David Wang

Early world religion

Babylon
- earth bound and materialistic
- gods indulge in human activities
- values coarse and masculine
- Anu- head of god had an army of stars
- Shamosh – sun god
- Ishtar- popular goddess
Egyptian
- divinity in everything
- Hundred of deities many with animal forms
- Ra – sun god
o Child in the morning
o Man in his prime at noon
o Old man in evening
- Osiris – god of nature
Indian (Vedic)
- materialistic
- reincarnation important
- many gods
- change forced by Buddha
- Vishnu – preserver
- Siva – terrifying god of destruction
Greek
- cherished life
- many quarrelsome gods
- gods in human from beautiful/powerful
- Cronus – chief Titan produced the Olympian gods
- Zeus – storm god, supreme deity
- Athena – warrior goddess of wisdom
Roman
- Gods served and protected men
- Adapted Greek gods and conformed them to Roman religion
- Jupiter (Zeus) ruled the other gods
- Saturn (Cronus) ruled Italy and father to Jupiter
- Minerva (Athena) warrior goddess over commerce
Norse
- the best death is to die fighting
- Valhalla – warriors paradise
- Fierce hard-headed pleasure seeking gods
- Odin- chief god master of wisdom, magic, and poetry
- Thor fearsome god of thunder
- Loki – full of mischief
African Consolidated
- focus lost paradise and a broke relationship
- religious tended to be centered around man
- many myths on the creation of man
o some having God brining man out of a hole or marsh\
- Lots of variety in the Gods
Early Religion Summarized
- Wide variety
- Nature plays a large role
- Male leaders
- Sun god and earth mother common
- Gods tend to indulge in excessive pleasures
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- Gods very involved with men

Hinduism
Origin
- Hindus – name of Believers
- India – place of origin
- No one founder o r spiritual leader
- Many manifestations of god
- Vedas and Upanishads sacred writings
Religious Views
- strong belief in non violence
- reincarnation – allows ppl to continue working for perfection and union with Brahman
- caste system based on Karma
- belief in a tribune god
o Brahman the creator
o Vishnu the preserver
o Shiva the destroyer
Religious Practices
- Karma – total affect of a persons actions
- Vegetarianism and appreciation for all animals
- Importance of duty and unimportance of self
Buddhism
Origins
- Buddhists – name of believers
- India – place of origin
- Siddhartha Gautama founder
- Tripitaka “three baskets of wisdom” sacred writings
Religious View
- shares some views with Hinduism
- trying to achieve Nirvana or paradise
- Nirvana achievable by all
- Appreciates non violence
- Four noble truths
o Human situation is suffering (everything is impermanent)
o Suffering occurs when ppl try to cling to fixed forms
o Suffering is frustration can be ended
o Eight fold path is the prescription
 Sections 1 and 2 concerned with right seeing
 3 -6 concerned with right action
 7 and 8 I with meditation
Religious Practices
- rejected the caste system
- faith was spread by traders and missionaries
- prayer and meditation
Daoism
Origins
- Taoist – name of believers
- China – place of origin
- Lao- Tzu founder
- Daodejing “way of virtue” sacred writings
Religious Views
- lived in harmony with nature
- disease or other problems caused when things are out of harmony
- yin/Yang symbolizes this harmony
- honor and duty important
- best government is the one that governs least
David Wang

Religious Practices
- Worshiped nature, right living and natural beauty
- Universal force guides all things
- Natural order and harmony with nature
- Preferred the contemplative life
Confucianism
Origins
- Confucianists – nature of believers
- china – place of origin
- Confucius founder
- Analects – written after Confucius’ death by his students sacred writings
Religious Views
- taught respect for parents, loyalty to the states, honesty, hard work and concern for others
- believed in the natural goodness of ppl
- believed education was important
- harmony in life was importance
- concerned with this world not the text
Religious practices
- belief that a religious person is a prosperous person
- ancestor worship
- virtue is important
o respect for parents and government
o concern for social order
o importance of education
Judaism
Origins
- Jews or Hebrews – name of believers
- Middle east – place of origin
- Sacred writings:
o Torah was a collection of Jewish laws, customs and beliefs (1st five books of the old
testament)
o Ten commandments giv to Moses at Mt Sinai in Saudi Arabia
Religious Views
- Monotheism (belief in one god)
- Yahweh is the name of god
- Sabbath – weekly day of rest sundown Friday to sundown Saturday
- Jerusalem the holy city
Religious Practices
- synagogue (temple) place of worship
- rabbi (teacher) worship leader
- holy days
o Passover (spring)
o Yom kipper (fall)
o Rosh Hashanah (fall)
o Hanukah (winter)
Christianity
Origin
- Christians – name of believers
- Middle east – place of origin
- Jesus Christ the prophet
- Holy bible (old and new testament) sacred writings – different versions
Religious Views
- monotheistic
- holy trinity (father, son and holy ghost)
- believed Jesus was the prophet
David Wang

- teachings:
o love one another
o golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Religious Practice
- Sunday the Sabbath
- Church of cathedral place of worship
- Priest, minister, pastor, reverend, or chaplain worship leader
- Many different churches with different traditions
- Ex. Baptists, roman catholic, Lutherans etc
- Holy days
o Easter
o Christmas
Islam
Origins
- Muslims “followers of gods” – name of believers
- Mecca and Medina – place of origin
- Muhammad 570-632 prophet
- Koran (Qur’an) sacred writings
Religious Views
- monotheistic
- Allah – name of god
- Islam – submit do the will of god
- To enter paradise practice the 5 pillars fight in the jihad (holy wars of Islam) and risk your life
against infidels (non- Muslims)
Five pillars of Faith
- recite the prayer often “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet”
- pray 5 times a day facing Mecca
- give money to the poor
- fast and pray from sun up to sun down during the holy month of Ramada
- Make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca
Rules for Daily Life
- written in the Koran
o prohibitions against eating pork
o prohibitions against drinking alcohol
o prohibitions against gambling
- traditional roles
o men make major life decisions
o women stay separated from men
o women wear veils in public
Religious Practices
- Mosque place of worship
- Friday is holy days – men go to mosque for a noon sermon
- Imam prayer leader
- Mullah local leader or preacher
- Holy city :
o Mecca
o Medina