WORLD RELIGIONS

RELIGION

An organized collection of beliefs,

cultural systems, and world views that

relate humanity to an order of

existence.

RELIGION

Polytheistic- Believing in many gods

Monotheistic-Believing in one god

Deity- A god

Sect-Sections within a religion usually separated by

subtle differences in their beliefs within the same

religion

Prophet- someone who speaks the word of God

RELIGION

Western Religions

Judaism

Christianity

Islam

Eastern Religions

Hinduism

Buddhism

Confucianism

JUDAISM

Founded about 2000 BC BY ABRAHAM

Judaism’s Key Beliefs

Holy book: The Torah(1st 5 books of the bible), The Hebrew

Bible (Old Testament)

Place Of Worship: Synagogue

First monotheistic religion

Deity: Belief in one god – Yahweh

Sacred Place: Jerusalem, Israel

JUDAISM’S KEY BELIEFS

10 Commandments given by Yahweh (God) to Moses who is a prophet Includes:

Do not steal, kill or lie

Honor (respect your parents)

There is only one god

Believe in Afterlife- Heaven

A person serves Yahweh (God) by studying the Torah and living by its teachings

Leadership: Rabbi

God holds you accountable for your sins and shortcomings

Covenant with God - Agreement to uphold moral obligations

Divisions (Sects):

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform

JUDAISM’S KEY BELIEFS

How it’s Practiced:

Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah - at age 13

boys/girls celebrate their entrance into

adult religious community

Several holidays that honor their history &

god.

Holy day (Sabbath or Shabbat) is from

sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Services led by Rabbi

OTHER INFO:

Founded by Abraham

Same God as

Christians and Muslims

Kosher = Various

dietary restrictions as

interpreted in the

Hebrew Bible

JUDAISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity’s Key Beliefs

† Founded 30AD by Jesus

† Holy Book: The Holy Bible. Consisting of the

Old Testament and the New Testament

† Place of Worship: Church

† Monotheistic

† Deity: God, Jesus as the son of God

† Christ or Messiah

† Sacred Place: Jerusalem

How it is Practiced:† 10 Commandments given by God to Moses

† Believe that Jesus died and then rose from the dead to save people from

sin.

† Resurrection

† Believe in heaven and hell

† Christians believe they can serve God and achieve salvation by following

the teachings of Jesus.

† Many Christians have a practice of baptism where they are washed of

their sins and accept Jesus and their Lord.

† Christmas is the when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and Easter is

when they celebrate His resurrection after being crucified

† Other sites centered around Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection

† Holy Day: Sunday

† Christianity’s Divisions (Sects):

† Roman Catholics

† Eastern Orthodox

† Baptist

† Lutheran

† Presbyterian

† Etc.

† Other Info:

† For many sects the cross represents a symbol

of victory over death

CHRISTIANITY- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS

ISLAM

Islam’s Key BeliefsFounded 622AD BY MUHAMMAD

Holy Book: QUR’AN

Places of Worship: MOSQUE

Monotheistic

Deity: BELIEF GOD, ALLAH – ARABIC FOR GOD

Sacred Place: Saudi Arabia - cites of Mecca and

Medina, Jerusalem – Dome of the Rock, Muhammad

ascended to heaven from there

5 PILLARS:

1.ONLY ONE GOD - ALLAH & MUHAMMAD

IS HIS PROPHET

2.PRAY 5X A DAY

3.CHARITY

4.FAST DURING RAMADAN

5.PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA

How’s it’s Practiced:Ablution – cleansing before prayer

Don’t eat pork or drink alcohol

Halal – dietary restrictions based on the slaughtering of meat

Holidays that celebrate their history

Holy Day: Friday

Spiritual Leader: Imam

Only Arabic can be used in worship

Word of Allah as given to Muhammad

Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven over a period of

time where he received messages from Allah through the angel

Gabriel

Believe in heaven and hell

Islam’s Divisions (Sects)

Sunni and Shi’a

The division began with disagreements about

who should lead after the death of Muhammad.

