Religion Introduction Overview of Religions and their Distribution

What is religion? A value system that people place on themselves and others based on a spiritual or divine aspect of the world.

All religions have an object of FAITH present. Faith= the belief in things not seen or the things that cannot be proven

One Main Characteristic of Religions Monotheistic Believe in only 1 god Polytheistic Believe in multiple gods

2nd main characteristic: How the worshipers enter the faith Ethnic Religions Person is born into faith Little or no effort is put forth to convert others into the religion Universalizing Religions (Proselytic) Members actively try to convert others to the religion

Universalizing & Ethnic Usually larger than ethnic due to efforts of conversion Ex: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism Ethnic Ex: Hinduism, Judaism, African (tribal religions)

5 Major World Religions They have their foundations in one of two places… India or the Middle East Buddhism (origin: India) Hinduism (origin: India) Christianity (origin: Middle East) Islam (origin: Middle East) Judaism (origin: Middle East)

Christianity Universalizing religion 2 billion adherents Roman Catholic Protestant Eastern Orthodox Universalizing religion 2 billion adherents There are three major divisions of Christianity…. 1. Roman Catholic 2. Protestant 3. Eastern Orthodox

Distribution of Christianity

Church

Islam Universalizing religion 1.5 billion adherents There are two major divisions in Islam… 1. Sunni 2. Shiite

Sunni vs. Shia

Sunni / Shiite

Distribution of Islam

Mosque

Judaism 14 million Jews worldwide – 2/5 of them live in the United States, another 2/5 in Israel Ethnic religion First recorded monotheistic religion Christianity and Islam both stem from Judaism

Distribution of Judaism

Synagogue

Hinduism 900 million adherents Ethnic religion, polytheistic Mostly concentrated in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh Belief in caste system

Distribution of Hinduism

Hindu Temple

Buddhism Clustered in South East Asia Universalizing Three main branches: Mahayana – China, Japan, Korea Theravada – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Vajrayana – Tibet and Mongolia

Distribution of Buddhism

Buddhist Pagoda

Spread of Religions http://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-how-religion-spread-around-the-world-2015-6

People who don’t believe in any god Atheist- people who do not believe in any god or god-like figure Agnosticism- belief that nothing can be known about whether God exists Secularist- a person who wants to separate religion from all other aspects of society (government, marriage) Ex: Jainism- based on non-materialism but at its core is considered atheist.

You need to know which religions are universalizing and which are ethnic….. 1. Christianity 2. Islam 3. Buddhism 4. Hinduism 5. Judaism

Religion in the USA

Religious Landscape in America http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/