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universalizing religion and ethnic religion

a universalizing religion is a religion that attempts to operate on a global scale and trys to get people to join them. Geography isn't a big deal to them. Christianity, Islam, Buddism are a universalizing religion. 

 

an ethnic religion is one that appeals primarily to a specific group of people from a specific place. An example of ethnic religion is Hinduism, Judisam, Confucianism. 

 

Universalizing diffuses threw people traveling around the world and telling/teaching there religion to people over there. They seek converts. In the other hand ethnic can diffuse threw migration. They rarely diffuse but when they do its a small extent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Universalizing                                  Ethnic

  • Appear to people everywhere

  • individual founder

  • messaged diffused widley 

  • followers distributed widely 

  • holiday's based on events on founder's life

  • Has meaning to a certain place

  • unknown source 

  • content focused on a place and landscape of orgin 

  • followers highly clustered 

  • holidays based on local climate and agricultural practice

How they differ  

The major religions distriubted around the world are Buddism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam. 

 

Buddism is mainly located/practiced in  Japan, China, Korea, Southeast, Asia.

 

Christianity is mainly located/practiced in Europe and North and South America.

 

Judaism mainly located in Israel, Europe, United States.

 

Hinduism is mainly located in India, United Kingdom and the United States. 

 

Islam found all around the world, but it is primarily found in the Middle East and North Africa. It originated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Distribution of the major branches of christianity 

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination with over 1.2 billion members.In 1910, Europe was home to about two-thirds of all Catholics, and nearly nine-in-ten lived either in Europe or Latin America . By 2010, by contrast, only about a quarter of all Catholics were in Europe. The largest share were in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

 

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian Church in the world with an estimated 225–300 million adherents.Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Byzantine Empires and beyond,playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures.

 

 

There are more than 900 million Protestants worldwide among approximately 2.4 billion Christians.In 2010, a total of more than 800 million included 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in the Americas, 140 million in Asia-Pacific region, 100 million in Europe and 2 million in Middle East-North Africa.Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the total human population.

Major Branches of Islam and Buddhism 

                                 Islam

 

  • 2 branches 

  • Sunni and Shi’a

  •  Sunni   85-90%  of Muslims    

  •  Shi’a 10-15% of Muslims    

  •  Islam means "Peace”

  •  Qur’an   

  •  Five Pillars    

  • Islam was founded in 622 CE by Muhammad who was a trade merchant in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

  • monotheistic 

Buddism 

  • Originated in India

  • Founder was a Hindu trying to reform the Caste System and Hinduism

  • Still mostly regional in Asia

  • There are two major schools of Buddhism: Mahayana and Theravada or Hinayana. There is a third school, the Vajrayana, but it only has a small following.

  • Buddhism is a nontheistic religion (Independent from the belief or non-belief of God); Mahayana tradition is considered polytheistic.

The first movement of Hinduism from India was to nearby areas of Southeast Asia. Hinduism spread over Burma, Siam, and Java. Great cities were made with splendid temples and huge idols, the ruins of which still remain. Hinduism has no single teacher,no founder, nor prophets. The hindus belive in a universal soul or god called Brahman. They belive that there is a part of Brahman in everyone, which is called Atman. They all believe in differnt versions of Brahman, but he is one. Hindus also belive that all forms if life contain a soul and all the souls have a chance to experience life in different forms. They also belive in karma, good karma and bad karma. What goes around comes around.

Distribution of Hinduism, the largest ethnic religion 

Distribution of the major religions 

Sacred places in Universalizing religions.

Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for Buddhists, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency.

  • Bodh Gaya, India, is the most important religious site and place of pilgrimage, the Mahabodhi Temple houses what is believed to be theBodhi Tree where Siddhartha Gautama realized enlightenment and Buddhahood.

  • Kushinagar, India, is where Gautama Buddha attained Parinirvana after his death.

  • Lumbini, Nepal, is where Queen Maya gave birth to Prince Siddhartha Gautama.

  • Sarnath, India, is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dhamma after realizing enlightenment.

 

 

In Christianity, the Holy places are significant because they are the place of birth, ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour or Messiah to Christianity.

Holy cities for Christians of all denominations

  • Jerusalem is believed to be the site of some of Jesus's teaching, the Last Supper, the subsequent institution of the Holy Eucharistas.

  • Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus.

  • Nazareth is Jesus's hometown and the site of many holy places, including the Church of the Annunciation and Mary's Well.

  • Qana is where Jesus made his first miracle.

 

 

In Islam some holy sites are ;

  • Masjid al-Haram, is a large mosque in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the largest in Islam. It surrounds the Kaaba, the place which all Muslims turn towards each day in prayer, considered by Muslims to be the holiest place on Earth.

The importance of physical geography in ethnic religions

In ethnic religion, holy places are usually based on the physical enviornment of the hearth religion that all apears to a group of people living in only one place about 62% of the world's population adhere to a universalizing relgion, 24% tp an ethnic religion and 14% to no religion. 

Religious conflict in the Middle East 

A major source of conflict in the Muslim Middle East is the divisive nature between the two main sects of Islam: Sunni and Shi'a. Sunni is the largest branch of Islam and dominates most countries in the Middle East.  Even though these two sects agree on the fundamentals of Islam and the teachings of the Qur'an, they are in conflict about who would lead the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad's death. The Battle of Siffin was a significant schism between the two sects. Throughout the years, other differences have arisen between practices, beliefs and culture. 

SUNNI & SHI'A

Why is Jerusalem important to Jews, Muslims, and Christains?

jerusalem is important to Christians because this is the place where Jesus was crucified. Jesus went to Jerusalem as it was the Passover, and it was Jewish tradition to visit the temple there prior to Passover. This he was crucified close to the Passover. 

 


Jerusalem is important to Muslims as it is where Mohammed was taken to heaven, (same as Jesus) Hence the building of the Dome of the Rock. 

 

 

 

Jerusalem is important to Jews because the location of the ancient temple. It is the holiest place on earth for them. 

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