Download Judaism

Do Now: 3/17/10

“We have just enough religion to make us
hate, but not enough to make us love one
another.”
 Jonathan Swift
Do Now: 3/18/10

“There is only one religion, though there
are a hundred versions of it.”
 George Bernard Shaw
 Stop.
 Think.
 Do
you Agree of Disagree? Why?
Five Major World Religions
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Judaism
Abrahamic Religions
Christianity – Judaism – Islam
Abrahamic Religions
Judaism: Abraham is recorded in the Torah
as the ancestor of the Israelites through
his son Isaac.
 Christianity is sourced from Christ,
known to be Jewish, and therefore making
the same ancestry claim as above.
 Muslims have a tradition that Muhammed,
as a Mecca-region Arab, descends from
Abraham's son Ishmael.

Judaism
Judaism is the oldest of the Abrahamic
religions.
 Generally referred to as the Children of
Israel

Judaism
Based on the Hebrew Bible and Torah
 God = Elohim, Adonai…
 Judaism awaits the coming of the Jewish
Messiah
 Judaism focuses on this life and how to
lead a holy life to please God, rather than
future reward.

Christianity
Begun in Judea in the
1st century A.D.
 World’s largest religion
 based on the life and
teachings of Jesus of
Nazareth

The Trinity

The Father + the Son + the Holy Spirit =
Three in one God
Christianity
Awaiting the second coming of Christ
 Most Christians believe that after one
dies, there are places that the soul goes
such as heaven, hell, limbo, or purgatory
or that there is a general forgiveness and
all souls are made in the image of God.

Islam
Founded in Arabia by Muhammad in the 7th
century.
 The world’s second largest religion

Islam
Muslims believe that the Jewish God is
the same as their God, and that Jesus was
a prophet inspired by God but was
neither God nor His son.
 Muslims believe that both the Torah and
the Gospels (Christianity) were based
upon divine revelation but have been
corrupted. The Quran is the final
uncorrupted Word of God.

Islam

Islam awaits both the second coming of
Jesus (to complete his life and die, since
he arose from the dead) and the coming
of Mahdi (Sunnis in his first incarnation,
Shiites as the return of Muhammad).
Hinduism
Popular in South East Asia (India, Nepal,
etc.)
 Formed of diverse traditions – no single
founder
 Third largest religion

Hinduism

Complex concept of God
◦ Believe there is one
Supreme Being
◦ God does not live in a far
away heaven but within
each soul waiting to be
discovered
◦ The goal of Hindu
spirituality is to discover
the supreme being within
oneself
Hinduism
Karma – “moral law of cause and effect”
 Believe in reincarnation – cycle is stopped
when one realizes their eternal
relationship with God
 Hinduism is based on “the accumulated
treasury of spiritual laws discovered by
different persons in different times.”

Buddhism
Based on the teachings
of Siddhartha Gautama
(Buddha)
 Northeastern Indian
subcontinent
(Bangladesh, Nepal) –
between 6th and 4th
centuries BCE

Buddhism
Believe in karma
 Recite mantras to drive away bad karma
 Believe in rebirth – succession of lifetimes

Buddhism

Follow the Four Noble Truths
◦ 1. Life is characterized by suffering.
2. The cause of this suffering is craving and desire.
3. There is a way to end this suffering (Nirvana)
4. The way to end this suffering is to follow a life characterized
by 8 ideas.
Do Now: 3/19/10

On this day in history, March 19, 2003, President Bush
declared war on Iraq.
◦ President Bush said, “…to disarm Iraq [of weapons of mass
destruction], to free its people and to defend the world from
grave danger.”
◦ Iraqi radio announced, “…the evil ones, the enemies of God, the
homeland and humanity, have committed the stupidity of
aggression against our homeland and people.”



Stop.
Think.
Respond to the quotes. Why do they have different
opinions?