...Writing Assignment Tranel Hill-Barrett Strayer University Rel 212: World Religions Prepared for: Dr. Darryl Claybon September 7, 2014 I would first like to start off by saying that this class has opened my eyes to a lot as far as different religions are concerns, I love learning of the history and origin of the varies religions. For my final paper, I have decided to focus on the category of "view of the afterlife". The reason I selected this category is due to the fact that they are all almost closely related. We are all here to live our lives, although we may worship different Gods, or practice different religions, I feel as though we all have the same questions at the end of the day. What will happen to me once I past? What will happen to my earthly body? After several weeks of reaches I expanded my knowledge of such world religions. Within my finding, I discovered that almost all the religions believe in some form or heaven and hell or that the soul of a person continues to live in some shape or form. For example within Hinduism and Jainism, moksha, is the ultimate salvation. The individual is absorbed into the ocean. To me this is kind of a form of being cremated and released into the ocean. I know that I have heard of some people wanting this to be done to them so that they may be one with the earth. Next we have Buddhism within this religion the view on the afterlife is that one is reincarnated to a different body. I can say that this one kind...
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...Comparison and Contrast Paper Founder(s) of the religion There are five major religions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism have a different origins. The founder of Christianity was Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethlehem around 6-4BC. He was the son of Joseph and the Virgin Mary and in his early years most like trained as a carpenter under his father. Around the age of 30 he was baptized by John the Baptist and at the moment it was said the heavens opened up and God proclaimed that Jesus was his son and resulted in the beginning of his ministry and established a group that he called the twelve apostles. It was around this time where Jesus spent forty days and nights wandering the desert avoiding three temptations from Satan; hunger, power and faith. On Passover, he shared the last supper with his disciples when Jesus was arrested and condemned to death. On the third day, he resurrected from the dead and on the fortieth day after his resurrection, Jesus appeared, told to spread His word and ascended into heaven. The founder of Islam is the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Makah. In this early life, he was raised by his grandfather and after he died, his uncle. He later wed Khadija and lived a prosperous life. While making a retreat to a mountain cave, he was visited by a presence which left him in awe and was instructed to recite words which would be the foundation of the Qur’an. After a number of years, he...
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...Professor Sean-David McGoran World Religions 212 December 14, 2015 In the course of recent weeks there has been a lot of information about how diverse religions handle numerous themes, for example, human instinct, if there is a God or divine beings, great and detestable, and different ceremonies that are imperative to perform. This paper will take a gander at all the distinctive religions that we have concentrated on and directed through the semester, yet we will be looking at one particular classification and that is of the Afterlife in these religions. The one point that I discovered the most fascinating and illuminating is the way diverse religions handle the considered passing and if there is life after death. Religion all through history has tried to lighten this worry by clarifying what happens after death while also working it into the teachings of good, malevolence, mortality, and salvation. In spite of the fact that there is a wide assortment of convictions they can be contracted down to two focal conviction designs, the thought of resurrection or the thought of the individual heading off to an alternate other worldly plane, for example, the thought of Heaven and Hell. select one (1) category from the completed World View Chart. Provide a rationale for choosing this category. The category that I thought was most intriguing was the views of the afterlife. The reason this subject was selected was to better my understanding of how various religions followed unique practices to...
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...Journal Research-Religious Element Comparing Five Religions Cultural values help in determining the way we reason and respond to situations. Religion is a part of those cultural values that are sometimes conflicting between dissimilar religions. This journal will describe five different religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism while further explaining their origin, popularity and commonalities. Five Different Religions-Descriptions and Popularity Christians believe in one God. Christianity’s main text is the old and new testaments in the Bible. In addition, Christians live by the idea of the Holy Trinity: God the father, son and Holy Spirit (BBC.com, 2011). With 2.18 billion followers, Christianity is therefore the...
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...World Religions Report HUM/130 November 30, 2012 The religion Buddhism is a religion with approximately 300 million adherents worldwide. Buddhism comes from 'budhi', meaning 'to awaken'. It is one of the largest religions in the world, just behind Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. For this study, I conducted an interview and researched the religion to gain a better understanding of their practices and beliefs. I also included a comparative section to help understand the differences and similarities between this religion and Christianity, one of the largest known religions. Buddhism is different from many religions because they there is no belief in a supernatural deity, known as nontheistic (Fisher, 2005, pg. 134). Buddha is not a God and is not worshipped as one. Buddha was the man that founded the religion based on his desires to end human suffering. Instead of worshipping a God, Buddhists follow beliefs that will eventually lead them to an enlightened life and Nirvana in the afterlife. The beliefs that they follow are known as the Eight Fold Path. This path is used to help humans end the suffering in their life and achieve liberation. It is based on The Four Noble Truths that Buddha set forth in his first Sermon (Fisher, 2005, pg. 135). The Four Noble Truths speak of suffering as an inevitable part of life. It states that suffering can be ceased through the ending of wants and desires, because these things cause our suffering in life. By understanding...
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...to the world-weary”,which is especially appealing to women and particularly high-born widows. In the Chinese patriarchy society, women faced many limitation and inequality, and Buddhism provided an alternative life path option for women who did not fit in the traditional family/social structure. Of course Buddhism did not promote gender equality: women were seen as “polluted” (Banerjee 1985: 20), and the female incarnation was of a lower rank of the male. However, the female status was considered as temporary and could be changed in afterlife (Ebrey 1996: 194). Monastic life was open to both men and women alike and both gender were encouraged equally to enter the...
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...1. Buddhism, although originating from India, was a minor Indian religion as it made it was spread to many other parts of Asia to find believers. 2. As Buddhism evolved after the death of Buddha, doctrines like bodhisattvas explained about gaining nirvana through personal meditation or aid others as a saint through prayer. 3. Buddhism evolution transformed from a series of ethics to a way of finding salvation. 4. Buddhism greatly appealed the Chinese after the fall of the Han dynasty. 5. Religious outposts for Buddhism were predominantly in the Himalayas and in northern India. 6. From China, Buddhism spread to Korea and Japan. 7. The East Asian form of Buddhism was known as Mahayana which kept most of original Buddhist beliefs, but applied...
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...defines and perceives god. Creation is the act of bringing the world into order and existence. Whether it is through creation or evolution all of these religions have a starting point of how they believe the world came to exists. When your life is over, where do you go? That answer depends on faith, religion, and the path one chooses to follow. Even though these religions have different views, they all still share a common ground and believe in something. In religion you have two main beliefs polytheism and monotheism. Polytheism believes in multiple deities called god and goddesses. Monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. Some believers of polytheism include Hinduism, Buddhism, ancient Egyptians, and ancient Mesopotamia. Hinduism believes that all deities are separate entities. Most people believe in different deities expanding from a single God. That one single entity is never defined and for the most part Hindus continue to hold one God above all others. They believe in Brahman he is the universal soul, and it is said that all men are considered Brahmans. Buddhism believes in “the Buddha” Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha looks with a kind heart equally on all living beings, and they call him father. Buddha can be anything you worship because in Buddhism there is no absolute god. In the ancient Egyptian religion they saw the actions of the gods behind all the elements and forces of nature. However, they did not believe that the gods merely controlled these events...
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...Buddhism Versus Taoism The Asian schools of thought, Buddhism and Taoism are very similar philosophies, but differ in their thoughts of how to live their life. These two philosophies differ in how they believe to live their lives, and in their goals on what to achieve. I found these two schools of thoughts interesting because of how similar they are except for subtle differences. Taoism is a philosophy that is confusing to read about its not a philosophy with teachings like Buddhism. Taoism is about falling in line with the natural order and keeping the cycle balanced. Buddhism is about learning the dharma's or teachings, and reaching enlightenment to break the spiral and stop suffering. These philosophies over time became religions, and later in China they eventually get brought together as one religion. Buddhism believed in nirvana reaching enlightenment which meant to relieve oneself from being reborn. Buddhist believed life was suffering so they kept themselves unattached to earthly things including family. Buddhism is living in the present and centered around practice, and the four noble truths. In The Buddha and his Teachings: the four noble truths are: " life is suffering, origin, assertion, way to lead assertion." (Bercholz and Kohn 3-222)They learn from a teacher. The teachings are called dharma's. This philosophy is individualized of letting go of earthly possessions. In The Buddha and his Teachings, "it took the Bodhisattva sixteen years to learn the dharma's...
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...Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha during the fifth century BC. He was a young prince and married a yound girl named Yasodhara at the age of sixteen. His father made the decision that his daughter would live a secluded life. So Siddhartha went out into the world and faced the cruel reality of life and worldwide suffering. When he turned twenty nine, he left the kingdom and newborn son to lead a simple and isolated life. He did this to try to find a way to relieve worldwide suffering. He meditated for six years but never attended full satisfaction. He was offered a bowl of milk-rice from a girl and that was the start of him pursuing a path of equilibrium rather than extremism. The name of this path was Middle Way. Buddhism is a more reformed version of Hinduism. The Four Noble Truths that are included in the religion are the basis for all forms of Buddhist philosophy. These truths are called Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, and Marga. According to dictionary.com, Dukkha is the first of the Four Noble Truths, that all human experience is transient and that suffering results from excessive desire and attachment. According to the Wisdom Library, Samudaya is Second of Four Noble Truths: Suffering is caused by desire. Nirodha is usually translated as "cessation", as in "cessation of suffering", the third noble truth. In a more general sense, Nirodha is often used as a synonym of Nirvana (What is Nirodha, n.d.). Marga (Sanskrit mārga; Pãli magga, "path") in Buddhism refers...
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...Religions Catholic The Catholic religion believes in only one God, but they also believe and worship Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary and the Saints. They do not believe in reincarnation, but they do believe in the afterlife, Heaven or Hell. Their sacred text they read is the Holy Bible. A few rituals they perform and celebrate are confirmation, baptizing, and celebration of Easter. Some assumptions made about Catholicism are that they worship statues, which has been claimed many times as untrue. I uncovered that Catholic actually means “throughout the whole, universal.” My religion, Christianity, does have a few things in common with Catholicism; we worship the same God and Jesus Christ, we use the Bible as our sacred text, and we believe in the afterlife of Heaven or Hell. Protestant The Protestant religion believes mainly in the glorification and worship of Jesus Christ, but also worships God as well. They believe in the afterlife; when you die you either go to Heaven or Hell. Their sacred text is the Bible. Protestant rituals include communion and baptism. Something I found interesting about Protestants is that they believe that the Bible, God’s word, is the supreme source of authority over the Church. My religion is close to this one; we both believe in Heaven and Hell, as well as angels and demons and also following God’s word. Methodist Methodists’ believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. They believe in the afterlife of both Heaven and Hell. Their sacred...
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...Using material from Item A and elsewhere, briefly examine some of the problems in defining religion (18 marks) We try to define religion in order to understand and know what we are studying, along with that it helps us to know what we are measuring and the definition used can affect how much religion we actually find. Organisations that are seen as religions can then be seen as a charity by the government, meaning that they pay less tax to the government compared to other businesses. Item A highlights the fact that there is not just one way of defining religion and it is up to the individual to decide how they define religion as a whole. For example Robertson states that religion is “the existence of supernatural beings which have a governing effect on life”; whereas Tylor argues that religion came into being to explain events and experiences that had otherwise appeared inexplicable, for example dreams, visions and death. The functional definition says what religion does; it’s purpose or function and what its contribution to society may be. Religion unites people together in communities, provides a sense of belonging and a sense of common identity. It also helps people by giving explanations for why people die and why there is suffering, it gives people comfort and hope for better things in life. This definition tends to be broad and is called inclusivity because they include so much, often it even includes things that not everyone would see as religious. Although sometime...
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...Title: Difference and Similarities between Christianity and Four (4) World Religion, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Muslims and Hinduism. Introduction: In the world today there are many religions of different beliefs with vast numbers of followers. However, some of these religions turn to have similarities and differences which defer them from each another. The following report briefly talks about the differences and similarities between Christianity and other four (4) major world religions and they are Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Muslims. Zoroastrianism and Christianity Zoroastrianism was founded by a man named Zoroaster who was born around 1200 BC (www.Answers.com). During that time the Jewish people were held captive by Babylonians and most of their beliefs .i.e. Christianity and Judaism have Zoroastrian influence in them because they (Jewish) were exposed to that (Zoroastrian). But we will discuss about the similarities and the differences between Christianity and Zoroastrian. Similarities Zoroastrian worship one God to whom they believe the world was made and also the Christians too believe in one God, they (Zoroastrians) also believe that a Saviour will be born of a virgin who will defeat the devil and establish his kingdom when he returns just like Christians believe in Jesus Christ (www.metareligion.com) . Furthermore, both religions preaches about the existence of hell and heaven, both believed that hell is a place rewarded for righteous doing and hell is...
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...recurring theme seen throughout traditional and modern Japanese literary works are the topics of death and religion. It is common knowledge that any person on any given day may be faced with death, regardless of whether it is expected or not. In any culture, people recognize that every living thing must eventually die, because life does not exist without death. This belief is very prominent in Japanese culture and exists in all kinds of traditional and modern Japanese literary works. In this class, all of the readings seem to have something in common: Death is inevitable. Although all of the readings seem to deal with the topic of death in many different ways, I believe that the different representations of death are subsumed under a single point of view. In The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and The Mother of Captain Shigemoto by Tanizaki Junichirō, Buddhism is a key element in the understanding of the Japanese view on death. In The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, there are many instances in which the relationships between death and Buddhism are evident. This traditional novel, written in the 10th century, describes an aristocratic worldview in the Heian period, therefore allowing for a closer look at the religious and spiritual understanding of the Japanese during this time. While Shinto influence is mentioned in the novel, Buddhism, a popular religion in Japan, plays a part in the every day lives of the characters in The Tale of Genji. In this novel, a lot...
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...Religious and Ethnic Groups: Buddhism and Asians Cultural Diversity in the United States Religious and Ethnic Groups: Buddhism and Asians The world is a melting pot of people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. The religious and ethnic groups I have chosen to focus on, are Buddhism and Asians. I selected these groups, because of my curiosity and intrigue for the ancient traditions and mystique surrounding these two groups. The Asian culture is very colorful, fascinating, and dynamic. Buddhism is a religion based on spiritualism and the development of one's spiritual growth toward enlightenment. Even though my culture is not Asian, and Buddhism is not my chosen religion, I do find the discipline, art, and the adherence to traditional values kindred to my own. I also find the Buddhist practice of meditation relaxing and very effective at calming one's mind and in refocusing your energy. Over the course of this paper, I will offer a brief insight into the religious and cultural similarities and differences between the Buddhist religion, the Asian culture, and the rest of the world, as well as the discrimination endured by both. Buddhism: Similarities, Differences, and Discrimination The Buddhist religion is unique because they do not worship a deity, as other faiths do. Buddhist followers believe that each being shall reach enlightenment without the guidance of a God or Gods (BBC Online Services, 2014). Contrary to what most people think or believe...
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