Origin of World

Religions
Prepared by:
Ms. Mary Joy Adelfa P. Dailo, LPT
 ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING
• Religions have their origin stories and are
universal in nature.
• Geography and culture have an effect on the
establishment and development of religions.

WORLD
RELIGIONS

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHICAL CUTURAL

FOUNDATION CONTEXT MILIEU
HISTORICAL
FOUNDATION
 IMPORTANT DATES ON THE
ORIGIN OF WORLD RELIGIONS
DATE (circa) SIGNIFICANCE
c. 2000 B. C. E. Time of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel
c. 1200 B. C. E. Time of Moses, the Hebrew leader of the Exodus
c. 1100 – 500 B.C.E. Hindus compiled their holy texts, the Vedas
c. 563 – 83 B.C.E. Time of the Buddha, founder of Buddhism
c. 551 – 479 B.C.E. Time of Confucius, founder of Confucianism
c. 200 B.C.E. The Hindu book, Bhagavad Gita, was written
c. 2 to 4 B.C.E – 32 Time of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and founder of
C.E. Christianity
c. 32 C.E. The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The New Testament was written by the followers of
c. 40 – 90 C.E.
Jesus Christ
c. 100 C.E. Beginnings of Shintoism (no known founder)
c. 500-580 B.C.E. Time of Lao Tze, founder of Daoism
time of Muhammad, who recorded the Q’uran as the
c. 570 – 632 C.E.
basis of Islam
THE PATRIARCH ABRAHAM
• played a major role in the
establishment of the three
monotheistic religions: namely,
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
(Abrahamic Religions).
• the patriarch appears as an
elemental (primary) figure for
monotheistic belief system and a
paragon (exemplar) for extreme
devotion.
• Jewish people regard Abraham as
the ancestor of the Israelites,
through his descendants Isaac and
Jacob.
• Muslims consider Abraham’s son
Ishmael as the ancestor of the
Arabs.
• Christians view Abraham as ‘father
in faith’ as narrated in the Bible and
the ancestor of Jesus Christ.
COMMONALITIES IN
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
1. All worship one supreme being
• Ancient Hebrews – Elohim, Adonai
or Yahweh
• Present day Judaism – “Lord” or
“God”
• Muslims – Allah
COMMONALITIES IN
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
2. Prophets and apostles play major roles
• Judaism has 48 prophets and seven
prophetesses
• Christianity has12 apostles who were the
primary disciples of Jesus Christ
• Muslims believes that Muhammad is the
final prophet or the “Seal of the
Prophets”
COMMONALITIES IN
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
3. the role of divine revelation or
intervention
• God instructed Abraham to
sacrifice his son Isaac at Mount
Moriah
• God presented the 10
Commandments to Moses at
Mount Sinai
COMMONALITIES IN
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
• God sacrificed His son Jesus Christ
through crucifixion as the plan to
salvation
• God commanded Muhammad to
establish a new religion at a cave in
Mount Hira.
 Why is Abraham
important to the
development of
Judaism,
Christianity, and
Islam?

