AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
The Qur'an contains many passages and chapters which covers the entire aspect of humanity, down to the most minute detail. From the creation and conception of human child to the details of the Earth and beyond. In the aspect of human life it contains stories and tales of old civilizations and past prophets and their life chronicles. The Quran also contains the Syaria' law or hudud, and emphasizes the equal rights man and women alike with mothers given special status where it is sinful to even glare at them.
The Qur'an has a total of 30 juzuks. In each juzuk, contains many surahs or verses, with 114 surahs which begins with Surah al-Fatehah(The Beginning) and ended with Surah an-Naas(Humanity). A Hafeez is a Muslim who has committed the Quran to memory and can accurately recite every word in the Quran without flipping a single page and apply them to daily life.
Other important teachings in Islam are the Sunnah (which tell about Muhammad's life) and the Hadith (which are collections of dialogues of conversation that Muslims believe Muhammad said).
The Qur'an is considered in Islam as a manual to all of humanity and its teachings are to be implemented and shared by its readers.
Muslims pray in a place of worship called the mosque. A mosque is called a "masjid" in Arabic. Most mosques were mostly recognized having at least a single dome, and some have one or more towers. However many mosques were built without either domes or towers.
Muslims take their shoes off before entering the masjid to pray. Prayer is one of the most important things that a Muslim does.
The Muslim is called to prayer or solah five times a day. This call to prayer is called Adhan. The muezzin, a man chosen to make the call to prayer, uses a loudspeaker, which carries his voice to the people nearby. The call to prayer is often done out loud, in public, in Muslim countries. Being called to solah is a normal part of daily life for most people in Muslim countries.
Muslims pray on a mat, which is called a "prayer mat" or "prayer rug" in English. Common Arabic names for the prayer mat include "sajjāda" and "namazlık".
When it is time to pray, Muslims face the direction of Qibla - the direction they are supposed to pray in, towards Mecca. They then roll out their prayer mat, and perform their prayers to God.
According to Islamic teachings, Muslims must say "Peace be upon him" (PBUH or pbuh) whenever they hear Prophet's name. In this way, they show respect to Muhammad and other prophets.
In 2009, a study was done in 232 countries and territories. This study found that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims. Of those, between 75% and 90% are Sunni and between ten and twenty five percent are Shi'a. A small part belong to other Islamic sects. In about fifty countries, more than half of the people are Muslim. Arabs account for around twenty percent of all Muslims worldwide. Islam has three holy sites; Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina.
Most Muslims live in Asia and Africa. Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million followers in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the biggest Muslim communities.
Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has about 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,
and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas.
Like with other religions, over time different movements have developed in Islam. These movements are based on different interpretations of the scriptures. The following sections list the most common movements.
"This article is about the Jewish religion. For more information about the Jewish people, see Jew."
Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות) is the world's oldest Abrahamic religion. It is almost 4,000 years old. There are about 15 million followers. They are called Jews. It is the oldest monotheistic religion. The Torah is the most important holy book of Judaism. The laws and teachings of Judaism come from the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and oral traditions. Some of these were first oral traditions and later written in the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other works.
Both Christianity and Islam are similar to Judaism. These religions accept the belief in one God and the moral teachings of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which includes the Torah or "תורה."
The three main beliefs at the center of Judaism are Monotheism, Identity, and covenant (an agreement between God and his people).
The most important teachings of Judaism is that there is one God, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate. Judaism teaches that a person serves God by learning the holy books and doing what they teach. These teachings include both ritual actions and ethics. Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
The main teachings of Judaism are about God, that there is only one God and that god is Yahweh. Only God created the universe and only He controls it. Judaism also teaches that God is spiritual and not physical.
Jews believe that God is one – a unity: He is one whole, complete being. He cannot be divided into parts and people cannot say how He looks in words; they can only say how He is and what He does.
Jews believe that all goodness and morality is from God. God is interested in what people do and that He watches what they do.
Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God. This is why people must be treated with dignity and respect. A person serves God by being like God. This means that they must do what is fair and just, show mercy, and behave with kindness and love for people.
Judaism says that God exists forever, that He is everywhere, and that He knows everything. He is above nature (“supernatural”) but He is in the world and He hears those who pray to Him and will answer them. God is the main power in the universe.
Judaism teaches that God allows people to choose what to do – this is called “free will.” Free will is the freedom to do whatever a person wants, but that they must be responsible of his/her own actions. People are responsible for their actions. God rewards people who do good, and will punishes those who do wrong. God gives a person a reward or a punishment in this world, but He gives the final reward or punishment to the soul of the person after their death.
