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Belief System
Christianity
Monotheistic
(belief in one
god)
Major Beliefs and Ideas
Founder: Jesus
Date Founded: 33 AD
Location: Middle East
(modern day Israel)
Judaism
Monotheistic
Current Location:
Widespread throughout the
world
Founder: Abraham,
Moses (depends on
point of view)
Sacred Writings:
Bible (focus on New
Testament)
Sects within the religion:
Numerous sects, Catholic,
Protestant, Baptist,
Lutheran, and Orthodox to
name a few.
Current Location: Large
populations can be found
all over the globe but Israel
remains the only majority
Jewish nation.
Date Founded: 4000
BCE
Location: Middle East
Sects within the religion:
Orthodox and Moderate
Islam
Founder: Muhammad
Monotheistic
Date Founded: 622
AD
Place of Worship:
Church
Current Location:
Southwest Asia and
Northern Africa primarily
but they have followers all
over the world.
Location: Mecca,
Saudi Arabia
Holy Days of Year:
Christmas, Easter
and many more
Place of Worship:
Synagogue
Sacred Writings:
Torah ( Old
Testament)
Holy Days of Year:
Passover, Rosh
Hashanah, Yum
Kippur, Hanukkah
Place of Worship:
Mosque
Sacred Writings:
Koran
Holy Days of Year:
Ramadan
Sects within the religion:
Sunni and Shitte
The major belief for Christians centers around the
founder Jesus and his relationship to God. Christians
believe that Jesus was the son of God or the Messiah.
They believe that he was sent to Earth to pay for the
sins of man and rose from the dead to return to
heaven. Christianity is a “straight-line” or linear
religion, meaning that followers believe you are born,
you live, you die, and then your life is judged to
determine where your soul will spend eternity.
Sundays are the traditional day of worship and the 10
commandments provide structure for moral beliefs.
The roots of Christianity are found in Judaism since
Jesus was Jewish.
Judaism is one of the oldest religions with stories
from the old testament dating back to Abraham and
Sarah. However, modern Judaism tends to begin
with the belief that Moses led the Jewish people out
of slavery in Egypt in the desert of modern Israel.
The 10 commandments, given to Moses by God
himself are a cornerstone of Jewish belief and
Orthodox Jews follow strict dietary rules. Followers
of Judaism see Jesus as a prophet but not the Messiah
and they await the Messiah until this day. Saturday is
their primary day of worship and the Bar Mitzvah
(boys) and Bat Mitzvah (girls) is an important
moment in their lives where young Jews are accepted
as adults into the religion.
After the Romans forced the Jews out of the Middle
East by 570 AD, many towns and cities went back to
polytheistic religions. In 622 AD, the prophet
Muhammad began to teach the message of one God
and again and Islam was born. Islam quickly spread
along the trade routes with the camel merchants and
eventually unified this region of the world. Muslims
(followers of Islam) believe that Muhammad was the
last prophet and that he shared a common lineage
Hinduism
Polytheistic
(belief in many
gods)
Founder: Unknown
however many
Hindus site the god
Brahma as the
creator and therefore
the founder.
Date Founded: 3500
BCE
Location: Indus River
Valley (India)
Buddhism
Founder: Siddhartha
Gautama
Current Location: India
Sects within the religion:
Hinduism has many
different sects and groups
that include almost any
Indian religion that does not
claim to be a part of
another religion. These
groups are determined
more by location rather
than name.
Current Location: Much of
Southeast Asia
No defined god
Date Founded: 560480 BCE
Location: India
Sects within the religion:
Like Hinduism, different
populations have slightly
different beliefs based more
on location than affiliation.
Some are Theravada,
Mahayana, and Vajrayana
Place of Worship:
Temples, however
most worship actually
occurs in the home
with a personal
shrine
Sacred Writings:
Veda
Holy Days of Year:
Holi, Dussehra, Divali
Place of Worship:
Temple (or
anywhere)
Sacred Writings: No
book, rather a
collection of stories
and anecdotes
Holy Days of Year:
with other prophets like Jesus and Moses. The major
disagreement they have with Christians is the idea of
the trinity. They believe that God (or Allah in
Arabic) is one and everywhere and cannot be
separated. Like Jews they have dietary restrictions,
including the month long fast known as Ramadan.
They also do not drink alcohol and share in the belief
of the 10 commandments.
The very ancient religion of Hinduism remains the
largest polytheistic religion in the world today.
Although that fact is very debatable since some
Hindu’s do not consider themselves to be
polytheistic. Most Hindus however, do believe in
multiple gods and worship those that have a personal
connection for them or their lives. Hinduism is a
circular religion meaning that followers believe in
reincarnation. They believe in the concept of Karma
(what goes around comes around) and that to die with
bad karma on one’s soul can mean reincarnation as a
lower life form. Hindus value all life so most are
vegetarian and that the rivers in India are holy;
capable of washing away bad Karma.
Buddhism may be the most unique of the five major
religions. Like Jesus, “Buddha” was born into
another religion (Hinduism) before reaching his own
conclusions on the world and how people should live.
He began teaching his beliefs and gained followers.
The core of Buddhism is found in the four noble
truths. These teach that life is suffering and if people
do not break away from the cravings that cause
suffering they are destined to repeat life through
reincarnation. Like Hindus, Buddhists respect all life
and most are vegetarians. Oddly, Buddhists do
dispute or refute the existence of any other religion’s
gods or beliefs. They are simply more interested in
improving personal behaviors over worrying about
the after life.
Major Belief Systems in Our World