Belief Systems and Religion - White Plains Middle School



✓ Belief Systems and Religion

✓ Polytheistic – belief in many gods

✓ Monotheistic – belief in one god

✓ Animism – belief that every living and nonliving thing in nature has a spirit

← Hinduism

← Developed from a collection of religious beliefs over a period of time

← No single founder

← Brahman – the universal unifying spirit. The goal in life is to achieve union with Brahman

← Reincarnation – rebirth of the soul in a new body allows people to continue on their journey toward union with Brahman

← Karma – the good and bad things you do affect your existence in your next life

← Dharma – the moral and religious duties that are expected of an individual. Your dharma is dependent upon your gender, class, age, and occupation

← Caste – social groups into which people are born and out of which they cannot move during a lifetime.

← Hindu Caste System

← Brahmins – priests

← Kshatriyas – warriors

← Vaisyas – farmers, merchants, artisans

← Sudras – servants

← Untouchables – bottom of social system

← Moksha – a state of perfect understanding of all things; liberation from desires and suffering

← Buddhism

← Founded by a prince named Siddhartha Gautma

← Siddhartha was a Hindu

← He left his palace after the birth of his son to search for the meaning of human suffering

← After 49 days he found the answer to this question, while meditating under a tree

← He then became known as Buddha or enlightened one

← The Four Noble Truths

← All life is suffering

← Suffering is caused by desire

← The way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate desire

← Following the Eightfold Path will help people overcome desire

← Eightfold Path

← Following the Eightfold Path will enable you to reach nirvana

← Nirvana – union with the universe and release from the cycle of death and rebirth (Buddhist believe in reincarnation like Hindus, but reject the caste system)

← Confucianism

← Founded by Chinese philosopher Confucius

← All proper relationships have a superior and inferior

← Confucius’ Five Key Relationships

← Ruler – Subject

← Father – Son

← Husband – Wife

← Older Brother – Younger Brother

← Friend – Friend

← Filial Piety – respect for parents and elders

← Following the Five Relationships and practicing filial piety would bring social order and harmony to China.

← Individuals should know and do what is expected of them

← Judaism

o Monotheistic religion

o Sacred scripture is called the Torah

← Ten Commandments dictate the morality and behavior

← Covenant – agreements made between the Hebrews and God

← Spread of Judaism

← Romans expelled Jews from Palestine in 135 AD

← This leads to a diaspora, or scattering of people

← Christianity

← Founded by Jesus Christ

← Christ is believed to be the God’s son and the Messiah or savior sent from God

← Teachings of Christ

← Compassion for poor and helpless

← Equality of people before God

← Love your neighbor and your enemy

← Most popular religion in the world today; over 2 billion followers

← Sacred text is the Bible

← Old Testament – prophetic writing, laws, details of God and the Jews

← New Testament – about life and teachings of Christ

← Spread of Christianity

← St. Paul and the apostles

← Rome makes it the official religion of the empire

← European exploration in 1400s

← Islam

← Founded in 622 AD by Muhammad

← Five Pillars of Islam

← Faith – “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”

← Prayer – Every Muslim must prayer 5 times a day facing Mecca

← Alms – giving charity

← Fasting – no food or drink from sunrise to sunset during holy month of Ramadan

← Hajj – every able-bodied Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime

← Fastest growing religion in the world today; over 1 billion followers

← Sacred text is the Qur’an

← Two sects of Islam

← Sunni

← Shi’a

← Spread of Islam

← Trade

← Military conquest and invasion

← Southeast Asia, Middle East, Southern Spain

✓ Shintoism

✓ Japanese religion that means “way of the gods”

✓ Kami – spirit that is found in all living and nonliving things

✓ Stress on the beauty of nature

✓ REGENTS: Likes to ask how Shintoism and Animism are similar ( Spirits in nature

✓ Zoroastrianism

✓ Dualistic religion

✓ Good vs. Evil (Truth vs. Lies)

✓ Heavily influenced Christianity

✓ Persian religion

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