Christianity

Many Judaic views were taken over and incorporated as part of the Christianity. Jesus was an orthodox Jew, and Christianity began as a sect of Judaism; it is not clear that Jesus wished to found a distinctive religion. His disciples came to think of him as the Messiah- a Hebrew word meaning ‘the anoinred’, the Greek term for which was ‘Christ’- awaited by the Jews. Paul, a Greek speaking Roman citizen, was a major initiator of the spread if Christianity, preaching extensively in Asia Minor and Greece. Although the Christians were at first savagely persecuted, the Emperor Constantine eventually adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Christianity spread to become a dominant force in Western culture for the next thousands years.

Christianity today commands a greater number of adherents, and is more generally spread across the world, than any other religion. Over a thousand million individuals regards themselves as of theology and church organization, the main branches being Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodox.

Islam

The origins of Islam, today the second largest religion in the world, overlap with those of Christianity. Islam derives from the teachings of the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century CE. The single God of Islam, Allah, is believed to hold sway over all human and natural life. The Pillars of Islam are the five essential religious duties of Muslims (as believers in Islam are called).  The first is the recitation of the Islamic creed, ‘There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the apostle of Allah. The second is the saying of formal prayers five times each day, preceded by ceremonial washing. The worshiper at these prayers must always face towards the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, no matter how far away that is.

The third pillar is the observance of Ramadan, a month of fasting during which no food or drink may be taken during daylight. The fourth is the giving of alms (money to the poor). Set out in Islamic law, which has often been used as a source of taxation by the state. Finally, there is the expectation that every believer will attempt, at least once, to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims believe that Allah spoke through earlier – before Muhammad, whose teachings most directly express his will. Islam has come to be very widespread, havinf some 1,000 million adherents throughout the world. The majority are concentrated in North and East Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan.

The Religions of the Far East

Hinduism

There are major contrasts between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the religions of the Far East. The oldest of all the great religions still prominent in the world today is Hinduism, the core beliefs of which date back some six thousand years. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. It is so internally diverse that some scholars have suggested that it should be regarded as a cluster of related religions rather than a single religious orientation; many local cults and religious practices are linked by a few generally held beliefs. Most Hindus accept the doctrine cycle of reincarnation – the belief that all living beings are part of an eternal process of birth, death and rebirth. A second key feature is the caste system, based on the beliefs that individuals are borne into a particular position in a social ritual hierarchy, according to the nature of their activities in previous incarnations. A different set of duties and rituals exists for each caste, and one’s fate in the next life is governed mainly by how well these duties are performed in this one. Hinduism accepts the possibility of numerous different religious standpoints, not drawing a clear line between believers and non-believers. There are over 750 million Hindus, virtually all living on the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism does not seek to convert others into ‘true believers’, unlike Christianity and Islam.