WHAT IS RELIGION?

- it is a fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon

by a group of people. These set of beliefs concern the cause, nature,
and purpose of the universe, and involve devotional and ritual
observances. They also often contain a moral code governing the
conduct of human affairs.

- it is sacred, for it has things that are set apart from the society that
are known to be extraordinary, inspiring, and deserves respect. But
sometimes, it is defined as profane, meaning it is not sacred nor
biblical and people who believes in this definition are godless they
prefer to be secular (is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to
religion and irreligion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to
religion, either negatively or positively, may be considered secular.) rather than
to be religious.
EXAMPLES OF RELIGION:
 Christianity  Taoism  Lutheranism
 Islam  Confucianism  Born Again
 Judaism  Protestantism  INC
 Hinduism  Jehovah’s Witnesses  Atheism
 Buddhism  Seventh-day Adventist  Animism

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?
- is monotheistic meaning people who engaged this kind of religion
serves and believe only in one GOD. This is where faith refers both to
the believers' act of trust and to the content of their faith, the
Christian religion also based their beliefs about Jesus Christ's birth,
life, death, and resurrection.
-It’s a deontological and Jewish sectarian movement that focuses on
Jesus of Nazareth's life, teachings, and mission (also known as Jesus
the Christ).

- Many historians describe the growth and adoption of Christianity

around the world as one of the most successful spiritual missions in
human history, despite the fact that it began with a tiny number of
believers, it is now the most widely practiced religion in the world.
With a total of 2.382 billion adherents that approximately covered the
31.11% of the world’s population as of 2020.

NOW WHERE DID CHRISTIANITY STARTED?

- well, it originated in Judea in the first century CE and spread
throughout the Mediterranean region thanks to the efforts and
activities of Jesus' personally selected disciples and apostles, Peter,
Paul, James, and John (among others).

- The first church of Christians was founded 50 days after Jesus'

death, on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was claimed to
descend upon Jesus' disciples, according to the Bible.

- And did you know that the original Christians were mostly converts
from Judaism, and the church was based in Jerusalem? Well, yes now
you know, also addition to that many Gentiles (non-Jews) converted to
Christianity shortly after the church was founded.

HOW DID THE CHRISTIANITY SPREAD?

- Well the key is none other than Apostle Paul, he’s a former
persecutor of Christians, and was one of the most significant
missionaries. Acts of the Apostles describes Paul's conversion to
Christianity following a supernatural encounter with Jesus. It is said
that, spreading and teaching the gospel was considered a calling for
early Christians. And throughout the Roman Empire, Europe, and
Africa, Paul proclaimed the gospel and built churches, spreading the
word of God. Many historians believe that Christianity would not have
spread as much without Paul's efforts. Paul is thought to have written
13 of the New Testament's 27 writings in addition to preaching.

NOW, THAT WE HAVE THE MEANING AND GEOGRAPHICAL

CONTEXT OF CHRISTIANITY, LET US NOW DELVED IN TO
OUR SECOND RELIGION.

WHAT IS ISLAM?
- is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and universal religion teaching that
Muhammad is a messenger of God. Islam teaches that God is merciful,
all-powerful, and unique, and has guided humanity through prophets,
revealed scriptures, and natural signs. Muslims believe that Islam is
the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was
revealed many times before through prophets such as Adam, Abraham,
Moses, and Jesus.

- it is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root and means "submission"

or "total surrender". In a religious context, it means "total surrender
to the will of God".

- A Muslim, the word for a follower of Islam, is the active participle of

the same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who
surrenders (to God)".

- The word "Islam" sometimes has distinct connotations in its various

occurrences in the Quran. Some verses stress the quality of Islam as
an internal spiritual that means: "Whoever God wills to guide, He opens
their heart to Islam.”
- Others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than
just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, Islam is
presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān or (faith), and
ihsān or (excellence).

NOW WHERE DID ISLAM STARTED?

- From a historical point of view, Islam originated in early 7th century
CE in the Arabian Peninsula, in Mecca, and by the 8th century, the
Umayyad Caliphate extended from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to
the Indus River in the east. The Islamic Golden Age refers to the
period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century,
during the Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the historically Muslim
world was experiencing a scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing.
The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and
caliphates such as the Ottoman Empire, trade, and conversion to Islam
by missionary activities or popularly called as DAWAH.

HOW DID THE ISLAM SPREAD?

