World
Religions:
A Six Part Series
Presented by the
Diversity Committee:
Making World Connections
This presentation introduces the five
major religions of the world.
Each forthcoming series will focus on
one of these religions, including a list
of resources, a “quick facts” section,
and a bibliography.
The Diversity Committee’s purpose of
these presentations is to increase
awareness of other religions practiced
around the world and in our own
backyard.
The five major religions of
the world are:
•Buddhism
•Christianity
•Hinduism
•Islam
•Judaism
*Religions are represented in alphabetical order
Creation stories…
Explain the earth, its life and
its peoples.
The following presents some
of these stories from the
major religions.
Buddhist
Creation Story
Buddhist Creation Story
The queen of the kingdom of Sakyas
dreamt that a silver elephant entered
her womb through her side, which
priests predicted she would give birth to
a son, who would become a Buddha.
Siddhartha was born ten months later
and when he became a man, certain
incidents that he witnessed, led him to
renounce his princely life and later
become the Enlightened One.
Christian Creation Story
Christian Creation Story
In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters. And God said, "Let there be an
expanse between the waters to
separate water from water.“ So God
made the expanse and separated the
water under the expanse from the water
above it. And it was so.
Taken from the King James Bible
Hindu Creation
Story
Hindu Creation Story
When Purusha (man as primeval being),
who had a thousand heads, eyes, and
feet, was sacrificed, from his “clarified
butter” beasts were made to inhabit the
earth. This also produced the gods
Indra (king of gods), Agni (Fire), Vayu
(Wind), the Sun and the Moon.
The atmosphere was born from
Purusha’s navel; from his head the
heavens were produced; from his feet,
the earth; and from his ear, the sky.
Islamic Creation Story
Islamic Creation Story
Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who
created the heavens and the earth in six
days, then He established Himself on
the throne [of authority]: He draweth the
night as a veil o’er the day, each seeking
the other in rapid succession: He
created the sun, the moon, and the
stars, [all] governed by laws under His
command. Is it not His to create and to
govern? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher
and Sustainer of the worlds!
Translation of the Qur’an (Al-A`raf 7:54)
Jewish Creation Story
“In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. The earth was
without form and void and darkness
was upon the face of the deep: and the
Spirit of God was moving over the face
of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there
be light;’ and there was light. And God
saw that the light was good; and God
separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day and the
darkness Night. And there was
evening and there was morning, one
day. Taken from the Book of Genesis (1:1-5)
Stay tuned for the first
installment in the
series, featuring
Buddhism.
Bibliography
• Park, M. (2009). Introducing Anthropology: An
Integrated Approach. 4th edition. Boston et
al: McGraw-Hill
• Conze, M.; Conze, E. (2000). Buddhism: A
Short History. Oneworld Publications
• Cohn-Sherbok, L.; Cohn-Sherbok, D. (1999).
Judaism: A Short Introduction. Oneworld
Publications.
• Couliano, I.; Eliade, C.; Wiesner, H. (1991).
The Harpercollins Concise Guide to World
Religions.
Harpercollins Publishers.
• Religionfacts website, (www.religionfacts.com)
Image Sources:
•
Slide 5:
http://mech.ioe.edu.np/pragati/Gautama%20Siddhattha%20Buddha_f
iles/buddhadream.jpg
•
Slide 7:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/4018250989_cdecfe78ee.jpg
•
Slide 9: http://www.irfwp.org/content/archives/indra.jpg ,
http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/03/01/012/images/vayu.j
pg , http://www.eprarthana.com/images/gallery/others/agni.jpg
•
Slide 11:
http://www.dhikrullah.com/lectures/images/lectures/qadhi/angels.jpg
•
Slide 13: http://www.ucdesigners.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2009/03/stockxpertcom_id21589-world11024x794.jpg
•
Slide 15: http://www.majikalwishes.com/picts/religions_earth.jpg