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Religion
Chapter 6 Sec 1
Order of Religion Origin
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Hinduism - 5000+ BCE
Judaism - 5000+ BCE
Buddhism - 586 BCE
Christianity - 30 CE
Islam - 570 CE
Number of followers per religion
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Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
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2.1 Billion
1.5 Billion
900 million
374 million
14-19 million
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Religion is the core component of culture
The other key component is…
Language
Religions like languages are constantly in
changing
 Define religion…
 Not easy…
 “A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to
order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate
priorities”
 “A relatively structured set of beliefs & practices
through which people seek mental & physical
harmony with the powers of the universe”
 Others?
Looking at religion spatially
 Culture regions - differ from one place to
another, producing spatial variations
 Cultural diffusion - spread & evolved by
involving many interactions among people
& places
 Cultural landscape - religious beliefs are
visible where people live and practice their
beliefs
What role does religion play in
culture?
 Interaction - one religion can thrive, another
can disappear
 Conversion - a nonbeliever introduced to a
new religion
 Migration - religion is mobile
 Landscape is marked by religion mosques, churches, synagogues, temples
 Dress - different religions may require
certain dress
 Religion is manifested in many ways
Universalizing Religion
 Attempt to be global, appeal to all people
 Actively seeking converts
 Also called proselytic
 Syncretic - combine two or more belief systems
 Orthodox - purity of faith; Greek word for “right
teaching”
 Fundamentalism - intolerance of other religions
Christianity
 Three branches:
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1. Roman Catholic
(51%)
2. Protestant (24%)
3. Orthodox (11%)
4. 14% belong to a
Christian church not in
these three branches
 Christianity in Europe:
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Roman Catholicism
dominant (SW & E)
Protestantism (NW)
Orthodox (E & SE)
Regions between Catholicism &
Protestantism frequently have
sharp boundaries
 Christianity in Western
Hemisphere
 90% are Christian (5% other
religions 6% no religion)
 Latin America
 93% Roman Catholic
 North America
 40% (Concentrated in SW &
NE, Quebec)
 Orthodox (Eastern
Orthodox)
 14 self-governing
churches (E Eur & ME)
 1 – Russian Orthodox
40%
 9 of these churches were
established in 19th or 20th
centuries
 Romanian (20%)
 Bulgarian, Greek &
Serbian Orthodox (10%)
 Recent – Albania,
Cyprus, Georgia, Poland
& Sinai (2%)
 Remaining 4 churches –
Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch &
Jerusalem (3%)
 Other Christians
 Developed independently
as isolated Christian
communities
 NE Africa – Coptic
Church of Egypt &
Ethiopian Church (10
million)
 Armenian Church –
helped diffuse Christianity
to S & E Asia (Lebanon,
Armenia, Turkey &
Azerbaijan)
 Maronites - Lebanon
 Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints
(Mormons) 3%
Islam
 Branches of Islam – 1.5
billion people
1. Sunni - Arabic for
orthodox or people
following the example of
Muhammad, largest
branch (83%) in most
Muslim countries
2. Shiites - Arabic word for
sectarian, 16% of
Muslims concentrated in
Iran, Pakistan & Iraq
 Islam in North America
 1 to 5 million
 1/3 of Muslims can
trace ancestry to
Pakistan or other
South Asian countries
& ¼ from Arab
countries in SW Asia
& N Africa
 Islam in Europe
 5% of population
 France largest
population 4%
 Germany 3%
 SE Europe 2%
Buddhism
 Mainly found in China &
Southeast Asia
 Branches
1. Mahayana 56%
2. Theravada 38%
