Religions

Religion:

• System of faith, morality and worship

Judaism

• Monotheistic: One all-powerful God• Holy Book: Torah• Founder: Abraham– Founding Date:

• Origin: Israel• Other important figures: – Moses (led people out of Egypt and founded nation of

Israel)– King David (First important king of Israel)– King Solomon (wisest king)

Central Beliefs

• One all powerful God who created the Universe and the world

• Israelites: God’s chosen people to bring the Word of God

Different Sects:

• Orthodoxy: More Conservative• Hasidism: More mystical• Reform: More liberal• Historical Sects:– Pharisees– Sadducees– Essenes

Christianity

• Monotheistic• Holy Book: Bible

– (Old Testament: Jewish Torah, New Testament: Collection of writings giving more “complete” picture of God’s word

• Founder: Jesus Christ• Origin: Israel• Other Important Figures:

– 12 Apostles (original followers of Jesus)– Saints (St. Paul)– Martin Luther– John Calvin

Central Beliefs

• Fulfillment of Jewish Holy Scriptures and prophecy

• Jesus Christ son of God and Savior of world• Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)• Very pacifist religion

Sects

• Roman Catholic• Eastern Orthodoxy– Greek – Russian

• Protestantism– Lutheranism– Calvinism– Baptist– Evangelism

Islam

• Monotheistic• Holy Book: Quran– (Incorporates Bible in holy texts {and Torah in Old

Testament} Refers to Christians and Jews as “People of the Book”

• Founder: Muhammad• Important Historical Figures:– Abu Bakr, Muwawiyah I, Suleiman the

Magnificent, Sultan Mehmed II

Sects:

• Sunni: belief that the Caliph (religious leader) can be anyone worthy of job– 97% of Muslim world

• Shia: belief that the Caliph must be a descendant of Muhammad– 3%, mostly in Iran and

Central Asia

Central Beliefs

• Same God as Christianity and Judaism

• Islam is the fulfillment of the Scriptures according to Abraham (founder of Judaism)

• Jesus 2nd most important prophet (not son of God)

Hinduism

• Polytheistic• Holy Book: Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana• Founder: Unknown

Central Beliefs

• Many Gods all incarnations of one all-powerful God Vishnu

• Caste System: levels of society all people are born into (reincarnation to go to next level)

• Religion of India

Buddhism

• No God, Spiritual• Holy Book: Sutra• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)• Important Historical Figures: – Ashoka

Central Beliefs

• Spiritual Movement where there is no central divine figure

• Four Noble Truths:– 1. All life is suffering– 2. We suffer because of desire– 3. The only way to eliminate suffering is to

eliminate desire– 4. The only way to eliminate desire is through the

Eight-Fold Path

8 Fold Path

Confucianism

• No God: Philosophical Movement• Holy Book: Analects• Founder: Confucius

Central Beliefs

• Maintain society and make sure that everyone is in their proper place– Like Caste System: but, you can change your

position based on merit– VERY Patriarchal: Women must be taken care of by

first father, then husband, then son • Heaven: its real, but don’t worry about it, be

concerned with the NOW

Daoism

• No God• Founder: Lao Zi

Central Beliefs

• Must be in Harmony with the Dao (the Path, or “Way)

• Wu-wei: action through inaction (nature will take care of itself)

Zoroastrianism

• Two Gods: Dualism– Good vs. Evil– Ahura Mazda (Good)– Ahirman (Evil)

• Holy Book: Zend Avesta• Founder: Zarathusra

Paganism

• Pagani: Latin for “countryside”– Kind of like “redneck”

• Biased term, generally used for people who had not converted to Christianity

• Term for any people who maintain their traditional religion and have not converted to a mainstream global religion