The concept of "world religions" means three religious movements that are professed by peoples different continents and countries. Currently, they include three main religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. It is interesting that Hinduism, Confucianism and Judaism, although they have gained immense popularity in many countries, are not among the world's theologians. They are classified as national religions.

Consider the three world religions in more detail.

Christianity: God is the Holy Trinity

Christianity arose in the first century AD in Palestine, among the Jews, and spread throughout the then Mediterranean. Three centuries later, it became the state religion in the Roman Empire, and after another nine, all of Europe was Christianized. In our area, on the territory of what was then Rus', Christianity appeared in the 10th century. In 1054, the church split into two - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and Protestantism stood out from the second during the Reformation. On this moment these are the three main branches of Christianity. To date, the total number of believers is 1 billion.

The main tenets of Christianity:

• God is one, but He is the Trinity, he has three “persons”, three hypostases: the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Together they make up the image of one God, who created the entire universe in seven days.
• God made the atoning sacrifice in the form of God the Son, Jesus Christ. This is a god-man, he has two natures: human and divine.
• There is divine grace - it is the power that God sends in order to free the ordinary person from sin.
• There is an afterlife, life after death. Everything you do in this life will be rewarded in the next.
• There are good and evil spirits, angels and demons.

The holy book of Christians is the Bible.

Islam: There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet

This youngest world religion arose in the seventh century AD on the Arabian Peninsula, among the Arab tribes. Islam was founded by Muhammad - this is a specific historical figure, a person who was born in 570 in Mecca. At the age of 40, he announced that God (Allah) had chosen him as his prophet, and therefore began to act as a preacher. Of course, the local authorities did not like this approach, and therefore Muhammad had to move to Yathrib (Medina), where he continued to tell people about God.

The holy book of Muslims is the Quran. It is a collection of Muhammad's sermons, created after his death. During his life, his words were perceived as the direct speech of God, and therefore were transmitted exclusively orally.

Sunnah (a collection of stories about Muhammad) and Sharia (a set of principles and rules of behavior for Muslims) also play an important role. The main rites of Islam are important:

• daily prayer five times a day (prayer);
• universal observance of strict fasting per month (ramadan);
• alms;
• Hajj (pilgrimage) to the holy land in Mecca.

Buddhism: one must strive for nirvana, and life is suffering

Buddhism is the oldest of the world's religions, originating in the sixth century BC in India. She has over 800 million followers.

It is based on the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in joy and ignorance until he met an old man, a man with leprosy, and then a funeral procession. So he learned everything that was previously hidden from him: old age, illness and death - in a word, everything that awaits every person. At the age of 29, he left his family, became a hermit and began to search for the meaning of life. At the age of 35, he became a Buddha - an enlightened one who created his own doctrine of life.

According to Buddhism, life is suffering, and its cause is passions and desires. To get rid of suffering, you need to renounce desires and passions and try to achieve the state of nirvana - a state of complete peace. And after death, any creature is reborn, in the form of a completely different creature. Which one depends on your behavior in this and past lives.

This is the most general information about the three world religions, as far as the format of the article allows. But in each of them you can find a lot of interesting and important things for yourself.

And here we have prepared even more interesting materials for you!

We are all overwhelmed with tales of sentimental love from Hollywood films, but all of this experience is unlikely to help us achieve true spiritual love. We have little opportunity to rise above the level of bodily relationships or to look at others as extensions of ourselves. This socially ingrained approach to love affects how we relate to God. We tend to perceive God as someone who can satisfy our personal desires, and therefore we are not interested in selfless, unmotivated service to Him.

The Srimad-Bhagavatam, an ancient sacred Vedic scripture, describes an assembly of sages and great mystics who followed various religious paths. They all gathered in a forest known in India as Naimisharanya. The only question that was asked at this meeting was: "What is the highest form of human activity?" These yogis wanted to discover the true path to reach the highest spiritual level. They were ready to stay there for the necessary time, so long until they came to a satisfactory conclusion. Despite the fact that many of them professed various religions They all had one goal in common.

A very exalted, extremely devoted person named Suta Gosvami appeared in this assembly. He was so detached from the material world that he did not wear clothes, and he was so deeply absorbed in contemplation of the Lord that simple people considered him insane. Despite this, the sages gathered in the forest realized that this unusual person was a great soul.

