KORBEL FOUNDATION COLLEGE,INC..

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Purok Spring, Brgy. Morales, City of Koronadal
Tel Number 877-2051/0228-1996

HOW WORLD RELIGIONS BEGAN

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

Prepared by:
ROSALYN S. BALOFINOS,MAEd

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 Learning Objectives

01 Cite regions or places where specific religions evolved

02 Analyze the culture of the region that gave rise to specific

religions

03 Explain how geography influences religion and religion

affects culture

04 Conduct a group activity that demonstrates the influence

of a religion in a certain culture
 THE EMERGENCE OF RELIGION

PALEOLITIC PERIOD PALEOLITIC PERIOD PALEOLITIC PERIOD

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES

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 BURIAL SITE IN SMALL Animal Planting of rice &
ISRAEL STATUETTES domesticating corn

ANCIENT STONE Business

ANIMAL BONES writing
ART establishments

ARCHAELOGIST and ANTHROPOLOGIST believe that organized religion emerged due to the
development that occurred around 10,000 BC when early humans moved from hunter-gatherer way
of life to a more sedentary life

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 GEOGRAPHIC, CULTURAL, AND SOCIAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE
DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS
Subject to geographic location , the religion practiced in an area continues to evolve depending on the
country’s resources, which shows how geography can affect the emergence of a belief system

Cultural diversity played a great part in shaping religions. In the Neolithic Era, precolonial Filipinos
expresses their religion through artistic means, such as carving figurines of their deities and Gods

PYRAMID TEXTS PYRAMID TEXTS

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 Social Factors are also factors that shape individuals’ beliefs, lifestyles, and personalities. These
may include prominent personalities who have greatly impacted their respective religions.

MARTIN LUTHER
MOTHER TERESA DALAI LAMA
POPE JOHN PAUL II

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 EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF RELIGION IN EARLY HUMAN SOCIETY

Old stone Humans

Stone tools during stone Old stone
age
age age

THE PALEOLITHIC AGE

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 Figure 1: Chronological chart of developments in agriculture,animal husbandry,and
settlement in the Near East. p17

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 THE EMERGENCE OF CIVILIZATIONS

MESOPOTAMIA. The oldest Mesopotamian cities were found around 3000 BCE by the Sumerians.
Around 2370 BCE, the Sumerian city-states were dominated by the Akkadian,
Babylonian, and Assyrian Empires

CUNEIFORM WITING/TABLET

Henotheistic- Certain gods were viewed as superior to others

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 EGYPT. Irrigated by the Nile River and sheltered by deserts as well
as the sea, Egyptian civilization remained more protected and
peaceful than that of Mesopotamia. At around 2700 BCE,
Egypt emerged as a cohesive and thriving empire

Picture of pharaoh

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 INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION.
At about 2300 BCE, approximately seventy Indus cities had developed a
sophisticated urban culture, the major cities being Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Brick houses with bathing room of indus houses

The Indus people flourished along the banks of the Indus River. They lived in
brick houses, in well planned villages, and were successful agriculturists who
grew and cultivated cotton and raised buffalos, goats, dogs, pigs, and sheep.

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 CHINA. The Shang Dynasty established the first recognized Bronze Age
civilization along the Yellow River basin in China. As people
made progressed, leaders desired superior defense forces to
protect their states, so they taught civil servants to oversee the
population.
The outcome was
the establishment of
LAO-TZU
alliances among CONFUCIUS

various minor states

to form a number of
large territorial units

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 THE AMERICAS.
The prominent societies in the Americas arose in areas that
had robust agriculture

Around 2750 BCE,

OLMECS
the first colossal
Meso america
structure designs
appeared in the Ancient socities
cultivating corn
Andes region

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 THE DISTRIBUTION AND SPREAD OF RELIGIONS

UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS
These are religions that are widely distributed and whose goal is to covert
people. Believers are encouraged to share their beliefs with non-believers

ETHNIC RELIGIONS
These are confined to particular countries or regions. For example,
Hinduism is a prominent religion in India, Confucianism and Taoism in
China, and Shintoism in Japan.

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RELIGION, CULTURE & SOCIETY
Culture , according to de Leon (2012), is a system of vital ideas that contain,
energize, and direct virtually every aspect of social life and person’s relationship
with the world.

Religion can serve as not only as an identifying feature, but a binding agent for
units of society from small units like the family to larger ones such as nation.

Due to the fluidity of culture religion can also permeate other facets of society-
even those generally not associated with religion. It is evident in how
celebrations, holidays, architecture, language, arts music and literature in the
Philippines

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 Highlight Summary

Since prehistoric times, there have been indications that the earliest human societies have been practicing
certain spiritual beliefs

The Neolithic Revolution resulted in the development of more complex societies and religious belief became
more complex and organized

Geography, culture and society are factors that have significantly influenced the development of religions, thus
resulting in the development of a wide variety of religious beliefs since ancient times.

The earliest major religions emerged in regions such as the Nile River in Egypt, the Indus Valley in India, and the
Yellow River basin in China . Each of the ancient civilizations that emerged in these regions have developed
unique religions that were defined by their respective geographical, cultural, and social influences.

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 Highlight Summary

Universal religions are those which are widely distributed and whose goal is to
convert all people on earth. Ethnic Religions are those that are confined to a
specific geographic or cultural region and whose spread is limited and slow

Religion, culture, and society are closely related. Religion defines aspects of
culture and society distinguishes one group of people to another. Religion is also a
source of identity and defines nationhood. It also influences social relations, ethics,
philosophy, and government.

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 THANK YOU!!
DARE TO CHALLENGE YOUR
DESTINY

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