Religions of the World They’ve got the whole world In Their Hands…

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Religionsof

the World

They’ve got the whole world

In Their Hands….QuickTime™ and a decompressor










Global integration has accelerated recently with enormous consequences for people all over the world. It has resulted in changes in traditional behavior and has challenged the adaptability of individuals, families, organizations, institutions, and nations. Wealth has been created and redistributed as economic, political, and social systems have striven to adapt. Governments have had to reassess their roles and responsibilities as governing elites have worked to maintain their influence. The historic trend has had dramatic effect on the civilizations characterized generally as Christian and Islamic in addition to influencing all world religions.

Why Study World Religions?

Religions of the World

1. Christianity

2. Judaism

3. Islamism

4. Hinduism

5. Confucianism



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Christianity started out as a breakaway sect of Judaism nearly 2000

years ago.

Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary

& Joseph, conceived through the Holy

Spirit.

Reform the laws and practices of

Jewish faith.

Son of God sent to earth to save

humanity

from our sins.

Christianity and Judaism share the

same history up to the time of Jesus

Christ.

Christianity - 30+ CE

• Christianity and Judaism share the same history up to the time of Jesus Christ.

• There are two primary differences: – Christians believe in original sin and Jesus died to

save us from that sin: salvation. – Jesus was fully human and fully god and as the son of

god is part of the Holy Trinity.

• There are many forms of Christianity that have developed from:– Disagreements on dogma - specific tenant or

doctrine laid down by an authority like a church– Adaptation to different cultures.

Christianity - 30+ CE

Christianity - Catholicism

• 62 million followers

• Found worldwide

• Founded in Palestine year 1 by Jesus Christ and his disciples (followers).

• Followers called Catholics

Catholicism• Catholics are

Christians; believe that Jesus was son of god

• Believe in one all powerful god

• Jesus is spiritual leader

• Earthly leaders are first the pope, then cardinals, bishops, and priests

Catholicism• Place of worship;

church

• Use prayer

• Core belief: morality

• Follow the 10 commandments

• Follow the teachings of the Bible

Catholicism

• Catholics believe in life after death

• Believe that all sins can be forgiven with prayer

Catholic or Nothing!

• Not until the 1400s and with man called Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

would the other

religions be born.• Up until then you were

considers by most of the world

to be either Catholic, Jewish,

Islamic or NOT RIGHT AT ALL!

Christians Come in Many Types

• Catholics • Protestants

Catholics believe

-authority comes from the top down. The Pope is the Papa/father of the church. His word is directly the word of God.

- females can not serve as priests

-Priests must remain celibate

Protestants believe

-authority comes from the bottom up. There is a head of the church but people can know God from reading the Bible themselves

- females can serve as ministers

-Ministers may marry

Judaism• 13 million followers• Founded by Abraham

2,000 B.C. (4000 years ago)

• Jewish religion is practiced worldwide, especially U.S. and Israel

• Followers are called Jews or the Jewish people

Judaism• Jews are not Christians,

they believe Jesus was an important prophet but do not believe he was the son of God

• Believe in one god called Yahweh

• Spiritual leader was Moses, the prophet

• Earthly leaders are rabbis

Judaism

• Place of worship; synagogue

• Use prayer• Core belief is faith

and patience• Follow 10

Commandments• Follow the Bible and

the Talmud

Judaism

• Jews believe in life after death

• They have strict dietary laws about what is good or not good to eat

• They have their own language called Hebrew

• The picture is of the Torah scrolls, the first five books of the Bible that god gave to Moses



Islam• 1 billion members-more than

1/5 of the world’s population

• Practiced everywhere in the world, especially the Middle East

• Founded by Muhammad in AD 610 in Arabia

• Followers of Islam are called Muslims

* The prophet Muhammad, an Arab and a descendant of Abraham, received the divine revelations of Allah contained in the Muslim scriptures, the Holy Qu'ran [Koran].

* The Qu'ran names twenty-five messengers of God, including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses, and Jesus.

*Muhammad is believed to be the final messenger until the Day of Judgment.

Founder Major Figures

The Arabic word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the one true God worthy of worship.

Muslims believe that Islam is the one true religion given to Adam and to all the prophets after him.

Muslims believe in one God, creator of all things, unique in life, power, mercy and justice.

Beliefs

Muslims place themselves directly in the line of those who worship one God, so they feel kinship with Jews and Christians.

Sharia - Code of Islamic life based on religious principals

Islam sets forth the duties for human life in a clear way. Life has serious purpose. A Muslim's life is one of social responsibility.