The members of this meeting were very sincere people, which is extremely important for both the narrator and the listeners. Suta Gosvami was devoid of personal motives and selfishness. He did not come there to impress, and not by invitation. He was just passing by and happened to be at this very meeting of sages and yogis, thirsting for the truth.

The essence of the conclusion to which they all came was as follows: it does not matter what color a person has and what religion he professes. The traveling sage did not delve into the discussion of these topics, just as he did not try to prove the superiority of one culture or religious tradition over another. Instead, he talked about the importance of knowledge, service, and pure love for God. He also explained that love and service are the basis of man's self-realization. If we love God unconditionally, then we pray for deliverance from worries or disappointments. Such prayers are not a sign high level devotion. On the contrary, we must learn to share our love by offering unmotivated and continuous service.

Love is unmotivated service

Love is more than nice words. It shows up in our behavior. We express our love by the way we act. If someone has developed love for another person, but does not want to serve her, such love cannot be considered deep. It's more of a theory. If we are not ready to prove our love with deeds, then something is wrong. The deeper the love, the more selfless the service to the object of our love.

Understanding love as service is a fundamental concept of all world religions. Although religions, at first glance, differ from each other, understanding this point unites them. True religion is the service of God. Whether we call ourselves Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or followers of Hinduism, it is not particularly important, as well as the rituals that we perform. Behind all external practices lies an understanding of the essence of all religious paths: to provide us with the opportunity to develop love for God and begin to serve Him.

Although love transcends the ability to see, hear, and feel, all of these elements can be used in selfless service. When our love is unconditional, we are not looking for any particular sensation that pleases us, but that is what we do if we want to satisfy our material senses. Selfish acts prevent us from developing a deep attachment to God. If we base our judgments on the concepts of “I want”, “my desires”, “my body”, this means that we will not be able to focus on serving our beloved.

When we love someone, we want to take care of him and express our feelings by doing something important for the object of our love. A person who loves his wife and children constantly thinks about them, spends time with them and takes care of their needs. A woman may claim that she loves her husband and her children, but if she does not feed the children and does not help her husband, then the sincerity of her words can be doubted.

Sometimes we talk about love, despite the opposite feeling, in order to gain approval and assure ourselves and others of this. Such behavior expresses neither love nor service. We must not think that we are worthy of a reward. If love is sincere, we give ourselves wholeheartedly to our beloved, without thinking about what they have in return.

If love is about expecting reward, what happens if we don't get what we want? If we identify love with sense gratification, we run the risk of falling prey to anger. Most of us strive for comfort and therefore make various demands on love. But unconditional love does not seek personal satisfaction, moreover, having it, we are ready to sacrifice ourselves for the beloved.

Service is natural. We always serve someone or something, and those who love each other naturally want to express their love through service. That's why there is a golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. If we perceive ourselves as the servants of our beloved and seek to satisfy them with some spontaneous expression of our love, this will be the right thing to do. We should be indifferent to praise or understanding. But, unfortunately, while we may try to serve enthusiastically, our motives for doing so can often be impure. We want recognition and we want appreciation. We must learn to serve, even if we feel nothing in return: no appreciation, no participation.

We must remember that how we treat others means how we treat ourselves, because everything will eventually come back to us. Some people are able to help and care for others, which comes back to them a hundredfold. Why do people not trust those who, in turn, do not trust others? Because this mood of distrust returns like a boomerang. We must be careful about what we think and do, because our thoughts and actions set in motion forces that return to us the results of our deeds.

We can test ourselves by doing some good for our neighbor anonymously. As a rule, we attach a card with our name to the gift, expecting gratitude for our generosity. This cannot be called selfless behavior, because it is based on self-glorification. The only way to pass this test of selflessness is to help others, not hoping to gain recognition, but being happy just knowing that we did the right thing.

Everyday life is our school

The sages and yogis at the meeting described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, by the grace of Suta Gosvami, learned that love is based on unmotivated service to God. They realized that true spirituality means taking the position of a servant towards everyone. This also applies to us. Our relationship in Everyday life are the practices of the divine, which we will eventually have to experience. The quality of our relationship shows how ready we are for fellowship with the Supreme Lord. That is why fellowship with others who are serious about the spiritual life is so important. Through this experience we learn to love and serve the Supreme.

