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Let My Prayer Arise—Orthodox Lent Chant in English

The song/video "Let My Prayer Arise—Orthodox Lent Chant in English," performed by the parish choir of Saint Philip Antiochian Orthodox Church in the USA, is available on YouTube (5:10) with lyrics and photos of Orthodox worship. This is chanted at …

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Song/video "Deyenu, Coming Home"

The song/video “Deyenu, Coming Home,” by the Ein Prat Fountainheads, available on YouTube (2:54), is a fun song about Passover by a contemporary Jewish group and is appropriate for use on day 2.

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Interview Chart for Religious Beliefs

This chart allows students to see the comparison between the beliefs of five major religions and those of the Catholic Church.

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Religious Identity Descriptions

This handout provides the religious identities for five major world religions.

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Religion in the Modern World

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 15 by giving an overview of religion in the modern world.

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Islam

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 14 by giving an overview of Islam.

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Christianity

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 13 by giving an overview of Christianity.

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Judaism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 12 by giving an overview of Judaism.

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Ancestors of the West

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 11 by giving an overview of the Ancestors of the West.

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Shinto

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 10 by giving an overview of Shinto.

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Zen Buddhism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 9 by giving an overview of Zen Buddhism.

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Taoism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 8 by giving an overview of Taoism.

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Confucianism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 7 by giving an overview of Confucianism.

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Sikhism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 6 by giving an overview of Sikhism.

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Jainism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 5 by giving an overview of Jainism.

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Buddhism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 4 by giving an overview of Buddhism.

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Hinduism

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 3 by giving an overview of Hinduism.

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Indigenous Religious Traditions

This PowerPoint accompanies Chapter 2 by giving a brief look at several indigenous religions.

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Studying the World's Religions

This PowerPoint gives a brief introduction to the basics of studying the World's Religions.

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Empathizing (Religion in the Modern World)

This article provides several suggestions of ways to help students reflect on their experiences with people from different forms of religion in the modern world.

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Empathizing (Islam)

This handout provides several suggestions to help students draw connections between Islam and Christianity.

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Empathizing (Christianity)

This handout provides several suggestions to help students draw connections between the various denominations of Christianity.

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Empathizing (Judaism)

This handout provides several suggestions to help students draw connections between Christianity and Judaism.

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Empathizing (The Ancestors of the West)

This handout provides several suggestions to help students draw connections between Christianity and polytheistic religions of the West.

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Empathizing (Shinto)

This article provides several possible ideas of ways to help students see, experience, and better understand the Shinto religion.

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Empathizing (Zen Buddhism)

This short article provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Zen Buddhism.

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Empathizing (Taoism)

This short article provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Taoism.

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Empathizing (Confucianism)

This short handout provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Confucianism.

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Empathizing (Sikhism)

This short handout provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Sikhism.

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Empathizing (Jainism)

This short handout provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Jainism.

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Empathizing (Buddhism)

This short handout provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Buddhism.

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Empathizing (Hinduism)

This short handout provides questions, reflections, and suggestions to help students empathize with Hinduism.

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Empathizing (Indigenous Religious Traditions)

This short handout provides questions and reflections to help students empathize with indigenous religions.

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Comparing and Contrasting Religion in the Modern World with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and religion in the modern world.

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Comparing and Contrasting Islam with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Islam and Christianity

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Comparing and Contrasting Forms of Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in different forms of Christianity.

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Comparing and Contrasting Judaism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Judaism.

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Comparing and Contrasting the Ancestors of the West with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and the Ancestors of the West.

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Comparing and Contrasting Shinto with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Shinto.

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Comparing and Contrasting Zen Buddhism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Zen Buddhism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Taoism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Taoism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Confucianism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Confucianism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Sikhism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Sikhism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Jainism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Jainism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Buddhism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts several key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Buddhism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Hinduism with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts the key ideas and beliefs in Christianity and Hinduism.

