Anna Pałczyńska

THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION AND THE WORLD’S

MAJOR BELIEF SYSTEMS

1. Uwagi ogólne
Tekst The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems jest adresowany
do studentów kierunków humanistycznych, w szczególności: religioznawstwa, po-
równawczych studiów cywilizacji, kulturoznawstwa, etnologii, historii, filozofii,
socjologii. Jednak ze względu na ogólnopoznawczy charakter materiałów może
być wykorzystany w pracy ze studentami różnych kierunków humanistycznych.

2. Poziom zaawansowania: B2/B2+, C1

3. Czas trwania opisanych ćwiczeń

W zależności od poziomu zaawansowania oraz dynamiki grupy należy poświęcić
od dwóch do czterech jednostek lekcyjnych (45 minut).

4. Cele dydaktyczne
Studenci zapoznają się z zarysem ewolucji wierzeń religijnych oraz z głównymi
założeniami czterech najważniejszych religii świata: hinduizmu, buddyzmu, juda-
izmu i islamu. Zasadniczym celem jest rozwijanie kompetencji komunikatywnej,
dlatego też oprócz ćwiczeń leksykalnych i na zrozumienie tekstu zajęcia przyjmu-
ją formę wymagającą kooperacji między studentami, którzy mają za zadanie po-
konać lukę informacyjną lub rozwiązać zadany problem, pracując w parach bądź
małych grupach.

5. Uwagi i sugestie
• Temat związany z religią może być dość kontrowersyjny dla niektórych
osób, dlatego też należy wykazać się ostrożnością i dać studentom możli-
wość wyboru zakresu, w jakim będą chcieli się wypowiadać. Dotyczy to
szczególnie ćwiczenia 1, w którym studenci mają wyrazić swoją opinię na
250 V. O RELIGII

temat cytatów związanych z religią i wiarą. Nauczyciel powinien pozostać

neutralny podczas dyskusji, jedynie zachęcając studentów do wypowiedzi.
• Mając na uwadze wrażliwą naturę tematu, przed poszczególnymi ćwicze-
niami studenci są proszeni o przemyślenie odpowiedzi na zadane pytania,
a następnie pracują w parach lub grupach, zanim temat zostanie omówiony
na forum całej grupy.
• W ćwiczeniu, w którym studenci porównują i analizują główne religie świa-
ta, chrześcijaństwo zostało celowo pominięte, ponieważ jest dobrze znane
studentom z naszego kręgu kulturowego, a materiał ten ma również cel po-
znawczy. Pod koniec tego zadania można poprosić o porównanie chrześci-
jaństwa z omawianymi religiami.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 251

SPEAKING AND READING

1. Match the halves to make quotations about religion. Check with your partner.
2. What do they mean? Which do you agree with? Do you have any favourites?
Source: www.brainyquote.com, access: 29 January, 2013.

1. “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t,
2. “Science without religion is lame, …
3. “If Christ were here now…
4. “In heaven, …
5. “If there were no God, …
6. “For a truly religious man…
7. “Religion is what keeps…
8. “There is only one religion,

a. …the poor from murdering the rich.” Napoleon Bonaparte

b. …though there are a hundred versions of it.” George Bernard Shaw
c. …religion without science is blind.” Albert Einstein
d. …there is one thing he would not be – a Christian.” Mark Twain
e. …all the interesting people are missing.” Friedrich Nietzsche
f. …than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is.” Albert Camus
g. …it would have been necessary to invent him.” Voltaire
h. …nothing is tragic.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

3. You are going to read the text about the origin of religion. The following con-
cepts occur in the text. In pairs, discuss their possible relevance to the birth
and development of religion.
• language
• burial rituals
• symbols
• agriculture
• writing
252 V. O RELIGII

4. Read the text, ignoring the gaps, and check your ideas in exercise 1.
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions, access: 29 January, 2013.

