Middle School Academics

1. WORLD RELIGIONS
A Look at the Way
the World Prays

2. PRIMARY WORLD RELIGIONS
ISLAM
JUDAISM
HINDUISM
BUDDHISM
CHRISTIANIT
Y

3. CHRISTIANITY
The two main segments
of Christianity are
Catholics and
Protestants.

4. CATHOLICS
Catholics worship God -
the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
The Catholic religion
has been around since
the time of Christ.

5. CATHOLICS
Catholics are found primarily in
Europe, North America and South
America.
The Greek Orthodox Church is a
similar but separate religion.

6. CATHOLICS
Romans crucified Christ,
but a few centuries later
accepted Christianity as
the official religion of
the Roman Empire.

7. PROTESTANTS
and CATHOLICS
The big difference
between Protestants and
Catholics is how they
INTERPRET the Bible.

8. PROTESTANTS
Protestant
religions formed
when people
protested the
actions of the
Catholic Church.

9. PROTESTANTS
Many Protestant religions exist
today, mostly in the U.S. They
include Baptists, Methodists,
Church of Christ, Mormons,
Presbyterians, Pentecostals &
Lutherans.

10. PROTESTANTS
Like Catholics,
Protestants use the
Old and New
Testaments as their
scripture.

11. JUDAISM
The oldest faith among the major
religions of the world is Judaism,
or Jewish. The Hebrews have
been around for thousands of
years.

12. JUDAISM
The menorah is a
symbol of the
Jewish religion. So
is the star of David.

13. JUDAISM
A Jewish church is
called a synagogue.
Jewish ceremonies
are often performed
in Yiddish, or
Hebrew.
A Jewish church leader
is called a rabbi.
Jews are broken down
usually into three sects
- Orthodox, Reformed
and Traditional. A
fourth is
Reconstructionist.

14. JUDAISM
The main difference between
Christians and Jews is their belief
regarding Jesus. Jews do not believe
him to be the son of God.
Jews’ sacred literature is the Torah,
comprised mainly of the Old
Testament. They do not use the New
Testament.

15. ISLAM
Muslims worship the same God as
Christians and Jews. They call him
Allah, which is Arabic for “God”.
Muslims are located mostly in the
Middle East in countries such as
Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

16. ISLAM
The Muslim
symbol is the
crescent
moon with a
star.

17. ISLAM
A Muslim temple is
called a mosque.
A Muslim priest is
called an imam.

18. ISLAM
Like Christians, Muslims are divided.
The two main groups are Shi’a, (or
Shi’ites), which make up about 90
percent of Muslims. The other sect is
Sunni.

19. ISLAM
The Sunni Muslims are found mostly
in Iran. Meanwhile, Iraq is Shi’ite
Muslim. The two countries hate each
other.

20. ISLAM
Like Jews, Muslims do not believe
Jesus is the Son of God. They
believe him to be a great prophet,
like Moses and Mohammed, the
founder of Islam.

21. HINDUISM
Hindus, on the other
hand, have no problem
with Jesus being the
son of God. They
believe in one God, but
that he takes many
forms.

22. HINDUISM
Note the circle around
this Hindu god. Hindus
believe in
reincarnation. Life, to
them, is circular.

23. HINDUIS
M
This is symbol for
Hinduism. Most Hindus
live in India. The Hindu
scripture is primarily
the Upanishads and
Vedas.

24. HINDUISM
Brahma is the
senior God,
and creator of
the universe.

25. HINDUISM
Another main
form of God for
Hindus is Shiva.

26. HINDUISM
Vishnu is
another form
of God in the
Hindu religion.

27. HINDUIS
M
The temple
shown is
representative of
Hindu temples
worldwide.

28. BUDDHISM
The most different of the five major
religions is Buddhism. It is more a
lifestyle that focuses on ending
desire, thus ending suffering.

29. BUDDHISM
Buddhists don’t really
worship a god - they
believe god is
everywhere, and that
when we end desire we
are at peace with
ourselves and nature.

30. BUDDHISM
Many people believe
that Buddhists
worship statues of
Buddha, like the one
at right. Not so.

31. BUDDHISM
Buddhist priests are
called lamas or monks.
The Buddhist scriptures
are called the
Tripatakas, or three
baskets.

32. BUDDHISM
One thing Buddhists and Hindus have
in common is the belief in
reincarnation. They believe you come
back in a different form based on your
actions in this life.

33. BUDDHISM
Most Buddhists
live in Asian
countries such
as China.

34. What god does each
religion believe in?

35. What is the scripture
for each religion?

36. Match the religion with its
place of worship
Synagogue
Church
Cathedral
Mosque
Temple
Muslim
Protestant
Jewish
Catholic
Buddhist &
Hindu

37. Match the term to the religion
Priest, Bishop
Monk, lama
Imam
Rabbi
Minister,
Reverend
Guru
Judaism
Buddhism
Protestant
Hindu
Catholic
Muslim

38. Match the geographic
location to the religion
Middle East
Israel, Europe, U.S.
N. & S. America,
Europe
Asia
India
U.S., Australia
Protestant
Muslim
Jewish
Hindu
Catholic
Buddhist

39. What is the BIG difference
between Christians and
Jews and Muslims?
HINT: J.C.

40. How was each religion created?
Judaism Abraham
Catholicism Jesus’ teachings
Hinduism unsure
Protestant Protesting Catholicism
Buddhist Buddha
Islam Mohammed

41. How does each religion
view the afterlife?
Which religions
believe in
reincarnation?