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

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

3. Origin of Christianity
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. Eastern Orthodoxy 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. Protestantism 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. Muhammad Born about A.D. 570 The visions Arabic and the Quran
The Hijra
Sunni and Shiite
Muslims
Muhammad

9. Origin of Buddhism 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. Origin of Hinduism 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. Diffusion of Christianity
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. Diffusion of Islam Hierarchical diffusion: Muslim armies
Relocation: missionaries to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia
Diffusion of Islam

15. Lack of Diffusion of Ethnic Religions
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: An Exception 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. Buddhist Shrines Eight locations of important events in Buddha’s life
Example: Bodh Gaya, where he reached enlightenment
Buddhist Shrines

19. Holy Places in Islam 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. Holy Places in Hinduism
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 in Ethnic Religions
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. The Calendar in Ethnic Religions
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. The Calendar in Universalizing Religions
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?