The origin of religion

Religion is an organized collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views
that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have
narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to
life or to explain the origin of life or the Universe. They tend to derive morality, eth-
ics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human
nature. According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world.
Many religions may have organized behaviours, clergy, a definition of what consti-
tutes adherence or membership, holy places, and scriptures. The practice of a religion
may also include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration of a deity, gods or
goddesses, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services, matrimo-
nial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service or other aspects of
human culture. Religions may also contain mythology.
The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system;
however, religion differs from private belief in that it is “something eminently social”.
A global 2012 poll reports that 59% of the world’s population is religious, 23% are not
religious, and 13% are atheists.
Religion requires a system of symbolic communication, such as a language, to be
transmitted from one individual to another. Philip Lieberman states “human religious
thought and moral sense clearly rest on a cognitive-linguistic base.” From this premise
science writer Nicholas Wade states: “Like most behaviours that are found in societies
throughout the world, religion must have been present in the ancestral human popula-
tion before the dispersal from Africa 50,000 years ago. Although religious rituals usu-
ally involve dance and music, they are also very verbal, since the sacred truths have to
be stated. If so, religion, at least in its modern form, cannot pre-date the emergence of
language. It is often argued that language attained its modern state shortly before the
exodus from Africa. If religion had to await the evolution of modern, articulate lan-
guage, then it too would have emerged shortly before 50,000 years ago.”
Another view distinguishes individual religious belief from collective religious
belief. While the former does not require prior development of language, the latter
does. The individual human brain has to explain a phenomenon in order to compre-
hend and relate to it. This activity predates by far the emergence of language and may
have caused it. The theory is, belief in the supernatural emerges from hypotheses arbi-
trarily assumed by individuals to explain natural phenomena that cannot be explained
otherwise. The resulting need to share individual hypotheses with others leads even-
tually to collective religious belief. A socially accepted hypothesis becomes dogmatic
backed by social sanction.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 253

Palaeolithic religion and Prehistoric religion

When humans first became religious remains unknown, but there is credible eviden-
ce of religious behaviour from the Middle Palaeolithic era (300-500 thousand years
ago) and possibly earlier.
The earliest evidence of religious thought is based on the ritual treatment of the
dead. Most animals display only a casual interest in the dead of their own species. Ritual
burial thus represents a significant change in human behaviour. Ritual burials represent
an awareness of life and death and a possible belief in the afterlife. Philip Lieberman
states “burials with grave goods clearly signify religious practices and concern for the
dead that transcends daily life.”
The earliest evidence for treatment of the dead comes from Atapuerca in Spain. At
this location the bones of 30 individuals believed to be Homo heidelbergensis have
been found in a pit. Neanderthals are also contenders for the first hominids to inten-
tionally bury the dead. They may have placed corpses into shallow graves along with
stone tools and animal bones. The presence of these grave goods may indicate an emo-
tional connection with the deceased and possibly a belief in the afterlife. Neanderthal
burial sites include Shanidar in Iraq and Krapina in Croatia and Kebara Cave in Israel.
The earliest known burial of modern humans is from a cave in Israel located at
Qafzeh. Human remains have been dated to 100,000 years ago. The skeletons were
found stained with red ochre. A variety of grave goods were found at the burial site.

The use of symbolism

The use of symbolism in religion is a universal established phenomenon. Archeologist

Steven Mithen contends that it is common for religious practices to involve the creation
of images and symbols to represent supernatural beings and ideas. Because supernatural
beings violate the principles of the natural world, there will always be difficulty in com-
municating and sharing supernatural concepts with others. This problem can be overcome
by anchoring these supernatural beings in material form through representational art.
When translated into material form, supernatural concepts become easier to communicate
and understand. Due to the association of art and religion, evidence of symbolism in the
fossil record is indicative of a mind capable of religious thoughts. Art and symbolism
demonstrates a capacity for abstract thought and imagination necessary to construct reli-
gious ideas. Wentzel van Huyssteen states that the translation of the non-visible through
symbolism enabled early human ancestors to hold beliefs in abstract terms.
Some of the earliest evidence of symbolic behaviour is associated with Middle
Stone Age sites in Africa. From at least 100,000 years ago, there is evidence of the use
of pigments such as red ochre. Pigments are of little practical use to hunter gatherers,
thus evidence of their use is interpreted as symbolic or for ritual purposes. Among ex-
tant hunter gatherer populations around the world, red ochre is still used extensively
for ritual purposes. It has been argued that it is universal among human cultures for
the colour red to represent blood, sex, life and death.
254 V. O RELIGII

The use of red ochre as a proxy for symbolism is often criticized as being too in-
direct. Some scientists, such as Richard Klein and Steven Mithen, only recognize un-
ambiguous forms of art as representative of abstract ideas. Upper Palaeolithic cave art
provides some of the most unambiguous evidence of religious thought from the Palaeo-
lithic. Cave paintings at Chauvet depict creatures that are half human and half animal.

Origins of organized religion

Organized religion traces its roots to the Neolithic revolution that began 11,000 years
ago in the Near East but may have occurred independently in several other locations
around the world. The invention of agriculture transformed many human societies from
a hunter gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary lifestyle. The consequences of the Neolithic
revolution included a population explosion and an acceleration in the pace of techno-
logical development. The transition from hunter-gatherer bands to states and empires
precipitated more specialized and developed forms of religion that reflected the new
social and political environment. While bands and small tribes possess supernatu-
ral beliefs, these beliefs do not serve to justify a central authority, justify transfer of
wealth or maintain peace between unrelated individuals. Organized religion emerged
as a means of providing social and economic stability. It justified the central author-
ity, which in turn possessed the right to collect taxes in return for providing social and
security services to the state.
Bands and tribes consist of small number of related individuals. However states and
nations are composed of thousands of unrelated individuals. Jared Diamond argues that
organized religion served to provide a bond between unrelated individuals who would
otherwise be more prone to enmity. He argues that the leading cause of death among
hunter gatherer societies is murder. Religions that revolved around moralizing gods may
have facilitated the rise of large, cooperative groups of unrelated individuals.
The states born out of the Neolithic revolution, such as those of Ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia, were theocracies with chiefs, kings and emperors playing dual roles of
political and spiritual leaders. Anthropologists have found that virtually all state soci-
eties and chiefdoms from around the world have been found to justify political power
through divine authority. This suggests that political authority co-opts collective reli-
gious belief to bolster itself.

Invention of writing

Following the Neolithic revolution, the pace of technological development (cultural

evolution) intensified due to the invention of writing 5000 years ago. Symbols that
became words later on made effective communication of ideas possible. Printing, in-
vented only over a thousand years ago, increased the speed of communication expo-
nentially and became the main spring of cultural evolution. Writing is thought to have
been first invented in either Sumeria or Ancient Egypt and was initially used for ac-
counting. Soon after, writing was used to record myths. The first religious texts mark
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 255

the beginning of religious history. The Pyramid Texts from ancient Egypt are one of
the oldest known religious texts in the world, dating to between 2400-2300 BC.Writing
played a major role in sustaining and spreading organized religion. In pre-literate so-
cieties, religious ideas were based on an oral tradition, the contents of which were ar-
ticulated by shamans and remained limited to the collective memories of the society’s
inhabitants. With the advent of writing, information that was not easy to remember
could easily be stored in sacred texts that were maintained by a select group (clergy).
Humans could store and process large amounts of information with writing that other-
wise would have been forgotten. Writing therefore enabled religions to develop coher-
ent and comprehensive doctrinal systems that remained independent of time and place.
Writing also brought a measure of objectivity to human knowledge. Formulation of
thoughts in words and the requirement for validation made mutual exchange of ideas
and the sifting of generally acceptable from not acceptable ideas possible. The gener-
ally acceptable ideas became objective knowledge reflecting the continuously evolv-
ing framework of human awareness of reality that Karl Popper calls ‘verisimilitude’
– a stage on the human journey to truth.

VOCABULARY
5. Look at the words in bold. With a partner say what they mean.

6. Complete the sentences with the missing words from the previous exercise.
1. Beowulf is the oldest ………………… manuscript written in English.
2. Careful planning ………………… any kind of work.
3. Finally all the …………………for the crown of this year’s carnival queen ar-
rived at the court.
4. He avoided criticizing the government on the ………………… that the sub-
missiveness would lead to his release from jail.
5. He survived two wars and ………………… a great age.
6. He was also a great man for interpreting sacred ………………… for the ben-
efit of the less learned.
7. I think Mr Jackson is an applicant ………………… qualified for the job.
8. If your girlfriend burns all your letters, texts you that she hates you, and moves
a thousand miles away, the ………………… message is that she’s finished
with you.
9. It is ………………… of the change in Margot that this year she is changing
her job.
10. Many English words ………………… from Latin.
11. Scientists believe that one of the causes of the obesity epidemic sweeping the
US is our ………………… lifestyle.
256 V. O RELIGII

12. The Cold War was a state of political ………………… that existed from 1945
until 1990 between countries led by the Soviet Union and countries led by the
United States.
13. The explosion lead to the widespread ………………… of poisonous chemi-
cals into the atmosphere.
14. The problem was how to create and ………………… the public interest.
15. There is a considerable speculation as to whether these sounds …………………
a language.
16. This evidence presented is entirely ………… and as such may be accepted.
17. We must go back almost as far as the ancient Greeks, if we find an example of
such great ……………… for learning.
18. We should ………………… his wheelchair to a big stone.

7. Complete the table with the words related to words from the article.

Noun Verb Adjective

1. …………………… (person) adhere ……………………

……………………
……………………
2. ambiguity X ……………………
…………………… (opposite)
3. …………………… attain ……………………

4. …………………… X credible
…………………… (opposite)
5. …………………… derive ……………………
……………………
6. …………………… facilitate ……………………

7. …………………… sustain ……………………

…………………… …………………… (opposite)
8. veneration ……………… ……………………
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 257

SPEAKING
8. Look at the chart. Identify the religion associated with each of the four symbols.

