Western Religions

(“Abrahamic” Religions)

1. Judaism

2. Christianity

3. Islam

Judaism Basic Facts Monotheistic

Date Founded

– Around 1300 BC

Place Founded

– Mesopotamia (Babylon/Sumeria)

Founder

– Abraham

Religious Books

– Torah and Talmud

Followers

– Around 14 million

Main Location Today

– Israel, Europe, and USA

Religious Symbol

– Star of David

Name of Deity

– God

– Yahweh

– Jehovah

Religious Leader

– Rabbi

Judaism

Monotheistic

Sacred Texts – The Torah, Talmud–Torah is the most sacred text and

consists of 5 booksGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and

Deuteronomy.

–Other laws and customs written down later make up the Talmud

Founded by Abraham, Isaac and Moses

Abraham

At age 75, God made a covenant with Abraham that would make Jews the “chosen people”.

Abraham had a son Isaac at 100 years old.

Isaac has a son Jacob (renamed Israel) who fathers the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Covenant with Abraham

God made the descendants of Abraham the “Chosen people”

Cannan would one day belong to the Israelites as their “promised land”

Moses

Born in Egypt while the Jews were enslaved.

Is adopted by the Pharaohs daughter, but is forced to flee Egypt.

Moses leads the Jews out of Egypt, unleashes the ten plagues, brings the ten commandments down from Mount Sinai and leads the Jews to the edge of the sacred land of Canaan

Ten Commandments

"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me... .."

"Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..."

"Thou shalt not swear falsely by the name of the LORD..." "Remember [zachor] the Sabbath day and keep it holy" "Thou shalt honor your father and your mother..." "Thou shalt not murder" "Thou shalt not commit adultery." "Thou shalt not steal." "Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor“

"Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's house..."

Influence

Judaism has left a large imprint on history.

The morals taught have influenced Western civilization for centuries.

Both Islam and Christianity are based on the teachings of Judaism.

Judaism is the oldest of all Western religions.

Christianity Quick Facts Monotheistic

Founder– Jesus Christ

Date Founded– 33 AD

Place Founded– Palestine

Sacred Texts – The Bible– Old Testament –

Hebrew Bible

– New Testament – Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ

Three Major Denominations– Catholics

– Eastern Christianity

– Protestants

Followers– Over Two Billion

Geographic Location– Worldwide but largest number

in EuropeNorth AmericaSouth America

– World’s Largest Religion

Name of Deity– God

– Jesus is believed to be the Son of God and Messiah sent to save mankind

History of Christianity

Jesus Lived and taught from around 3 B.C.-30 A.D.

In the 4th century A.D. Christianity becomes a legal religion in the Roman Empire

391 A.D. Christianity becomes central religion in Roman Empire.

Emperors use Christianity to create unity

Christianity becomes a basis for governing in Europe.

In the 7th Century A.D. Christianity becomes threatened by Islam.

Remains the major world religion today

Islam Quick Facts Monotheistic

Sacred Texts

– Qur’ an (Koran)

Final Revelation of God to humanity

Correction of Jewish and Christian Scriptures

Founder - Muhammad

Muslims believe that God revealed his direct word for humanity to Muhammad (c. 570–632) through the angel Gabriel and earlier prophets

Date Founded

– 622 CE

Followers

– 1.3 Billion

– Second Largest Number

Geographic Location

– Primarily Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia but Spreading Rapidly around the world Fastest Growing Religion

Name of Deity

– Allah

Major Sects

– Sunni, Shiite, Sufi

Muhammad

In the year 610 A.D. Muhammad was first visited by the Angel Gabriel who commanded him to recite verses sent by God

He preached monotheism and accepted the teachings of Judaism and Christianity but said he was sent to complete and perfect these teachings by God.

Foundation of Islam

In his home of Mecca he was persecuted and forced to flee in what is known as Hijra, or migration.

He went to Medina where he set up the first Muslim community.

Muhammad led a force that defeated the Meccans and founded Islam there

During Muhammad’s life he created the basis for the Muslim religion.

Five Pillars of Islam

1) Shahada: Testifying to God's One-ness– The declaration "There is no God but Allah and

Muhammad is His prophet."

2) Salat: Prayer. – Five prayer times each day:

– early morning, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, evening

3) Zakat: Giving charity.

4) Sawm: Fast – During month of Ramadan, daylight hours.

5) Hajj: Pilgrimage. – Every Muslim man and woman (if physically and

economically able) should try to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life-time.

Sunni

Sunni’s make up 90% of Islamic followers.

Following Muhammad’s death, Sunni’s claim that the following leaders were rightful leaders.

The Sunni caliphs ruled the Arab world until after World War I.

Shiite’s

Has roughly 1 million followers

Believed that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin was the true successor.

