World Cultures: Monotheistic Religions

judaism

* the oldest monotheistic religion
* about 15 million followers today
* about 0.2% of the global population
* most live in the U.S. or Israel due to WW2

(judaism) founder

* Abraham
* spoke to God to make the covenant
* descendants are “God’s Chosen People” (Hebrews/Israelites)
* mark of the covenant = circumcision
* “the promised land” (Israel)

(judaism) main prophet

* Moses
* exodus: led prosecuted Hebrews in slavery out of Egypt
* the commandments: rules to follow given by God (612 total/10 main ones)

(judaism) language

hebrew

(judaism) main religious leaders

rabbis

(judaism) holy city

jerusalem

(judaism) place of worship

synagogue (sometimes men and women are seperated, sometimes they sit together)

(judaism) sacred text

* hebrew bible (tanakh)
* torah (5 books of Moses)

(judaism) general beliefs about God

* there is only one God (Yahweh)
* Yahweh is all seeing, all knowing, all powerful
* everything in the universe was created by Yahweh
* shouldn’t try to physically represent Yahweh (ex. some might write G-d instead of God)

(judaism) fun facts

* traditionally matrilineal (can only be passed down the mother’s line)
* spectrum (beliefs widely vary from person to person)
* birthright (a fully funded trip to Israel open to Jewish 18-26 year olds the government to promote Israel)
* cultural influence (ex. ‘Yiddish’ language which is a blend of old german and hebrew)

types of judaism

* secular/humanistic (non-religious or not God focused)
* reform/liberal (progressive and modern)
* conservative (moderate or middle of spectrum)
* orthodox (more conservative, always follows the Tanakh)
* ultra-orthodox (super conservative, often live in isolated communities) \[hasidic communities\]

(judaism) customs

* day of rest (saturday): aka shabbat, starts sundown friday and ends nightfall saturday, focus on religion
* tzedakah: concept of focusing on charity
* coming of age: celebrated with a bar/bat/b’nei mitzvah, celebrates someone turning 12/13
* kosher: dietary restrictions dictated by religious laws (ex. only clean and specially prepared beef/sheep/goats/deers)
* head coverings: kippah/yarmulke for men & sheitel for women

(judaism) holidays

* rosh hashanah: aka jewish new year, followed by 10 days of seeking repentance from others
* yom kippur: aka ‘day of atonement’, fasting and seeking repentance from God
* passover: celebrates the exodus
* chanukah/hannukkah: celebrates the second temple in jerusalem (kind of like christian christmas)

(judaism) conversion

* much harder than the other two religions, because there has been no active effort from Jews to convert others, and it’s passed down through mothers
* requirements: free will, dedication, etc.
* must be circumcised, enter the mikvah, take a course, worship in a synagogue, and practice Jewish laws

types of christianity

* 40 denominations worldwide
* catholic is a type of christianity (all catholics are christian, but not all christians are catholics)
* about 70% of people in the U.S. are christian

(christianity) presidential faith

majority if not all U.S. presidents have identified as christians (only 2 were catholic, 2 did not formally announce their designation)

(christianity) founder

jesus

(christianity) holy city

jerusalem

(christianity) holy day

sunday

(christianity) sacred text

bible (old and new testament)

(christianity) place of worship

church (in some branches women and men are seperated)

(christianity) language

varies

(christianity) leaders

varies (ex. the catholic leader is the pope)

christianity in the world

1 out of 3 people in the world are christian

(christianity) conversion

* this religion largely practices evangelism (spreading the christian faith, but the emphasis varies by denomination)
* most common ritual is baptism
* not many requirements, relatively easy

(christianity) roman history

* romans celebrated polytheism (specifically greek gods), so they prosecuted christians
* major events: jesus’s birth, jesus’s death, christian prosecution & evangelizing, emperor constantine makes christianity rome’s major religion

differences between christianity and judaism

* in christianity jesus is the son of God, the messiah and he will rise again (second coming)
* in judaism jesus was just a jewish teacher and jews are still waiting for the messiah

(christianity) jesus in historical context

* no concrete proof of his existence, but most historians do believe that he existed
* he was most likely middle eastern, but he is interpreted differently across several countries

(christianity) jesus’s teachings

* love
* forgiveness
* acceptance
* kindness/charity

(christianity) beliefs

* monotheism (one God)
* adam and eve (original sin)
* birth of jesus (christmas, the virgin mary and immaculate conception)
* holy trinity
* crucifixion & atonement
* resurrection (easter, lent \[40 days leading up to easter in which christians will fast\])
* spread of christian beliefs (apostles \[paul of tarsus\], emperor constantine, evangelism)

main branches of christianity

* early christians → egyptian coptics, roman catholics, eastern orthodox
* egptian coptics → ethiopian christians
* roman catholics → protestents → lutherens, methodists, presbyterians, baptists, evangelicals, mormons
* eastern orthodox → greek orthodox, russian orthodox

(christianity) customs

* sacraments (ex. eucharist/communion)
* tithing (donations)
* saint’s days

islam

majority of muslims reside in asia and middle east

(islam) followers

muslims

(islam) sacred text

quran/koran

(islam) founder

* mohammad, “last of the prophets”
* Jesus is the messiah and second coming but he isn’t the son of God or resurrected
* he shouldn’t be visualized (no prophets should be, especially mohammad)

(islam) language

arabic

(islam) religious leaders

imans/mullahs (women can’t be leaders)

(islam) general beliefs

* name for God is “allah”
* Jesus is the messiah and second coming but he isn’t the son of God or resurrected
* prophets shouldn’t be visualized (especially mohammad)

(islam) holy day

friday

(islam) place of worship

mosque

(islam) holy city

jerusalem & mecca (city in saudi arabia, has a large granite cube covered in silk called the kaaba)

(islam) the 5 pillars

* statement of faith (the shahada): “there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet”, used for conversion and repentance
* daily prayer (salat): usually 5x a day at set times, but if busy you can do later (law of necessity)
* almsgiving (zakat)
* fasting (sawm): especially during ramadan, which is a holy month of spiritual reflection, followed by eid-al-fitr (holiday celebrating the end)
* pilgrimage to mecca (hajj): religous journey required of muslims to mecca to visit the kaaba

(islam) eid al adha

* holiday called the “feast of the sacrifice”
* last 3 days, commerates the willingness of abraham to follow allah’s command to sacrifice ishmael

(islam) halal & harem

* halal is what is allowed
* harem is what is forbidden (ex. pork, alcohol, smoking, etc.)
* fatwa: muslim religious ruling about modern items and concepts (whether it is halal or harem)

(islam) key misconceptions

* protective clothing is restrictive (hijab, niqab, chador, burka)
* jihad is bad (it just means outer and inner struggle, kind of like a goal)

types of islam

* islam split into two main sectors when muhammad died
* sunni: 85% of islam, the leader is chosen from the people (anyone can be chosen if they have good values), typically practices 5x prayers a day
* shia: 15% of islam, leader must be a descendant of muhammad, typically practices 3x prayers a day, lives in the ‘crescent’ (crescent shaped regions of the middle east)