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Notes from “The Cultural Landscape”—Chapter 6
Universalizing Religions include Christianity, Islam and Buddhism
How are they divided?
a.
b.
c.
Christianity has 2 billion adherents--the most in the world
1. Branches include Roman Catholic (_____%), Protestant (_____ %) and Eastern Orthodox (10 %); rest is
miscellaneous.
2. Where are these branches of Christianity dominant? (See maps, pp. 188-189,190.)
a. Roman Catholic:
b. Protestant:
c. Eastern Orthodox:
3. Tenets of Christianity are based on the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible; however, Christians do not
agree on interpretations of all the scriptures.
4. In the U.S., where are Baptists, Roman Catholics and Lutheran denominations clustered? (See map, p. 191.)
5.
How does this clustering tie in to migration patterns?
(Example: Presbyterians are clustered where Scots-Irish first immigrated to the U.S.)
6. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints consider themselves to be Christian but separate from
Protestant denominations. Founder of LDS was Joseph Smith; Brigham Young led the group to Utah in the 19 th
century.
Islam
1. Islam has 1.3 billion adherents, mostly from North Africa to Central Asia.
2. Half, however, live in four countries outside this region: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.
3. Muslims believe in the Five Pillars:
4. Two main branches include…
a. Sunni (83%) and Shia or Shiites(16%).
b. Shias are the majority in Iran and Iraq; however, Sunnis had power under Saddam Hussein. When they lost
power, that's why many Sunnis became ___________________.
5. Muslims in Europe (3% of pop.)
a. Majority of Muslims are in this country: ____________. Why?
b. Another concentration is in the area known formerly as Yugoslavia; e.g. ________________.
6. Muslims in U.S. and Canada now number 3 to 4 million.
7. What is the Nation of Islam? (p. 192)
One of the leaders was Malcolm X. The Nation of Islam participated in the civil rights movement.
A splinter group originally led by Elijah Muhamed is now called the American Muslim Mission.
Buddhism
1. Buddhism has 365 million adherents, still concentrated in China and Southeast Asia. There are 3 main branches.
2. What are Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths?
3. Why is it hard to count the number of Buddhists? (two reasons)
Two other universalizing and monotheistic religions:
1. Sikhism, mostly in India, stresses devotion and surrender to God.
2. Baha’i, dispersed across the world with concentrations in Africa and Asia, seeks to establish a universal faith through
the abolition of racial, class and religious prejudices.
Ethnic religions
1. Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, but 97% live in India.
2. Hindus believe it is up to the individual to decide the best way to worship God.
3. There is no central authority and no single holy book.
4. Branches of Hinduism--Vishnu, Shakti, Siva--have different deities.
5. Others:
a. Confucianism stresses li, correct behavior, including service to others.
b. Daoism (Taoism); Daoists seek dao, or The Way through introspection and avoidance of daily activities.
c. Shintoism, the distinctive ethnic religion of Japan. Forces of nature and some animals are divine; there is an
emphasis on ancestor divinity and small shrines are located throughout Japan.
d. Judaism: approx. 14 million adherents. Two of the three universalizing religions find their roots in Judaism;
they are __________________ and _________. Judaism was the first recorded religion to adopt
_____________________, rather than ___________________.
e. Ethnic African religions (animism) are monotheistic but inanimate objects have spirits and life; as recently as
1980 there were 200 million animists in Africa...but now Africa is 50% Christian and 40% Muslim.
Origins
1. Christianity: Jesus was born between 8 and 4 B.C.
a. Catholics believe that the first Pope was St. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples.
b. Catholics have 7 sacraments, including the Eucharist in which the bread and wine are literally the body and
blood of Christ (transubstantiation).
c. The split in Catholicism dates to the fifth century—between Rome and Constantinople.
d. Protestantism came about when the Catholic priest Martin Luther hung his “95 Theses” on the church door in
Wittenberg, Germany, in 1571: Individuals may communicate with God directly, and grace comes through
faith, not deeds mandated by the church hierarchy.
