Answer & Explanation:This assignment uses the information you have gathered for your weekly World View Chart Assignments. Choose one (1) category (origin of all things, nature of god, view of human nature, view of good and evil, etc.) from the chart to focus on for this assignment. Consider how the selected aspect relates to each of the religions covered and to your own social or work experiences.Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:Select one (1) category from the completed World View Chart. Provide a rationale for choosing this category.Describe the selected content and explain the significance of the selected category across the religions studied.Provide one (1) specific example of how the selected category is manifested in your social environment.Among the religions we discussed this week, identify one religion that you find the most interesting. Explain your response.Explain at least three ways that social trends affect the formation of new religions and dictate new religious movements.Use at least three (3) quality resources as references for the assignment and document your sources using APA Style for in-text citations and references. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.religion_212_weekly_.docx
religion_212_weekly_.docx
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WORLD RELIGIONS – REL 212 World Religions
HINDUISM & JAINISM
WEEK 2
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Nature of God/Creator
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 2 – Sources
Hindu’s creation story begins with Lord Vishnu floating in the sea on a giant cobra. As Lord Vishnu
awakened, a large lotus flower grew from his navel. In the middle of the flower sat Brahma. Lord Vishnu
told Brahma to create a world. Brahma split the lotus flower into three parts, creating the heavens, the
earth and the sky.
Hindu’s believe in one God, but uses different names for God when He does different things. When God
creates, He is known as Brahma. When He looks over things, He is Vishnu. The third God is Lord Shiva,
also referred to as the destroyer.
Hindu’s believe that the purpose of life is to perform the proper sacrifices to the gods. The Vedas
emphasizes that the life of the householder is the most exemplary model for humans. One’s societal
duties are to bear children (especially sons) and live an essential life.
Karma is understood within Hinduism as the fundamental and universal law of good and evil. When a
person does something, it has an effect: good actions have good effects and bad actions have bad effects.
Salvation for Hinduism points to the basic understanding that human beings continue to be reborn
because they continue to generate karma, and they continue to generate karma because they are ignorant.
They are ignorant of the true nature of self.
In early Hinduism, there is little discussion of afterlife. Some texts suggest that different people go to
different places after they die.
Hindu’s entire existence is wrapped in rituals. Sixteen rites are prescribed in the ancient scriptures to
purify and sanctify a person in his or her journey through life. These rights begin from the moment of
conception through one’s death.
Hinduism honors the divine in so many ways that there are religious celebrations in some part of India
nearly every day. Because holidays are calculated on a lunar calendar, the dates vary from year to year.
Most Hindu festivals express spirituality in its happiest aspects. This group energy attracts the gods to
overcome the evil.
Week 2 Lecture Video
www.patheos.com/Library/Hindu Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
ism
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle
River, NJ
BUDDHISM
WEEK 3
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion. There is no personal God who creates the world or to whom prayers
can be directed.
Nature of God/Creator
The founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni Buddha, was neither God or a God. He was a human who
attained full Enlightenment through meditation and showed the path of spiritual awakening and freedom.
The Buddha diagnosed the human condition and proposed a cure in what is known as the Four Noble
Truths. 1)Life involves suffering 2)Suffering is caused by craving 3)Suffering will cease when cravings
cease 4)The Noble Eightfold Path- a systematic approach so that humans can extricate themselves from
suffering and achieve the final goal of liberation.
Buddhist believe that good and evil are innate, inseparable aspects of life. Good is identified with the
“fundamental nature of enlightenment” or absolute freedom and happiness resulting from profound selfknowledge. Evil indicates “fundamental darkness,” or life’s innate delusion which negates the potential
of enlightenment and causes suffering for oneself and others.
Salvation in early Buddhism was reaching Nirvana, the extinguishing of all Karma that constitutes self.
Nirvana isn’t a place or state, but rather the end of rebirth. Buddha said little about Nirvana, because he
felt that the alleviation of suffering was far more important, and focusing on the goal of ultimate salvation
would only lead to more attachments and more suffering.
