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UNIT III WORLD RELIGIONS
Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Christianity and
Islam) and Eastern Religions (Hinduism and
Buddhism)
Disclaimer
• We will study World Religions as required by North Carolina Essential Standards.
• We will talk about Religions in their historical context, basic beliefs and spread of those Religions.
• We will treat all religions with respect (including beliefs, writings, artifacts and institutions)
• We will explore commonality and differences in World Religions.
NCSCOS/Common Core Objective: WH.2 - Analyze ancient civilizations and empires in terms of their development, growth and lasting impact.
WH.2.5 - Analyze the development and growth of major Eastern and Western religions (e.g., including but not limited to Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Shintoism, etc.).
Objectives:
• Students will explore the major events in the history of the early Hebrews.
• Students will survey how the Kingdom of Israel developed and who were some of its key leaders.
• Students will discover the basic teachings and sacred texts of Judaism.
• Students will examine the lasting impact of Judaism on the world.
Main Idea
The ancient Hebrews and their religion, Judaism, have been a major influence on Western civilization.
The Hebrews and Judaism
The Hebrews were the ancestors of the Jews, and most of what we know, including the laws and requirements of their religion, Judaism, comes from their later writings.
• The Torah• Abraham, father of the
Hebrews• God’s covenant• 12 Tribes of Israel• Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob were patriarchs• Israelites in Egypt
Hebrew Fathers• Slaves in Egypt• Moses• Pharaoh, plagues• Exodus
– Israelites out of Egypt
– Passover • The Ten
Commandments
Moses and Exodus• Israelites in desert• Canaan• Land of “milk and
honey”• Israelites battled for
land• Canaan = Israel
Promised Land
The Early Hebrews
The Ten Commandments 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
The Period of the Judges
• Scattered communities• No central government• Judges enforce laws• Prophets keep Israelites focused on faith
• Israelites united against Philistines• Saul, first Israelite king• Never won full support• David, second king• Strong king, gifted poet• Solomon, David’s son• Israel reached height of wealth
Saul, David, Solomon
• Conflict after Solomon’s death• Two kingdoms, Israel and Judah• 722 BC, Israel fell to Assyrians• 586 BC, Judah fell to Chaldeans• Chaldeans enslaved Jews• Diaspora = scattering of Jews• Persians conquered Chaldeans
Division and Conquest
The Kingdom of Israel
The Teachings of Judaism
Religion the foundation of Hebrew and Jewish societies • Belief in One God
– Monotheism• Justice and Righteousness
– Kindness, fairness, code of ethics• Obedience to the Law
– Ten Commandments– Mosaic Law
• How Jews pray and when they worship• Limits what foods Jews may eat and how food is prepared (kosher)
• Jewish Sacred Texts– Torah, Talmud
• Jews had to pay tribute to Romans but unwilling to abandon religion for polytheistic religion of Romans
• Roman leaders allowed Jews to practice religion as long as they paid tribute, maintained civic order
Roman Compromise
• 63 BC, Romans conquered Judaea, chose new ruler for region, installed him as king
Judaism in the Roman World
Judaism and Rome
Reactions to Roman Rule• Judaism had different branches, varying ideas on cooperation with Romans• Zealots called on fellow Jews to drive Romans from Judaea, reestablish Kingdom of
Israel
Messianic Prophecies• After revolt in 130s, all Jews banned from Jerusalem• Not all Jews willing to take up arms; others waited coming of Messiah— spiritual
leader prophesied to restore ancient kingdom, bring peace to world
Zealots• Zealots formed pockets of resistance against Romans of Judaea• After mass uprising AD 66–70, Romans sacked Jerusalem, killed thousands of Jews,
destroyed Second Temple
Judaism in the Roman World
Objectives:• Students will explore how Christianity is rooted in the teachings of
Judaism
• Students will investigate the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
• Students will discover how Christianity spread throughout the Roman world.
