing Mecca (the east)
Alms or Charity – to the poor, a religious tax
Fasting – Month of Ramadan, one meal at the end of the day.
Pilgrimage – to Mecca, at least once in their life.
– Believe in the Bible AND the prophets of Judaism and
Christianity
– Qur’an – Words revealed to Muhammad by the angel
Gabriel
– Shari’ah – Laws based on principles of the Qur’an,
regulates religious, political and social aspects of life.
Islam
 Two Main Divisions
– Sunni – People of Tradition, quietists. Leaders are
elected, not blood related, majority
– Shi’ite – Activitists/radical, True leadership is passed
through bloodlines, minority.
– Differ based on who should have succeeded
Muhammad after his death in 632.
 Belief in final judgment – Paradise or hell.
Christianity
 Founded by Jesus Christ
 Purpose – To reach salvation by following the
teachings of Christ
 Relationships – Belief in one God
– Often refer to God in three ways, often called the
Trinity:
• God the Father, creator and Father of all humankind
• God the Son, Jesus the Christ
• God the Holy Spirit; power of God experienced by people in
their lives, inspiring human beings all over the world.
• This is not suggesting that there are three different Gods but
one God working in three different ways. It is how Christians
explain that Jesus was God and a human.
Christianity
 Process –
– Live a good life, free of sins.
– Repent of sins that you have/do.
• Through Jesus, it is possible for humanity to turn back to God
and to be saved from sin. Anyone who has sinned and is truly
sorry for what he or she has done can be sure of God’s
forgiveness.
• Those who live a Christian life, believe in Jesus and turn
back to God, can look forward to a further life of happiness
after death, as they will be received into heaven.
Christianity
 Teachings –
– Teachings of Christ as recorded in the New Testament
of the Bible.
– Nicene Creed - It is in three sections, states
beliefs about God, Jesus and other aspects of
Christianity.
– Belief in the resurrection. The Bible states that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ was a sign that he had
gained victory over the power of death. Because of
this, death is not the end, and that after death there is
eternal life.
– After death, the physical body dies but the spirit lives
on. This spirit, or soul, is reunited with God (in
heaven) and then finds eternal rest.
Branches of Christianity
Approximately 43,000 Christian
denominations in the world today.
Review Questions
1. What requirement qualifies one for forgiveness in
Christianity?
2. What does the Qur’an teach?
3. What does the term “resurrection” mean to
Christians?
4. Who is the founder of Islam?
5. What are the names of the two divisions of Muslims?
6. What does the term Islam mean?
7. Name the 5 pillars of Islam.
8. What is the name of the God of Islam?
9. Approximately how many branches of Christianity
exist?
10. In Christianity, who make up the Trinity?
Identify from which religion
come the following
words/names:
1. Abraham
2. Allah
3. +2 billion followers
4. Resurrection
5. Protestant
6. Ahura Mazda
7. Ten Commandments
8. Muslim
9. God the Holy Spirit
10.Two armies fight for
possession of
person’s soul
11.Pilgrimage
12.Repentance
13.Sunni
14.Most influential
religion
15.Yahweh
16.Muhammad
17.Trinity
18.The Five Pillars
19.Talmud
20.Main area of the world
is in India.
1. Abraham
Judaism
2. Allah
Islam
3. +2 billion followers
Christianity
4. Resurrection
Christianity
5. Protestant
Christianity
6. Ahura Mazda
Zoroastrianism
7. Ten Commandments
Judaism
8. Muslim
Islam
9. God the Holy Spirit
Christianity
10. Two Armies Fight for
Possession of person’s
soul.
Zoroastrianism
11.Pilgrimage
Islam
12.Repentance
Christianity
13.Sunni
Islam
14.Most influential
religion
Zoroastrianism
15.Yahweh
Judaism
16.Muhammad
Islam
17. Trinity
Christianity
18. The Five Pillars
Islam
19. Talmud
Judaism
20. Main area of the
world is in India.
Zoroastrianism
Buddhism
 Founded by Siddhartha Gautama
 Purpose – Through meditation, find
Nirvana, a refuge from inevitable suffering
through living a moral and religious life.
 Relationships – None, except with self,
right thinking and good deeds.
Buddhism
 Process – By understanding the Four Noble
Truths, and mastering the Eightfold Path through
a series of reincarnations, one could achieve
‘nirvana’.
 Teachings –
– Four Noble Truths – Essence of Buddha’s teachings
• Truth of Suffering, Cause of Suffering, End of Suffering, and
the Path that frees us from suffering.
