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World Religions Basics

The course will cover Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, analyzing beliefs about God, creation, and sacred texts.

Course
Objectives
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The world is getting smaller all the time. People are moving into your neighborhood that have different religious beliefs than you do. How can you be respectful and genuine with them if you don’t really know and understand what they believe? The World Religions Basics course will provide you with an overview of the religious faiths and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, comparing their beliefs about God, creation, sacred scriptures, and salvation.

Materials

Leader's Guide
  1. Define the term “religion.”
  2. Explain why a familiarity with the five most influential religions is foundational to begin exploring other belief systems.
  3. Explain why studying other world religions is important and explore how other religions have affected the student and the student’s community.
  4. Understand some of the problems connected with the naturalistic view of God and creation.
  5. Explain how Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity view God and creation.
  6. Explain the central teachings of the sacred texts for Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
  7. Explain the views of salvation for Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
  • I have a better understanding of Hinduism and Buddhism.

    — Terri, United States (US)
  • I enjoyed learning about other religions and cultures.

    — Kevin Glenn, United States (US)
  • Eye-opener and better equips us to speak to other people of different religious backgrounds.

    — Kevin, United States (US)
  • This course provided me with knowledge that I did not previously have about other religions. It was very helpful.

    — Anita, United States (US)
  • The course was a good basic primer on each of these four religions.  

    — Charles, United States (US)
  • Good and comprehensive introduction to comparative religion, that can prepare the way to other learning. A suggestion is that perhaps the final chapter can conclude with a summary table of the main points of the major religions, thus allowing at a glance a quick survey of the similarities and differences. Nevertheless, the material has been insightful and helpful.

    — Weng Yuen, Singapore
  • It's a good course and helpful to educate people about world religions.

    — Lukas, Indonesia
  • I really enjoyed this course and learned new some new things about sikhs.

    — Matthew, United States (US)
  • It's a lot of material to take in, however, this course is insightful as well as educational. This course is something to utilize moving forward when facing the various challenges also experiences associated with the content.

    — Darlene, United States (US)
  • I enjoyed this course and learned a lot from it, and it has provoked a desire to learn more about the different world religions. However, I feel a little disappointed that the majority of people accessing this course will be Christians who want to learn more about the faith of others, and yet the course is heavily biased toward Christianity. For example, lesson 5, the lesson on Salvation, is 17.25 mins long, whereas Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam get 7 minutes between them. The remaining 10 minutes focus on the Christian Faith. It is the same in some of the other lectures also. I would have preferred more information on the non-Christian faiths but I still enjoyed the course and found it useful.

    — michael, United Kingdom (UK)
  • Really appreciate the course

    — Samuel, Nigeria
  • Very useful as it provides a comprehensive summary of the major religions.

    — Eunice, Singapore
  • Wonderful course. I enjoyed all of it and learned a great deal.

    — Sidney, United States (US)
  • An excellent course!

    — Russell, Canada
  • I am so thankful for this course because it provided me with the basics of understanding other world religions that differ from my belief in Christianity and it helped me to interact with love, without giving in to a conceited attitude about my belief.

    — Michael, United States (US)
  • It is relatively light covering Buddism.

    — Elaine, Canada
  • Informative

    — Josepha, Indonesia
  • I was highly intrigued because I am rather interested in other religions and how they are similar yet also different from each other.

    — Gabriel, United States (US)
  • Good information, a little confusing on some parts; less is more.

    — Bershuan, United States (US)
  • This course expended my understanding of other religious views as well as making me think deeper than I have in the past. I enjoyed the challenge to my brain. Thank you for making it available.

    — Beth, United States (US)
  • Very informative. Delivered in a comprehensive manner.

    — Ifeoma, United States (US)
  • Good overview without being overwhelming.

    — Theresa, United States (US)
  • Very interesting course. Eye opening. Did not realize how much Islam and Christianity have in common. Did not realize that Buddhism and Hinduism had such commonalities. Thank you.

    — Pamela, United States (US)
  • Enjoyed the course. I like the way it helped me to learn the key points of each of the most common religions. It also helped me to see clearly the differences between them. It also helped me to solidify my faith by reminding me why I love being a Christian!

    — Sulaica, United States (US)

Course Content

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Lesson One
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Lesson Two
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Lesson Three
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Lesson Four
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Lesson Five
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Course Wrap-Up
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Basic Level
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Course Details

  • 5 Lessons
  • 16 Activities
  • 6 Assessments
  • 11 Min Average
  • 2 Hrs Minimum
  • Course Award

Course Resources

Videos Audios Transcripts Listening Guides Discussion Questions
Lecturer

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