The highest level of the spiritual world is the realm of eternal romantic adventures and selfless love relationship. To enter this world of pure love, one must prepare here and now, in the material world: to learn pure selfless service. Any selfish motivation will disqualify us, since the only way to experience divine love is to reject our own aspirations for the good of our beloved. We will not lose our identity in this process, on the contrary, our true essence will manifest itself if we render service, and each unselfish manifestation of love will allow us to sink more and more into the vast amazing ocean of love. If, driven sincere love, we will act selflessly, then more love will come to us.

Question answer

Question: You mentioned that all the world's religions essentially teach the same thing, but does that mean that they are absolutely no different from one another?
Answer: Of course, there are fundamental differences based on the religious system. However, the sectarian approach is very dangerous. A person with a sectarian mentality proceeds from the fact that God can bestow his love only on a certain group of people. Can the love of God be the privilege of only Episcopans, Sufis, Bahais, Hindus, or members of some other religious system? There are many priests, teachers and mentors who give an affirmative answer to this question, believing that their instructions are the only important and valuable ones. This means that they believe that God's love is so limited that He can only express it in one way. However, we cannot serve the one God in a limited sectarian way.

This point can be illustrated by an analogy. As parents, we can try to help our children by teaching them in certain ways. If they do not take our advice seriously, then we can give them guidance in a slightly different way, because we care about them and want them to succeed in this life. God does the same. He gives us the same instructions with the same different ways to teach us to do the right thing.

If people can have many sons and daughters, then why can God, the Supreme progenitor of mankind, have only one son? This assumption lacks common sense. Besides Jesus, didn't there exist Muhammad or Buddha and many others? In fact, aren't we ourselves sons and daughters of God? It is we who are the very sons and daughters who have gone astray, while Jesus and other children of God ask us not to. They provide assistance to those family members who have distanced themselves from the common cause - serving God.

All true spiritual messengers instruct people in the word of God, as their religion dictates. They help prepare the soul for service in the kingdom of God. If the sectarian approach were correct, millions of souls would argue and quarrel with each other, reaching the abode of God. "Wait a minute, this is a place for Seventh-day Adventists, I don't want anyone else here": or "Where are the true Muslims here? Only they are the true sons of God.” The entire spiritual world would turn into a state torn apart, each province of which is ready to enter into confrontation with all the others. Under such circumstances, who would be able to glorify or serve the Lord?

If Jesus had appeared in our time, then it is likely that he would have been crucified much faster than it happened in those times. Undoubtedly, it would have taken much more effort for him to drive the money changers out of temples all over the planet, and it would have taken too long for Christians to deal with each other and figure out what to do with such an intransigent personality that causes so much trouble. If the Prophet Muhammad returned today, he would mourn the violence that has swept the world. This has become entirely possible due to ignorance and misinterpretation of His teachings. If any rishis or swami from the Vedic tradition were to return to Earth now to see how we are living, he would also feel very annoyed. Spiritual life is not about how we label ourselves and others, how we pray, or how we worship God. The meaning of spiritual life lies in how sincere we are.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what device we use. A person may drive a Chevy, another may prefer a Mitsubishi or a Ford, and another may feel comfortable in a Jaguar. The choice is up to us. The point is, have we been able to acquire true connection with God blessing. If we encounter problems in perceiving people because of superficial differences, this indicates a lack of any interest. If we are not interested in self-realization, then we are at the most elementary level of development. Is our general state consciousness is a key factor that should change our planet. The purpose of life has never been associated with a person's particular religion. On the contrary, it is connected with the level of his spiritual development. Now on our planet there is a struggle between people with a negative, underdeveloped consciousness, and those who are at a higher level.

Existing religions can be compared to buildings of various architectural styles. Appearance and the shape of buildings are different, but any building has a foundation, load-bearing structures and a roof.

Likewise, many religions that amaze with an abundance of rites, various arrangements, decoration of temples and a variety of rituals have similar components: the "foundation" and "supporting structures" presented in the dogma.

Any religion has a) a cult and b) a special worldview. Cult, or cult practice, involves specific actions of the believer (for example, prayer or visiting a temple). Worldview, or worldview, includes ideas about the surrounding world and man.

Indeed, if we remove from each religion what distinguishes it from others, the essence, the “core”, will remain, which is practically the same for all religions. This essence suggests that the Universe is more complicated than it seems at first glance: in addition to the surrounding world, familiar to everyone, there is another, invisible world that affects what is happening around. It is this knowledge that came from people who later became known as prophets , messiahs, avatars, teachers, and served as the cause of the emergence of all world religions.