A painting by Jozsef Molnar

depicting Abraham's journey
from Ur to Canaan.
THE INDIAN MOSAIC
• Its history began at least 6500 B.C.E.
• The Harappan civilization, the
Aryan influence, the local
dynasties, and the Muslim conquest
all had their fair share in building
the intricate Indian mosaic.
THE INDIAN MOSAIC
• Four great religions originated in
India – Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism, and Sikhism – and a
myriad of minor cults and local
sects.
HINDUISM
• Perfectly reflects Indian heterogeneity
with its eclectic, diversified, and assorted
ways of religious expressions
• It has no specific founder, no one sacred
book, and with innumerable gods and
goddesses that any Hindu can venerate.
HINDUISM
• considered as museum of religions
• It was during the Vedic Period that
Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma became
systematized as a religion that preached
order and purpose to the cosmos and
human life.
BUDDHISM
• centers its attention on the figure of the
Buddha. (Siddharta Gautama Buddha)
• The Mahayana sect of Buddhism differs from
Theravada school because of its rich array of
buddhas and bodhisattvas who have attained
spiritual enlightenment. These beings are
already eligible to enter nirvana but choose to
delay this glorious path to guide others to the
path of salvation.
THE WAY OF THE DAO
• Chinese civilization is one of the world’s oldest,
dating back almost 4,000 years ago.
• Even during the olden days, the Chinese had
already endeavored to establish and attain
good governance.
CONFUSIANISM
• Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu’s) is regarded as
China’s greatest philosopher and teacher who
lived at the same time as Siddharta Gautama
in India.
• Confucian ideals aspire to harmonize human
relations and serve as guide to social behavior.
• An ideal human society is the utmost concern
for the Confucian followers.
CONFUSIANISM
• Confucius dwell upon the theme of the Dao as
being the truth or way things out to be done
concordant with specific view to life, politics
and customs.
• Confucian Dao concerns human affairs.
DAOISM
• Mysteries abound the birth and life of
Laozi (Lao-tzu) who may have written
Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching or The Book
of the Way and its Power.
• Believed to be a contemporary (modern
version) of Confucius, he once worked
as a record keeper at the time of Zhou
Dynasty but soon left the service due to
his frustration with corruption.
DAOISM
• Around 142 CE, Daoism began as an organized
religion with the establishment of the Way of the
Celestial Masters sect by Zhang Daoling during
the Han Dynasty.
• The writings of Daoism centers on the concept
of Dao, as a way or path signifying
appropriateness of one’s behavior to lead
other people.
• Dao in Daoism means road, path or way in
which one does something.
• Daoist Dao means the way the universe works.
SHINTOISM
• It is a loosely organized local belief in Japan,
somewhat an ardent (dedicated) religious form
of Japanese patriotism. Its mythology highlights
the superiority of Japan over other lands.
• Japanese people believed that their emperors
literally descended from the sun goddess
Amaterasu.
• Conscious effort is done to revere the beauty of
Japan’s lands, especially mountains.
SHINTOISM
• The term ‘Shinto’ was coined around the 16th
century CE to distinguish native belief system
from the imported religions of China and Korea,
including Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.
• The term came from the Chinese words ‘shen’
and ‘tao’ roughly translated as the ‘way of the
gods’
• Of primal importance were the kami that were
often defined as the gods but could also refer
to deities of heaven and earth, or even spirits in
human beings, animals, trees, seas and
mountains.
 How can we
compare the
nature of
religions based
on their historical
foundation?

Stone sculpture of Saraswati (the Hindu

goddess of art and music) at the Temple
of Gangaikonda Cholapuram.
With regard to the art of leadership, try to compare the
following passages as lifted from the sacred texts of
the Analects of Confucius and the Dao De Jing by
Lao-tzu.
"When the empire is well-ordered," said Confucius, "it is
from the emperor that edicts regarding ceremonial,
music, and expeditions to quell rebellion go forth.
When it is being ill governed, such edicts emanate
from the feudal lords; and when the latter is the case,
it will be strange if in ten generations there is not a
collapse. If they emanate merely from the high
officials, it will be strange if the collapse do not come
in five generations. When the State-edicts are in the
hands of the subsidiary ministers, it will be strange if in
three generations there is no collapse.
Source: http://www.confucius-
1.com/analects/analects-16.html
The greatest type of ruler is one of whose
existence the people are hardly aware.
Next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst is the one who is despised.
When a leader doesn’t trust the people, they will
become untrustworthy.
The best leader speaks little.
He never speaks carelessly.
He works without self interest and leaves no trace.
When the work is accomplished, the people say:
“Amazing: we did it all by ourselves.”
Source:
http://beyondthedream.co.uk/2013/06/10/tao-
te-ching-17-the-art-of-leadership/
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