Western Religions

1. Judaism
2. Christianity
3. Islam
 Judaism
 Monotheistic
 Sacred Texts – The Torah, Talmud
– Torah is the most sacred text and
consists of 5 books
 Genesis,
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..."
David and Solomon
 David reunites the
Twelve Tribes of
Israel as the second
king of Israel.

 David’s son Solomon

continues the
Kingdom of Israel and
its influence spreads.
 Solomon builds his
capital at Jerusalem.
The Fall of Israel
 Revolts erupted in Israel
after the death of Solomon.
 By 722 B.C. the Israelites
were conquered by the
Assyrian empire
 In 586 B.C. the Babylonians
capture Judah and exile the
Jews to Babylonia.
 After being freed by the
Persian ruler Cyrus many
Jews returned to Judah.
 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
 Monotheistic
 Sacred Texts – The Bible
– Old Testament – Hebrew Bible
– New Testament – Life and Teachings of
Jesus Christ
 Three Major Denominations
– Catholics
– Eastern Christianity
– Protestants
 Christianity
Great
Schism

Orthodox 1378-1417 Catholicism

Protestant Reformation
1500’s-1600’s
Protestantism

Lutherns, Calvanists,
Baptists, Evangelicists
 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
 Monotheistic
 Sacred Texts

– Qur’ an (Koran)
 FinalRevelation of God to humanity
 Correction of Jewish and Christian Scriptures

 Muhammad
– Muslims believe that God revealed his direct
word for humanity to Muhammad (c. 570–632)
through the angel Gabriel and earlier prophets
 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
 henotheisticreligions
 They recognize a single deity, and
view other Gods and Goddesses as
manifestations or aspects of that
supreme God
 Shruti, Bhagavad Gita, Smriti
 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.
 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
"I teach one thing and one
thing only: suffering and the
end of suffering"
 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.
 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?