The "foundation" of most religions is the same - it is a mystical experience. Mystics and prophets of all times and peoples talk about their mystical experience often in the same words. In them, the Highest Reality appears as an all-understanding, loving space filled with light and bliss.

It is important to emphasize that the founders of any religion spoke only about what was reality for them, the result of their own experience. They did not have faith in what they were talking about, but direct knowledge of it. direct knowledge is the result of direct perception. In the same way, a sighted person knows about the existence of the sun because he sees it himself, while a blind person can only believe in its existence from the words of a sighted person. various rituals worship. After all, ordinary people, attracted by the miracles and sermons of the saints, themselves have never experienced anything like the illuminations of the saints. Therefore, for them, the only way to touch the Great Truth was faith and worship. Temples were built, prayers and rituals were created - all this strengthened faith and helped worship.
As far as dogma is concerned, even here the main "supporting structures" are often the same principles. The structure of the external and internal world of a person, the paths leading to God and salvation, have common features. Many religions recognize as the only path to God the path of renunciation of their selfish aspirations, the path of love, and their followers are prescribed to follow ethical rules similar to the New Testament commandment: "... turn away from evil, cling to good" (Rom. 12.9).

If we consider the main principles of ethics of the main directions of Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism and other religions, it turns out that they all complement each other in one way or another. For example, New Testament says that "God is love"; the Sanskrit sutras recognize God as "the source of all knowledge and all love"; Taoism notes that "Tao is a gentle being"; and the Qur'an states: "Allah is Merciful, Merciful." This implies that Divine Love is at the origin of being, and one can approach God only by developing more and more perfect love in oneself. "Continuously develop bodhichitta in yourself" (that is, perfect compassion for all living beings), Buddhist monks urge. "This I command you, that you love one another" (John 15:17), Jesus Christ taught. And for the mystics of Islam, the Almighty "is Love, Loving and Beloved."

Many religions offer detailed explanations on how to develop perfect love. This happens as a person learns to love all the world and to see in every person and event the manifestation of the Will and Love of God.

Other prescriptions and rules that follow from this main covenant of many religions are also very similar. They include principles similar to the commandments of the New Testament, i.e. the injunctions "do not kill", "do not steal", etc. Thus, in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the principle "do not kill" corresponds to ahimsa (doing no harm to all living beings neither in thoughts, nor in words, nor in actions), but to the principle "do not steal" - asteya (lack of desire to possess other people's things), etc.

Disagreements that eventually lead to conflicts with murders arise between believers, as they argue about their various faiths (i.e. about different fantasies or interpretations of sacred texts), and not about the single Truth itself. It is impossible to argue about it, you can experience it
The similarity of the basic religious moral prescriptions leads to the fact that many philosophers, theologians and religious scholars begin to talk about a single world ethics, "cosmic ethics", to one degree or another represented in the moral code of a particular religious tradition.

Have a good day everyone! The concept of religions is found quite often in exams in the humanities. Therefore, I would recommend looking at these religions of the world, their list, in order to better navigate them.

A little about the concept of "World Religions". Often, it refers to the three main religions: Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. This understanding is not complete to say the least. Since these religious systems have different currents. In addition, there are a number of religions that also unite many people. Before publishing the list, I also recommend that you read the article about .

List of world religions

Abrahamic religions- these are religions that go back to one of the first religious patriarchs - Abraham.

Christianity- briefly about this religion you can. It is presented today in several directions. The key ones are Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. The Holy Book of the Bible (mainly the New Testament). It unites about 2.3 billion people today

Islam- how religion took shape in the 7th century new era and absorbed the revelations of Allah to its own prophet Muhammad. It was from him that the prophet learned that one should pray a hundred times a day. However, Muhammad asked Allah to reduce the number of prayers, and as a result, Allah allowed to pray five times a day. By the way, the concepts of heaven and hell in Islam and Christianity are somewhat different. Paradise here is the quintessence of earthly goods. Holy book Quran. Unites today about 1.5 billion people.

Judaism- the religion of the predominantly Jewish people, unites 14 million adherents. Most of all I was struck by the divine service: in its time one can behave quite naturally. The Holy Book of the Bible (mainly the Old Testament).

