Download A comparative look at major religions

WHEN YOU COME IN:
• Go to the open cabinet
• Grab a textbook
• Bring it to me at my desk so that I can
record the number
• Write Your name on the inside cover in the
appropriate box
A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT
MAJOR RELIGIONS
LEARNING GOALS FOR THE DAY
• Students will be able to:
• Compare and contrast six major religions
in the world.
• Create a generalization about religion in
the world as a whole or about the variety
of religions in the world.
HINDUISM
• One of the World’s oldest religions
• Started in India
• Polytheistic > Henotheistic
• All gods are different forms of Brahma
• Devotion to different deities
• “Om” used in Hindu prayers
• Ritual washing in the Ganges River
• Brahmin priests
• Caste System
• Brahma ( Creator), Shiva (Destroyer), Vishnu
(Preserver)
BUDDHISM
• Over 2,500 years old
• Sri Lanka, East and Southeast Asia, Japan
• Theravada & Mahayana
• Dharma- Belief in the Teachings of Buddha
• Siddhartha Gautama
• Key to happiness: freedom from all worldly desires
goods (desire leads to suffering and pain)
&
• 8-fold path (Middle Way) between earthly desires and
extreme self-denial
• Strive to follow Buddha’s teachings (meditation, offerings, statues)
• Monks (ascetics), Bodhisattva (Mahayana)
• Reincarnation, Nirvana
LEARNING GOALS FOR THE DAY
• Students will be able to:
• Compare and contrast six major religions
in the world.
• Create a generalization about religion in
the world as a whole or about the variety
of religions in the world.
CONFUCIANISM
• An ethical system or philosophy, not necessarily a religion
• Good Behavior & Obeying the Gov’t
• Mostly Chinese
• Based on Confucius’ teachings (Analects)
• Social & Civic Responsibility
• Can be a Confucian Buddhist
• Yin & Yang
• Opposite forces working in world
together for social order and harmony
• Filial Piety >
JUDAISM
• The oldest major monotheistic religion
• Scriptures: The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
• 1st 5 Books: Torah
• One God (Yahweh)
• The Oneness of God
• Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah
• Synagogue
• Priests used to sacrifice animals at the Temple in
Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Romans
• Purim, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur
• Leaders: Rabbi (Teacher)
• Conservative, Orthodox, Reformed
CHRISTIANITY
• Jesus of Nazareth
• Jewish carpenter who claimed
to be Son of God
• Taught many and had followers
• He was a real person. There is Roman evidence of his death.
• Worship: Prayer, Singing, Sermon, Baptism, Communion
• Leaders: Priests, Pastor, Evangelist, Elders, Deacons, Bishop, Minister,
Monks, Nuns
• Symbols: Cross and the Fish
• God of the Bible: Old Testament (Jewish) and New Testament
(Christian)
• God’s Son came down in the flesh to provide an example of how to live
and also he died by crucifixion and his sacrifice cleans people of their
sins.
ISLAM
• Means submission to God (Allah in Arabic)
• One who submits= A Muslim
• Started by Muhammad; he wastold to “recite” the
word of God (Quran)
• Stresses the Oneness of God (Issue with Trinity)
• Accepts Bible (mainly OT) and the Jewish prophets
• Calls Muhammad the last prophet
• Came hundreds of years after Judaism and
Christianity
• Five Pillars (Worship)
• Shahada, Zakat, Salat, Hajj, Sawm
• Mosque = Place, Imam and Ulama = Leaders
• Quran has 114 Suras (chapters, longest to shortest)
• Sects- Sunni and Shi’a
EXIT QUESTION
• On a separate piece of paper, list
these religions in the order of when
they started (oldest to newest):
• Islam, Judaism, Christianity
• Turn it in to me at the door