INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

Based on the Text Book of Jayeel Serrano Cornelio, PhD , Mark Joseph Tumada
Calano,PhD , and Manuel Victor Jamias Sapitula, PhD

Prepared by:

Jerwin C. Piedros

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INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

Lesson 5. CHRISTIANITY
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
 recount the history of Christianity and recite its creed;
 distinguish Judaism from Christianity; and
 explain the core teachings and practices of Christianity.
I. PREPARATORY
ACTIVITY 1:(Apostles’ Creed Analysis)
Directions. Write the whole passage of the Apostles’ Creed
using an extra sheet of short bond paper and answer the
following guided questions.
Guided Questions:
1. What is the Apostles’ Creed all about?
2. What is the message brought by the Apostles Creed
for us Christians today?
3. What is the distinction between Judaism and
Christianity?

II. EXPLORATORY
ACTIVITY 2:(Story Analysis)
Directions.Read the story of Richie Fernando written below
and answer the following guided questions.
Richard” Richie” Michael Fernando was a Jesuit regent
assigned as a technical teacher for the handicapped, mostly
landmine victims, in Cambodia. Among his students is Sarom, a
16-year-old boy who was dismissed from the school due to
disruptive behavior. On October 17, 1996, Sarom pulled out a
grenade and began to move toward a classroom full of disabled
students; the windows of the room were barred, leaving the
students no escape. Richie wrestled with Sarom. Sarom
accidentally dropped the grenade. Richie embraced Sarom and
the grenade exploded. Richie died instantly. Days before he died,
Richie wrote a friend in the Philippines: “ I know where my heart
is, it is with Jesus Christ, who gave his all for the poor, the sick,
the orphan… I am confident that God never forgets his people:
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our disabled brothers and sisters. And I am glad that God has
been using me to make sure that our brothers and sisters know
this fact. I am convinced that this is my vocation”.
Guided Questions:
Directions. Answer the following in not less than 3
sentences.
1. What is characteristically Christian about this story?
2. What does it mean to be a Christian today?
3. Name one or two personages that serve as exemplars of
what it means to be a Christian today.
FIRM UP
What is the Real Meaning of Christianity
 1.the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible
as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman
Catholic, and Protestant bodies. 2 : conformity to
the Christian religion. 3 : the practice of Christianity.
What does Christianity Literally mean?
The Greek word(Christianos), meaning "follower of Christ",
comes from (Christos), meaning "anointed one", with an
adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or
even belonging to, as in slave ownership.

What does Christianity symbolize?

Paradoxically a symbol of suffering and defeat but also of

triumph and salvation, the cross is the universal Christian
symbol, acknowledged by all denominations as the single visual
identifier of their faith.
Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion, dating
back nearly 4,000 years. Followers of Judaism believe in
one God who revealed
himself through ancient prophets. The history of Judaism is
essential to understanding the Jewish faith, which has a rich
heritage of law, culture and tradition.
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Major Beliefs of Christianity

 Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and
the Holy Spirit.( Blessed Trinity)
 The death, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension of Christ.
 The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints.
 Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgment and salvation of the
faithful.
The Core Teachings of Christianity
The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son
of God and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus,
as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and
hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic
prophecies of the Old Testament.
The Practices of Christianity
Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices
may include baptism, the Eucharist (Holy Communion or the
Lord's Supper), prayer (including the Lord's Prayer), confession,
confirmation, burial rites, marriage rites and the religious
education of children.
III. EXERCISES

ACTIVITY 3:(Handprint)

Directions.In each finger of the handprint below, write one thing

that you have learned from the lesson.

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IV. ENRICHMENT

ACTIVITY 4: ( Case Study)

Directions. Study the case below regarding the viewpoints of
President Rodrigo Duterte against same- sex marriage which the
Catholic Church strongly opposes and answer the guided
questions.
“In the fight for gay marriage in the Philippines, Duterte
could be an unlikely ally”
By: Rebecca Tan
June 20, 2018 at 3:09 a.m. GMT+8
On Tuesday, dozens of people with rainbow flags, scarves and
banners gathered before the Supreme Court of the Philippines in
Manila as justices considered a petition calling for the legalization
of same-sex marriage. While bills legalizing same-sex marriage
have surfaced before in the Philippines, this was the first time the
issue was brought before the highest court in the majority-
Catholic country.

A 2013 Pew Research Center report found that more than 70

percent of Filipinos say that homosexuality should be accepted,
making it the second most gay-friendly country in the Asia-Pacific
region. But while growing LGBT advocacy has been met with
strong resistance from the Catholic Church and conservative
groups, activists have gained an unlikely ally: President Rodrigo
Duterte.

