Even Briefer Overview of World Religions

Semitic Traditions (Jews, Christians, Muslims)

• Monotheistic: One Supreme Deity

• Afterlife with rewards or punishments.

• Strong emphasis on scriptures 

• Strong religious communities/boundaries

• Congregational worship

Asian Traditions (Hindus, Buddhists, Chinese)

• Far greater diversity/wider cultural influences

• May be mono-, poly, non-, or a-theistic

• May stress reincarnation, or deny any afterlife.

• Scriptures valued for content, not divine origin.

• Worship and Practice more individual .

• Community/religious boundaries more fluid

The Sikhs (don't fit neatly into either)

Jews

• The oldest of the three, and the source from which Christians emerged.

• Not Christian "prehistory" --Rabbinic Judaism was formed during the early centuries C.E., and is radically different from earlier Judaism.

• Emphasizes covenant (agreement) between God and the community, in which God protects, and the Jews obey. 

• Orthoprax ("stressing correct practice)--strong connections between religious practice and everyday life (everyday life IS religious life).

• Strong emphasis on reading/interpreting texts to discern correct practice; strong religious stress on learning/study as a religious duty.

• Degrees of orthopraxy differ markedly among contemporary Jewish communities. 

Christians

• World's largest religious community (about 1/3 of humanity).

• Centers on the life and message of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe was God incarnate, who died an atoning death to redeem humans from sin (alienation from God), and whose resurrection provides for his followers the promise of their own eternal life.

• Jesus and his earliest followers were Jewish.  Early leaders who believed that this was a universal message (St. Paul) preached to non-Jews, and within a generation Jewish Christians were a tiny minority. 

• Orthodox ("stressing correct belief"), religious life is not strongly connected with everyday life.  Stress on correct belief fostered the development of theology, to define and clarify orthodoxy. 

• Major sub-groups are Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant; within these are many other groups. 

• Religious practice, worship, and strictness of orthodoxy vary widely among differing groups.  

Muslims

• Most recent Abrahamic faith--understands itself as the last part of an ongoing history of revelation, in which God (Allah) has sent multiple prophets and messengers.

• Claims to correct the errors of earlier communities (Jews kept the message to themselves, Christians believed Jesus was divine, not a messenger of Allah).

• Worst sin (shirk) is attributing equals/partners to Allah.

• Orthoprax ("stressing correct practice)--strong connections between religious practice and everyday life (everyday life IS religious life); this drove an emphasis on religious law, to provide people guidance. 

• Strong mystical tradition (stressing direct experience and closeness to Allah) counters legalistic orientation (activity-oriented).

• From its inception, a political community as well as a religious community.

• Considerable internal variation in contemporary times. 

Hindus

• No human founder, or single supreme deity, or centralized authority, or definitive scripture, or code of beliefs. 

• Ancient religious roots, but continuously changing. 

• Sharp local, regional, and sectarian variations in religious belief and practice. 

• Karma/reincarnation are generally accepted/assumed. 

• Orthoprax: ("stressing correct practice)--strong connections between religious assumptions, the traditional social system, and everyday life; this stimulated the development of social guidelines, particularly the notion of duty (dharma).

• No orthodoxy--as long as people fulfill social obligations, they can believe (or not believe) in whatever they want. 

• Basic religious goal is to seek and experience the Divine.   Paths/practices vary based on people's differing capacities/inclinations, and people are encouraged to seek out their best path (whether intellectual, devotional, mystical, or active). 

Buddhists

• First great Missionary Religion/non-ethnic Religion

• Based on the life/teachings of the Buddha ("Enlightened One"), who taught his followers why human beings are unhappy, and then an 8-step program to transcend this by attaining a condition called Nirvana..

• Generally accept karma/rebirth.

• Earliest teachings stress individual responsibility for spiritual attainment.  It begins with basic morality as a foundation; one cultivates higher levels only when ready (progress is sometimes slow).  The Buddha is a respected human teacher

• Later teachings (Mahayana) stress the bodhisattva--who postpones personal nirvana to lead others to enlightenment, out of compassion for their suffering.  The Buddhas (multiple) take on superhuman capacities.

• Different Asian cultural settings have prompted strong regional variations. 

Chinese

• Two great indigenous traditions--Confucians and Daoists, to which was added missionary Buddhism.  All three had a profound effect on East Asian culture.

• No demands for exclusive religious allegiance--people can be Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist simultaneously (one or another type of practice may be the more appropriate response for particular situation). 

• Chinese religion tends to be pragmatic, and centered on living a "good" life (however understood) here and now on this earth. 

• Confucians stress social order, hierarchy, loyalty, and lifelong self-development.   Focuses on building character through learning/internalizing past models.  Highly conscious, highly intentional, highly rational.

• Daoists stress awareness of the Dao, a transcendent harmony in the universe, and of living harmoniously with this.  De-emphasizes conscious thought and rationalism for intuition and awareness.  

Sikhs

• Like Semitic religions, Sikhs worship a single genderless Supreme Being.

• With other Indian religions, Sikhs stress karma and reincarnation.

• Founded in north India's Punjab region by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who traveled extensively through India before founding a community at Kartarpur.  Before his death Nanak designated a single successor (Guru Angad).  Guru Angad was succeeded by eight other human gurus, who were the Sikhs' ultimate religious authorities/spiritual guides. 

• The 5th guru, Guru Arjan (d. 1606), compiled the Sikh scripture (Guru Granth Sahib) from his hymns and those of his predecessors, as well as the writings of Hindu and Muslim saints whose message deemed compatible with that of the Sikh gurus.

• The 10th Guru, Gobind Singh created the Khalsa in 1699 to reconfigure the Sikh community and create a new identity.  Khalsa members wear five symbols: uncut hair (tied in a turban for men), a comb to keep the hair neat, a bangle on the right wrist, short breeches, and a sword/dagger (to fight injustice and defend the helpless).

• On his death bed in 1708, Gobind Singh announced that he was the final human guru, and that henceforth religious authority would reside in the Scripture (Granth) and the community (Panth).

• During the 17th and 18th centuries the Sikh community endured persecution by secular authorities.  This has shaped community ideas about sacrifice and martyrdom. 

• The core religious message is the need to harmonize oneself with the divine will and purpose, and to act in ways that further this, rather than acting in  ways that only benefit oneself.

• The primary religious practice is remembering and meditating on the divine qualities; usually through singing and/or listening to hymns from the scripture (Guru Granth Sahib).

• The three commandments for Sikhs since Nanak's time are to remember God, to earn a living through honest labor, and to serve others.  One concrete service venue is the langar--a community kitchen funded by donations and staffed by volunteers--that serves free food to any hungry person.  

• The community is now transitioning from a regional and ethnic religious community to a global world religion.