Comparative Religions

Comparative Religions
Elizabeth Pham

Islam
How It Began:
Founder: Muhammed
Founded: 610 C.E. (Muhammed received first revelation)
Point of Origin:
Mecca
Where It Spread:
West and East Africa, Philippines, Central Asia, Western China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, North America, and Europe.
A Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their life. In the heart of Mecca, lays the Ka’aba. He/she must walk around the Ka’aba seven times and then, the Black Stone.

Islam [cont.]
How It Spread:
Trade
Where Most Influential Today:
India and Indonesia, however being the fastest growing religion, North America is giving way to many Muslims.
Followers, worldwide:
1,387,454,500
Prayer 5 times a day is part of the Five Pillars. When praying it is important to face the direction of Mecca, thus, everyone in the above picture is facing the same direction.

Islam [cont.]
Holy Book:
The Qur'an (or Koran)
Main God/gods/deities:
Allah
Basic Beliefs:
Strictly monotheistic; Allah is the
Muslims must practice 5 Pillars of Islam
Submission to Allah
Fasting during Ramadan
Prayer 5 times a day
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Zakat (pay alms to needy)
The sacred text of Islam is the Qur’an, which is shown
in the above picture.

Islam [cont.]
Religious Leader Organization:
Caliph is Islamic leader.
Sects Evolved Overtime:
Shiites
Sunnis
The Holy Mosque (MasjidAl-Haram) in Mecca is the most famous Mosque in the world and holds the holy Black Stone, the Ka’aba.

Buddhism

Buddhism
How It Began:
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha)
Founded: c. 525 B.C.E.
Point of Origin:
near present-day Benares, India
Where It Spread:
Mainly throughout Asia and North America.
The Life of a Buddhist Monk is meant to be simplistic. Thus, the shave their heads and wear robes in order to rid themselves of vanity.

Buddhism [cont.]
How It Spread: By Trade and as Ashoka the Great spread the word throughout his Mauryan Dynasty
Where Most Influential: Buddhism is predominately practiced in Asia
Followers, worldwide: 385,609,000
Holy Book: The Tripitaka and Mahayana Sutras
The Dharmashakra represents the Eightfold Path.

Buddhism [cont.]
no divine being
Basic Beliefs:
Karma
Reincarnation
Birth, Life, Death, Rebirth
Four Noble Truths
Life means suffering
Origin of suffering is desire.
The stopping of all suffering is possible
By following the correct path, one can achieve Nirvana (the state of no suffering).
The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of suffering.

Buddhism [cont.]
Monastic order where traditions passed down between monks and nuns
Mahayana (Zen & Sokagakkai)
Theravada
Vajrayana (Tantrism)
One of the eight auspicious symbols for Buddhism, the white lotus represents the state of spiritual perfection.

Christianity

Christianity
How It Began:
Founder: Jesus (of Nazareth)
Founded: c. 33 C.E.
Point of Origin:
Palestine
Where It Spread:
Europe, North America, and South America
A painting of Jesus Christ.

Christianity [cont.]
How It Spread:
Constantine made it the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Europe, North America, and South America
2,199, 817,400
Jesus Christ died on the Cross in order to forgive everyone’s sins, thus, the cross is a symbol to represent Christianity.

Holy Book:
The Bible
God
Basic Beliefs:
Monotheistic
Jesus died on the cross to forgive everyone's sins
The Bible tells the life of Jesus
Heaven and Hell

The Pope is head of the church.
Main sects include
Roman Catholic
Eastern Orthodox
Protestant
A church of Eastern Orthodox, one sect of Christianity.

Hinduism

Hinduism
How It Began:
Founder: Not Specified
Founded: c. 1500 B.C.E.
Point of Origin:
India
Where It Spread:
Mainly India, Nepal, Malaysia, Guyana, Suriname, and Sri Lanka.
Symbol for Hinduism.

Hinduism [cont.]
How It Spread:
Trade
India and Nepal
875,726,000
A statue of Shiva, a Hindu trinity God.

Hinduism [cont.]
Holy Book:
Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Bhagavad Gita
Brahman, Shiva, Vishnu, Devi
Basic Beliefs:
Four Vedas
Karma
Reincarnation

Hinduism [cont.]
Religious Leader
Organization: Spiritual leaders known as gurus and sages.
Shaivism
Vaishnavism
Vishnu, a Hindu trinity God.

Judaism

Judaism
How It Began:
Founder: c. 2000 B.C.E.
Founded: Abraham
Point of Origin:
Israel
Where It Spread:
Mainly across Israel and United States
For each night of Hanukah, a Jewish holiday,
one candle is lit on the menorah.

Judaism [cont.]
How It Spread:
Started by passing down through families.
Israel
14,956,000

Judaism [cont.]
Holy Book:
The Torah
God
Basic Beliefs:
Monotheistic
Stresses ethical behavior
God has special relationship with Hebrews; they shall bear witness to God’s mercy.
The Holy Book of Judaism, the Torah.

Judaism [cont.]
Other than the Rabbi, who teaches and preaches Judaism, there is no overall religious leader.
Orthodox
Conservative
Reform
Reconstructionist
Humanist
The Star of David.

Confucianism

Confucianism
How It Began:
Founder: Confucius
Founded: 6th-5th Century C.E.
Point of Origin:
China
Where It Spread:
Koreans, Japan, Vietnam and Europe.
The Chinese symbol for Confucianism.

Confucianism [cont.]
How It Spread:
Chinese tradition; Became state doctrine for the Han Dynasty
China
6,111,100
An analect of Confucianism.

Holy Book:
Confucianism followed many different documents as sacred text, including, but not limited to: The Confucian Analects, The Doctrine of The Mean, The Book of Odes, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, and The Book of Filial Piety
God
Basic Beliefs:
Because Confucianism was more of a moral code, the basic beliefs were simply the stressing of certain values:
Li: ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc.
Hsiao: love among family members
Yi: righteousness
Xin: honesty and trustworthiness
Jen: benevolence towards others; the highest Confucian virtue
Chung: loyalty to the state, etc.

There’s no set religious leader for Confucianism.
There are no formal sects of Confucianism, however Neo-Confucianism could be considered as Confucianism evolving over time, as it incorporates ideas from Buddhism and Daoism to form.
A depiction of the founder of Confucianism, Confucius.

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