Duterte, who has been cited repeatedly by human rights groups

for his bloody anti-drug crackdown, has consistently expressed
support for the acceptance of LGBT Filipinos. In 2012, as the vice
mayor of Davao City, Duterte encouraged a local council to
pass an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting the LGBT
community, making Davao City one of the first regions in the
Philippines to do so. In 2015, he said on national television that
he opposes the "bullying" of gay people.

But Duterte has also wavered over his support of same-sex

marriage. During the 2015 television interview, he said that same-
sex marriage is "good" because "everyone deserves to be
happy." He then backtracked on that position in March 2017,

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telling journalists that same-sex marriage and other issues around

sexuality and gender were part of Western culture, not Filipino
culture.

"That’s for them. That can’t apply to us, because we are

Catholics," he said. "[T]here is the civil code, which states you can
only marry a woman for me, and for a woman to marry a man.
That’s the law in the Philippines.”

Less than eight months later, Duterte changed his tune again,
telling an LGBT audience in Davao City: “I want same-sex
marriage. The problem is, we'll have to change the law, but we
can change the law.”

Duterte's shifts on same-sex marriage may be linked to his

ongoing feud with the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

Eighty percent of Filipinos identifies as Catholic, and the church

has long wielded wide-ranging political influence in the country.
But their power has increasingly come under attack by Duterte,
who has called the Catholic Church “hypocritical” for condemning
the thousands of killings that have taken place during his anti-
drug crackdown. In response, church leaders have organized
vigils for those killed by Duterte’s administration and denounced
what they describe as his “reign of terror” against the poor.

This war of words escalated in recent months with the killings of

three Catholic priests. Clergy leaders have partly attributed their
deaths to Duterte and his government for cultivating a culture of
"impunity" that has allowed the crimes. Last week, Catholic
leaders signed a statement calling on Duterte "to stop the verbal
persecution" against the church "because such attacks can
unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests." Duterte
has reacted to the appeals in defiance, calling church leaders
"fools" for attempting to discredit his government.

But it's still unclear whether the tension between Duterte and the
church will lead Duterte to back the same-sex-marriage petition.
Jesus Falcis, an openly gay lawyer spearheading the petition, told
the South China Morning Post that while Duterte has yet to take
concrete steps to support same-sex marriage, "his

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pronouncements create a more conducive environment to talk

about [the issue]."

Guided Questions:
Directions. Answer the following in not less than 3 sentences.
1. What do you think about the conflicting positions between
Christian Churches on the issue of same-sex marriage?
2. In your view, why are there differences in their
understanding of the issue?
3. What do you feel about these differences?

V. EVALUATION

ACTIVITY 5:( A Tour Guide)

Directions. Assuming that you were given a chance to guide a
tour to Europe or in the country, which countries and cities played
an important in the development of Christianity. Research to help
put your itinerary together. Then write a “script” of the history and
details you will share with your tour group at each site.

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INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

Based on the Text Book of Jayeel Serrano Cornelio, PhD , Mark Joseph Tumada
Calano,PhD , and Manuel Victor Jamias Sapitula, PhD

Prepared by:

Jerwin C. Piedros

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INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

Lesson 6. ISLAM
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
 recount the history of Islam;
 identify the five pillars of Islam; and
 distinguish Shiite from Sunni Islam.
I. PREPARATORY
ACTIVITY I :( Poem Analysis)
Directions. Read an excerpt from the Qur’an, Chapter XCVI the
Blood Clot(Beckerlegge) 2000, 147-48) and answer the guided
questions below.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Recite: In the Name of thy Lord who created,
created Man of a blood-clot.
Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous,
who taught by the Pen,
taught Man that he knew not.

No indeed; surely Man waxes insolent,

for he thinks himself self-sufficient.
Surely unto thy Lord is the Returning.

What thinkest thou? He who forbids

a servant when he prays-
What thinkest thou? If he were upon guidance
or bade to godfearing-
What thinkest thou? If he cries lies, and turns away-
Did he not know that God sees?
No indeed; surely, if he gives not over,
We shall seize him by the forelock,
a lying, sinful forelock.
So let him call on his concourse!
We shall call on the guards of Hell.
No indeed; do thou not obey him,
and bow thyself, and draw nigh.

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Guided Questions
Directions. Answer the following in not less than 3 sentences.
1. What is the poem about?
2. What is it telling us about Islam?
3. What is valuable about this?

II. EXPLORATORY

ACTIVITY 2:( Think-Write-Share)

Directions. discuss what are the different stereotypes of a
Muslim in the Philippines. How are these stereotypes
allowing us to understand or not understand the Islamic faith?
Write only the summary of your answer.

