Religion Notes

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Religion Notes
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Objective

• 7.1.spi.3. compare and contrast the tenets of the
  five major world religions
• In other words, can I
• List the five major world religions?
• Compare important beliefs of each religion?

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Religion

• Looks at how cultures answer lifes great
  questions
• -What is the origin of life?
• -What does it mean to be human?
• -Are there greater-than-human
• forces responsible for events in the
• world?
• Examines who or what people worship and how they
  worship.

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Religion Key Terms

• Deity Any god or goddess.

Hapy Egyptian god embodied by the Nile, and who
represents life.
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the
hunt.
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Religion Key Terms

• Monotheism The belief that there is only one
  god. This god can take different forms across
  many religions and cultures

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Religious Key Terms

• Polytheism The belief that there are many
  gods. It is believed that different gods are
  representations of different things in the world.

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation.
Varuna is a god of the sky, of rain and of the
celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of
the underworld.
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Buddhism

• Followers Buddhists
• Numbers of Adherents 376 Million
• Gods None

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Buddhism

• Important People
• Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha (enlightened
  one)
• Important Texts
• Tripitaka the teachings of the Buddha

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Buddhism

• Important Points
• -Rebirth a cycle of birth, life, and death
• -Enlightenmentthe final goal
• -Place of worship Buddhist Temple

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The Four Noble Truths 1. Life is suffering 2.
Suffering is due to attachment 3. Attachment
can be overcome 4. There is a path for
accomplishing this.
Typical interior of a temple in Korea

• Young Tibetan Buddhist monks of Drepung

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Buddhist Symbols

• The image to the right is the Tibetan Wheel of
  Life, which represents Samsara.  In the very
  center, there is a rooster chasing a pig chasing
  a snake chasing the rooster -- craving, hatred,
  and ignorance.  Around that are people ascending
  the white semicircle of life, and others
  descending the black semicircle of death.  The
  greatest portion of the Wheel is devoted to
  representations of the six realms -- the realm of
  the gods, the realm of the titans, the realm of
  humans, the realm of animals, the realm of the
  hungry ghosts, and the realm of demons -- each
  realm looked over by its own boddhisattva.  The
  outermost circle is the 12 steps of dependent
  origination.  The entire Wheel is held by Yama,
  the Lord of Death.

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Murfreesboro Buddhist Temple
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Hinduism

• Followers Hindus
• Numbers of Adherents 900 million
• Gods Many gods
• -Brahman the source

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Hinduism

• Important People
• Gandhi emphasized non-violence resistance and
  equality of all people
• Important Texts
• the Vedas a collection of texts

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Hinduism

• Important Points
• -Caste System each person in society has a set
  place
• -Karma combination of good and bad deeds that
  determine unity with God
• -Place of worship Hindu Temple

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Front Entrance to Brihadisvara Temple
The Ganges River in India.
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Hindu Symbol

• As the cross is to Christians, the AUM is to
  Hindus. It is the most important symbol in
  Hinduism. It is made up of three Sanskrit
  letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined, make
  the sound Aum or Om. It occurs in every prayer.
• This symbol represents the Brahman or the
  Absolute -the source of all existence, in English
  itd mean 'omniscience', 'omnipotent',
  'omnipresent'.

An Indian woman wearing the bindu. The small red
dot can indicate she is married, indicate her
Hindu faith, or serve as a symbol of wisdom and
divine power.
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Christianity

• Followers Christians
• Numbers of Adherents 2.1 billion
• Gods One God

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Christianity

• Important People
• Jesus the son of God who came to earth
• Important Texts
• the Bible Old and New Testament

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Christianity

• Important Points
• -The Trinity Father/Son/Holy Spirit
• -Heaven the final afterlife
• -Salvation through Jesus death
• -Place of worship church or cathedral
• -Divisions Catholics Protestants

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• Vatican City Home of the Pope who is head of
  the Catholic Church

Statue of Christ the Redeemer- overlooking Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil
The Nativity Scene Birth of Jesus
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Christian Symbols
The budded cross is a common form of the cross.
Its trefoils represent the trinity.
A Celtic Cross
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Islam

• Followers Muslims
• Numbers of Adherents 1.3 billion
• One God Allah
• Islam means surrender

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Islam

• Important People
• Muhammad the last prophet
• Important Texts
• The Quran (Koran) Allahs words revealed to
  Muhammad

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Islam

• Important Points
• -The Five Pillars the duties of all Muslims
• -3 Holy Cities Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem
• -Place of worship Mosque
• -Divisions Sunnis and Shia

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The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul

• The Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad, Persian
  manuscript of the Islamic school, 16th century
  in the Seattle (Washington) Art Museum.
  Manuscript shows Muhammad ascending into heaven
  surrounded by angels out of respect, his face is
  veiled.

Muslims performing salat (prayer) at the Umayyad
Mosque.
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Islamic Symbol

• Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman
  Empire, Osman, had a dream in which the crescent
  moon stretched from one end of the earth to the
  other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to
  keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his
  dynasty. The symbol is due to cultural diffusion
  and the spread of Islam to the Ottoman Turks who
  ruled a large area and also put the crescent moon
  and star symbol on their flag.
• It can also refer to the fact that Muslims follow
  a religious lunar calendar. For example, Ramadan,
  the ninth month, is a holy month.

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Judaism

• Followers Jews
• Numbers of Adherents 14 million
• Gods One God
• Yahweh God of Israelites

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Judaism

• Important People
• Abraham the father of the Jewish Nation
• Important Texts
• the Torah Gods words revealed to Moses
• -The Torah is included in the Hebrew bible
  (Tanakh).

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Judaism

• Important Points
• -Messiah Jews are still waiting
• -Israel considered the Promised Land
• -Place of worship synagogue

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A view of Jerusalem, Israel from the Mount of
Olives.

• Jews praying at the Western (Wailing) Wall in
  Jerusalem.

A synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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Jewish Symbols

• The Star of David
• Symbolizes the six days of creation, and are also
  represent the six attributes of God power,
  wisdom, majesty, love, mercy and justice.

Moses with the Ten Commandments