– Eightfold Path
Eightfold Path
•
Right view
•
•
Right thought
•
•
Seeing things as they really are, the truth of things.
Think good things, free from selfish desires and ill
will towards others.
Right speech
•
Words have consequences; therefore, every time a
person speaks, they could be the cause of either good
or evil. Avoid harsh words & lying, and try to say
good things.
Eightfold Path
• Right action
• Deeds have consequences. Actions are performed
because they help a person attain Nirvana.
• Right way of life
• A person’s way of life must be the right one or else it
will be difficult to follow all the paths.
Eightfold Path
• Right effort
• Effort to rejecting anything which would interfere
with a person’s progress towards right meditation.
• Right mindfulness
• Pay full attention to what you are doing. Be aware of
what is going on and give attention to what is
happening at present rather than thinking about the
past or the future.
• Right concentration
• Meditation. Concentrate the mind entirely on one
thing. The way to enlightenment is through attention
not through fantasy.
• Both Buddhism and Hinduism involve a
break from the chain of reincarnations once
a perfect state of understanding is
achieved. For Buddhism this is called
Nirvana, in Hinduism, this is called
Moksha.
• Both Buddhism and Hinduism believe in
reincarnation.
• Buddhism is most similar to Hinduism
Definitions

Nirvana
–

State of bliss, free from suffering and
dissatisfaction. The release of selfishness and pain.
Karma
–
Based on good or bad deeds – follows from one
reincarnation to another.
Hinduism
 Founded by – No single founder
 Brahman (or the world soul) has three main
functions and these are portrayed by the three
gods, Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
–
–
–
–
Sometimes these are referred to as the supreme gods.
Brahma - Creator and source of all creation.
Vishnu - Preserver and keeps all good things on earth.
Shiva - Destroyer and is needed because some things
are harmful and change is necessary for the creation
of new things.
Hinduism
 Purpose – To liberate the soul from the illusions,
disappointments, and mistakes of everyday life.
Attain Moksha.
 Process – Understanding does not usually come
in one lifetime, but through the process of
reincarnation (rebirth), until moksha is achieved.
Hinduism
 Teachings – Karma - every action has an effect,
and that there is a cause for everything that
happens in life.
– A person's karma will affect their future lives: evil or
selfish actions will result in an unhappy future while
unselfish or good actions will bring benefits in the
next life.
– Belief that every Hindu is born into a particular caste
(varna/social status) as a result of their behavior in a
previous life.
Confucianism
 Founded by Confucius
 Purpose – Ethics, to improve oneself
morally, socially and politically.
 Relationships – Social and Civic
responsibility, order and harmony
 Process – Education, Filial Piety.
Definitions
 Filial Piety - Children should respect their parents
and elders.
 Five Basic Relationships:
–
–
–
–
–
Ruler and Subject
Father and Son
Husband and Wife
Older Brother and Younger Brother
Friend and Friend.
• Shows importance of FAMILY and the individual’s
responsibility to community
Confucianism
 Teachings
– Social order, harmony, and good government
could be achieved if society was organized by
the Five Basic Relationships
 Sacred Texts
– The Analects (sayings/ideas of Confucius)
– The Five Classics (values/belief system)
Confucianism
 Education is critically important to followers.
 About 6 million (26,000 in US) followers
 “If a ruler himself is upright, all will go well
without orders. But if he himself is not upright,
even though he gives orders, they will not be
obeyed.”
 Golden Rule : “Do not unto others what you
would not want other to do unto you.”
Daoism
 Based on the philosophy of Laozi.
– A universal force called Dao, meaning “the Way,”
refers to the power that envelops, surrounds and flows
through all living and non-living things.
 Purpose – To gain knowledge and understanding
of nature.
– Daoism is based on Nature.
 About 20 million followers, Taiwan.
Daoism
 Teachings – To search for knowledge and understanding
of nature. This has led followers to pursue scientific
studies such as astronomy and medicine.
Review Questions
1. In Hinduism, Who/What is Brahman?
2. In Buddhism, how would you describe the state of
‘Nirvana’?
3. What does the term ‘filial piety’ mean?
4. What are the two sacred texts of Confucianism?
5. Who is the founder of Buddhism?
6. In Hinduism, why are people born into a particular caste
(social status)?
7. In Hinduism and Buddhism, how do you break the chain
of reincarnation?
8. What are the 8 concepts of the Eightfold Path?
9. What is the purpose of Daoism?