-The spread of Islam took about 1,400 years before it became famous
and known. The Muslims conquer a lot of struggles and such just to
make sure that Islam will soon flourished. After the death of
Muhammad, it led them to do a lot of things for the sake of their
Religion:

 following Muhammad's death, this led to the creation of the

caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area all over the world. The
conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces, conquering
vast territories and building imperial structures over time. Most of
the significant expansion occurred during the reign of the Rashidun
 from 632 to 661 CE, which was the reign of the first four
successors of Muhammad.
 Soon, these early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and
trading, the Islamic Golden Age, and the age of the Islamic
gunpowder empires, resulted in Islam's spread outwards from Mecca
towards the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and the creation of
the Muslim world. Trade played an important role in the spread of
Islam in several parts of the world, especially Indian traders in
Southeast Asia.
 The Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires
such as those of the Umayyads, Abbasids, Mamluks, Seljukids, and
the Ayyubids were among some of the largest and most powerful in
the world. The Ajuran and Adal Sultanates, and the wealthy Mali
Empire, in North Africa, the Delhi, Deccan, and Bengal Sultanates,
and Mughal and Durrani Empires, and Kingdom of Mysore and Nizam
of Hyderabad in the Indian subcontinent, the Ghaznavids, Ghurids,
Samanids in Persia, Timurids, and the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia
significantly changed the course of history.
 Then at last the people of the Islamic world created numerous
sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching
mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians,
physicians, and philosophers, all contributing to the Islamic Golden
Age.

And now, Islam is considered as the second most largest religion that
has 1.907 billion adherents making up about 24.9% of the world’s
population as of 2020.

AND NOW WE ARE DOWN TO OUR LAST RELIGION, THE

JUDAISM
WHAT IS JUDAISM?
- is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the
collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the
Jewish people.

- is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant

that God established with the Israelites, their ancestors. It
encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and
forms of organization.

- is embedded in our modern culture and tradition in a profound way.

The fundamental belief of Jewish people lies in the fact that they
believe the universe and the Earth and all living beings were created by
an omnipotent God who has a special covenant with the Jewish people.
Their God has propagated His message by sending Prophets down to
Earth since the ancient times. The God in the Jewish religion rewards
people for performing good deeds while punishing people who perform
evil deeds on this planet. Most of the modern followers of the Jewish
religion believe in the Prophet of end times, a Messiah who would come
during the final days of this planet.

- Within Judaism, there are a variety of religious movements that

emerged such as Rabbinic Judaism which holds that God revealed his
laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both
the Written and Oral Torah. And just like Islam, the Judaism also has
faced struggles before it became a successful and famous religion. It
was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic
Judaism during the Second Temple period.

- And as of now, the largest Jewish religious movements are the

Orthodox Judaism (Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism),
Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism, they all came from
Judaism but their approach to its law is a lot more different than what
some of the Jewish and Israelites practiced and believed.

WHERE DID JUDAISM STARTED?

- The origins of Judaism date back for more than 3500 years
ago. It has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle
East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from
Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by around
500 BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest
monotheistic religions. The religion is grow and started near
eastern region of Canaan (Known today as Israel and the
Palestinian territories) Judaism emerged from the beliefs and
practices of the people known as “Israelites”.

HOW DID JUDAISM SPREAD?

- The year of 1492 is a significant year for the Jewish religion, as it
was the year when Judaism entered North Africa and the Middle East.
At that time, the Jews were expelled from Spain, and plenty of Jews
from other regions of Europe also started to migrate in mass towards
Asia and Africa. They were primarily forced to flee their homes due to
being persecuted in the different countries of Europe during the
Middle Ages, and people were forced to either convert to Christianity
or face death. This is where Christianity became a destruction and an
enemy to every religion that resulted for the Jewish of Europe to
scatter all over the globe.
- And the continuous migration didn’t stop there, during the Crusades,
the Jews were also forced to become refugees as Europe and Asia saw
large scale conflict. Many of the Jews from that time either
immigrated to Europe or the Middle East. The 20th century was also a
significant time in the history of the Jewish people. After the Great
War that concluded in 1918, Germany began to militarize its population
and forced the Jews to flee from their country. At the start of the
Second World War, the Germans began a massive campaign to lock up
people of the Jewish faith in concentration camps. This resulted in a
majority of the Jewish population of Europe to be exterminated due to
starvation or execution by the German state in what was known as The
Holocaust.

- This repeated migration from Europe and Africa resulted in Judaism

to be scattered across tiny pockets in different regions of the world.
The only continent where Judaism did not manage to spread was in
South America, which was largely untouched by the Europeans until the
15th century. There are also sizable populations of Jews in both North
African states and in Middle Eastern countries as this religion
originated in Israel, and so most of the followers of this religion belong
to this place. Although the population of Jews took a severe hit during
the culmination of World War II, subsequently the Jewish people were
given safe haven in countries such as the United States of America and
a Jewish state of Israel was created in 1947 so that the population of
Jews can and thrive and the religion of Judaism can prosper in the
modern times.

- And currently, Judaism has 14.7 million adherents or 0.18% of the

world’s population as of 2020.
 BELIEFS, RITUALS AND TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY,
ISLAM, AND JUDAISM
Now, are you curious how all these religions still last and stand after
how many centuries? Well, as you all know, all Religions relies on
symbols to keep their sacredness, holiness, and growth. One of those
symbols is the:

RITUAL – it is a symbolic practice that highlights faith. Many

religions use certain actions during prayer to symbolize their humble
respect to the God they serve and believed in. Example:

Christians perform Baptism

- It is a religious ceremony in which a person is received into the

Church by the use of water. Different denominations have different
views on baptism. To begin, there are disagreements over whether the
act has any spiritual meaning. Some churches believe in Baptismal
Regeneration, which states that baptism generates or enhances a
person's faith and is inextricably related to salvation. This is the
attitude of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as
Lutherans and Anglicans, while others just regard it as a merely
symbolic act, an exterior public statement of the person's internal
conversion. Second, there are differing viewpoints on the act's
methodology. Baptism by Immersion; Baptism by Submersion if
thorough immersion is not possible; Baptism by Effusion (pouring); and
Baptism by Aspersion (sprinkling). Infant Baptism may be practiced by
those who hold the first viewpoint.

Muslims performs Praying (Salah)

- They value praying a lot more than others. The five pillars of
Islam define the basic identity of Muslims - their faith, beliefs and
practices and bind together a worldwide community of believers into a
fellowship of shared values and concerns. Prayer is one of the five
pillars of Islam. The most well-known, and an obligatory, act in Islam is
the performance of the five daily prayers, which in Arabic is known as
Salah (often written salat). In the Qur'an, the Arabic word “Salah”
means to demonstrate servitude to God by means of certain actions.

-Prayer is important as it allows Muslims to communicate with Allah,

listen to Allah and follow in the footsteps of the prophets. And it is
also their "Key to Paradise".

Jews performs a ritual called Shabbath

- it is the Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—

Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories
describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the
redemption from slavery and The Exodus from Egypt, and look forward
to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts
days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on
the civil calendar is Friday.

- Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often

with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day.
Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day
Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most
sacred institution.

- According to halakha (Jewish religious law), Shabbat is observed

from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the
appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. Shabbat is
ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing. Traditionally,
three festive meals are eaten: The first one is held on Friday evening,
the second is traditionally a lunch meal on Saturday, and the third is
held later in the afternoon. The evening meal and the early afternoon
meal typically begin with a blessing called kiddush and another blessing
recited over two loaves of challah. The third meal does not have the
kiddush recited but all have the two loaves. Shabbat is closed Saturday
evening with a havdalah blessing.

- in short, Shabbat is a festive day when Jews exercise their freedom

from the regular labors of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to
contemplate the spiritual aspects of life and to spend time with family.

There are many lists of ritual from these religions such as well
Ramadan in Islam

- is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims

worldwide as a month of fasting (sawm), prayer, reflection and
community. It is believed to be the commemoration of Muhammad's
first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one
of the Five Pillars of Islam, and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from
one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.

- Fasting from dawn to sunset is fard (obligatory) for all adult Muslims
who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, breastfeeding,
diabetic, or menstruating.[15] The predawn meal is referred to as
suhur, and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called iftar

- The spiritual rewards of fasting are believed to be multiplied during

Ramadan. Accordingly, Muslims refrain not only from food and drink,
but also tobacco products, sexual relations, and sinful behavior,
devoting themselves instead to salat (prayer) and recitation of the
Quran.
Also other than Baptism Christianity also has a ritual called
Eucharist

- also known as the Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, among
other names, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most
churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New
Testament, the rite was instituted by Jesus Christ during the Last
Supper (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:17–20; 1
Corinthians 11:23–25); giving his disciples bread and wine during a
Passover meal, he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while
referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood
of my covenant, which is poured out for many".

- The elements of the Eucharist, sacramental bread (leavened or

unleavened) and sacramental wine (or non-alcoholic grape juice), are
consecrated on an altar or a communion table and consumed thereafter.
Communicants, those who consume the elements, may speak of
"receiving the Eucharist" as well as "celebrating the Eucharist".
Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite,
though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is
present.