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Comparing and Contrasting Indigenous Religions Traditions with Christianity

This short handout compares and contrasts the ideas of god, an ultimate reality, and history between indigenous religious traditions and Christianity.

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Worldviews: Religions and Their Relatives

This article explores two examples of modern worldviews and how they different from traditional religions.

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The Comparative Study of Religions

An introduction to the comparative study of religions.

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Teacher Evaluation An Interreligious Interview

A teacher evaluation for interviewing someone of a different religion.

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An Interreligious Interview

This handout offers guidelines for setting up an interview with a person from a different religion.

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The Ninety-Nine Names of God

This handout lists the ninety-nine Islamic names for God and poses several questions regarding the list.

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"In the Beginning Was the Word"

After presenting John 1:1-18 from the Christian Bible, this handout challenges to students to identify key parts that describe the doctrine of the incarnation.

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Images of Jesus

This handout provides many different images and descriptions of Jesus for students to examine and relate to.

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Miriam's Shabbat

A Sabbath Blessing.

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Rings of Interpretation

This handout lists six excerpts taken from the Tanakh.

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Greek and Roman Gods Today

This handout challenges students to identify the associations they have with Greek and Roman gods.

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A Zoroastrian Symbol

This handout presents a Zoroastrian Symbol of faith and explains its elements. Students are then challenged to create their own symbol to represent their personal understanding of faith and human nature.

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"The Canticle of Brother Sun"

A Canticle prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi

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The Haiku of Basho

A compilation of Haiku by Matsuo Basho.

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Koans: Food for Intuition

This worksheet presents Zen koans to be interpreted or explained.

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The Riddler

This worksheet presents 12 riddles to be solved individually or in a small group

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Who Is the Sage?

This worksheet provides the opportunity to choose life situations that exemplify practices of the Taoist sage.

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The Sikh Khalsa

The information on this handout provides further insight into the nature of the Sikh Khalsa

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The Ten Gurus of Sikhism

This list of the ten Gurus of Sikhism briefly summarizes the key contributions of each Guru.

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The Biographies of the Tirthankaras

A list of patterns and themes found in the biographies of the Tirthankaras

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Kuan-Yin

A guided reflection of the Buddhist image of Kuan-Yin

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Monks

This handout is to be used as students rotate to various stations. At this station, students examine a picture depicting monks in Thailand.

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Objects Used in Tibetan Rituals

This handout is to be used as students rotate to various stations. At this station, students examine objects used in Tibetan rituals.

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The Fasting Siddhartha

This handout is meant to be used as part of a station activity in which students observe different pieces of artwork from various religions.

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Right Speech

This handout provides a reflection on students’ use of words and speech. Students identify ways to improve their use of words to speak truth and kind things.

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Right Meditation

This handout provides a space for students to write impressions, observations, or questions that arise as they meditate on a statue of Buddha.

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Buddhist and Judeo-Christian Understandings of God

This article compares and contrasts the Buddhist and Judeo-Christian understanding of God.

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The First Sermon at Deer Park

A Buddhist sermon

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"The Dance of Love"

A Hindu myth

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Karma Marga: "The Path of Works"

An individual worksheet that examines the intentions and motivations behind one’s actions.

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The Master and the Untouchable

An individual worksheet the caste system in India.

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The Fruits of Action

An individual worksheet that challenges students to apply teachings from the Bhagavad-Gita to real-life situations.

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Peer Evaluation: The Game of Samsara

A peer evaluation form of student-created games.

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Teacher Evaluation: The Game of Samsara

This evaluation is to be used as a rubric for a game that groups of students created using Hindu concepts.

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What Harm Is in Our Sun Dance?

This short article provides the point of view of a Blackfoot Indian about the illegalization of the Sun Dance.

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Images of God, Understandings of Life

The sketches below represent the different images of God and understandings of life that were held by the Jewish wisdom sages. Beneath each sketch, list the wisdom books that correspond to that image.

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Sample Lesson Planning Chart

A sample lesson plan.

