Religion History Year 9 SOSE Academic Excellence

Religion and its Controversy  In this unit we will come across many different religions and ideas about that world that may not be your own.  Please be open –minded and be respectful in classroom discussions and in your assessment.

Religion is…  the service or worship of God or the supernatural - Webster ’ s New Collegiate Dictionary  a specific system of faith and worship – Oxford English Dictionary  a set of symbolic forms and acts which relate man to the ultimate condition of his existence – Robert Bellah

Religion is…  Beliefs, attitudes, emotions, behavior, etc., constituting man ’ s relationship with the powers and principles of the universe – Reader ’ s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary  Belief in and/or worship of God or gods – World Book Dictionary

Religion is…  Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe; a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship – YourDictionary.com

Religion is…  [the seeking] of divine truth, exploring who we are, why we’re here, and how we should live - Joel Beversluis, ed., Sourcebook of the world’s Religions  belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto – William James

Who wants to know?  The common folk (you and me)  Philosophers  Sociologists  Theologians  Anthropologists  Psychologists  Historians  Critics Everyone ’ s got an agenda and a limited perspective that will influence how they perceive religion

Why are there religions?

 A way to make sense of this non-sensical world

Where do we start?  The earlier faiths all thought that there were many gods, each responsible for different things: a god of the sky, a god of water, a god of love, and so forth.  Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, African, Greek, Roman, and German religions all had their gods organized this way, even though they had different gods. This is called polytheism (poll- ee--THEE-is-em).

Aboriginal Australia  Making sense of the world and its mysteries has stemmed back to 40,000 years ago with Aboriginal Dreamtime. Stories passed down from generation to generation that explains the intricacies of the world.

 But, beginning about 1350 BC in Egypt, there was a movement toward monotheism, or just believing in one god (often with a lot of weaker helper gods or angels). Akhenaten, an Egyptian pharaoh, may have been one of the first powerful people to push this idea. By 1100 BC or so (maybe), we see the Jews practicing monotheism.

 Five hundred years later, about 500 BC, Buddhism swept India. This was a time of great religious change not only in India, but in East Asia too, with the rise of Taoism and Confucianism.

 In the first century AD, Christianity began to spread monotheism to the Mediterranean and Europe, although Judaism suffered from the Roman conquest of Jerusalem. By the 500s AD, Buddhism spread all over China. And in the 600s AD, Islam replaced Christianity and Zoroastrianism as the main religion followed in the Mediterranean, West Asia, and much of Africa. By the 1200s, Islam had reached India as well.

Cool link  religion.html

Religion Today  We will look the the 5 major religions that exist today, but for your assessment you are more than welcome to explore other main religions.  5 Main  ChristianityBrainstorm some less main  Islamstream religions.  Judaism  Buddhism  Hinduism

Religion and War Brainstorm

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