3. Vajrayana 6%
 Accurate count is difficult
because many do not
participate in Buddhist
institutions
 Someone can be a Buddhist
& a believer in another
Eastern religion
Other universalizing religions
 Sikhism
 Pakistan in origin
 God is revealed to Guru
Nanak
 One Supreme Being or
Creator who rules
universe by divine will
 Only God is perfect but
people have the capacity
for continued
improvement
 Move toward perfection
by taking individual
responsibility for their
deeds & actions on earth
 Baha’I
 From Iran 1844
 Believe that one of
Bab’s disciples was
the prophet &
messenger of God
 Overcome disunity
of religions &
establish a universal
faith through
abolition of racial,
class & religious
practices
Ethnic Religions
 Appeals to one group of people, primarily
an ethnic or tribal group
 Does not actively seek converts
 Not dispersed
Hinduism
 900 million adherents with
90% in India
 Other countries include
Bangladesh & Nepal
 Average Hindu has an
allegiance to a particular
god or concept within a
broad range of
possibilities
 Estimated 80% adhere to
Vaishnavism (Vishnu –
loving god incarnated as
Krishna)
 Sivaism (Siva – protective
& destructive god)
 551-479 BC
 Sayings were written
down by students
 Emphasized the
importance of “li” or
correct behavior
 Series of ethical
principles for the
orderly conduct of life
 Traditions, obligations,
sympathy & respect
 For China’s rulers as
well as people
Confusianism
 604-531 BC
 Writing of Lao-ZI
emphasized the
magival aspects of life
rather than the public
service of Confuscius
 Tao means “the way” or
“the path”
 This Tao cannot be
comprehended by
reason & knowledge
because not everything
is knowable
Daoism (Taoism)
Shintoism
Primal- Indigenous
 No written documents,
rituals passed through
generations
 Many believe God
dwells within all things
& everything in nature is
spiritual
 Shamanism
 Invisible forces or spirits
affect the lives of the
living
 Pagan
 Refers to the practices of
ancient people
 Greeks & Romans who
had multiple gods with
human forms
 Term is currently used to
refer to beliefs that
originated with religions
that predated Christianity
& Islam
 Juchte
 North Koreans –
meaning “self-reliance”
 Organized by Kim IIsung between 19481994
 Regarded as a
government ideology
Cargo-Cult
Judaism
 2/5 of the 14 million Jews
live in the US & another 2/5
in Israel
 Name Judaism derives
from Judah one of Jacobs
12 sons, Israel is another
name for Jacob
 Opposite of the typical
clustered ethnic religion
 Judaism is spread
throughout the US, Europe,
Asia & Latin America
 First monotheistic religion
Ethnic African Religions
 12% of population
follow traditional
ethnic religion animism
 Inanimate objects
have spirits
 Oral religion
 Decreasing with the
contact of other
religions missionaries
Chapter 6
Section 2
Origin of Christianity
 Founded on the teachings of Jesus (born between 8 -4
BC – AD30)
 Gathered disciples & preached of the coming of the
Kingdom of God
 Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) highlight life
& teachings of Jesus
 Referred to as Christ, Hebrew for “messiah” which
means anointed one.
 Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, shared the Last Supper and
put to death after which he rose from the dead three
days later
 Christians believe Jesus’ Resurrection provides people
hope for salvation
Diffusion of Christianity
 Hearth - Palestine
 Christianity has diffused through three
types of diffusion
 Relocation - missionaries carried it through out
the Roman Empire (Paul)
 Contagious - contact between believers and
nonbelievers
 Hierarchial - survival of Christianity was
assured through the Roman Empire’s
emperors (Constantine then Theodosius)
Spread to new world
 Migration and
missionaries since
1500 have spread
Christianity around
the globe
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1.
2.
3.
4.
