World Religion Project
5 of the World Largest Religions
Christianity
The christian religion began when a jewish man named Jesus was baptised and began preaching about the kingdom of god. An opposition was formed against him and he was executed by crucifixion. His pupils followed where he left and a man named Paul went on missonary to other places building churches and giving belief. A major turning point for Christianity was when Emporer Contestine converted to the belief. When Emporer contestine died his sons took over. This split the church into Roman Catholic and Greek orthodox. In 1948 the world council of churches was formed to help people and today christianity is the largest religion in the world.
Buddhism
Buddhism has many different beliefs but the main ones are atheism and polytheism. In 1966 two monks from the Theravada and Mahayana traditions met to form a connection of the similarities to their beliefs and bridge the differences. The main beliefs of Buddhism are that you will be reborn into a new body unless you reach enlightenment in which case you enter Nirvana and exit the path of suffering. A deep respect for the Buddha, and that the reason for life is to end the suffering. There are many rituals in Buddhism including meditation which is the central point of Zen Buddhism and the only way to liberation in Theravada Buddhism. There is also mantras which are sacred sounds (ex. Om), and Mudras which are sacred hand gestures. Pilgramidge which is the visitation of sacred sites and Prayer Wheels that are spun while reciting Mantras.The Tripitaka is the earliest group of Buddhist teachings and the only text recognized as a rite by Theravada Buddhists. The Mahayana buddhists add the Mahayana Sutras to the Tripitaka which is strictly there beliefs. And the Tibetan book of the dead which was written by a Tibetan monk and describes the stages of death. There are many buddhist holidays, including The Buddhist new year, Vesak (Buddha day) the birthday of the Buddha, Dhamma day to celebrate the Buddhas first Sermon, and the festival of the floating bowls which is when Buddhists fill bowls with leaves flowers and incense and float them on the river when they leave bad luck is supposed to go with them.
Buddhism was founded by Siddharta Gautama who was a very sheltered prince. When he traveled and saw a sick man,poor man, old man, and corpse he was shocked. He tried to gain enlightenment through asceticism, but even the most extreme asceticism would not work. So one day he vowed to sit beneath a tree and not move until he had gained enlightenment. Days later he rose from the budhi tree as the Buddha. For the next 45 years of his life he taught about the path to liberation from suffering, reincarnation, and establishing a community of monks.
Hinduism
Hinduism is unique in the fact that it has no founder or date of origin. Hinduism is simply, the religion of India and has developed over the last 4,000 years. Hinduism's roots stretch all the way back to 2000 BC which makes it one of the oldest surviving religions. The early history of india is unclear and the most ancient texts have yet to be deciphered, so the history of hinduism is not known.