world religions part 1

Today in class we learned about the top world religions and took notes:

Christianity

• # of adherents - 2.2 billion (largest)
• call them: Christians
• location: Europe, Americas, Southern Africa
• denominations: biggest one Catholic (lots of others)
• founder: Jesus Christ
• holy book: Bible, especially the NT (Gospels)
• beliefs: Jesus both human & divine - Son of God was crucified, died, buried, resurrected, and rose to heaven to be with his Father
• clergy:Pope is head of Catholic Church, priests are local authorities

Islam

• # of adherents: 1.5 billion
• call them: Muslims
• location: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa
• denominations: Sunnis (75-90%) Shiites (10-20%)
• founder: Muhammad (570-632)
• book: Quran (Koran)
• beliefs: monotheistic, Abrahamic; Five Pillars(testimony,prayer,alms-giving,fasting,and pilgrimage) See their purpose in life as serving and submitting to allah(their god) and Islamic law

Hinduism

• # of adherents: 1.1 billion
• call them:Hindus
• location: India, Nepal
• book: the Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to sing and memorize)
• founder: none - series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a strict set of beliefs probably the oldest extant religion, more of a life style & faith than religion

Buddhism

• # of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 (practice it but follow other religions)
• call them: Buddhists
• location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (1.2 million in the U.S.)
• denominations: Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidst
• founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Four Noble Truths:
• there is suffering
• attachment to desire is the origin of suffering
• there is a cessation of suffering
• eight fold path will lead to cessation of suffering
• The Eight-Fold Path
• Right view
• Right intention
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right dedication
• The after this....Nirvana!!!!!!

Judaism

• # of adherents: 14 - 18 million (ninth biggest religion)
• call them: Jews
• location: Israel (6.4 million, 75.4%), US(5.3-7 million, 1.7% - 2.6%)
• founder: Abraham
• book: Torah
• beliefs: ethical monotheism - God is one, concerned with actions of human kind, Ten Commandments, 13 principles of faith
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