Sunnis believe that anyone with a deep

understanding of Islam and the Qur’an can lead

Muslims

Shi’as believe that only direct descendants of

Muhammad can lead Muslims

Other Information

Consider Jews and Christians to be “People

of the Book”

Both have a holy book with many of the

same messages as Qur’an

Muslims think Moses and Jesus are

prophets, with Muhammad being the final

prophet

ISLAM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS

HINDUISM

3rd most popular religion with

900 million followers around

the world- NO FOUNDER-

founded out of Brahmanism

Brahmanism- Brahmans were

the priest class in society.

Brahman- the supreme

power

HINDUSIM

Holy Book- Vedas- written in Sanskrit

Four books, originally not written, verbally passed down, each is broken down into four sections.

Hymns, mantras, everyday life

Place of Worship- Most people have shrines at home

Mandir- temple, most often visited on the weekend

Polytheistic

Dieties: THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS of gods and goddess that they worship

These gods and goddesses represent various aspects of Brahman, and there are none that are

‘required’ to worship

Most notable are:

Vishnu: creator and preserver

Shiva: destroyer

Sacred place: Indus River Valley, various pilgrimage sites throughout India

HINDUISM

More of a way of life that also includes religion- beliefs, traditions, ethics, rituals, and philosophies

Also believe in reincarnation- soul is immortal and lives in many lifetimes, in various vessels

Karma- happiness in life is dependent on how last life was lived

Moshka- being one with Brahma, ultimate goal, reincarnation ends

Upanishads- individual and universal soul, first mentions of reincarnation

HINDUISM- ORGANIZATION

Caste system- occupational groups, dictates professional life for people. Not changeable,

however now it is illegal to discriminate against

those in other castes than your own

Brahmana- those in spiritual education and

teaching

Kshatriya- pubic service, maintain order, defense

Vaishya- business people

Shudra- semi- skilled and unskilled workers

Untouchables- shunned out of caste

HINDUISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS

BUDDHISM

4th largest religion in the world

Founder- Siddhartha Gotama- Buddah

‘Buddha’ means enlightened one

Sacred text- Sutras/Sutta- spoken word of

Buddha. Many books, very complicated and

complex scriptures

Theraveda- Writings are broken into three parts

Mahayana- different than Theraveda, not considered

authentic scripture, writings broken into two parts

Place of worship- Go to temples to ‘worship’,

meditate- working towards enlightenment

BUDDHISM

Non-theistic- not based on a concept of a supreme god-so it is

neither monotheistic or polytheistic

Deity- none though they pay respects to images of Buddha

Sacred place: Lumbini- Buddha’s birthplace, Bodh Gaya- place of his enlightenment, Sarnath- delivered first teachings, Kusinara-

where Buddha died

Was in a wealthy family but realized wealth was not all that was

needed to find happiness

He meditated and studied until he reached enlightenment at the

age of 35

BUDDHISM

Four Noble Truths

First- life is suffering. We cannot deny that bad things happen, instead of being sad about it, find ways to avoid sadness, and accept it to be truly happy

Second- Getting what you want does not equal happiness.

Third- Do not dwell in past or crave something we do not have will result in happy life. Live one day at a time

Fourth- Noble Eight Fold path results in happiness

Eight Fold Path

Being moral, focused and aware of thoughts and actions

FOLLOWING THESE WAYS OF LIFE WILL LEAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Karma- All actions have an effect

BUDDHISM- FAMOUS FOLLOWERS

Confucianism

Founder- Confucius born in 551 BC

Sacred Text- five books- book of history, book of

poems, book of changes, book of rites, book of

spring and autumn annals

Place of worship- temples

Nontheistic- way of life

Deity- None, this is a movement aimed at better

society

Sacred place- temple in Qufu in Shandong Province, Cemetery of Confucius , Temple of

Confucius and the Confucius Family Mansion is

regarded as one of the holy cities in the world.

CONFUCIANISM

Respect, fair, polite, honor, morality

Strong organized government

Confucius taught five basic virtues:

kindness

righteousness

sobriety

wisdom

trustworthiness

THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

King of Mesopotamia

Conquered neighboring kingdoms

Had canals, temples, and city walls

built

Code of Hammurabi- his 282 laws were

written down, carved into stone

columns- everyone knew what they

were, united them all