Prelim SOR 1 - Nature of religion and beliefs, Islam, Christianity

Dynamic, living religion

- A dynamic religion is one characterised by energy, ambition, new ideas and practical achievements. It refreshes itself constantly and therefore avoids settling into a predictable or conservative rut - A living religion is one that is full of life; it is practical, real and immersed in everyday human existence - Any religion is likely to stagnate if it does not constantly revitalise it beliefs and believers, sacred texts and writing, ethics, rituals and ceremonies - When these characteristics of religion interact creatively, they help to nurture a religion that is alive, dynamic and active in the lives of its adherent and in the society and culture in which it exists - A religion that is lived

Pentecostalism

- A protestant Church - The most significant Christian movement of the 20th Century. - Charismatic churches - Emphasis on gifts of the holy spirit e.g. speaking in tongues.

Anglicanism

- A protestant church - Began during reign of Henry VII when Pope Leo X refused to allow the King to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. ~Act of Supremacy - Two strands: Low (evangelical) - importance of personal conversion, High (Anglo-Catholic) - stress ritual and sacraments

Immanent

- A worldview where a divine being or powers dwell within the individual and there is a divine principle that guides people - It recognises a divine being or powers as a constant reality - an active and continuing presence among believers and this world - Immanent religions include: Buddhism and Hinduism

Dreaming - Sacred sites

- An individual is inextricably connected to the land → gives life, food, shelter and where their ancestors dwell - Sacred sites carry significant because they are associated with various dreaming events - Each Aboriginal tribe has the responsibility to care and learn from these sites e.g carrying out prescribed rituals like balance rites

Sacred texts and writings

- At their centre, all religions have oral and/or written sacred texts, writing or other types of stories - Several sacred writings are presented as a revelation from God - Texts contain rules and directions on how to live as well as prayers and rituals central to the tradition

Jesus Christ - principal events

- Birth of Jesus - Beginning his ministry - Days in the wilderness - Parables of Jesus - Miracles of Jesus - Ministry in Jerusalem - Passion, arrest and death of Jesus - Resurrection - Ascension (ascended to heaven) - Pentecost

Rituals and ceremonies

- Celebrate and reinforce the central belief system and structures for that religion, led by religious leaders - All religions have ceremonies that mark points in the year or peoples lives, like marriage, coming of age and funerals.

Principal beliefs - Divinity and Humanity of Jesus

- Christianity affirms that Jesus was fully God and fully human. Christians believe that the human person of Jesus reveals the divine person of God the Son. - Jesus was human - he was born like other humans, he ate, he drank, slept, experienced suffering and joy. Yet at the same time he was my seriously the divine Son of God.

Contribution of religion to: society and culture

- Contributed greatly to the survival and development of humankind - Religion helps maintain order and wellbeing for most members of society

2 pillar - Salat

- Daily Prayer. - Salat is obligatory for every Muslim male and female five times each day. - The distinctive mark of believers and it provides them with opportunities for direct communication with God five times a day.

1 Pillar - shahada

- Declaration of Faith. - The first duty of a Muslim is to declare his/her faith. - This declaration is called Kalima (sentence). - Confession of Faith. - Statement that stresses the uniqueness of God for Muslims.

Supernatural Dimension

- Dimension relying upon a divine revelation or revealed faith, exceeding the laws and capacity of nature, and cannot be explained in normal terms of the physical world - Can be described as metaphysical or miraculous

Akhira - life after death

- Each person has two angels which record their good and evil deeds throughout life - Souls experience an intermediate period after death - Judgement is signalled through two soundings of the trumpet by Israfil - The records of each person are opened and Allah judges all souls - Good go to paradise (Jannah) and the evil go to the hellfire (Jahannam)

Development of Islam

- Emerged in 7th century on Arabian Peninsula (today's Saudi Arabia) 1400 years ago - Patriarchal society: Few rights for minority groups - Heavy reliance on tribal and clan groups and connections: No centre of power

