Architecture of Grace

World Religions

How the world looks through each of the great traditions — the biblical lens first, then the Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and East Asian lenses — each in its own words, from its own texts. Studied, not preached.

Open In the workshop

Grades 9–10 — the traditions in their own words

How to read a sacred text, then the biblical lens in two parts, then the Jewish, Islamic and Hindu lenses. Every unit works from the text itself — public-domain translations a student can quote.

6 units open · 0 in the workshop

The course

World Religions, Grades 9–10

6 units, 12 chapters, numbered lessons — each with a reading, key words, a source or the numbers, and three checks. Chapter reviews, unit tests, a word match and a writing task.

Course contents
How to Read a Sacred Text
Method
Author, Audience, Purpose; Translation, Context and Interpretation.
Open the unit
The Biblical Lens I: The Hebrew Bible
Texts
Creation, Covenant and Exodus; Prophets, Psalms and Wisdom.
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The Biblical Lens II: The New Testament
Texts
The Gospels and the Parables; Paul, the Letters and the Early Church.
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Judaism: Torah, Talmud and a People
Traditions
Covenant, Sabbath and the Calendar; The Talmud and Jewish Life Through History.
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Islam: The Qur'an and the Five Pillars
Traditions
Revelation, the Prophet and the Pillars; Hadith, Law and the Golden Age.
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Hinduism: Dharma, Karma and the Gita
Traditions
The Vedas and the Many Paths; Arjuna's Question: The Bhagavad Gita.
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More rooms on this band

How to read a sacred text
Who wrote it, for whom, when, and why; genre, translation, and the difference between studying a text and practicing a faith — cards, hints, a three-level quiz and a lab: sort lines by genre, order a text's journey, read Psalm 23 by its parts, argue what kind of text it is.
Open
The biblical lens I: the Hebrew Bible
Creation, covenant, exodus, law, prophets and psalms — the world as made, fallen and called.
Open
The biblical lens II: the New Testament
The Gospels, the parables, the letters of Paul, the early church — and how Christians read the whole Bible through them.
Open
Judaism: Torah, Talmud and a people
The covenant, the Sabbath and the calendar, rabbinic reasoning in the Talmud, and Jewish life from Babylon to today.
Open
Islam: the Qur'an and the Five Pillars
Revelation, the Prophet, the Pillars, the Hadith, and the golden age of Baghdad, Córdoba and Timbuktu.
Open
Hinduism: dharma, karma and the Gita
The Vedas, the many paths to one truth, and Arjuna's question on the battlefield.
Open

Grades 11–12 — comparison and inquiry

The Buddhist and East Asian lenses, the traditions of Africa and the Americas, religion in law, art, science and conflict — then one question asked of every lens, and a capstone built on the sources.

6 units open · 0 in the workshop

The course

World Religions, Grades 11–12

6 units, 12 chapters, numbered lessons — each with a reading, key words, a source or the numbers, and three checks. Chapter reviews, unit tests, a word match and a writing task.

Course contents
Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths
Traditions
The Buddha and the Middle Way; Sangha, Schools and the Spread of Buddhism.
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Confucianism and Daoism
Traditions
The Analects: Family, Ritual and the Good Ruler; The Daodejing: The Way That Cannot Be Named.
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Sikhism, Jainism, and the Traditions of Africa and the Americas
Traditions
The Guru Granth Sahib and Ahimsa; Oral Traditions That Keep the World in Story.
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Religion and the World
Religion in Society
Law, Art, Science and Charity; Conflict, Peace and Religious Freedom.
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One Question, Many Lenses
Comparative
What Is a Good Life? What Is Justice?; What Happens When We Die? Why Is There Suffering?.
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Capstone: The Sources Speak
Capstone
Posing the Question and Gathering the Texts; Arguing What Each Would Say.
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More rooms on this band

Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths
Suffering, its cause, its end, the Eightfold Path — and the Dhammapada in a public-domain translation.
Open
Confucianism and Daoism
The Analects on family, ritual and the good ruler; the Daodejing on the way that cannot be named.
Open
Sikhism, Jainism, and the traditions of Africa and the Americas
The Guru Granth Sahib, ahimsa, and oral traditions that keep the world in story.
Open
Religion and the world
Law, art, science, charity, conflict and peace — where each tradition has shaped the world we share.
Open
One question, many lenses
What is a good life? What is justice? What happens when we die? Each tradition answers in its own words, side by side.
Open
Capstone: the sources speak
Pose a question, read three traditions' texts on it, and argue what each would say — with the texts cited.
Open

The engines

Every activity here is one of these kinds. The open ones work now; the three “in the workshop” are still being built for this subject.

Study cards, hints and a practice quiz
Open · every unit page
The vocabulary, the people, the texts and the ideas of each tradition — tap-to-reveal, a hints sheet, a quiz at three levels.
Read the text like a scholar
Open · the Lab tab on a unit page
A passage from the tradition's own scripture, in a public-domain translation, tagged sentence by sentence — who speaks, what is commanded, what is promised, what is taught.
Timeline builder
Open · the Lab tab on a unit page
The tradition's story on one rail — founders, texts, turning points.
Sort: belief, practice, text, place
Open · the Lab tab on a unit page
Cards into bins — and across traditions, which lens says what.
Claim, evidence, reasoning — from the text
Open · the Lab tab on a unit page
State what a tradition holds, cite its own words, explain the link. The writer that makes an essay out of a source.
For the teacher

<b>This page is a map.</b> It saves nothing about a student and sends nothing anywhere. Each door opens an activity page; a finished activity sends its one summary row to your Sheet, under the name the student typed, and nothing else leaves the device.

<b>Hand out one band.</b> Add the band to the address and the page opens there: <b>/religions#6-8</b>. Every door has a short address too — <b>Show on the board</b> prints it large enough for the back row.

<b>In the workshop means not built yet.</b> A unit with that mark has no page behind it and no link, on purpose. When one opens, it appears here with a real door.