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THE INSTITUTE FOR BIBLICAL EDUCATION AND SPIRITUAL INSPIRATON

COURSE NAME: THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

OVERVIEW: Most persons who live in the Western world haveuntil recent times considered Judaism and Christianity to be the only religions of consequence. However, during the last twenty years which have coincided with the rapid growth of Islam, there is now growing interest in learning about the other religions of the world.

OBJECTIVE: To provide broad information on the origins,structure and main tenets of the main religions of the world, and on this basis, to make comparisons among them and make conclusions about them individually and collectively as appropriate

COURSE: I HINDUISM

This is considered the oldest religion and its origin is estimated to be around 1750 BCE and is recognized as the third largest religion. It is considered an Indian religion as it first emerged in the Indian sub-continent

Hinduism has no founder, being itself a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. It is the world’s oldest existent religion, and has approximately a billion adherents, of whom about 905 million live in India and Nepal. Hinduism contains a vast body of scriptures. Divided as revealed and remembered and developed over millennia, these scriptures expound on theology, philosophy and mythology, providing spiritual insights and guidance on the practice of dharma (religious living). Among such texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads are the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Tantras, the sectarian Agamas, the Pur??as and the epics Mahabharata and R?m?ya?a. The Bhagavad Gita, a treatise excerpted from the Mahabharata, is sometimes called a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.

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Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include Dharma (ethics/duties), Samsara (The continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action and subsequent reaction), Moksha (liberation from samsara), and the various yogas (paths or practices). Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, monism and even atheism. It is sometimes considered as henotheistic (devotion to a single “God” while accepting the existence of other gods), but such a view may be considered an oversimplification of the complexities and variations of belief.

Main Teaching

There are four paths to God:

Through knowledgeThrough loveThrough workThrough psychophysical exercises such as meditation and yoga

II JUDAISM

This religion was established around 1300 BCE, and according to research data published by the Pew Research Institute in 2012, it had at that time approximately fourteen million adherents. It is the first of the three monotheistic religions, meaning that the existence of one God is its first fundamental belief.

Its Scripture is referred to as the TANAKAH which comprises the Torah, or basic teaching, the Nevi’im which details the history of the religion and the Ketubim, that contains the wisdom literature. There is in addition, supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that God established with the Children of Israel.

Judaism today is considered to consist largely of the following religious movements with the major differences being their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of Rabbinic tradition and the significance of the State of Israel:

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Orthodox Judaism which maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable and should therefore be followed strictly. It holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to Moses and that the laws within it are binding and unchangingConservative Judaism, known as Masorti outside the United States and Canada, is characterized by a commitment to traditional Jewish laws and customs, including observance of Shabbat and kashrut, a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, a positive attitude toward modern culture, and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic and modern scholarship when considering Jewish religious texts. Conservative Judaism teaches that Jewish law is not static, but has always developed in response to changing conditions. It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God and reflecting his will, but rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses. Conservative Judaism holds that the Oral Torah is divine and normative, but holds that both the Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions

Reform Judaism , called Liberal or Progressive Judaism in many countries, defines Judaism as a religion rather than as a race or culture, rejects most of the ritual and ceremonial laws of the Torah while observing moral laws, and emphasizes the ethical call of the Prophets. Reform Judaism has developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along with Hebrew in many cases) and emphasizes personal connection to Jewish tradition

Reconstructionist Judaism , like Reform Judaism, does not hold that Jewish law requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow Jewish Renewal is a recent North American movement which focuses on spirituality and social justice, but does not address issues of Jewish law. Men and women participate equally in prayer

Humanistic Judaism is a small non-theistic movement centered in North America and

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Israel that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity

Main Teaching

Judaism is based on principles and ethics embodied in the Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud (Rabbinical discussions on ethics, customs, and law). According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham, the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people.

III SHINTO

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan and the people of Japan. It is defined as an action-centered religion, focused on ritual practices to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Founded in 660 BCE according to Japanese mythology, Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to a collection of native beliefs and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods (kami), suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, and applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian periods.

