Please help me with Year 3 RE homework

[beachyhead]

We need to research the religious symbols dove, rainbow and olive branch and what do they mean in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddism?

I have been surfing on an off for about 2 days and have been in some of the wierdest sites you care to mention.....

Please help me - I am a bit of a religious non-starter and I just can't find the information I need.

So far, I have found out they all originate in the Noah's Ark story/parable?

I am willing to trade and help with Maths anyday

[JulieF]

Well assuming you know the Noah's ark story and where these symbols occur (if you don't give us a shout.

The dove is a symbol of peace, the olive branch of forgivness, not sure about the rainbow, new beginnings maybe.

[spacedonkey]

Dove Symbolism
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Holy Spirit, Soul Reaching Peace, Spirituality. In Slavic culture, at death the soul turns into a dove. In Visigothic and Romanesque art, it represents souls. In Hinduism, the dove represents the spirit. This bird was sacred to Zeus, to Athena as a symbol of the renewal of life, and to Aphrodite as a symbol of love. To the ancient Egyptians, it signified innocence, and in Islam the dove is the protector of Mohammed In Christianity, the Holy Ghost of the Trinity is often portrayed as a dove. In China it represents longevity and orderliness while in Japan the dove is associated with the war god Hachiman. In Jewish history the dove was sometimes sacrificed for a mother's purification after childbirth. The dove is sometimes an emblem of Israel

[beachyhead]

Do you reckon it means the same in all the religions mentioned......

[spacedonkey]

some stuff about olive symbolism

[beachyhead]

thanks sd - weird that the japanese associate dove with war god and everyone else with peace...hmmmmm.....

[spacedonkey]

in Islam the dove symbolises Mohammed's protector but in christianity it represents the holy ghost

[spacedonkey]

Rainbow Symbolism
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In Genesis, following the flood, a rainbow appeared in the sky and God said, "I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the Earth."

Some Christians thus interpret the rainbow to be a symbol of God's love and his promise never to destroy the earth. In the Islamic tradition, God created people out of earth of seven different colors. For many this symbolizes the idea that the earth belongs to people of all races. Just as the seven colors in a spectrum come together to form one light, everyone must join together to form one human race.

[beachyhead]

spacedonkey - you are a star........

[spacedonkey]

sorry i have to go now, but i found you get lots of info if you search using a phrase like "rainbow symbolism islam" or "olive symbolism judaism" in google

good luck!

[Twiglett]

beachyhead, shouldn't your child be doing his own homework??

[beachyhead]

in my dreams - yeah, Twiglett.......

haven't got the internet at home and frankly getting her to write out a few sentences will be trauma enough.........

[Rarrie]

Try looking up www.theresite.org.uk you can then do searches from there. I can see that they are symbols from the flood etc... but I can't see any connection from them to Buddhism and I'm an RE teacher! To be honest, I should imagine It won't be any more complex than finding out how they relate back to the Flood stories.
HTH

[Ellbell]

The Noah's Ark story is in the Old Testament, so common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.