Importance of the dreaming for the life of Aboriginals

- Envelopes the most essential aspects of their society such as creation, history, ancestry, folklore, laws, rituals, ceremonies, culture, philosophy - All their rules, laws, way of life and humanitarian way of being is shaped by the stores and experiences of the Dreaming

Ethics

- Ethics govern what an adherent of a religion must do, and what obligations are upon them, to their God/s or fellow humans and the environment - Practical application of belief (the way the believer's conduct themselves in relation to the teachings of their religion)

Qadr - fate/predestination

- Fate and predestination - All individuals are predestined for paradise or the hellfire - Mankind also has free will: But evil will be punished 11:106 "As for those who were (destined to be) wretched, they will be in the Fire" Muhammad: "When the people of Paradise will enter Paradise."

Prophet Muhammad

- Final and greatest prophet - Charged with spreading the Revelations he received from Allah and the angel Gabriel, which later formed the Qur'an - Sought to return the world to worshipping a monotheistic God - Sublime example of surrender to the will of Allah, by submitting to his Revelations and Allah's purpose for him

Orthodoxy

- From the Greek word meaning' correct belief' - See themselves as being direct line of apostles. - Patriarch of Constantinople as the head of the church - Mary is seen as 'God bearer' but not "the mother of God"

3 pillar - Zakat

- Obligatory (religious) almsgiving - Charity. (Sadaqa) - The payment of Zakat is a compulsory welfare contribution by the wealthy Muslims for the needy. - Paid once a year. - Zakat is an act of devotional duty of worship and obedience, and is paid to gain Allah's favour.

Prayer

- Personal devotion for Christians revolves around prayer. - Prayer is an essential spiritual discipline to Christians. - Christian prayers take on different forms and embody different purposes.

Sacred texts - QURAN

- Revelation of Allah: Complete and unaltered - Revealed to Muhammad over 22 years of his life following the Night Journey, and committed to his memory - Muhammad is not the author, Allah is the author - Organised into 114 Surahs (chapters), with verses known as Ayat - Compiled in final form under Uthman, the third Caliph

Rusul (nabi) - Prophets

- Rusul are the great prophets, responsible for delivering a Holy Book - Nabi are the general prophets recognised in the Islamic tradition - There are 25 Rusul mentioned in the Qur'an - - Muhammad is the seal of the prophets, the final messenger of Allah

Beliefs and Believers

- Sustains all religions - The central belief of a religion is the most important part, as it defines the worldview of the believers - Central to all religious traditions there is a belief in a 'greater reality'. The can involve transcendent or immanent God/s - A believer is somebody that adheres to a religion's central teaching

Sacred text - The Bible

- The Bible teaches Christians about the nature of God and the ministry and teachings of Jesus. Christians regard the Bible as being inspired by God. The bible is a collection of books, there are 29 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament, which include law, historical narrative, poetry, letters, gospels, prophecies and apocalyptic literature. - All streams of Christianity view the Bible as the basic source of belief and practice.

Kutubullah - books of Allah

- The Books of Allah, texts which are direct representations of the word of God - The Qur'an is the most reliable, as it is the direct, untainted Word of Allah. - Delivered to Muhammad over 22 years - This includes: - The Scrolls of Abraham - The Torah of Moses - Psalms of David - Gospel of Jesus Christ - The Qur'an

Dreaming - Origins of the universe

- The dreaming explains the origins of the universe (the creation of the physical world, animals and plants which inhabit the world) having been the actions of ancestral beings - To Aboriginal people the dreaming is not a myth but a metaphorical, which means it incorporates the past, present and future reality as a complete and present reality - No sense of creation or the first creator

Mala'ika - Angels

- The existence of angels and jinn - Angels: Messengers between humans and Allah - Angels have no free will, and are Allah's most immaculate creation - The greatest angel is Jibril (Gabriel), who delivered the Qur'an to Muhammad