Main Idea
A new religion called Christianity developed within the Roman Empire and gradually spread throughout the Roman world.
The Rise of Christianity
Against this background, a spiritual leader named Jesus of Nazareth emerged, teaching people to prepare for God’s Judgment Day.
• Nearly all knowledge of Jesus comes from Gospels—first four books of New Testament
• New Testament and books of Hebrew Bible make up today’s Christian Bible
• Jesus born in Bethlehem, near Jerusalem
• Learned carpentry, studied writings of Jewish prophets
Life• Jesus preached message of renewal
and warning• Gathered group of disciples• Created excitement by performing
miracles of healing; defending poor, oppressed
• Instructed people to repent of sins, seek God’s forgiveness
• Must love God above all, love others as much as self
Preaching
Jesus of Nazareth
Death and Resurrection
Jesus’s popularity, crowds alarmed authorities who feared political uprisings
• Jesus arrested, tried, sentenced to death
• According to New Testament, after crucifixion– Jesus rose from dead
– Spent 40 days teaching disciples
– Ascended into heaven
• Followers believed Resurrection, Ascension revealed Jesus as the Messiah
After Jesus’s death, his disciples began teaching that all people could achieve salvation—the forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life.
• Jesus’s 12 disciples worked to spread message
• Earliest Christian missionaries
• Apostles traveled widely, teaching mostly in Jewish communities
Apostles• Paul, originally known
as Saul, born in Tarsus, in Asia Minor
• Had actively opposed those teaching that Jesus was the Messiah
Paul of Tarsus• Paul had conversion on
way to Damascus, became Christian
• If not for his work, Christianity might have remained a branch of Judaism
Conversion
The Spread of Christianity
Roman Christianity• Paul found some Jewish customs hindered missionary work among non-Jews,
dispensed with those requirements for Christians• Paul emphasized new doctrines that helped distinguish Christianity from Judaism• Christianity spread; message of love, eternal life after death found appealing• By AD 300, some 10 percent of Roman people were Christian
Converting the Gentiles• Paul believed God sent him to convert non-Jews, or Gentiles• Paul helped make Christianity broader religion, attracted many new followers• Helped establish Christian churches throughout eastern Mediterranean• Paul’s epistles, or letters, to those churches later became part of the New Testament
Results• As Christianity spread through Roman world, some local officials feared Christians
conspiring against them; arrested, killed many Christians• Those killed seen by Christians as martyrs, people who die for their faith
Imperial Approval• Spread of Christianity hastened by conversion of emperor Constantine• AD 313, Constantine made Christianity legal within empire, Edict of Milan• By late 300s, polytheism gradually disappeared from empire
Threat• Christians persecuted at local level, but large-scale persecution rare during first two
centuries after Jesus’s life• Large-scale persecution by Romans grew as rulers saw Christianity as threat
Persecution
Of the eleven remaining apostles (Judas Iscariot having killed himself), only one—John the Apostle, younger brother of the Apostle James—died of natural causes in exile.
The other ten were reportedly martyred by various means including beheading, by sword and spear and, in the case of Peter, crucifixion upside down following the execution of his wife.
The Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio
The persecutions of Christians culminated with Diocletian at the end of the third and beginning of the 4th century. The Great Persecution is considered the largest. Beginning with a series of four edicts banning Christian practices and ordering the imprisonment of Christian clergy, the persecution intensified until all Christians in the empire were commanded to sacrifice to the gods or face immediate execution. Over 20,000 Christians are thought to have died during Diocletian's reign. However, as Diocletian zealously persecuted Christians in the Eastern part of the empire, his co-emperors in the West did not follow the edicts and so Christians in Gaul, Spain, and Britannia were virtually unmolested.
The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme
(1883
Council of Nicaea
• Called by Roman Emperor Constantine
• Wanted attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.
• Decisions
1. Which Gospels will be included in the New Testament
2. The development of Christian belief
3. Nicene Creed
4. The date of Easter
Communities• Earliest Christian churches not only
spiritual organizations but close-knit communities
• Provided all kinds of support for members
Deepening Faith• Ceremonies developed to inspire
people’s faith, make them feel closer to Jesus
• One ceremony was Eucharist
Complex• Support included burial services, food,
shelter • Christianity grew; organization became
more complex
Ceremonies• During Eucharist, people eat bread,
drink wine in memory of Jesus’s death, resurrection
• With baptism, people are admitted to the faith
The Early Christian Church
Patriarchs did not recognize the popes’ supremacy claims at first, but over time popes gained more influence within the Christian Church.
By about 100, priests who were trained in these ceremonies became prominent within Christianity. The authority of the priests was based on the authority Jesus gave the Apostles. This spiritual authority distinguished the priests from the general congregation of the church.
• Church expanded, developed administrative structure
• Bishop oversaw church affairs, had authority over other priests
• 300s, heads of oldest congregations, patriarchs, had authority over other bishops
Administrative Structure
Expansion of the Church
• Many believed Peter founded Roman Church, was first bishop
• Later bishops of Rome, popes, Peter’s spiritual heirs
• Gospel of Matthew: Jesus gives Peter keys to kingdom of heaven
• Therefore future popes inherit keys
Peter the Apostle
Reaction against iconoclasm raged on and off until 843 when a council settled the issue by accepting icons. The dispute played a crucial role in the growing divide
between the emperor in Constantinople and the pope in Rome.
In the 700s the use of art in churches deeply divided society. This religious controversy threatened the strength of both church and state. The controversy involved the use of icons—paintings or sculptures of sacred figures.
• Churches contained beautiful icons• Some Christians objected to their
presence, believed use too close to non-Christian worship of idols
• People called iconoclasts, “icon breaker”
Icons and Controversy
Religious Conflicts
• 726, Emperor Leo III forbade use of icons, ordered destruction
• Iconoclast movement unpopular with many in church hierarchy
• Since few could read, clergy found sacred images useful for teaching
Iconoclast Movement
Growing Divisions• Over time, number of issues that divided eastern, western churches grew• Use of Greek one difference; theological differences also emerged• Eastern church allowed clergy to marry, western church did not
Schism• 1054, differences became so large, schism, split, occurred between churches• Church in east became Orthodox Church, west remained Roman Catholic• Later hurt Byzantine Empire, could not rely on western help against invaders
Church Governance• Pope in Rome, patriarchs in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem were
church leaders; emperor oversaw church law, did not govern church• Byzantines did not accept pope as supreme authority over religious issues
The Church Splits
Christian Empires (East versus West)• Byzantine Empire
• Was the Eastern Roman Empire• Capital in Constantinople• Greatest Emperor Justinian I (527ce to 565ce)
• Achievements• Wanted to reclaim all of Roman Empire
• Military Campaign stopped by the plague• Most important new building, church, Hagia
Sophia, “Holy Wisdom”• Spectacular blend of domes, arches;
building still stands• Justinian’s Code
• Justinian set up commission that codified, systematically arranged, empire’s existing laws, legal opinions into clear system
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Byzantine_Empire_animated2.gif
http://www.360tr.com/34_istanbul/ayasofya/english/
• Holy Roman Empire• When Rome fell in late 400s, Christianity mostly confined
to southern Europe• By about 600, Christianity had spread
northward into other parts of continent • Conversion of Anglo-Saxons, Franks helped
make western Europe into largely Christian society
• Charles “the Hammer” Martel saved Christianity in Europe by stopping Muslim Invasion at the Battle of Tours (732ce)
• Grandson Charlemagne will become Holy Roman Emperor.
• Following fall of Rome, Christianity appealed to many Europeans
• Period known as Middle Ages, or medieval times
• Many people’s lives filled with doubt, suffering hardship
• Christianity offered comfort, promise of happy afterlife, sense of community