Jews believe that God made an agreement called a “covenant” with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people. The Bible says that God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants if they worshipped God and were faithful to him. God made this covenant with Abraham's son, Isaac, and with Isaac's son, Jacob. God gave Jacob another name, Israel. This is how Jacob’s descendants got the name the “Children of Israel” or “Israelites.” God later gave the Torah to the Israelites through their leader, Moses. The Torah told the Israelites how to live and build their community. God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and other laws in the Torah.
The Jews are sometimes called the “Chosen People". This is because the Bible says God told them, “You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) and “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you to be His own special nation out of all peoples on the earth” (Deuteronomy 14:2). Jews understand that this means they have special duties and responsibilities commanded by God. For example, Jews must build a just society and serve only God. Jews believe that this covenant works in two ways: if they follow God’s laws, He will give them his love and protection, but they are also responsible for their sins – bad actions – and disobeying what God told them. Jews believe that they must teach other people that God exists and that God wants all people to do good actions. Jews believe that their job in the world is to be "a light to the nations" (Isiah 49:6) by showing the people of the world ways to make the world a better place.
Jews believe that God has given them a special job which is to repair the world. Their job is to make the world a better place with more good in it. They must use the things in the world to increase good and come closer to God. They call this “"tikkun olam"” – repairing the world. Jews see themselves as God’s partner and that they must repair the world in any way they can – to find ways to lessen suffering of people and animals, to make more peace, bring respect between people and protect the earth’s environment from destruction.
Jews do not try to convince other people to believe in Judaism. Jews believe they have a special job to show the world that God exists, but people do not have to be Jewish to follow God. All people can serve God by following the Seven Commandments (rules) given to Noah. But, Judaism accepts people who choose to change their religion to Judaism.
Jews believe that God tells them in the Torah the way of life that they must follow. The Torah says God wants the people of Israel to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him, and to keep God’s commandments (Deut. 10:12–13). Actions are more important than beliefs and beliefs must be made into actions.
These actions are called “"mitzvot"” in Hebrew (singular: a "mitzvah" מִצְוָה). Sometimes they are called “laws,” "rules" or “commandments”. Many people think of a mitzvah as "a good act," or "a good thing to do." There are 613 "mitzvot" in the Torah. Jews believe that the Torah gives "mitzvot" for all people; all people must keep seven laws that were taught to Noah and his children after the flood. The Jews must keep 613 mitzvot, which are listed in the Torah. The rabbis counted 365 "mitzvot" that Jews must not do (negative "mitzvot"), and 248 "mitzvot" that Jews must do (positive "mitzvot"). Some "mitzvot" are for everyday life, and some are only for special times, such as Jewish holidays. Many of the 613 "mitzvot" are about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and cannot be done now, since the Temple was destroyed.
Some of the "mitzvot" are about how people must act to other people. For example, they must give charity to a poor person, or help a person who is in danger. They must not steal or lie. These are ethical and moral "mitzvot".
Some "mitzvot" are about how people must act towards God. For example, they must respect God’s name, or not work on the Sabbath. These are religious or ritual "mitzvot". Jews believe that God tells them to do both ethical and religious acts.
Jews see "mitzvot" as acts that sanctify – bring holiness – to the world and bring people and the world closer to God. Jews do the "mitzvot" to sanctify the physical world and the things in it, such as food and drink, clothing, and natural activities such as sex, work, or seeing beautiful sights. Before doing many acts, such as eating, Jews say a blessing – a short prayer – that God makes and gives a person the things that they need for life. In Judaism, life is most holy and important. A Jew must stop doing other "mitzvot" of the Torah to help save another person’s life.
Jews believe that they must do the "mitzvot" with happiness and joy because the Bible says “Serve God with joy; come before God with singing” (Psalms 100:2). Doing a "mitzvah" helps a person come close to God and that makes the person happy. A group of Jews called the Hasidim say this is the best way to live. They say that worrying takes people away from joy and they will not see the beauty and good in the world.
Many "mitzvot" in the Torah are about the Land of Israel. The Talmud and later books call these "mitzvot" “commandments connected to the Land” because Jews can only do them in the Land of Israel. For example, Jews give gifts to the poor or the priests from their fields every year, take fruit or animals to the Temple in Jerusalem, and must stop working on the land every seven years (the “shmittah” – sabbatical year).