Worship and Spiritual Practice

Muslim faith and practice is grounded in the Five Pillars of Islam:

1. Iman (Faith): "There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God". The only purpose of life is to serve and obey God. 2. Salah (Prayer): Obligatory prayers are performed five times a day. Since there are no priests in Islam, prayer is the direct link between the worshiper and God. 3. Zakah (Financial Obligation): Since everything belongs to God, wealth is held in trust by humankind. Muslims are enjoined to set aside a portion of what they have (a fortieth of one's capital annually) for those in need. They may also give as much as they like in secret. 4. Sawn (Fasting): All Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. Fasting allows the faithful to focus on the presence of God. 5. Hajj (Pilgrimage): Those who are physically and financially able to do so, are called on to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes, during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar. Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is connected not only with the life of the prophet Muhammad, but also, and even more

importantly for the pilgrimage, with Abraham, the spiritual father of Muslims.

Worship

• Every Friday at noon Muslims gather for communal prayer. Although the prayers can be held in any kind of room or hall, special buildings, or mosques, are often built or adapted for worship.

• The prayer room is bare of furniture, the floor covered with carpets. Worshippers leave their shoes at the door and gather facing in the direction of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where Islam began, the men in one group and the women in another. They stand in rows close together to carry our the ritual acts of prayer, its gestures, prostrations, recitations and periods of silence.

Worshippers follow the leadership of a person called the Imam

Worship• Mecca - holiest city for Muslims

• Mosque - Muslim place of worship

• Kaaba - holiest shrine of Islam QuickTime™ and a

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Hinduism is different from most religions.

•The Hindu tradition is more of a way of life than a set of beliefs. Hindus have many different practices from country to country.

Hinduism“Truth is one, the wise perceive it in many ways".

Hindu tradition is contained in the Vedas, a body of ancient hymns and chants recited orally in verse.

Each Veda has an associated literature called Brahmanas (rituals) and Upanishads (explorations of deeper understandings of the universe).

Veda can also mean more generally the wisdom and authority of the whole Hindu tradition.

The sacred books tell about the indescribable essence, or world-soul, and the existence of thousands of deities, all of which are concerned with sustaining the world.

Sacred Texts

Gods & Goddesses• Most Hindus believe that the whole universe is permeated with the Divine, a reality called the Brahman. This Divine can be known by many names and take many forms, and it is fully present in the human

soul.

• Hindus believe there is one God and that God can take many forms, expressed as gods and goddesses. For example:

• * Brahma is Creator• * Vishnu is Sustainer• * Shiva is Destroyer

•Hindus believe that everything is cyclic. The universe has been created, sustained, and destroyed many times

They do not worship as a congregation. Nor is there any day set aside for worship

For Hindus, Karma (action) is one's acts and their consequences. The path of action involves one in the world and its concerns without claiming the results of one's actions for oneself.

Hindu tradition is centered in the home altar, where family members may spend time in prayer each day. Families also study the Hindu scriptures and sing hymns at home. They light an oil lamp, burn incense, or place fresh flowers at the home altar.

On festival days or the special days of certain deities, many Hindus go to the temple for festivals and pilgrimages.Temples in the United States are large buildings housing offices, meeting and classrooms.



Worship



Hinduism - 4000 to 2500 BCEThe caste systemHindus believe in reincarnation, the belief that the soul's journey to self-realization takes

many lifetimes and that its journey from one life to the next is influenced by the deeds one performs in a lifetime. What people do in the way of good or evil influences how they will be reborn after death, that is, their goodness may be rewarded with a higher level of existence or else they may be reduced to a lower level.

• The final goal lies beyond unending rebirths. All Hindus long for the eventual union of their soul with the world-soul thereby breaking free from the cycle of births and rebirths.

• The good life, tending toward ultimate fulfillment, consists of – * Moral behavior

• * Service to others• * Seeking knowledge• * Worship and devotion to one's personal deity who helps in the struggle with evil.

•Today these four original divisions have been divided into thousands of different castes.

•For each caste there are definite rules and regulations that dictate with whom they could marry, with whom they could socialize, and what they could eat.

•Those that did not belong to any caste were thought to be created from darkness that Brahma discarded when he was creating the universe.

•These are known as outcasts or untouchables.

•The government has tried to outlaw the caste system, especially untouchables, but it has been difficult in the small villages.

Caste System and Reincarnation

Hindus believe that all living things contain a part of the divine spirit. Therefore, all life is sacred.

Most pious Hindus, especially Brahmins, are lacto-vegetarians. This means that the only animal food that they eat are dairy foods. The pious do not eat eggs since they are the beginning of life.

Avoiding meat is thought to contribute to inner self-improvement and physical well-being.