The word Shinto ("way of the gods") was adopted, originally as Shindo, from the written Chinese Shendao, pinyin: shén dào), combining two kanji: "shin", meaning "spirit" or kami; and "tō", meaning a philosophical path or study (from the Chinese word dào). The oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo is from the second half of the 6th century. Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "gods", referring to the energy generating the phenomena. Since Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms: rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the

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nature of kami. Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.

Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practised by nearly 80% of the population and with approximately thirty million followers, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys. This is due to the fact that "Shinto" has different meanings in Japan: most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to an institutional "Shinto" religion, and since there are no formal rituals to become a member of folk "Shinto", "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting those who join organised Shinto sects.

Main Teaching Kami defined in English as "god", "spirit", "spiritual essence", all these terms meaning the energy generating a thing, and people exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity. Shinto gods are collectively called yaoyorozu no kami, an expression literally meaning "eight million kami", but interpreted as meaning "myriad", although it can be translated as "many Kami". Kami refers particularly to the power of phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe in the beholder (the sacred), testifying to the divinity of such a phenomenon.

The kami reside in all things, but certain objects and places are designated for the interface of people and kami: yorishiro, shintai, shrines, and kamidana. There are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them, and are objects of worship. They are frequently mountains, trees, unusual rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and other natural things. In most cases they are on or near a shrine grounds. The shrine is a building in which the kami is enshrined (housed). It is a sacred space, creating a separation from the "ordinary" world. The kamidana is a household shrine that acts as a substitute for a large shrine on a daily basis. In each case the object of worship is considered a sacred space inside which the kami spirit actually dwells, being treated with the utmost respect.

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IV CONFUCIANISM/TAOISM

It is estimated that Confucianism arose in China about 600 BCE and has approximately 6.4 million adherents. Lao-tzu, a contemporary of Confucius is the recognized founder of Taoism and the inspiration of the book Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and of Virtue). Generally speaking, Taoism is considered to have given practical meaning to Confucianism. A general view is that while Confucius taught how to be in the world and of the world in order to improve, Lao-tzu showed how to escape the world and how to re-make it by following Tao.

Confucianism is a Chinese set of philosophical and ethical beliefs that were taught by the sage Confucius. It has had a tremendous effect on East Asia right up to the 21st century. Debated during the Warring States Period and forbidden during the short-lived Qin Dynasty, Confucianism was chosen by Emperor Wu of Han for use as a political system to govern the Chinese state. There is a large body of Confucian texts which includes the I Ching (a series of divinations) and a series of books on poetry, rituals, music, and more.

Confucianist doctrine remained a mainstream Chinese orthodoxy for two millennia until the 20th century, when it was attacked by radical Chinese thinkers as a vanguard of a pre-modern system and an obstacle to China’s modernization, eventually culminating in its repression during the Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China.

Confucianism aims at making not simply the man of virtue, but the man of learning and of good manners. The perfect man must combine the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman. Confucianism is a religion without positive revelation, with a minimum of dogmatic teaching, whose popular worship is centered in offerings to the dead, in which the notion of duty is extended beyond the sphere of morals proper so as to embrace almost every detail of daily life.

Main Teaching

Confucianism

Human-heartedness as a description of the ideal relationship between individuals

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Humanity-at-rest as demonstration of self-respect that generates respect for othersPropriety in terms of how things should be donePopular trust in leadership is a sine qua non of effective governmentArt has the power to transform human nature in the direction of virtue

Taoism

Tao is the way of ultimate realityTao is both transcendent and immanentTao refers to the way of human life

V BUDDHISM

Characteristics

This religion is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dharma, which means roughly the “teachings of the Awakened One” in Sanskrit and Pali, languages of ancient Buddhist texts. Buddhism was founded around the fifth century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama – most commonly referred to as The Buddha. In Buddhism, any person who has awakened from the “sleep of ignorance” (by directly realizing the true nature of reality), without instruction, and teaches it to others is called a buddha. All traditional Buddhists agree that Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha was not the only Buddha: it is generally taught that there have been many past Buddhas and that there will be future Buddhas too.

