World Religions

Handout

Practice HTML Word

General

• A Bow of the Head: Religions of the World http://library.thinkquest.org/28505/inde1.html
• Sacred Sites http://www.sacredsites.com/explore.html
• Clickable Pages with Religious Symbols http://www.uri.org/kids/world_links.htm
• Worksheet with Religious Symbols http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/re/files/expressingfaith.doc
• What are the six most popular religions in the world?  http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/religion/
• Religion for Schools http://www.world-faiths.com/index.htm
• *****Religion http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/

Day 1  Judaism

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Notes for Lecture

• begins with Abraham and his wife Sarah
• lived 4000 years ago in ancient land of UR (now Iraq)
• people of UR worshiped many gods - Abraham began to wonder which of these gods was the one true God
• first thought sun was God, then moon
• decided there was an even greater power - great invisible power
• God spoke to Abraham and make an agreement with him - God promised to bless Abraham and Sarah and lead them to a far away land called Canaan - in return Abraham promised that he and his family world always be faithful to God
• believing in only one God made Judaism different from all other religion of the time

• Abraham and Sarah reached Canaan (Note: in ancient times Canaan was divided into 2 kingdoms - Israel and Judea - Jew comes for the word Judea - Jerusalem was the holy city or religious center of Judea)
• their son Isaac had a son named Jacob (later called Israel)
• Abraham's descendant came to be called the Israelites
• Israelites left Canaan because of a shortage of food
• about 500 years after Abraham died they became slaves of the Egyptians
• God spoke to an Israelite named Moses and told him he should lead the Israelites out of Egypt and back to the "Promised Land" of Canaan
• Moses went to the Egyptian king and asked him to free the Israelite slaves
• When the king said no God caused 10 terrible plagues to happen to the Egyptians -  worst was death of every first born son
• Finally king told Moses to take his people away
• When Israelites began to leave Egypt - then king changed his mind and sent his soldiers after them
• The soldiers caught up with the Israelites at the Red Sea
• Israelites were trapped with the sea in front and the soldiers behind
• Moses asked God for help
• Moses stretched his staff over the water and the sea parted
• Israelites crossed safely to the other side and the waters returned drowning the soldiers
• Israelites were free from slavery
• After 40 years of wandering in the desert Israelites reached Canaan
• During the time in the desert God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses
• Ten Commandments became the core of Judaism's holy book called the Tanach, or Bible (1st five books called the Torah (meaning teaching) are believed to be given to Moses from God
• Torah tells the stories of God creating the world in 6 days and resting on the seventh, of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, of their son Cain killing his brother Abel, of Noah and the ark

Links

• Hamantashen triangular "cookies" http://www.dltk-kids.com/recipesdb/view.asp?rid=268
• Jewish Crafts http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/jewish/
• Primary Resources  http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/re/re_Judaism.htm

Students play the dreidel game.

Day 2 Christianity

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Notes for Lecture

2000 years after Abraham lived - land of Judea ruled by Rome
Jews hoped of a divine savior (Messiah) to come to free them

angel named Gabriel appeared to Jewish woman named Mary and told her she was chosen to give birth to the Messiah
later Mary and  Joseph went to Bethlehem where Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable
Christmas celebrates this day

Jesus raised in religion of Judaism
when a young man began to talk to people about God
he called God his father
told people God loved all his children equally
Jesus visited poor people, sinners, and outcasts teaching of God's love
crowds came around Jesus to listen to him
Jesus was brought before the Roman authorities and sentenced to be crucified
Christians remember this day on Good Friday

3 days after he died several women visited his tomb and discovered his body missing
an angel appeared and told them "He is risen!"
the 1st Sunday after the first full moon of spring Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection (Easter)

