Calliope articles from November 2008

Calliope archives from November 2008

5 real religious facts.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... 1. Diwali is the Hindu New Year festival, celebrated in the Hindu month of Kartika (October/November). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. The Jewish calendar indicates that there was a date of creation. To arrive at the Jewish year, add 3760 to...

A need for understanding.(MUSINGS)
November 1, 2008... SINCE THE TIME OF CALLIOPE, and even millennia earlier, history and religion have been closely intertwined. To understand history requires an understanding of the religious beliefs of the people involved. In this issue, we focus on five major...

Sacred scripture--what is it?(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Scripture is any sacred writing or book. But, must it be something written on paper, in the form of a text or book? If yes, then what about revelations made before paper was invented? In very early times, people used animal skins, bones,...

Hinduism's sages.
November 1, 2008... Hinduism, which has no founder and no one creed, is considered by many to be the oldest religion still practiced. It traces its origins to the beliefs of both the tribes of central Asia that invaded India more than 3,000 years ago and the...

Division of Purusha.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hindu society is highly structured. According to the traditional view, each person is considered to be a member of one of four social classes created by the gods at the beginning of the universe. The Rig Veda (see...

A Hindu home.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Every Hindu home has an altar where the family puja, or worship, is performed, and each family worships the god of its own choosing. That god is represented on the altar by a small idol, picture, or object such as a...

A Hindu word find.(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Can you find the 23 words, all related to Hinduism, listed in the maze below? Some words are horizontal, while others are vertical, backward, and diagonal. Once you have found all the words, the 15 letters not used will spell what Hindus...

Judaism--in the beginning.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Judaism is the world's second oldest major religion, and, as with most religions practiced worldwide, its branches are diverse. In North America, the main branches are Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, and...

Judaism's holy 3.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the basic beliefs of Judaism is that God revealed himself and his law through Moses (see pages 12-13). He did this by giving Moses the Torah, the basis for all the Jewish teachings. The Torah contains the...

A way of life.(Judaism)
November 1, 2008... Judaism is more than a religion. It is a way of life. Entering the Jewish world through his or her family, a newborn begins a life of ceremonies celebrating birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. THE NAMING CEREMONY Traditionally,...

The diaspora.(Jewish diaspora)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... According to Jewish Scripture, Israel remained a loose federation of tribes with judge-rulers until Saul was anointed the first king after neighboring Philistines threatened to invade Israel. The Bible also tells that around 950 B.C.E., the...

Celebrating Purim.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to the Book of Esther in the Bible, a court official named Haman persuaded the king of Persia to issue a decree ordering the destruction of a people who chose to follow their own laws. The king did not...

All in one breath!(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... According to tradition, Haman's 10 sons were killed with him. One Purim custom is to see who can repeat all 10 names (at right) in one breath. Can you? Parshandatha Dalphon Aspatha Poratha Adalia Aridatha ...

Dharma, karma, and Nirvana.
November 1, 2008... Buddhists believe that after Siddhartha's enlightenment under the bodhi tree, he did not immediately begin to teach the truth, dharma, because he thought it was too difficult for most people to understand. Dharma is a Sanskrit word meaning...

Fun with words.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WORD ORIGINS Egad One of many terms known as "minced oaths"--words and phrases that are used in place of offensive sayings--"egad" dates back to the 1600s. As you may guess, "Egad!" was used as an...

The beginnings of Christianity.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today, Christianity has the largest number of followers of any religion--more than two billion, or one out of every three people in the world. All Christians, however, do not have the same beliefs, practices, or...

The earliest sources of the Christian church.
November 1, 2008... According to the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, Jesus appeared to his disciples several times during the first 40 days after his resurrection from the dead (see page 29). On the 40th day, he told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem...

A new world religion.(Roman Catholic Church)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] After a raging fire destroyed much of Rome in 64 C.E., the Roman emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the disaster. As punishment, he ordered the first mass persecution of the followers of Jesus Christ. Nero's...

The church divides.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... After Constantine made Christianity legal, m 313 C.E. (see page 33), the faith continued to grow. Monks started monasteries, and, from these centers of work and prayer, missionaries set out to convert the people of northern Europe. But the...

