Judaism is the oldest surviving religion in the world; it is also the oldest of the three great monotheistic religions. Both Christianity and Islam branched off of Judaism. Judaism is monotheistic, and they believe in the covenant with God. This is a special agreement between the Jews and God. This covenant is believed to have been made by God to Abraham. The covenant states that the Jews are the chosen people of God, and that God will send a Messiah to save the world from its sins. The Jews believe that the Messiah has not come and Christians believe that the Messiah has already come.

The Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims share the Old Testament of the Bible (the Muslims Old Testament version is slightly different then the other religions). The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah. The Torah is a collection of legal rights, ethical writings as well as Jewish history and prophecy.

There are three branches of Jewish customs, the Orthodox, the Reform Jews, and the Conservative Jews. The Orthodox Jews are the traditional Jews who pray three times a day, and they must where hats. The men grow long beards, and they all wear European style clothing. The Reform Jews began to question traditional teachings in the 1600’s. The Conservative Jews follow the same teachings as the Orthodox Jews but the don’t follow it as strictly as them. There are approximately 13 million Jews in the world today and it was the first religion ever to believe in only one God. Jews worship on Saturdays in a synagogue. Their worship is led by a rabbi, which means teacher. Saturday is the seventh day of the week making it the Sabbath.

Christianity is founded upon the Judaism teachings. The major difference between Christianity and Judaism is that Christians believe The Messiah, Jesus, has come, and gone, and will come again, and the Jews believe The Messiah has yet to come. Christianity was first started in the first century by the 12 apostles. It spread, despite persecution, through the Roman Empire by missionaries like Saint Paul. Eventually Constantine the 1^st, emperor of Rome, recognized it as a religion in 313 A.D. It is also the second oldest of the three great monotheistic religions.

All Christians believe in one God. They also believe in the Holy Trinity: God almighty, creator of heaven and Earth, Jesus His son, redeemer of sins, and the Holy Spirit God’s presence on Earth today. They have the Holy Bible, which is the story of ancient Hebrews (which is also shared by Muslims and Jews). It also tells the story of Jesus, prophets and apostles. The Christians also believe in the Ten Commandments, which tell what not to do in life, and if you break any of them it is a sin. They believe in an afterlife, you can go either to Heaven or Hell based upon you actions in life.

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. It is the youngest of the three great monotheistic religions. It is the second largest religion only to Christianity. It is a monotheistic religion that believes in the teachings of Allah through his prophet Muhammad in 600’s A.D. Allah means God. In 610 A.D. Muhammad received a revelation from Allah, and it was written down in the Koran. The Sunna is a collection of Muhammad’s teachings.

People who follow Islam are called Muslims. Only 1/3 of Muslims are Arabic. Muslims worship in Mosques. Muslims believe in an afterlife, you can go either to Heaven or Hell based upon you actions in life. Their core belief is in The Five Pillars of Islam. The five pillars are Shahada, which means bearing witness, the Shahada contains, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” The second pillar is Prayer or Salat. Muslims are required to pray five times a day by facing towards Mecca. Almsgiving is the third pillar; it is based on assisting the poor. Fasting is the fourth pillar; it is that you should fast during the month of Ramadan between sunrise and sunset. And the last pillar is Pilgrimage; you must travel to Mecca at least once in your life.

Hinduism is the major religion of India, and about 750 million people practice Hinduism. Hinduism influences the Indian culture. There are five sacred writings of Hinduism, Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharta, and Manu Smriti. The Vedas contains prayers, hymns, scripts on philosophy and mystics in dialogue form. The Puranas tells important myths on Hindu gods. It tells how the world began, how it ends, and how it will be reborn. Ramayana and Mahabharta tell stories of great people in India. Manu Smriti is the source of Hindu religion and social law, and it tells about the caste system.

In Hinduism gods represent powers in nature. There are five major gods. There is Brahman; he is the universal god, which is a combination of all the gods. Brahma is the creator of the universe. Vishnu is the preserver of the universe. Shiva is the destroyer of the universe. Shiva’s wife is called Durga, Kali, Parvati, or Uma; she is the goddess of mother hood. Animals like cows, monkeys, and snakes are also worshipped.

There are five classes in the caste system. In the caste system you can’t move up or down during your life. The top class is Brahmas, which are priest and scholars. The 2^nd class is Kshatriyas they are warriors and rulers. The 3^rd class is Vaisyas they are merchants. The 4^th class is Sudras they are laborers and servants. The 5^th class is the untouchables they perform the most menial tasks.

The Hindus believe in reincarnation through Karma. Reincarnation is where people are reborn into other bodies when they die. Reincarnation continues until they reach spiritual perfection, which is called Moksha. The Hindus believe in Karma. Karma is every action has a reaction on how the soul is reincarnated. If you lead a good life your soul is reborn in a higher class. If you lead a bad life your soul is reborn in a lower class.

Buddhism was founded in 500 BC and about 350 million follow Buddhism today. Most people who follow Buddhism are located in India, China, Korea and Japan. Siddhartha Gautama, who was called Buddha, was the Founder of Buddhism. Buddha means enlightened one. Buddhism has several denominations, like the Zen, the Mahayana, the Theravada.

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