Origin of World Religion

Origin of World Religion
Essential Understanding
❖ Religions have their own stories and are universal in nature.
❖ Geography and culture have an effect on the establishment and
development of religions.
Historical Background
❖ Prehistoric humans, such as the Neanderthals and Cro Magnons, have practice a
set of belief systems like in burying their dead, painting in the walls of the caves
and carving images from the stones.
❖ The existence of human kind for so long a time has resulted in the formation of
religion and belief systems. It is certain that many religions may have been
unrecorded in the past. Others may have gradually died down like Zoroastrianism
that once flourished in South Asia but is now only confirmed in Iran, India, and
Central Asia.
Important Dates on the Origin of World Religions

Date Significance
c. 2000 BCE Time of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel
c. 1200 BCE Time of Moises, the Hebrew Leader of Exodus
c. 1100 – 500 BCE Hindus complied their holy texts, the Vedas
c. 563 – 83 BCE Time of Buddha, founder of Buddhism
c. 551 – 479 BCE Time of Confucius, founder of Confucianism
c. 200 BCE The Hindu book, Bhagavad Gita, was written
c. 2 to 4 BCE – CE Time of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and founder of
Jesus Christ
c. 32 CE The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
c. 40 – 90 CE The new testament was written by the followers of
Jesus Christ
c. 100 CE Beginnings of Shintoism(no known founder)
c. 500 -580 CE Time of Lao Tze, founder of Daoism
c. 570 – 632 CE Time of Muhammad, who recorded the Q’ran as the
basis of Islam
The Patriarch Abraham

❖ Played a major role in the establishment of the three monotheistic religions: namely,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which account for more than the world’s total
population. As such, these organized religions are collectively known as ABRAHAMIC
RELIGIONS.
❖ The importance of Abraham in these three religions lies in the fact the patriarch appears
as an elemental (primary exemplar) figure for monotheistic belief system and a
paragon(exemplar) for extreme devotion.
Commonalities in Abrahamic Religions
❖ They all worship one Supreme Being.
Ancient Hebrews – Elohim, Adonai or Yahweh
Present day Judaism – “lord” or “God”
Muslims – Allah
❖ Prophets and apostles play major roles
• Judaism has 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses
❖ Early prophets include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moises, Aaron and
Joshua
• Christianity has 12 apostles, some of whom wrote parts of the New
Testament
• Islam believes that Muhammad is the final prophet or the “Seal of the
Prophets”.
❖ Prior to the establishment as organized religions, the role of divine revelation or

intervention is associated among their progenitors (ancestors).
• God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac at Mount Moriah
• God presented the 10 commandments to Moises at Mount Sinai
• God sacrificed His son Jesus Christ through crucifixion as the plan to
salvation
• God commanded Muhammad to established a new religion at a cave at Mount
Hira.
***Then and now, the followers of the three Abrahamic religions are presented with a
choice between good and evil.
The Indian Mosaic

❖ India is one of the oldest surviving civilizations, with his history dating back to at
least 65000 BCE. The many conquerors that came to India were gradually absorbed
into the native Indian religions.
❖ The Harappan civilization, Aryan influence, local dynasties, and the Muslim conquest
all had their fair share in building the intricate Indian mosaic. As result, variety and
complexity characterized Indian culture.
❖ Four great religions originated in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,
and Sikhism- and a myriad of minor cults and local sects.
Hinduism
❖ It perfectly reflects Indian heterogeneity with its eclectic (diversified and assorted)
ways of religious expressions that are quite confusing to outsiders.
❖ It has no specific founder, no one sacred book, and with innumerable gods and
goddesses that any Hindu can venerate. As such, Hinduism can be considered as
museum of religions.
❖ It was during the Vedic Period that Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma became
systematized as a religion that preached order and purpose to the cosmos and human
life.
❖ During this period, universal order became equated with a stable society as evidenced
by the establishment of a centralized government and the integration of collective
traditions into Indian lives.
Buddhism
❖ It center its attention on the figure of the Buddha, who was not a god but a human being
who came to discover how to terminate sufferings in order to escape the painful and
continuous cycle of rebirth.
❖ Buddhist followers revere Buddha in the same way that the members of other world
religions worship their gods.
❖ 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.
❖ Born near at the end of the 6th century BCE, Siddharta Gautama’s life is closely linked
with the historical and religious development of Buddhism in India. Gaining new
converts due to its mass appeal as compared to the exclusivity of Hindu beliefs,
Buddhism spread far and wide from India to Sri Lanka and to Southeast Asia.
❖ The religion was transported to China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Across the
Himalayas, it reached the Tibetan lands.
❖ Presently, Buddhism become more popular outside its place of origin while Hinduism has
remained entrenched(rooted) in India throughout many centuries.
Confucianism
❖ Even during the olden days, the Chinese had already endeavored to establish and
attain good governance. China adopted Confucius’s ideals and ethics as the nation
developed meritocracy (power goes to those with superior intellects) as a basis for
government officials.
❖ Confucius is regarded as China’s greatest philosopher and teacher who lived as the
same time as Siddhartha Gautama in India.
❖ Confucian ideals aspire to harmonize human relations and serve as a guide to social
behavior. An ideal human society is the utmost concern for the Confucian followers.
❖ 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 contemporary(modern version) of Confucius, he once work as a record
keeper at the time of Zhou Dynasty but soon left the service due to its frustration with
corruption.
❖ 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 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 emperor literally descended from the sun goddess
Amaterasu.
❖ Conscious effort is done to revere the beauty of Japan’s lands, especially mountains.
❖ 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.
Geography of Faith
1. The Western Frontier

• West Asia is the home of the three great religions(Judaism, Christianity
and Islam)
• Religions have increasingly become involved in domestic politics of West
Asia, resulting in prolonged conflicts among countries that have claimed
thousands of lives.
• Israel remains the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority
population comprising almost 75% of its citizens.
• The Arabian Peninsula, the world’s largest peninsula, consist of the
countries that are predominantly Islamic in character (Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman).
Sacred Mountains in the Judeo-Christian Tradition

Holy Mountains Location Significance
Mount Ararat Eastern part of Turkey Traditional landing place of
Noah’s Ark as narrated in the
book of Genesis
Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula in Egypt The peak where Moses received
the Ten Commandments
Mount Zion/Mount Jerusalem Known as the City of David and
Moriah Temple Mount
Mount Tabor Israel Site of transfiguration of Jesus
Christ
The Temple Mount is one of the most sacred sites in the world revered by the
Jews, Christians and Muslims. Three structures are found in the present site that
includes the Al-Agsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Dome of the Chain. The
Jewish people consider the Temple Mount as the holiest shrine. Mount Moriah is
also believed to be the site of sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham.
Vast expanse of deserts and bodies of water also played important roles in
biblical history.
❖ Yam Suph(Red Sea) – Israelites crossed this as they escaped from Egyptian lands.
❖ Sinai Desert – Israelites lived here en route the Promised Land(spiritual
cleansing)
2. The Indian Subcontinent

• The subcontinent of Southeast Asia covers an area more than one and a
half million square miles stretching from the Hindu Kush and Baluchi
Hills on the west and the Great Himalayan mountain range of the north,
to the Burmese mountain on the east and the Indian Ocean on the south.
• Invasions from people originating in Macedonia and central
Asia have added diversity to India’s population and complexity
to its culture.
• Sweltering heat is one of the major feature of India’s ecological
setting, it is no wonder that Hindus revere the sun (Surya) and
fire(Agni).
• Ganges is the holiest river for the Hindus where may pilgrimage
sites and cities were built that includes Rishikesh, Haridwang,
Prayag, and Varanasi.
3. The Eastern End

• At the eastern end of the great Asian continent one finds the
cultural and political dominance of China.
• The location of China proper in the valleys of two great bodies
of water, Huang He and Yangtze, is quite favorable because of
the support these streams provide to the Chines people that
made historic China the centered of culture.
• From these river valleys emerged small states now controlled
by the first recorded dynasties, the Shang and the Zhou.

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Origin of World Religion

Important Dates on the Origin of World Religions

The Patriarch Abraham

❖ Prior to the establishment as organized religions, the role of divine revelation or

The Indian Mosaic

1. The Western Frontier

Sacred Mountains in the Judeo-Christian Tradition

2. The Indian Subcontinent

3. The Eastern End

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