Jesus told followers that the Holy Spirit would visit them and give them power to spread his teachings
50 days after the Resurrection a mighty rushing wind and flames entered a meeting room in Jerusalem and the various people began speaking in other languages (Pentecost)

after this Christians believe Jesus is still with them Trinity
- God (the Father who created the world), his Son (Jesus Christ), & Holy Spirit (God's presence on earth)

people began writing about Jesus
Christians so connected to Judaism they added the Tanach, the Bible of the Jews to these new writings
Tanach (Old Testament) & Christian writings became New Testament
1st four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) called the Gospels (tell the life of Jesus)

1000 years ago Christian divided into 2 groups Roman Catholic and Orthodox
500 years ago a German priest named Martin Luther tried to make changed in Roman Catholic church
Luther's followers the Lutherans expelled
other groups broke off from Roman Catholic church after this - became known as Protestants

Day 3  Islam

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Notes for Lecture

founder Muhammad born almost 600 years after Jesus
lived in Mecca (which is now Saudi Arabia)
at time people in Arabia believed in many gods and goddesses (worshiped idols)
traveled to Mecca to worship the Black Stone (located in a shrine called Kaaba)

Muhammad spent many hours in a desert cave praying
when 40 years old he heard a voice tell him to listen to words of God and repeat them
rushed home to his wife Kadijah (afraid)
Kadijah helped him understand he was going to be a prophet

for next 20 years Muhammad heard the voice again and again
he thought it was angel Gabriel giving him messages from Allah (chief god)
voice told him Allah was the one and only God

Muhammad told his people about Allah
merchant unhappy because they were making a lot of money selling idols
life threatened many times - 622 fled to Medina (north of Mecca)
built the first mosque

later returned to Mecca with followers and took over city
destroyed all the idols around the Kaaba
dedicated the mosque to Allah

followers called Muslims
religion called Islam (meaning to surrender to God)
Muhammad could not read or write but followers wrote down his revelations (became Koran)
Koran also contains many stories from Jewish and Christian scriptures

on Fridays Muslims go to mosque for  worship were mosque leader recites from Koran and gives a sermon

Ramadan- Muslims celebrate the night Muhammad first heard the voice of the angle Gabriel

Links

• Taj Mahal  http://islamicity.com/Culture/Taj/default.htm
• Virtual Mosque  http://www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/mosque/default.htm
• Islamic Crafts http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/muslim/index.htm

Day 4   Hinduism

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Notes for Lecture

developed over centuries from the traditions of different races and cultures.
believe in a universal spirit called Brahman (meaning World-Soul)
The World-Soul is all things in the universe
more than 300 million different deities (gods and goddesses)
most Hindus all gods and goddesses are the countless different faces of Brahman

Important early Hindu gods

• fire god - rode a ram
• thunder god with a thousand eyes
• goddess of dawn who drove seven cows

Today

• Vishnu - kind and loving god who comes to earth in form of a human known as Krishna or Rama
• Shakti - many forms Sarasvati (goddess of wisdom and learning) Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and good fortune) and Durga (goddess who protects the universe)
• Shiva - destroys old life to make room for the new - lurks on battlefields and often shown wearing a necklace of skulls
• Most popular gods is Ganesh (elephant headed god)
  • Legend - Ganesh was once a boy who had been formed out of flour and oil
  • one day his mother told him to guard her door
  • Ganesh blocked the way of god Shiva
  • Shiva mashed the boy's head into a thousand pieces
  • Ganesh's mother demanded her son's head be restored
  • first head found was that of an elephant
  • to soothe the mother's sorrow - Shiva granted the elephant-headed boy the power to remove obstacles
  • When Hindu begin a new venture they pray to Ganesh

believe special places in nature can also be gods or goddesses like Ganges River
Hindu make pilgrimages to Ganges to wash away their sins and help cure their illnesses

Certain animals sacred - all creatures have a soul - after person dies the soul is released from the body - body in cremated to help release the soul -  often throw the ashes into a holy river

soul is reincarnated into a new body ( if you are very good in this life, you might be born again as a person with remarkable talents - if bad you might come back as a worm or ant) idea called karma
soul goes through reincarnation again and again until finally it is freed to join the World-Soul

