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World Religion

Terms in this set (118)

PAUL TILLICH: "Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern and contains the answer to the question of the meaning of life."
1. Latin "religio" means something done with OVER-ANXIOUS or SCRUPULOUS attention to detail.
2. May come from RELIGARE, meaning to bind things closely together.
3. WELL-FORMED religion is existentially satisfying because it addresses the whole range of basic human concerns and needs and integrates life..
4. WELL-PRACTICED religion results in walking the talk.
5. As GOD'S project, Christianity is NOT a religion; as a human response to God, it is a religion.
6. It points to something OUTSIDE us to which we look for DELIVERANCE, and in which we place HOPE (which everyone does).
7. Religious COMMUNITIES form around common practices and beliefs (ETHICS, COSMOLOGY, RITUALS, etc.) and who live in special ways to pass WISDOM on.
8. 3/4 of the world belongs to a religion. It appears to be innate, like language. Many are willing to die for it.

religion (alt.)

1. Religion is the human RESPONSE to the DIVINE, or the allegedly divine, revelation.
2. It involves various ACTS and ATTITUDES - prayer, guilt, quest for salvation, service, etc.
3. Religion refers to the UNIVERSAL human characteristic of making something, or someone, ULTIMATE in our lives, and pursuing the object of our devotion as the ultimate GOOD.
4. Every person, then, is religious. God made all people with a religious RECEPTACLE at our core.
Calvin said all have a sense of divinity and the seed of religion.
5. God has put these in the heart of every person. There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an AWARENESS of divinity -- that there is a God and that he is our Maker.

An image is not the actual thing but bears a resemblance. So, to be created in the image of God means to be a created being with a high degree of God's communicable attributes.

1. Humans were created in the image of
God (Genesis 1:27).
2. The image relates us to God and to other humans (family) and to nature and culture (dominion and care).
3. IMPLICATION: religion is UNIVERSAL and comprehensive in human life. All humans are religious (deal with the God-shaped void and real life issues).
4. Religion is life lived in faith and obedience to some TRUSTED ULTIMATE.
5. Religion orients and AFFECTS ALL aspects of life, not just moral and spiritual.

general revelation

1. A (non-verbal, non-saving) manifestation of God that is universally present to ALL people.
2. The magnificence and order of NATURE, providential governance of HISTORY, and the testimony of the human CONSCIENCE are the key elements of general revelation.
3. The response of humans to this is called NATURAL RELIGION.
4. Even apart from Scripture, human beings are inclined to and capable of producing a limited set of CORRECT CLAIMS concerning God, notably that he EXISTS. It is also very human to pass on these claims in narrative or mythic form.

imagination and revelation

1. imagination: the ABILITY of the mind to be creative or resourceful
2. revelation: the divine or supernatural DISCLOSURE to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.

the "evolution" of religion

1. An NATURALISTIC explanation of the origin of religion.
2. In a Darwinian world, religious behavior - just like other behaviors - is likely to have undergone a process of NATURAL SELECTION in which it was rewarded in reproductive success. (Whatever helps one survive is passed on.)
3. This is the so-called GOD GENE.

1. Most religions have religious texts they view as RULES to live a proper way of life, or LAWS given to humans by a god.
2. Some may also include the HISTORY of the religion in question.
3. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are wholly DIVINE or spiritually inspired in ORIGIN.
4.The names of sacred scriptures are often CAPATALIZED as a mark of respect or tradition

1. SACRED, pure, like God.
2. God is the source of holiness- 'to be SET APART'
3. God is absolutely separate from and exalted ABOVE all His creatures (and creation)
4. He is equally SEPERATE from all moral evil and sin。

transcendence/immanence

1. On the face of it, the characteristics of transcendence and immanence appear to be in CONFLICT.
2. A transcendent God is one who is BEYOND perception, independent of the universe, and wholly 'OTHER' when compared to us.
3. An immanent God, is one which exists WITHIN — WITHIN us, WITHIN the universe, etc. — and, hence, very much a part of our existence.

1. the guidance of the Holy Spirit that enabled the human authors to RECORD faithfully, and without error, what God wanted REVEALED to us for our beliefs.

1. Genesis 1 -3 is the story of how God created the earth (creating space and filling space) and the fall of man. Chapter one addresses the creation of the heavens and earth in seven days. The second chapter is the creation of Adam and then of Eve. The two of them live in the Garden of Eden and are to follow one command, to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In chapter three, both Adam and Eve disobey God resulting in the first sin which is known as the fall of man.
2. Humans were created in the image of God.
A. The image relates us to God.
B. The image relates us to other humans: gender, family, the human race, society.
C. The image relates us to nature and culture: have dominion, care for the Garden.

1. General revelation (1-6) and special revelation (7-14).
2. Through observation of nature, David sees the power and dignity of God.
3. Through the Word of God, David found the will of God, salvation.

The Lord declares his glory from the heavens to the earth. The law of the Lord is perfect.

1. Doctrine of PROVIDENCE
2. Determines number of STARS and calls them by name
Weather imagery—rain clouds, snow, hail, breezes. He FEEDS the animals, makes Jerusalem strong, CARES for his people.
3. Also, our appropriate RESPONSE—God delights in those who fear him.

1. Paul said to Athens that they are very religious. They establish an altar with the inscription, To AN UNKNOWN God.
2. Paul begins explaining who this unknown God is, using their cultural forms.
3. God had been active among them, but they suppressed the truth and replaced him with other gods.

1. Humans remain in the image of God in spite of spiritual and social-cultural darkness.
2. Trust God's Word and Spirit in his providence of the fallen creation as a basis for his saving grace.

1. God's righteous judgment and Jews and the law.

ISLAM: founding
myths, beliefs, worldviews, rituals, practices, ethics, spread and influence,
current importance

1. Islam began with the prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century AD.
2. Because of human rebellion from the correct way of life ("din"), God sent various prophets, including Moses ("Musa"), Jesus ("Isa") and Muhammed.
3. Muhammad was told to warn his people in the town of Mecca. Although he was reject by the majority, some followed him and moved within to Yathrib to escape persecution. The move is called the hijra. The town is now called Medina.
4. Islam is often translated as "submission" and is related to the Hebrew word, "shalom" or peace. It is entering in to a state of peace and security with God through allegiance and surrender to him.
5. Muhammad learned this when he went to Mount Hira near Mecca to search for truth. He felt God or his messenger, GABRIEL, saying RECITE ("IQRA"). What came was the Qur'an, the nonnegotiable authority in Muslim life.
6. This is considered God's complete word through his last messenger, Muhammad.
7. Because it does not cover all circumstances, the words and actions of Muhammad and his companions are commentary on what the Qur'an means. These were gathered in six collections called the Hadith or Sunna.
8. Major traditions developed that drew up law codes for life called Shari'a. There are four schools of Shari'a, and most Muslims live according to one of them.
9. Muslims divided after Muhammads death in 632. Those who thought his successor should be the most qualified man became the SUNNI. Those who thought his nearest relative, 'Ali, should be his successor became the Shi'a. Shi'a exalt their Imams, a succession of leaders.
10. Muslims believe in Allah "the ONE who is God (meaning there are no other gods). As such, all humans belong to a single UMMA or faith community. God's way of life (DIN) covers all spheres of human existence.
11. Shahada: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."
12. Within 100 years, Islam swept over the known world, with 1/4 of the world now being Muslim.
13. By 750 A.D. one-half of the world's Christians were under Muslim rule.
13. In its early centuries, Islam led the world in the recovery of Greek science and philosophy (algebra, alchemy, philosophy, astronomy, medicine, etc.). Since then, Muslims have viewed this as a distraction from the Qur'an and have not returned to celebrating God's creation in science.
14. Sufis draw closer to God in mystical Islam. (Their name comes from "suf," the rough wool cloak they wore).
15. Covenant is important to Jews, Christiana and Muslims. Abraham is regarded be all as the father of their faith.
16. Muslims expect to go to the Garden, a place of reward for faithful Muslims after the Final Judgment, which depends on the balance between good and bad in their lives.
17. Muslims view the Torah and Gospels as polluted and corrupted. The Qur'an alone is God's intended revelation in final form.

0. A messenger and the last prophet of God who received a revelation from the angel Gabriel. He succeeded in establishing a theocracy at Medina and subdued MECCA and its polytheistic religions, uniting Arabia under Islam.

1. Born in Mecca, orphaned as a child and raised by his grandfather and his uncle
2. He took to meditating on MOUNT HIRA just outside MECCA where in 610 he received the first of his revelations from God through the angel GABRIEL.
3. From 613 AD he proclaimed his message of the ONENESS of God to the polytheistic people of Mecca.
4. They persecuted him, so he accepted an offer to go north to Yathrib (now "MEDINA"). This migration ("HIJRA" marks the start of the Islamic era.
5. He fought against the Meccans until 630 and won over more and more tribes.
6. When the Meccans accepted defeat, he declared an amnesty.
7. Though just a human, Muslims revere Muhammed as the perfect example of living, following his SUNNA or customary practice.

Five Pillars of Islam

1. Shahadah (Kalima?): the affirmation, "There is no god but God, and Mohammad is the messenger of God." Its words are chanted daily.
2. Salat: the set of prayers that muslims must preform in the direction of Ka'ba the sacred shrines at the center of the mosque in Mecca 5 times each day.
3. Sawm: the daily fast that is performed throughout the month of Ramadan (refraining from food, drink and sex during the daylight hours).
4. Zakat: almsgiving which is contributing wealth, usually one-fortieth of thier annual income, for the poor and for charity.
5. Hajj: the pilgrimage to Mecca in the 12th Islamic month made once in a lifetime.

1. The BLACK STONE at the center of Mecca. More accurately, the Black Stone is part of the Ka'bah, a structure that Muslims believe to have been built by ABRAHAM and ISHMAEL.
2. Stands on a site believed to have been a sanctuary founded by ADAM.
2. Part of the duties of a Muslim is to visit Mecca and journey 7 times around the Ka'Bah as Muhammad did when he conquered Mecca.
4. Before Islam, it was a Shrine dedicated to Arabian deities. But in 630, Muhammed toppled these deities and returned the shrine to God.

1. The belief system of Muslims. Founded by Muhammad around 620 AD, has a strict legalism and is the fastest growing organized religion in the world.
2. Is a synthesis of what we call "religion" and "politics". There is no distinction between the two in Islam.
3. Began as a way of life which God intended for his creation from the start
4. Human sin and rebellion meant that God constantly sent prophets like Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, who in essence concurred with the Qur'an, to call his people back to God. Muhammad was the last prophet with the full revelation.
5. Previous generations had corrupted the message entrusted to them. Only the Arabic Qur'an expresses without fault the word of God. It cannot be translated.
5. Islam is often translated as "submission" but is also closely related to the Hebrew meaning "shalom" or peace.
6. All the prophets including Jesus, did not claim divinity and looked forward to God's final messenger (according to the Qur'an).

0. The moral and religious code of Islam. After Muhammed's death, the Muslim community established government and laws in keeping with the Qur'an and the Sunna (the prophet's spoken and enacted response to revelation).
2. Religious experts compiled it into law known as Shari'a to govern individual and communal activities.
3. Methods and schools of interpretation developed, and four have had lasting influence on Sunni Muslims.
4. Their regulations provide individuals with the basic means of LIVING a RIGHTEOUS life.
5. The guardian of the Shari'a was originally called the CALIPH, the successor and deputy to the Prophet. He was a religious and political leader until the caliphate was abolished in 1924, being replaced be individual nation-states.

1. From the Arabic word JAHADA, which means "He made an effort." It is the STRUGGLE of the Muslim against the evils of the world. It is the 6th pillar of Sunni Islam.
2. There are many ways to make an effort in the cause for God. Muhammed said holy war to defeat or expand Islam is the lesser jihad. The GREATER jihad is fulfillment of a personal goal -- overcoming wrongdoing in oneself and living a godly life.
3. Jihad is commanded in the Qur'an, and rules governing it are laid out in the HADITH.
4. The fundamental rule of lesser Jihad is that it must be fought in defense of Muslims under attack. No women, children, infants or those close to death are to be touched. No stealing either. And hey, don't mutilate the dead. Not cool. Hands off the monks too, OK?
5. Only adult Muslim males, sane and able to support their families while away can take part. They are called MUHAHIDDUN.
6. Prisoners should be treated well.
7. One who dies in jihad is a martyr. Martyrs go straight to God, and are buried in the clothes of their martyrdom.

1. Sayings of the prophet Muhammed, organized by topic into books. Most deal with practical matters (marriage, divorce, etc.).
2. Part of the six authoritative collections of his sayings and actions.
3. Sunnis follow this as their guide to living.
4. They venerate the Hadith and rank it second only to the Qur'an in importance, using it to INTERPRET the DEEPER meanings of the Qur'an and to set up Sharia.

1. (Islam) the WAY OF LIFE prescribed as normative for Muslims on the BASIS of the teachings and practices of Muhammad and interpretations of the QUR'AN
2. Muslim Life is based on Qur'an and Hadith which are drawn together in the schools of Shari'a.
3. The Qur'an commands Jihad, and the rules governing it are developed in Hadith.
4. Hadith are gathered in Books by topic. Most deal wit practical matters (ex: marriage, divorce, jihad)

0. A leadership position in Islam -- often religious and worship leaders, but it can also refer to scholars, teachers, and scientists.
1. A decendant of the Prophet through 'Ali.
2. Unlike SUNNIS, SHI'I Muslims follow the teaching of their Imams, DESCENDANTS of the Prophet who they believe to be inspired by God to give AUTHORITATIVE INSTRUCTION.
3. The line of Imams ended in the 9th century, and now Shi'is are guided by individual thinkers.
4. The greatest experts are the Ayatollahs ("Signs of God") who are both a source of wisdom and an example to imitate.
5. The main official of a mosque who leads prayer is called an Imam.

1. Muslim MYSTICS who seek a close personal experience/love of God via spiritual purification and asceticism.
2. Name comes from the "suf," a humble woolen garment they wore.
3. Because Sufism is a complete commitment to God in absolute trust and obedience, it gave rise to intense experiences of God and to the development of techniques and attitudes to make those experiences more likely.
4. They emphasized both the observant life of Islam and the experience of love between the soul and God.
5. There are parallels with other forms of mysticism such as the "ladder of ascent."
6. They use music and dancing, unlike many other forms of Islam, which avoid it because it excites the senses.
7. Often considered HERETICAL by other branches of Islam.

1. The whole of the Muslim people, considered to extend from Mauritania to Pakistan, or even including the diaspora throughout the world.
2. Because there is ONE God, there is to be one umma.

The Abode of War

1. God orders BATTLE in the Qur'an and assures victory.
2. Because of this, Muslims divide the world into the domain of ISALM and the domain of WAR (Abode of PEACE and Abode of WAR).
3. But Muhammed also made a treaty to enable Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, so there is also the domain of TREATY in lands where Muslims can practice their faith in PEACE.

1. State of non-Muslims living under Muslim rule, a state of FEAR and PLACATION to keep the surrounding populace appeased, peaceful and happy.
2. DISCRIMINATION against non-Muslims in Muslim majority regions.
2. PACIFISM when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability.
3. Dhimmitude - willingness to let Shari'a rule.

MECCA
1. Mecca is the holy city of Islam which Muhammad CONQUERED. It was a great city, so Muhammad became the greatest man in Arabia.

MEDINA
1. Medina is the SECOND holiest city of Islam that Muhammad raised an army to conquer Mecca.
3. Mohammed chose to be buried in his adopted town of Medina.
4. Medina is where Muhammad established Theocracy (literally City of the Prophet).

1. The greatest experts or 'signs of God' are both a source of wisdom and an example to imitate.
2. was an Iranian religious LEADER and POLITICIAN, and leader of the 1979 IRANIAN REVOLUTION which saw the overthrow of the government

1. A Muslim cleric who instituted a fully Islamic state according to Sharia law in Iran in 1979.
2. Spiritual leader of world's Shi'ite muslims until 1989 who was EXILED after ordering Iran to rise up against western modernization.

After the death of the prophet Muhammad the Muslim Community split into various groups:

SUNNI
1. Sunnis are the largest group (75-85%), and they follow Shari'a law and Muhammed's customary practice ("SUNNA"). They base their lives upon his sayings and actions, which were compiled into six authoritative collections.
2. They are strongly legalistic and bind themselves to their version of the HADITH.
3. Sunnis thought that Muhammad's successor or caliph should be the best QUALIFIED man, Abu Bakr.

SHIA
0. Largest minority group in Islam.
2. Followers of Ali, Muhammad's nephew, who Shi'i believe is the proper successor to Muhammad.
3. Shi'is say only God can choose the caliph, and Ali should have been the first caliph.
4. They follow the teachings of Imams who DESCENDED from the Prophet they believe are inspired to give authoritative instruction.
5. The line of IMAMS ended in the 9th century, and now Shi'is are guided by individual thinkers.
6. The greatest experts are the Ayatollahs ("Signs of God") who are both a source of wisdom and an example to imitate.

HINDUISM: founding
myths, beliefs, worldviews, rituals, practices, ethics, spread and influence,
current importance

1. Hinduism is the name given in the 1800s to describe a broad range of religions in India. From the Persian word for river, referring to people of the Indus valley.
2. 80% of India's people are Hindus.
3. Rooted in Indus valley traditions (2500 BC). Aryans invaded in 1500 BC and brought four collections of oral texts (Vedas).
4. Elaborate world of elemental gods and goddesses who are approached through rituals and sacrifices.
5. Dominated by Brahmins (priests) in the early period.
6. Society is divided into four roles, and this caste system still dominates India today.
7. Human soul (atman) is reborn millions of times according to the impersonal law of KARMA. Hinduism teaches the way to MOKSHA, or release from this cycle through MARGAS (knowledge or works). This detaches you from all feeling tying you to the world.
8. DHARMA is "appropriate behavior," and thus the path to a good rebirth.
9. Worship happens in temples to avatars though sacred chants called MANTRAS.
10. The religion has evolved, but beliefs from all periods still persist.
11. Their three principle gods are BRAHMA, the creator, VISNU the sustainer, and SHIVA, the destroyer.
12. Hindu worship involves images, prayers and diagrams of the universe. Central to worship is the ICON (sacred image), which houses and represents the deity. Many WORSHIP INDIVIDUALLY by offering sweets, coconuts, money and fruit to the deities.

1. Hindus believe that within the human is an eternal soul or atman. This is the essence of Brahman, the universal self, present in the individual.
2. Atman is reborn millions of times in many forms, from heavens to hells, according to the moral law or karma that prevails the universe.
3. MOKSHA (escape from rebirth) is possible through MARGA (knowledge or works).

1. Hindus believe gods become manifest in the form of an avatar (which means "DESCENT").
2. The most important avatars are VISHNU and KRISHNA.
3. Many worship Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti.

1. a REPRESENTATION of a Hindu god or goddess in human or animal form.

Bhagadvada gita

1. The Bhagavad Gita is a Hindu SCRPITURE that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, which is part of the Shruti in the Vedas.
2. This epic poem contains a conversation between KRISHNA and his charioteer, ARJUNA on a variety of philosophical issues on a battlefield.
3. Commentators see the setting of the Gita in a BATTLEFIELD as an allegory for the ethical and moral STRUGGLES of the human life.
4. The Bhagavad Gita's call for SELFLESS ACTION inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Gandhi, who referred to the Gita as his 'spiritual dictionary'.

1. The ultimate and impersonal divine reality of the universe, from which all being originates and to which it returns.
2. Philosophical Hindus (nondualists) believe that BRAHMAN is the source and pervader of all appearance who is present in humans as ATMAN. All is in essence ONE and that diversity in the world is an illusion. Therefore, MOKSHA is the realization that the individual and BRAHMAN have always been one.
3. Most Hindus, however, believe Brahman uses God to create and sustain the universe, so moksha is UNION with God forever.

1. in Hinduism he was the UNIVERSAL SOUL????
2. in the trinity of gods in Hinduism, Brahma was the CREATOR. Is this the same? I don't know.....

1. Dharma means "appropriateness."
2. Hinduism is a map of dharma, or appropriate behavior, that gives the path to a good rebirth and to moksha.
3. The Hindu name for Hinduism is "Everlasting Dharma."
4. Dharma is one of the four desirable goals in life, along with success, pleasure and moksha.

1. in Hinduism, the divine LAW that rules KARMA
2. it requires all people to do their DUTY based on their status in society
3. Behaviors that are considered to be in accord with order including duties, laws, conduct, virtues, right living, etc.

1. A river in India that flows into the Bay of BENGAL, a lifeline to millions of Indians.
2. In Hinduism, it is known as a SACRED RIVER.
3. It is worshipped as a goddess by Hindus who believe that bathing in the river causes the facilitation of Moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and death) the water of Ganga is considered very pure.
4. The river Ganges is considered sacred and is personified as a goddess known as Ganga.
5. . Pilgrims immerse the ashes of their kin in the Ganges, which is considered by them to bring the spirits closer to moksha.

1. A Hindu CASTE or DISTINCTIVE SOCIAL GROUP of which there are thousands throughout India.
2. Literally meaning "birth," Jati is the term used to DENOTE the thousands of clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities, and religions in India.
3. Each jāti typically is self-governed SOCIAL UNIT that avoids marrying other units and has an association with a traditional JOB FUNCTION OR TRIBE.
4. Religious beliefs or linguistic groupings may define some jatis.
5. A person's SURNAME typically reflects a community (jati) association: thus Gandhi = perfume seller, Dhobi = washerman, Srivastava = military scribe, etc.
6. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may co-exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district.

1.Karma is not itself a reward or punishment; it is a law as impersonal and as certain as gravity.
2. It is the moral law that prevails the universe, governing the rebirth of Atman, the eternal soul.
3. One can find release (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth through Hindu practice.
4. Every THOUGHT and DEED counts in determining how a person will be born in his or her next life.

1. The Hindu concept of the spirit's RELEASE or LIBERATION from the endless cycle of REBIRTHS (samsara) in lower worlds.
2. Moksha is the fourth and ultimate goal of Hindu life -- the release of the SOUL (ATMAN) to rejoin BRAHMAN.
3. The way (MARGA) is through knowledge, devotion or action.
4. Moksha is attained when all DESIRE and attachment (including desire for moksha) has been abandoned.

1. Hindu devotional WORSHIP of deities at home or in a temple.
2. A prayer ritual performed by Hindus to host, honour and worship one or more deities, or to spiritually celebrate an event.
3. A Hindu individual addresses an image of a deity.

1. (Hinduism and Buddhism) the endless CYCLE of birth and suffering and death and rebirth. B.S.D.R.
2. Wheel of rebirth that turns forever.
3. SOULS are REBORN until they reach PERFECTION.

1. Shiva is the LORD OF TIME and the DESTROYER (to make room for new creations)
2. Shiva represents the complete cycle of birth, death and rebirth because he is MAHAKALA, THE LORD OF TIME.
3. Has over 1,000 names.
4. Often depicted with two opposite faces and third reconciling them. He is the deity in which opposites meet and become reconciled in fundamental unity.

1. the DESTROYER of the Universe - so it could be REBORN again

1. The OLDEST part of the Hindu Scripture (SHRUTI), offering varying explanations for the beginnings of reality.
2. Hindus consider the Vedas eternal truth. They are the sacred TEXTS in the religion.
3. They are a set of four collections of sacrificial HYMNS and religious CEREMONIES transmitted by memory through the centuries by ARYAN priests.
4. They were transmitted orally until the present age when they had to be written down.

1. later books of the VEDAS
2. contained sophisticated and sublime PHILOSOPHICAL ideas
3. utilized by Brahmans to restore religious AUTHORITY; religion/mysticism

1. A Hindu god considered the PRESERVER of the world, the personification of divine love.
2. Known as the God of MANY FORMS.
3. An example of how older gods and cults have been absorbed into Hinduism
4. KRISHNA was the 8th incarnation of Vishnu.
5. Not prominent in the Vedas.

1. Means "UNION." It is the path for the human spirit to achieve union with BRAHMAN.
2. Plays an important role in worship, disciplining the body so that it complements the mind.
3. In highest level, it refers to the union of the individual soul with the universal soul.
4. That is achieved through the three paths of KARMA yoga (ACTION), BHAKTI yoga (DEVOTION), and JNANA yoga (knowledge).

1. Hindu discipline aimed at training the CONSCIOUSNESS for a state of perfect spiritual insight and TRANQUILITY.

BUDDHISM: founding
myths, beliefs, worldviews, rituals, practices, ethics, spread and influence,
current importance

1. Began in North India in the 6th or 5th century BC when SIDDHARTHA GUATAMA attained ENLIGHTENMENT -- the ultimate truth whereby people are freed from the cycle of rebirth.
2. He became the BUDDHA ("enlightened one").
3. He was brought up in a royal household but took trips outside the palace and saw a SICK, and OLD, and a DEAD man, as well a WANDERING holy man. These FOUR SIGNS caused him to search for the meaning of life.
4. He left his family and lived an ascetic, HOMELESS existence called the GREAT RENUNCIATION.
5. In despair under a BODHI tree, he passed through four stages of meditative trance and attained enlightenment -- seeing things as they really are.
6. The Hindu god Brahma persuaded him to teach others what even the gods don't know.
7. What he learned was the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS.
8. Following his EIGHTFOLD PATH, one could end SAMSARA (rebirth) and attain NIRVANA (the flowing out of the first of longing and attachment).
9. Texts are chanted for devotional purposes, and temples with elaborate rites began to multiply. Those who perform MERITORIOUS ACTIONS by donating to the monks are assured a favorable future birth.
10. Different areas of Buddhism have produced their own canons of texts.
11. Emperors in China encouraged Buddhism because it encouraged morality and peace.
12. 75% of Japanese population is Buddhist.
13. New schools emphasize individual and social reform.

1, Those who have obtained NIRVANA or who are well on their way, but who vow to remain active in helping those still unenlightened and suffering.
2. Stressed in the Mahayana tradition, which is known as the GREAT COMPASSION.

Four Noble Truths

0. What the Buddha saw when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.
1. All existence is DUKKHA (unsatisfactory and filled with SUFFERING).
2. Suffering arises from TAMBA (CRAVING or clinging). This is a constant effort to find something permanent and stable in the world.
3. Suffering can cease totally, and this is NIRVANA.
4. Nirvana can be reached by following the EIGHT-FOLD PATH.

1. 'AWAKENED one'
2. Born into noble family; prince
3. Astrologer: either become great King or Holy Man
4. Father tried to prevent him from leaving palace grounds
5. At age 29, got out and had encounters with the "four sights" - old man, sick man, corpse, and ascetic holy man
6. On a spiritial quest
7. At the age of 35, mediation under Bodhi tree (sacred fig tree)
8. Refused to quit until enlightenment
9. Siddhartha Gautama and all others who have experienced enlightenment but, motivated by compassion, STOP short of entering nirvana so as to HELP others achieve it.

The way to escape suffering and enter Nirvana (wisdom, ethical conduct and concentration):
1. right understanding
2. right thought
3. right speech
4. right action/conduct
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right mindfulness
8. right concentration/mediation

1. A form of Buddhism that developed claiming to reveal further teaching of the Buddha.
2. AKA "The GREAT VEHICLE."
3. Spread into China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Tibet.

1. The LARGEST of Buddhism's three divisions
2. Encompasses a variety of forms, including those that emphasize DEVOTION and PRAYER to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
3. View of human person as in community, salvation as getting help, key virtue of compassion, religion for the laymen (for all), embraced metaphysics and ritual, and inclusive of petition in prayer.

0. An attainable state of enlightenment and freedom from suffering
1. any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
2. collective consciousness
3. the transcendence and thus the negation and extinction of human existence, not our fulfillment
4. the goal of individual existence as transcendence of individual existence - actual impermanence or emptiness

1. The Buddha accepted India ideas like samsara (REBIRTH through many lives with the outcome dependent on karma, the moral law of cause and effect).
2. He added that there is no ATMAN (soul) being reborn as there in no permanence in anything.
3. The goal is not absorption into Brahman or union with God, it is NIRVANA, which is blowing out the fires of longing and attachment.

0. Mound-life structures that contain Buddhist relics.
1. A funeral MOUND built to contain the RELICS and REMAINS of emperors and kings.
2. After the Buddha's death, his relics were distributed to numerous stupas that became a symbol of his final NIRVANA.
3. For this reason, they are important pilgrimage sites and are WORSHIPPED.
4. No intact burial mounds remain today.

1. Tantric Buddhism arose in the 6th century AD based on texts known as the TANTRAS.
2. It uses MEDITATION, RITUAL, SYMBOLISM and MAGIC as a FASTER way of attaining the Buddha-nature.
3. The use of mantras show there is a connection between all human STATES and conditions because all are Buddha nature if perceived and experienced rightly.
4. AKA the "Vehicle of the THUNDERBOLT."

1. All one needs to be complete is already in oneself and simply needs to be recognized through various religious practices and worship.

0. The oldest and most conservative branch of Buddhism. It focuses on the life of the monk Buddha.
1. When Muslims invaded India in the 11th century, Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka and SE Asia in the Theravada form.
2. This form stays close to the PALI CANON -- the Buddhist texts collected in the three baskets.

1. The remaining ORTHODOX school of Buddhism
2. which adheres closely to the EARLIEST scriptures
3. emphasizes INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS to liberate the mind from suffering
4. school of elders
5. Avoidance of both extremes; gives vision, knowledge, and leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, and to Nirvana
6. The idea that all existence is dukkha = unsatisfactory, suffering, anxiety. Dukkha comes from craving; desire for existence, please, and extermination, but dukkha can be overcome through Nirvana, which is reached by the noble 8-fold path.
7. View of human being as an individual, salvation as a self-effort, the key virtue of wisdom, a full-time religion primarily for monks, shunned metaphysics and ritual, and prayed for meditation

1. Sect of Buddhism popular in Japan and in the West.
2. Two prominent schools: RINZAI is the SHOUTING and BEATING school because of the ways its founder gained enlightenment. They meditate on an enigmatic saying or question.
3. The SOTO school stresses sitting in meditation.
4. Meditation sect that is based on the practices of Buddhism in India.

CONFUCIANISM: founding
myths, beliefs, worldviews, rituals, practices, ethics, spread and influence,
current importance

1. The dominant ethical influence on the traditional religious and social life of China and Japan.
2. Derived from the teachings of the sage K'UNG FU-TZI (551-479 BC), known as "CONFUCIUS."
3. He was a social and ethical REFORMER at a time of GROWING DISORDER in China.
4. He was SKEPTICAL to many religious ideas but a firm advocate of FILIAL PIETY and ANCESTOR RITES as a basis for a strong society. Respect for parents is key.
5. During the HAN DYNASTY, his teachings were formalized into a political and religious system.
6. Key texts the FIVE CLASSICS and the FOUR BOOKS. The Five Classics were the basis of Chinese education and political training until 1911.
7. Moral rule: What you do not want done to you, do not do to others. Look to the past for understanding of how to behave.
8. Seeks to balance YIN and YANG and create order and HARMONY.
9. Does not emphasize GOD but rather HUMANISM and correct moral order.

1. One of the Four Books of Confucianism
2. The body of writing containing conversations between CONFUSCIOUS and his disciples
3. They preserves his worldly WISDOM and pragmatic philosophies.

0. The active part of any living thing. The force of life in all beings.
1. In Taoism, immortality is achieved by proper directing of the natural forces within the body, through breathing exercises called ch'i.
2. The human body is seen as an energy system consisting of patterned flows of ch'i, or vital energy. Chi'i is also seen as breath or spirit or CONSCIOUSNESS.

1. Ch'i or Qi is the cosmic manifestation of the self-generating physical-SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE called qi.
2. It is the stuff of which all things that exist are composed and is composed of two aspects, the YIN and the YANG.

1. The central CONFUCIAN virtue, usually translated as humaneness, benevolence, goodness, or COMPASSION -- ALTRUISM.
2. Goodness and humaneness towards family and strangers.

0. Martial art that brings, through discipline, physical health, a still mind.
1. Causes all changes and MOVEMENTS in the world
2. Series of slow arm and leg MOTIONS thought to aid balance and circulation, COSMIC FORCE that inhabits all existing entities

0. The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. It was founded in the 1850s by a heterodox Chinese convert to a kind of Christianity who believed himself to be the incarnate brother of Jesus Christ and the Heavenly King on earth
1. An oppositional state in China from 1851 to 1864, established by HONG XIUQUAN, the leader of the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64).
3. The rebel kingdom announced SOCIAL REFORM and the replacement of the powers of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion by his form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the SECOND SON OF GOD and the younger brother of Jesus.
4. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.

1. "The Way."
2. It is the natural order of the universe.
3. A metaphysical concept that gave rise to taoism.
4. The UNPRODUCED PRODUCER OF ALL THAT IS.
5. Taoism seeks to live according to the Tao, by doing with the flow and not struggling against it.
6. Taoism originated with LAO TAU and his writing, the Tao Te Ching.
6. Key Practices: Meditation and breath control.

1. for Confucianism, the moral order that permeates the universe, the Way that should be followed

0. Heaven - the third and highest realm of reality, where the gods live.
1. The elaboration of the correct relationship between RULER and RULED is achieved through the worship of T'IEN, or heaven, as the source and guarantor of ORDER.
2. This allows rulers to regard themselves as exercising the MANDATE OF HEAVEN.

1. Cosmic principle that determines the FATE and what's going to happen in the world.
2. Principle of causality that is aligned with the social structure.

1. The fundamental OPPOSING cosmic forces in the world that move in balance with each other.
2. Both are EQUALLY important and as they interact they produce change, UNION of opposite forces.
3. The YANG is masculine, LIGHT, activity, unconscious mind, fire.
4. The YIN is female, DARKNESS, passivity, the unconscious, heaviness, water.
5. In exorcism, priests confront dangerous excesses of YIN by invoking the superior yang forces.

INDIGENOUS SPIRITS AND GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY: founding
myths, beliefs, worldviews, rituals, practices, ethics, spread and influence,
current importance

1. The most widespread characteristic is that native religions teach that there are many active spiritual beings.
2. Native religions do not teach that the spiritual realm is the same as the realm of everyday life.
3. Spirit possession is one way of envisaging the relationship between realms.
4. Native religions are usually strong on ritual and weak on abstract belief or theology. Rituals often involve rites of passage that symbolize transitions/stages/changes in life.
5. Myths are frequently recounted while rituals are being performed. They enable people to make sense of their world, addressing questions that can't be answered by science.
6. Native religions focus on good (living in harmony with nature) and evil (powers of the witch serve to highlight envy, spite or jealousy).
7. Native religions have recently made a resurgence due to their harmonious views.

Ancestral spirits

0. Native Americans believe that those who have gone before us now watch from outside this life.
1. Spirits of the deceased are playing an ACTIVE ROLE in the living world.
2. They continue to live in a higher plane of existence according to many native religions.
3. Catholics also look to saints for intercession.

1. The belief that SPIRITS living in non-human physical objects including animals, plants and natural forces play an important role in daily life.
2. Common in Native American, East Asian and African religions.

1. Ancient civilization (1200-1521AD) that was located in what is present-day Mexico City;
2. The Azetcs were a Native American Empire who lived in Mexico.
3. Their capital was Tenochtitlan.
4. They worshipped everything around them especially the sun.
5. They believed that an impersonal force of deity pervaded the world.
6. They were especially known for HUMAN SACRIFICES to various manifestations of god for a variety of reasons.

1. A Peruvian people.
2. At one time they were the ruling force in western South America.
3. They primarily worshiped the Sun God as supreme over all the local deities.
4. The King of the Inca was the child of the Sun.

1. A rite of PASSAGE marking ENTRANCE or acceptance into a group or society.
2. Every religion has some form of initiation.
3. Circumcision, confirmation, baptism, and tattooing.

1. A Mesoamerican civilization of massive proportions that possibly existed from 2000 BC to the 10th century AD.
2. The Mayan had a cyclical view of time and a pantheon of Gods, some of whom were good, and others not so much.
3. They had a system of human sacrifice to appease the gods.

Primitive (natural) religion

0. Primitive religion is the seeking out of that which is greater than oneself, and finding it in natural objects. Either worship nature itself, or aspects of it - such as tree worship
1. They have a great number of highly active spiritual beings such as spirits, gods, goddesses and other powers affecting life. Focuses on GOOD vs. EVIL.
2. These powers could be in NATURE (a tree, animal or thunderstorm) or in HUMANS (a healer, a witch, etc.).
3. The world exists in many planes -- with monsters in the underworld and ancestral spirits in the higher plane.
4. They are strong on ritual and low on theology and abstract belief.
5. Often pre-literature and relying only on tradition and myth.
6. Often place importance on rites of passage.
7. Often emphasize living in harmony with nature and not harming it.
8. Uses a code of symbols to give people the feeling of power over the forest of nature.

1. Shamans (usual males) engage in rituals to control spirits in themselves and gain power to travel into the realms of the spirits in order to enable them to combat various kinds of misfortune.
2. They control spirits in the body and can leave everyday states of existence in order to travel to other worlds.
3. The shaman can take hallucinatory substances or perform rituals in order to enter altered state of consciousness.
4. Upon returning shamans are seen as providing essential services for their communities.
5. They can heal with songs, predict the future, handle disputes, combat nature, or attack enemies.
6. It is dangerous because evil spirits can overcome them and prevent their return.

Frequently worshipped. Appears every day, controls life and death, etc. Obvious draw for those seeking God.

1. Any PROHIBITION based on religious grounds.
2. As an action that might DAMN you or imperial other's spirituality or possible cause the gods to CURSE you or others.

1. An object that represents the spirit of a person or people group.
2. Totems are neither fully human nor fully animal.

1. American religious leader and founder of Mormonism.
2. Published the book of Mormonism at 24 years old.
3. Recieved visions from an angel that told him to uncover 2 golden tablets that would lateer be translated into the book of Mormon.
4. Organized the church of Latter Day Saints which was a calling back to the early Christian church.
5. After his death, Brigham Young led the Mormons to Utah and instituted plural marriage.
6. He taught that, because of Jesus' atonement, all people will be resurrected. At the final judgment, He places people in the Celestial Kingdom (become gods with spiritual children in new worlds, the Terrestrial Kingdom, the Telestial Kingdom or outer darkness.
7. Gods and humans are the same species of being, just at different stages of development on the divine continuum.

Transcendentalism

1. A religious and philosophical movement developed in the 1830 as a protest against the general state of spirituality.
2. Belief that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual.
3. A philosophical MEDITATIVE movement that says an ideal spiritual state TRANSCENDS the physical and EMPIRICAL and is only realized through the individual's INTUITION, rather than through the DOCTRINES of established religions.

The Book of Mormon

1. Revelation given by an angel (Moroni) to Joseph Smith in 1823, published in 1830.
2. Mystical/magical quality to the revelation: golden plates.
3. Corrects the corruption of the previous revelations about Jesus.
4. In 1831, Joseph Smith moved to Kirtland, Ohio and Jackson County, Missouri to establish "A New Jerusalem in America called " Zion," a utopian community of the righteous.
5. Expelled, Brigham Young led the trek to Utah and introduced plural marriage.
6. Today membership is 14 million.
7. In 1978, they began admitting men of African descent to priesthood.

1. Belief in a strict ADHERANCE to orthodox theological doctrines usually understood as a REACTION against MODERNIST theology.
2. It developed into a movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th C. It holds the inerrancy of Scriptures.

Religious Pluralism

The acceptance of more than one religion as valid.

1. A movement of philosophy that emphasizes the VALUE of human beings.
2. It generally prefers individual thought and evidence (RATIONALISM and EMPIRICISM) over established doctrine or faith (fideism).
3. In the religious context, it is the SECULAR idea that REASON, justice, and the resultant ethics are what hold up society, not religion which divides it.

Marxism/liberation

The philosophy of a revolutionary and violent conversion to communism from an oppressive state.
Liberation Theology is often tied to Marxism as a religious justification of revolution.

c.f. Joel Osteen

A philosophical ideology that says that SUPERNATURAL phenomena is either FALSE or inherently different from natural phenomena.

African/Asian/Latin American

Asian Christianity began in the 5th century with missionaries; Christianity had its origins in North Africa and Latin theology developed out of oppression.

The science of things divine. The study of God, religious faith, practice, and experience, or spirituality.

The new paganism

1. A religious movement that places HUMANS at its CENTER and emphasizes human achievement rather than belief in God.
2. The new paganism is the virtual DIVINATION of MAN, the religion of man as the new God.
3. It acknowledges no divine REVELATION, thus no one's values can be JUDGED to be wrong.
4. The only thing wrong is the idea that there is a real wrong. The only thing to feel guilty about is feeling guilty.
5. It is joining of forces by three of the enemies of theism: humanism, polytheism and pantheism.
6. The so-called "NEW AGE Movement" combines all the features described under the title of the new paganism.

The new atheism

1. New Atheism is a contemporary INTELLECTUAL movement uniting outspoken ATHEISTS.
2. They say religion no longer should be TOLERATED, but instead countered, CRITICIZED, and EXPOSED by rational argument whenever possible.
2. The New Atheists' philosophies and arguments are generally consistent with those of their predecessors; what's "NEW" is a difference in STYLE and INTENSITY.
3. Many New Atheists are not content with simply disbelieving in God themselves; they don't think anyone else should either, and argue the point with an evangelical FERVOR.

New Age Spirituality

1. A recent phenomenon among Western populations that COMBINES Eastern and Western religious elements and infuses it with SELF-HELP and PSYCHOLOGICAL tenets.
2. Their purpose is to seek the Universal Truth, and for each human to reach its highest potential.
3. They reject doctrine and dogma. Instead it promotes individual ways of attaining truth by a large variety of means (e.g. astrology, metaphysics, esotericism, alternative medicine, sustainability,...)
4. There are no central scriptures and New Age has no founders either.
5. Belief in SPIRITUAL BEINGS, such as angels, ghosts, fairies (c.f. Aaron Mamuyac), and others.
6. They believe in REINCARNATION as a way of the soul to develop through multiple life times towards a higher consciousness.
7. They incorporate EASTERN practices such as meditation, yoga, Ayurveda, Reiki, martial arts, and others can help in realizing one's potential.
8. Humans should live in synchronicity with nature, in a simple and sustainable way.

State your definition of 'religion' and provide a rationale/explanation

see the first card, fool

Why is religion universal?

0. Because it is intrinsic and "belongs to the nature and structure of man." (Bavinck)
1. Because all people are created in the IMAGE of God. We all place trust and faith in something.
2. Because we are exposed to GENERAL REVELATION. (Acts 17: "God has not left himself without witnesses.") Creation is a self-COMMUNICATION of God (not emanation).
3. Human beings are CREATED to COMMUNE with God (covenant) and to commune with each other). Salvation is the restoration of our humanity. Christianity reconciles us to God and one another.
4. All humans TRUST, venerate, and SERVE Something(s) basic or ultimate. All humans live in terms of perspectives, worldviews, or BELIEFS about nature, humanity, LIFE, DEATH, and the Ultimate that are FAITH-BASED in that they cannot be verified or rationally justified.

What is revelation? How does revelation 'happen'?

1. Revelation is a DISCLOSURE of God's truth of Himself. For the Christian this is done through miracles, prophecy, patriarchs, the law, and ultimately the person of Jesus Christ.
2. Revelation happens in SOLA SCRIPTURA, through the Word of God alone. Hebrews 1:1-4 says, that in earlier days God spoke through the patriarchs and through prophets, but now in these last days God spoke through His Son, Jesus Christ who is heir of all things.

What do all religions have in common? What are important distinguishing factors among them?

COMMON:
1. The SACRED. Religious groups distinguish between what is sacred and what is ordinary.
2. Sacred space. The sacred is set apart by establishing a center in space. Sacred space is separated from ordinary space.
3. Sacred stories. People tell sacred stories to explain who they are (ORIGINS). Where did they come from. Where are they going. What do they believe.
4. Sacred WRITINGS. Scriptures are sacred writings revered above all other writings in all of religions.
5. RITUALS. Rituals are actions that are repetitive, prescribed, and CEREMONIAL. Rituals are performed as social obligations. The rite of PASSAGE is common in all religions.
6. Every religion has at least one story of creation, telling how the world, men, and women, came into being.
7. All Religions have a struggle between good and evil often expressed in terms of personal agents at war - spirits, gods, witches, demons.
8. The Golden Rule also exists in all religions in some form. A summary of human behavior appearing in both a positive form (Jesus) or negative (Confucius).

NOT COMMON:
1. What is the problem? What is the solution?
2. How are we related to the cosmos?
3. What is God? Who is God?

What is a 'religious' experience and how does it relate to other dimensions of human experience such as the aesthetic and the moral/ethical?

Interaction with the Ultimate. Aesthetic and moral and ethical deal mostly with our own understanding of what's on our level - religion deals more with the totality of our existence and its interaction with what we consider to be the ultimate.

What is the distinctive claim and character of Christianity's sacred text?

1. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul says "All Scripture is God-breathed..."
2. The Bible is divinely inspired in that God actively worked by using men who wrote the Scripture.
3. Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation, the Word made flesh. In John 1:1-2, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

How does the Christian understanding of revelation differ from that of Islam? (What is the significance of Christian enthusiasm for its scriptures to be translated while Islam does not accept translations as truly the word of Allah?)

CHRISTIANITY
1. Ultimate Truth is Jesus Christ. In this person, we find MEANING, the Ultimate, and we find FORGIVENESS and the true relationship
2. Our Scripture is a RECORD to this revelation. It POINTS to the transcendent Jesus Christ who can find a home in ANY CULTURE.
3. Christians also have general revelation.

ISLAM
1. In Islam, the Qur'an is the Truth. It was given because revelation had been skewed in the past and it is the only definitive revelation.
2. Muhammad had to memorize the message exactly. The Quran should not be translated because then you're tainting and changing the Word of God.
3. It was a singular revelation given by an angel (Gabriel) to one man.
2. There was a mystical/magical quality to the revelation (unalterable Arabic).
3. Islamic revelation is not a "self-revelation" of God, who is utterly transcendent; it is only a revelation of his WILL.

What are the commonalities among Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Key differences?

COMMONALITIES:
1. Both see Abraham as their spiritual father (Christianity through Sarah and Isaac, Isalm through Hagar and Ismail).
2. They both use the Pentateuch, also referred to as the law.
3. They believe in the person of Christ.
4. They believe there is one God, the God of Abraham.
5. They believe in the Holy Spirit and have Holy Books.

DIFFERENCES:
1. Christianity says CHRIST was the Messiah, the Son of God -- fully divine and fully flesh.
2. Islam claims that Christ was not crucified but raised to heaven. Jesus was a true prophet, but NOT GOD.
3. Judaism claims that Christ was not the Messiah and was of no importance.

How could Muslim and Christians live together in a pluralistic society, honoring each other's religious freedom?

1. Build on what they have in COMMON - we share a lot - concept of law, ethical demands, even holy places and traditions
2. RESPECT one another - celebrate with one another
3. LEGISLATE the common morality

What are the roots of Muslim hostility to the West? How can these hostilities be overcome?

1. Classical Islamic view. The world and all mankind are divided into two. The House of Islam where the Muslim law and faith prevail and the rest who are known as the House of unbelief or the HOUSE OF WAR.

2. The West is evil yet PROSPERS. Many Arabs are faithful and starve. This is a problem.

3. The CRUSADES. It was organized by Christians in 11-12th century to free the Holy Land, particularly Jerusalem, from Muslim domination. It was terribly bloody and the battles between Muslims and Christians built a deep hatred on each side.

4. Concept of JIHAD Holy War to defend Islam or aid in its expansion in the West.

Why does Hinduism need so many gods?

Hinduism is generally associated with a multiplicity of gods, and it does not advocate the worship of one particular deity. The gods and goddesses of Hinduism amount to thousands, all representing the many aspects of only one supreme absolute called Brahman.
That is, each deity is a manifestation of Brahman. Brahman is one supreme universal spirit and the more deities there are the more expressions of the Brahman there is.

Assess Buddhism from the perspective of the Christian doctrine of creation.

The Creation, from the perspective of Christianity, does not exist in Buddhism. The beginning of this world and of life is inconceivable because they have neither beginning nor end. Buddhism never claimed that the world, sun, moon, and stars were created by a powerful god or by a Buddha

Buddhists believe that the world was not created once upon a time, but that the world has been created millions of times every second and will continue to do so by itself and will break away by itself.

According to Buddhism, world systems always appear and disappear in the universe.

* Separating from creation rather than caring for it.

What could Christians take from Confucianism to develop a Christian worldview that would speak a language that Chinese people could understand?

* LI is the principle of harmony and human beings are born with it. To keep it, we need education and ROLE MODELS. Christ is our role model.
* Heaven is the home of ancestors who functioned as divine beings.
* Confucianism has a SOCIO-CENTRIC approach. Redemption is in the first place restoration of order in the kingdom in such a way that the sovereign is once again sovereign and the subject again subject.

1. Confucius said, "What you do not want done to you, do not do to others." Jesus said it positively in Matt. 7:12: "Do to others what you would have them do to you."
2. Both focus on love and respecting elders.
3. All religions acknowledge that people with good intentions are entrapped by sin, evil and ignorance.
4. All religions seek to offer answers to help people meet the goal of having a successful life (however the religion defines it).
5. All religions have been misused by people as weapons to manipulate others and to gain power.
6. All religions are also fertile ground for moral living and wisdom.
7. However, many religions' pathes to salvation is mutually exclusive or at least deep and irreconcilably different. There are many paths, but they do not lead to the same place. Even religious experiences greatly vary. The final goal is different too (i.e., nirvana vs. heaven)
8. We can be allies against evil, but only as equal but different partners -- just like the Grand Alliance in WWII.

Compare and contrast the worldview of animism and modern Enlightenment Western thought and provide a Christian worldview perspective.

1. Animism - The world is full of spirits.
2. Enlightenment Western thought - we live above the world; we're not part of it. We control it and manipulate it with our science.
3. Christian worldview - we are caretakers of the world. It all has dignity but it's not to be worshiped. It needs to be cared for but not merely a tool for our use.

Is the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" a Christian body?

1. Mormons use the BOOK of Mormon, which is additional revelation added to the Canon of Scripture; which is outside of the bounds of Christian orthodoxy.
2. God is eternal vs. GOD being CREATED (Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS church, taught that God began His existence the same way as all men did - He was created and lived a mortal life as a man on an earth).
3. God is Spirit vs. God has FLESH and bones (The Father has a body of flesh and bones. The Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not).
4. One God vs. MANY GODS: LDS standard works (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) claim that the heavens and earth were created by a council of gods.
5. Salvation is to the Celestial Kingdom to become a god of another world.
6. But We owe to Mormon Americans respect for their human dignity, protection of their religious freedom, readiness for friendship, openness to honest dialogue, and an eagerness to join hands in social and cultural tasks that advance the common good.

What is "religious" about "non-religions" such as Marxism, American civil religion, secular humanism, environmentalism?

What is religious is that they offer a response to an understanding of how the world works.
They offer a salvation to a problem.
They offer a community.

On the basis of what is happening to the global Christian church today, where is its center of gravity likely to be in 2050?

It is already in sub-Saharan Africa. Europe will be dead, and America will be close. I think China might also be a burgeoning home for Christianity.

Can atheism unite a people to form a free, pluralistic civil society?

No, it can't. Humans are by nature religious, and atheism denies this aspect of human life. Pluralism is possible within the bounds of theism, belief in some sort of higher power. Atheism will lead to the suppression of people.

origin of religion and religion as universal human reality

As humanity is created in the image of God, and once had a close relationship with him, there is a certain imprint of God on everyone. In fact, God's fingerprint can be seen on all of creation (general revelation). The universality of religion for humanity is found in that all human beings realize that there is something other and greater than themselves - the quest to find out what that is and what the relationship between it and humanity is can be described as the object of one's religion.

The commonality of the world's religions

COMMON QUESTIONS:
Who am I and what am I doing here?
Why is the world is messed up, how did it get that way, and what can we do do about it?

COMMON PRACTICES:
Creation story (these all disagree with the Judeo/Christian view); initiation/baptism/circumcision; a flood story; and some type of special rites that draw one closer to God/self/actualization/etc

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