Warm Up

• Discuss what it means to “practice” faith.

Religion

• A set of beliefs – existence of a higher power, spirits or god

– an explanation of the origins and purpose of humans and their role on earth

– Which involves rituals, festivals, rites of passage and space (religious landscapes)

Key Terms

• Universalizing Religion: attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.

• Proselytize: to try to convert people to one’s belief or opinion.

Key Terms

• Ethnic Religions: concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely based on physical characteristics of a particular location.

Key Terms

• Monotheism: existence of only one god.

• Polytheism: existence of many gods.

• Cosmogony: A set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

• Branch: A large and fundamental division within a religion.

• Denomination: A division within a branch of a religion.

• Sect: A relatively small denominational group that has broken away from an established church.

Religious Divisions

Religious DivisionsSecularization –

a process that is leading to increasingly large groups of people who claim no allegiance to any church.

-Atheists

-Do not practice a religion

-Spiritual, but not religious.

• Common in Europe and the cities of the U.S.

• Common in former Soviet Union and China.

Fundamentalism –

a process that is leading to increasingly large groups of people who claim there is only ONE way to interpret worship.

- Envision a return to a more perfect religion and ethics they imagine existed in the past.

• Common in the U.S. and in some Islamic nations.

Major World Religions• Universalizing Religions

– Christianity– Islam– Buddhism

• Traced to actions and teaching of a man

• Diffused from specific hearths by followers / missionaries

Major World Religions

• Ethnic Religions– Hinduism – Judaism– all Animistic Religions

• No specific founder

• limited diffusion / no missionaries

Warm Up

• What is the significance of water in religion?• Discuss with your table partners.

Flood Myths

FLOOD MYTHS

Why Floods?

• Part of all creation stories.• In almost all religions, a creation story exists in

how the earth was made.• When it was too imperfect, floods were sent

to wipe the slate clean.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

OwSWRdbSQK0

Global Flood stories…

• Are documented as history and legend in almost every region on earth.

• Old world missionaries report finding remote/isolated tribes already possessing flood legends similar to the biblical account.

Flood Myth facts…

• There are over 500 flood legends worldwide• All most all ancient civilizations have a global

flood myth– China, Babylon, Wales, Scotland, Russia, India,

North America (Indian), South America, Hawaii, Scandinavia, Sumatra, Egypt, Italy to name a few.

Most Common Flood Myth?

• Noah’s Ark.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

rsXtslcXJFg

Common Flood Myth Archetypes

• Man in Transgression (sin)

• Divine Cause / Destruction

• A Favored Family• Ark Provided (humans

and animals preserved in a vessel)

• Destruction by Water

Common Flood Archetypes

• Warning Given to Man Before Destruction

• Humans Saved• Animals Saved• Universal / Global

Destruction• Landing on a Mountain• Bird Sent Out

Was the flood real?

• Flood tales are frequently linked by common archetypes.

• The overwhelming consistency among flood legends found in distant parts of the globe indicate they may have derived from the same origin– Oral transcription may have

changed the details through time.

Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible

• Gilgamesh and Noah are the two most common global flood myths.

• They share numerous similarities

• They are clearly rooted in the same event or oral tradition

What is the “Epic of Gilgamesh”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrfrHys8g8

BABYLONIAN BIBLE

Take the seed of all creatures aboard the ship

Gen. 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring.

I boarded the ship and closed the door. Gen. 7:1 Come into the ArkGen. 7:16 The Lord shut him in.

I sent out a dove . . . The dove went, then came back, no resting-place appeared for it, so it returned.

Gen. 8:8 He sent out a dove...But the dove found no resting-place . . . and she returned.

Then I sent out a raven . .it was the waters receding, it ate, it flew about to and fro, it did not return.

Gen. 8:7 He sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the Earth.

I made a libation on the peak of the mountain.

Gen. 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord (on the mountain) and offered burnt offerings.