World Religions

CategoriesUniversalizing or

ChristianityIslamBuddhismBaha’i

EthnicJudaismHinduismConfucianismShintoism

Monotheistic orChristianityIslamJudaism

PolytheisticHinduismVodum (Voodoo)

Syncretic or

Orthodox

Universalizing

• Religions that – claim applicability to all humans and – that seek to transmit their beliefs

through missionary work and conversions

– And who choose to make some sort of symbolic commitment

Christianity• Jesus• Universalizing• Spread through the Roman Empire

– Roads– Military

• Expansion Diffusion– Hierarchical Diffusion: Rome– Contagious Diffusion– 2 Billion followers

Christian Diffusion

Christian Branches

• Roman Catholic• Eastern Orthodox – relocation

diffusion– Russian, Armenian, Greek– Coptic

• Protestant– Denominations: Baptist, Lutheran,

Methodist, Presbyterians, Episcopal– etc.

Islam

• 570 – 632 Muhammad• 622 – The migration or journey

of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Makkah (In Saudi Arabia) to Madinah - Universalizing

• Expansion Diffusion– Hierarchical along trade

routes • Relocation Diffusion – 39

countries• World’s fastest growing religion-

1.3 Billion followers

Branches of Islam

• Sunni– The majority– Supported caliphs that were not related to

Muhammad

• Shi’ite or Shi’a– Concentrated in Iran– Caliphs should be related to Muhammad– Believe the imams are without sin & are infallible

• Sufis– Primarily in Indonesia– More mystic, less conservative

Islamic Diffusion

Buddhism

• Founded by Siddhartha Guatama – a Hindu priest – 6th cen. BC

• Four Noble Truths

1. All of life is marked by suffering.

2. Suffering is caused by desire and attachment.

3. Suffering can be eliminated.

4. Suffering is eliminated by following the Noble Eightfold Path

• Contagious Diffusion- Universalizing• Was once state religion of India – few followers

now- 360 Million worldwide• The concept Buddha

was absorbed into Hinduism

Buddhism• Theravada (Vehicle of the Elders)

– Personal salvation– Closer to original

• Mahayana (Greater Vehicle)– “In the process of the proselytic spread,

particularly in China and Japan, Buddhism fused with native ethnic religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism to form syncretic faiths that fall in the Mahayana division of Buddhism” Human Mosaic 78.

• Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle)– Dalai Lama– Also called Tantrayana or Lamaism – Tibet & Mongolia

Main 3 Schools of Buddhism

www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm

Baha’i

• Founded in Persia (Iran) in 1844• Universalizing

• To overcome the disunity of religions and establish a universal faith-emphasizes the spiritual unity of humankind

• 8 mil. Primarily in Africa & Asia

• God is unknowable – except through manifestations of prophets such as: Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, Krishna, * Bahá'u'lláh

Sikhism• 1500’s – attempt to unify Hindu & Islam• Universalizing• NW India region of Punjab• Never cut beard or hair, wear turbans• Militant• "A Sikh is any woman or man whose faith

consists of belief in one God, the ten Gurus, the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib and of the ten Gurus, who has faith in the amrit of the tenth Guru, and who adheres to no other religion." --Rahit Maryada (Religion Facts)

Sikhism

Sikh at the Golden Temple of Amritsar, Punjab.http://www.religionfacts.com/sikhism/

Ethnic

• Religions that have – strong territorial and – cultural group identification, – usually one become a member by birth

or – by adoption of a complex lifestyle and

cultural identity,– not merely by a statement of faith

(Fellman, 157)

Hinduism

• World’s oldest religion – 4000+ yrs old

• Ethnic• Hindus believe in karma, the law of

cause and effect by which each individual creates his or her own destiny by thoughts, words or deeds.

• Understanding Hindu Traditions

Hinduism

• 850 mil. – 1 bil. Followers• Contagious Diffusion – India

– Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka

• Relocation Diffusion– Eastern Europe,

N. America

Judaism

• Original Abrahamic religion• Ethnic• 4000 yrs. Old• Has territorial & political identity• 13-14 million followers world wide

• Power of Place: Jerusalem

Judaism

• Branches– Sephardim

• Iberian Pen. – expelled 15th cen.• Ties to N. Africa & Babylonian Jews

– Ashkenazim• Western & Central Europe• Most came to US

Shinto

• “The Way of the Gods”

• Traditional religion of Japan-Ethnic

• Worship of nature & ancestors

• Complex set of deities – inc. Emperor

CONFUCIANISM

• K’ung Fu-tzu– Compiler of traditional wisdom– Lived in time of Gautama Buddha

• No Churches or Clergy• Ancestor Worship• Ethnic

TAOISM (Daoism)

• First taught by Lao-tsu in 6th c. B.C.

• Ethnic• Tao – “The Way”

– Eternal happiness lies in total identification with nature

– Deploring Passion, unnecessary invention, unneeded knowledge, and govt. interference

Tribal or Traditional

• Special form of ethnic religion• Localized culture groups• Close ties to nature

Tribal or Traditional

• Animism – belief that life exists in all objects (rocks, trees, etc.) or that such inanimate objects are the abode of the dead, of spirits, and of gods

• Ethnic

Tribal or Traditional

• Shamanism – involves community acceptance of a religious leader, healer, or worker of magic, who, through special powers, can intercede w/ and interpret the spirit world

orthodox

• Purity of faith• accepting and closely following the

traditional beliefs and customs of a religion.

• Christian, Jews, Hindu and Islam

Cultural Diffusion

• Culture hearth – religions spread through relocation and expansion diffusion (hierarchical or contagious)

• Diffusion of religions

Diffusion

• Hierarchical• Contagious• Relocation

• Judaism• Christianity• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism• Bahai

Diffusion

• Hierarchical• Contagious• Relocation

• Judaism• Christianity• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism• Bahai

Diffusion

• Hierarchical• Contagious• Relocation

• Judaism• Christianity• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism• Bahai

Diffusion

• Hierarchical• Contagious• Relocation

• Judaism• Christianity• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism• Bahai

Diffusion

• Hierarchical• Contagious• Relocation

• Judaism• Christianity• Islam• Buddhism• Hinduism• Bahai

Cultural Interaction

• Religion & the Economy– Demands for certain foods

• Wine for communion• No pigs

– Pilgrimages• Birthplaces, natural sites, settings for

miracles, administrative centers = nodes for functional regions

– Makkah & Madinah– Rome & Lourdes– Varanasi, India on the Ganges– Ise, the hearth of Shintoism

Cultural Interaction

• Religion vs. government policies– Taliban– Hinduism & the Caste system

Cultural Landscape

• Christian structures– Roman Catholics – cathedral is literally

the house of God, so the focal point and large

Protestant Structures

• Buildings are merely a place to assemble

Amish & Mennonite

Islamic Mosques

• Imposing, but not sanctified, a place of gathering

Hinduism

• Usually dedicated to one deity

Goparum

• Varanasi on the Ganges River is  the holist city in Hinduism and is over 3,000 years old.  As the sun rises each day worshipers come to the ghats (steps) to perform rituals, such as washing themselves, drinking the river water, and making floating offerings.

• To die here is to be released from the cycle of life -- from reincarnation and reborn. If possible, Hindus want to die here, and then be burned on one of two funeral ghats -- which are clearly identified by the large piles of firewood.

www.uwec.edu/.../India/India/Varanasi-ghats.htm

Baha’i

• Are building temples around the world to emphasize the universality of the religion

For the N. American continent

Chile

India

Buddhism

• Not designed for congregational worship

Todaiji TempleNara period, constructed 745

Shintoism

• Not designed for congregational worship