Connection of the dreaming, land and identity

- The land is the core of all spirituality → the land is not dead, it is alive with power and the Ancestral beings who live in it. - The land is the Ancestors and as long as the land lives, so do the Ancestors. - The land is not just soil, rocks or minerals but a whole environment and is sustained by people and culture. - It is impossible to discuss the beliefs and spiritualities of Indigenous Australians without talking about the land

Sunni and Shi'a

- The majority of Muslims are Sunni (derived from Sunna, history of the prophet) - Sunni's supported the election of Abu Bakr as the first Caliph - Shi'a Muslims believe Ali should have been the first Caliph - They believe in the Twelve Imams - Little to no differences in ritual or belief

Tawhid - oneness of Allah

- The oneness and absoluteness of Allah, Allah has absolute power and authority - Monotheistic belief, based on both immanence and transcendence - Allah is all knowing, eternal, and is responsible for all events and happenings - Tawhid infers the ultimate surrender to the will of Allah 2:255 "Allah, there is no deity except him." Muhammad: "None have the right to be worshipped but Allah."

Protestantism

- The protestant reformation revolved around the central issue of who had the authority to interpret the bible and hence to direct the Christian way of life. - Key principles are: faith alone, Christ alone, grace alone and scriptures alone.

The importance of death and resurrection of Jesus

- The resurrection of Jesus provides proof of the divinity of Jesus. It also gives believers hope that they too will enjoy life beyond death just as Jesus promised to his followers. The Christian hope of eternal life is not simply wishful thinking but is firmly grounded in the resurrection of Jesus.

Catholicism

- The term 'catholic' means 'universal' and refers to the worldwide unity in belief and conduct that comes from affirming' one Lord, one faith, one baptism'. - The Catholic Church traces its history back to the community originally founded by Jesus Christ an anointed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Diversity of the dreaming for Aboriginals

- There are about 900 Aboriginal nations within Australian and so Dreaming stories differ greatly - Each of these nations had its own dialect by which they communicated. As a result there are differences in the dreaming accounts - Some groups that are close to each other geographically share many common elements of their Dreaming stories

Revelation

- These were given to God to Moses after Moses has left the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They were intended to be guidelines for living as God's people; they were meant to help God's people get the most out of life. - The first 4 commandments are to do with a relationship with God. Commandments 5-10 are to do without relationship with other people.

Transcendent

- Transcendent means to have continuous existence outside of the physical world - A transcendent religious worldview is one that refers to the divine as being above or superior to the world, they highest being and the ultimate cause of the universe - Transcendent religious include: Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the central God exists beyond the human world, yet guides humanity through existence.

Qiyas

- comparison with teachings of the Quran and Hadith Extending established legal precedence to new matters by identifying an operative cause applicable to both situations

ljma'

- consensus among religious leaders Consensus of the community of scholars over a solution to a legal and practical issue is the third source of the law. When a certain ruling lasts the test of time, more and more jurists as well as people accept the ruling.

Jesus' commandment to love

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself. These two commandments hand all the Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 22: 36·40

Islamic Jurisprudence

(Quest to discover the best way to live as a Muslim) - Islamic law and the process involved in gaining knowledge of the law - Derived from sources such as the Quran, Hadith and Sunna - Principles - 'to promote good and to benefit human beings and to protect them from evil, from harm and from subsequent suffering' - Protect basic human rights → Life; right to live, Property; right to personal property, Human mind; think freely, Belief and religion; Right to keep and pass on, Family and lineage; Right to raise a family

5 pillar - Hajj

- 'To set our for a place' - Pilgrimage, central and essential - Muslims who are able to Mecca should make at least one trip in their lifetime - Take believers back to the birthplace of Islamic faith

Symbolism and art

- Explains the creation of the natural world, and the laws which stem from this - Used as a means of teaching Aboriginal children about ethics and behaviour in society - Art has many layers of meaning and is linked by their strong designs and religious significance

4 pillar - Sawm

- Fasting - Muslim adults are required to fast from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. - The month of Ramadan is significant as it is the revelation of the Qur'an.

