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MAJOR WORLD RELIGIONS

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

PIE CHART

Christianity

IslamHinduismBuddhismSikhism

RELIGIONS BY FOLLOWERS

Roughly 2,120,900,550 followers

Monotheistic

God is three persons

Bible- main teachings

CHRISTIANITY

Roman CatholicEastern OrthodoxProtestantAnglicanAmishBaptistLutheranPresbyterianQuakerSeventh-Day Adventists

BRANCHES

Christmas – Celebrations of Jesus, their messiah’s birthday. On December 25

Easter – Celebration of Jesus, their messiah’s resurrection from the dead which their religion is based around.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Very normal lifestyle, family life is encouraged.

Charity and good deeds are expected from followers

Followers may sometimes be religious sisters and brothers.

LIFE STYLE

CHARI

TY

About 1,280,780,150 followers

Monotheistic

Based on revelations of their prophet Muhammad.

Founded in Mecca Saudi Arabia in 622 CE

Sacred text is the Qur’an(Koran)

“There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.”

ISLAM

FaithPrayerFastingPilgrimageAnd Alms

One day everyone will be judged and go to either Paradise or Hell.

MAJOR PILLARS

Ramadan: month long

Eid ul-Fitr: festival of breaking fast

Eid al Adha: festival of sacrifi ce

HOLIDAYS

There prophet Muhammad they do not believe to be divine.

There life goal is to submit to the will of Allah and make it into the afterlife.

SOME BELIEFS

The soul continues on when the body dies.

There is a final judgment that decides between Paradise and hell

There will be a resurrection

and day of judgment

AFTERLIFE

Approximately 860,690,890 followers

Has no single founder, Scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings.

Elements of it stretch back Many thousands of years.80% of Indian population Identify themselves as Hindu.Supreme god whose qualities and forms are represented by the multitude of deities.

HINDUISM

Existence is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth governed by Karma.

The soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is dependent on how the previous life was lived.

Believe in complete freedom of belief and

worship. Main texts are the four Vedas and

their supplements. Veda is a Sanskrit word meaning knowledge. Contain dharma which means code of conduct, law, or duty.

BELIEFS

Brahman- supreme godTrimurti:

Brahma- creator of the universe Vishnu- preserver of the universe Shiva- destroyer of universe to be re-created

Triumvirate consorts are Saraswati, Lakshima, and ParavatiOther gods: Ganesh, Murugan, KrishnaOther goddesses: Durga, Kali, Radha

DEITIES

Earliest evidence of religion in India dates back to the late Neolithic in the early Harappan period (5500–2600 BCE).

Beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era (1500–500 BCE) are called the “Historical Vedic Religion.”

Fire-sacrifi ces, called yajña are performed, but no temples or idols are known.

‘Hindu’ is derived (through Persian) from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the name for the Indus River which is fi rst mentioned in the Rig Veda.

HISTORY

Does not have a declaration of faith or a creed. Is an umbrella term comprising of and based of the Vedic

traditions.This makes it diffi cult to defi ne it as a religion according

to traditional Western conceptions.Hinduism is a traditional way of life to its followers.The World’s oldest, most complex, and most diverse

religionSome Hindus are even atheists

DEFINITION

Around 381,610,980 followers

Also a philosophyFounded by

Siddhartha Guatama Buddha- comes from

budhi which means “To awaken” Son of an Indian

warrior-king Became a monk

BUDDHISM

Four Truths Life is suffering Craving and aversion cause

suffering It is possible to end suffering Being moral is the path that leads to

the end of sufferingCycle of rebirth is based on Karma

Fortunate Realms- Demigods, Gods, Men

Unfortunate Realms- Animals, Ghosts, Hell

Man is the highest realm because it off ers Nirvana or enlightenment.

BELIEFS

Two Main Branches: Theravada- "The School of the Elders“

widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.)

Mahayana- "The Great Vehicle“ found throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore,

Taiwan etc.) Vajrayana

Also recognized as a part of Mahayana practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China

and Russia

*Buddhism recognized as the fastest growing religions in the world

BRANCHES

The BuddhaThe Dharma (the teachings)The Sangha (the community)Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally

been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path, and, in general, distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.

THE THREE JEWELS

Around 25,140,910 followers

Not very well known

Most people would think that Judaism is more popular but it’s about 10,000,000 followers short.

SIKHISM

One god that can’t be in the form of a human

Goal in life is to be with God

Cardinal vices (or sins) are: Kam (lust) Krodh (anger) Lobh (greed) Moh (worldly attachment) Ahankar (pride)

BELIEFS

FastingReligious

vegetarianism PilgrimagesSuperstitionsWorship of idols

THINGS TO REJECT

Celibacy is not needed for Eternal LifeThe Guru Ganth Sahib is their holy bookDeny distinctions like gender or race

TEACHINGS

Some people believe that Christianity will continue to the hold the majority in world religions.

While looking at the map on your right, this would seem to be true.

WILL CHRISTIANITY REMAIN?

About est. 13.5 million followers world wide, mostly in Israel, the United States, and Russia

Founded by Abraham around 2000 BCE in Israel

1st known monotheistic religion in the world

Jews have a covenant or agreement with god created by Abraham

JUDAISM

Moses leads the Jews out of slaveryDelivers the Ten CommandmentsThe most sacred writing in Judaism is the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible)

The Talmud contains the oral traditions of Jewish law in written form

JUDAISM

Some believe that all major world religions will merge into one super religion.

Others believe that the current trend will be to Atheism.

Religion has been around for over 5,000 years and during all of human civilization. If Atheism were one day to reign supreme, it would likely not occur for thousands of years.

What do you think?

WHAT’S NEXT?

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MAJOR WORLD RELIGIONS