Which religion is the oldest?
The word Hindu is an exonym and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described as sanātana dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit. ''the eternal dharma''), a modern usage, based on the belief that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.
Adherents hold that Hinduism—one of the principal faiths in the modern world, with about one billion followers—is the world's oldest religion, with complete scriptural texts dating back 3,000 years.
Christianity developed out of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow it are called Christians. Islam developed in the 7th century CE.
Before Christianity, two major monotheistic religions existed in the ancient Mediterranean area. Explore the similarities and differences between Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and emerging Christianity, and how the empire initially accommodated their teachings and actions.
The history of Buddhism goes back to what is now Bodh Gaya, India almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced. The origins of Christianity go back to Roman Judea in the early first century.
However, one of the oldest known deities in recorded history is likely the Sumerian goddess Inanna, also known as Ishtar in Akkadian mythology. Inanna was worshipped in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) as early as the 4th millennium BCE.
Religion | Followers (billions) | Cultural tradition |
---|---|---|
Christianity | 2.4 | Abrahamic religions |
Islam | 1.9 | Abrahamic religions |
Hinduism | 1.2 | Indian religions |
Buddhism | 0.5 | Indian religions |
Muslims believe that Jesus (called “Isa” in Arabic) was a prophet of God and was born to a virgin (Mary). They also believe he will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal, or “the false messiah” — also known as the Antichrist.
Knowing that versions of these stories written in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament did exist before the Quran, scholars consider similarities between these Islamic, Jewish and Christian texts. Muslims believe the Quran to be direct knowledge from the Creator of existence.
The apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas, which explicitly mentions Muhammad, is widely recognized by scholars as a fabrication from the Early Modern Age. Some Muslim theologians also claimed the Paraclete (Greek New Testament) as Muhammad, although scholars identify it with the Holy Spirit.
What religion is closest to Christianity?
Islam shares a number of beliefs with Christianity. They share similar views on judgment, heaven, hell, spirits, angels, and a future resurrection. Jesus is acknowledged as the greatest prophet by Muslims.
Of course, Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues.
Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of the miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.
Furthermore, there are some historical writings that state that some Buddhists believed that Jesus Christ was the reincarnate of Buddha. Some have viewed the similarity in the birth of Buddha and Christ to be so un- canny that they believe Jesus was the reincarnate of Buddha.
Just as Jews recognized the coming of a Messiah in Old Testament writings, Buddhists read the reappearance of Buddha as the Maitreya in many Sanskrit texts, often referred to him as the prophesied Bagwa Maitreva (white traveler). Both recognized Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Messiah/Maitreya prophecy.
By its own reading of history, Roman Catholicism originated with the very beginnings of Christianity. An essential component of the definition of any one of the other branches of Christendom, moreover, is its relation to Roman Catholicism: How did Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism come into schism?
Vishnu is the primary creator. According to Vaishnava belief Vishnu creates the basic universal shell and provides all the raw materials and also places the living entities within the material world, fulfilling their own independent will.
Indra also called Śakra, the supreme god, is the first of the 33, followed by Agni.
Modern growth. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. In 1990, 1.1 billion people were Muslims, while in 2010, 1.6 billion people were Muslims.
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, adam is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as "mankind".
What is the wealthiest church in the world?
Organization | Worth (billion USD) | Religion/Belief |
---|---|---|
Trinity Church | 6.0 | Christianity |
Opus Dei (part of the Catholic Church) | 2.8 | Christianity (Catholicism) |
Church of Scientology | 2.0 | Scientology |
Holy See (Vatican) | Unknown | Christianity (Catholicism) |
Unlike the Christian view of the death of Jesus, most Muslims believe he was raised to Heaven without being put on the cross and God created a resemblance to appear exactly like Jesus who was crucified instead of Jesus, and he ascended bodily to Heaven, there to remain until his Second Coming in the End days.
In the Quran, Jesus is described as the Messiah (al-Masīḥ), miraculously born of a virgin, performing miracles, accompanied by his disciples, rejected by the Jewish religious establishment, but not as crucified or dying on the cross (nor resurrected), rather as miraculously saved by God and ascending into heaven.
Are Yahweh and Allah The Same Deity? Mark said Yahweh and Allah are not the same deity. He used the analogy of talking about a friend at a class reunion to illustrate the variances between a Christian's view of Yahweh and a Muslim's beliefs about Allah.
Muslims regard Jesus (peace be upon him) as one of the great prophets who brought divine guidance to humanity before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).
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