CHAPTER 6 KEY ISSUE 2 Why do Religions

CHAPTER 6 KEY ISSUE 2 Why do Religions have Different Distributions?

CORE DIVISION: • UNIVERSALIZING religions can be traced to a specific founder and place of origin; the faith is generally based on the teachings of this individual.

CORE DIVISION: • ETHNIC religions have more ambiguous places of specific origin (or several are acknowledged), and are NOT tied to the teachings of a founding

ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS

Christianity Founded: Approx. 0 ce Founder: Based on life & teachings of Jesus Hearth: ‘Holy land, ’ present-day Israel/Palestine

Jesus was born and raised Jewish but began a divine mission at age 29. He collected a group of followers, known as his disciples. After two years, Jesus was betrayed by a disciple, Judas. He was crucified by the Romans in Jerusalem. Christians view Jesus’ death on the cross – and rebirth 3 days later- as central events in their faith.

THEN NOW

ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY’S 3 BRANCHES (in one bullet point each!)

• ROMAN CATHOLICISM is the ST. PETER’S BASILICA oldest branch, VATICAN and traces its roots CITY (ROME) to the time of the Roman Empire. Catholics follow a hierarchical order with the Pope on top, following the Bible and the Seven Sacraments.

• EASTERN ORTHODOXY broke away from Catholicism in the 6 th century ce. The Orthodox follow the Seven Sacraments, but reject changes Catholicism has made since.

• PROTESTANTISM traces its roots to the Reformation and Martin Luther’ 95 Theses. They believe salvation is achieved through true faith rather than through religious displays.

Origin of Islam Founded: 610 ce Founder: Prophet Muhammad Hearth: Mecca and Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia

Mohammad received visions from God (Allah) through the angel Gabriel at age 40. He began to articulate his visions in the Quran, gathering followers from pagan tribes. Mohammad and the first Muslims were kicked out of Mecca to Medina by its pagan rulers, but eventually they triumphantly returned to Mecca. Mohammad’s believers spread quickly, uniting the many peoples they conquered under the single banner of Islam.

Masjid al-Haram (The Great Mosque) Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Ka’aba – the House of God Object toward which all Muslims pray

Dome of the Rock Jerusalem, Israel

After Mohammad died, his followers became divided over who should lead the faith. Some wanted his followers to elect a leader- these became the Sunnis. Others wanted leadership to stay with Mohammad’s family, supporting his cousin Ali; these were the Shia.

BUDDHISM • FOUNDED: approx. 550 bce • FOUNDER: Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) • HEARTH: Northeastern India/Nepal

Siddhartha was a wealthy prince who wanted to learn more about the suffering he witnessed in the world. At 29, he left his privileged life behind and entered a forest where he remained for the next 6 years, emerging as the ‘Buddha, ’ or ‘enlightened one. ’ Siddhartha then spent the next 45 years spreading his message. Buddhists believe that suffering is prolonged through reincarnation, and that this can only be avoided by reaching a state of virtue and enlightenment called ‘nirvana. ’

Eightfold Path to Nirvana

SIKHISM FOUNDED: 1469 ce FOUNDER: Guru Nanak HEARTH: Punjab, India

SIKH MEN DO NOT CUT THEIR HAIR; IT IS KEPT WRAPPED IN A TURBAN

BAHA’I FOUNDED: 1844 FOUNDER: the Ba’b HEARTH: Shiraz, Iran

A man called the B’ab in Iran foresaw the arrival of a new Prophet, and found him in Baha’u’llah. Iran’s Shiites reacted violently, killing the B’ab and 50, 000 Baha’i in 1850. Baha’u’llah was exiled to Baghdad, from where the Baha’i faith spread to form small communities worldwide.

Baha’i temple & gardens Haifa, Israel

ORIGINS OF HINDUISM • Unlike the Universalizing religions, Hinduism’s origin is less clear. The earliest Hindu documents date to 2, 500 bce, making it the oldest continuously practiced religion in the world. • The original Hindu culture was altered greatly when the Aryan people arrived along with their Indo-European

ORIGINS OF JUDAISM ABRAHAM, the Patriarch of the Jewish faith, lived in Ur, Balylonia (Iraq) in about 1, 800 BCE. On a promise of bounty from God, he migrated to what is today Israel and founded the Jewish faith.

Both Jews AND Muslims trace their earliest ancestry back to the sons of Abraham- Isaac (Jews) and Ishmael (Muslims).

DIFFUSION OF RELIGIONS

Diffusion of Religions �Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism all emerged from parts of Asia. �Followers transmitted the messages elsewhere (relocation). �Each of the three main universalizing religions has a

Diffusion of Christianity • HEIRARCHICAL: When the Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in the 4 th century ce, the faith secured its dominant place in Europe. • RELOCATION: Christianity, like other universalizing religions, has been spread through MISSIONARIES & EMPIRE. These factors have spread the faith to nearly all corners of the world.

DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY HEIRARCHICAL DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

DIFFUSION OF ISLAM • Muhammad’s successors organized followers into armies and conquered much of the Middle East, North Africa, and even Spain (the Moors). • Relocation diffusion of missionaries & merchants transmitted Islam as far as Indonesia and western Africa.

DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM �Expanded slowly until the rise of the Maghadan Empire; its leader, ASHOKA, dispatched Buddhist missionaries around Southeastern Asia. �Buddhist missionaries followed major trade

DIFFUSION OF ETHNIC RELIGIONS • Most Ethnic religions have very limited, if any diffusion. They remain limited to their hearths, and their messages are often tailored to a local rather than global audience.

Ethnic religions find their way to new places through relocation diffusionwhen their members move abroad and establish communities together.

Adherents of ethnic religions often relocate for ECONOMIC reasons. Most Hindu migrants in the United States immigrated in search of better economic prospects, for example.

Ethnic religions have also been diffused through the works of EMPIRE. Britain used Indian labor throughout its empire, and today many former British colonies have sizeable Hindu communities. Trinidad and Tobago, for example, is 35% Hindu.

Unlike most other ethnic religions, Judaism can be found far from its hearth. The Jews were forcibly evicted from ancient Israel by the Romans around 70 ce. For 2, 000 years, this globally dispersed Jewish community was called the DIASPORA.

When the state of Israel was created in 1948, millions of Jews in the Diaspora ‘returned’ to the Jewish state- a journey called ALIYAH.

ALIYAH