Origins & Historical Context
This ancient religion began in the Middle East and is based on a covenant between God and Abraham.
What is Judaism?
This belief in a single, all-powerful God is central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
What is monotheism?
This sacred Jewish text contains the laws and teachings traditionally given to Moses and forms the foundation of Jewish religious life.
What is the Torah?
In Judaism, these three major groups differ mainly in how strictly they interpret and follow religious law and tradition.
What are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform?
Hinduism and Buddhism are similar in that they both believe in rebirth and this cycle of repeated life, death, and rebirth.
What is reincarnation?
(Accept: What is the Wheel of Samsara?)
This period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire helped Christianity spread more easily through trade routes and cities.
What is the Pax Romana?
In Hinduism and Buddhism, this concept explains how a person’s actions in one life affect their fate in future lives.
What is karma?
Christians believe this portion of the Bible focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
What is the New Testament?
This major division within Christianity began during the Reformation and rejected the authority of the pope. These Christians "revolted" against the "oppression" of the Catholic Church.
What is Protestant Christianity?
(Accept: What are Protestants?)
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism does not recognize this figure as the Messiah.
Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
After leaving Mecca due to persecution, Muhammad’s journey to this city marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
What is the Hijra to Medina?
(Accept: What is Medina?)
In Buddhism, this set of teachings explains the nature of suffering and the path toward its end.
What are the Four Noble Truths?
Muslims believe their holy book, the Quran, is the literal word of God as revealed to Muhammad. What language was it originally written in?
What is Arabic?
This split in Islam developed between Sunni and Shia revolved around this central disagreement.
Who should lead the Muslim community after Muhammad’s death?
Hinduism and Buddhism share beliefs in karma and rebirth, but they differ because Buddhism ultimately seeks escape from the cycle of samsara through nirvana, while Hinduism seeks this similar goal called liberation.
What is moksha?
This concept refers to the scattering of Jewish people outside their homeland following conquest and exile, shaping Jewish history and identity.
What is the Diaspora?
In Hinduism, this moral duty or righteous path helps individuals live correctly according to their role in society and the universe.
What is dharma?
In Judaism, this collection of teachings and commentaries interprets Jewish law and expands on the meanings of the Torah. This includes the Mishnah and the Germara.
What is the Talmud?
In Buddhism, this denomination emphasizes the role of bodhisattvas—enlightened beings who delay nirvana to help others.
What is Mahayana Buddhism?
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a common patriarch, but they differ in how they understand his covenant with God and its fulfillment.
Who is Abraham?
This religious tradition originated in ancient India and centers on escaping the cycle of reincarnation, known as the Wheel of Samsara, through moksha.
What is Hinduism?
In Buddhism, this ultimate goal represents freedom from suffering and release from the cycle of rebirth.
What is nirvana?
These are the most important collected says of the Chinese philosophers Confucius.
What are the Analects?
King Henry VIII’s desire for this personal action—refused by the Catholic Church—led him to break from Rome and establish the Church of England.
What is a divorce from his wife, Catherine or Aragon?
Unlike founders such as Jesus, Muhammad, or the Buddha, this Chinese thinker focused on ethics, social harmony, and proper relationships rather than worship of a god, leading many historians to describe his teachings as a philosophy rather than a religion.
Who is Confucius?