Final Exam
Any religion is not something that can be described or taught in a sentence or two. The
three religions we covered are very different yet similar at the same. Each one has their own and
some overlapping rules, laws, and beliefs. Any religion is made up of such a large web of
different beliefs, accepted and unaccepted laws, teachings, and books. The biggest this I took
from each book is the same exact thing. It is how each religion all have so many different
sections of beliefs that are different for each group and person. Before coming into this course, I
was somewhat aware about how vastly differently religions are just in their own circle. But after
reading about each one in these books, I learned a lot more than somewhat. And I have probably
just brushed the surface. People cause shifts in religions to fit their own narrative and beliefs.
Islam has many different schools of teachings that each have their own way of teaching. They
will teach more about certain things and less about others. They will follow different laws or
make some of their own based on the words they interpret from Muhammad. The traditions they
follow will even be different based on what they believe and follow. The locations of these
schools will influence how and what they believe as well as the culture, time period, social
norms, and the personal beliefs of the people up top. There are different writings and books
people focus on more as the words they believe. For example, in the Islamic religions there are
Hadiths. Hadiths are books that portray the traditions and sayings of Muhammed. Some people
choose to just follow what is written in these hadiths, some choose to fully ignore them and
follow the Qur’an, and something choose to pick things from both the Qur’an and the Hadiths.
People even interpret these things differently. Another big difference within the religion is the old
and new. Laws and some beliefs will be shifted has the time progresses to better fit the society it
is in. Like Islam, Buddhism has different schools that all had varying beliefs. These schools were
Vajrayana, Mahayana, and Theravada. They were all located and centralized in different [art of
Asia. And each one had its own focus in the religion. There are also different scriptures and texts
that more placed on carrying levels of value for each school. This means that one school may
teach certain texts while another school barely even looks at it. There is also a difference in how
the physical texts are seen. Some schools see them as just a scholarly passageway and others
seen them as religious objects. So, each school places different power on the texts they teach and
follow. There is a diversity in Judaism from place to place and person to person. For example,
Jewish people of different countries are referred to as different names. Those from Europe are
referred to as Ashkenazim and other countries have their own name, mainly depending on culture
and language. The diversity of Judaism was different from place to place, but that only made
more diversity. Different denominations and movements that arose would push beliefs farther
apart or group more people together. As something that can include anyone who is willing to go
through the process of converting, having a large diversity of beliefs and way to follow the
beliefs is the best way to include those people.
Works Cited
Knight, Michael Muhammad. Muhammad Forty Introductions . New York : Soft Skull Press, 2009.
Satlow, Michael L. Creating Judaism History, Tradition, Practice . New York: Columbia University
Press , 2006.
String, John S. Buddhisms An Introduction . London : Oneworld Publications , 2015.