A Christian maze.(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wend your way through this word maze, working from left to right, then right to left, then left to right, and so on, until you get to the last box on the last line. Note that the last letter of each word is the first...

Call to prophecy.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today, Islam has more than one billion followers, known as Muslims (in Arabic, "those who surrender to God"), or approximately one out of every six people in the world. The countries with the largest Muslim...

Muhammad's first revelation.
November 1, 2008... Muhammad is said to have received his first revelation on one of his early retreats to a remote cave located on Mount Hira, a few miles from Mecca. That night, known as the "Night of Power," forever changed Muhammad's life. While the exact date...

The Qur'an.
November 1, 2008... Islam began with the words that Muslims believe God revealed to Muhammad, which he then repeated to his companions. These words became the sacred text that Muslims call the Qur'an. The book in which the text is recorded is called, in Arabic, a...

Islam's Sunni and Shia.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... There are two major divisions in Islam: the Sunni and the Shia. The vast majority of Muslims, perhaps 90 percent, are Sunni. The other 10 percent are Shia and found mostly in Iran (where they are the majority), Iraq, Yemen, Oman, Lebanon,...

The journey of a lifetime.(hajj)
November 1, 2008... At least once in a lifetime, every Muslim is expected to make a hajj ("pilgrimage") to the holy city of Mecca during Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and most sacred month of the Muslim year. Muslims who do not have the health or financial means may...

Follow the numbers.(ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Working in a clockwise direction, write in the answers to each clue, in order, with the last letter of each word the first letter of the next word. Fill in all the empty squares in each box before moving on to the next box. [ILLUSTRATION...

Atlas of the World's Religions.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Atlas of the World's Religions edited by Ninian Smart & Frederick Denny (Oxford, 2007, www.oup.com) uses maps, charts, photos, illustrations, time lines, and a glossary to detail, in an excellent manner of...

The Illustrated Timeline of Religion: A Crash Course in Words & Pictures.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... The Illustrated Timeline of Religion: A Crash Course in Words & Pictures by Laura S. Smith (Sterlinq, 2007, www.sterlingpublishing.com) offers a fascinating read, with full-color illustrations arranged on a groundbreaking timeline format, from...

The Kingfisher Book of Religions: Festivals, Ceremonies, and Beliefs From Around the World.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... The Kingfisher Book of Religions: Festivals, Ceremonies, and Beliefs From Around the World by Trevor Barnes (Kingfisher, 1999, www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/ kingfisher) focuses, in an engaging and informative manner, on Hinduism, Jainism,...

Cobblestone resources.(OFF THE SHELF)(Brief article)(Recommended readings)
November 1, 2008... Materials that complement this issue's theme, "World Religions," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing include: Hinduism (CAL9303) Judaism (CAL9403) Buddhism (CAL9503 Early Christianity (CAL9603) Islam (CAL9701)...

On the net.(websites about religion)(Website list)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Here's a site that covers, each with its own pages, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Animism, Christianity, and Hinduism: www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/ This site has links to the beliefs and practices of 19 religions practiced today...

Ask Calliope.(letter written by Roman soldiers, Cheops and Khufu, and the Incas)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I read about letters written by Roman soldiers guarding Hadrian's Wall. What did the soldiers write on? Peg, 10, Web post More than 1,100 documents have been uncovered at the wall fort of Vindolanda. Some...

Melodious music.(From Our Readers)(Poem)
November 1, 2008... Melodious Music Music, Oh Music You're everywhere From gardens to chapels to farm In the morning your alarm Gives me no harm Actually, it's more like a charm You see You freshen my day Like eating...

Other world religions.
November 1, 2008... While Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are five of the present-day major world religions, there are many others with followers across the globe. Below, in chronological order, are brief overviews of several: Shinto is,...

Time line.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... B.C.E. 2000 Abraham, one of the founding fathers of Judaism and a figure revered by Christians and Muslims, born c. 2000 1900 Zarathushtra, founder of Zoroastrianism, born sometime between the 18th and 14th centuries 1500...

Then and now.(religious music)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT'S CHANGED? The Greek and Roman gods are no longer worshiped, and musicians and dancers no longer look to the Muses for inspiration. The instruments have not only been adapted and the sound quality heightened,...