Origin of World Religion

Essential Understanding
• Religions have their own stories and are universal in nature.
• Geography and culture have an effect on the establishment and development of
religions.
Historical Background
• Prehistoric humans, such as the Neanderthals and Cro Magnons, have practice a
set of belief systems like in burying their dead, painting in the walls of the
caves and carving images from the stones.
• The existence of human kind for so long a time has resulted in the formation
of religion and belief systems. It is certain that many religions may have been
unrecorded in the past. Others may have gradually died down like Zoroastrianism
that once flourished in South Asia but is now only confirmed in Iran, India, and
Central Asia.

The Patriarch Abraham

 Played a major role in the establishment of the three monotheistic religions:
namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which account for more than the world’s
total population. As such, these organized religions are collectively known as
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS.
 The importance of Abraham in these three religions lies in the fact the patriarch
appears as an elemental (primary exemplar) figure for monotheistic belief system
and a paragon (exemplar) for extreme devotion.
Commonalities in Abrahamic Religions
 They all worship one Supreme Being. Ancient Hebrews – Elohim, Adonai or Yahweh
Present day Judaism – “lord” or “God”
Muslims – Allah
 Prophets and apostles play major roles
• Judaism has 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses
 Early prophets include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moises, Aaron and Joshua
• Christianity has 12 apostles, some of whom wrote parts of the New Testament
• Islam believes that Muhammad is the final prophet or the “Seal of theProphets”.
 Prior to the establishment as organized religions, the role of divine revelation
or intervention is associated among their progenitors (ancestors).

• God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac at Mount Moriah• God presented
the 10 commandments to Moises at Mount Sinai • God sacrificed His son Jesus Christ
through crucifixion as the plan to salvation
• God commanded Muhammad to established a new religion at a cave a tMount Hira.
***Then and now, the followers of the three Abrahamic religions are presented with
a choice between good and evil.

The Indian Mosaic

• India is one of the oldest surviving civilizations, with his history dating
back to at least 65000 BCE. The many conquerors that came to India were gradually
absorbed into the native Indian religions.
• The Harappan civilization, Aryan influence, local dynasties, and the Muslim
conquest all had their fair share in building the intricate Indian mosaic. As
result, variety and complexity characterized Indian culture.
• Four great religions originated in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and
Sikhism- and a myriad of minor cults and local sects.
Hinduism
• It perfectly reflects Indian heterogeneity with its eclectic (diversified and
assorted) ways of religious expressions that are quite confusing to outsiders.
• It has no specific founder, no one sacred book, and with innumerable gods and
goddesses that any Hindu can venerate. As such, Hinduism can be considered as
museum of religions.
• It was during the Vedic Period that Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma became
systematized as a religion that preached order and purpose to the cosmos and human
life.
• During this period, universal order became equated with a stable society as
evidenced by the establishment of a centralized government and the integration of
collective traditions into Indian lives

Buddhism
• It center its attention on the figure of the Buddha, who was not a god but a
human being who came to discover how to terminate sufferings in order to escape the
painful and continuous cycle of rebirth.
• Buddhist followers revere Buddha in the same way that the members of other
world religions worship their gods.
• The Mahayana sect of Buddhism differs from Theravada school because of its
rich array of buddhas and bodhisattvas who have attained spiritual enlightenment.
These beings are already eligible to enter nirvana but choose to delay this
glorious path to guide others to the path of salvation.
• Born near at the end of the 6th century BCE, Siddharta Gautama’s life is
closely linked with the historical and religious development of Buddhism in India.
Gaining new converts due to its mass appeal as compared to the exclusivity of Hindu
beliefs, Buddhism spread far and wide from India to Sri Lanka and to Southeast
Asia.
• The religion was transported to China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Across the
Himalayas, it reached the Tibetan lands.  Presently, Buddhism become more popular
outside its place of origin while Hinduism has remained entrenched(rooted) in India
throughout many centuries.
Confucianism
• Even during the olden days, the Chinese had already endeavored to establish
and attain good governance. China adopted Confucius’s ideals and ethics as the
nation developed meritocracy (power goes to those with superior intellects) as a
basis for government officials.