9. Work in pairs. What does each symbol represent in each religion?

SYMBOL

RELIGION

ORIGINS

GOD(S)
AND
UNIVERSE
HUMAN’S
LIFE

AFTERLIFE

VOCABULARY
10. Match the words with the definitions and decide which religion(s) or belief(s)
from exercise 1 they refer to.

afterlife bodhisattva Brahman deity dharma enlightenment hell

karma messiah mitzvah moksha monotheism nirvana pantheism paradise
polytheism prophet reincarnation samsara stupa theism

• BUDDHISM:................................................................................................
• HINDUISM: ................................................................................................
• ISLAM:.........................................................................................................
• JUDAISM:....................................................................................................

A. a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save

others and is worshipped as a deity
B. the single absolute being pervading the universe and found within the individual
258 V. O RELIGII

C. a god or goddess
D. the basic principles of cosmic or individual existence: divine law
E. a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering
F. the realm of the devil and the demons in which the damned suffer everlasting
punishment
G. the force generated by a person’s actions to perpetuate transmigration and in
its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person’s next existence
H. the expected king and deliverer
I. a commandment
J. release from samsara and liberation from karma together with the attainment
of Nirvana
K. the doctrine or belief that there is but one God
L. the state of perfect happiness and peace in Buddhism where there is release
from all forms of suffering
M. the belief that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent God, or
that the universe (or nature) is identical with divinity
N. an intermediate place or state where the souls of the righteous await resurrec-
tion and the final judgment
O. the worship or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of
gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals
P. an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the
divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, de-
livering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people
Q. rebirth in new bodies or forms of life
R. the endless round of birth, death, and rebirth to which all conditioned beings
are subject
S. a usually dome-shaped structure (as a mound) serving as a Buddhist shrine
T. belief in the existence of a god or gods
U. a life or existence believed to follow death

SPEAKING
11. Work in group of four.

Student A: Read about Hinduism

Student B: Read about Islam
Student C: Read about Buddhism
Student D: Rread about Judaism

12. Complete the table for the religion you have read about. Work with your
partners. Share the information you have just read with the other members of
the group. Use your own words, as far as possible, without looking at the text.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 259

13. Listen to your partners and complete the rest of the table.

14. What are the most significant similarities between Hinduism, Islam, Bud-
dhism and Judaism?

STUDENT A
Source: www.religionfacts.com, access: 29 January, 2013.

Hinduism

The term “Hinduism” includes numerous traditions, which are closely related and share
common themes but do not constitute a unified set of beliefs or practices.
Hinduism is thought to have got its name from the Persian word hindu, meaning
“river,” used by outsiders to describe the people of the Indus River Valley. Hindu-
ism has no founder or date of origin. The authors and dates of most Hindu sacred
texts are unknown. Scholars describe modern Hinduism as the product of religious
development in India that spans nearly four thousand years, making it the oldest sur-
viving world religion. Hinduism is not a homogeneous, organized system. However,
there are some beliefs common to nearly all forms of Hinduism that can be identified,
and these basic beliefs are generally regarded as boundaries outside of which lies
either heresy or non-Hindu religion. These fundamental Hindu beliefs include: the
authority of the Vedas (the oldest Indian sacred texts) and the Brahmins (priests); the
existence of an enduring soul that transmigrates from one body to another at death
(reincarnation); and the law of karma that determines one’s destiny both in this life
and the next. The ultimate goal of all Hindus is release (moksha) from the cycle of
rebirth (samsara).
The atman is entrapped in the world of “samsara.” Unlike Western treatments
of reincarnation, which tend to make the idea of coming back into body after body
seem exotic, desirable, and even romantic, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other south-
ern Asian religions portray the samsaric process as unhappy. Life in this world
means suffering.
What keeps us trapped in the samsaric cycle is the law of karma. If one dies before
reaping the effects of one’s actions (as most people do), the karmic process demands
that one come back in a future life. Coming back in another lifetime also allows kar-
mic forces to reward or punish one through the circumstances to which one is born.
Hence, for example, an individual who was generous in one lifetime might be reborn
as a wealthy person in the next incarnation.
“Moksha” is the traditional Sanskrit term for release or liberation from the end-
less chain of deaths and rebirths. In the southern Asian religious tradition, it represents
the supreme goal of human strivings. Reflecting the diversity of Hinduism, liberation
can be attained in a variety of ways, from the proper performance of certain rituals to
highly disciplined forms of yoga.
260 V. O RELIGII

