Major World Religions

## Christianity

Christianity is found throughout Europe, Roman North Africa, Egypt, Syria and Anatolia as well as Europe, parts of Central Asia, as well as much of North and South America, Australia and minorities across Africa.

Christianity is divided into 2 major groups, the Protestants and the Catholics. Most of Spain, Italy, Romania, Eastern Europe, Russia, South America and Mesoamerica is Catholic, while France, Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, the rest of western Europe, North America, Australia and communities in Africa are protestant. Christianity is the world's largest religion.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion originating in the Roman Levant. Christians believe in a single God, and that God's son, Jesus, was sent to live among men in the 1st century CE. Christian places of worship are called churches or cathedrals. Christian thinking has had a profound impact on western thinking.

## Daoism

Daoism is the second-largest religion in the world, though its practice is largely confined to China. Daoism has many gods, each of which are patrons of a different aspect of life and can be male or female. Daoism centers on nature-worship and coexistence with the natural world. Daoist's goal is to achieve balance and become one with the rhythms of the universe.

Daoism owes its foundations to 3rd century BCE Chinese philosophers, and has verious sects, but none as cross-cutting as Christianity or other religions. Daoism has had a profound effect on eastern cultures, especially China, and Daoist ethics form the basis of Chinese ethics.

## Hinduism

Hinduism is the 3rd-largest religion in the world after Christianity and Daoism. Like Daoism, which is mostly confined to China, Hinduism is largely confined to India, Nepal, parts of Indonesia and minorities in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion with many gods, but worships 3 main Gods, Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.

Hinduism advocates the belief in Dharma ethics and reincarnation as well as Karma and Moksha. Meditation is also an important aspect of Hinduism. Hinduism owes its base to 6th century BCE traditions and holy books such as the Upanishads and the Baghavad Ghita.

## Buddhism

    is the world's fourth-largest religion. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. Buddhism originated in ancient India sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. Buddhism has 3 major sects, Mahayana, Theravada, and Gelgupta.

Most Buddhist traditions share the goal of overcoming suffering and the cycle of death and rebirth, either by the attainment of Nirvana or through the path of Buddhahood. Widely observed practices include taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, observance of moral precepts, monasticism, meditation, and the cultivation of the Paramitas (virtues). Buddhism is found today throughout Southeast Asia, the Indonesian Archipelago, Tibet and Turkestan, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Siberia, Manchuria and Central Asia as well as parts of Afghanistan.

## Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic faith with a single God, centered in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate destruction of evil. Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster, it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its Supreme Being. Major features of Zoroastrianism include messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will.

With possible roots dating back to the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history in the 5th century BCE. Zoroastrianism today is the 5th largest religion, found in Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, Balochistan, Bukhara, Merv, with minorities in India and Central Asia.

## Sikhism

Sikh is a religion that originated in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century, and has variously been defined as monotheistic, monistic and panentheistic.It is one of the youngest of the major world religions, and the world's 6th largest organized religion. The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, divine unity and equality of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. Most Sikhs are found in India, specifically the Punjab and Sindh regions of western India. Minorities exist in Kashmir or where Sikhs have emigrated, like the USA, Canada or Australia.

## Shinto

Shinto is the native religion of Japan and a polytheistic religion worshipping many nature-related Gods and spirits (kami). Shinto is the 7th largest religion and is found almost nowhere else but in Japan.

Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the *Kojiki* and *Nihon Shoki* in the 8th century. Shinto today is the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of "spirits" (*kami*), suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, and applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian periods (8th–12th centuries).

## Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. It is an ancient, monotheistic, Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its foundational text.It encompasses the religion, philosophy, and culture of the Jewish people.Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel.Judaism encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah is part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide,Judaism is the 8th largest religion in the world. Judaism today is largely found in Eastern and Central Europe, though nowhere today is it the majority of the population. Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Dacia, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Georgia, and Austria have large Jewish minorities with smaller communities in the USA, Canada, Rome, Persia, Mesopotamia and India.

## Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah),and that Muhammad is the messenger of God.It is the world's 9th largest religion. Followers are most commonly known as Muslims. Islam is largely confined to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, unique[7] and has guided humankind through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative example (called the *sunnah*, composed of accounts called *hadith*) of Muhammad (c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE).