12A – Religions of the World

Though of many cultures, languages and religions, all people form one human family and have a common origin in God.

• Vatican II Statement on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.
• A comparative analysis of the major world religions from a Christian perspective.
• Adherents.com references published statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, etc
• An overview of the beliefs and practices of major religions including important people, organisation and sacred texts.
• The Bridge of the Spirits  A documentary on an aspect of African Religion – For interest – this topic is not part of the core curriculum, but we cannot talk about world religions without acknowledging the huge number of people in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and South America who do not belong to one of the major world religions.
• Minute faith: Dreamtime (3:41)

Buddhism, is the fourth largest religion in the world.

• Eastern Philosophy – The Buddha – quick summary which covers the essentials – 6 mins
• Buddha and Ashoka: Crash course in world history #6 (12 mins) A fast but fun history.
• What is Buddhism? What does Buddhism believe? (10 mins)
• The essential ideas of Buddhism
• An excellent summary of Buddhism which includes its history, beliefs, holy days, worship, customs and sub-divisions.
• This interactive wheel of life allows exploration of the basic teachings of Buddhism – the existence of suffering, its origin and cause, the ending and prevention of misery and the path to liberation.

Christians follow the teachings of Jesus Christ whom we believe is both fully God and fully human.

• Christianity from Judaism to Constantine : Crash course (11.36)
• Christianity 101: National Geographic
• Minute Faith : Coptic Christianity 3:50
• Minute Faith: Baptist Christianity 3:36 mins
• Minute Faith: Calvinism: 4:20 mins
• Minute faith: Pentecostalism: 3:39 mins
• Minute faith: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• History of the holidays: Easter 
• The difference between Catholics and Protestants (12:13mins)
• This is an excellent well presented summary of the features of Christianity 
• This site looks at the way different Christian denominations celebrate various rites of passage e.g birth, marriage and death.

Confucianism is an Eastern religion/philosophy founded by Confucius. Daoism (Taoism) is a philosophy that also influenced Confucius.

• Eastern Philosophy: Lao Tzu – quick summary on the founder of Daoism  – 6 mins
• Eastern Philosophy: Wu wei – key idea on how to follow Daoism (5 mins)
• Eastern Philosophy: Confucius – quick summary 6 mins
• 10 Life Lessons from Confucius (10 mins) 10 ideas presented in a clear way.
• The Three Teachings: Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism (7.38 mins)
• A history, summary of beliefs, practices and sacred texts of Confucianism.
• An information rich Catholic perspective on Confucianism.

Hinduism is the word’s third most popular religion.

• What is Hinduism? (17 mins)
• 10+Unique Facts about Hinduism Pt 1 (7 mins)
• 10+Unique Facts about Hinduism Pt2 (6  mins)
• Why do Hindus Have So Many Gods? (10 mins)
• What is Hinduism? (17 mins)
• This overview considers, the history, beliefs, worship, customs, holy days of Hinduism.
• The Hindu Universe – an exploration of Hinduism, from the latest news, a glossary, frequently asked questions and visiting 300 temples.
• Hinduism for Schools – This site contains simple explanations of many aspects of Hinduism. Contains excellent glossary and list of Hindu festivals.
• Elements of Hindu Devotion -presents an intimate portrait of the household and community rituals and festivals that are the mainstays of Hindu life.
• A short introduction to Hindu funeral rites.
• What happens at a Hindu funeral and why.

Islam is the second largest and the fastest growing world religion.

• Long story short: Islam (4.11mins)
• Islam: Crash course in World History (12 mins)
• What’s the Difference between Sunni and Shia Islam?
• Five pillars of Islam
• Hajj: 7 things you didn’t know
• The Adhan: includes Ramadan
• The Fajr Prayer
• How to pray
• Song with the 99 Names of Allah  with English subtitles
• Proud to be a Muslim – song by Kamal Uddin (english)
• Muslim Women talk hijab  (3.51 mins)
• As well as a beginner’s guide and a virtual pilgrimage to Mecca, the BBC provides a comprehensive view of  Islam.
• A video tour of a contemporary mosque with explanations.
• Islam, a brief overview
• Islam – Empire of Faith Based on an American tv programme. Presents good summaries of Islamic belief and practice as well as its contributions to culture and science.
• The fundamentals of Islam and other aspects which make this religion a universal way of life looks at the Articles of Faith and states what is not Islam.
• Hajj Introduction for People of Other Faith.  This provides a good summary with follow up questions.
• Inside a Mosque – This site has been prepared by Primary school students
• What Muslims believe about Mary – a short video.
• This resource explores Islamic practices and rites around death and dying.
• An overview of the place of funeral rites in societies introduces this information on Islamic funeral rites.
• Further information on Islamic funeral rites and regulations.

Judaism, which expresses faith in one God, is the religion of the Jewish people.

• What is Kosher? (4 mins)
• Shabbat/Sabbath (2.53 mins)
• The Jewish Sabbath (2.20 mins)
• Sometimes non-Jews see Judaism as being about obeying lots of rules and they don’t see the joy that is felt in worshipping God.  Take a look at this Shabbat service (before sundown)
• Explain it to me: Passover (3.20)
• The Passover Seder (under 4 mins)
• What is Hanukkah? (under 4 mins)
• What is Yom Kippur? (under 4 mins)
• The Bimbam Channel has lots of short youtube clips on many aspects of Jewish life.
• The SuperJew Channel on Youtube has episodes on a variety of topics looking at the Orthodox Jewish life from a secular Jewish perspective.
• The bare essentials of Judaism with additional material covering its history, beliefs, worship, holy days and customs.
• Take a video tour of a synagogue and find out about the rites and rituals of Jewish worship.
•  Learn about Kosher and specifically what is Kosher.
• Reform Judaism
• An extensive glossary of terms related to Judaism, but also used in Islam and Christianity.
• Jewish customs and practices.
• The Jewish Calendar.
• A Christian apology for the Crusades to the Jews.
• Dabru Emet: a Jewish statement about Christianity.
• Death and mourning in the Jewish tradition.
• Mourning in Judaism.
• BBC bitesize information on Jewish funeral rites.

Sikhism is the youngest of the great world faiths.

• Who are the Sikhs? (2.53)
• How to pray like a Sikh (2:11)
• Minute faith: Sikhism
• Please explain: what are the Sikh 5 Ks? (2:24)
• 10+Surprising facts about Sikhism 10 mins
• 11 Surprising facts about Sikhism Part 2. (11.10)
• Sikhism – There are 20 million Sikhs in the world, most living in India. A history, overview, and outline of Sikh customs and holy days.
• The virtual home of Sikhism, its origin, development, sacred texts, philosophy and way of life.
• The Sikh calendar.