Sacred texts - HADITH

- Narrations of the Sunna: Words and deeds of the prophet - Formulated through attempts to systemise Islamic law - Authenticated through tracing back to someone who knew the prophet (chain) - Various collections of Hadith exist, some specific to Sunni and Shi'a - Authenticity and reliability of collections varies - Initiatives are in progress to sift through the material and eliminate poorly sourced Hadith

Four Rightly Guided Caliphs

Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali

Different types of prayer - Extemporary

Extemporary - - Those that are said without being written down or memorised. Prayers from the heart.

Contribution of religion to: Individuals

Answer life's profound questions: - Explains the creation of the universe, human nature and life's purpose An identity, sense of belonging: - Helps the person understand what it is to be human Behaviour: - How to treat themselves, others and the environment Present role models, guidance and direction: - For individuals to develop their understanding of their faith and how to become better people

The importance of ethical teachings

Christians are called to follow these teachings both in their personal lives and also in the wider global context. Christian are encouraged 'to bring good news to the poor' and work to overcome unjust social structures.

Islam - Ethics

Islamic ethics are based primarily on the Quran, the sacred text of Islam, and the Hadith, an authoritative collection of sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. Ethical behaviour is also governed by Sharia, or Islamic law, which has been developed by Muslim authorities over the centuries.

Christianity - Origins

Judaism → - Christianity grew out of Judaism. - Jews were waiting for the Messiah to come. - Jesus did not conform to what most thought the Messiah would be Roman empire → - Conquered Palestine in 63 BCE - made part of the Roman Empire - Jews were generally self-sustained but were under the ultimate authority of the Roman Empire - Roman State was polytheistic (they worshipped many gods)

The lords prayer

Praises God and asks for the remission of sins and hopes that the one praying will be delivered from evil. The Pater Noster (Our Father) is found in (Mt 6:9-13).

Different types of prayer - Intercession

Prayers for others and makes up part of the formal liturgical worship of many Christian churches.

The Quran

Primary source of Allah's revelation, sourcebook of Islamic principles and values

Jesus as a role model

Reign of God, Life of prayer, Service to others, Advocate for the poor, Loves and forgives others

Salvation

Salvation is a comprehensive term for being delivered from personal or collective suffering or evil it is the belief that human beings require deliverance by God from the power of sin and darkness.

Expression of Faith - 5 pillars

Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, Hajj

Golden rule

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12

Development of Christian communities

Stage One: Jesus' death and resurrection is announced to the Jews and others at Pentecost (Acts 2-4). Stage Two: The Church learns its first lesson about expansion. The first break—the gospel message is not tied to Jerusalem (Acts 6-9). Stage Three: The Church learns a second valuable lesson. Expansion and disagreement—you need not be a Jew to be Jesus' disciple (Acts 10:11, 13:4, 15). Stage Four: The Church expands through Paul's missionary journeys.

Stories of the Dreaming

Stories, songs, art and ceremonies recall the journeys of the ancestral beings and their interactions with people and their bestowal of land

Principal Beliefs

Tawhid - oneness of Allah, Mala'ika - Angels, Kutubullah - Books of Allah, Rusul (nabi) - Prophets, Akhira - life after death, Qadr - Fate/predestination

The Beatitudes

The beatitudes is the name given to the nine well known sayings of Jesus recorded the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which all begin with "blessed are... ". The beatitudes describe the characteristics of those who are blessed by God. This blessing is not determined according to worldly standards but from God's eternal perspective.

Beliefs of the nature of God and the Trinity

The doctrine of Trinity states that God is one God, yet within the Godhead there are three distinct persons: - God the father/ creator - God the Son/ Jesus - God the Holy Spirit - Each person within the Godhead acts consistently with the others yet they each have their own role.

Different types of prayer

Vocal, mental, contemplative, meditation etc

Sunna and Hadith

Words, actions and approvals of the prophet Muhammad as the messenger of God In relation to the prophet

Ethical teachings

ten commandments, beatitudes, Jesus' commandment of love, Golden rule