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Teacher Evaluation: An Interreligious Interview

The following ratings identify your scores on a scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent).

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Greek and Roman Gods Today

Next to the name of each god or goddess in the chart below, jot down any person, place, object, time, program, or product with which you associate the name. You may also note titles of songs or TV programs or …

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A Zoroastrian Symbol

The illustration on this handout is the Faravahar, a symbol of Zoroastrian faith. With the example of the Faravahar in mind, create, on a separate sheet of paper, a symbol that represents your own religious faith or personal understanding of …

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Koans: Food for Intuition

Read the following Zen koans two or three times. Choose one and answer or explain it.

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Who Is the Sage?

In each pair of situations below, one of the people described resembles the ideal of the Taoist sage, the person who lives in accord with Tao and practices the virtue wu-wei. Read each pair of situations and circle the letter …

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Chinese Calligraphy

Calligraphy is one of the cultural arts that was pursued in the process of becoming a chun-tzu. Try your hand at reproducing the Chinese characters below, drawing your versions in the space provided to the right of the characters. The …

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The Sikh Khalsa

The information on this handout provides further insight into the nature of the Sikh Khalsa.

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The Ten Gurus of Sikhism

This list of the ten Gurus of Sikhism briefly summarizes the key contributions of each Guru.

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Kuan-Yin

1. Look at the statue or picture at this station. 2. This image depicts the deity Kuan-yin. Write words that describe this image.

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Monks

1. Look at the picture at this station. 2. Write words that describe the actions that you see in the picture. 3. Write words that describe the relationships between people that you see in the picture.

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Objects Used in Tibetan Rituals

1. At this station are several objects. Some may look familiar. Gently pick up each object and examine it. SOME OF THE OBJECTS ARE FRAGILE. PLEASE HANDLE THEM CAREFULLY. 2. Write the following information about each object.

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The Fasting Siddhartha

1. Observe the statue or picture at this station. 2. Notice that it is probably different from almost any other image of the Buddha that you have seen. 3. Look closely and write down what you observe. How does this …

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Right Meditation

1. Here is a Buddha statue or picture. Sit quietly and stare at it. Meditate on it. Let it be a visual focus for your medi- tation. Learn from it. 2. Write any impressions, observations, or questions you have.

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Correlation to Curriculum Framework

Correlation to Curriculum Framework Course IV: Jesus Christ’s Mission Continues in the Church from The Church: Christ in the World Today.

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Dialogue with Others

Excerpts from the address of Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the John Paul II center in Washington D.C.

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Rubric for Final Performance Tasks for Unit 2

The rubric for the final performance task options for Unit 2 of Church History: Apostolic Times to Today. The options include creating a children’s picture book, or making a PowerPoint presentation for a parish community.

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Final Performance Task Options for Unit 2

The final performance task options for Unit 2 of Church History: Apostolic Times to Today. The options include creating a children’s picture book, or making a PowerPoint presentation for a parish community.

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Islam: Historical Orgins

Islam began almost two thousand years after the start of Judaism and more than six hundred years after Christianity. In fact, Islam, which goes back to the seventh century, began in support of the monotheism of these two religions, and …

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All is Not Difference

A brief video that touches on Christianity's relationship with Judaism.

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World Religions and the Catholic Church

An activity where students are asked to research several religious traditions, complete a comparison chart, and then reflect on their findings.

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The Two Pentecosts

A chart used to draw parallels between the feasts of Shavuot and Christian Pentecost.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (6 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (5 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (4 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (3 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (2 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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Mysteries of the Church: The Crusades

A documentary chronicling the events of the Crusades and their lasting impact.

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Mysteries of the Church: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

A cinematographically excellent documentary explaining in colloquial and relatable language the foundations, similarities and differences of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

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Mysteries of the Church: Christian Denominations

A cinematographically excellent documentary explaining in colloquial and relatable language the history of the development of many Christian denominations.

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Gandhi - The Philosophy of Nonviolence

A description of Gandhi's understanding of the use of nonviolence.

