2. Religion: Its Definition and Origin
❖ Religion is a share positing of the identity of and
relationship between the world, humanity and the
supernatural in terms of meaning assignment, value
allocation and validation enactment.
❖ Religion- comes from Latin word religare, which means, “to bind
together”.
❖ In the religion of preliterate societies, the various phenomena of
nature are associated with a number of different personalities, and
in many instances numerous nature deities are honored.
3. Religion: Its Elements
Many beliefs that fit together in a system to make sense of the
universe and our place in it.
❖ BELIEF SYSTEM or WORLDVIEW:
4. Religion: Its Elements
The belief system is shared, and its ideals are practiced by a
group.
❖ COMMUNITY:
5. Religion: Its Elements
Stories that help explain the beliefs of a group; these are told
over and over again and sometimes performed by members of
the group. They may or may not be factual.
❖ CENTRAL STORIES/MYTHS
7. Religion: Its Elements
Rules about how to behave; these rules are often thought to
have come from a deity or supernatural place, but they might
also be seen as guidelines created by the group over time.
❖ ETHICS:
8. Religion: Its Elements
Most religions share emotions such as awe, mystery, guilt, joy,
devotion, conversion, inner peace, etc.
❖ CHARACTERISTIC EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES:
9. Religion: Its Elements
Religions use things to perform rituals or to
express or represent beliefs, such as: statues,
paintings, music, flowers, incense, clothes,
architecture, and specific sacred locations.
❖ MATERIAL EXPRESSION:
10. Religion: Its Elements
Religions see some things as sacred and some
not sacred (or profane). Some objects, actions,
people and places may share in the sacredness
or express it.
❖ SACREDNESS:
12. Major Religions of the World
Christianity: 1.9 Billion PEOPLE
Islam: 1.1 billion PEOPLE
Hinduism: 800 million PEOPLE
Buddhism: 325 million PEOPLE
Judaism: 13 MILLION PEOPLE
13.
14. Christianity
Based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ
Originated in Palestine in the 1st century AD
Believe that Jesus was the son of God who came and died for people’s
sins and then rose so that all people could be saved
Believe in one God(monotheistic) who created the universe and all
things in it
Christianity originally developed as a part of Judaism
15. Christian Way of Life
❖ Fellowship with God
❖ Our relationships with others
❖ Obedience to God's commands
❖ Discipline
19. Judaism
❖ Is a monotheistic religion
❖ Judaism is the oldest and smallest of the world's five
great religions
❖ Being a part of a Jewish community and living one's
life according to Jewish law and traditions is very
important.
❖ The fundamental beliefs of Judaism are:
-There is a single, all-powerful God,
who created the universe and
everything in it.
-God has a special relationship with the
Jewish people due to covenant that God
made with Moses on Mount Sinai, 3500 years
ago.
20. Judaism
The Jewish place of worship is called a Synagogue
The religious leader of a Jewish community is called a Rabbi
Unlike leaders in many other faiths, a rabbi is not a priest and
has no special religious status
The Jewish holy day, or Sabbath(Shabbat), starts at sunset on
Friday and continues until sunset on Saturday
During the Sabbath, Jews do not work(drive, cook, etc)
21. 7 Holy Days
1. Rosh Hashanah-Jewish New Year
2. Yom Kippur-A day of fasting and praying which occurs 10
days after the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The holiest day in
the year
3. Sukkot-8 day festival of thanksgiving
4. Hanukkah-The Feast of Lights is an 8 day Feast of
Dedication. It recalls the war fought by the Maccabees in the
cause of religious freedom
22. 7 Holy Days
5. Purim-The Feast of Lots recalls the defeat by Queen
Esther of the plan to slaughter all of the Persian Jews,
circa 400 BC
6. Pesa(Passover)-The 8 day festival recalls the exodus
of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt circa 1300
BCE. A holiday meal, the Seder, is held at home
7. Shavouth-Pentecost recalls God's revelation of the
Torah to the Jewish people
25. Symbols
The Star of David
is the international
symbol of Judaism
Flag of Israel has it
26. Symbols
The Star of David
is the international
symbol of Judaism
Flag of Israel has it
27. Islam
Islam is the world's second most followed
religion
It began around 1400 years ago in Arabia,
but swiftly become a world faith, and now
has around 1.2 billion people
"Islam" is an Arabic word which means
“surrendering oneself to the will of God”
One will achieve peace and security by
doing so
28. Islam
A person surrenders to the will of Allah by living
and thinking in the way Allah has instructed.
Islam is more than a system of beliefs. The faith
provides a social and legal system and governs
things like family life, law and order, ethics, dress,
and cleanliness, as well as religious ritual and
observance—Islamic Republic
29. Origin of Islam
The present form of Islam began in Arabia in 622 AD
It is based on the ministry of a man named Muhammad
and on the words that Allah gave to the world through him
Muhammad did not found Islam. Islam was created by
Allah at the beginning of time, and in fact Muslims regard
Adam as the first Muslim
Muhammad was the final messenger through whom Allah
revealed the faith to the world
There had been earlier messengers, among them Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
30. Where is Islam practiced?
The countries with the largest Islamic populations are not
in the Middle East as most would think
The largest are Indonesia (170 million), Pakistan (136
million), Bangladesh (105 million), and India (103 million)
Islam's three holiest places, the cities of Mecca, Medina and
Jerusalem, are all in the Middle East
31. 5 Pillars of Islam
1. Shahada(witness) is the Muslim
profession of faith
- "I witness that there is no god
but Allah, and that Muhammad is
the prophet of Allah"
Muslims say this when they wake up in the
morning and just before they go to
sleep at night
32. 5 Pillars of Islam
.2. Salat(daily prayer) is a prayer ritual performed 5
times a day by all Muslims over the age of 10
Between first light and sunrise
After the sun has passed the middle of the sky
Between mid-afternoon and sunset
Between sunset and the last light of the day
Between darkness and dawn
33. 5 Pillars of Islam
3. Sawm (fasting) is abstaining each day during Ramadan
Sawm helps Muslims develop self-control, gain a better
understanding of God's gifts and greater compassion
towards the deprived.
