The head of the golden Buddha at the Thiksey Monastery in the Ladakh region of India Stephanie Colasanti Corbis
Religions Around the World TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 RELIGION Belief in a Higher Power 6 God One World Many Beliefs 8 Monasticism A Life Apart 10 RELIGIONS OF MIDDLE EASTERN ORIGIN Zoroastrianism Eternal Battle of Good and Evil 12 Judaism Religion of Israel 14 Abraham Father of Many Nations 16 Moses Yahweh’s Messenger 18 Christianity Following Jesus Christ 20 Jesus Christ The Son of God 22 Mary Mother of Jesus 24 Roman Catholicism A Branch of Christianity 26 Bible Jewish and Christian Scriptures 28 Islam The Religion of Muhammad 30 Muhammad Islam’s Prophet 32 Koran Holy Book of Islam 34 Baha’i A Simple Faith 36 FAITHS FROM SOUTH ASIA Hinduism Ancient Religion of South Asia 38 Vivekananda The Teacher of Hinduism 40 Buddhism The Teachings of the Buddha 42 Buddha The Enlightened One 44 Dalai Lama Tibet’s Great Teacher 46 Jainism Teaching Nonviolence 48 Sikhism A South Asian Religion 50 POWERS OF THE SPIRIT WORLD Shamanism The Spirit World 52 Vodun Religion of Magic and Spirits 54 TEACHINGS FROM EAST ASIA Confucius Teacher of Great Wisdom 56 Daoism The Religion of Laozi 58 Shinto A Very Japanese Religion 60 GLOSSARY 62 INDEX 63 Brit a nnic a LEARNING LIBRARY
i e r Power Bel i e f There are many people in the world who believe in a god or gods a n Hig h Others do not use the word god but still believe that there are other greater forces at work in their lives The way groups of people worship these forces or their gods forms what we call a religion Many different religions are practiced around the world Major religions today include Christianity Islam Judaism Hinduism DID YOU KNOW India is the birthplace of several world religions Buddhism Hinduism Jainism and Sikhism all began there Daoism Sikhism and Buddhism Most religions try to answer the same basic questions How was the world created What is the meaning of human life Why do people die and what happens afterward Why is there evil How should people behave Many religions have buildings set aside for worship In these temples cathedrals mosques and churches activities such as prayer sacrifice and other forms of worship take place At different times in history followers of one religion have tried to make others believe in that Worshipers in Nepal celebrate Buddha Jayanti honoring the Buddha’s birth death and Enlightenment Macduff Everton Corbis religion Sometimes this was done by peaceful means Often however it was done by force sometimes by holy wars For instance between 1095 and 1292 European Christians led a number of crusades against Muslims Christians tried to take control of the holy city of Jerusalem and other places they associated with the life of Jesus Christ Muslims also carried out holy wars or jihads At various times they spread into much of the Middle East and parts of Europe and Asia Most religions however encourage their followers to live peacefully with people of other religions And in fact they share many aspects in common These include rituals to perform prayers to recite places to visit or avoid days that are holy holy books to read and study and leaders to follow LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES BUDDHISM ISLAM JUDAISM Roman Catholics worship together in a service called a mass Here the mass is being held in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome Italy Vittoriano Rastelli Corbis 6
RELIGION S EA R C H LIG H T True or false a single god All religions have many gods and some have no god at all Answer FALSE Some religions have one god But others have
