1. World Religions: A Comparison
World History

2. Followers of the Major Religions

5. Buddhism: 373 Million followers No personal deity
Siddhartha Gautama (563B.C B.C. ) was the founder, people follow his teachings.
Many sacred texts, no main one
Buddhist monks and nuns are the leadership

6. The Buddha:
The Buddha is not considered a god, rather he is seen as an example on how to live your life.

7. Basic Beliefs of the Buddhist:
People reach complete peace and happiness, Nirvana, when they divorce themselves from worldly things and desires.
Noble Eightfold Path is the way that a person reaches Nirvana

10. Since Hinduism has more than one god, what type of religion is it?
840 million followers
Began around 3000 B.C.
Three main gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)
No one founder or holy book, several texts including the Vedas
Leaders include the guru, Holy Man, and Brahmin priests
Since Hinduism has more than one god, what type of religion is it?

11. Basic Principles of Hinduism:
Reincarnation
People reach happiness when they let go of worldly possessions
Worship, knowledge and virtuous acts also lead to happiness
Karma

12. Compare/Contrast

13. Monotheistic Religions
What are monotheistic religions?
Which have the most followers?

14. Islam: One God (Allah) Began 622 A.D. after Muhammad left Mecca.
Muhammad is the founder
The Qur’an is the holy book
Sharia law
There are no clergy leaders
Followers are known as Muslims (1.25 billion followers)

15. Basic Beliefs of the Muslim:
Person achieves salvation by following the 5 pillars and living a just life.
The 5 pillars are:
Faith
Almsgiving
Fasting
Hajj
Prayer

16. Confucianism:
Not known how many followers due to blending with other ideas.
Confucius (551 B.C. – 479 B.C.) was the founder
Some say the main deity as well
Holy books include Analects and 5 Classics (Classic of poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites etc..)
No clergy

17. Basic Beliefs of Confucianism:
Strong family relationships
Social order, harmony and good government
Education is very important

18. Judaism: 15 million followers God (Yahweh)
The founder is Abraham around 2000 B.C.
Holy books include the Hebrew Bible or Torah
Rabbis

19. Basic Beliefs of Judaism:
There is only one god who watches over his people.
God protects his people, but also holds them accountable for their sins.
A person serves god by studying the Torah and living its teachings.

20. Christianity: 2.1 Billion followers Jesus Christ is the founder
The main text is the Holy Bible
The leaders of the Christian church are the clergy members

21. Basic Beliefs of the Christian:
There is only one god and he protects and watches over his people
Jesus was the son of god and he died for man’s sins.

22. Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Similarities
Differences
Unique