The Land of Israel is holy in Judaism. A Jewish belief is that God created the Earth from Mount Moriah in Jerusalem in the Land of Israel, and He is always closest to this land. Jews believe that this land is where God told the Jewish people to build a society to serve Him, and many "mitzvot" (commandments) in the Torah are about the Land of Israel.
The Jewish people believe their history as a nation begins with Abraham. The story of Abraham in the Torah begins when God tells Abraham to leave his country. He promises Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of Canaan. This is now known as the Land of Israel. It is named after Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who was also called Israel and who was the father of the twelve tribes. This is where the name “Land of Israel” comes from. The land is also called “the Promised Land” because in the Torah, God promises to give the land to the children of Abraham (, , , ).
The rabbis of the Talmud understood from the Torah () that it is a “mitzvah” for Jews to live in the land of Israel. They saw living outside of Israel as not natural for a Jew. Jews often called the land outside of Israel "galut." This is usually translated as "diaspora" (a place where people are scattered), but the word more closely means "exile".
The story of leaving Egypt, called the Exodus, is very important in the way the Jewish people understand the world. The Torah tells how God took a group of slaves, the Israelites, from slavery, and tells them how to be His partner to build the world. Jews see this story as a model for the whole world. In the future, the whole world will change, and all the people of the world will serve the one God. This will be God’s kingdom on Earth. They believe the whole of Jewish history, and world history, is part of this process.
The prophets taught that God would send a person to the world who would help all the people of the world see that God is the maker, king of the world and has supreme power. This person is called the Messiah. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word "mashiah", which means "the anointed one". The Book of Isaiah says the Messiah will be a just king who will unite the Jewish people and lead them in God's way. The Messiah will also unite all the people of the world to serve God. People will act with justice and kindness, and the whole world will be filled with peace.
Jews still wait for the Messiah to come. They believe that this will be a person. Other Jews believe in a future time when justice and peace will come through the cooperation of all people and the help of God.
Jews believe that to know what God wants them to do, they must study the books of Torah and its laws and do what they teach. These include both laws about how to behave to other people and how to serve God.
The two most important groups of books in Judaism are the Bible and the Talmud. The beliefs and actions of Judaism come from these books. Jewish teachers and scholars wrote more books, called commentaries. They explain and say more about what is written in the Bible and Talmud.
The Torah is the most important of all Jewish writings. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the "Old Testament") make up the Torah. The Torah contains the basic laws of Judaism and describes the history of the Jews until the death of Moses. Jewish tradition says that God told Moses what to write in the Torah, which is also called the Five Books of Moses. Religious Jews believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments and the Torah down from Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are special because they were heard by all of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. However, in traditional Judaism, all of the 613 "mitzvot" in the Torah are equally important.
Jews divide the Hebrew Bible into three parts and call it the Tanakh. The three parts are the Torah, which is the first five books; the Nevi'im, which are the books of the prophets; and the Ketuvim, meaning the Writings, which are other books of history and moral teachings.
Rabbinic Jews also believe that there is another part of the Torah besides the five books of Moses. It is called the Mishnah, also called the Oral Torah or Oral Law. It explains how to follow the laws written in the 5 books. There is a commentary (explanation) of the Mishnah, called the Gemara. Together, the Mishna and the Gemara make up the Talmud. But Karaite Jews believe that there is no additional Torah besides the five books of Moses.
Traditional Jews believe that God gave the written Torah and the oral Torah to Moses and that Moses told it to the Jewish people, and that it is the same today as it was back then. Traditional Jews also believe that all of the commandments must still be followed today.
Liberal Jews believe that the Torah was inspired by God but written by human beings. Liberal Jews believe that all of the ethical laws in the Torah must still be followed, but many ritual laws do not need to be followed today.
It is considered good in Judaism to talk about the commandments and to try to understand how to follow them. The Talmud has many stories about Rabbis who argued about the commandments. Over time, some opinions have become the rule for everyone. Some rules are still being argued about. Jews praise logical argument and looking for truth.
There is no single leader of Judaism who can decide how to follow the commandments or what to believe. Even though Jews believe different things and they disagree about the rules, they are still one religion and one people.
Jews who follow the religious rules called "kashrut" only eat some types of food that are prepared by special rules. Food that a Jew can eat is called "kosher" food.
Traditional Jews are very careful about kashrut. They usually cannot eat many foods in non-kosher restaurants or in the home of someone who does not keep kosher. Sometimes, this makes it hard to visit people or to do business. It is important to understand that this is part of their religion. People help avoid this problem by choosing to dine with Traditional Jews in a kosher restaurant or serve them kosher food in their home.
