Hinduism, Buddhism,
Judaism, Christianity,
Islam
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Time and Place: Prehistoric India
Founder/Leader:
 Hinduism can not be traced back to one founder with a
single set of ideas
Text: Vedas and Upanishads—
 The Vedas, was brought to India by the Aryans. Later,
Hindu teachers tried to explain the meaning of the Vedas
in the Upanishads
Monotheistic or Polytheistic?
 Brahman (spirit) takes many forms
 Brahma—The Creator
 Vishnu—The preserver
 Shiva—The Destroyer
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Moksha—to achieve union w/ Brahman by freeing
yourself from selfish desires
Reincarnation—rebirth of the soul in order to meet
moksha
Karma-- actions of a person’s life that affect his or
her fate in the next life (what goes around, comes
around)
Dharma-- the religious and moral duties of an
individual
Ahimsa—nonviolence. all people and things are
part of Brahman and should be respected
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Time & Place—Palestine (Canaan) around 2000
B.C.E, Fertile Crescent, Hebrews go to Egypt
Founder—Abraham
Moses led Hebrews on Exodus from slavery in Egypt
 David united Hebrews into one nation (Jerusalem
becomes capital of Israel)
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Text: Torah (Old Testament)
FIRST MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION
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God = Yahweh
•10 Commandments
•Strong moral code of ethics/behavior
•Abraham makes a covenant : an agreement
with God
• If Abraham and his followers followed
God, God would lead them to the
promise land
Diaspora-The Babylonians conquer Israel
and force the Jews out, and they scatter all
over the world.
Time/Place-- Northern India (500’s BCE)
 Founder—Siddartha Gautama
 Texts--Tripitaka
(Three Baskets of Wisdom
 Monotheistic/Polytheistic?
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NONE! Goal is to reach nirvana/enlightenment (end
of reincarnation)
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Four Noble Truths
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Everyone suffers and knows sorrow
We suffer because of our desires
We can end our suffering by eliminating our
desires
We can eliminate our desires by following the
Eightfold Path
Eightfold Path
Right views, aspirations, speech, conduct,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness and contemplation.
Nonviolence towards living things.
•Time/Place-- Palestine C.E. 30. Roman
Empire
•Founder—Jesus Christ (Son of God,
Messiah)
•Paul was 1st missionary foundation of the
Christian Church.
•Apostles/Disciples – Jesus’ followers
•Text-- The Bible (Old and New Testament)
•Monotheistic
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Jesus is the son of God and savior for all
humankind.
Preaches: forgiveness, kindness love,
Salvation available to anyone who
believes.
Also uses the 10 commandments.
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Time/Place– Arabian Peninsula C.E. 622
Founder– Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Text– Qu’ran
Monotheistic
 Allah = Arabic word for God
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Five Pillars of Islam
Confession of Faith
2. Pray 5x a day, facing Mecca
3. Charity to the poor
4. Fast during Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
1.
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Consider Jews and Christians “People of the Book”
and accepts their prophets