Early History of

WORLD Religions

The World of Many Gods

Today’s Keywords

•Polytheism (n) đa thần

•Monotheism (n) nhất thần
•Paganism (n) đa thần giáo/ngoại đạo
•Christianity (n) đạo Ki-tô
•Judaism (n) đạo Do Thái
•Islam (n) Hồi giáo
•Hinduism (n) đạo Hin-đu
•Buddhism (n) đạo Phật
•Scripture (n) kinh thánh, thánh điển
•Caste system (n) chế độ đẳng cấp
•Covenant (n) giao ước
•Prophet (n) ngôn sứ, nhà tiên tri
•Patriarch (n) tổ phụ, tộc trưởng
•Apostle (n) tông đồ
•Missionary (n) truyền giáo, giáo sĩ
 Polytheism Monotheism

Paganism Abrahamism
Vedic religions
Judaism
Hinduism

Buddhism

Christianity

Islam
The World of Many Gods
Ra & Horus and Egyptian Deities
Ancient Egypt Zeus/Jupiter and Olympian Gods
Hellenic & Roman World

Germanic/Nordic Deities
Central Europe and the Scandinavia

Ra Horus

'Jupiter of Smyrna’, Lourve

Odin & Ravens

Gilgamesh & the Epic of Gilgamesh The Flood Myth
• Saga of heroic Journeys
• Influences on Hellenic epics
like Homer’s Illiad &
Odyssey or the adventures of
Heracles & Theseus

Tablet XI, The Flood Tablet

• The great flood, Prometheus

Deucalion, Pyrrha & their descendant,
Hellen
• The Genesis Flood (The Deluge) and
Noah
Hinduism
 The Vedas

Rigveda manuscript

• Vedah – Knowledge & wisdom

• Perpetuated around 2000 B.C.E
• Purusha – composition of the cosmic entity &
the caste system
• Brahma – the Creator & Shiva – the Destroyer
• Vishnu & his avatars
• Dharma – Righteousness
• Individualistic path to salvation – moksha
(enlightenment) & karma (act)
BUDDHISM
Buddha - The Enlightened One
• Born in now Nepal of Northern Indian
subcontinent, as a prince
• Reached enlightenment through his journey
and meditation
• All life is suffering and desire as the main
source of sufferings
• Buddha and spread his teachings to disciples
• Eight paths interpretation of dharma

• Deviated from Hinduism – no caste system,

individualistic dharma
• Spread to East & Southeast Asia
Siddhartha Gautama, 6th Century B.C.E? • Enveloped into Hinduistic chronology – the
Bronze Buddha statue, Dehli Museum
Buddha as the ninth avatar of Vishnu
 PROPHET ABRAHaM, THE
ONE TRUE GOD & JUDAISM
Abraham – Ibrahim (2000 B.C.E? – 1500 B.C.E?)
• From the city of Ur in Mesopotamia
• The first prophet – covenant with God, his ”seeds” would inherit
the land, Ishmael & Isaac
• Left Ur and found Canaan
• Records of the Torah – Hebrew Bible

Moses and the Hebrew Exodus

Rembrandt, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1635. Hermitage Museum

Kingdom of Judae

Augustus Caesar (60

B.C.E – 14 C.E)
The First Citizen – The
Son of Gods
CHRISTIANITY
 Jesus of Nazareth (6 B.C.E? – 30 C.E)
Meshiah – Christos – Christ – The Anointed One
Son of God
• Born in Blethehem to the Virgin Mary, raised in the • Opened ‘Judaism’ to non-Jewish followers,
village of Nazareth outside of the covenant
• Poor, farming background
• Charismatic religious leader that tried to move Saul of Tarsus (4 B.C.E?
Judaism forwards.
• Preached love, peace, justice and anti-authoritarian
– 62 C.E?)
messages.
• Mass loyal supports of disciples Saint Paul the Apostle

Christ of St John of the Cross, Salvator Dali, 1951

Christ Salvator Mundi, Leonardo Da Vinci, 1500 Rembrandt as St. Paul, Rembrandt, 1661. Rijks Museum
• Constantine I embraced of Christianity –
Edict of Milan, 313 C.E
• Julian the Apostate’s edict to guarantee
religious freedom, 362 C.E
• Edict of Thessalonica, 380 C.E – Nicene
Christianity
ISLAM
 • Born to the tribe of Quraysh in Mecca
• Spoken to by the archangel Gabriel – Jibril
• Allah – God
• The hijra and forming of a ummah – community
in Medina
• Quasi-politico-religious society and the khilafah -
caliphate
• Revelation of the Qu’ran
• The Hadith and Sira
• Sunni and Shia split

ophet Muhammad (570 C.E – 632 C.E)

The Final Prophet