H O U R 1

COMPARATIVE

RELIGIONS

FINAL EXAM

• 12/9 (Wed), 9:15-11:15 am

• Bring Blue/Green Book

• Bring Scantron & # 2 Pencil

• Worth 20% of your grade.

• Final Exam Worksheet Review

PRESENTATION REVIEW

Presentations

• Tibetan Buddhism• Zen Buddhism• Christianity: Catholicism• Pure Land Buddhism• Islam• Hinduism• Judaism• Christianity: Methodist

Questions:

1. What did you find most surprising from what was presented?

2. Were there any perspectives you found particularly interesting from people who visited sacred places you were familiar with?

RELIGIONS & SACRED SPACES

• Sacred spaces by themselves, are not the religion, though they are often thought of that way.

• However, sacred spaces often play an important role for a religion.

Groups:What do sacred spaces do for a religion?

Why are they important?

SACRED

Something regarded with reverence.

Important. Valuable. Meaningful.

UNDERSTANDING

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD

What is most sacred in the Abrahamic Religions?

• It is with God that we have our most important covenants.

• God’s kingdom as our highest goal.

• It is to God that we are supposed to submit our will.

Considering what sacred spaces do for a religion, what might our conception of God do for a religion.

UNDERSTANDING

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD

A Case for God - Karen Armstrong

Groups:

What kind of God does Karen Armstrong make the case for in her interview? What are some characteristics of this God that may differ from more “popular” notions of God in the west?

What are some issues that can occur when believing in the more “popular” notions of God.

UNDERSTANDING

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD

Armstrong’s God

• God as neither male or female .

• God is not a being.

• God not necessarily as creator or first cause, but “God beyond God”.

Issues

• “He” inherently places men more sacred.

• “Being” inherently makes people more sacred.

• Creates a limited idol that divides people into fundamentalists and atheists.

Where do you think this understanding comes from? Why do some people believe otherwise?

UNDERSTANDING

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: CREATION

Creation in Six Days

UNDERSTANDING

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: CREATION

Origins of Humanity

REVIEW OF THE

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS

Understanding the “Western” Religions

• Created by God in our original home: the Garden.

• Expelled by God due to our decision to eat the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

• Emphasis on living our lives or transforming ourselves in a way to restore our relationship with God.