While, the Judaism has a lists of rituals such as:

- Jewish faith also include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot,

Chanukah (Hanukkah), Purim, Pesach (Passover), and Shavuot. These
occasions are all very important in Judaism. There are also life rituals,
which are birth, adulthood, marriage, and then death.

- The first, and a rather important life ritual in Judaism, is birth.

Eight days after the baby boy or baby girl is born, a ceremony is held.
For the boy, they have a ritual removal of the foreskin which is
enacted with the bible verse Genesis 17:10. Following birth comes
adulthood. A male would have his bar mitzvah, which stands for "son of
the commandment", at the age of 13. The female would have her bat
mitzvah, or "daughter of the commandment" at 12 years of age. When
a man or woman reaches these ages, that is when they have the same
rights as a grown man or woman. The next life ritual is marriage. The
Jewish marriage ceremony is called the kiddushin, or the
sanctification. The ceremony happens under a religious canopy called a
huppah. The bride and groom do not see each other for a week before.
Also, traditionally, the day before the wedding, the bride and groom
fast. The ceremony itself lasts about 20-30 minutes, and then is
normally followed by a celebration. Death comes after marriage.
Funerals depend on the branches of Judaism that you belong to.

(I would like to take action to this part po since it doesn’t involve any
of my members’ research and if there’s a chance that they would
explain this ahmm confusions may occur po. Pina short ko na rin po itong
part lang po na ito since super haba.)

Now that we have known their Rituals, let us now proceed to their
Beliefs and Teachings.

 Christians believes in the deity Jesus Christ

 Muslims believes ina deity called Allah
 Jews believes in Yahweh

 The holy bible of Christiana are Bible

 While Muslims have Quran
 And Judaism believe in Tanakh
  The three of them believes that Jesus exist
 The Christians greatest core belief “The Doctine of Trinity”

 The place where they worship.

 Christians and Jews has Isaac

 Muslims have Ishmael

Now to the last part of this presentation.

FAITH VS.
CULTURE & ENVIRONMENT
Does our culture and place that we live has an impact to us as a
believer? If yes, How does those cultures affects belief and rituals of
Christianity, Judaism and Islam?

- Christianity itself has evolved over the centuries. In order to survive

it has had to change and adapt. Many religions and many branches of
Christianity have become extinct over the centuries. In order to
survive, Christianity has had to merge with the cultures of other
religions. For example, Christmas is not a Christian holiday. Christmas
was originally Yule and people cut down and decorated trees long
before Christ was born. Easter had nothing to do with Christ rising
from the dead. Easter was a pagan fertility ritual where pagans prayed
to the Gods for reproduction and food.

- The Holy Qur’an has a number of specific references to ecology and

also contains some important principles for environmental conservation.
The first principle which guides Islamic teaching on environmental
sustainability is the concept of trusteeship. Being a khalifa (or
guardian), a man should take all necessary steps to ensure that the
entrusted property is passed on to the next generation in as pure a
form as possible. According to Islam each man is the custodian of
nature, and must live with harmony with other creatures. It is the duty
of all Muslims to respect, nurture and care for the environment.
Corruption of all kinds, including environmental corruption, which
includes industrial pollution, environmental damage, and reckless
exploitation and mismanagement of natural resources are disliked by
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala). According to the Holy Qur’an,
environmental conservation is a religious duty as well as social
obligation, and not an optional matter. The exploitation of a particular
natural resource is directly related to accountability and maintenance
of the resource. ( I suggest nmn po na si miss Ligot po ang
magpapaliwanag neto)

- We humans are not just cultural beings, but also spiritual beings. This
is why culture plays such an important role in shaping Christian beliefs
and teaching. Cultures are about how we perceive the world and our
place in it; the language, knowledge, ideas, assumptions, and values that
shape our perceptions of the world and our role in it. Spirituality is a
highly intuitive, but rarely spoken, sense of connection to our
surroundings. Religion is the most prevalent cultural depiction of
religion. It is an organized system of belief and ritual devotion that
usually focuses on a supernatural god or gods. Culture and environment
affect the beliefs and teachings of Christianism due to tension,
conflict, and confusion because of the differences between cultural
influences, beliefs, and messages of diverse people. It does not
completely alter the exterior form of Christianity, but rather
modifies, improves, or influences it. We observe the results of
religion's cultural impact, as well as its manifestation of the spiritual.
Religion impacts culture and environment, whereas culture and
environment also affect our religion and beliefs. ( I suggest na si miss
lagarde po ang magpapaliwanag nyan)