• cow (most sacred) strictly against Hindu teachings to kill cow

as sign of respect Hindu do not eat meat - don't believe in hunting or offering animals as sacrifices

monkeys sacred
believe in caste system - people must marry and work within own caste
people worship individually not in a congregation - have shrine at home
family's daily routine is to pray at the shrine
family members place gifts of food or flowers in front of statue in shrine
also worship in temples -towns have temple usually devoted to one main god
worshipers ring a bell at temple entrance as they walk in - place flowers or sweets before the images of the gods and offer silent prayers

practice meditation - repeat simple word or phrase such as om one grows calm - helps person feel united with the source of all life
yoga - exercises
when children become young adult - sacred thread ceremony (only for upper three castes)

• guru (holy teacher) hangs thread over the boy's left should and under his right arm
• the boy will wear the thread and be called "twice born"

Many Hindu festivals

• Holi in March or April - celebrates end of winter
• Diwali in October or November - begins the new year - also called Festival of Lights
• oldest writing called Vedas means "books of knowledge" - one teaching is that all religions are true and lead to the same goal though by different paths

Links

• Hindu Temples  http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_pictures/temples/temples.shtml
• Dharma Doll http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/japan/mcd-dharma.htm
• Craft Diwali Diyas (candles) http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/india/mdiyas.htm

The students made a clay diya. The diya is a lamp made of clay or brass and lit with a cotton wick dipped in vegetable oil. They are used for special occasions. Diyas are also lit and floated on the Ganges River to remember deceased ancestors.

Day 5 Buddhism

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Notes for Lecture

500 years before Jesus was born, prince named Siddhartha Gautama born in Nepal
raised as Hindu
one day after wondering outside the palace and seeing old and sick decided to become a monk
put on faded orange robe, shaved hair and beard and left palace
wandered 6 years
one night started practicing yoga meditation - had a revelation that explained everything to him (called Enlightenment)
became known as the Buddha after this (the Awakened One)

Buddha believed other people could achieve enlightenment but must free themselves of worldly desires
understand of suffering and detachment is called dharma

Four Noble Truths

• all lives filled with suffering
• suffering comes from desire of worldly things
• suffering ends when desire ends
• people can learn to end desire by following 8 rules

  Noble Eightfold Path

  • Be aware of Buddha's teaching
  • follow these teachings
  • say nothing to harm others
  • do nothing to harm any living creature
  • choose a job that hurts no living thing
  • strive to become a good person
  • learn to control thoughts and emotions
  • practice meditation which leads to Nirvana

  Nirvana happens when one is completely released from suffering

for 45 years the Buddha taught people how to find enlightenment
religion grew
different from Hinduism

• Noble Eightfold Path could be done w/o long fasts and difficult yoga practices of Hindu holy men and women
• no Hindu caste system
• don't worship many Hindu gods and goddesses

died of food poisoning at age of 80
stupas built to house some of his bones and teeth

monks kept religion alive
split into 2 different groups

• Theravada Buddhism (SE Asia)
  • monks are perfect models of Buddhism
  • travel Nirvana path alone
• Mahayana Buddhism (Central and East Asia - Europe and North America)
  • temporary monk
  • work together
  • since reincarnated countless times all are related to one another therefore you should help the beggar

Links

• Buddhist Art and Architecture  http://www.buddhanet.net/gallery.htm
• Life of the Buddha in pictures http://www.beyondthenet.net/buddha/bpicmain.htm
• Buddhism http://www.slamnet.org.uk/re/images/buddhism.htm#Buddhism%201%20&%202
• Mandala Coloring Pages (Any of various ritualistic geometric designs symbolic of the universe, used in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation) http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/mandala_coloring_pages.htm
  Rangoli designs http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/india/mrangoli.htm
• http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm