INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS Modern–day examples of monotheistic

AND BELIEF SYSTEMS religions include Judaism, Christianity, and

Islam.
World Religion in Focus
Understanding the Nature of Religion Theism is defined as “a belief in the
Origin of the World Religion existence of one God viewed as the creative
Positive and Negative Effects of Religion source of the human race and the world
who transcends yet is immanent in the
Abrahamic Religions world”.
Judaism Monotheistic religions claim that there is
Christianity only one god who could have designed and
Islam created the universe or may have directed
Comparative Analysis of Judaism, all events that led to the creation of
Christianity and Islam everything. (Hick 1990)

Dharmic Religion POLYTHEISTIC

Hinduism The belief and worship of many gods.
Theravada Buddhism Early people recognize many principal gods
Mahayana Buddhism wherein no one is supreme. These include
the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and
Daoic Religions Rome wherein people worship a multitude
Confucianism of personal gods.
Taoism/Daoism
Shintoism Egyptian Gods
Osiris – God of the underworld
Isis – Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus
BELIEF SYSTEM Horus – Sky God
A belief system is an ideology or set of
principles that helps us to interpret our
Roman Gods
everyday reality. This could be in the form
Jupiter - the King of Gods
of religion, political affiliation, philosophy,
NepPluto - the God of the Underworld
or spirituality, among many other things.
tune - the God of the Sea
Beliefs are shaped and influenced by a
Greek Gods
number of different factors:
Zeus is the god of the sky.
1. Our knowledge
Athena goddess of war, handicraft, and
2. The way we were raised
practical reason.
3. Peer pressure from others
Hephaestus the god of fire.
MONISTIC
There is no real distinction between god WORLDVIEW
and the universe is a collection of beliefs about life and the
universe being held by people (The free
Two implications arise from this belief: Dictionary 2014)
•It contends that god is dwelling in the
universe as part of it. Here are some examples of worldviews
•The universe does not exist at all as a about man’s perspective of God.
reality but only as a manifestation of
phenomenon of god. 1.Naturalism
2.Pantheism
MONOTHEISTIC 3.Theism
The doctrine or belief in one supreme god. 4.Spiritism
Monotheistic religions claim that there is 5.Polytheism
only one god who could have designed and
created the universe or may have directed Naturalism denies the existence of God.
all events that led to the creation of The material universe is all that exist.
everything. Examples: Atheism, Agnosticism and
Existentialism
Pantheism is a belief that only the  The prophet and patriarch Abraham is
spiritual dimension exists. All else is considered the common origin of the
illusion. Man is spiritual and eternal. three monotheistic religions, namely,
Example: Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
 The Jewish people regard Abraham as
Theism They believe that an infinite, the forebears of the Israelites, through
personal god exists. God created the real his descendants Isaac and Jacob.
world and people are created in the  The Muslims consider Abraham’s son
image of God. Ishmael as the ancestor of the Arabs.
Examples: Judaism, Christianity and Islam  The Christians view Abraham as
“father in faith” as narrated in the
Spiritism They believe that the world is bible and the ancestor of Jesus Christ.
inhabited by spirit beings who govern  The Hebrews call their god Elohim,
earthly activities. Man is created by gods Adonai or Yahweh. At present they call
like the rest of the creatures on earth. their god Lord and God.
Material things are real but they have  The Muslims call their god Allah.
spirits associated with them.  The Christians call their god Lord or
God or the Holy Trinity (God the Father,
Polytheism This is the belief in many gods the Son and the Holy Spirit).
or deities. The culture of Ancient Greeks  God presented the “Ten
and Romans depict this kind of belief. Commandments” to Moses at mount
Sinai.
Catholic Christians keep in their hearts the  God commanded Muhammad to
“Apostles Creed” establish a new religion at a cave in
The Muslims practice the “Five Pillars of Mount Hira.
Islam”.  Judaism has 48 prophets and seven
The Shinto reveres the dead ancestors or prophetesses.
“Kami”.  For the Muslims, they believe that
The Taoists “embrace the importance of Muhammad is the final prophet or the
being close to nature”. “Seal of the Prophets.”