There is no single consistent notion of the afterlife within Buddhism. The evolution and expansion of
Buddhism to other countries with different religious backgrounds caused many different views of afterlife
to emerge. Notions of heavens and hells eventually became a part of popular Buddhism throughout Asia.
They range from ideal surroundings to horrific worlds of punishment and suffering.
All Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. Daily life varies
for Buddhists, depending on the country, sect and individual. Monks, for the most part, follow strict rules
of the vinaya, laid down by early Buddhists centuries ago.
Buddhism celebrations and ceremonies vary by location. For example, Buddha’s birthday is the most
widely observed holiday, but is celebrated on different days, with different rituals in different countries.
Some Buddhist countries celebrate the day of Buddha’s entry into nirvana, others celebrate the day of his
enlightenment while some celebrate the day of his first sermon.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
http://www.patheos.com/Library/
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle Buddhism/
River, NJ
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 3 – Sources
DAOISM &
CONFUCIANISM
WEEK 4
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Taoist believe that when the world began, there was only the Tao, a featureless empty void, pregnant with
the potential of all things. Tao created the energy “qi”, along with two complementary aspects: yin,
which was dark and feminine, and yang, which was light and masculine. Yin energy sank to form earth,
yang rose to form heavens, and both energies harmonized to form human beings.
Nature of God/Creator
Taoism recognize a vast pantheon of gods and goddesses, but do not acknowledge any that are
omnipotent or eternal. All gods are divine emanations of celestial energy.
Early Taoist believed that when human nature is aligned with the rest of nature, order and harmony is the
result. So the purpose of self-cultivation is to return to a mode of existence that is natural. Deviating
from the natural order brings destruction upon themselves and those around them. Some self-cultivation
practices seek to balance yin and yang within the body as well as within personality. Men should become
more feminine and women more masculine.
Taoist ideas about suffering and evil reflect a variety of influences, including early Chinese religious
beliefs, Buddhist beliefs and popular religion. One Taoist belief is that physical health is evidence of
purity, and that illness is believed to be caused by one’s misdeeds. The cure for illness is to confess and
be purged of one’s sins. If the petition is accepted, the cause of illness will be expelled, healing the
sufferer.
Salvation for Taoism, absent of Buddhist influence, is a matter of participation in the eternal return of the
natural world. For Taoist, salvation is not an escape from this world; rather, it is to become perfectly
aligned with the natural world and with the cosmic forces that sustain it.
There is no unified Taoist belief system when referring to the afterlife. Several factors have contributed
to this, one being Taoism not being the only religion of China. It coexisted with Confucianism,
Buddhism and Chinese folk religion. Second, each Taoist sect had it’s own beliefs and textual traditions.
Lastly, death and afterlife became the province of Buddhism early in Chinese history, so that most ideas
about the afterlife are Buddhist.
Taoist has two main types of rituals: funeral rites on behalf of ancestors and rites on behalf of local
communities. Funeral rites are performed only by some sects, sometimes in tandem with Buddhist
priests. There are also plays, processions, military parades and communal meals, aside from the rituals
themselves. As for the performance of the rituals, no mistakes can be made.
The Taoist festival calendar represents an amalgamation of various sources, and varies according to sect,
region, and temple. Major festivals last for days, from two or three up to seven or more.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
Week 4 Lecture Videos
http://www.artic.edu/taoism/tradi
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle
tion/introc.php
River, NJ
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 4 – Sources
WEEK 5
SHINTO
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Shinto mythology says at the beginning of time, heaven and earth was mixed in a great cloud. The cloud
separated into two parts; the clearer parts that rose to create heaven and the heavier parts that descended
and became an ocean of muddy water. The first God emerged from a plant that grew in between heaven
and earth.
Nature of God/Creator
Shinto gods are called kami. They are sacred spirits, which take form of things and concepts important to
life, such as wind, rain, mountains or trees. The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, is considered Shinto’s most
important kami.
Humans are part of the natural realm, which is sacred. Pollution of self does occur through normal acts,
which is unavoidable and constitutes no sin. Pollution is washed away regularly through acts of
purification. Thus one’s purpose is o maintain the pure and natural state of existence.
In Shinto, the ideas closest to the western notion of evil are pollution and impurity. Suffering is not
regarded as a form of punishment for human behavior, but as a natural element of human experience.
Before Buddhism, it was believed that all who died went to a vast hellish underworld from which there is
no escape. Buddhism introduced the ideas of reward and punishments in the afterlife and death and
salvation in the afterlife came to be regarded as Buddhist matters.
Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami.
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 5 – Sources
Ritual is central to the practice of Shinto. Every step of a ritual within a shrine follows a carefully
prescribed pattern with segments including purification, prayer, offering and entertainment.
Festivals, also known as Matsuri, are yearly celebrations that encompass an entire community and could
last for several days.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
http://www.patheos.com/Library/ Week 5 Lecture Videos
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle Shinto/
River, NJ
WEEK 6
JUDAISM
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Jewish cosmogony, generally known as the Old Testament account of creation, may be viewed as the
Hebrew version of the beginning of the world, or universe, but particularly the earth including all things
in it. The essential focus of this version is that God is the creative force, or power, and created everything
himself; the God being the Jewish god Yahweh. Thus, God created all things through a series of acts, or
methodology, described in the Bible.
Nature of God/Creator
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 6 – Sources
WEEK 7
CHRISTIANITY
Jews believe that there is a single God who not only created the universe, but with whom every Jew can
have an individual and personal relationship. They believe that God continues to work in the world,
affecting everything that people do. The Jewish relationship with God is a covenant relationship. In
exchange for the many good deeds that God has done and continues to do for the Jewish People.
Judaism attributes a dual nature to human beings, placing them between earthly and heavenly creatures.
Humans are the only creatures whose souls are from heaven and whose bodies are from earth. If Jews
obey God’s commandments, then they’ll act as heavenly creatures, and if not, they act like earthly ones.
Throughout history, Jews have addressed the relation between God, evil, and human suffering by
demonstrating a spectrum between those who defend, justify, or accept God’s relationship to evil and
those who refuse to ascribe any positive meaning for the presence of evil in the world.
In rabbinic literature, there are sources on divine judgment and salvation in olam ha-bah, the “World to
Come.” Salvation in olam ha-bah is described in three different ways: disembodied souls basking in the
divine presence with no bodily urges; feasting out of the flesh of Leviathan; and generally experiencing
eternal life with no evil.
According to various Jewish intellectual sources and folk traditions up through the medieval period, there
is a gradual transition from physical death to an afterlife in which the body and spirit remain connected to
one another in some way either through resurrection or immortality of the soul. According to early
rabbinic folklore, the transition from death to life actually begins three days after death when the soul is
believed to hover over the grave hoping to be restored to the body.
Since biblical times, the rite of circumcision has been the most primal and essential rite of entry into the
Jewish community. A specially trained ritual surgeon, known as a mohel, performs this rite, which
includes a ceremony in which the baby is given his Hebrew name, followed by a celebratory feast.
Observing holidays and festivals has important social outcomes. They help to keep tradition alive,
contribute to a sense of community and belonging, and ensure regular reflection and celebration.
The most important Jewish holy days are the Sabbath, the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot,
and Sukkot) and the two High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). For observant Jews, it is
forbidden to work on any of these days.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
http://www.patheos.com/Library/ http://www.religionfacts.com/jud
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle Judaism
aism/holidays
River, NJ
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Nature of God/Creator
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 7 – Sources
Christianity inherited the Jewish cosmogony.
Both the New and Old Testament declare there is only one God. Not just one God for this universe, or
many gods united in one purpose, but one God, period.
God’s design or purpose for creation reflects God’s intention that all creatures enjoy perfect love and
justice. God created human beings in the divine image, enabling humans to have some understanding of
God and of God’s vast and complex design. The purpose of life is to love and serve God in order to help
bring about God’s glorious plan for creation.
Some say that evil is nothing but the absence of good, a strong reminder to us that we should work harder
to bring good into this world. Still others might argue that God’s connection with the created order is so
profound that God has bound divine providence and omnipotence to the human experience. God’s activity
in the affairs of creation, then, is powerful, but not directive or controlling.