They follow the leader of Immam, which means: Leader

Jihad

an Islamic term, from the Arabic root ǧhd ("to exert utmost effort, to

strive, struggle"), which connotes a wide range of meanings: anything from an inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith to a political or military struggle to further the Islamic cause

Eastern Religions

Hinduism Quick Facts

Meaning of Name– Hinduism, from the Persian hindu

(Sanskrit sindhu), literally "river." Means "of the Indus Valley" or simply "Indian." Hindus call their religion sanatamadharma,"eternal religion" or "eternal truth."

Date Founded– Earliest forms date to 1500

BC or earlier

Place Founded– India

Founder– none

adherents– 900 million

size rank– third largest in the world

Main Geographic location– India, also United Kingdom

and United States

major sects– Saivism, Vaisnavism, Saktism

sacred texts– Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras,

Bhagavad Gita

original language

Sanskrit

spiritual leader

guru or sage

Basic Ideas

The term Hinduism is not a single well-defined religion, in the sense that Hinduism consists of several schools of thought and traditions

All Hindus believe in a supreme cosmic spirit called Brahman, who is worshipped in many forms such as Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti

Religion to the Hindu is the eternal search for the divine Brahman

Vishnu

Beliefs

Dharma: (individual ethics, duties and obligations),

Samsāra: Reincarnation, or the soul's transmigration through a cycle of birth and death

Karma: "actions", leading to a cause-and-effect relationship

Moksha: (salvation) for every soul through a variety of paths (known as margs or yogas), such as Bhakti (devotional service), Karma (selfless action) and Jñāna (enlightenment, knowledge), Raja (meditation) and belief in God (Īshvara)

History

The classical theory of the origins of Hinduism traces the religion's roots to the Indus valley civilization circa 4000 to 2200 BC

The caste system was closely linked to Hinduism.

– The Caste system was based on Social classes and set up complex rules to govern every aspect of a persons life.

– People could not change the caste they were in in this life, but could hope to attain a higher level in their next life.

The Caste System

Buddhism Quick Facts

Meaning of Buddhism– “System taught by the

Buddha”

Date Founded– Around 520 BCE

Place Founded– Northeastern India

Founder– Siddhartha Gautama (“the

Buddha”); an Indian Prince

Buddha– Means “The Enlightened One”

Main Deity– None

Type of Religion– Varies: Theravada is atheistic;

Mahayana is more polytheistic

Sects

– Theravada; Mahayana; and Vajrayana

Sacred texts: – Pali Canon (Tripitaka), numerous

Mahayana sutras

Geographic Location– China, Japan, Korea, Southeast

Asia

Number of Followers– 360 Million

– Fourth Largest Religion Today

Buddhism

Religion, Philosophy

focusing on the teachings of the Gautama Buddha

No God only the attempt to reach Nirvana– It denotes being free from mind-

contaminants such as lust, anger or craving and is thus a state of great inner peace and contentment -- it is the end of suffering

The Buddha

Gautama was born a prince around 563 B.C.

Prophets foresaw him being a wandering holy man.

Seeing suffering he left the comfort of his palace to understand the source.

For years he wandered and meditated, finally understanding the cause of and cure for suffering.

"I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering"

4 Noble Truths

1. All Life is Full of Suffering

2. The cause of suffering is nonvirtue, or negative deeds and mindsets such as hatred and desire

3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome nonvirtue

4. The way to overcome nonvirtue is to follow the Eightfold path.

Noble Eightfold Path Wisdom

– 1. Right view: the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism must be fully understood by the Buddhist practitioner

– 2. Right intention: deals with the Buddhist practitioner's reasons for practicing Buddhism,

Ethical conduct – 3. Right speech: deals with the way in which a Buddhist

practitioner would best make use of his or her words – 4. Right action: deals with the proper way in which a Buddhist

practitioner would act in his or her daily life – 5. Right livelihood: not to engage in trades or occupations

which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm to other living beings

Mental discipline – 6. Right effort: Buddhist practitioner's continuous effort to

keep his or her mind free of thoughts that might impair his or her ability to realize the other elements of the Noble Eightfold Path;

– 7. Right mindfulness: Buddhist meditation. – 8. Right concentration: is concerned broadly with the practice

of Buddhist meditation.

Buddhism v. Hinduism

Buddhism grew out of Hindu traditions

Both believed in karma and a cycle of rebirth

Buddhists rejected the many gods of Hinduism and the Caste System

Questions

How are all religions similar?

Why have different religions appeared in different areas of the world?

Why is there religious hatred?

Are Religions supposed to promote peace?

Will we ever know one true religion?

Sources

Slideshare.net

www.religionfacts.com