Liberal Jews are not so careful about kosher, although some of them may keep some rules.
There are other rules for kosher food as well.
One of the commandments is to keep the Jewish Sabbath, or "Shabbat". Shabbat starts every Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at nightfall. Shabbat is a day of rest to thank God for making the universe.
The tradition of resting on Shabbat comes from the Torah. According to the Torah, God created the world in six days and on the seventh day, Shabbat, He rested. Many Jews go to their temple or synagogue to pray on Shabbat.
Religious Jews follow special rules on Shabbat. These rules require Jews not to do creative work on Shabbat. One reason for this is to give people a break from all the things that make them busy during the week. This helps them focus more on appreciating God, their family, and the rest of creation. Also it reminds people that God is the creator and ruler of the world; and no matter how great a person's creative power is, it cannot compare with God's creation of the universe and everything in it. Many of these categories of creative work include actions that people might not think of as work. For instance, on Shabbat a Jew cannot:
Traditional Jews are very careful about Shabbat. It is a special day. They clean their houses and prepare special food for Shabbat. They dress in their nicest clothes. They sing beautiful songs and say extra prayers in the synagogue. They have dinner and lunch with their families. Many families also invite guests for dinner and for lunch. They eat special delicious food, and sing together traditional Shabbat songs. On Shabbat afternoon people study Judaism together or just visit friends.
Liberal Jews do not follow those rules. Some do go to synagogue, visit friends, or have special meals. But they may also talk on the phone, drive cars, and go shopping.
For a very long time, most Jews in Europe believed the same basic things about Judaism. Jews in other lands had different beliefs and customs than European Jews. About 200 years ago, a small group of Jews in Germany decided to stop believing in many parts of Judaism and try to become more "modern" and more like Germans. Those Jews were called Reform Jews.
Today there are three main kinds of Judaism: Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism. There are also kinds with a smaller number of people, such as Reconstructionist Judaism, and Karaite Judaism. Each group has its own practices according to how it understands the Jewish laws. For example, Reform (also called Liberal or Progressive) Judaism encourages people to choose the ways to be Jewish that mean the most to them based on the traditions. Reform Judaism teaches Jews to focus on the ethical laws of Judaism. Conservative Judaism developed after Reform Judaism. The leaders of Conservative Judaism felt that Reform Judaism was too radical. They wanted to conserve (protect) Jewish tradition instead of reforming (changing) it. Orthodox Jews do not believe that Reform or Conservative Judaism are correct because they believe that the laws given by God are timeless, and can't be changed.
In the most recent survey of Jews in the United States in 2000-2001, it was found that 35% of American Jews say they are Reform, 27% say they are Conservative, 10% say they are Orthodox, 2% say they are Reconstructionist and 25% do not say what type they are.
In Israel, almost all Jews go to Orthodox synagogues. There are very few Reform or Conservative synagogues, but there has been a steady increase since 2009. In Israel, Jews do not call themselves Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox. Instead, they mostly call themselves "Haredi" (completely religious) "Dati" (basically religious), "Masorati" (traditional/conservative) or "Chiloni" (secular). Surveys suggest about 20% of Israelis say they are secular, 25% say they are Dati or Haredi and 55% say they are traditional.
Names are very important in Judaism. Many Jews believe that a name not only tells you who someone is, but also tells you something about them. Names of God are very special in Judaism, so Jews do not write them or speak them fully but use other words instead. That is why some Jews write G-d, with a "-" instead of an "o."
"HaShem" Means "The Name". It is the word Jews use most often when not praying to talk about God.
"Adonai" means "My Lord." This name tells Jews about God's position. God is the King of the World, and his name Adonai lets us know that.
"Elohim" means "one who is strong enough to do everything." This name is used when talking about God's power to create or God's justice. This tells us that God is the creator and that God rules the world with just laws.
The two names above are so special that Orthodox Jews use these names only when they pray and read the Torah. When they are not praying or reading the Torah, they say "Hashem" (The Name) or "Elokim".
"God" - Some Jews write "God" by replacing the "o" with a dash, like this: "G-d". They do this because God's name is very holy so they are not allowed to throw away a piece of paper with "God" written on it. However, if by accident "God" is written, then the paper can be disposed of in a special way and buried in a special place. Others say that "God" is just an English word, not Hebrew, and so it is not holy.