Ramadan is the holiest day for Islam. It marks when
Muhammad had the Qur-an revealed to him
Sawm is usually described as fasting, but it actually involves
abstaining from all bodily pleasures between dawn and
sunset
Not only is food forbidden, but also things like smoking,
chewing gum, negative thoughts and sexual activity
34. 5 Pillars of Islam
4. Zakat(almsgiving) is giving alms to the poor
This is a compulsory gift of 2.5 % of one's savings each
year
Giving in this way is intended to free Muslims from the
love of money
It reminds them that everything they have really belongs
to God.
35. 5 Pillars of Islam
5. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca that all
physically/financially able Muslims should make at least once
in their life
Mecca is the most holy place for Muslims
Takes place during days 8-13 of the 12th month of the
Islamic Lunar calendar
They circle the Kaaba seven times on three occasions, say
prayers, drink from a holy spring, walk to Mount Arafat to
pray, feast, cast stones at three pillars(to fight Satan’s
temptations), shave hair, run seven times between some hills
36. 5 Pillars of Islam
5. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca that all
physically/financially able Muslims should make at least once
in their life
Mecca is the most holy place for Muslims
Takes place during days 8-13 of the 12th month of the
Islamic Lunar calendar
They circle the Kaaba seven times on three occasions, say
prayers, drink from a holy spring, walk to Mount Arafat to
pray, feast, cast stones at three pillars(to fight Satan’s
temptations), shave hair, run seven times between some hills
37.
38. Hinduism
Hinduism includes a very wide range of beliefs and
practices, so there aren't many things that are common to all
Hindu groups
Hinduism has no founder, no single book of faith, no creed,
and no single source of authority(such as Jesus)
Hinduism is very individualistic but a big part of a person’s
everyday life
There are 750 million Hindus in the world, mostly in India
39. For many Hindus, religion is a matter of practice rather than of
beliefs. It's more what you do than what you believe.
Behind Hindu practice is the belief that every soul is trapped in a
cycle of birth-death-rebirth(reincarnation). Every Hindu wants to
escape from this cycle.
Hindus aim to live in a way that will cause each of their lives to be
better than the life before.
Whether one is reborn into a better life, a worse life, or even to live
as an animal, depends on Karma, which is the value of a soul's good
and bad deeds.
40. ❖ All good things in life are gifts from God
❖ Finding out what your life’s calling is as Dharma
suggest/requires is a very important goal
❖ Being a fair and decent person is very important
❖ Wealth, power and material belongings are good goals
as long as they don’t become all important
❖ Moksha is the ultimate goal
Hindu Beliefs
41. Four Stages of Life
1. Ages 12-24 you get educated and trained
2. Ages 24-48 you get married, raise a family, make
money, get involved in many things
3. Ages 48-72 you become a mentor to a young person
and start isolating themselves from the outside world
4. At age 72 you end ties to the outside world and get rid
of your worldly possessions. Prayer and devotion
become very important.
Mostly aimed at men and is not followed as much as it used
to be
42. Hindu Gods
One would think Hinduism is polytheistic. Most Hindus
would say they worship one God.
There is only one ultimate God, Brahman, but shows itself
in many forms
The gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, for example, are
different aspects of Brahman:
Brahma reflects God's divine work of creating the universe
Vishnu reflects God's work in keeping the universe in
existence
Shiva reflects God's work in destroying it
44. Buddhism
❖ Founded in India around 500 BC by Siddhartha Guatama
❖ Became Buddha, the Enlightened One, when he was 29
❖ He was trying to find the true meaning of life and eventually, through
four trance-like stages of meditation, he was enlightened to the
Buddhist was of life
❖ His main teachings was to eliminate human wants as they are the cause
of suffering in the world
❖ Buddhism has no unique creed, no single authority and no single
sacred book
❖ Buddhism focuses on each individual seeking to attain enlightenment
45. Key beliefs and values are contained in
"The Four Noble Truths“
1. Life means suffering
2. The origin of suffering is attachment to worldly
things
3. The end to suffering is attainable through
eliminating physical wants/needs
Eventually can achieve Nirvana(no wind)
Nirvana means freedom from all worries and
troubles
46. Key beliefs and values are contained in
"The Four Noble Truths“
4.The path to the end suffering and
achieve Nirvana is to follow the Eight
Fold Path
47. Eight Fold Path of Hinduism
1. Right View
To see and view things as they really are
Attained true wisdom
2. Right Intention
Think and do the right things at all times
3. Right Speech
Do not lie, curse, slander, or gossip
4. Right Action
Do not harm yourself or others, do not steal, and no
sexual misconduct
48. Eight Fold Path of Hinduism
5. Right Livelihood
No jobs dealing in weapons, in living beings (including raising
animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution),
working in meat production and butchery, and selling alcohol and
drugs
6. Right Effort
Give 100% effort in what you do
7. Right Mindfulness
Having the power to control our thought process and see the
truth behind things
8. Right Concentration
Ability to have deep concentration and ability to focus on wholesome
thoughts and actions
