1. Introduction to World Religions

2. A belief in a god? (or gods?) A belief in spirits?
A belief in the after-life?
Geographic Definition of religion:
A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities
--by geographers Robert Stoddard & Carolyn Prorak
What is religion?

3. What are the 5 main world religions?
Ranked in order of # of adherents world-wide:
Christianity (2.2 billion)
Islam (1.6 billion)
Hinduism (1 billion)
Buddhism (500 million)
Judaism (14 million)*
* Sikhism (23m), Juchte (19m), Spiritism (15m) all have more adherents than Judaism.
What are the 5 main world religions?

4. World Population by Religion
Figure 6-1: 77 percent of the world follows a branch of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, the four largest religions.
Pearson, 2017.

5. Projected Changes by 2050

8. Figure 6-5 Pearson, 2017.

9. Universalizing Religions v. Ethnic Religions
a religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular region
have precise places of origin; diffuse from a specific hearth
origin based on life of a specific person
Examples:
Ethnic Religion:
a religion that appeals primarily to 1 group of people
has unclear/unknown origins; origin not based on single person
has a clustered distribution
Universalizing Religions v. Ethnic Religions

10. Spread of World Religions Video
2500BCE – Hinduism established
2000BCE – Judaism founded
6th C BCE – Buddhism founded
1st C CE – Christianity founded
6th C CE – Islam founded
Rank the 5 world religions in order of founding (oldest to most recent).
1BCE
1CE
3000BCE
2000BCE
1000BCE
1000CE
2000CE

11. Organization of Universalizing Religions:
Branch - a large and fundamental division within a religion
- Examples:
Denomination - a division of a branch that unites a # of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body
Sect - a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination

12. Key Terms Pagan/Paganism – Orthodox/Orthodoxy –
Fundamentalism/Fundamentalist –
Guru –
Atheism/Atheist –
Agnosticism/Agnostic –
Taboo –
Key Terms

13. Intro to each of the 5 main religions
Ted Talk - The Five Major World Religions
Intro to each of the 5 main religions