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Characteristics
Monotheistic
Abrahamic
Bible
Jesus - son of God
Specific practices can
vary from region to
region (Eucharist,
Baptism,
Communion,Penance)
Origin of Islam
 Muhammad born in 570 AD
 While meditating he received his first revelation
from God through the Angel Gabriel
 Quran is the record of God’s word as revealed to
the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel
 Muhammad suffered persecution & fled Mecca in
622 AD to Medina – called the Hijra (Arabic for
migration)
 By the time of his death at the age of 63, Islam
had spread through most of present day Saudi
Arabia
Diffusion of Islam
 Hearth - Saudi Arabia (Southwest Asia)
 Followers (armies) spread Islam after
Muhammad’s death
 Relocation - missionaries spread religion into
newly conquered areas
 Traders diffused Islam to Indonesia
Characteristics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Monotheistic
Abrahamic
Koran (Quran)
Muhammad is the prophet of God (Allah)
Five Pillars
Arabic is the official language
 Shiite
 Sunnis
Origin of Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama born in 563 BC in present day
Nepal
 Led a privileged existence
 After a series of trips outside the palace, Siddhartha
could no longer enjoy his comfortable life
 Monk taught him how to withdrawal from the world & at
29 he left his palace life to seek different forms of
meditation
 Spent 6 years seeking the answers he needed and
ultimately he emerged as the Buddha
 Continued to preach for 45 more years
Diffusion of Buddhism
 Hearth - Northeastern India
 Slow diffusion
 Asoka - (Magadhan Emperor 273-232 BC)
converted to Buddhism and spread the
religion to Southeast Asia
 Merchants & traders took Buddhism to
China and then Chinese took to Korea and
Japan
Characteristics
 Four Noble Truths
 Eightfold Path
 Nirvana
Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
 No missionaries
 Christianity and Islam have diffused into
ethnic religion regions at their expense
 Ethnic religions can diffuse through
relocation
Origin of Judaism
 4000 years ago Abraham, patriarch of Judaism,
migrated with his family from Ur (present day Iraq) to
Canaan (present day Israel)
 After many years the population was growing & food
was scarce, left & moved to Egypt
 Moses led Jews back to Israel in what is known as the
Exodus
 Wondered in wilderness & received 10
Commandments at Mt Sinai
 Land became known as Israel, after Jacob (Israel)
and his 12 sons the 12 tribes of Israel
 70 AD Jews are forced out of Israel by the Romans in
what is known as the Diaspora
 Jews were dispersed to Europe & North Africa
 Only since 1948 have large numbers of Jews
returned to Eastern Mediterranean
 They lived among different nationalities in many
countries, keeping separate religious practices
 Adopted cultural characteristics of host country
like language
 Jews persecuted against & forced to live in
ghettos
 Nazi treatment in WWII
Judaism
 Judaism is practiced
in many areas outside
place of origin
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2.
3.
4.
Characteristics
Monotheistic
Abrahamic
Torah
Prophet is yet to
come
5. Diaspora
6. Holocaust
Origin of Hinduism
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Did not originate with a specific founder
Existed prior to recorded history
Term Hinduism emerged in 6th century BC
Earliest documents date to 1500 BC, but objects
have been found that date to 2500 BC
 Aryans invaded India in 1400 BC bringing language
& religion to area that is today Punjab region
 Aryans mingled with the Dravidians & modified their
religious beliefs
Holy Places - Universalizing
 Pilgrimages are important to many religions
 Buddist - Shrines, eight that are significant
to important events in Buddha’s life
 Islam - Mosques, Ka’ba in Mecca most holy
sight.
 Ka’ba is important in the hajj
 Sikhism - Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple
in the Punjab
Holy Places - Ethnic Religions
 Hinduism - no central authority, shrine’s
importance established by tradition
 Ganges is holy river for Hindus
Cosmogony
 Religious beliefs concerning the origin of
the universe
 Confucianism/Daoism - Yin & Yang, these
forces interact and create balance & harmony.
Any disruption can create disorder and chaos
 Christianity/Islam - God created the universe physical environment & human beings
 Christianity -Earth was given by God for humans
to complete
 Islam - Humans are representations of God on
earth
The Calendar
 Ethnic Religions - holidays based on distinct
physical geography and seasons
 Rituals performed for favorable environmental climate
 Judaism - lunar calendar (Rosh Hashanah, Yom
Kippur)
 Universalizing Religions - holidays relate to
events in life of founder
 Rituals may include pilgrimages and celebrations of
important holidays
 Islam/Baha’I - lunar
 Christianity/Buddhist/Sikh - lunar calendar
Chapter 6
Section 3
Place of Worship
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Christian - Churches
Islam - Mosques
Hindu - Temples
Buddhist/Shinto – Pagodas or Shrine
Baha’I - Houses of Worship
Disposing of the Dead
 Burial
 Cremation
Religious Settlements
 Utopian settlements – community built
around a religious way of life
 Bethlehem, PA
 Salt Lake City, UT
 New England – churches placed at the
center of settlement (Puritans) near the
common place used by everyone
Administration of Space
 Roman Catholic –
 Pope
 Archbishop
 Bishops
 Diocese
 Priests
 Parishes
 Latter-Day Saints
 Strong organization of landscape
Locally autonomous religions
 Universalizing religions are highly
autonomous – self-sufficient, loose
cooperation with communities
 Islam
 No religious hierarchy or formal territorial
organization
 Protestant
 Vary from extremely autonomous to somewhat
hierarchial
Ethnic religions
 Judaism and Hinduism have no central
structure of religious control