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5 Major Religions

Christianity is the most popular religion in the world. It has approximately 2.2 billion followers. Followers are referred to as Christians. Europe, the Americas, and Southern Africa are the geographic locations with the highest amount of Christians. Main denominations of Christianity are Catholicism, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox. The founder is Jesus Christ and the holy book is the Bible (Old and New Testaments). The Pope is the head clergy of Catholicism. Priests are local authorities in all denominations. The central belief is that Jesus is both the human and divine Son of God. He led a virtuous life and and at the end he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected. After his death, he ascended into Heaven where he reigns with God.

Islam is the second largest most popular religion consisting approximately 1.5 billion followers. Adherents of Islam are called Muslim. The locations with the highest amount of Muslims are Indonesia, Middle East, and North Africa. The two main denominations are the Sunnis and Shiites. The founder of Islam is Muhammad and the holy book is the Qur’an (Koran). Islam is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion. Muslims follow the Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage). The purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and practicing Islamic law.

The third largest religion is Hinduism. It has approximately 1.1 billion followers called Hindus. The central areas to find Hindus are India and Nepal. The holy book is called the Vedas. It contains eternal truths revealed to ancient sages in form of song. It is meant to be easily memorized and sung. There is no distinct founder of Hinduism. This religion is more of a philosophical view of life. It does not have a rigid set of beliefs and rules to follow. One main, consistent belief of Hinduism is reincarnation.

Buddhism is a difficult religion to determine how many adherents there are since some people who classify as buddhists as well as another religion. The number of adherents ranges from 500 million-1.5 billion. Followers are referred to as Buddhists. The main geographic locations are Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, and Japan. The denominations are Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, and Amidist. The founder is Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhists follow the 4 noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Buddhism is about appreciating the simple things in life and focusing on what truly matters.

Judaism has 14-18 millions followers. Adherents are referred to as Jews. The main geographic locations are Israel and U.S. The founder is Abraham. The holy book is the Torah (first 5 books of the Old Testament). The main beliefs are monotheistic. God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind. They follow the Ten Commandments and the 13 Principles of Faith.