What happens to the individual after reaching moksha? In Upanishadic Hindu-

ism, the individual Atman is believed to merge into the cosmic Brahma. A tradi-
tional image is that of a drop of water that, when dropped into the ocean, loses its
individuality and becomes one with the sea. Although widespread, this metaphor
does not quite capture the significance of this merger. Rather than losing one’s in-
dividuality, the Upanishadic understanding is that the Atman is never separate from
Brahma; hence, individuality is illusory, and moksha is simply waking up from the
dream of separateness.
Along with heaven realms, Hinduism also developed notions of hell worlds in
which exceptionally sinful individuals were punished. Many of the torments of Hindu
hell worlds, such as being tortured by demons, resemble the torments of more familiar
Western hells. Unlike Western hells, however, Hindu hell worlds are not final dwelling
places. They are more like purgatories in which sinful souls experience suffering for
a limited term. After the term is over, even the most evil person is turned out of hell to
once again participate in the cycle of reincarnation.
A specific belief about God or gods is not considered one of the essentials, which
is a major difference between Hinduism and strictly monotheistic religions like Chris-
tianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. Most Hindus are devoted followers of one of the
principal gods Shiva, Vishnu or Shakti, and often others besides, yet all these are re-
garded as manifestations of a single Reality.
Hinduism is a theistic religion; the difficulty lies in determining whether it is a poly­
theistic, pantheistic, or perhaps even monotheistic religion.
Supporting a view of Hinduism as a polytheistic religion is the great pantheon of
Hindu gods.
Despite these polytheistic elements, however, many Hindus explain that the gods
are various forms of a single Supreme Being. Similarly, the philosophical Hindu texts
advocate a pantheistic view of ultimate reality. These texts, most notably the Upan-
ishads, explain that there exists a single Supreme Reality, called Brahman. Brah-
man is often personified and presented as the One that must be sought, and can be-
gin to sound like monotheism. Yet the ultimate revelation of the Upanishads is that
the self (atman) is identical with Brahman. So is Hinduism polytheistic, pantheistic,
or monotheistic? Taking all of the above into consideration, Hinduism may be clas-
sified as “pantheism with polytheistic elements.” Why not monotheism? Although
“monotheism” literally means belief in the existence of one God, the term has come
to denote belief in a God who created and is distinct from the universe. Pantheism
is the view that God is essentially identical with the universe and totally immanent
in the world: God is the universe and the universe is God. Thus pantheism seems to
be the most accurate label for Hinduism. The “with polytheistic elements” qualifier
is added because the Supreme Being of Hinduism is most often worshipped in the
form of multiple deities.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 261

STUDENT B
Source: www.religionfacts.com, access: 29 January, 2013.

Islam

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, with over 1 billion followers. It is
a monotheistic faith founded by a man named Muhammad in 7th-century Saudi Arabia.
According to Muslim belief, the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad, a camel
driver, in a mountain cave and delivered a message from the one true God. The Prophet
Muhammad dedicated the remainder of his life to spreading a message of monotheism in
a polytheistic world. His life’s work is recorded in the Qur’an, the sacred text of Islam.
In 622 AD, the Prophet fled north to the city of Medina to escape growing persecu-
tion. This event is celebrated by Muslims as the hijira (“flight”) and marks the begin-
ning of the Islamic calendar (622 AD = 1 AH). Eight years later, Muhammad returned
to Mecca with an army and defeated it easily. By Muhammad’s death, 50 years later,
the entire Arabian Peninsula had come under Muslim control.
The word “Islam” means “submission,” reflecting the religion’s central tenet of
submitting to the will of God. Islamic practices centres on the Five Pillars of Islam:
confession of faith, daily prayer, fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage and charity.
The sacred text of Islam, the Qur’an, was written in Arabic within 30 years of Mu-
hammad’s death. Muslims believe it contains the literal word of God as gradually re-
vealed to Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel over the course of 20 years.
According to the Qur’an, Allah “created man from a clot of blood” at the same time
he created the jinn from fire. Humans are the greatest of all creatures, created with free
will for the purpose of obeying and serving God.
The single most important belief in Islam, and arguably the central theme of Islam,
is that there is one God. The Muslim name for God is Allah, which is simply Arabic
for “the (al) God (Ilah).” The term is related to Elohim, the Hebrew word for God.
Muslims believe that God is the all-powerful Creator of a perfect, ordered universe.
He is transcendent and not a part of his creation, and is most often referred to in terms
and with names that emphasize his majesty and superiority.
Along with Judaism and Christianity, Islam belongs to the religious category of
“ethical monotheism.” Allah is a God of justice, who expects righteous behaviour and
submission to the divine will (the word Islam means “submission,” and a Muslim is
literally “one who submits”) and punishes unrighteousness. Yet divine mercy is not
absent from the Qur’an. It teaches that God will respond to anyone who cries out to
him in distress and that he mercifully provides guidance to humanity so they can fol-
low “the straight path.”
According to Muslim theology, mankind’s chief failing is pride and rebellion. In
their pride, humans attempt to partner themselves with God and thereby damage the
unity of God. Thus pride is Islam’s cardinal sin. The cardinal virtue, then, is submis-
sion, or islam.
262 V. O RELIGII

Like Christianity, Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a trans-
formed physical existence after death. Muslims believe there will be a day of judg-
ment when all humans will be divided between the eternal destinations of Paradise
and Hell.
A central doctrine of the Qur’an is the Last Day, on which the world will be de-
stroyed and Allah will raise all people and jinn from the dead to be judged.
Until the Day of Judgment, deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting the res-
urrection. However, they begin to feel immediately a taste of their destiny to come.
Those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while those bound for heaven will be
in peace until that time.
The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical, and is explained
by suggesting that God will re-create the decayed.
On the Last Day, resurrected humans will be judged by Allah according to their
deeds. One’s eternal destination depends on balance of good to bad deeds in life. They
are either granted admission to Paradise, where they will enjoy spiritual and physical
pleasures forever, or condemned to Hell to suffer spiritual and physical torment for
eternity. The day of judgment is described as passing over Hell on a narrow bridge in
order to enter Paradise. Those who fall, weighted by their bad deeds, will remain in
Hell forever.
The Qur’an specifies two exceptions to this general rule:
Warriors who die fighting in the cause of God are ushered immediately to God’s
presence and “Enemies of Islam” are sentenced immediately to Hell upon death.
Paradise (firdaws), also called “The Garden” (Janna), is a place of physical and
spiritual pleasure, with lofty mansions, delicious food and drink, and virgin compan-
ions called houris. There are seven heavens.
Hell, or Jahannam (Greek gehenna), is mentioned frequently in the Qur’an and the
Sunnah using a variety of imagery. It has seven doors leading to a fiery crater of vari-
ous levels, the lowest of which contains the tree Zaqqum and a cauldron of boiling
pitch. The level of hell depends on the degree of offenses. Suffering is both physical
and spiritual.
Being a Muslim does not keep one out of Hell, but it is not clear whether Mus-
lims remain in Hell forever. Non-Muslims (kafir), however, will be punished eternally.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 263

STUDENT C
Source: www.religionfacts.com, access: 29 January, 2013.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by an Indian prince named Siddharta Gautama around the year
500 BC. According to tradition, the young prince lived an affluent and sheltered life
until a journey during which he saw an old man, a sick man, a poor man, and a corpse.
Shocked and distressed at the suffering in the world, Gautama left his family to seek
enlightenment through asceticism. But even the most extreme asceticism failed to
bring enlightenment.
Finally, Gautama sat beneath a tree and vowed not to move until he had attained
enlightenment. Days later, he arose as the Buddha – the “enlightened one.” He spent
the remaining 45 years of his life teaching the path to liberation from suffering (the
dharma) and establishing a community of monks (the sangha).
Today, there are over 360 million followers of Buddhism. Although virtually extinct
in its birthplace of India, it is prevalent throughout China, Japan and Southeast Asia.
In the 20th century, Buddhism expanded its influence to the West and even to western
religions. Buddhist concepts have also been influential on western society in general,
primarily in the areas of meditation and nonviolence.
Buddhist beliefs vary significantly across various sects and schools, but all share
admiration for the figure of the Buddha and the goal of ending suffering and the cy-
cle of rebirth.
There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or
punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day. Buddhism is strictly not a religion in
the context of being a faith and worship owing allegiance to a supernatural being. The
Buddha himself rejected metaphysical speculation as a matter of principle, and his
teachings focused entirely on the practical ways to end suffering.
On the other hand, the Buddha did not explicitly rule out the existence of a God or
gods, and very shortly after his death a devotional element formed within Buddhism.
Stupas were built to contain relics of the Buddha and pilgrimages were made to places
where he had walked.
Soon the idea of past and future Buddhas developed, with Maitreya, the Buddha
yet to come, being especially important. In the Mahayana system, a variety of celes-
tial Buddhas and bodhisatvas came to be revered and looked to for assistance on the
path to enlightenment.
As Buddhism spread into cultures with existing religious beliefs, it incorporated
local deities and religious practices into the Buddhist system.
Scholars and Buddhists alike tend to describe Buddhism as atheistic in the sense that
it denies an eternal creator God, while recognizing its theistic and devotional elements.
In Buddhism, the primary purpose of life is to end suffering. The Buddha taught
that humans suffer because we continually strive after things that do not give lasting
264 V. O RELIGII

happiness. We desperately try to hold on to things – friends, health, material things –

that do not last, and this causes sorrow.
The Buddha did not deny that there are things in life that give joy, but pointed out
that none of them last and our attachment to them only causes more suffering. His
teachings were focused entirely on this problem and its solution.
This is done by recognizing the impermanence of all things and freeing oneself
from attachment to these things. This will lessen suffering and eventually end the cy-
cle of rebirth. These teachings are expressed most concisely in the Four Noble Truths
and the Noble Eightfold Path, which together form the foundation of belief for all
branches of Buddhism.
According to Buddhism, after death one is either reborn into another body (rein-
carnated) or enters nirvana. Only Buddhas – those who have attained enlightenment –
will achieve the latter destination.
Based on his no-soul (anatta) doctrine, the Buddha described reincarnation, or the
taking on of a new body in the next life, in a different way than the traditional Indian
understanding. He compared it to lighting successive candles using the flame of the
preceding candle. Although each flame is causally connected to the one that came be-
fore it, is it not the same flame and yet the first flame directly causes the second. In the
same way, one human life, with its particular accumulation of karma, gives rise to the
next life, even though no permanent soul passes from one to the other. Thus, in Bud-
dhism, reincarnation is usually referred to as “transmigration.” Nirvana is the state of
final liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. It is also therefore the end of suf-
fering. The literal meaning of the word is “to extinguish,” in the way that a fire goes
out when it runs out of fuel.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 265

STUDENT D
Source: www.religionfacts.com, access: 29 January, 2013.

Judaism

Judaism is one of the oldest religions still existing today. It began as the religion of
the small nation of the Hebrews, and through thousands of years of suffering, perse-
cution, dispersion, and occasional victory, has continued to be a profoundly influen-
tial religion and culture.
Today, 14 million people identify themselves as Jews, and nearly 3.5 billion others
follow belief systems directly influenced by Judaism (including Christianity, Islam, and
the Bah’ai Faith). Modern Judaism is a complex phenomenon that incorporates both
a nation and a religion, and often combines strict adherence to ritual laws with a more
liberal attitude towards religious belief.
The central religious belief of Judaism is that there is only one God. Monotheism
was uncommon at the time Judaism was born, but according to Jewish tradition, God
himself revealed it to Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people. Beginning with Abra-
ham, God has always taken special care of the Hebrews (who would later become the
Jews). After rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, God revealed the Ten Command-
ments to Moses, and many more religious and ethical guidelines in the Torah (“the
Law”). Many of the guidelines (mitzvah) emphasized ritual purity and the importance
of remaining set apart from the surrounding polytheistic cultures.
Aside from its staunch monotheism, Judaism has few essential beliefs. Jewish iden-
tity arises primarily from belonging to ancient people and upholding its traditions. Dog-
ma, while important, is secondary. Although the medieval thinker Rabbi Maimonides
once enumerated “13 Articles of Faith,” many Jews do not accept all these, and Jew-
ish beliefs vary widely on theological matters such as human nature and the afterlife.
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism has no official creed or universal doctri-
nal requirements for membership. In general, a person can be considered “Jewish”
whether he adheres to a complete system of beliefs about God and the afterlife, holds
only a few simple beliefs that give meaning to ritual, or even (at least in liberal Juda-
ism) does not believe in God at all.
This diversity in Jewish belief arises in part because actions (good deeds and the
mitzvot), not beliefs, are the most important aspect of Jewish religious life. In addition,
the term “Jewish” can be used to describe a race and a culture rather than a religion,
so some who identify themselves as Jewish may have little interest in the beliefs and
practices associated with the religion of Judaism.
The Torah and Talmud have a great deal to say about God, humanity, and the mean-
ing of life, and Jewish history has seen significant theological and mystical inquiry into
religious concepts. These beliefs are of great significance not only for Judaism itself,
but also for their direct influence on Christianity and Islam, currently the two largest
religions in the world.
266 V. O RELIGII

