Religions of the World: Buddism, Christianity, Taoism,…

Hello English explorers, this post is going to be about the religions of the world.Now obviously, I can not discuss every religion. Most websites say that there are around four thousand two hundred different religions.

What I can do is touch upon the major religions. I would also like to say that this post should be about respect. This post is not about which is the best or which one is wrong.

The goal of this post is to inform English students of the religions of the world as well as to introduce vocabulary for intermediate to advanced students. If I have the wrong information please let me know in the comments below.

However, I would ask everyone to be civilized in the discussion and agree to disagree if the conversation becomes to heated.

Let us just use this opportunity to learn and not fight or get angry. I want this to be a beautiful post and celebrate all walks of life.

I would like to start in alphabetical order according to the English language alphabet.

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The first major religion that I am going to discuss is Buddism.

This religion gets its name from Buddha, which means “one who is awake”.

If you have been on the Internet for long, you know about karma. Well in Buddism, karma is the force that drives the cycle of rebirth and suffering.

This religion boasts the three tallest statues in the world, all depicting Buddha. The religion has no single text like the Koran or the Bible. In fact, there is no god in the religion.

Buddism has a Dalai Lama as a living religious figure. Co-Founder of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs was a Buddhist. As a sign of respect, you need to remove your shoes before entering a Buddist temple.

The ultimate goal in Buddism is to reach Nirvana. To do this, you need to achieve the four noble truths.

These are: suffering can be eliminated, suffering is caused by desire and attachment, following the Noble Eightfold path eliminates suffering, and all life is marked with suffering.

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The next major religion that is going to be discussed is Christianity.

This religion currently has the most number of followers. Christianity has over two billion followers. This religion represents over thirty-one percent of the total religions in the world.

Christianity began in the Middle East in the middle of the first century. The first Christians were Jewish people. If you are afraid of the Pope, then you may have Papaphobia.

There were once three Popes at the same time. Christians believe in one God, essentially a trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Speaking of three, the three largest branches of Christianity are Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to the story, Judas betrayed Jesus for about four months’ pay.

Christianity is even practiced in Anarctica with seven churches on the continent. Buzz Aldrin was a Christian and recieved communion on the moon.

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Alphabetically, the next religion to be discussed is Folk religion. Folk religions make up almost six percent of the worldwide religions. This religion has four hundred million followers.

Chinese folk religion is called Shenism. It is also categorized as Taoism.

The word itself comes from the German language and has spread around the world.

The moon fesitival is a big part of their celebration, especially in China. Since this religion is different all over the world, it is very hard to find facts that encompass the entire religion.

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Now, I would like to talk about Hinduism.

This religion has the third most followers of those that have a religion. Hinduism has fifteen percent of the worldwide religions. There are 1.1 billion followers of the Hindu faith.

Hinduism actually believes only in one god, but this god has many forms. Hinduism believes in circular time and not linear time. The religion does not consider the pursuit of wealth a sin.

Hinduism is the oldest known religion. The country that has the highest Hindi population is Nepal with 81%, followed by India with 80%. The largest Hindi temple in the world is in Cambodia.

The word Karma is also in the Hindi religion meaning good and bad deeds. The next religion alphabetically is Islam. Islam has the second largest number of followers after Christianity. This religion has 1.7 billion followers.

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Islam means surrender to peace.

There are five pillars of practice in Islam. They are: Formal prayer five times a day. Poor-due tax: 2.5% of one’s excess wealth given to the needy once a year. Fasting during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan.

Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once and Declaration of faith: A statement proclaiming the belief in One God and that Muhammad is a prophet of God. To become Muslim a person simply recites this statement publicly, and in Arabic.

The Quran is the most memorised book in the world. Allah is the arabic word for God. The Islamic world gave us Algebra. The Quran mentions Jesus in the book.

That concludes this post on major world religions. If you think that I am missing one, please leave a comment below. If there is an interesting fact that you would like to discuss, go to the comments box.

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