Five Major Religion: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism

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GAVINO, Regina B. 10 September 2011

ECE I - A4 Hum 10 - Ms. Jane Francis Quinabo

Written Quiz on Religion

Describe the religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism) as a monotheisticreligion.

Basically, these five major religions all over the world as monotheistic - which means they believe in

one god. Though there are lapses in terms of who this god is, they all believe that hes the one

supreme being.

First stop is the worlds most popular and most populated religion, Christianity. Christianity is named

after (Jesus) Christ, whose the religion is mainly about. It is mostly based on Christs teachings,

through scriptures and real-life accounts from Christ himself, apostles, and witnesses of his miracles.

Christianity, as a major religion, is divided into the Trinitarians and Non-Trinitarians. Trinitarians,

who believe in the Holy Trinity or the three personas of God in the figure of God the Father, God the

Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and Non-Trinitarians who disagree. The major subgroup of Christians

such as the Orthodox and Catholics, are the believers of the trinity, and Protestants and Born-Again

Christians/Christians, are the non-believers. Though there had been conflict between both parties in

terms of the real meaning of the monotheism in the bible, the Trinitarians strongly defended their

side that the three personas are just one god. Therefore, either way believes that Christianity as a

whole is mainly about one god. Conflict in terms of worshipping saints and Virgin Mary also existed,

such that it is also a violation to the one god thing presented in the bible. Born-again Christians

strongly believe that the people should only worship God the father. Nevertheless, the major groupin the Christian world believes also that these saints, and other disciples, are instruments of the

Lord, thus worshipping them since they are anointed by the Lord God.

Ranking second, Islam is religion which is based in Quran. Quran is the equivalent of the bible in

Christianity. In Islam, they worship one god in the form of Allah, the one and incomparable. The

teachings in Islam are from the teachings of Muhammad, who was the founder of the said religion

and is said to be the last prophet of God. Though Islam had mentioned Jesus Christ, and other

characters in the bible, they just considered them as prophets. Muhammad was said to be the last

prophet and the restorer of the uncorrupted teachings. Generally, Islam is monotheistic, but again,

like in Christianity, the role of the prophets, or in Islams term, Caliph, causes conflict. There are two

types of Muslims namely Sunni and Shia. Sunni is the orthodox of Islam, while Shia is the more

sacred group, claiming that Ali is the first Imam. According also to the Shia Muslim, Muslims have no

right to elect their Imam, since its only Muhammad who has the power. In that case, Ali was the

chosen since hes the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad.

Hinduism, which is the evident religion in the Indian part, is a bit crucial. Generally, Hinduisms

teachings is very subjective to interpretations, thus can be monotheistic, and not at the same time.


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But technically, Hindus believe in Brahma, the supreme spirit. This supreme spirit, though, is vague,

since Hindus can interpret depending on which Hindu school they are following. Thus, it can span

through monotheism, polytheism, agnosticism, and even atheism. It is said that Brahma exists in

everything, since it is the so-called beginning of the creation of the universe, and the support of it.

Like Christians, Hindus also have deities which are the images of the supreme Brahmans. In

Hinduism, there are a lot of moral laws to achieve, and once achieved, will attain the Nirvana, the

ultimate goal in life. With that, it is said that you are in one with the supreme soul.

Buddhism, meanwhile, is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is also known as

Buddha. Like in Hinduism, Buddhists believe in Karma and Nirvana, as well, having to start this

religion from the same part where Hinduism starts.

Judaism, on the other hand, resembles a lot from Christianity. That is, since it came from the same

sets of scriptures. While the bible has been deeply filled with allusions and metaphors, the bible of

the Jews, or the Hebrew Bible, is an academic sort of type with discussions included. Generally,

Judaism still is monotheistic, in the sense that it do believe in God and in the same teachings in the

bible. However, unlike Christianity, Jews do not believe in the three personas. Thus, making them

believe in only one true God.

Compare the religionsReligion Christianity Islam Judaism Hinduism Buddhism

Worshipping God (Holy

Trinity)

Allah Yahweh Brahma Buddha

Prophet Jesus Christ Muhammad Abraham Different

deities (i.e.

