Substitute Assignment

Today, November 12, 2015, in our Human Geography class with Mr. Schick we were given an assignment by Mr. Fendryk because Mr. Schick was absent.

1. Rank the five religions we have been studying by the percentage of the world’s population.

Christianity: 2.2 billion adherents

Islam: 1.5 billion adherents

Hinduism: 1.1 billion adherents

Buddhism: 500 million to 1.5 billion adherents

Judaism: 14.2 million adherents  

2. Describe in your own words Abraham’s effect on each of the three Abrahamic religions.

Judaism: Abraham was the first Jew and God chose him to create the nation of Israel, so he had the biggest impact on this religion

Christianity: Abraham isn’t as huge in Christianity, but as Wikipedia puts it, “Abraham's merit is less his obedience to the divine will than his faith in God's ultimate grace; this faith provides him the merit for God's having chosen him for the covenant, and the covenant becomes one of faith, not obedience.”

Islam: Abraham is not the father of this religion but he is linked to a chain of prophets that leads to Mohammad.

3. Describe the practice of indulgences. Why do you think Martin Luther objected to indulgences?

Indulgence was a way for a family member to pay the priest a certain amount of money for him to reduce the amount of punishment someone might receive in hell.

Martin Luther was objected against this because he believed that it was wrong. Nowhere in the bible did it say that priests could take away punishment through payment. He felt that it was an inaccurate practice and the priests contained too much power. This research led me to think a little bit different about the Catholic religion. That may not be the only thing that they have been making up. Being raised in a non-denomination Christian home, I find it strange that Catholics worship so many saints because no where in the bible did it say they should be worshiped as saints.

4. Describe the details of a Hajj and include a photo.

A hajj is a journey that Muslims take to Mecca during the last month of the year. It is mandatory for all Muslims to take this journey. It is considered one of the largest gatherings in the world. It is a demonstration of solidarity to the Muslim people and their honor to Allah.

 

5. Give a brief description of the four basic Vedic texts and include how many hymns are in each.

The Vedic texts or the Vedas are a large body of texts from ancient India. They are the oldest Hindu scriptures. for each deity series the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones; yet, the number of hymns per book increases.