Five Major World Religions - thekustore.com

1 Faith &Belief: five MajorWorld ReligionsTEACHER'SGUIDEF aith &Belief: five Major World ReligionsA video fromKnowledge Unlimited, E AC H E R ' SG U I D E2 FAITH&BELIEF: FIVEMAJORWORLDRELIGIONSP ermission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. Knowledge Unlimited , Inc. (800) 356-2303 &Belief: five Major World ReligionsCopyright 1992, 1996 Knowledge Unlimited, 1-55933-101-1 Student activity sheets may beduplicated for classroom : FIVEMAJORWORLDRELIGIONSG o a l sThe goals of the video Faith & Belief: five MajorWorld Religionsand this teacher s guide are tohelp students understand and appreciate bothwhat is unique and what is common to five of themost historically significant of the World s reli-gions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,and Buddhism.

2 The video presents a brief sum-mary of each religion and also traces the emer-gence and growth of all five . The teacher s guideprovides a series of lessons that teach students toinvestigate and discuss some of the themes pre-sented in the d i e n c eJunior high/middle school students andhigh school e a rn i n g O b j e c t i ve sAfter viewing the video and completing the activ-ities in this guide, students should be able to dothe following:1 Explain some of the most important conceptsunderlying Judaism, Christianity, Islam,Hinduism, and the contributions key religiousleaders made to the growth of these the way that these Religions haveresponded to deeply felt questions that confrontall human some initial comparisons among thesereligions and some other Major World granted to reproduce for classroom use only.

3 Knowledge Unlimited , Inc. (800) 356-2303 n t ro d u c t i o nT h e Vi d e oFaith & Belief: five Major World Religionspresents an overview of the nature and origins offive World Religions Judaism, Christianity,Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The videobegins with a series of philosophical questionsabout nature , existence, and human behavior,questions that all Religions seem to address in oneway or another: Why are we here? Why is naturesometimes so bountiful and other times so cruel?How must we behave toward one another? Whathappens to us after death? The video then looks atthe way the five above-mentioned Religions seekto explain some of the mysteries and hardships ofhuman existence. It deals first with the religionsthat arose in the Middle East (Judaism,Christianity, Islam) contrasting them in severalways, but also stressing their common features monotheism, a view of history as linear and pro-gressive, etc.

4 The focus then shifts to the East,with Hinduism and Buddhism presented asexamples of a very different tradition: non-monotheistic and with a more cyclical conceptionof history. The video concludes by stressing theimportance and continuing value of religion inthe modern h e G u i d eThe teacher s guide consists of the following: 1 A brief introduction, stating goals and objec-tives and describing the video and complete text of the readiness activity to be done before viewingthe video and four follow-up lessons to be doneafter viewing activity sheets accompanying brief list of additional granted to reproduce for classroom use only. Knowledge Unlimited , Inc. (800) 356-2303 : FIVEMAJORWORLDRELIGIONS4t h e v i d e o a n d g u i d eFAITH&BELIEF: FIVEMAJORWORLDRELIGIONSF a i t h & B e l i e f : five Major World ReligionsThe World all around us is full ofmystery of beauty and even today, the forces of naturecan also easily overwhelm anddestroy and earthquakes.

5 Floods and storms .. Disease,drought, and famine ..Why is nature so beautiful sometimes and so destructive othertimes? And what about humans?Our wars, our hatreds, our greedi-ness these are also often thecauses of suffering. Why do inno-cent people suffer in this life? Howare we to live and treat others? Andwhat happens to us after death? For thousands of years, people havestruggled to answer these ques-tions. religion is an attempt toanswer these most difficult andmost troubling have shaped faith andbelief for hundreds of millions ofpeople. And over the years, reli-gious beliefs have taken thousandsof forms. This is the story of five ofthe Major Religions that guide ourworld peoples believed that spir-itual forces, unseen powers, andgods were the causes of many of themysteries of nature .

6 Spirits or godsin trees, the sky, thunder, rain, thesun, and animals explained why theseasons changed .. why some got sick and othersstayed healthy .. why crops grew, or withered indrought .. why warriors succeeded in bat-tle, or fell in created rituals and sacrificesto please the gods or apologize tothem. In ancient Sumer, in theMiddle East, people believed eachcity had its own god looking outonly for the residents of that Egyptians believed theirPharaoh, or king, was actually agod who had taken human form towatch over all of early Religions were ways todeal with the immediate fears andneeds of a single tribe or nation. Agod who protected one group of peo-ple was not seen as having any con-cerns about other groups. But intime, Religions began to deal withbroader matters, with questions ofright and wrong, and with all ofhumanity.

7 Today, five such Religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam,Hinduism, and Buddhism stillinfluence and guide billions of peo-ple all over the World . Judaism,Christianity, and Islam all began inthe same region of the World theMiddle East. And all three religionsshare some of the same u d a i s mJudaism began about 4,000 yearsago as the religion of a small MiddleEastern group of people calledHebrews or Jews. The Hebrewswandered the lands between two ofthe Middle East s mighty civiliza-tions Babylon in the valley of theTigris and Euphrates Rivers, andEgypt in the valley of the Nile. Powerful gods were said to protectthese great empires and keep themstrong. The Hebrews, too, had aGod who watched over them. But intime, they developed a startling new, even revolutionary, idea aboutthis God the idea of monotheism,that there is only one god for all granted to reproduce for classroom use only.

8 Knowledge Unlimited , Inc. (800) 356-2303 i d e o s c r i p t6 FAITH&BELIEF: FIVEMAJORWORLDRELIGIONSP ermission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. Knowledge Unlimited , Inc. (800) 356-2303 group of ancient writings, calledthe Old Testament, tells how Godmade a special covenant, or agree-ment, with the Hebrews. He wouldprotect them and bring them into aland of their own Canaan. Inreturn, the Hebrews must obey hislaws, especially the laws spelled outin the tablets God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments. In time,the Hebrews came to see God as thecreator of the entire universe andas the only true might show special favor towardthe Hebrews. But in fact, all humanbeings were his children. He caredabout all of them. For the followersof Judaism, history has a is leading humanity to a betterfuture.

9 History is the story of God splan for humanity. As we ve seen, the three centralideas of Judaism are:Monotheism the idea of a the idea that Godsets down moral laws and agrees tobe fair to those who obey them. History the idea that God ischanging the World and leadinghumanity to a better life. Today, followers of Judaism live allover the World , but most live inIsrael, the , and the formerSoviet Union. They worship God inspecial buildings called Judaism the Shabbat, or Sabbath,is a special day of rest and weekly holy day begins at duskon Friday and continues are only about 17 millionJews in the World today. But fromJudaism grew two other Religions Christianity and Islam. Both ofthese Religions have hundreds ofmillions of h ri s t i a n i t yLike Jews, Christians also believe inone God, in God s lawfulness andhis role in guiding human accept the version of historydescribed in the Old Testament.

10 Butfor Christians, the most importantevents took place later in history the birth, life, death, and resurrec-tion of Jesus to the writings of theNew Testament, Jesus Christ was aHebrew who was born in Jerusalemabout 2,000 years ago, when theMiddle East was part of the ancientRoman believe that Christ isGod s son, who was sent to Earth toteach people to love one another asGod loves them. Christ taught thatrich and poor, Jew and non-Jew, areall equally important in God s eyes. Some powerful leaders in Israel andin the Roman Empire disliked andfeared Christ s teachings. And theyexecuted him as a criminal theynailed him on a cross and left himto die. Yet Christ s death was whatallowed his message to triumph. According to the New Testament,after Christ s death, he appeared tohis followers the 12 apostles.