Lacto-Vegetarians Or Save the Cows

Buddhism

• 300 million followers • Found all over the world,

especially in Asia• Founder: The historical

Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, is said to have been born in India in 635 BCE (before the common era).

• "Buddha" is a title of honor, meaning "Enlightened One."

Buddhism

• The Buddha was an original thinker, a genius of spiritual psychology, and his teachings diverged from Hinduism, the prevalent thought of his culture.

• He saw human beings as free moral agents, autonomous in their ability to work out their own destiny by adhering to certain principles.



Buddhists• Believe in reaching nirvana

(peace) through self; not through one god

• nirvana reached through a simple life; having very few material possessions

• Sacred writings are The Dharma - (the sermons and teachings of the Buddha).

•Spiritual leader is Buddha (the enlightened one)•Earthly leaders are first the Dalai Lama, other lamas, monks, and nuns

Buddhism• Place of meditation is

called a temple, or monastery, but is done everywhere, especially in gardens

• Use mediation as prayer to reach the real meaning of life



•Believe in rebirth after death•Purposefully become poor•Two main goals in life are simplicity and peace•Strict followers of morality; do not kill, steal, lie, etc.

Buddhism

The Four Noble Truths1. Life is filled with suffering

2. Suffering is caused by people's wants.

3. Suffering can be ended if people stop wanting things, like more pleasure or more power.

4. To stop wanting things, people must follow 8 basic laws, called the Eightfold Path.

* Right belief * Right thought * Right speech * Right action

Worship and Spiritual Practice

* Right livelihood * Right effort * Right mindfulness * Right meditation

1. To know the truth

2. To intend to resist evil

3. To not say anything to hurt others 4. To respect life, property, and morality

5. To work at a job that does not injure others

6. To try to free one's mind from evil

7. To be in control of one's feelings and thoughts

8. To practice appropriate forms of concentration

Eightfold Path: In brief, these are the laws of

the Eightfold Path:

Worship and Spiritual PracticeThe Five Precepts, ceremonially read, which summarize Buddhist moral standards, in which followers undertake to abstain from:

* Taking the life of any living being * Taking anything that is not given * Sexual misconduct and other forms of overindulgence * Bad speech * Taking intoxicants

Proverbs: Buddhists everywhere live by Buddha's teachings, which were written down as proverbs.

Here are two of Buddha's proverbs, from an ancient Buddha text written in B.C. times, about 100 B.C.

(Over 2000 years ago!)

•As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, even so the wise are not ruffled by praise or blame.

•Hatreds never cease by hatred in this world; by love alone they cease. This is an ancient law.

Have you ever wondered why the Buddha is laughing? •The laughing Buddha reminds us that to be happy we need to have a loving heart. •A big heart gives you tolerance.

The Laughing Buddha:

•Buddha says that the best way to solve a problem we might have with someone else is to have a warm and loving heart.• By not being resentful, by not bearing grudges, only then are we able to smile like the Buddha - only then can we be truly happy. • It helps you to greet each day with joy and all people with gladness. It helps you to tolerate a great many things with a big happy smile that reaches your eyes and your heart.

Buddhism teaches that a person is successful not because he or she is better than someone else, and not because they received a higher grade on a test or won a Gold Medal at the Olympics, or beat out other ants to see who could carry the biggest and heaviest grain of rice. True achievement does not come from competition or comparison. A person (or an ant, or a horse) is successful because he or she has given their best within their means. For this reason, every single person can become the greatest person in the world, all at the same time.

Today Buddhism is a major world religion: There are over 330million Buddhist in the world.

Taoism was founded by Lao-Tse, a contemporary of

Confucius in China. A philosophy to end the feudal warfare and other

conflicts. The Tao-te-Ching describes life, the way to peace & how

to rule. Taoism was adopted as a state religion in 440 CE. Roughly translated Tao means path. It is a force which flows through all life & is the

first cause of everything. The goal of everyone is to become one with the Tao. Tai Chi is a technique of exercise using slow

deliberate movements. Used to balance the flow of energy or "chi" within the

body. One should develop virtue and seek compassion,

moderation & humility. Plan actions in advance and achieve them through

minimal action. Yin (dark side) and Yang (light side) symbolize

opposites, i.e. good and evil,

light and dark, male and female. Civilization upsets the balance of Yin and Yang.

. Taoism - 440 CE

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Color your map accordingly:Green - all Christian sectsBlue - dark blue for Sunni and light blue for ShiaBrown - HinduismRed- BuddhismYellow- Judaism

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Religions of the World They’ve got the whole world In Their Hands…