World Religions - What, Where and Why - A Look at the Main Three

Your Thoughts on Religion  When you think of religion what words come to mind?  Why do people practice religions?  Do you think religion is more or less popular than it once was? Explain why?

Religion - For thousands of years religions have shaped faith and belief for millions of people. - Religious beliefs have taken thousands of forms.

Christianity  Followers of Jesus Christ  The New Testament  The Bible  Also follow the 10 Commandments  Worldwide followers  Worship in Churches

Judaism  It originated about 4,000 years ago.  The people are called Jews or Hebrews  One of the first to belief in Monotheism – the idea of a single God.  Book - The Old Testament  Laws – The Ten Commandments given to Moses.  17 million worldwide  Terms : Synagogues, Sabbath, Judaism

Islam  Muslim Religion  Began in Mecca (Middle East)  Mohammed – pg 116  The Qur’an – Their Holy Book  The Five Pillars – Look at pg 117,118  Their god is Allah

The Common Link  Muslims, Christians and Jews all follow the belief in a single God.  This makes them all monotheistic

Comparing Religions  The Jewish Covenant and the Islamic Covenant (pg. 116)  In what ways are they similar?  In what ways are they different?

Measuring the Impact  Create a T-chart on a piece of paper  On one side list the pros (benefits) of religion  On the other side list the cons (negatives, dangers, consequences) of religion

Final Questions  Why do you think Christianity spread so much quicker than the other religions in the Early middle ages?  Also answer #6 on pg. 20 in the text