Comparing Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, And Christianity

Religion has existed within every culture since the beginning of civilization. Some of the accepted religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. According to “World History, Patterns of Interaction”, Christianity is the largest world religion with approximately 2 billion followers (268). Christianity began with the teachings of Jesus who was born in Nazareth, consists of three major groups, and has sacred rituals. Christianity originated from the life and teachings of Jesus who was born in Nazareth, which was located north of Jerusalem. Jesus began his public preaching when he was 30. Many of his lessons contained ideas from the Jewish religion. He taught about one God who would end evil and would create a kingdom after death as long as you believed in God and asked forgiveness for your sins. Jesus’ popularity threatened both the Roman and Jewish leaders. He was sentenced to death due to his teachings. Once he rose from the dead his followers were more convinced of his knowledge and Christianity spread slowly but steadily throughout the Roman Empire.

Each group has slightly different beliefs regarding Jesus and his teachings but they all believe that Jesus is central to the religion and through him is how you have salvation. During the Byzantine Empire in 1054, the church split into two due to political conflicts and different beliefs. The western church became the Roman Catholic Church where services are in Latin and the pope has the authority over the bishops. The eastern church became the Eastern Orthodox Church where services are in Greek and the patriarch and the bishops head the church together. Protestantism began during the 15-16th century in Europe. The Protestant services are in English or German and the head of the church is congregational, where the power is determined by individual