• Confucius is regarded as China’s greatest philosopher and teacher who lived

as the same time as Siddhartha Gautama in India.
• Confucian ideals aspire to harmonize human relations and serve as a guide to
social behavior. An ideal human society is the utmost concern for the Confucian
followers.
• Confucius dwell upon the theme of the Dao as being the truth or way things
out to be done concordant with specific view to life, politics and customs.
• Confucian Dao concerns human affairs.
Daoism
• Mysteries abound the birth and life of Laozi (Lao-tzu) who may have written
Dao de Jing (Tao Te Ching or The Book of the way and its Power).
• Believed to be contemporary (modern version) of Confucius, he once work as a
record keeper at the time of Zhou Dynasty but soon left the service duetoits
frustration with corruption.
• Around 142 CE, Daoism began as an organized religion with the establishment
of the Way of the Celestial Masters sect by Zhang Daoling during the Han Dynasty.
• The writings of Daoism centers on the concept of Dao, as a way or path
signifying appropriateness of one’s behavior to lead other people.
• Dao in Daoism means road, path or way in which one does something.
• Daoist Dao means the way the universe works.

Shintoism
• It is loosely organized local belief in Japan, somewhat an ardent (dedicated)
religious form of Japanese patriotism. Its mythology highlights the superiority of
Japan over other lands.
• Japanese people believed that their emperor literally descended from the sun
goddess Amaterasu.
• Conscious effort is done to revere the beauty of Japan’s lands, especially
mountains.
• The term “Shinto” was coined around the 16 th century CE to distinguish
native belief system from the imported religions of China and Korea, including
Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.
• The term came from the Chinese words “shen” and “tao” roughly translated as
the “way of the gods”.
• Of primal importance were the kami that were often defined as the gods but
could also refer to deities of heaven and earth, or even spirits in human beings,
animals, trees, seas and mountains.
Geography of Faith
1. The Western Frontier
• West Asia is the home of the three great religions (Judaism, Christianity and
Islam)
• Religions have increasingly become involved in domestic politics of West
Asia, resulting in prolonged conflicts among countries that have claimed thousands
of lives.
• Israel remains the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority
population comprising almost 75% of its citizens.

• The Arabian Peninsula, the world’s largest peninsula, consist of the

countries
that are predominantly Islamic in character (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait,
United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman).

Sacred Mountains in the Judeo-Christian TraditionMount Ararat Eastern part of

Turkey Traditional landing place of Noah’s Ark as narrated in the book of
Genesis

Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula in Egypt The peak where Moses received the Ten
Commandments

Mount Zion/Mount Moriah Jerusalem Known as the City of David and Temple Mount

Mount Tabor Israel Site of transfiguration of Jesus Christ

The Temple Mount is one of the most sacred sites in the world revered by the Jews,
Christians and Muslims. Three structures are found in the present site that
includes the Al-Agsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Dome of the Chain. The
Jewish people consider the Temple Mount as the holiest shrine. Mount Moriah is also
believed to be the site of sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham.
Vast expanse of deserts and bodies of water also played important roles in biblical
history.
• Yam Suph (Red Sea) – Israelites crossed this as they escaped from Egyptian
lands.
• Sinai Desert – Israelites lived here en route the Promised Land (spiritual
cleansing)

2. The Indian Subcontinent

• The subcontinent of Southeast Asia covers an area more thanone and a half
million square miles stretching from the Hindu Kush and Baluchi Hills on the
west and the Great Himalayan mountain range of the north, to the Burmese mountain
on the east and the Indian Ocean on the south.
• Invasions from people originating in Macedonia and central Asia have added
diversity to India’s population and complexity to its culture.
• Sweltering heat is one of the major feature of India’s ecological setting, it
is no wonder that Hindus revere the sun (Surya) and fire (Agni).
• Ganges is the holiest river for the Hindus where may pilgrimage sites and
cities were built that includes Rishikesh, Haridwang, Prayag, and Varanasi.

3. The Eastern End

• At the eastern end of the great Asian continent one finds the cultural and
political dominance of China.
• The location of China proper in the valleys of two great bodies of water,
Huang He and Yangtze, is quite favorable because of the support these streams
provide to the Chines people that made historic China the centered of culture.
• From these river valleys emerged small states now controlled by the first
recorded dynasties, the Shang and the Zhou.

THE CULTURAL MILIEU

World religions can be regarded along the lines of their exclusivity or non –
exclusivity.
• Exclusive religions are oftentimes monotheistic with Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam as examples.
• Non – exclusive religions are often polytheistic in nature. Examples of non –
exclusive religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism.

ON MONOTHEISM AND UNIVERSITY

• Monotheism or the belief in one God is an ancient idea that predated the
establishment of Abrahamic religions.
• From the three Abrahamic religions, however, Christianity has somewhat
differed based on its concept of the trinitarian creed in contrast to the unitarian
creed.
• While Judaism and Islam affirm the presence of one god Christianity
acknowledges one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God having three persons could also mean three persons and one substance as
forwarded by the Church Father Tertullian (c. 155 – 240 C.E.). The basic principles
of the Muslim faith are reflected in the “Five Pillar of Islam.” The first pillar
as the profession of the Muslim faith succinctly states that “there is one god but
Allah.” Simply put, there are no gods, but only Allah. Allah is eternal, creator,
omnipotent, infinitely good, merciful, but harsh on those who oppose his will
(Jomier 1999).
• Muslims are urged to worship Allah alone and avoid veneration of transitory
things of the world (Frager 2002).
• Both Christianity and Islam are considered universalizing religions because
they attempt to operate on a global scale and are not inextricably linked to any
nation, ethnicity, or place as opposed to ethnic religions that attract one group
of people residing in one locality.

ON THE CONCEPT OF DHARMA

• Majority of Indians are Hindus. Buddhism, which originated in India, has been
absorbed into the Hindu worldview (Kolanad 1994).
• Hindu religions foster tolerance as they coexisted peacefully for many
generations in most parts in India, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and
Sikhism.
• In Hinduism, dharma could mean duty, righteousness, and ethics. In all
humanity, this is common and evident in virtues such as peacefulness, empathy, and
kindness. Dharma is also found in one’s caste in the present life and toward
another life that could lead to liberation from the cycle of rebirth (Coogan 2005).
• For Buddhism, it means cosmic law and order, or the teachings of the Buddha
and the truth of the way things are.
• Dharmic religions do not their adherents to profess their devotion to be a
believer or a practitioner. For followers of dharmic religions, meditational and
yoga rituals lead to right behavior and ultimate understanding of the universe. The
final spiritual truth is beyond all delusions of the physical world where in pain
and sufferings exist because of existence attachment to people and material things.
• While the Hindus and Buddhists share similarities on some of their basic
tenets, such as ideas concerning enlightenment and liberation, there are palpable
differences between the two dharmic religions. For one, while the Hindus believe in
the trimurti or three forms of god, Buddhists do not believe in the existence of
any god.

ON NATURE AND ANCESTORS

• The elements of cult of heaven and ancestor worship are features of ancient
Chinese culture integrated into the Confucian philosophy and belief. Apart from
Confucianism lesser deities are also apparent in Daoism with the presence of
atmospheric gods, gods of locality, and functional gods. Chinese belief systems
soon arrived in Japan and influenced the local culture and the indigenous
polytheistic religion Shintoism.
• In Shintoism, divinities are closely linked to nature and natural forces. The
sacred Mount Fuji, an abode of Japanese gods, is surrounded by temples and shrines.
It is one of three holy mountains along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. Shrines are
erected to venerate or remember ancestors, an occurrence, and natural phenomena,
such as mountains, rivers, rocks, and trees.
• The Confucian stance on the world is basically encapsulated about an
individual’s understanding of heaven and the people’s relationships with heaven.
Everyone had significant roles to play in society that could very well affect
heaven and earth despite their seeming immensity as compared to humankind. Apart
from having a harmonious relationship between humans and heaven, the establishment
of an ideal human society is also key to Confucian followers. Central to this
objective concerns family relations as emphasized in the concept of filial piety
being the major pillar of Confucian ethics.