Course materials in this collection have been mapped to high enrollment Religion courses at select Virginia higher education institutions and reviewed by Virginia faculty. All faculty reviewed OER will include a seal of approval in the item record. Scroll through Course Alignments to see what courses and institutions the materials may be suitable for use in the classroom.
Due to the First Amendment, which grants freedom of religion , there is a diversity of religious beliefs and practices in the U.S.
Religion in the United States is characterized by both a wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices and by a high adherence level.
Christianity is the largest religion in the United States, with around 77% of the population identifying itself as Christian.
Ecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at creating greater Christian unity or cooperation.
Religion plays a “very important” role in the lives of most Americans; a proportion unique among developed nations
Most modern Western societies are recognized as secular because they enjoy near-complete freedom of religion.
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Protestantism is one of the major umbrella religions in the U.S., and is constantly evolving in response to political and social changes.
Catholicism has a long history in the U.S., with the Catholic Church the single largest religious denomination
in the United States.
The early life of Muhammad including his work as a merchant, his marriage to Khadijah, his early revelations and the persecution of early Muslims by his own Quraysh tribe.
Why did Buddhism emerge when and where it did? Are there other historical parallels to the emergence of Buddhism?
Exploring Sikhism's cultural and thematic connections to Hinduism and Islam.
Core spiritual ideas of Buddhism by way of comparison with ideas from the Hindu Upanishads.
The National Humanities center presents this collection of essays by leading scholars on the topic 'Divining America: Religion in American History. The Essays explore religion in America in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and consider Native American religion, African American Christianity, the American Jewish experience, Mormonism, Catholicism, and Islam. They explore religious movements such as the Great Awakenings, the missionary movement, abolitionism, and fundamentalism. Topics like deism, pluralism, church and state separation, Manifest Destiny, and the Christian Right are also examined.
Introduction to Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and Buddhism.
These videos address the topics of Early Christianity, The spread of Christianity, Christianity in the Roman Empire, and the Council of Nicaea.
An overview of the stories of the Torah (first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament).
An overview from the first kings of a unified Judah and Israel to the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora with the destruction of the Second Temple.
It's perfectly human to grapple with questions, like 'Where do we come from?' and 'How do I live a life of meaning?' These existential questions are central to the five major world religions -- and that's not all that connects these faiths. John Bellaimey explains the intertwined histories and cultures of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Lesson by John Bellaimey, animation by TED-Ed.
An overview of the Hindu pantheon including: Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Ganesh, Parvati, Durga, Lakshmi, Karthikeya, Rama and Krishna.
Hinduism is one of the oldest and largest religions in the world. It is also one of the most diverse in terms of practice. This video gives an overview of the central spiritual ideas of Brahman, Atman, Samsara and Moksha.