Religions/Beliefs/Perceptions ( Archived) (209)

Just a quick overview of the five most prominent religions:

CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with more than 2 billion believers worldwide. Followers believe and worship only one God.
• Christian teachings are grounded in the Old and the New Testament that, together, form the Bible. There are several versions of the Bible and not all denominations use the same version.
• Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, sent to earth as a man and a messiah to save people from their sins.
• A central focus is the belief that Jesus´crucification lead to the forgiveness of mankind’s sins.
• Christians have faith that there will be a second coming in which Jesus will return to Earth and take Christian believers back to heaven with him.
• The Ten Commandments play an important role in Christian teachings.

ISLAM
Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with an estimated 1.8 billion followers – and expanding. Muslims believe in Allah as the one true God.
• Those who follow Islam commit to living life in submission to the will of Allah.
• The Islamic faith teaches that Jesus was a prophet, and the prophet Muhammad is Allah’s final messenger who continued to receive messages from Allah to share with the people.
• The Quran is the holy book of Islam.

HINDUISM
About 94% of those who follow the Hindu faith live in India. It is the third largest religion in the world.. As with all religions, there are multiple sects of Hinduism, each with some variations in their practices.
• Hinduism teaches that God’s presence exists in all of creation and the divine essence (atman) dwells within each person..
• Brahman is the recognized supreme deity (God) responsible for creating everything in the universe.
• There are many other deities according to various sects
• Hindus believe in reincarnation, with a constant cycle of being born, living and dying on the path to enlightenment.
• A person’s karma, which refers to the net of their good and bad deeds in the last life, determines the level into which they’ll be reborn.
• Rather than a single religious book, Hinduism has a number of sacred texts,

BUDDHISM
After giving up an extravagant life of excess, the man who came to be known as the Buddha discovered enlightenment through giving up his wealth and position to live a simple life as a monk. His efforts to teach others how to do the same became the foundation of the Buddhism fundamental beliefs.
• The primary focus of Buddhism is to seek enlightenment.
• The Buddha is not worshiped as a god. He was a man and is recognized by Buddhists as such.
• Consistent with philosophy’s principles and truths, Buddhists follow a path of moral living, thinking and behaviour, as well as seeking wisdom.
• Karma is an important factor in Buddhism, focusing on each individual’s responsibility and accountability for their own actions.
• Buddhists believe in reincarnation and rebirth. In the Buddhist tradition, being reincarnated means coming back as yourself multiple times, while rebirth involves returning as an entirely different entity.
• The Buddhist religion includes a number of sacred writings, in the form of scriptures and texts, that share the Buddha’s philosophy and teachings.


JUDAISM
The smallest of the top five religions - approximately 14 million. There are multiple denominations of Judaism, and their Core teachings are:
• Followers recognizing and worshiping only one true God.
• The Ten Commandments play an important role in Judaism. They do not recognise Jesus and are still waiting for the first coming
• Even beyond God’s law outlined in the Ten Commandments, righteousness and justice are central to the teachings.
• The Hebrew Bible, (Torah) is the primary holy text of the Jewish faith. It includes the same books as the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
The Talmud is another holy text

I'll go make popcorn for this one

That's fine.
Could you make enough for all of us..please?

Thanks Lee for your interesting comment.

I agree..i know many non believers who are very good people indeed...they do good deed for society..charity work...donate to good causes etc..
Will these people go to "hell" - according to most beliefs?

On it, buckets




I don't think anyone in here can deny needing a higher power at some point in their life

You mean to make popcorn?

Actually, I'm having some power cuts at the moment.

So your praying it comes back right lol?
Just like I'm praying for my next horse to win