Post on 12-Aug-2020
H O U R 1
COMPARATIVE
RELIGIONS
FINAL EXAM
• 12/9 (Wed), 9:15-11:15 am
• Bring Blue/Green Book
• Bring Scantron & # 2 Pencil
• Worth 20% of your grade.
• Final Exam Worksheet Review
PRESENTATION REVIEW
Presentations
• Tibetan Buddhism• Zen Buddhism• Christianity: Catholicism• Pure Land Buddhism• Islam• Hinduism• Judaism• Christianity: Methodist
Questions:
1. What did you find most surprising from what was presented?
2. Were there any perspectives you found particularly interesting from people who visited sacred places you were familiar with?
RELIGIONS & SACRED SPACES
• Sacred spaces by themselves, are not the religion, though they are often thought of that way.
• However, sacred spaces often play an important role for a religion.
Groups:What do sacred spaces do for a religion?
Why are they important?
SACRED
Something regarded with reverence.
Important. Valuable. Meaningful.
UNDERSTANDING
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD
What is most sacred in the Abrahamic Religions?
• It is with God that we have our most important covenants.
• God’s kingdom as our highest goal.
• It is to God that we are supposed to submit our will.
Considering what sacred spaces do for a religion, what might our conception of God do for a religion.
UNDERSTANDING
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD
A Case for God - Karen Armstrong
Groups:
What kind of God does Karen Armstrong make the case for in her interview? What are some characteristics of this God that may differ from more “popular” notions of God in the west?
What are some issues that can occur when believing in the more “popular” notions of God.
UNDERSTANDING
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: GOD
Armstrong’s God
• God as neither male or female .
• God is not a being.
• God not necessarily as creator or first cause, but “God beyond God”.
Issues
• “He” inherently places men more sacred.
• “Being” inherently makes people more sacred.
• Creates a limited idol that divides people into fundamentalists and atheists.
Where do you think this understanding comes from? Why do some people believe otherwise?
UNDERSTANDING
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: CREATION
Creation in Six Days
UNDERSTANDING
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: CREATION
Origins of Humanity
REVIEW OF THE
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
Understanding the “Western” Religions
• Created by God in our original home: the Garden.
• Expelled by God due to our decision to eat the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
• Emphasis on living our lives or transforming ourselves in a way to restore our relationship with God.