World Religions

Unit 1

Religion and Culture

• Value system that people place on themselves and others based on a spiritual or divine aspect of the world.

• Religion can impact the world’s landscape and the cultures of billions.

• Faith-belief in things that you cannot see or prove.

Religion and Culture

• Monotheistic-One god

• Polytheistic-Many gods

• Ethnic religions-person is born into the faith, little to no effort is put forth to convert others.

• Universalizing religions-members actively try to covert others

Religion and Culture • Atheists-do not believe in any god

• Secularist-person who wants to separate religion from all aspects of society

One thought on religion vs. atheism by British celebrity Ricky Gervais

Major Religions of the World

• Hinduism

• Buddhism

•Judaism •Christianity •Islam

Christianity • World’s largest religion

• Monotheistic, universalizing.

• 3 Branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox

• Symbols:

– Cross located within the church

– Steeple of the church points upward towards Heaven. Cross usually on top of steeple

Christian Beliefs

• Jesus Christ: – Born on Earth

– Died on Cross

– Resurrected

– Showed that all Christians can be saved

• The Bible – Old and New Testament

• Old: Israelites, Moses, Abraham, David. Before the coming of the Savior

• New: life of Jesus and foundation of the new faith

• Holy Trinity: God, Son, Holy Spirit

Structure of Christianity

• Catholic Church – Pope

– Cardinals

– Bishops

– Priests

• Protestant Church – Pastor, Minister

• Orthodox Church – Patriarch

Denominations

• Branches of a religion that differ on specific aspects of the principles of the religion

– Catholicism is the oldest and largest branch

– Martin Luther created the Protestant Reformation which broke away from Roman Catholicism

• Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.

Islam

• Second largest religion. Starting to gain on Christianity

• Muslims

– Mostly live in the Middle East, Northern Africa, Southeast Asia

• Universalizing, monotheistic

• Shares some of the major people with Christianity and Judaism

Islam • Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet, but

not the main prophet. For Muslims, this person is Muhammad.

• Muhammad was spoken to by Allah (God) and wrote down Allah’s word in the Koran.

• Koran is the Islamic holy text.

Islam

• Muslims worship inside of a mosque

– Minarets-towers that extend upward toward Allah

• The leader of a mosque is an imam.

– They lead prayers at different times of the day

Beliefs of Islam

• Five Pillars of Islam: 1. Shahadah: There is only one God, Allah

• When you accept the creed of Allah, you officially become a Muslim

2. Salah: Prayer must be done five times daily facing the city of Mecca

3. Zakat: Taxes must be paid directly to the poor and needy or the mosque

4. Sawm: One must fast during Ramadan

5. Hahjj: One must make a pilgrimage to Mecca once during one’s life

Salah and Sawm

Hajj

Denominations

• Shiites, Shiahs, Shi’a

– 15-20% of Muslim population

– Conservative

– Interpret the Koran literally

• Sunnis make up the largest percentage of Muslims

– Liberal

– Looser interpretation of the Koran

Denominations • Shiite Muslims live mainly in Iraq and Iran • Sunni Muslims live in the rest of the Middle East,

Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia • Theocracy-state ruled by religious leaders

– Religion plays a key role in the administration of the country

– Koran plays an important role in the institutional laws of society

• Islamic theocracies are ruled by Sharia Law – Do not separate church and state – Based on Koran and teachings of Muhammad.

• Fundamentalism-literal interpretation of a holy book, urges strict behavioral guidelines to comply with basic principles of religion – See this in Christianity .

Judaism

• One of the oldest religions

• Not just a religion, but an ethnicity

Judaism

• Worship inside of a synagogue

• The Star of David is a major symbol in the religion.

• David was one of the major leaders in the faith

Beliefs of Judaism

• Ethnic, monotheistic religion

• God figure is Yahweh

• Jewish bible is the Tanahk, based on the Torah and the Talmud

• Rabbi leads the service on Saturday

Distribution

• Majority of population lives in the US along the East Coast

• Israel was founded in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish after WWII

– 14 Million Jews live there today

Denominations of Judaism • Orthodox

– Can live within society

– Believe that the Torah’s message can change with the times

• Reform

– Believe Torah is open to continuous interpretation

Jewish Holidays

• Passover

– Biblical Story

• Rosh Hashanah

– Reflect on sins

• Yom Kippur

– Fast

– Atonement

Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic

• Monotheistic

– Belief in one god figure

– Believers will go to heaven, nonbelievers to hell

• Polytheistic

– Many gods

Hinduism

• Oldest religion on Earth

• Ethnic religion

– You can practice, but you are only Hindu if you’re born into a Hindu family

• Majority in India

• 3rd largest religion

Beliefs of Hinduism

• 3 primary deities

– Brahma

– Shiva

– Vishnu

• Practice faith in a temple

• Vedas-holy texts

• Reincarnation

Deities

Triumvirate:

• Brahma – Created the

universe

• Shiva – Destroys the

universe

• Vishnu – Preserver of Earth

and universe

Buddhism

• Focus on elimination of desires through meditation

• No focus on a specific god

– Instead: personal devotion of the individual follower.

• Located in East Asia, Northeast, Southeast Asia

• Universalizing but…

– Syncretic religion: combining 2+ faiths into one belief system

Buddhism

• Pagodas

– Individual rather than congregational

– Not social

– Burn incense to release spirits/meditate

Beliefs of Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama – Prince who lived in

Nepal

– He left his palace and observed the poverty in the region and was disgusted.

– He lived a life without material possessions

• Nirvana: enlightenment

Beliefs of Buddhism

• 4 Universal Truths – All living beings should experience and endure

suffering

– Suffering leads to the desire to live, which leads to reincarnation

– The goal is to leave the suffering of this Earth perpetuated by reincarnation

– Nirvana can be achieved through practicing the following eight steps: • Rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort,

thought, meditation.

Sacred Places & Spaces • Sacred spaces-

locations with significant meaning – Taj Mahal: built by

Muslim prince as a mausoleum for wife

– Ganges River: Hindu holy river; bodies are burned and scattered over river

– Death and how to care for the dead

Conflict

• Battles fought in the name of religion happen frequently – Why is this ironic?

• Interfaith boundaries-fighting over the boundaries of people of different faiths – Christians vs. Muslims – Iran vs. Israel – Christians vs. Christians – Muslim Pakistan vs. Hindu India

• Nuclear Weapons…

– 9/11 and other terrorist attacks (worldwide) – Northern Ireland: Protestant vs. Catholic