1/14

Christianity has been around for hundreds of years. Christianity is central to God the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit, but it is one God. The Bible and the New Testament is where their readings and beliefs are written. This religion is practiced mainly in Europe, The Americas, and southern Africa. There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world and it consists of many different denominations such as Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodists.

Islam consists of about 1.5 billion practicing Muslims in the world. They are mainly found in Indonesia, Middle East, and North Africa. Their denominations are Sunnis, and Shiites. The founder of Islam is Muhammad and their holy book is the Qur'an(Koran) Their beliefs are monotheistic or Abrahamic. They have five pillars which are testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and pilgrimage.

Hinduism is the third largest religion of the world and it consists of 1.1 billion practicing Hindus in the world. They can be found in mostly India, and Nepal. Their holy book is the Vedas which are the holy truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form(meant to be sung and memorized)
There is no distinct founder of this religion because it is a series f philosophical points of views rather than strict and rigid sets of beliefs. It is probably the oldest religion even though it is more of a way of life.

Buddhism consists of 500 million to 1.5 billion practicing Buddhists. Estimates very quite a bit. They are mainly located in Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, and Japan, as well as 1.2 million Buddhists in the United States. The founder is Siddhartha Gautama. The denominations of this religion is Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidst.  Their practices are the Four Noble Truths, which are there is suffering, attachment of desire is the reason for suffering, there is a cessation of suffering, and the eightfold path will lead to the cessation of suffering. The eightfold path consist of, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right dedication.

Judaism consists of 14-18 million practicing Jews. They are mainly located in Israel and The United States. The founder of Judaism is Abraham and their holy book is the Torah which is the first five books of the Old Testament which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They believe in ethical monotheism, God is one and concerned with the actions of humankind, the ten commandments, and the 13 principals of faith.

1/11

Shiite Islam is divided into three principal schools of thought, based in part on disputes over leadership after the Prophet Muhammad. In Europe, Muslims account for 5 percent of the population. France has the largest Muslim population, about 4 million, Germany has about 3 million Muslims. Estimates of the number of Muslims in North America vary widely, from 1 million to 5 million, but in any event, one umber has increased dramatically from only a few hundred thousand in 1990. One- third of U.S. Muslims trace their ancestry to Pakistan and other South Asian countries and one- fourth to Arab countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa. Buddhists are clustered primarily in East Asia and South-east Asia. An accurate count of Buddhists is especially difficult because only a few people participate in Buddhist institutions. Someone can be both a Buddhist and a believer in other Eastern religions, where as Christianity and Islam both require exclusive adherence. 97 percent of Hindus are concentrated in just one country (India). Hindus comprise more than 80 percent of the population of India. Roughly two-fifths of the world's 14 million Jews live in the United States and another two-fifths in Israel. Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse monotheism, belief that there id only one God. Fundamental to Judaism is belief in one all-powerful God. Judaism offered a sharp contrast to the polytheism practiced by neighboring people, who worshipped a collection of Gods.

1/9

Although most migrants learn the language of the new location, they typically retain their religion.
Reliable statistics on the number of adherents are difficult to obtain. 2.2 billion people view themselves as Christian, 1.6 billion as Muslim, 1 billion as Hindu, and 500 million as Buddhist, Judaism 14-18 million. In all but a handful of countries, the religion with the largest number of adherents is either Christianity or Islam. Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in every country of the Western Hemisphere and in most countries of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Islam is the most widely practiced religion in nearly every country of Southwest Asia and North Africa, as well as in Central Asia. In several countries, including China, the largest number of people are unaffiliated with any religion. Judaism is the most widely practiced religion in the state of Israel. More than 90  percent of Latin Americans and more than 75% of Europeans and North Americans identify themselves as adhering to Christianity. Muslims comprise more than 90% of the population of central Asia and of southwest Asia and North Africa. India is 80% Hindu, where as Bangladesh and Pakistan are more than 90% Muslim. Christianity has three major branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. Roman Catholics comprise approximately 50% of the world's Christians. Islam is the predominant religion of Central Asia and of Southwest Asia and North Africa. Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southwest Asia. Like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism are divided into major branches with distinctive geographic distributions. Islam in Arabic means "submission to the will of God" and it has a similar root to the Arabic word for "peace." Islam is known as a Muslim which means "one who surrenders to God." The countries with the most Muslims are Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh

1/8

                                                    The Hajj

The four Vedic Texts are Rig-Veda which is the "Knowledge of Hymns of Praise." Sama-Veda, which is the "Knowledge of Melodies." Yajur- Veda, which is the "Knowledge of the Sacrificial Formula." Atharva- Veda, which the "Knowledge of the Magic Formula.". The Rig-Veda include 1028 hymns, the Sama-Veda includes verses that are pretty much entirely made from the Rig-Veda,

the Yajur-Veda is made up of the white and black. The Atharva- Veda is made up of more magical and supernatural styles.

Indulgences is when you would pay the church money in order to not have to do out your punishment from penance or go to penance at all, but after death you would receive this punishment anyway through the power of God.


I believe Martin Luther objected to indulgences because you have to pay off your sins no matter what you do, so why not just own up to them now because you will suffer anyway and God suffered and died for us, so we should do the same for him. I think this a good stance. Why not be forgiven now and pay off what you owe now than suffer more later.

The Hajj is mandatory to all adult Muslims to carry out at least on in their life, but they have to be financially sound in order to do so because they have to be able to support their family while they are gone. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is like a stadium

1/7

The five religions we have been studying are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.
The ranking of these religions are Christianity and the percentage of them in the world is 31.4%, Islam is ranked second and the percentage of them in the world is 23.2%, Third is Hinduism and the percentage of them in the world is 15%, Next is Buddhism and the percentage of them in the world is 7.1%, and the last religion we have been studying is Judaism and the percentage of them in the world is 0.2%. This information is according to the CIA World Factbook. Adherents.com say that Christianity consists of 33% of people in the world, Islam is 21% of people in the world, Buddhism only consist of 6% of people, Hinduism consists of 14%, and Judaism consists of 0.22% of people in the world. Christianity has two percent difference which is a considerably large amount, Islam's percentage is down two percent instead of up two percent, Hinduism is down only one percent and Buddhism is also down one percent. The only religion that stayed similar is Judaism, which makes sense because they not very populated .

1/3

• Hinduism
• number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest)
• call them Hindus
• geographic location: India and Nepal\
• holy book: The Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized)
• founder: no distinct founder- it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs- probably the oldest explant religion although Hinduism is less a religion than a way of life, or a faith

• Buddhism
• number of adherents are 500 million to 15 billion 
• call them Buddhists
• geographic location is Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan( there are 1.2 million in the U.S.)
• founder is Siddhartha Gautama
• denominations are Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidst
• Four Noble Truths- there is suffering, attachment to desire is the origin of suffering, The eightfold path will lead to the cessation of suffering
• The eightfold path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right dedication

• Judaism 
• number of adherents are 14-18 million(ninth)
• call them Jews
• geographic location is Israel (6.4 million, 75.4%), U.S. (5.3 million- 7 million, 1.7%-2.6%)
• founder is Abraham
• holy book is The Torah (The first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
• beliefs are ethical of human kind, ten commandments, 13 principals of faith 

1/2

Five Major Religions

• Christianity
• number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world)
• call them: Christians 
• geographic location: Europe, The Americas, Southern Africa
• denominations: Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestants ( Lutherans, Methodist, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, many more)
• founder: Christ( Christianity is Abrahamic origin)
• holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament (gospels)
• beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine- The Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected: he ascended into heaven where he reigns  w/God the Father
• clergy: Pope is head of the Catholic Church, priests are local authorities

• Islam
• number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest)
• call them: Muslim
• geographic location: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa
• denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shiites (10-20%)
• founder: Muhammed (570-632)
• holy book: Qur'an (Koran)
• beliefs: monotheistic Abrahamic Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage) Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah [God] and observing Islamic law