Shiva,

Krishna, etc)

Siddhartha

Gautama/Buddha

himself

Text they based

on:

Bible Quran Talmud Vedas Tripitaka

Views on

Afterlife

Heaven or

hell

Paradise or hell Not specified Reincarnation Reincarnation

Distinct

characteristic

and practices

Sign of the

cross, Holy

sacrament

(i.e. Baptism,

Matrimony,

etc)

Pilgrimage,

Alms, Fasting,

Praying five

times a day

during

Ramadan,

No pork in

diet,

circumcision

at birth,

Jerusalem is

the Holy City

Dharma

(Purpose in

life), Yoga,

Meditation

Meditations

Describe each religion.a) Christianity

Christianity is the worlds most populated religion, which is based on the life and teachings of

Jesus Christ, the religions symbol and is the son of god. Christianity depicts monotheism


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religion, even if the religion itself portrays the worship of not only God the creator, but also

Jesus Christ, His son, and the Holy Spirit. Christians claims that these three are the personas of

God, but only refers to one true God. Technically, Christians do worship the saints, disciples and

Jesus Christs mother, the Virgin Mary. This might contradict the monotheism that should be

embodied by the Christians from the first commandment of the Lord, they claim that these are

just instruments, and are anointed by the Lord still.

Distinct practices of Christians include the most famous cross, which have become a sign (Sign of

the cross) and in the portrayal of Christs crucifixion, Sunday masses, celebration of different

saints, Holy Sacrament, etc. Christianity is a strict religion, having so many deeds to attend to,

and laws to abide to. At the end of it, Christians believe that at the end of a persons life, he/she

will either go to heaven or hell, on the judgment day. The said religion also claims the existence

of purgatory, allegedly where dead people go while their loved ones on earth pray for their

souls.

b) IslamIslam, ranking the second largest religion in the world, is about the teaching of Muhammad.

Muslims, the term they use to call the people in the said religion, believe in one incomparable

god, Allah. The teachings of Muhammad are written down on a sacred book called Quran.

Clearly the most evident example of monotheistic religion, there are still variations in terms of

subgroups. Two major subgroups are the Sunni and Shia - on which differs on who will be the

leader, since the latter claims that Muslims themselves do not have the power to elect their

caliph.

Muslims as well, is a strict religion, having to oblige their members to not eat pork duringRamadan, to pray five times daily, to do pilgrimage once in their lifetime, etc. They also believe

in the so-called Jihad which is the Holy War. They believe that in order to reach the paradise

that Allah promised to them, they have to do something violent. This is also the equivalent of

Crusades of Christianity.

c) HinduismHinduism, meanwhile, is a much complicated religion in terms of its believe. They claim that the

supreme soul, Brahma, is everywhere, and in anything. The belief varies according to what

school youre into. They also believe in Karma, where our actions have equivalent effects in the

end. In order to achieve ones purpose in life, you must achieve the Nirvana stage, where thelevel of morality is high.

Because of its wide range of interpretation, people are not restricted to rules unlike other

religions. What matters, is the fact that Hindus do what is righteous, and whatever mistakes that

they had done wrong, will go back to them, even worse.


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d) BuddhismBuddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama/Buddha. Like in Hinduism,

Buddhists also believe in Karma, and Dharma. They believe in the ultimate purpose in life, and

once achieved, will be going to the Nirvana stage.

Buddhists also believe in the concept of reincarnation, whereas, your reincarnated life will

depend on what you did on your previous life.

Buddhism resembles Hinduism, in the sense that they all avoid restrictions. As long as the

morality is present in the act, theres always room for good.

e) JudaismJudaism, a religion based from the same thing Christians based theirs, is centered with God. The

difference is that, in Judaism, Jesus Christ is not the center, nor Virgin Mary or its saints. Judaism

focused on the teachings in their Hebrew Bible, and is based on the testaments by Abraham and

Moses commandments. They believe that they are Gods chosen people, and treated their

place - Jerusalem - as the Holy City.

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Five Major Religion: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism