Key Issue 2: Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

1. Key Issue 2:Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?

2. Each can be traced to a man who lived since the start of recorded history • Buddhism • Christianity • Islam Origin of Universalizing Religions

3. Jesus • The four Gospels of the Christian Bible • Matthew • Mark • Luke • John Origin of Christianity

4. Accept the teachings of the Bible as well as the authority of the Church hierarchy (the Pope) • 7 sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing the Sick, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and the Eucharist) • transubstantiation Roman Catholics

5. Split from the Roman Catholic Church • Patriarch of Constantinople • Accept the 7 Sacraments, but reject doctrines added by the Roman Catholics after the 8th Century Eastern Orthodoxy St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow Capernaum

6. The Reformation • Martin Luther’s 95 Theses • Individuals directly communicate with God…don’t have to go through a priest/Pope Protestantism

7. Origin: similar narrative to Judaism and Christianity; Adam – Abraham • Hagar and Ishmael • Second wife and son • Banished • Makkah/Mecca Origin of Islam

8. Born about A.D. 570 • The visions • Arabic and the Quran • The Hijra • Sunni and Shiite Muslims Muhammad

9. Siddhartha Gautama • Born a prince in 563 B.C. in present day Nepal • The Buddha, “the Enlightened One” • Spread the message in India Origin of Buddhism

10. No specific founder • Existed prior to recorded history • Invasion of the Aryan tribes from Central Asia into India (1400 B.C.) • Religion mixed with the Dravidians (who already lived there) • This became Hinduism Origin of Hinduism

11. Diffusion of Religions

12. Christianity diffused through all forms of diffusion: • Relocation Diffusion • Contagious Diffusion • Hierarchical in the 4th Century • Since the year 1500, missionary activity by Europeans extended Christianity to other regions of the world Diffusion of Christianity

14. Hierarchical diffusion: Muslim armies • Relocation: missionaries to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia Diffusion of Islam

15. Most have limited diffusion • They lack missionaries to go out and try to convert • Mingling of Ethnic and Universalizing Religions: • Africa: in some places Christianity is mixed with the traditional religion • Japan: Buddhism is mixed with Shintoism Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions

16. Judaism is practiced in many countries • Diaspora • Ghettos • Following the Holocaust Judaism: An Exception

17. Ethnic Religion’s holy places derive from the distinctive physical environment of their hearths • Universalizing Religions endow with holiness cities and places associated with their founders’ lives. Holy Places

18. Eight locations of important events in Buddha’s life • Example: Bodh Gaya, where he reached enlightenment Buddhist Shrines

19. Holiest places: cities associated with Muhammad • Makkah: • the Ka’ba • The Hajj • Medina Holy Places in Islam

20. The Darbar Sahib, or Golden Temple Holy Places in Sikhism

21. Closely tied to the physical geography in India • Natural features rank as holy: river banks or coastlines • A tirtha • The Ganges Holy Places in Hinduism

22. Cosmogony: a set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe • Yin (earth, darkness, female, etc.) • Yang (heaven, light, male, etc.) Cosmogony in Ethnic Religions

23. A prominent feature is the celebration of the seasons • The Jewish Calendar • agricultural • Lunar calendar • The Solstice • Pagan religions • Stonehenge The Calendar in Ethnic Religions

24. Holidays: commemorate events in the founder’s life • Climate and agricultural cycle are not central to the liturgy and rituals The Calendar in Universalizing Religions

25. So……… Why do different religions have different distributions?