This is intended to provide a brief summary of various world religions. By providing these summaries, no endorsement of any by Second Baptist Church is intended. There is no intent to provide inaccurate information or any editorial comments. Any omission of any religion is purely unintentional and those presented are listed alphabetically. The only intent is to provide a very basic level of information.
After being tempted by an evil god, he gained knowledge of the cycle of births and deaths and the other meanings of life and became known as the enlightened one, or Buddha. He taught that there are four noble truths: life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, the cure for suffering is to remove desire, and to remove desire follow the Eightfold path.
The Eightfold path consists of: right knowledge (understanding the four noble truths); right thinking; right speech (don't lie, criticize others unjustly, use harsh language, or gossip); right conduct (follow the five precepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not be unchaste, do not take drugs or drink intoxicants); right livelihood (earn a living that does not harm living things); right effort (conquer evil thoughts and maintain good thoughts); right mindfulness (become intensely aware of all the states in body, feeling, and mind); and right concentration (deep meditation to lead to a higher stat of consciousness or enlightenment.
At age 80 he passed through several states of meditation and died, reaching Parinirvana (the cessation of perception and sensation).
Now there are three main branches of Buddhism, which include between 150-300 million adherents.
It is a moral and religious system of China which predates Buddhism, which has been the official ideology of the Chinese state, but has never existed as an established religion with a church and priesthood. Chinese scholars honored Confucius as a great teacher and sage but did not worship him as a personal god, and he never claimed divinity.
The principles of Confucianism are contained in the nine ancient Chinese works handed down by Confucius and his followers. The core of Confucian ethics is ren, which means love, goodness, humanity and human-heartedness. The golden rule of Confucianism is "Do not do to others what yo do not want done to yourself." A person who wishes to be properly treated when in a subordinate role must treat his own inferiors with propriety.
Confucianism has had revivals: under the Tang dynasty (618-906 a.d.); and the Ming period (1368-1644 a.d.). Thereafter, the system gradually weakened, and when the monarchy was overthrown in 1911-1912, it began a real decline. The Communist revolution in 1949 accelerated the decline. However, traditional Chinese ethics and culture still flow from Confucian teachings.
Originally called Sanaat'ana Dharma, or Eternal Truth, it is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. It has no known founder, and anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu. He can question the authority of any scripture, or even the existence of the Divine.
Dharma means "to hold." Man holds on to inner law, which leads from ignorance to truth. There are Hindu scriptures. Some are referred to as vedas and came from the inner spiritual experience of the ancient seers. They are thought to be timeless and eternal. Other texts augment the vedas. There are numerous rituals. There is much confusion as to whether Hinduism is monotheistic or polytheistic. Some say it is both in that there is one God who created the universe and who is worshipped as Light, Love and Consciousness, but Hindus while believing one god created the universe do not deny the existence of other gods.
Hindus believe in reincarnation in order to explain the natural way the soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Karma (or energy) is believed to be a natural law of the universe. It is not given by god but created by each individual. Bad karma is a result of having done something bad in the past to someone else, who now is doing something bad in return. Good karma results from having done something good in the past, etc. Thus Hindus say they do not hate or resent those who do them harm.
Hindus regard all living creatures as sacred. To the Hindu, the cow symbolically represents all other creatures, one's soul, one's intellect and emotions. The cow takes only grass and grain and gives and gives, as does the soul give and give. It is the sustainer of life, by providing milk and its products and its dung is used for fuel.
Hindus say they do not worship idols, but invoke the presence of great souls living in higher consciousness into stone images in order to feel the presence of god. However, one of the ultimate attainments is to transcend the need of all form and symbols. This is the goal of the yogi, who practices yoga, which means to yoke oneself to god within.
Many Hindus are vegetarian. Such is more common in the south of India than in the North. However, there are no rigid "dos" or "don'ts" and no commandments. To practice yoga and be successful in spiritual life it is advisable to become a vegetarian, which awakens the more refined areas of one's nature.
It is estimated that there are over 700 million Hindus, mainly in India and Nepal.
Adherents believe that there is only one God, Allah (arabic for "the one true god"), and Mohammed is his prophet. They also include as prophets of Allah (among others): Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah (from the Old Testament) and John the Baptist and Jesus from the New Testament. They see Islam as the same religion that Allah revealed through all the messengers. However, none of these messengers is seen as divine. That would be blasphemous to Muslims.
All aspects of the practice of Islam (including prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage) are intended to help meet the goal of obtaining nearness to Allah and victory over temporary trials and temptations in this world. The religion impacts every part of life, from eating and sleeping to working and playing.
Mohammed lived from about 570-632 a.d. His birth is said to have created the emission of a great light. He was raised by a foster family, which was a common practice at the time. As a child he served as a shepherd and later as a youth was a camel driver on trade routes. That way he came into contact with people of different religious beliefs. He married and began spending time in meditation. Once when he visited Mecca he was visited by the angel Gabriel and realized that he had been ordained a prophet to convert his countrymen and lead them from moral decadence, idolatry, hedonism and materialism. Because of his teaching, he was persecuted and moved north to Medina. After some time there he became a revered and powerful leader. Much of the arabic world became adherents and they spread the religion to other parts of the world, including central Europe, northern Africa, even into southeast Asia.
Followers of Islam are called Muslims. "Moslim" is not appreciated because its sound is much like the arabic word for "oppressor". Also, they find the use of "Mohammedism" or "Mohammedanism" offensive because it implies divinity of Mohammed, which they find blasphemous.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in the world vary from 700 million to 1.2 billion, and they are the second largest religion in the world, behind Christianity.