"YHWH" ("Yehovah"/"Yahweh") is the most sacred name of God in Hebrew, and is not pronounced by most Jews. No one knows where the name came from, or what exactly it means. It looks like the Hebrew word "hayah," which is the verb "to be." (According to Hebrew scripture, when Moses asked God who God was, God told Moses "I am that I am/I am who I am.") Jews believe that the name YHWH shows that God is endless. Instead of trying to say it, most Jews say ""haShem"", which means "The Name." Some people pronounce this name as "Yahweh", or "Jehovah". Scholars of religion sometimes refer to "YHWH" as "the Tetragrammaton", from Greek wo.
Christianity is the largest world religion by number of followers (around 2.4 billion). Members of the religion are called Christians. Christians generally believe Jesus to be the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. It is a monotheistic religion, meaning it has only one God. It is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
To most of the people of his time Jesus was a preacher, teacher, healer, and prophet from ancient Judea. However, his disciples believed him to be much more than that: they believed that Jesus was God's one and only son who was sent down to earth to die on a cross for their sins. The man said to be his father, Joseph, was a carpenter. Jesus was executed by being nailed to a cross (or crucified) under Pontius Pilate, the local Roman governor at the time. His life and followers are written about in the New Testament, part of the Bible. Christians consider the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, as sacred. The Gospels or "The Good News" are the first four books of the New Testament and are about the life of Jesus, his death, and him rising from the dead.
God created the world. Jesus is the name of God the Son. Christians believe Him to be the Son of God. They believe that He was the human son of the Virgin Mary and the divine Son of God. They believe he suffered and died to free humans from their sin and was later raised from the dead. He then went up into Heaven. At the end of time, Jesus will come back to Earth to judge all mankind, both alive and dead, giving everlasting life to those who believe in him. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God on the Earth that spoke through prophets.
The prophets foretold in the Old Testament of Jesus as the Savior. Christians think of Jesus Christ as a teacher, a role model, and someone who revealed who the Christian God was.
Just like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion. Christianity started out as a Jewish sect in the eastern Mediterranean. It quickly grew in number of believers and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th Century it had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. Armenia was the First Nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, under the rule of King Tiridates III of the Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century. The Kingdom of Aksum became the first empire to adopt Christianity. During the Middle Ages, the rest of Europe mostly was Christianized. At that time, Christians were mostly a religious minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of India. Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonization, Christianity spread to Africa, the Americas, and the rest of the world.
Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of the world. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion followers.
The most basic part of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah (Christ). The title "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word ("māšiáħ") meaning "anointed one". The Greek translation "Χριστός" ("Christos") is the source of the English word "Christ". Jesus is English for the Hebrew word Yeshua.
Christians believe that, as the Messiah, Jesus was anointed by God as ruler and savior of all people. Christians also believe that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian belief of the Messiah is much different than the contemporary Jewish concept. The main Christian belief is that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God. Through this, they believe they are given salvation and eternal life.
There have been many theological disagreements over the nature of Jesus over the first centuries of Christian history. But Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man." Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pain and temptations of a mortal man, but he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and came back to life again. According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead," he ascended to heaven, is "seated at the right hand of the Father" and will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the Dead, the Last Judgment, and the final creation of the Kingdom of God.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Only a little of Jesus' childhood is written in the canonical gospels, but infancy gospels were popular in antiquity. However, the time of Jesus' adulthood the week before his death is written much about in the gospels. Some of the Biblical writings of Jesus' ministry are: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.
Christians believe the resurrection of Jesus to be the main part of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in human history because it would show that Jesus has power over death and has the authority to give people eternal life.
Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two main events of Christian doctrine and theology. From what the New Testament says, Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead on the third day afterwards. Most Christians place his death on a Friday each year, which is the first day of his death. Saturday is the second day, and Sunday is the third day. The New Testament writes that after rising from the dead Jesus appeared many times before his Twelve Apostles and disciples. Once He appeared before "more than five hundred brethren at once". This was before Jesus' Ascension to heaven. Jesus' death and resurrection are remembered by Christians in their worship services, and most commonly during Holy Week, which has Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the week.
Protestantism teaches that eternal salvation is a gift that is given to a person by God's grace. It is sometimes called "unmerited favor." This would mean that Salvation is God bringing humans into a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the belief that one can be saved (rescued) from sin and the eternal death of hell. Many Protestants believe in the "assurance of salvation"—that God can put confidence in a believer that he has truly received salvation from Jesus Christ.
