B Day Classes: Quest (Tuesday)

Hey guys! Just a reminder that your quests are going to be on Tuesday. If you have any questions or want to arrange a study meeting, just let me know! Below I have included some key notes and one additional pamphlet that we could not hand out. These notes are just things that I discussed in class that were not in the pamphlets. Use this along with the other pamphlets to study from!

First, let us make some comparisons between religions.

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are very very similar. Matter of fact, Christianity and Islam branched out of Judaism! All three of these religions believe in prophets, or messengers of God. In Islam, Muslims believe that Moses and Jesus were both prophets. They also believe that Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was the last and most important prophet. They believe that humanity has strayed away from what Allah (God) wanted and Muhammad's teachings were what God intended.

Christianity, on the other hand, believes that Moses was a prophet and Jesus was the messiah, or savior, and that he is the son of God. Judaism, on the other hand, believes that Moses was a prophet and that the messiah, or savior, is yet to come. Yahweh is the name they use for God.

Both have main texts in the religion. Islam's main text is the Quran (or Koran). Christianity's is the Bible and Judaism's is the Torah (or the first 5 books in the Jewish bible)

All three religions believe in heaven, or some kind of paradise. One last thing, Judaism is the oldest sucessful monotheistic religion. Some symbols you might want to know for Christianity are the cross (relating to the crucifixion of Jesus), rosary beads, and the Eucharist (considered by many Christians as the body and blood of Christ). An important symbol for Islam is the crescent moon. And these are the 5 Pillars of Islam:

1.) Oath that God is Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
2.) Prayer at least 5 times a day facing Mecca
3.) Fasting during Ramadan
4.) Givings alms or charity to others
5.) Hajj- making at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in one's lifetime


Now Hinduism and and Buddhism are extremely similar. Both are mainly eastern religions. Both believe in reincarnation and trying to seperate out of that life cycle to be in a state of piece and one with nature (in Buddhism, it is called nirvana)

Hinduism is the oldest religion out of the 5. They are the only religion that we talked about that is polytheistic, which means believes in more than one god. The purpose of the religion is the understand the natural world around us

Buddhism, on the other hand, can be considered more of a philosophy than a religion. There is no definate God, just nature. However, important figures in Buddhism are worshipped like gods (such as Buddha, the founder of Buddhism)

Buddhists believe in the 4 Noble Truths:
1.) Life is marked by suffering
2.) Suffering is caused by having attachments and desires
3.) Suffering can be eliminated by overcoming desires
4.) Desires can be overcome by following the Eightfold Path, a way of guiding one's life