Main Teaching

While there are now many sects of Buddhism, they all hold to four fundamental points:

All accept the Buddha as their teacherall accept the Middle Way (non-extremism), Dependent Origination, the Four Noble Truths,(life is suffering; suffering is derived from separateness; suffering ceases when we abandon self-interest into the expanse of universal life; suffering is overcome through the Eightfold Path)and the Noble Eightfold Path requiring right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration

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all accept that both monks and the laity can pursue the path to enlightenment;

all consider Buddahood to be the highest attainment

VI CHRISTIANITY

Christianity, the second Abrahamic religion is believed to have been established in 27 CE, and with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents is credited with being the largest religion in the world.

It is a monotheistic religion which is based on the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the life and Jesus of Nazareth as contained in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Son of God is part of the Trinity (God as three persons in one), the others being God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Christianity fulfils Judaism. Most Christians believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus constitute the cornerstone of their faith. Protestant off-shoots of Christianity believe that salvation comes from the belief in God alone, whereas Catholic and Orthodox Christians belief that faith, combined with good works is required for salvation. As with the other Abrahamic religions, Christianity has three distinct perspectives – Fundamentalist, Orthodox and Liberal.

The Christian scriptures are called the Bible which comprises two books, the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) based on the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint) and the Christian Scriptures (New Testament. Protestants and Catholics have the same books in the Christian Scriptures, but Martin Luther removed seven books from the Hebrew Scriptures during the Protestant reformation, considering them to be apocryphal. He also removed four books from the Christian Scriptures, Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation but was later persuaded to put restore them to this collection.

Christians generally believe in Sacraments (Catholics and Orthodox and some Anglicans believe in seven: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Last Rites, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Some Protestants

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(following Martin Luther) believe in the sacramental nature of Baptism and Holy Communion, while others from the Liberal perspective, such as New Thought Christianity reject outright the concept of sacramental theology.

Christianity is generally broken into three branches: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Catholicism is the largest with over 1 billion adherents and was originally the only exponent of Christianity. The Orthodox and Catholic Churches split in the 11th century in an event called the Great Schism. Protestantism split from Roman Catholicism in in the 16th century in an event called the Protestant Reformation.

Main Teaching

Mutual regard of persons for each other on the basis of the absence of social barriers in a discipleship of equalsRelief from guiltRelease from the cramping confines of the ego

VII ISLAM

Islam is a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th-century CE Arab religious and political figure. Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, God’s final prophet, and regard the Qur’an and the Sunnah (the words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. As the third Abrahamic religion, Islamic tradition holds that Judaism and Christianity distorted the messages of these prophets over time either in interpretation, in text, or both.

Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni and Shi’a. The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Roughly 85 percent of Muslims are Sunni and 15 percent are Shi’a. Muslims consider the Qur’an to be the literal word of God; it is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad by God through the angel Gabriel on

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many occasions between the years 610 and his death on July 6, 632.

Islam considers itself to be the supreme religion and therefore Muslims must not place themselves in a position inferior to that of the followers of other religions. Pursuant to this principle, Muslim women may not marry non-Muslim men, non-Muslims may not inherit from their Muslim relatives, and a testimony of a non-Muslim is inadmissible against a Muslim. A non-Muslim who insults Islam must be put to death, according to most schools of Islamic jurisprudence, or flogged and imprisoned, according to others.

This religion has an estimated 1.6 billion followers in 2012, and with a projected growth rate of 1.7% due to conversion and high birth rates within the Muslim population. As such, it is predicted that Islam could become the largest religion by 2020.Main Teaching

Oneness with GodThe importance of prophets as messengers of GodBooks, especially the Qur’an represent revelations from GodAngels are messengers and protectorsPredestination as the inevitability of fateDay of Resurrection