Major World Religions

Credits for Pictures on Title Slide

• Left Row Top: Jewish Menorah http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=jewish+menorah&view=detail&id=4718F4CEF213562BCE104719317AE45E6699FB9B&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

• Left Row Center: Christian Cross and Fish http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=christian+symbols&view=detail&id=C4EB869E62EDFBD7ACD50723D529E12AEA1A67C5&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

• Left Row Bottom: Islam http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=islamic+symbols&view=detail&id=6D3C7A304A793C50500691D7A7D98A48638D3C4A&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

• Center Row Top: Buddhist Wheel of Dharma http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=buddhist+symbols&view=detail&id=70782FA55A87E0D8D519E3B0B93261262303137F&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

• Center Row Bottom: Hindu Om http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hindu+symbols&view=detail&id=0C0492AAFC2D69C779452FB5D492A4DE64C509C3&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

• Right Row Top: Confucian http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucian+symbols&view=detail&id=6D5FCD1B5C8F3CFA6AE0D28FD423B2EEDE58224E&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

• Right Row Bottom: Taoist Yin and Yang http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucian+symbols&view=detail&id=FB2F59D1229EC4E0AB9B3E22D8751D875A47D713&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Five Major Religions Have Developed Around the World

• Western Faiths

–Judaism

–Christianity

–Islam

• Eastern Faiths

–Hinduism

–Buddhism http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=world+religions&view=detail&id=C96119695C819E1564FB16B5CA8EA478C0C9A10A&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

China Developed Two Major Ethical-Philosophical Belief Systems

• Confucianism– Confucius studied classic

Chinese writings

– Emphasized orderly relationships among people

• Daoism– Lao Tsu (Laozi)

– Emphasized mankind living a natural lifehttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucius+and+l

ao+tzu&view=detail&id=F4F999568661CEA6BAFC85832C509AB204F0BA99&first=60&FORM=IDFRIR

Judaism is the First Monotheistic Faith

• Developed in the Middle East• According to Torah and Old

Testament, the tribes descended from Abraham

• God promised Abraham that a great nation would descend from him

• He and his wife Sarah were very old

• He takes a concubine named Hagar and has a son Ishmael

• Sarah eventually has a child named Isaac

• When Ishmael is 14, he and Hagar are banished

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=abraham%2c+sarah%2c+hagar%2c+and+ishmael&view=detail&id=DDD3663ACDCDB736D5876E8770B1AD62E7984C72&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Covenant Renewed

• God orders Abraham to sacrifice Isaac

• At the last moment, an angel stops the sacrifice

• God renews his promise of numerous descendants as a reward for his obedience

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=abraham+sacrifices+isaac&view=detail&id=FF108642C16658FA560614B2B4F209F4E136D793&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Basic Beliefs Develop

• Jews see themselves as the chosen people of God

• They establish the Ten Commandments as rules for daily life

• They believe that the covenant will be kept by God as long as the people follow the laws of the faith

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ten+commandments&view=detail&id=E7CD0950D6F1BD67DB1342CCAC7D8633E14BB41F&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

History Says?

• Archaeology does not support the story in its time frame

• The stories were probably written after captivity in Babylon to encourage continued faith

• Nevertheless, three faiths see Abraham as their mutual predecessor– Judaism– Christianity, an outgrowth of

Judaism– Islam, which believes its people

to be descended from Hagar and Ishmael

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=abraham+and+islam%2c+judaism%2c+and+christianity&view=detail&id=F39AE34CF5C684A76B8CE2B5B46C1D3FE7FD4128&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

• Isaac’s  son  Jacob  has  12  sons

• The family moved into Egypt during a famine and lived in slavery there 400 years

• Moses leads the Israelites back to Canaan, the promised land

• The land was ruled by the Judges, representatives of the tribes until about 1000 BCE

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=twelve+tribes+of+israel&view=detail&id=61F911B1AB940CEB2B4EF5E79C648DBE872CD383&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

The Empire Splits

• Saul establishes a monarchy made famous by David and his son Solomon

• Solomon builds the first temple in Jerusalem during his reign

• Civil war breaks out after Solomon’s  death

• Ten northern tribes become Israel

• Two southern tribes become Judah

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=israel+and+judah&view=detail&id=EE53CA1C7D5403F28B69EF63E88DA8C41590CD50&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

The Diaspora Begins

• Assyrians conquer Israel in 722 BCE

• The people come to be known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel

• Judah falls to Babylon in 586 BCE and people are taken off the land

• Some Jews return to Canaan when the Persians defeat the Babylonians

• The Second Temple is built in Jerusalem

• Over time, the land is overrun by the Greeks and then the Romans

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=second+temple+of+jerusalem&view=detail&id=A9BE66619AA976BAA46AA02BD4CF2A3F1A4C3D2E&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Removal by the Romans• Judea ruled itself fairly

independently under outsiders until the Romans conquered in 63 BCE

• Herod the Great appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate

• Treatment of the people under the Herodian Dynasty was brutally harsh

• Judea became part of Roman Syria

• Most people sold into slavery during a Jewish revolt between 132 and 136 CE

• Others became citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=herod+the+great&view=detail&id=5F087C3F7641216E1536E4D5192009D205D28950&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Christianity Begins as a Sect of Judaism

• Christians believe Jesus to be the Messiah the Jews were awaiting

• Gospels trace his lineage back to David and Solomon, ultimately back to Abraham

• As he grows older, Jesus is baptized and travels as a wandering rabbi around the country side

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=jesus&view=detail&id=BC64B15A564E18B1B7305FB245AE8E6FC5FBB474&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Jesus Gets the Attention of the Jewish Religious Leaders

• Jesus’  teachings  and  growing followings put him in conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the two main groups of Jews in the Jerusalem area

• Jesus is arrested by Roman troops on orders by the Jewish Sanhedrin

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=sanhedrin&view=detail&id=308AB27F99C0EBB2EF7090AB327BF8D7279A7B05&first=60&FORM=IDFRIR

Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension

• Roman governor Pontius Pilate allows Jewish officials to deal with Jesus

• He is crucified, a criminal punishment common in the Roman Empire

• Christians believe that he came back to life three days later and rose into heaven, fulfilling the Messianic prophecy

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=christ+ascends&view=detail&id=ADE503EF4CFE744ACD4F949EDEAB405094525BA0&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Upstart Sect Becomes Major Religious Group

• The Apostles of Jesus spread ideas after his death that got them expelled from the Jewish faith

• Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire starting with the burning of Rome in 64 BC, blamed on them by Nero

• Despite the odds against them, the Christians converted others to the faith, and it spread throughout the empire

• Edict of Milan legalized the faith in 313

• Emperor Theodosius made it the official religion of the empire in 395

• When Roman Empire in the West collapsed in 476 CE, the Church became one of the major institutions supporting European people in the Middle Ages

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=christianity+in+roman+empire&view=detail&id=C2BEAD0F09A97736B08F6AB350D3CC2096DA8E6D&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

Rise of Islam

• Muhammad is born in Mecca in 570 CE

• Raised by an uncle after the death of his parents

• Disappointed by his life as a marchant in Mecca, he went to a cave to meditate

• Received his first revelation from Allah when he was 40

• Within three years he was prophesying to the Meccans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Siyer-i_Nebi_158b.jpg

Mecca Business Leaders Fear His Message

• Many people listen eagerly to his message

• Business leaders feared that visitors would not come to the Kaaba to pray, costing the city trade

• When Muhammad heard of the plot to kill him, he and his family fled north to Medina in 622 CE http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=muhammad's+flight+to+

medina&view=detail&id=70C7CA5F376ADEE12A6325155CACA0831A0EDDBA&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Beginning of the Islamic Empire

• The Hijra saved his life, and he returned with an army in 632, conquering Mecca

• The Kaaba was adopted as a religious shrine

• Muhammad died, and his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, became the first caliph (Successor)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=kaaba&view=detail&id=06A8374B47424E02844D93B4EE82AFED4B4CF6BF&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Mecca Takes Control of the Empire

• Muhammad’s  family  is  driven out of power by the business interests

• The Umayyad clan that had ruled Mecca became the leaders of the empire

• By 750 CE the empire spread across the north coast of Africa, into southern Turkey, and eastward into Persia

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=islamic+empire+map+750+ad&view=detail&id=26F27EDAF5B8F9C41CCA51AD0A481A30CAE5D7AE&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Final Prophet and Basic Ideas

• Muhammad was venerated as the final prophet of Allah

• Muslims trace their roots back to Abraham and see the Jewish prophets and Jesus  as  Muhammad’s  fore-runners

• They see members of all three  faiths  as  “People  of  the  Book”  (Dhimmi)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=muhammad+and+abraham&view=detail&id=7A8F2292370ADFCA6CA5FCBFDBE48FB50268E657&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Five Pillars of Islam

• Basic principles of the faith include:– Muhammad is the Prophet of

the one God, named Allah– People should pray five times

daily, in the direction of Mecca

– People should give alms to the poor

– People should fast during the holy month of Ramadan

– People should make a hajj to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=five+pillars+of+islam&view=detail&id=21592324DADB7079B99422F200B3EB72D66099F6&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Conflict Between the Three Major Western Faiths