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Biography of Prophet Muhammad (1 of 6)

A documentary portraying the life of Muhammad, the development of Islam, and common misunderstandings of the faith.

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The History of Islam Part - 16

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 15

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 14

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 13

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 12

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 11

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 10

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 9

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 8

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 7

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 6

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 5

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 4

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 3

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam Part - 2

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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The History of Islam - Part 1

A documentary portraying the exhaustive history, development and impact of Islam on global affairs, politics, technology and culture.

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Christian Unity and Ecumenical Dialogue

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It is about the relationship between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, and uses Church documents and scripture to discuss this relationship.

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Catholicism and World Religions

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the relationship between the Catholic Church and other world religions through various Church documents.

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Exploring the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate, 1965)”

This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. It helps students and teachers pick out key ideas and themes in the Second Vatican Council document, Nostra Aetate through questions and short answers.

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The Story of Noah and Other Flood Narratives

This article discusses the similarities and differences between the Biblical flood story and that of other ancient Middle Eastern traditions. It also compares the Biblical account between the Yahwist and Priestly sources.

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Papal Plea: Never Use Religion as a Reason for Conflict

VATICAN CITY, SEP 23, 2001 (VIS) - John Paul II traveled this morning from Astana’s apostolic nunciature to the Square of the Motherland, where at 10:30 a.m. he celebrated Mass with the ordinaries of Kazakhstan, guest bishops and priests working …

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Why Is the World the Way It Is?

Why is the world the way it is? Why is it full of wrong? Why are her eyes so big? Why is his neck so long? Why is she so dark? Why am I so light? Why is she called …

Article

The Enuma Elish: A Babylonian Creation Story

The Genesis story is not the only ancient creation story. In fact, almost every ancient culture had its own story of how the world came to exist. Each story reflected much about how the people of its culture viewed their …

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American and Catholic: Inviting Current Events into Religion Class

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, my students discussed Catholic social teaching on war and peace. One of my students said, "This is not the time to be Catholic; this is the time to be an American." He was …

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Wrestling with Diversity

How do we welcome non-Christians into our schools and our religion classrooms, and at the same time give witness to our own Christ-centered faith? How do we invite students to learn from and respect other faith traditions without sending the …

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Religious Diversity in Catholic Schools

Pluralism of religions is a reality in the United States. We see it in the newspaper, and we encounter it in our own classrooms. Through television, the Internet, and the changing religious landscape of our own country, our students encounter …

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Central Characteristics of Roman Catholicism

Catholicism is a remarkably rich religion, characterized by a complex tapestry of beliefs, practices, values, rituals, traditions, and more. When viewed "from the outside"--that is, by those who do not share its communal life--Catholicism is probably most frequently identified by …

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Hinduism: What Do You Know About the World's Oldest Religion?

Many Americans, who probably have little chance to meet any Hindus, have a vague notion that Hinduism has something to do with bearded swamis, sacred cows, and Mahatma Gandhi. Although most of the citizens of the world's largest democracy are …

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Evil Never Looked So Good

Do you think you're a victim? Do you avoid making judgments because you'll hurt someone's feelings? Do you feel betrayed by your wrinkles or your balding dome? Be careful. You might be cuddling up to heresy, which just had a …

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Six Ways to be Truly Catholic

I always thought that I would have made a great archbishop in Salzburg during the time of Mozart. But instead I'm the archbishop of Milwaukee in the time of rock 'n' roll. That's the way life turns out. We live …

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The Quincentenary

As we are all aware, 1992 marks the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus's landing in the West Indies–thus, the "discovery" of America. For religious educators, this anniversary offers an opportunity to examine the injustices done to Native Americans by the colonizers …

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Curriculum Offerings of Theology Departments

For a couple of years, Saint Mary’s Press sponsored a listserv discussion group online. Discussions on a variety of topics were pursued via e-mail. In this section of the web site, I summarize some of the highlights from these old …

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