FIRM UP
Islam – is the second most widespread religion, next to
Christianity. Those who practice Islam are called Muslims.
 Considers itself as the final and definitive revelation
in the history of humanity. It believes that there will
be no other revelation until the end of human history
as it is described in the final chapters of the Qur’an
which is the verbatim word of God in the Islamic
tradition.
Muhammad- is the Prophet of Islam and he is often referred to as
“ the Seal of Prophets” he is the last prophet.
To become a Muslim, it is enough to profess the faith befor two
Muslim witnesses that” There is god but God”( la ilaha illa ‘Llah)
and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
The Qur’an- emphasizes the doctrine of the Unity and Oneness
of God. It is sacred texts of Islam, is believed to be the literal
Word of Allah.
Qurʾān, (Arabic: “Recitation”) also spelled Quran and Koran,
the sacred scripture of Islam. According to conventional Islamic belief,
the Qurʾān was revealed by the angel Gabriel to the Prophet
Muhammad in the West Arabian towns Mecca and Medina beginning

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in 610 and ending with Muhammad’s death in 632 CE. The

word qurʾān, which occurs already within the Islamic scripture itself
(e.g., 9:111 and 75:17–18), is derived from the verb qaraʾa—“to read,”
“to recite”—but there is probably also some connection with the
Syriac qeryānā, “reading,” used for the recitation of scriptural
readings during church services. The Qurʾānic corpus, composed in an
early form of Classical Arabic, is traditionally believed to be a literal
transcript of God’s speech and to constitute the earthly reproduction
of an uncreated and eternal heavenly original, according to the general
view referred to in the Qurʾān itself as “the well-preserved tablet” (al-
lawḥ al-mahfūẓ; Qurʾān 85:22).
Allah – is not a tribal or ethnic god but the Supreme Divine
Principle in the Arabic language.
Two major divisions of Islam:
1. Sunnites
2. Shiites
The study of Islam is important because it is about the message
from revealed within from the Abrahamic tradition from which
Judaism and Christianity came from.

Origin of Islam

Although its roots go back further, scholars typically date the

creation of Islam to the 7th century, making it the youngest of the
major world religions. Islam started in Mecca, in modern-day
Saudi Arabia, during the time of the prophet Muhammad's life.
Today, the faith is spreading rapidly throughout the world.

The Five Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:

1. Profession of Faith (shahada). The belief that "There is no

god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is
central to Islam. This phrase, written in Arabic, is often
prominently featured in architecture and a range of objects,
including the Qur'an, Islam's holy book of divine revelations.
One becomes a Muslim by reciting this phrase with
conviction.

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2. Prayer (salat). Muslims pray facing Mecca five times a day:

at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Prayer
includes a recitation of the opening chapter (sura) of the
Qur'an, and is sometimes performed on a small rug or mat
used expressly for this purpose. Muslims can pray
individually at any location (fig. 1) or together in a mosque,
where a leader in prayer (imam) guides the congregation.
Men gather in the mosque for the noonday prayer on Friday;
women are welcome but not obliged to participate. After the
prayer, a sermon focuses on a passage from the Qur'an,
followed by prayers by the imam and a discussion of a
particular religious topic.
3. Alms (zakat). In accordance with Islamic law, Muslims
donate a fixed portion of their income to community
members in need. Many rulers and wealthy Muslims build
mosques, drinking fountains, hospitals, schools, and other
institutions both as a religious duty and to secure the
blessings associated with charity.
4. Fasting (sawm). During the daylight hours of Ramadan, the
ninth month of the Islamic calendar, all healthy adult Muslims
are required to abstain from food and drink. Through this
temporary deprivation, they renew their awareness of and
gratitude for everything God has provided in their lives—
including the Qur'an, which was first revealed during this
month. During Ramadan they share the hunger and thirst of
the needy as a reminder of the religious duty to help those
less fortunate.
5. Pilgrimage (hajj). Every Muslim whose health and finances
permit it must make at least one visit to the holy city of
Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. The Ka'ba, a cubical
structure covered in black embroidered hangings, is at the
center of the Haram Mosque in Mecca (fig. 2). Muslims
believe that it is the house Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) built
for God, and face in its direction (qibla) when they pray.
Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, believers from all
over the world have gathered around the Ka'ba in Mecca on
the eighth and twelfth days of the final month of the Islamic
calendar.

III. EXERCISES: (Guided Questions)

Directions. Answer the following in not less than 3 sentences.

1. How did Islam religion begin?
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2. What are the five Pillars of Islam?

3. How will you describe the practice of Islam?
4. What is the difference between Shiite from Sunni
Islam?

IV. ENRICHMENT( Research)

Directions.Research the different practices as practiced by

muslims in your own community, Make a summary regarding
on their discipline in practicing their belief and in dealing other
faith (not muslims).

V. EVALUATION:(Reflection Writing)

Directions. Islam is an important presence in the Philippines,

specifically in Mindanao. Write your own reflection on what
contributions Islam might make in the arts and culture of
Mindanao and how non-Islamic cultures might influence or
change the practice of Islam.

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