As a consequence, salvation is the foremost concern for Christians. It is fallen human nature to sin, yet
God punishes sin. Humans are, at least according to some Christian doctrine, therefore helpless,
vulnerable to punishment and damnation. Since it is impossible to save themselves, humans need God’s
saving work on their behalf. That divine action, salvation, comes through Jesus Christ.
Eternal life begins not after death, but at the moment of spiritual new birth, understood in some Christian
traditions as occurring at the time of baptism and in others as occurring at a point of conscious trust in
Christ, and death is but a passage of the eternal soul. Although the physical body dies, the soul of a person
is rewarded or punished based on a life of faith.
The most important Christian rituals are called sacraments, sacred rites that convey God’s sacred power or
grace. Baptism and Eucharist are the two most important sacraments, and are practiced by most
Christians.
Some major festivals and celebrations of Christianity include Advent Season, Christmas, Lent and Easter
Sunday. Easter is the greatest of Christian festivals, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
http://www.patheos.com/Library/ http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.ed
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle Christianity
u/history/dfg/jesu/festxtn.htm
River, NJ
WEEK 8
ISLAM
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
The Quran begins with the celebration that Allah is lord of all the worlds. It means the universe is not
confined to earth and solar system, that there are other worlds and God has created all. There are many
verses in the Holy Quran that clearly explain that the authority over the entire universe belongs to Allah,
the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He created the universe then made laws and systems.
Nature of God/Creator
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
Week 8 – Sources
WEEK 9
SIKHISM
Islam was founded on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as an expression of surrender to the will
of Allah, the creator and sustainer of the world. Essential to Islam is the belief that Allah is the one and
true God with no partner or equal.
Muslims believe that humans serve God by doing good deeds, telling the truth, and obeying God’s
instructions contained in the Quran and the law. They serve the underserved. They feed the poor and care
for orphans. They are faithful, and when they sin, they seek forgiveness with sincere remorse.
Although all people are imperfect and vulnerable to kufr, Islam does not teach that they are essentially
evil. When they realize their sin and make amends with true remorse, God forgives the sin. Genuine
repentance is all that is needed to restore humans to a sinless state.
If individuals find that they have sinned, they may sincerely apologize, and through remorse, receive
forgiveness. The slate is clean, and they may begin again. This will likely happen many times in a life,
because humans are not perfect. But on the Last Day, there are no excuses. God has sent many prophets to
remind humans of their duty and to wake them up when they forget their dependence on God. As a result,
the punishment on the Last Day is just.
Muslims believe in the Day of Judgment and heaven and hell. A person’s ultimate destiny, whether it is
heaven or hell, depends on the degree to which that person intended and acted as God desires, with justice
and mercy toward others.
In addition to the Five Pillars of Islam, a number of further religious practices regulate the lives of
Muslims and bring meaning to the most important of life’s transitions. The Quran contains prohibitions
against the consumption of pork and wine. The prohibition on wine is typically interpreted to mean a
general prohibition on alcohol. Smoking is similarly prohibited. Charging exorbitant interest on loans, or
usury, is also prohibited in Islam.
The Night of Power is celebrated during the last ten days of Ramadan. This night is considered the holiest
night of the year, the time when all sins are forgiven. The month of fasting concludes with the celebration
of Eid al-Fitr, a festival of parties and celebrations that can last up to three days. Some people also take
this occasion to visit the graves of ancestors.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living
http://www.patheos.com/Library/
Religions Pearson: Upper Saddle Islam
River, NJ
Cosmogony – Origin of the
Universe
Nature of God/Creator
View of Human Nature
View of Good & Evil
View of Salvation
View of After Life
Practices and Rituals
Celebrations & Festivals
The Sikh World-view rejects the idea that the world suddenly appeared or was ‘produced’ or
‘manufactured’ mechanically as one might produce an article out of a given substance. The world like the
universes is passing through a gradual process of evolution. God and His creation are unfied—the
creation is made …
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