RELIGIOSITY AND Welcome to India

SPIRITUALITY The Home of the
Being religious is when a person follows Four Dharmic Religions
religious practices like going to church,
joining religious procession and other India is one of the world’s oldest surviving
rituals. civilizations. Its history dates back to at
Spirituality is more abstract than religiosity. least 6500 B.C.E.
It speaks more of how a believer
internalizes his faith in God. It is more of Religion is an essential part of Indian
the believer’s disposition to his God. Tradition. Four great religions originated in
India.
ORIGIN OF WORLD RELIGION  Hinduism
 Buddhism
The table below illustrates some significant  Sikhism
dates in the history of the establishment of  Jainism
several world religions.
Hinduism perfectly reflects Indian
heterogeneity with its eclectic, diversified,
and assorted ways of religious expressions
that are quite confusing to outsiders.
Unlike the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism
has no specific founder, no one sacred book,
and with innumerable of gods and
goddesses that any Hindu can venerate.
On the other hand, whereas many religions Shinto is a polytheistic belief system
focus on the worship of one god, many involving the veneration of many deities,
gods, or celestial being, Buddhism centers known as kami, or sometimes as jingi.
its attention on the figure Buddha.
Buddha was not a god but a human being RELIGION
who came to discover how to terminate
sufferings in order to escape the painful According to Mahatma Gandhi,
and continuous cycle of rebirth. “The essence of all religions is one.
(Coogan 2005) Only their approaches are different”.
Jainism is a nontheistic religion founded in Religion is an organized system of
India in the 6th century BC by the Jina beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to
Vardhamana Mahavira as a reaction against worship a god or group of gods.
the teachings of orthodox Brahmanism, and
still practiced there. The Jain religion Several elements constitute a religion.
teaches salvation by perfection through However, different religions consists of
successive lives, and noninjury to living various texts, beliefs, place of worship,
creatures, and is noted for its ascetics. and others.
Many sources call Sikhism a monotheistic The following are the elements that are
religion. common among religions:
Sikhism was brought to the world around 1. Sacred Texts
1469 by Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the 2. Rituals
"Ten Gurus". Guru Nanak brought the Word 3. God
of God to manifest upon Earth. Through his 4. Place of Worship
Hymns and Prayers (Shabads), he inspired
and uplifted humankind to live a life of 1. Sacred Texts embody beliefs,
truth, righteousness and spirituality. rituals and doctrines. Examples
are the Holy Qur’an and the Holy
CHINA Bible.
The Home of Confucianism and Taoism
Confucianism is often characterized as a 2. Rituals consist of external forms
system of social and ethical philosophy of worshipping a supernatural
rather than a religion. being, like the examples below.
Kung Fu-Tzu (Confucius) is the founder of
Confucianism. 3. God or Supreme Being
Lao Tzu, also rendered as Laozi and Lao-Tze, believed to be supernatural
was an ancient Chinese philosopher and being. For example Jesus
writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Christ for Christianity and
Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Buddha for Buddhism.
Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and
traditional Chinese religions. 4. And lastly is the Place of
worship. It is where the followers
Taoism (also known as Daoism) is a Chinese offer their prayer to the
philosophy attributed to Lao Tzu (c. 500 supernatural power. For example a
BCE) which contributed to the folk religion Catholic Church, Islamic Mosque or
of the people primarily in the rural areas of Hindu Temple.
China and became the official religion of
the country under the Tang Dynasty.
Taoism is therefore both a philosophy and a GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
religion.
West Asia is the home of three great
On the other hand, another great religion religions, namely Judaism, Christianity and
was born in Japan and it is called Shintoism. Islam.
Unlike most other religions of the world, Mount Ararat in the Eastern
Shinto has no founder. part of Turkey is the traditional landing
place of Noah’s Ark as narrated in the
book of Genesis.
Mount Sinai in Sinai Peninsula in Egypt is Religion Promotes Social Harmony
the peak where Moses received the Ten Religion provides divine authority to
Commandments. ethical and moral principles which help
Mount Zion/Mount Moriah in Jerusalem is provide unity among people. Common
known as the City of David and Temple participation in rituals together with basic
Mount. uniformity of beliefs help promote social
Mount Tabor in Israel is the site of cohesiveness.
the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Religion Provides Moral Values
Religion provides a systematic model of the
The Indian Subcontinent universe, which in effect determines
The subcontinent of South Asia covers an organized human behavior through this;
area of more than one half million square one is able to distinguish right from wrong,
miles stretching from the Hindu Kush and good
Baluchi Hills on the west of the great from evil.
Himalayan mountain range on the north, Religion Provides Social Change
to the Burmese mountain on the east and In the Philippines, much credit has
the Indian Ocean on the south ( Wolpert been given to the Catholic Church for
1993) the success of the People Power
Revolution in 1986 when Archbishop
Surya - Sum Jaime Cardinal Sin urged the people
Agni - Fire to join the protest rally to oust the
Varuna - water and celestial oceans dictator, former president Ferdinand
Marcos.
The Easter End Religion Explains the Unknown
At the Easter end of the great Asian Some say that religion developed
continent one finds the cultural and from man’s need to have a sense of
political dominance of China. The home of origin and destination; to discover
Confucianism. where they came from and where they
are bound to when they die.
The location of China proper in the valleys Religion Gives Positive Goal in Life
of two great bodies of water, the Huang People were inspired by the stories of
He and Yangtze, is quite favorable because different prophets from their own
of the support these streams provide to religious affiliations that gives them a
the Chinese people that made historic sense of meaning in life, that they are
China the center of culture. not placed in this world without
purpose, that each and every one has
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF mission to fulfill and it is up to them
RELIGION to fathom what their missions in life
are.
Religion Gives People Sense of Belonging
Some of the positive effects of religion are: Being in a particular religion whose
members share the same beliefs, practice
1. It promotes social harmony. the same rituals, and worship the same god
gives individuals a sense of being in the
2. It is a source of moral values. right place with the right people.
3. It provides social change.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF
4. It helps explain the unknown. RELIGION
Some of the negative effects of religion are:
5. It gives positive goal in life. 1. It affirms social hierarchy.
2. It causes discrimination.
6. It gives people a sense of belonging. 3. It triggers conflicts and fights.
4. It serves as an economic tool for
controlling the masses.
5. It impedes scientific success and
Development.
6. It obstructs the use of reason.
Religion Affirms Social Hierarchy beinhuman should be replaced with
The traditional caste system in India sensible ones.
would also reflect how religion
reflects political and social structures HISTORICAL EVENTS CAUSED
since it propagated the idea that BY RELIGION
people had to be subdivided into
certain social classes with particular Here are some of the historical events that
social roles and that the attainment of are caused by religion.
moksha would depend on how they • SELF-IMMOLATION OF A BUDDHIST
performed their duties based on their MONK IN VIETNAM
designated class. • WIDOW BURNING AMONG THE HINDUS
IN INDIA
Religion Causes Discrimination • THE INQUISITION
Religion can be a source of • THE GODHRA TRAIN INCIDENT IN 2002
discrimination, or the prejudicial
treatment of different categories of SELF-IMMOLATION OF A BUDDHIST MONK
people or things, especially on the IN VIETNAM
basis of race, religion, age, or sex.
What is Self-Immolation?
Religion Triggers Conflicts and Self - Immolation, or killing of oneself as a
Fights form of sacrifice, originally referred to as
History witnessed numerous lives the act of setting oneself on fire. But now it
sacrificed and lost in the name of refers to as much wider range of suicidal
religion. Wars have been fought in the choices such as leaping off cliff, starvation,
name of religion, and this phenomenon or ritual removing of the guts (also known
continues up to the present time. as seppuku). It is used as a form of political
protest of martyrdom.
Religion as an Economic Tool for
Exploiting the Masses Thich Quang Duc was a Vietnamese
According to Karl Marx, religion Mahayana Buddhist monk who immolated
maintains social inequality by himself on 11 June 1963. He was protesting
propagating a worldview that justifies against the persecution of Buddhists by the
oppression. He believed that religion South Vietnamese government led by Ngo
can be effectively used by the ruling Dinh Diem. The immolation was considered
class to maintain a social order that is to be an act of defiance against a corrupt
more favorable to them. government. Jun 11, 2019

Religion Obstructs Scientific WIDOW BURNING AMONG THE HINDUS IN

Success and Development INDIA
Some religions express their
disapproval against reproductive Sati, or the practice of self-immolation of a
health programs that aim to empower widow on her husband’s, funeral pyre, is
couples in responsible family said to have originated 700 years ago in
planning through education and India, when the raiput women burnt
access to legal and medically safe themselves to death after their men were
birth control, claiming that such defeated in battles to avoid being taken by
programs defies their religious the conquerors.
doctrine and are, therefore, immoral.
THE INQUISITION
Religion Obstructs the Use of Reason Inquisition refers to the Roman Catholic
Many question the suitability of religious Church groups charged subduing heresy
doctrines to the needs of the present and from around 1184, which includes the
future generations. In order to put this Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230’s) and the
dogma into practice, religion should, papal Inquisition (1230’s). The Inquisition
therefore, evolve and learn to adapt to the was a response to large popular
ever changing world. Ancient religious movements in Europe considered heretical
beliefs and practices which have proven to or profane to Christianity, particularly
Catharism
(a Christian dualist movement which
espoused the idea of two gods,
one being good and the other evil).

The word “Inquisition”, has somehow

become associated with the word “torture”.
One common form of torture was the
strappado, wherein the hands were bound
behind the back with rope, and the accused
was suspended this way, dislocating the
joints painfully in both arms.

THE GODHRA TRAIN INCIDENT IN 2002

In February 2002, a train was set on fire in

which 59 people, including 25 women and
15 children, were killed. The fire happened
inside the Sabarmati Express train near the
Godhra railway station in the Indian state of
Gujarat. Those who died inside the train
were mostly Hindu pilgrims and activists
returning from the holy city of Ayodha after
a religious ceremony at the disputed Babri
Masjid site.

The Godhra Train Burning was an

incident that occurred on the
morning of 27 February 2002, in
which 59 Hindu pilgrims and
karsevaks returning from Ayodhya,
were killed in a fire inside the
Sabarmati Express train near the
Godhra railway station in the Indian
state of Gujarat.

Location: Godhra, Gujarat, India

Deaths: 59
Date: 27 February 2002; 7:43 a.m
Injured: 48