Other religions

Hinduism- unites about 900 million followers and includes faith in the eternal soul (atman) and in the universal God. This religion and others like it are also called dharmic - from the Sanskrit word "dharma" - things, the nature of things. Religious priests here are called Brahmins. The key idea is in the rebirth of souls. Who cares, except for jokes, look at Vysotsky: a song about the transmigration of souls.

Buddhism- unites over 350 million adherents. It comes from the fact that the soul is bound by the wheel of samsara - the wheel of reincarnations, and only work on itself can allow it to break out of this circle into nirvana - eternal bliss. There are different branches of Buddhism: Zen Buddhism, Lamaism, etc. The sacred texts are called Tripitaka.

Zoroastrianism(“Good Faith”) is one of the oldest monotheistic religions, incorporates faith in the single god Ahura Mazda and his prophet Zarathushtra, unites about 7 million people. Religion embodies belief in good and evil thoughts. The latter are the enemies of God and must be eradicated. Light is the physical embodiment of God and is worthy of reverence, which is why this religion is also called fire worship. Thus, in my opinion, this is the most honest religion, since it is thoughts that determine a person, and not his actions. If you agree with this - put like at the end of the post!

Jainism- unites approximately 4 million adherents and proceeds from the fact that all living beings are eternally living in spiritual world, calls for self-improvement through the cultivation of wisdom and other virtues.

Sikhism- unites about 23 million adherents and includes the understanding of God as the Absolute and as a part of every person. Worship occurs through meditation.

Juche is North Korean political ideology which many refer to as a religion. It was formed on the basis of the transformation of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and synthesis with traditional Chinese philosophy.

Confucianism- in the strict sense of the word, it is a more ethical and philosophical doctrine than religion and combines ideas about proper behavior, ritual and tradition, which, according to Confucius, must be represented. The main treatise is Lun-yu. Consolidates about 7 million people.

Shintoism- this religion is prevalent mainly in Japan, so read about it.

Khao Dai- a fairly new religious system that appeared in 1926 and combines many provisions of Buddhism, Lamaism, etc. Calls for equality between the sexes, for pacifism, etc. It originated in Vietnam. In essence, religion embodies everything that has been lacking in this region of the planet for a long time.

I hope you got an idea about the religions of the world! Like, subscribe for new articles.

Sincerely, Andrey Puchkov

In the theological and historical literature, a certain classification of religious systems has been adopted. It is based on the confession of the Deity quantitatively. According to this classification, religious systems are divided into polytheistic, dualistic and monotheistic. Polytheism, or polytheism (from the Greek words "poly" - many and "theos" - God), claims that there are several or many gods, each of them performs certain functions and has its own field of activity. There are many examples of polytheistic religions - religious systems Ancient Greece and Rome, the ancient Slavic religions, in which there was a whole pantheon of gods who were related to each other. These gods performed good and evil deeds, quarreled mutually, appeared to people, and participated in wars. However, they were not omnipotent - fate weighed on them, fate, which determined the actions of not only people, but also the gods. Some researchers see fate as an echo of ancient monotheism. The ancient Egyptians, who professed polytheism, at the same time believed that small gods are the essence of the embodiment and personification of the forces and certain properties of the one Supreme God. At one time in ancient Egypt, the religious reform of Akhenaten was carried out, which consisted in the transition from polytheism to monotheism, the cult of the God of the solar disk, Aten. In pre-Christian Rus', there was also a pantheon of gods - Yarilo, Stribog, Zyuzya, Veles, Lada and others.

Deistic religions claim that there are two opposite principles in the world - good and evil. They are mutually balanced to such an extent that they cannot defeat and destroy each other. Good and evil oppose each other, and man and the Universe are the field of their battle. Examples of deistic religious systems are Parsism and Zoroastrianism, ancient Iranian and Central Asian religions. They have two gods - Ormuzd and Ahriman, evil and good. In Hinduism, they are Shiva and Krishna. Deistic religions equally justify both principles, good and evil, while depriving a person of the opportunity to morally evaluate his actions. Deism does not imply improvement, it only leaves a person with the opportunity to choose between the two poles. This religious system gives a perfectly satisfactory explanation of good and evil, in a way that suits many.

And, finally, monotheism, monotheism (from the Greek "mono" - one), professes one God. The evidence for monotheism is not difficult. There can be only one God, otherwise He is not God. The two gods must divide the spheres of activity among themselves, and, in this case, limit each other, depriving the opponent of all power. These gods would not be omnipotent, since they would only have half the power, and not omnipresent, for the same reason. They would inevitably have to be at enmity and, in the struggle, mutually destroy each other, since their forces are of equal value. If they acted together, the action of each of them would be canceled by the anti-action of the other. Their influence on the world, in this case, would be zero. And the world would not exist, since one god would create it, and the other would destroy it. If one of the gods turned out to be weaker, the other would not fail to eliminate the opposition. Polytheism is impossible for the same reasons. How would the gods share power among themselves? Who would regulate their activities? It is no coincidence that fate was introduced into the ancient Greek and Roman pantheons, which alone had supreme power over all the gods.

Therefore, in the world religious culture, monotheistic religions have gained predominant importance: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism. They are professed by the majority of the world's population. The gods professed by these religions are somewhat different in their attitude to the world, the inner Divine life, revelations, and the degree of openness to man. They are united by one idea - God is one numerically. “There is no other god but Allah” is the fundamental postulate of Islam. “I am the Lord your God, and let you have no other God but me” is the first commandment given by Jehovah to Moses.

Monotheism automatically removes a number of perplexities, which were mentioned above, and assumes certain properties of God - omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience. They are interconnected and condition each other. The omnipotence of one, one God means that He extends His power and influence to the whole world and to what is beyond its borders. Omnipresent means that one God is everywhere at the same time, in all the fullness of his essence. Omniscience means complete awareness of everything that happens and knowledge of everything that exists and does not exist, knowledge that surpasses human knowledge.

Monotheistic religions claim that God has a first cause of existence in Himself, or, in theological terms, He is original. Every thing, object or phenomenon has a reason that gave rise to it. A tree grows from a seed, an animal is born by parents, rain is a cloud, a stone is rocks, the sea was formed from the thickness of clouds during the formation of the Earth. God does not have the causes that gave birth to Him, He Himself is the root cause of everything. The source of His existence is He Himself. Why this is so, and not otherwise, and how this happens, we will consider below.

In relation to God, it is impossible to use the expressions "before this" or "after this." It is eternal because it does not change. The immutability of God stems from His omnipotence. If God changed, improved or, on the contrary, simplified, then one could say that there was a time when He was imperfect. In that case, He would not be God, and He is not. Deity is the ideal perfection that He possesses constantly. Time as a phenomenon is possible in our world, since it is formed as a result of certain changes, and since God is immutable, therefore, He is eternal.

God - Living being as we and possesses life or being in superlatives compared to us. He always exists, He is immeasurably ancient and always the same. God, informing the prophets, saints and ordinary people of his will, spoke in a language they understood. He revealed to people his properties: he was merciful, loving. One of the names of God is Jehovah, the Existing, that is, always existing. God has human-like features - He generates thoughts, carries out His will, experiences feelings, like a person. He is a person in the highest degree, for the energy of the Divine can be recognized and distinguished from the charm of a person. God has exceptional, unique features that no one has.

World religions claim that God is different from everything that exists, He is immaterial. The ancients compared it with human breath, which is imperceptible to the eye, but carries warmth and life. Human life began and ended with the breath that gave life itself, therefore, the Deity was called the "breath of life", or, briefly, the Spirit.

In monotheistic religions, God was the Supreme Monarch. In the history of the Jewish people, there was a period when there was no ruler in the state, God Himself was considered the king. In Islam, all the caliphs had the power of government only because they were the descendants of Mohammed, who was the prophet of Allah, who handed Mohammed the right to rule the people. The God of monotheistic religions is the Supreme Judge, only he owns the right supreme court over the world and people. He is the supreme controller of everything that exists. And, at the same time, He is a quiet breath, Love for everything and all people without exception, since the sun shines on everyone equally and for everyone it's raining. He cares for everyone in general and for each individual, because He is omnipresent and omniscient. His presence surrounds a person constantly and everywhere. But, God, does not call people to himself by force, fear or intimidation, because a person is a personal, free, living being. God desires voluntary love for Himself from a person, because He Himself pours out the same feeling on a person.

good and evil, angels and demons

In addition to belief in a single God, all religions, without exception, assert the existence of a parallel world inhabited by living personal beings endowed with mind, will and power. People have encountered them throughout their history, their images exist in all places of worship among all peoples. These creatures, according to their actions in relation to man, were called angels and demons. The first creatures were good, the second - evil. These beings occupied an intermediate position between God and humans. Angel, translated from Hebrew, means messenger. Angels performed a service role in relation to God. They were sent to proclaim to people the will of the Divine, to fulfill a certain commission given to them by God. The angels took on the form of young men, although their true appearance was different.

The opposite of good angels, evil demons, also operate in the world. But, their actions are destructive and aggressive. The purpose of their existence is to harm people. In ancient religions, people sought to appease demons, or evil spirits as they were called. People made their images, erected temples for them, made sacrifices. The actions of demons caused fear in people. And at present there are many religious systems in which they worship evil spirits. For example, the Voodoo religion, a creed in Southeast Asia and Africa, professes demon worship and blood sacrifice. Most religious local systems Africans adhere to the belief in evil spirits. The same is practiced by the shamans of Siberia and Far East, dark cults of the goddess Kali in India, some forms of Buddhism in Tibet, local beliefs of the Indians South America. Numerous ancient and modern literary monuments describe multiple cases of dark forces interfering in people's lives. No less famous are the cults of worship of good angels - the religion of Ancient Babylon and Persia. Good angels were depicted in these religious systems in the form of bulls with wings, winged animals or people. The wings depicted on the angels symbolized the speed of their movement.

In addition to the belief in good and evil spirits, all religions claim the existence of an afterlife. All peoples, on all continents, have special funeral rites. Numerous archaeological finds testify to the belief of our ancestors in the afterlife, since, in addition to the deceased, household items, jewelry, weapons, personal items, and food were lowered into the grave. In any locality there are mounds or tombs in which distant ancestors are buried. All religions say that the human soul, or life, has no death, it is indestructible. World religions depict the fate of the soul after death in different ways, but most often, it depends on the morality of earthly life. All peoples have an idea of ​​two worlds, which are called hell and paradise. Hell, in translation, means "a place devoid of light", and paradise is a "garden". These names are rather conditional, they reflect the allegorical idea of ​​these worlds of ancient people. Staying in hell, according to the belief of the ancestors, brings inexplicable suffering to the soul, and being in paradise gives rise to incomparable bliss. Hell, according to world religions, is the place of dwelling of evil spirits, and paradise, respectively, of good ones.

In world religions there is also the concept of sin. The word "sin" means "a miss, a miss." Sin, therefore, means a mistake, a wrong deed. Sin is an action that leads a person to bad consequences. Sin was moral in nature, it was a violation of moral principles and norms of behavior. In Judaism, breaking a covenant with God was called sin. The Jews called the covenant an agreement between a person and God: God was obliged to patronize and protect the Jews, and the Jews had to fulfill the clauses of the agreement, which received the name of the Commandments. Sin, among the Jews, meant a violation by a Jew of a clause of an agreement with the Deity. The Ten Commandments among the Jews were carefully developed and commented on, they were sacredly honored and preserved. Commentaries on the Law of the Jews, the Torah, are called the Talmud. The Talmud prescribed in detail the behavior of an orthodox Jew, most of the cases in which one should act properly were provided there. Sin in Christianity is seen as a depravity of human nature, a departure from the norm. Sin in Islam is infidelity to Allah, severely punished and unforgivable.

Monotheistic religions contain teachings on prayer and fasting. Prayer is a person’s appeal to God, fasting is a symbol of the repentant state of the human spirit, repentance for committed sins. In Christianity, fasting and prayer are intertwined. The word "prayer" is close in meaning to the concept of "prayer", that is, an intensified, in-depth and diligent request. At all times, prayer has been an invocation of the Divine, a statement of one's needs to Him and a request for help. Initially, the text of the prayers was arbitrary, everyone who said the prayer stated the petition in his own words. Over time, the texts of prayers were conserved. Some prayers were taken by others as a standard, and they were repeated, trying to think about the meaning of the words contained in it. There were daily prayers, and there were prayers that were said only once a year. In general, prayers sanctified the weekly and daily cycles of people's lives. Some prayers were said in the morning, for the consecration of the coming day, and other prayers, evening, contained words of gratitude to God for the day lived. Gradually, a certain cycle of prayers developed. Repetitive rituals became fixed, ceremonies became invariable.