2. Islam: Muslims trace their roots to Abraham, the same patriarch in Judaism and Christianity.
a. The Prophet of Islam: Muhammad received God’s word through the angel Gabriel in a revelation at presentday Mecca; these words became the Quran.
b. Differences between Shiites and Sunnis came about because Muhammad had no son. Shiites supported Ali,
Muhammad’s son-in-law; Sunnis supported four caliphs (successors), including Ali. [Correction from book.]
3. Buddhism: 563 B.C.
a. Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha; he was a privileged prince who accidentally discovered the existence
of pain, suffering and death.
b. He spent six years in the forest and emerged as the “Enlightened One,” preaching across India for 45 years
about wisdom and compassion.
4. Sikhism was founded about 500 years ago in India.
5. Baha’i was established in Iran in the 1800s.
6. Hinduism existed prior to recorded history. Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded India about 1400 B.C. and brought
Indo-European languages and their religion.
Diffusion of Universalizing Religions
1. Christianity diffused through relocation and expansion diffusion
a. Relocation: Missionaries, such as Paul, carried the faith along Roman trade routes.
b. Expansion diffusion
1. Contagious diffusion: Daily contact of believers converted pagans (non-believers).
2. Hierarchical diffusion: Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in 313 AD.
3. European countries took the Christian faith into their colonies in the Americas, Asia and Africa.
c. Relocation and expansion: LDS followers moved from N.Y. to Illinois to Utah in the early-1800s, but now diffuse
via conversions.
2. Islam…
a. …diffused through conquest and intermarriage into N. Africa, present-day Spain, southeast Europe and Turkey.
b. Much of Spain was under Arab/Muslim control until 1492.
c. Relocation diffusion: Missionaries moved into sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
d. Arab traders took their faith to what is now Indonesia in the 1200s; Indonesia is now the largest Muslim populated
country in the world.
3. Buddhism spread slowly from N. India…
a. …to Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), Nepal, Burma (now Myanmar), and China.
b. In China, after 300 AD, Buddhism became a genuine Chinese religion; from there it spread to Korea and Japan
and lost its original base of support in India.
4. Other diffusions
a. By the late 1900s, Baha'i had built a temple on every continent.
b. Sikhs became concentrated in India after the British colonial period, but many have immigrated to countries like
the U.S.
Why do ethnic religions have a lack of diffusion?
Africa
1. Former colonies' Christian denominations tend to "match" the former colonizers'.
2. Because of the mingling of traditional religions with the universalizing religions, there are thousands of churches in
Africa not affiliated with established churches elsewhere in the world.
Asia
1. Buddhism is the universalizing religion that has "mixed" the most, like with Shinto in Japan where deities are shared.
2. What is significant about Mauritius in the Indian Ocean? (p. 200)
Why are Jews dispersed? Not by choice…until 1948.
1. Early Diaspora in the Hebrew scripture saw the Israelites scattered--to Egypt, for example.
2. 70 AD, the Romans forced another Diaspora as punishment.
3. The Diaspora has continued for most of the past 200 years.
4. Persecuted Jews often had to live in ghettos, e.g., in Italy and Poland.
5. Palestine was controlled by Arabs from 1516 to 1917; after WWI, it was ruled under a British mandate from 1918 until
1948. What is a mandate?
6. The Holocaust saw 6 million Jews killed in concentration camps and by other means; survivors migrated to Palestine,
which in 1948 the U.N. established as two states: Jewish (Israel) and Palestinian; Jerusalem was to be an
“international city.” Israel’s neighbors declared war almost immediately. Israel took over Palestinian areas.
7. Modern Israel is divided into Jewish and Palestinian areas; Jerusalem is in the center of conflict over control.
Holy Places
1. Hindus, Muslims, Shintoists all make pilgrimages.
2. Hindus have sites in India and Nepal. They have a pilgrimage called a tirtha, known as an act of purification. Hindus
also visit holy rivers such as the _____________.
3. Muslims have Makkah (Mecca), Muhammad's birthplace, and site of the al-Ka'ba in the Great Mosque; the al-Ka'ba
contains a black stone given to Abraham by Gabriel.
