Actual Class Notes on Islam vs Christianity for World Cultures Class at PRHS

Unit Plan: Christianity and Islam

The Roots of Christianity

The Formation of the Church to the 6^th Century

The Roots of Islam

Mohammed and the Holy Jihad

The Islamic World vs. The Christian World: The Crusades

Contrast life on the Manor and life in Arabia

 

Project Questions…Collect ideas

1. Contrast the role of women in Christian society and Muslim society both today and in 500 AD.
   
2. What beliefs of Islam and Christianity came into conflict? Was it religious or political? Why can't we all just get along?
   
3. (Your question)
   

 

 

 

Review the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire

• Invasions from the Huns
  
• Invasions from Germanic tribes
  
• Rebellion from within (Christianity)
  
• Laziness, decadence
  
• Self government among the people of the Empire (the conquered)
  
• Expense of running the bureaucracy of the empire
  

  
   

  
   

  
   

  Perceptions of Islam and Christianity
  

(a venn might be nice)

 

The Roots of Christianity

 

Judaism

• Monotheistic
  
• History of struggle, persecution
  
• Account of creation, Adam and Eve, 10 Commandments, Old Testament
  
• Ethics
  
• Belief in a Messiah (deliverer)
  

 

Zoroastrianism

• One god: author of good and evil-Final Judgment
  
• Golden Rule
  
• Mithraism-offshoot
  

  Sunday, Lord's Day, Dec 25, bread and wine rituals, baptism by water "re-birth
  

 

Greek Philosophy

• Stoicism (justice, compassion, restraint)
  
• Plato idea of perfection ,
  
• spiritual order and the eternal soul
  

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Christianity

The uniqueness comes from the teachings of a real man (Jesus) as opposed to a mythical character. Historians believe that the gospel of Mark was the most authentic and was used by the other author's later. However, the testimony was written by "believers" (not fact) and even they disagree.

What are the ethical teachings of Jesus? How did they differ from what Jews believed. Remember, the Christians were Jews.

What was attractive about Christianity

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The Church

Missionaries converted Gentiles and made them follow Jewish law. Eventually Christian traditions replaced Jewish ones. For example the Sabbath became Sunday (day of rest), Easter replaced Passover

Early Christians organized into a formal church with priests running communities and bishops overseeing priests

Eventually…the Western church accepted a Pope as their leader even as the eastern church (Greek speaking) moved away to follow their own leaders

Canon Law was established to create order and discipline, fight heresies

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity inherited many of its functions.

 

 

Persecution of the Christians

• Rome's tolerance of other cultures (self government) and religions did not extend to Christians. why?
  
• Christians were used as scapegoats in hard times.
  
• Persecutions ended in 313 AD with the Edict of Milan (Constantine)
  

Augustine and early monasticism (the ascetic ideal)

Describe.

The Roots of Islam

Pages 256-280 World History textbook.

Answer the following questions.

1. Talk about Mohammed, his message, popularity
   
2. What are the basic teachings of Islam?
   
3. How did the teachings of Islam both reflect and influence life in Arabia?
   
4. Describe the route from the spread of Islam to its decline. What caused it to spread so far and then decline? How far did the empire spread?
   
5. What are the contributions of the Islamic world?
   

 

Mohammed (the Prophet)

• Born in 570 AD in Mecca a trading center, not formally educated
  
• At 40 he turned from a life as a merchant to a religious ascetic, meditating , visions, believed his revelations were directly from god
  
• He became offensive in Mecca because the Arabs were polytheistic and he preached that there was only one, true god (Allah)
  
• He fled Mecca for Medina (the Hegira)
  
• Purpose-to wipe out primitive superstitions, end tribal feuds, unite Arabs under a single faith
  
• Arabs would surrender to the will of Allah (Islam means submission)
  
• Soon Mohammed had many followers who raided Meccan caravans (profitable)
  

  Rationalizing the stealing as "holy war" against the infidel (Jihad)
  

  By the time her dies in 632, he had united much of Arabia
  

• Islam spread like wild fire
  

  Islam was popular because it united tribes, used militant methods
  

  Mohammed had no son so caliph (title) was passed on to one of his relatives
  

  At the end of 2 generations Islam had spread from Gibraltar to India
  

  By 720 AD, they took SPAIN and raided France over the Pyrenees
  

How can we explain the phenomenal success of Islam?

• Zeal
  
• Booty
  
• Belief that if you were killed in battle your soul went straight to paradise
  
• Other areas offered no real resistance
  
• Many welcomed the Moslems as liberators
  
• Tolerance of Jews and Christians (many Christians converted)
  

 

 

Islam and Christianity

Mohammed never claimed divinity but followers believed he was divine. Mohammed's revelations were set in the context of Judaism and Christianity identifying one god AND ACCEPTING THE LINE OF Jewish prophets from Abraham to Jesus. Like Jesus, he claimed Islam was built on the earlier traditions of Judaism (and in his case, Christianity). The Koran might be viewed as a sequel to the Bible. (MOST READ BOOK)

 

The teachings stress love, kindness, brotherhood

He tried to moderate polygamy which had developed to redress the imbalances left by wars between tribes (more women than men) A man was supposed to have no more than 4 wives, although Mohammed had more.

Believed business was good as long as it was honest.

There was no priesthood. Each Moslem stands as equal before Allah, statues and images banned, the Mosque is without idols. (more democratic and spiritual than Chroistianity)

Obligations

• Five Pillars of Faith
  
• Daily prayers-from atop of minarets, muezzins (criers) call upon the faithful to kneel in the direction of Mecca Noon prayer on Friday must be attended by all adult males
  
• Giving to the poor (1/14 th of an individual's income)
  
• Fasting (Ramadan-month month of Moslem calendar)
  
• Every Moslem who can afford it, must make a pilgrimage to Mecca
  

Judgment, Paradise (Persian sources), heaven and hell (fire)

 

 

General

• Politics and religious are inseparable
  
• Leaders were both secular and religious
  
• 1^st century after Mohammed…sects appeared: Sunni-believed in leaders must be direct descendants of Mohammed
  

  Shia- line of succession from Mohammed's cousin Ali (Persians), abided the Koran strictly
  

  
   

  
   

Legacy

Advances in agriculture and commerce; routes of travel secured

Mathematics, university study in general

Unity among Arabs(language, culture, stability)

Translated Greek works and circulated then

Architecture, prosperity (height around the 10^th century)

 

 

Mohammed and the Holy Jihad

Use the internet to research the ancient use of the word "jihad" and its application by Muslims today. Do all Muslims agree on the use of this word? How does the jihad present a problem for the non-Muslim World?

 

 

 

The Crusades occurred over a vast geographic region in the Middle East - and they were heavily influenced by geographic and political issues back home in Europe. Although it is common and reasonable to talk about the Crusades as Christians fighting Muslims, the reality was that the Christians were comprised of many different nationalities who didn't always like each other - and the Muslims could be similarly divided.

Thus while the Crusades were principally driven by religion, especially in the minds of those who went off to kill adherents of other religions, there were significant ethnic factors involved as well. Although European nationalism had not yet fully developed, nascent nationalism was also a factor. English, French, and German Christians were not all united into a single, happy religious family to kill Muslims.

Sometimes Christians allied with Muslims and vice-versa in order to fight their own co-religionists. As important as religion was in separating friend from foe, there were cases where national and personal rivalries from back home intruded to overcome religious bigotry. While it could be difficult to keep the various groups organized and together, when faced with the infidel enemies it was still usually easier to set aside home-grown political differences in favor of killing non-Christians.

How and why these shifting feelings occurred is important to better understand how the Crusades developed both militarily and politically. Real understanding of the Crusades in both their religious and secular aspects thus requires some geographic understanding of what happened where and when.