4. Buddhism -376 million Buddhism follows the teachings of Saddhartha, the son of a warrior prince born into an extremely wealthy background. The suffering of humanity led Saddhartha to leave his pampered life at 29 and travel in search of enlightenment and solutions to human suffering. While meditating beneath the bodi tree (tree of perfect knowledge) he received the enlightenment he sought and devoted the rest of his life teaching his followers of his new understandings. Buddhists focus on personal spiritual development and don’t worship gods or deities. 3. Hinduism - 900 million Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in the world with a legacy leading to prehistoric times. It is also the most diverse religion with followers from all races and walks of life, perhaps because there is no single doctrine, no founder or script binding believers together. Hinduism incorporates a number of influences in its beliefs and allows for complete freedom in doctrine. Instead, Hinduism’s history is written by a number of key figures, teachers and philosophers teaching practices and writings known as the Veda. As far as belief goes, Muslims draw upon a couple common values known as dharma. The term ‘Hindu’ was derived from the Sindhu River and doesn’t go back further than the 15th century. Followers began to call themselves Hindu in order to differentiate themselves from other religious followers, namely Muslims. 2. Islam – 1.5 billion Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world and follows the practices of Muhammad, a member of the Quraysh tribe born 570 A.D. At 25 he led a meditative life in the desert and received a vision from the angel Gabriel telling him to be a prophet. His wife Khadija encouraged him in this pursuit and he devoted his life to societal and religious reform. He was shunned from Mecca and fled after only gaining a few followers. Fleeing to Medina, Muhammad’s teachings were well received and marks the beginning of the Muslim era. In 630 A.D., he marched on Mecca and conquered it before passing away two years later. 1. Christianity - 2.1 billion Stemming from Judaism, Christianity is the largest religion in the world with 31.5% of the world’s population in practice. Christianity is characterized by its follower’s practice of monotheism and follow practices preached by Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who claimed to be both fully man and fully God. Born in Bethlehem around 7 A.D., Jesus didn’t become public in his teaching until his 30th year and spent 3 years performing miracles and teachings until roughly 30 A.D. when he was brutally crucified for being a threat to the Roman Empire.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:28:52 +0000
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