World

1
World
Religions
A Six Part Series
Presented by the Diversity Committee Making
World Connections
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This presentation introduces the five major
religions of the world. Each forthcoming
series will focus on one of these religions,
including a list of resources, a quick facts
section, and a bibliography. The Diversity
Committees purpose of these presentations is to
increase awareness of other religions practiced
around the world and in our own backyard.
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The five major religions of the world are

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Religions are represented in alphabetical order

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Creation stories

• Explain the earth, its life and its peoples.
• The following presents some of these stories from
  the major religions.

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Buddhist Creation Story
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Buddhist Creation Story
The queen of the kingdom of Sakyas dreamt that a
silver elephant entered her womb through her
side, which priests predicted she would give
birth to a son, who would become a Buddha.
Siddhartha was born ten months later and when
he became a man, certain incidents that he
witnessed, led him to renounce his princely life
and later become the Enlightened One.
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Christian Creation Story
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Christian Creation Story
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between
the waters to separate water from water. So God
made the expanse and separated the water under
the expanse from the water above it. And it was
so. Taken from the King James Bible
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Hindu Creation Story
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Hindu Creation Story
When Purusha (man as primeval being), who had a
thousand heads, eyes, and feet, was sacrificed,
from his clarified butter beasts were made to
inhabit the earth. This also produced the gods
Indra (king of gods), Agni (Fire), Vayu (Wind),
the Sun and the Moon. The atmosphere was born
from Purushas navel from his head the heavens
were produced from his feet, the earth and from
his ear, the sky.
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Islamic Creation Story
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Islamic Creation Story
Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the
heavens and the earth in six days, then He
established Himself on the throne of authority
He draweth the night as a veil oer the day, each
seeking the other in rapid succession He created
the sun, the moon, and the stars, all governed
by laws under His command. Is it not His to
create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the
Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds! Translatio
n of the Quran (Al-Araf 754)
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(No Transcript)
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Jewish Creation Story
In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. The earth was without form and void
and darkness was upon the face of the deep and
the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the
waters. And God said, Let there be light and
there was light. And God saw that the light was
good and God separated the light from the
darkness. God called the light Day and the
darkness Night. And there was evening and there
was morning, one day. Taken from the Book of
Genesis (11-5)
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Stay tuned for the first installment in the
series, featuring Buddhism.
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Bibliography

• Park, M. (2009). Introducing Anthropology An
  Integrated Approach. 4th edition. Boston et
  al McGraw-Hill
• Conze, M. Conze, E. (2000). Buddhism A Short
  History. Oneworld Publications
• Cohn-Sherbok, L. Cohn-Sherbok, D. (1999).
  Judaism A Short Introduction. Oneworld
  Publications.
• Couliano, I. Eliade, C. Wiesner, H. (1991).
  The Harpercollins Concise Guide to World
  Religions. Harpercollins Publishers.
• Religionfacts website, (www.religionfacts.com)

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Image Sources

• Slide 5 http//mech.ioe.edu.np/pragati/Gautama20
  Siddhattha20Buddha_files/buddhadream.jpg
• Slide 7 http//farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/40182
  50989_cdecfe78ee.jpg
• Slide 9 http//www.irfwp.org/content/archives/ind
  ra.jpg , http//www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/galler
  y/03/01/012/images/vayu.jpg , http//www.eprarthan
  a.com/images/gallery/others/agni.jpg
• Slide 11 http//www.dhikrullah.com/lectures/image
  s/lectures/qadhi/angels.jpg
• Slide 13 http//www.ucdesigners.co.uk/wp-content/
  uploads/2009/03/stockxpertcom_id21589-world1-1024x
  794.jpg
• Slide 15 http//www.majikalwishes.com/picts/relig
  ions_earth.jpg