There are two main texts: The Koran (or Qur'an), which they believer are the words of god, and the Hadith, which is a collections of the sayings of Mohammed.
Muslims follow a lunar calendar, which began with the hegira (Mohamed's 300 mile trek from Mecca to Medina). They adhere to the Five Pillars of Islam: recite daily the shahadah, or creed, which is "There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet"; to perform prayer (salat) 5 times a day, while orienting one's body towards Mecca; donate regularly to charity; fast during the month of Ramadan (which occurs at various times during our calendar year, coming earlier each year because of use of the lunar calendar); make at least one pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca during one's life, if economically and physically able.
Muslims are strictly monotheistic; believe in the existence of Satan and Hell (unbelievers among Christians, Jews and Muslims will burn forever in the fire of Hell); believe that repentance returns them to a state of sinlessness; believe in Paradise for the sinless after death; abstain from pork, alcohol and other drugs, and gambling; reject racism; and believe that Jesus was not executed on the cross but escaped and later reappeared to his followers.
To Muslims, their religion should be an inherent part of all their life, including their government.
The main divisions within Islam are: (1) Sunni (about 90% of all Muslims); Shiite whose adherents promote strict interpretation of the Qur'an and close adherence to its teachings, along with belief in 12 perfect teachers who successively led the group; and Sufism which is a mystic tradition in which followers seek inner knowledge directly from Allah through meditation, ritual and dancing. However, Islam does not have denominational mosques. Members are welcome to attend any mosque in any country.
The forerunner of Christianity, its scripture and practices overlap with Christianity and with Islam. In Judaism, there is one eternal G-d. (Note that the name of the supreme entity is never written in full.) Prayer is directed to G-d alone and to no other. The words of the prophets are true and Moses was the greatest of the prophets. The written Torah (or Pentateuch, or first 5 books of the Bible) and the Oral Torah (teachings contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses. There will be no other Torah. G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men and will reward the good and punish the wicked. The Messiah will come and the dead will be resurrected.
The scriptures tell the story of the relationships between: G-d and mankind, G-d and the Jewish nation, between the Jewish nation and the land of Israel, and between human beings. They also specify the obligations created by these relationships. Various sects interpret them differently. Orthodox say they are absolute. Conservatives say they change and evolve over time. Reform say they are guidelines that you can choose whether or not to follow.
Orthodox Jews follws 613 commandments set out in the Torah as well as laws instituted by rabbis and by long-standing customs. The Jewish laws are known as Halakhah. Judaism focuses more on actions than on beliefs.
Mitzvah is a word for each of the laws. To prevent people from accidentally violating a mitzvah, the rabbis have over the centuries developed gezeirahs. Where the Torah commands the Jew not to work on the Sabbath, or Shabbat, a gezeirah requires that one not even touch an implement used for prohibited work because one touching or holding such a tool might forget that it was Shabbat and perform prohibited work. From the point of a practicing Jew, there is no difference between a mitzvah and a gezeirah, in terms of whether they are binding. The difference is in the degree of punishment. Also, a rabbi, under certain circumstances, can modify or abrogate a gezeirah, but no one, even a rabbi, can change the Torah.
Some other laws, called takkanah, were derived independent of mitzvah, such as the practice of lighting candles on Chanukkah, a post-biblical holiday, or public Torah readings every Monday and Thursday, instituted by Ezra. A takkanah is just as binding as a gezeirah.
A minhag is a custom that evolved for religious reasons and by practice became a binding religious practice. These are a binding part of Halakhah, also.
Shabbat begins at sundown Friday and continues until sundown Saturday.
Jews are expected to: Observe Yom Kippur by fasting and attending synagogue; Kindle Shabbat candles at home and synagogue; keep a Jewish home; give of one's self and time and money; maintain an active affiliation with a synagogue and maintain regular worship experience; keep the dietary laws; have a plan for continuing a Jewish education; support the Jewish people and the land of Israel; and raise children in the Jewish faith.
When this religious practice began, it did not have a name, nor did it have fixed dogma, precepts, or sacred texts. Worship centered on a wide variety of spirits which personified such things as the sky, stars, moon, storms, etc.
In the 6th century a.d., the name Shinto was adopted in order to describe it as different from Buddhism or Confucianism. Nevertheless, Buddhism absorbed Shintoism and Buddhist priests administered Shinto shrines.
In the late 700s and early 800s a teacher named Kukai (posthumously known as Kobo Daishi) established a doctrine uniting Buddhism and Shinto within Ryobu Shinto, or Shinto of two kinds. In the 18th century, Shinto was revived as an important nationalistic religion. The shogunate was overthrown and the emperor was restored to the head of government. Related beliefs in the superiority of the Japanese were used to promote support for the military expansion of the Japanese Empire, which was ended by World War II.
After the war, Shinto was separated from the government, ending any financial support from the state. The emperor issued a statement renouncing all claims to divinity. However, sectarian Shinto continued. It now has 13 major and numerous minor sects. Those who claim to practice only Shinto number about 3.5 million, but more than 110 million participate in some way.
Another work, the Chuang-tzu, written 4th-3rd century b.c., discusses the Tao-te Ching, includes portrayals of a meeting of Lao-Tzu and Confucius, talks of Lao-Tzu's death, and otherwise presents thoughts within this tradition. By a variety of practices, men attempted to attain certain qualities in their own persons and ultimately see themselves classified according to kind and degree in a hierarchy of the heavenly hosts.