Different Types of Religions

Religion defines who you are, what you are, and your views about the world around you. You must understand, a religion is much more than deity worshiping. Religion is the philosophy of life and a belief system. There are as many as four thousand and two religions in this world. Surprisingly, people know only a handful of religion.

Some of the popular religions of the world are Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Apart from these there are Zoroastrianism, Bahai, Santeria and so on. There are many followers of Zen around the world. Religion in general gives meaning and purpose to the life of an individual. Each religion has its own glorious past. It is said, a religion instills hope, faith and trust in an individual.

Types of Religions

Christianity is one of the oldest religions of the world and has a large number of followers. It is estimated that Christianity has over two billion followers around the globe. Christianity practices a few beliefs and traditions of other religions. Like the Judaism and Islam, Christianity as a religion believes in the concept of one God. Hence, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are known as "ethical monotheism".

You must remember that Christianity was originally part of Judaism because Jesus Christ was a Jew. Jesus Christ lived from 3rd BC to 30 AD. Two major reasons why Christianity became separated from Judaism are:

• Jesus was worshiped by Christians as a God in human form and the Jews were not ready to accept this.
• Jews or the believers of Judaism followed a covenant. This covenant is an agreement between God and the Jews and contains a set of religious laws and ethical principles and traditions that need to be observed. Christians were not happy with this and formed a new religion that included the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Judaism is older than Christianity and this religion is the oldest of Abrahamic religions. Judaism is based on laws and principles of the Hebrew bible known as Tanakh. The Old Testament of Bible describes the struggles of the Hebrews or the Jews. After Moses frees them from the Egyptian captivity, they wander for almost forty years before they reached Jerusalem, the "Promised Land". Today there are 14 million Jews in the world.

Islam has 1.3 billion religious followers. It is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Followers of Islam religion worship Allah and consider Muhammad as their prophet. Like the Christians and the Jews, Muslims believe in one God. Hence, it is one of the three "monotheistic" religions of the world. Quran is their holy book and this religion follows strict religious discipline and customs. The life of a Muslim is guided by the Five Pillars or the five principles such as Shahadah (faith), Sala (ritual prayer), Zakah (alms tax), Sawm (Ramadan fasting) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

Islam is an Arabic term and means surrendering to the will of God. You could say Islam is a system of belief that gives importance to family life, way of dressing, cleanliness and ethics. It also stresses on the importance of religious rituals and observances.

There are many religions that follow their own system of beliefs, rituals and traditions. These religions are classified as prophetic religion, revealed religion, sacramental and mystical religion.

Hinduism is considered to be one of the most tolerant religions in the world. The ultimate aim of any Hindu is to attain moksha from the cycle of rebirth. Historians believe over the centuries Hinduism had adopted many spiritual traditions and practices, which are seen even today in the homes of many Hindus. It is not easy to generalize the beliefs of Hinduism because the practices vary widely among the believers of this religion.