In Judaism, ultimate reality is a single, all-powerful God. It is this belief that made
the Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples and that became the legacy Ju-
daism has passed on to the entire Western world.
The sacred name of God, as revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus, is YHWH.
Since ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, we do not know the original pro-
nunciation of this word. The common pronunciation “Jehovah,” however, is incor-
rect. It is derived from combining the vowels for Adonai (“Lord”) with the four con-
sonants of YHWH.
A more “correct” pronunciation, and that which is used among scholars, is “Yah-
weh.” The discussion is irrelevant to observant Jews, however, as they do not pro-
nounce this holiest of names. When the Torah is read aloud, Adonai (“Lord”) is read
in its place. This practice is reflected in most English translations, in which YHWH is
rendered “LORD.” Jews also refer to God as Hashem, “the Name.”
A fundamental Jewish belief about human beings is that they are created in the im-
age of God. This does not mean that we look like God, for God is incorporeal. The
general rabbinical interpretation of this concept is that humans have the ability to rea-
son. The idea of human free will is fundamental to Judaism. The concept of original
sin is rejected, and every person has the ability to choose good or evil.
Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence.
However, because Judaism is primarily focused on life here and now rather than on
the afterlife, Judaism does not have much dogma about the afterlife, and leaves a great
deal of room for personal opinion. It is possible for an Orthodox Jew to believe that the
souls of the righteous dead go to a place similar to the Christian heaven, or that they
are reincarnated through many lifetimes, or that they simply wait until the coming of
the messiah, when they will be resurrected. Likewise, Orthodox Jews can believe that
the souls of the wicked are tormented by demons of their own creation, or that wicked
souls are simply destroyed at death, ceasing to exist.
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 267

KEY
1.
1. f. 4. e 7. a
2. c. 5. g 8. b
3. d. 6. h

6.
1. extant 10. derive
2. facilitates 11. sedentary
3. contenders 12. enmity
4. premise 13. dispersal
5. attained 14. sustain
6. scriptures 15. constitute
7. eminently 16. credible
8. unambiguous 17. veneration
9. indicative 18. anchor

7.
Noun Verb Adjective
1. adherent (personal) adhere adherent
adherence*
adhesion*
2. ambiguity X ambiguous
unambiguous (opposite)
3. attainment attain attainable
unattainable (opposite)
4. credibility X credible
incredible (opposite)
5. derivation derive derivable*
derivative derivative*
6. facilitation facilitate facilitative

7. sustainability sustain sustainable

unsustainable (opposite)
8. veneration venerate venerable

* Adhesion is preferred when talking about sticking or holding fast in a physical

sense and a useful alternative that could be used here is sticking. The word adhe-
rence, although close in meaning, would be the preferred word when talking about
principles, rules and values.
* derivable = able to be derived, derivative = not original, derived
268 V. O RELIGII

8./9.
Islam – Crescent Moon and Star: Theories vary, but it is generally ac-
cepted that these symbols were adopted from ancient peoples who wor-
shipped the heavenly bodies. These symbols entered Islam when the
Ottomans conquered Constantinople (today Istanbul) and adopted the
city’s existing flag.

Hinduism – Om or Aum is of paramount importance in Hinduism. This

symbol is a sacred syllable representing the impersonal Absolute of Hindu-
ism – omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all manifest existence.

Buddhism – The Wheel of Dharma, also called the Dharmachakra, is

a common symbol of the Buddhist philosophy. The Wheel can have
eight, twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-one spokes. The circle represents
the perfection of the teachings of dharma. The spokes represent differ-
ent teachings, rules or laws of Buddhism, depending on the number of
spokes. The hub symbolizes discipline, and the rim mindfulness, which
holds everything together.

Judaism – Star of David. Also called “Magen David” (Shield of Da-

vid in Hebrew): Two triangles that are superimposed on each six points.
Traditional sources have described King David’s shield as a six point-
ed star. According to the general belief, it was the special shape of the
shield that drew protection upon King David and his men and led them
to their victories in battles. The blue Star of David symbol is the part of
the flag design of Israel.

10.
• BUDDHISM: afterlife, bodhisattva, deity, dharma, deity, enlightenment,
karma, moksha, nirvana, reincarnation, samsara, stupa
• HINDUISM: Brahman, deity, dharma, karma, nirvana, moksha, panthe-
ism*, reincarnation, samsara, polytheism, theism
• ISLAM: hell, messiah, monotheism, prophet, paradise, theism
• JUDAISM: messiah, mitzvah, monotheism, prophet, paradise, theism

* There are elements of pantheism in some forms of Buddhism and Judaism, but they
are not discussed in the texts students are to read.

A. bodhisattva F. hell
B. Brahman G. karma
C. deity H. messiah
D. dharma I. mitzvah
E. enlightenment J. moksha
Anna Pałczyńska ▪ The origin of religion and the world’s major belief systems 269

K. monotheism Q. reincarnation
L. nirvana R. samsara
M. pantheism S. stupa
N. paradise T. theism
O. polytheism U. afterlife
P. prophet

HOMEWORK (ORAL WORK)

1. Refer students to http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ and ask them to:
a) research the main religious festivals celebrated in of Buddhism, Hinduism,
Islam and Judaism.
or/and
b) complete the table from exercise 12 for Christianity.

2. Ask students to select a religion and research how its beliefs about the val-
ue of life, and meaning and purpose of death and afterlife have influenced the
history of a given country or region.