• Developed in the same areas

• Claim the same heritage• Over time, Christians blame

Jews for the death of Jesus, resulting in persecution of the Jews in Europe

• Christians and Muslims wage holy war during the Crusades to take control of the city of Jerusalem

• The conflicts have continued into modern times

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=crusades&view=detail&id=E2266562B4EA067417B519938B70B1C1EF05B1AC&first=120&FORM=IDFRIR

Two Major Eastern Faiths Develop in India

• Hinduism combines with the Indo-Aryan caste system to provide order

• Buddhism rejects the caste system but grows larger outside of India

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hinduism+and+buddhism&view=detail&id=EFDCCCEB1D2D7270EC0FA49C4984AB6E2EEA89A9&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Aryans Enter India From the North

• Aryans come through Hindu-Kush Mountains around 2000 BCE

• Settle northern India over next 1000 years

• Merge with the native Dravidian people to create Indo-Aryan culture that promotes Aryan values

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hindu-kush+mountains&view=detail&id=B8B9A302CC1ED78F76CB8D0C27FBDF2A9E1763FA&first=90&FORM=IDFRIR

Caste System

• People divide into four major groups by birth– Brahmins—priests

– Kshatriyas—warriors and noble

– Vaisyas—merchants and farmers

– Sudras--servants

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=caste+system+in+india&view=detail&id=75DCA77B82FC122C6037B71983B8624BB9408560&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Religious Beliefs

• Upanishads and Rig Vedas are the writings the Aryans brought with them to explain key ideas of the faith

• Three major gods– Brahma—the Creator

– Vishnu—the Preserver

– Shiva—the Destroyer

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=brahma+vishnu+shiva&view=detail&id=27453A8044CADFA0333F264767F3840C64B4AFD5&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Brahman

• All three major gods and all the minor ones are part of the universal spirit, called Brahman

• Human souls are also part of this spirit

• When the body dies, the soul is reborn in another body—reincarnation

• Eventually a soul will break out of the cycle of life and be reunited with Brahman

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Reincarnation+Hindu&view=detail&id=90D784D20B3472B6801987E585F4BE0F4F395B5C&first=0&qpvt=Reincarnation+Hindu&FORM=IDFRIR

Key Ideas Supporting This World View

• Caste rigidity is acceptable because this life is false

• If you follow dharma—duty—your soul will reincarnate in a higher caste, if not, it will do so in a lower caste

• Karma is the good or bad will you earn as you live your life

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=brahma&view=detail&id=1A6EEDCF36FD655F5D3C9E1BFD5A40CD64A038C4&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Bhagavad Gita Outlines This Idea

• Warrior Arjuna worries about killing people when he fights

• God Krishna tells him it is his duty to fight

• His success is not his success—it  is  Krishna’s  will  as to who lives and dies in battle

• “Better  to  do  one’s  own  duty  well  than  another’s  poorly”

• People are expected to accept their caste roles

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=arjuna+and+krishna&view=detail&id=0F8345A2B29A36F5CD3D50D14A859851290858D8&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Buddhism Rejects Some Hindu Ideas

• Siddhartha Gautama born as an Indian prince in 563 BCE

• His family tried to shield him from the world

• When he saw sickness, he tried to determine why people suffered

• Hindu asceticism did not bring him enlightenment

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=siddhartha+gautama&view=detail&id=05268D8BF6EE6F8EA2D0CB637201F359099F8392&first=60&FORM=IDFRIR

The Buddha

• Gautama meditates under a bodhi tree

• He finds the answer and becomes  “the  Buddha”—the Enlightened One

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bodhi+tree&view=detail&id=D52CA5047D2C535BE8941402B861283A279981A9&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

Four Noble Truths

• He says:– All life is full of pain and

sorrow

– The pain is caused by the desire for the things we have in our lives

– The pain can be stopped

– It is stopped by following the Noble Eightfold Path

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=four+noble+truths&view=detail&id=41AA95F829AA35DCAEDD0033855AE1C73F81D294&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

The Eightfold Path

• Right View

• Right Intention

• Right Speech

• Right Action

• Right Livelihood

• Right Effort

• Right Mindfulness

• Right Concentration

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=four+noble+truths&view=detail&id=B06EE0EFF761861CD9E13F9A120F0BBCEFE4E0D3&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Nirvana

• Buddha believes in reincarnation but rejects caste

• EVERY individual can reach Nirvana as a result of behavior in his or her life

• Refused to be seen as a god himself

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=buddhist+nirvana&view=detail&id=B5FA43BD087990B590F335E544376617AAFE669D&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Mauryan Ruler Asoka Spreads Buddhism to SE and East Asia

• Begins life as Hindu warrior king

• After much killing and many regrets, he converts to Buddhism and stops the fighting

• Sends missionary to eastern areas, where Buddhism grows and develops in several different fashions

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mauryan+Empire+Asoka&view=detail&id=77F3202A1CCDC08808C28F80F840BE1CA2FE5AF8&first=0&qpvt=Mauryan+Empire+Asoka&FORM=IDFRIR

Chinese Philosophies

• Isolated from the rest of Asia by mountains and deserts, China develops ethical belief systems instead of religions

• Eventually Buddhism comes in from India and intermingles with the traditional Chinese ideas of Confucianism and Daoismhttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=china+physical+map&view=d

etail&id=AC977539B09418206E3DD80E8896583544F5B2E0&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Confucianism

• Confucius (Kong Zi, K’ung-tzu, Kong Fuzi) born in 551 BCE

• His ideas emphasize personal and government morality, correctness of social relations, and sincerity

• His ideas gained great acceptance after his death during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)

• His ideas are found in the Analects, compiled after his death and likely not his specific writings

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucius&view=detail&id=14129BA77B256B6DE2CF93D02F5DE6E629E3DE31&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Greatest Master

• Confucius seen as the Greatest Master by the Chinese people

• Creates no new ideas• Transmits old classic ideas

and encourages people to study things themselves

• Sees the greatest personal virtue based upon harmony with other people

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucius+great+master&view=detail&id=4647649A02E6BEF82BC0CAB6E5A8EC2A23944C8C&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Confucius’  Political  Ideas

• People see him as a conservative who wants to bring back traditional Chinese values

• But he calls for rulers to striver for personal and social perfection, spreading that virtue from top down to his people by his example of such behaviors, rather than by passing laws

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chinese+confucius+rulers&view=detail&id=4647649A02E6BEF82BC0BE561AF4422AF4166100&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

The Analects

• His later followers created the set of rules found in the Analects

• Royal court in China adopted the ideas and created the system we know today

• Mencius sees the goodness of people as the key

• Xun Zi sees the importance of traditions and obedience

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=confucius+analects&view=detail&id=161D73FB71D1C76A57FCB4673FBDF5743553374A&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Qin and Han Dynasties Bring Confucian Clash to the Center

• Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) is harsh

• Qin Shihuangdi burns the classics and Confucian writings as he tries to centralize his power

• Han Dynasty shortly thereafter (206 BCE-220 CE)makes Confucian writings required reading for civil service examinations

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=shi+huangdi&view=detail&id=0B117DE31E76228BD8C79719D54848A07D3CE991&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

Acceptance of Taoism and Buddhism

• By the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi (1130 AD-1200 AD) blends elements of Confucianism with some ideas from Taoism and Buddhism to produce Confucianism as it is basically understood today

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=zhu+xi&view=detail&id=E9F4827B4548972C117027405BD53484C9FCE545&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Taoism—The Way

• Laozi (Lao Tzu, Lao Tse) lives in sixth century BCE (maybe!!)

• Who actually wrote the Tao Te Ching is up for debate still

• Most likely the writing is a compiling of works by many different people

• Lao=old or venerable• Zi=master

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lao+tzu&view=detail&id=55F9948EB19973E670AE51839D11673AD82ABF0D&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Tao Calls for Return to Nature;s Way

• Human beings are just one part of nature

• They use their free will for their own selfish purposes, upsetting the natural way

• The poems explain how to act in more natural ways and overcome the personal selfishness of human life

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tao+te+ching&view=detail&id=63AA2EC629C15D51910A11D4F6060A258FAC18B8&first=30&FORM=IDFRIR

Key Ideals for Behavior

• People should not force their will but act spontaneously, reactively

• Simplistic, humble life style

• Avoidance of war, harsh laws, heavy taxes on a governmental level

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tao&view=detail&id=3BA3216818596268224FF030BBEBE8A0740EC2F4&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Chinese Acceptance of Both Ethical Systems

• Traditionally, Chinese people live in accordance with Confucian and Taoist ideas

• They provide opposing ways to look at the world, each having value

• Correctness of personal relations and correctness of interaction with natural way can both be the goal of a Chinese personhttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=yin+and+yang&view=detail&i

d=72618710A9851E0EA4BEA66FEBF522D18FE4EB19&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR