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Table Of Contents

I.Judaism                      n                                                           Page 4

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 5

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 6

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                      Page 7-

8

II.Christianity                     n                                                Page 9

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 

10

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 

11

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                        Page 

12

III.Hinduism                n                                                              Page 13

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 

14

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 

15

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                        Page 

16

IV.Buddhism                  n                                                         Page 17

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 18

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 19

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                        Page 

20 V.Islamic/Muslim           n                                                           Page 

21

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 22

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 23

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                       

Page24                    VI.Confucianism                                                                                 

Page 25

-Leader & Beginnings (timeline)                 Page 26

-Holy writings and guidelines                     Page 27

-Beliefs/Influence of beliefs                        Page 28

VII.Connections to the World today           Page 

29            -Where, Who, Why                                                                       

Page 30

Judaism

Leader and beginnings of Judaism.

    The founders of the Jewish religion are believed to be 

Abrham, Isiaac, and Jacob. The origins of Judaism lay with 

the Phoenician in ancient Palestine. Palestine was also home 

to Romans. The home of the Hebrews later known as the 

Jews was Canaan. The Hebrews started traditions in 

Christianity and Islam. Their culture has also spread all over 

the world. Their is no specified leader of the Jewish religion. 

This tradition has been carried out sense 70 C.E. 

0-100 CE Chasidei ashkenaz develops

c. 2000-1500 BCE     Abraham and the Patriarchs

c. 1500-1200 BCE    Egypt, the Exodus and wandering in the   desert

1200-1050 BCE     Occupation of Canaan, the Promised Land

Holy writing and guide lines

     The holy writing for the Jewish Religion is the torah. "Torah" 

refers to the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 

Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the word "torah" can also be used 

to refer to the entire Jewish bible. The scriptures used for services 

are put onto a scroll. The scrolls are not to be touched. Some 

believe it is that way because the scrolls are too holy, others 

believe that is is because they are written on animal skins and 

touching it may lead to ritual defilement as well as people believe 

that the oil from hands will ruin the scrolls over time.   Jewish men 

and women were separated in the things they could or could not do. 

Women could'nt officiate at religious ceremonies. They were 

expected to stay home to raise the kids and provide moral 

leadership. Jews were to follow the ten commandments, which are 

laws that were delivered to moses regulating social and religious 

behavior. 

Beliefs/influence of beliefs on next page

     The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely-

accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Rambam's thirteen principles of 

faith.

-God exists

-God is one and unique

-God is incorporeal

-God is eternal

-Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other

-The words of the prophets are true

-Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the 

prophets

-The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah 

(teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were 

given to Moses

-There will be no other Torah

God knows the thoughts and deeds of men

-God will reward the good and punish the wicked

-The Messiah will come

-The dead will be resurrected

     The influence of these beliefs have contributed to other 

religions such as Catholicism. The Jewish ideas have spread all 

throught out the world. At many points through history the Jews 

were punished for who they were, the holocaust being the best 

example. Approximately six million jews were murdered in the 

holocaust during would war two. They had done nothing wrong, 

they were simply killed for what they believed. Judaism is one of 

the worlds oldest religion, and it still continues today.

Christianity

    Leader and beginnings

     The founder and leader of Christianity is Jesus 

Christ, the son of god. As well as Jesus, God the father 

himself is also a leader, not a leader here on earth but 

a believed leader. There is no one leader of Christianity 

living on earth as a human, Christianity is split up into 

many other religions like he Catholic church and the 

Baptist church.

Early Timeline

c. 4 BC            Birth of Jesus

c. 26 AD      John the Baptist begins ministry

c. 27 AD      Jesus begins ministry

c. 30 AD      Crucifixion of Jesus

c. 35            Conversion of Paul

c. 46-48      Paul's first missionary journey

c. 68            Martyrdom of Paul

Holy Writings and Guidelines

     The holy writing for the Christians is the bible. It is called 

the Bible and is usually made up of 66 books combining the 

sacred Scriptures of both Judaism ("the Old Testament ") 

and Christianity (" the New Testament"). There are different 

versions of the bible, a few examples are the King James 

Bible, the New American Bible or the New Revised Standard 

Version. All are a little bit different from one and other. 

Some guidelines for Christianity include, following Jesus' 

teachings, and obey God, to follow Jesus Christ, God, and 

the holy spirit loving them with you whole heart mind and 

soul and to To believe that God really does exist, and that 

he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for US so that we could 

join him in heaven. By following those guidelines one 

can be a good and holy Christian.

  Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs   

     The beliefs of the christians include such things as believing 

that there is eternal life after death lived in heaven, as well as 

believing that god sent his only son Jesus Christ in the form of a 

human to earth to save all of us from our sins, and that he was 

crucified, buried and after three days rose again and now lives in 

heaven. Along with that belief is that during those three days Jesus 

journeyed into hell to save all of the souls that could not go into 

heaven after god closed the gates when Adam and Eve were 

tempted by Satin to eat from the forbidden tree. Christianity’s 

influence, set into motion the belief that man is accountable to God 

and that the law is the same regardless of status. More than one 

thousand years before the birth of Christ the biblical requirement 

given by Moses comprised an essential component of the principle 

that “no man is above the law.” Christianity now lives all 

throughout the world in many different forms of churches, however 

the beliefs are almost all the same. Tho christianity might be one 

of the most controversial religions in the world it is one of the most 

widely practiced.

Hinduism

Leader and Beginnings

     Hinduism is a collection of beliefs that developed slowly over a 

long period of time Some aspects of the religion can be traced back 

to ancient times. Buddhism started in India and evolved as it 

spread through Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. So the 

beginnings of Buddhism are thought to have been circa 520 BCE. 

The leader or originator of Buddhism is Buddha, After 49 days 

meditating, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment; according 

to some traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar 

month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama, from then 

on, was known as the Buddha or "Awakened One." Buddha is also 

sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he is 

referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened 

One of the Shakya Clan."

Early Timeline

c. 480 BCE           Birth of the Buddha in Kapilavastu.

c. 450 BCE           The Buddha's enlightenment and first sermon.

c. 405 BCE             Death of the Buddha.

327-325 BCE     Alexander the Great in India

Holy Writings and Guidelines

 The main Hindu scriptures are:

-the Vedas, a collection of hymns praising the Vedic gods. Veda 

means knowledge.

-the Ramayana, long epic poems about Rama and Sita

-the Mahabharata, which includes the Bhagavad Gita

-the Puranas, a collection of stories about the different incarnations 

and the lives of saints. Since there are so many new works, 

different divisions of Mahayana develop in different directions 

depending on which Sutras they use and emphasize. Just a few, 

however, are key to much of Mahayana development and thought. 

There are many guidelines for being a Buddhist. A few include the 

five precepts, (1) not killing, (2) not stealing, (3) not committing 

sexual misconduct, (4) not lying, and (5) not using intoxicants. 

Others may believe in beit which is described as the 'eight fold path' 

or the middle path lying between excessive luxuries and extreme 

austerity. 1. right belief, 2. right thought, 3. right speech, 4. right 

action, 5.right means of livelihood, 6. right meditation, 7. right 

effort, 8. right memory.

Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs 

     The three-in-one god known as “Brahman,” which is composed 

of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the 

Destroyer). 

The Caste System.

Karma.   The law that good begets good, and bad begets bad.  

Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences – 

good or bad – that will return to each person in the present life, or 

in one yet to come.

Reincarnation.   Also known as “transmigration of souls,” or 

“samsara.”   This is a journey on the “circle of life,” where each 

person experiences as series of physical births, deaths, and 

rebirths.   With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher 

caste, or even to godhood.   Bad karma can relegate one to a lower 

caste, or even to life as an animal in their next life.

Nirvana.   This is the goal of the Hindu.   Nirvana is the release of 

the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths. 

Buddhism

    Leader and beginnings

     Buddhism began as an offspring of Hinduism in the country of 

India. The founder was Siddhartha Gautama. It is not easy to 

give an accurate historical account of the life of Gautama, since 

no biography was recorded until hundreds of years after his 

death. Today, much of his life story is clouded in myths and 

legends which arose after his death. Even the best historians of 

our day have several different and even contradictory accounts of 

Gautama's life. Today Buddhism remains the predominant religion 

in China, Japan, Korea, and much of southeast Asia

Timeline

c. 480 BCE     Birth of the Buddha in Kapilavastu.

c. 450 BCE     The Buddha's enlightenment and first sermon.

c. 405 BCE     Death of the Buddha.

c.327-325 BCE     Alexander the Great in India.

c. 300 BCE     Buddhism arrives in SE Asia. 

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