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Table of Contents

Judaism

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Christianity

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Hinduism

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Buddhism

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Islamic/Muslim

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Confucianism

-Leader and Beginnings

-Holy Writings and Guidelines

-Beliefs/Influence of Beliefs

Connections to the World Today

-Where, Who, Why

1800 BC- Abraham moved his family to Canaan

1650 BC- Abraham's descendants moved to Egypt

1300/1200 BC- Hebrews flee Egypt after being made slaves, known as the 

Exodus, lead by Moses.

Moses brings the Ten Commandments, carved on stones to the Hebrews

1020~922 BC- Jews ruled by three kings: Saul, David, and Solomon in 

their kingdom called Israel.

962 BC- Solomon takes the throne and builds a trading empire with the 

king of Tyre. He also remodeled the capital and built a costly palace.

922 BC- The kingdom divides in two after a rebellion about Solomon's 

high taxes and forced labor. The two parts were now Israel and Judah.

~200 years of fighting with and against each other~

738 BC- both kingdoms forced to pay tribute to Assyria

725 BC- Assyria attacks Israel's capital Samaria

722 BC- Israel falls to Assyria

586 BC- Judah falls to the Babylonians. Survivors exiled to Babylon.

539 BC- Persia conquers Babylon and gives the exiles permission to 

return, but most stay in Babylon.

 The Jews Holy Book is called the Torah. 

They have a lot in common with 

Christianity. The Torah is also part of the 

Christian Bible. 

 Their Torah is kept in a decorated 

container called an Ark, and that copy is 

always hand-written. 

They also have a 

set of rules called the

 Ten Commandments.

The Jews are Monotheistic, 

meaning they worship only one 

god. Their god is called Yahweh, 

and they believe He watches 

over them due to Abraham 

promising to always worship 

Him. They think that they have 

a duty to worship God and live 

nicely with each other. 

6/4 BC- Jesus born

AD 6- Jewish kingdom overtaken by Rome, 

Messiah promised by God

Aged Thirty, Jesus traveled around and 

preached and made miracles. He taught about 

love for everyone, and God's promised eternal 

kingdom.

Jesus gained popularity throughout the land

AD 29- Jesus comes to Jerusalem, and is 

denied by the Jewish priests. The Romans 

didn't like that he was defying the Roman 

way, so they had him crucified. Then he rose 

again.

The Christain's Holy Book is called the 

Bible, and consists of two parts, the first 

being taken from the Jewish Torah, and 

the second part was written by Jesus's 

followers, about his teachings. It also 

contains the Ten Commandments.

The Christains got much of their ways 

from the Jews, who were some of 

Jesus's first followers. Chrisianity 

created the holidays Christmas and 

Easter. The Christains believe in heaven 

and hell, as well as a final day where 

Jesus will return and 

everyone will go, body 

and soul, to heaven. 

Hinduism has been around for..a 

long time, so long that no one 

knows who started it or exactly 

when. 

750/555 BC- Hindu scholars write 

down their interpetations of the 

Vedic hymns, which came to be 

called the Upanishads.

The Upanishads are the Hindu's only 

written guidelines, and they discuss how a 

person can understand everything and be 

relieved from life in this world.

Individual Hindus are allowed to pick which 

god or goddess they worship, as well as 

how they will try 

to achieve understanding.

The Hindus believe that when a 

person dies, they are reincarnated 

into a different life. The many lives 

are so that they can have a longer 

time to achieve Moksha, or the 

perfect understanding. Karma is the 

good or bad luck that follows a 

person from life to life. They believe 

in many gods, like Vishnu, Shiva, and 

Brahma.

-Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, born into a wealthy 

family. 

-A prophecy about him: If he stayed at home, he would become a 

world leader, but if he left home, he would become a universal 

spiritual leader. 

-His father said he would rather have a world leader, and made sure 

he always stayed in the palace. 

-Aged 29. He sneaked out four times and saw four people: an old 

man, an ill man, a dead man, and a wandering religious man, who 

seemed content. So he interpreted this to mean that a holy life is the 

only life that offers safety from these things. So he permanently left 

home to try and find enlightenment.

-After trying many was to find enlightenment (fasting, debating), he 

sat under a fig tree and meditated, which made him enlightened, so 

he took the name Buddha, meaning enlightened one.

-He preached his first sermon to his five followers, and in it he told of 

the things he called the Four Noble Truths, which basically said that by 

behaving correctly anyone could be relieved of pain and suffering. 

The Buddhists believe that by following 

the Eightfold path, or Middle Way, they 

reach a state called nirvana, where you 

felt no pain or selfishness. The Eightfold 

path is a system of behavior, where one 

must pass certain steps in order to attain 

nirvana. They also believe in 

reincarnation.   The Buddhist's sacred 

book is called The Jatakas, and it tells of 

the Buddha's previous lives, rules about 

life, and meditation guides. It was written 

in 1 BC.

The monks and nuns are Buddhists who dedicate their 

whole lives to religion, taking vows to never marry and 

be nonviolent, and live in poverty. They only ate out of 

the goodness of others giving them food. Sometimes 

they live in a monastery on a mountain. Hinduism and 

Buddhism have much in common, and the two blend 

together in some places. Buddhists like to visit places 

that were important in the Buddha's life, like the fig 

tree where he achieved 

enlightenment, his birthplace, 

and the site of his first sermon. 

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