Catholicism teaches that although in most cases someone must be baptized a Catholic to be saved, it is sometimes possible for people to be saved who have not fully joined the Catholic Church. Catholics normally believe in the importance of "faith working through love" and sacraments in receiving salvation. The Catholic Church teaches that good works and piety, such as obedience to commands, taking the sacraments, going to church, doing penance giving alms, saying prayers, and other things, are important in becoming holy, but strongly emphasize that salvation is through God's grace alone, and all we can do is receive it.
Different denominations and traditions of Christianity believe in forms divine grace. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy teach the complete importance of the free will to work together with grace. Reformed theology teaches the importance of grace by teaching that a person is completely incapable of self-redemption, but the grace of God overcomes even the unwilling heart. Arminianism believes in a synergistic view, while Lutheran and most other Protestant denominations teach justification by grace through faith alone.
Christianity uses the Bible, a collection of many canonical books in two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is believed by Christians that they were written by people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is most often believed to be the word of God. The Bible has been translated into over 600 languages. The translators are able to verify accuracy by using thousands of handwritten copies of the scriptures which are in the original languages of Hebrew Aramaic, and Greek.
Creeds (from Latin "credo" meaning "I believe") are direct doctrinal statements or confessions, usually of religious beliefs. They started as formulas used when someone was baptised. During the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries they became statements of faith.
Some main Christian creeds are:
Many Christians accept the use of creeds, and often use at least one of the creeds given above. A smaller number of Protestants, notably Restorationists, a movement formed in the wake of the Second Great Awakening in the 19th century of the 19th century United States, oppose the use of creeds.
The Bible mentions God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet Christian believe that there is only one God. This idea, called Trinity, was started at the First Council of Nicaea, in 325, and developed during several church meetings or councils. Today, many Christian groups agree with it. Oriental Orthodox Churches did not agree with the idea, and split after the council. The biggest of the Oriental Orthodox is the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox Churches agree with the ideas in the First Council of Nicaea, but they disagree with other councils.
"Trinitarianism" is the teaching that God is three different persons, or has three different relations, within One God; the "Father", the "Son" (Jesus Christ), and the "Holy Spirit". In the words of the Athanasian Creed, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God."
Trinitarianism is the group of Christians who believe in the doctrine of Trinity. Today, most Christian denominations and Churches believe this. Churches have different teachings about the trinitarian formula. Some say the Spirit comes only from the Father. Others say the Spirit comes both from the Father and the Son. This is known as filioque. Nontrinitarianism (also called Oneness) is the beliefs systems that reject the Trinity. Many different Nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or modalism, existed in early Christianity, leading to the disputes about Christology.
An example of a more recent Christian movement that rejects trinitarianism is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Latter Day Saints started in the first half of the 19th century, in the United States. There are other smaller Christian groups who also reject trinitarianism.
Christians believe that human beings will receive judgement from God and are given either eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes the "Last Judgment" as well as the belief of a judgement particular to the soul after death.
There are also some differences among Christians in this belief. For example, in Roman Catholicism, those who die in a state of grace, go into purgatory, where they are cleansed before they can go into heaven.
Christians believe that at the second coming of Christ at the end of time, all who have died will be raised up from the dead for the Last Judgment, when Jesus will establish the Kingdom of God. There is also the belief of Universal Reconciliation. That is the belief that all people will someday be saved, and that hell is not forever. Christians who believe in this view are known as Universalists.
Christians have different ways to talk about the purpose of Jesus' coming:
Worship is thought by most Christians to be a very important part of Christianity all through its history. Many Christian theologians have called humanity "homo adorans", which means "worshiping ," and so the worship of God is at the very center of what it means to be human. This would mean that because God created all humanity, Christians should worship and give praise to God.
Most Christian worship has Scripture reading, talk about Scripture from a leader, singing, prayer together, and a small time for Church work. Christians may meet in special buildings, also called Churches, or outdoors, or at schools, or anywhere Christians feel they are needed.
The main worship service in Catholic Churches is the Mass and the main worship service in many Orthodox Churches is called the Divine Liturgy. In both of these Churches, along with the other parts of worship, the Eucharist or Communion is central. Here a priest by prayer asks God to change a small amount of bread and wine into what Catholics and Orthodox believe is Jesus's real body and blood, but without changing the accidents (appearance, taste, colour, etc.) of the bread and wine. Then the people each may receive a portion. Many Protestant churches have worship services similar to the Mass, some every week, others a few times a year. Some Protestants believe Jesus is really present at the Communion service, and some believe the bread and wine are symbols to help them remember what Jesus did
The Catholic Church has developed a short ceremony, Eucharistic Benediction, worshiping Jesus present in the Eucharist. They also may visit a Church building to pray in the presence of the Eucharist, Eucharistic Adoration.
The Orthodox and Catholic Churches spirituality place importance on the use of human senses such as sight and on the use of beautiful things. Catholic spirituality often involves the use of statues and other artistic representations, candles, incense, and other physical items as reminders or aids to prayer. The Orthodox Churches also use candles, incense, bells, and icons, but not statues. Orthodox and Catholic worship also makes use of movements, such as the Sign of the Cross, made by each person touching first the forehead, then chest, one shoulder, then the other shoulder. There is also bowing, kneeling, and prostration in Catholic and Orthodox worship.
In Catholic belief and practice, a sacrament is a religious symbol or often a rite which shows divine grace, blessing, or sanctity for the Christian who receives it. Examples of sacraments are Baptism and the Mass." The word is taken from the Latin word "sacramentum", which was used to translate the Greek word for "mystery".
The two most regularly used sacraments are Baptism and Eucharist (communion). Most Catholics use seven Sacraments: Baptism, the ritual immersion of a candidate to welcome them into the church; Confirmation, the sealing of the Covenant; the Eucharist, a ritual where consecrated bread (discs of unleavened, toasted bread) and wine representing Jesus' body and blood are consumed; Holy Orders, Reconciliation of a Penitent (confession), Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage. Some Christian denominations prefer to call them "ordinances". These are the Orders from Christ to all believers found in the New Testament.
Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Christians, and traditional Protestant groups center their worship around a liturgical calendar. Some events that are part of this calendar are the "holy days", such as solemnities which honor an event in the life of Jesus or the saints, times of fasting such as Lent, and other events, such as memoria. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often keep some celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter,and Pentecost. A few churches do not use a liturgical calendar.
These are some symbols that some denominations or individual churches may use:
Christianity has had a large history from the time of Jesus and his apostles to the present time. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect but quickly spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Although it was originally persecuted under the Roman Empire, it later became the state religion. In the Middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and Russia. During the Age of Exploration, Christianity expanded throughout the world, and is now the largest religion of the world.
The religion had schisms and theological disputes that had as result ten main branches or groupings: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Church of the East (Nestorianism), Oriental Orthodoxy (Miaphysitism), Lutheranism, the Reformed churches (Calvinism), Anglicanism, Anabaptism, Evangelicalism—these last five often grouped and labeled as Protestant—and Nontrinitarianism.
People who call themselves Christians may show or live their faith in different ways. They may also believe different things. Through history the ten main groups or "denominations" of Christianity have been the (Eastern) Orthodox, the Church of the East (Nestorian), the Oriental Orthodox (Miaphysite), the Catholic, the Anglican, the Lutheran, the Reformed, the Anabaptist, the Evangelical, and the Nontrinitarian churches. These latter six are often grouped together as Protestant, but Nontrinitarians are also more commonly grouped separately. Not all Christians use these titles. Some believe Christianity is bigger and includes others. Some believe Christianity is smaller and does not include all these churches.
Some of these groups could not agree on certain points about Christian teaching (called “doctrine”) or practice. The first split was in the 5th century after the Church Council of Ephesus. The council agreed Nestorianism was wrong. The Assyrian Church of the East did not agree and split from the rest. The argument was about the nature of Jesus. Should he be regarded as God and human in one combined nature, or in two separate natures? Most of the bishops, following the Pope (the Bishop of Rome), refused to stay in communion with any bishop who would not say "two separate natures". This was also discussed at the Council of Chalcedon, about 20 years later. The Christians who did not agree with the decision of the Council to excommunicate them, became the non-Chalcedonian Orthodox. The largest Non-Chalcedonian Churches are the Coptic Orthodox in Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox, the Armenian, and some Lebanese Orthodox Churches. In general, these churches are known as Oriental Orthodox Churches. Recent discussions between the Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II and the Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III concluded that they believe many of the same things after all, even though the Coptic Church does not recognize the Pope of Rome as its leader.
The third split happened in the 11th century. It is called the Great Schism. It was mostly based on the creed being translated incorrectly from Greek into Latin. The disagreements were made worse because the two cultures often did not understand one another. Also, many Crusaders from Western Europe behaved badly. The Christians in Western Europe were led by the Bishop of Rome, known also as the Pope. They are called the Catholic Church. Most Christians in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and South Asia, and northeast Africa belong to Orthodox, Nestorian, and Miaphysite Christianity, led by the Bishops of other cities or areas.
In the 15th century the invention of the printing press made it easier for more people to read and study the Bible. This led many thinkers over the years to return to biblical ideas and to break away from the Catholic Church. They started the Protestant Reformation. The most important Protestant leaders were Jan Hus, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. Later some of these groups disagreed amongst themselves so that these denominations split again into smaller groups. The largest Protestant denominations today are within Evangelical, Lutheran, and Reformed Christianity. In England, a similar protest against the Pope, first political and later religious, led to the Church of England which has bishops and officially calls itself Reformed Catholic but is often referred to as Protestant. The Anglican communion of churches includes several churches called "Episcopal" or "Episcopalian" because they have bishops. Some Anglican Churches have a style of worship that is closer to the Protestant services, others worship more like Catholics, but none of them accept the Pope, or are accepted by him. The Anabaptists also arose from disagreements with Lutheran and Reformed Protestants during what is often called the Radical Reformation. The Evangelical churches arose in reaction to what they views as needs for reform within mainstream Protestantism. This can be seen in the rise of non-conformist movements against the Anglican church in Britain and during revivalist movements, prominently in the several Great Awakenings in Britain and North America. Denominations that arose or surged as a result of these Evangelical reform, renewal, and revival movements include Quakers, Baptists, Moravians, Methodists, the Restoration (Stone-Campbell) movement, Adventists, the Holiness movement, Pentecostals, the Fundamentalist movement, the Charismatic movement, Messianic Judaism, among others including many independent and non-denominational churches. In general, some Protestant denominations, especially within Anabaptism and Evangelicalism, differ from the Catholic, Orthodox, Nestorian, and Miaphysite churches in having given up some of the traditional sacraments, having no ordained priesthood, and not having the same fondness for Mary, the mother of Jesus, that the Catholic and Eastern churches have.
With an estimated number of Christians being somewhere around 2.2 billion, split into around 34,000 different denominations, Christianity is the world's largest religion. The Christian share of the world's population has been around 33% for the last hundred years. This has caused Christianity to spread throughout the world, mainly in Europe and North America. It is still the main religion of Europe, the Americas, the Philippines, and Southern Africa. However it is becoming smaller in some areas, some of them are; Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Northern Europe (with Great Britain, Scandinavia and other places), France, Germany, the Canadian provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, the Western and Northern parts of the United States, and parts of Asia (especially the Middle East, South Korea, Taiwan and Macau).
In most countries in the developed world, the number of people going to church who claim to be Christians has been dropping over the last few decades. Some believe that this is only because many no longer use regular membership in places, for example, churches, while others believe it is because people may be thinking that religion is no longer important.
Most churches have for a long time showed that they want to be tolerant with other belief systems, and in the 20th century Christian ecumenism (the uniting of Christians from different backgrounds), advanced in two ways. One way was more cooperation between groups, such as the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of Protestants in 1910, the Justice, Peace and Creation Commission of the World Council of Churches started in 1948 by Protestant and Orthodox churches, and similar national councils, for example the National Council of Churches in Australia with Roman Catholics.
The other way was creating unions for different churches to join together. Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches joined together in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada, and in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia. The Church of South India was formed in 1947 by the union of Anglican, Methodist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches. And other such formations have been done by different Christian groups throughout the years.
Survivor: Palau
Survivor: Palau was the tenth season of the American reality show "Survivor". "Survivor: Palau"'s first episode was shown on TV on February 17, 2005. This season became available on DVD on August 29, 2006.
Applications to be on the show had to given on June 22, 2004. About 800 people were chosen for an interview in July or August 2004. Out of these 800, 48 were chosen for an interview in Los Angeles during September 2004. From these 48 people, 20 were chosen to be on the show between October to December 2004.
It started with twenty players. Each one came, as told by the producers, dressed in street clothes which are normal for one's career — which they thought was for publicity photos — but this was the only clothing for all of the game. Tom Westman's wife told him to wear swim trunks as underwear, since she remembered the "" players, tricked into street clothes for all of that game. For the second time in "Survivor" history, the players, not the producers, chose the tribes. On the second day of the first episode, when the players chose the two tribes of nine, two players were left unchosen, and they had to leave the game. The two tribes were Ulong (named after Ulong Island, one of Palau's tourist spots) and Koror (named after the capital city of Palau).