4. Muslims also have Madinah (Medina), location of Muhammad's tomb.
5. The Hajj (pilgrimage) attracts 1 million Muslims a year to Mecca.
6. Christians consider Jerusalem and near-by sites like Bethlehem to be holy. Jerusalem also has the Dome of the Rock,
special to Muslims. (This is where Mohammed ascended to Heaven.)
Cosmogony (religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe)
1. Confucianists and Daoists believe in yin and yang, which interact to create balance and harmony.
2. Christians are more likely to believe that the Creator God gave earth to humans to finish the creation.
3. Muslims see humans as God's representatives on earth regarding nature.
Religious Calendars and Infrastructure
1. In ethnic religions, as in folk cultures, calendars focus on the seasons and agriculture.
2. Jewish holidays also are lunar and agrarian-based; two most important ones come in the autumn:
a. Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
b. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
3. The Solstice has significance in some ethnic religions. Stonehenge, probably built by the Druids, may be tied to the
solstice. Is Washington, D.C.'s layout?
4. Most Christian countries use the solar calendars, but Muslims use lunar calendars.
a. Ramadan changes dates for this reason.
b. When is Easter observed? (p. 207)
5. Worship architecture (p. 208)
a. What is a basilica?
b. What is a minaret?
c. Why do Hindu’s build temples?
d. Where do Hindus worship?
e. What is a pagoda?
6. Burial traditions (p. 209)
a. What were catacombs?
b. What are cemeteries also used as in Muslims countries?
c. For what practical reason does the Chinese government encourage cremation?
d. What do Hindus consider “an act of purification”?
e. …but what does this put a strain on in India?
What is a Utopian settlement? (p. 210) Name three examples in the U.S. history?
Religious Administration
1. What is a hierarchical religion?
Example:
What is a diocese?
Why is the parish concept an "issue" for Catholics in some countries? (p. 212)
What is the connection to population density?
2. Who has wards and stakes?
3. Presbyterians have presbyteries and synods; Baptists are autonomous to a certain extent; Episcopalians and
Lutherans have hierarchies like Catholics do. So do Methodists (Methodism began in England, by the way).
4. Note: Islam has these leaders…
Imams
Mullahs
Sheiks
Ayatollahs
5. Jews and Hindus have more autonomy.
Religion and Secular Conflict
[What does secular mean?
]
1. Religion vs. social change
a. The Taliban vs. Western Values
b. Hinduism vs. social equality (the old caste system)
2. Religion vs. communism:
a. Under communism, what did the Russians do with the churches?
b. What is China’s attitude about religion?
c. Underlying religious attachments in Europe (Eastern Orthodox Christianity) and in Asia (Islam) helped pull
down the U.S.S.R.’s Iron Curtain (communism).
3. Buddhists used immolation to protest the Vietnam War.
Religion versus Religion—Write summaries below.
1. What were the Crusades? [1099 AD (CE) to 1244 AD (CE)] The Holy Land, including Jerusalem exchanged hands
during six wars, between ____________ and _________________ from Europe.
2. Conflict over Israel today stems from the U.N.’s 1948 partitioning of Palestine into two states and an international city
(Jerusalem).
a. Palestinian perspective: The Palestinian Liberation Organization seeks a fully recognized Palestinian
___________.
b. Israeli perspective: Israel wants the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
c.
The “stickiest point” is what to do about Jerusalem and its holy sites.
3. Conflict in Ireland and Northern Ireland
a. Fighting between Protestants and Catholics goes back centuries.
b. In 1949 Ireland received independence from Britain, but Northern Ireland remained part of the U.K.; like the
U.K., Northern Ireland is majority _______________.
c. The minority in Northern Ireland is _______________ like Ireland; some Catholics want the British to withdraw
so that Northern Ireland and Ireland can reunify.
d. Militant Catholics, namely, the ________ (Irish Republican Army) commit violence against Protestants and
the British government. In addition, militant Protestants under the name of the _______ (Ulster Defense
Force) also commit violent acts against Catholics.