Before going over this module, the learner must answer the PRE-TEST in order for the

teacher to assess Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and pin point specific topics that need
emphasis during the discussion.
PRE-TEST

Directions: Mix and Match.

1. Arrange the juggled letters at the end of each sentence and place the correct word in the space
provided.

It is a set of beliefs used to understand the

world.

ROWLDWIVE _______________________________

It is a belief that the world is inhabited by

spirit beings who govern earthly activities.

MISTIPRIS _______________________________

One of the basic characteristics of religion.

FULNIS CAT
_______________________________

This is a belief of many gods or deities.

MISTHEPOLY
_______________________________

It is a belief that an infinite personal God

exists.
MISTHE
_______________________________

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AND BELIEF SYSTEM Teacher
 MODULE #2: How World’s Great Religions Began

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:

 Cite regions or places where specific religions evolved;

 Analyze the culture of the region that gave rise to specific religions;
 Explain how geography influences religion and how religion affects culture

LEARNING CONCEPT

How did religion develop? Religion flourishes in space and time not in a vacuum. Geography is the
fertile ground for religion to flourish. Geography is the study of earth and its people. The relationship
between religion and geography can be termed as Religious Geography by which geographical ideas
are influenced by religion such as early map-making, and biblical geography that developed in the
16th century to identify places from the Bible. (Kong, 1990).

Do you know that major religions of the world have their origins in Asia? Asia is the largest and most
populous continent and the birthplace of many religions including Buddhism, Christianity,
Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. Some
of them spread in other grounds like Europe hence they were branded as Western religions like
Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Those that remained in Asia are called the –Eastern Religions which
are Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism to name a few. There is a significant disparity
between Western and Eastern religions in terms of belief systems, worldview and philosophy about
life. The mindset of the West is different from the mindset of the East. It is possible that the
difference in mindset is brought by geographical influence.

I. Basic Concepts on the Origin of Religion

1. Animism
 Anthropologist Edward Taylor argued that Religion had its origin in the belief in immaterial
souls that might inhabit objects like stones, trees, animals, or human bodies, but which also
could exist independently from them.
 Edward Taylor coined the term animism from the Greek word anima which means soul.
 Historical evidence show that ancient Filipinos believe in anitos- spirits that dwell in natural
objects, including human bodies, that need to be pleased in order to live in harmony with
them and in the environment.

2. Respect given to the ancestors

 Associated with this theory is the fear of mighty things or forces of nature that some people
equate to be acts of supernatural beings.
 Acknowledgement of the existence of spirits and supernatural beings support the formation
of certain belief systems and religion.
 It can be deducted that the origin of the religion came through the acknowledgement of the
presence of the spirits and supernatural beings, and the respect for ancestors that evolved
into a certain form of worship.

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 3. Revelation
 This means that religion is conceived from an assumption that in the beginning, there is a
God who revealed His being to man in different manners the essential truths of religion, such
as the existence of God, the obligation to obey Him, and the hope of immortality.

II. Origin of Major Religions

 The table below shows the approximate date when each of the nine major world religions
began, along with the traditional dates for the birth and date of each founder.

Date Near East India East Asia

1000+ B.C.E Moises 1500 - 1350 2,000 B.C.E
600 B.C.E Buddhism Taoism
Buddha: 563 – 483 Lao Tzu: 500 – 380
B.C.E B.C E

Confucianism
Confucius: 551 – 479
B.C.E
100 C.E Christianity Shinto
Jesus 1-33 C.E 100 C.E
600 C.E Islam
Muhammad: 570 –
632 C.E

The Near East

 The ancient Near East is considered one of the cradles of civilization. It was here that
intensive year-round agriculture was first practiced leading to the rise of first urban
settlements and the development of many familiar institutions of civilization; such as social
stratification, centralized government and empires, organized religion and organized welfare.
 Significantly, most of these lands comprising the Ancient Near East were among the so-called
Bible Lands of the Old Testament.

East Asia
 Major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and some of the indigenous
populations embrace Shamanism.
 The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilization of China.
 East Asia shared a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and
historically, a common writing system.

India
 Five thousand years of history have nourished the growth of a great civilization. It has been
vitalized through cross-cultural contact and characterized by unity in diversity of culture, race,
caste, religion and language.
 The great Indian tradition unites the diverse cultural regions, but, equally condones the
existence of different sects and local traditions.

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 MAJOR RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

1. JUDAISM
Some of the major beliefs of Judaism are:

a. Monotheism - There is one god who is all powerful and all knowing.
b. This god made a special covenant or agreement with Abraham, who is the ‘father’ of
the Jewish people.
c. God revealed his laws to his people through Moses and the Ten Commandments.

 Western Wall
 Star of David

Christianity - was heavily influenced by Judaism.

Some of the major beliefs of Christianity are:

A. Monotheism - There is one god who is all powerful and all knowing.
B. Jesus Christ died for the sins of humankind.
C. Salvation comes from faith in God.

2. ISLAM - is a monotheistic religion that developed in Saudi Arabia in the early 600s. Islam is
directly related to Judaism and Christianity. Islam was founded by the Prophet Muhammad
who lived from 570 to 632 in Saudi Arabia.

The five pillars or central teachings of Islam are:

 A. A statement of faith
 B. Prayer (five times a day in the direction of Mecca)
 C. Charity
 D. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime (called the Hajj)
 E. Fasting (during the month of Ramadan)

The teachings of Muhammad were collected into a book called the Koran. Muslims worship in
buildings called mosques. (Dome of the Rock, Mecca, Crescent and Star)

3. HINDUISM is one of the oldest religions in the world. It is a polytheistic religion that
originated in South Asia, present day India, around 2500 B.C.E.
 Atman is the spirit or soul of a person, which most Hindus believe, is eternal.
 Brahman refers to a supreme spirit but it can also mean an infinite and unchanging reality.
 Hindus believe that the goal of life is to realize that your atman is the same as Brahman and
thereby reach moksha, or liberation.
 Hindus believe in reincarnation and karma. A person dies, and then lives again, until they
finally reach moksha.
 Hindus have several holy books called Vedas, Upanishads, and the epics the Mahabharata
and Ramayana.
 The caste system is a system of social organization in India. When a person is born they
are born into one of four castes or as a Dalit.

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  The castes are:
 Brahmins: Teachers and priests.
 Kshatriyas: Warriors, nobles, and kings.
 Vaishyas: Farmers, merchants, and businessmen.
 Shudras: Servants and laborers.

4. BUDDHISM is related to Hinduism and shares many of the same basic beliefs. The
relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism is similar to the relationship between
Christianity and Judaism.
o Buddhism was founded by a man named Siddhartha who was born around 500 -
400 B.C. in Nepal.

5. TAOISM is a religion or philosophy that began in China around 500 - 400 B.C.
o Tradition says that Taoism is based on the teachings of Laozi. The Tao Te Ching is
a collection of Laozi’s teachings.
o The Tao is called the Great Mother

6. CONFUCIANISM is a philosophy that began in China around 500 - 400 B.C.

o It is based on the teachings of Confucius. Confucianism is concerned mainly with
social organization.
o It emphasizes respect for elders and education.

III. How Does Geography Influence Religion

 Civilization typically develops in and around river systems where easy access to water and
irrigation become possible, which allows them to grow crops and move from the hunter
gatherer lifestyle to farmers.
 As a result, the famous River Ganges, Indus Valley, the Nile and Amazon Rivers became
places where different types of people have developed over time.
 Mountains symbolize the way people in those days perceived reality.
 The physical geography of the land determines how and when people would live in certain
places due to accessibility, resources, and climate, it would seem reasonable to conclude that
these people would regard these aspects of nature as having God-like immortality.

IV. Relationship between Religion and Culture

 Some cultures identified themselves by their religion.

 All common events in cultures like home, farming, relationships, marriage, birth and death
are influenced by their religious beliefs.
 Central to the very purpose of religion is the attainment of goal in life.
 Religion often gives codes of behavior for society and culture, such as the Ten
Commandments.
 All religions have values. Values are guides to behavior such as do good; avoid wrong doings.
 All religions have the Five Basic Human Values such as: truth, right, love, peace and non-
violence.

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 ACTIVITY

Objective: Determine the different sacred places from various religious beliefs.
Directions: Reflect on the religious beliefs of sacred places in the pictures and then answer the
following questions below.

Kamay ni Hesus, Buddha under a Sacred mountain, Moses in Mt.

Lucban, Quezon Bodhi tree Saudi, Arabia Sinai
(Christians) (Buddhists) (Muslims) (Judaism)
Asianews.it Alamy.com Dunyanews.tv Co.pinterest.c
om

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Describe the religious beliefs of each pictures in a separate sheet of paper.

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

2. In terms of geographical location, find out what are their commonalities or similarities.

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

3. What are your realizations upon doing the task?

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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 POST TEST

Direction: Choose the letter that corresponds to your answer and write it in the space provided.

1. Various Religions developed in time and spaces all over the world carrying with them their
religious traditions and practices. One of those practices are particular places where the
believers enable to communicate to a divine entity. How do they call these places?
a. sacred places
b. sacred images
c. holy altar
d. holy war

2. Its concern is land and people. Its features are things like continents, seas, rivers and
mountains. It is the fertile ground for the proliferation of religion. It refers to what term?
a. Culture
b. Geography
c. Religion
d. Landscape

3. Whose belief is this: “Religion is philosophy and philosophy is religion.

a. Western belief
b. Southern belief
c. Eastern belief
d. Northern belief

4. Each particular religion has particular places where they go and pray to their God. What
particular religion which considers temples as their places of worship.
a. Judaism
b. Christianity
c. Hinduism
d. Islam

5. There is a special relationship between religion and geography. Religion needs the other in
order to develop. What is the term appropriate for this kind of relationship?
a. Religious geography
b. Religious anthropology
c. Cultural geography
d. all of the above

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