Mandatory doctrinal truth of monotheistic religions is the position of God as the Creator of the Universe and man. The creation of the world and man is an act of Divine love and desire for life, the joy of being for living beings. A perfect and harmonious world is a reflection of the perfection of His Creator. World religions say that in the beginning, as a result of the will of the Divine, the world appeared, and later man. Man is the result of creation, its logical conclusion. Man, like the world, was also perfect and was in communion with the Divine, but at one moment, people committed a sin, a wrong deed that changed the essence of man himself and the ideality of the world. The first people, being in constant dialogue with God, were in a special state, which consisted in the complete harmony of soul and body. This state was called after the place where the first people lived, a garden, or paradise. With the Fall, people were forced to leave Paradise. The fact of man's alienation from God was painful and difficult, since then people have been looking for a meeting with God and therefore, many religions have arisen, the purpose of which was to unite with God, the search for the Deity.

The Trinity - Judaism, Christianity and Islam

In all monotheistic, polytheistic, and deistic religions, there are many common features, which is proof of their unity. We have only touched on a few general provisions in order to demonstrate the unity of the spiritual experience of mankind. If we move back the historical process, into the depths of centuries, we will discover more and more of the same, similar. Having carried out a historical test of the antiquity of religious knowledge and the logical correspondence of new religious concepts, we will come to a unified ancient religion which was once professed by all mankind. However, one cannot neglect the latest Revelations of the Divine, since humanity is constantly in communion with the Almighty.

Among the world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are united by the unity of origin, the presence of many common features. Buddhism stands somewhat apart, because it is built on a different cultural tradition. The main distinguishing features of Buddhism are the doctrine of reincarnation, the preexistence of souls, the identity of the world and the Divine, the doctrine of the pulsation of the Universe, faith in the Absolute - a faceless law, the desire to escape from life, life was seen as suffering. Buddhism says that there is a faceless, emotionless law - the Absolute, which rules the world from a distance. The world, in turn, is the bodily embodiment of the Absolute.

The universe exists forever in the form of pulsating matter, which either appears or disappears. Along with the universe, people appear and disappear. Humanity thus experiences countless myriads of births and deaths. However, life itself, according to the teachings of Buddhism, is suffering. Wanting to get rid of suffering, countless births, a person must find a way out of this chain of patterns. He must die, die as a person, die spiritually, so much so as not to be reborn again. And this goal is achieved through the cultivation that brings enlightenment. Otherwise, a person may be reborn in the body of an insect, animal or plant and will be forced to go through an endless chain of births. Buddhism is essentially a religion of perfect death, absolute non-existence. Buddhism is a very ancient and complex religion, it includes cultural layers of ancient cults. There are several religious currents, or directions, of Buddhism. An example of one of the directions is Lamaism, which is widespread in Tibet, Central Asia and Southern Siberia.

Three close religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam have common cultural features, they originated in the same area, in Palestine and on the Arabian Peninsula. They are largely identical in their views on man, the emergence of the world, the properties and manifestations of the Deity. They revere some prophets and many saints. These religions almost identically describe angels and demons, speak of the fall of man, and call for similar moral values.

But, they are significantly different in the way and degree of communication with God, the purpose of human life, and the general spiritual mood.

Islam

Islam confesses Allah as a stern God, demanding to strictly follow His orders, and at the same time as a God, saving from disasters and enemies, helping in battles and state upheavals. Islam sees as its goal to bring the light of faith in Allah to all non-Muslims. Muhammad, the prophet of Allah, sought to extend his power to the cities surrounding Mecca. Numerous descendants of Muhammad held the positions of rulers of the states of Southeast Asia and Africa and sought to extend their influence and religion to the possible large area. The supreme ruler of the Muslim states is the Almighty, the descendants of the prophet are only His vicars. Today's Islam, as in antiquity, tends to spread, as in the Middle Ages.

Islam is not so much religious as political doctrine. It arose at the junction of Judaism and Christianity, incorporating some features of both faiths. Thus, Muslims revere Jesus Christ as the prophet of Allah and His Mother as the one who gave birth to the prophet. They honor many Christian saints, for example, St. George the Victorious. Moses, the Jewish leader and prophet, is equally revered by Muslims as a "friend of God," and the Ten Commandments are also revered by Muslims. Muslims, like Jews and Christians, keep fasts, say similar prayers. Traditional Islam prescribes to honor the laws and do good. Death for the glory of Allah in war is considered a heroic and charitable deed. A faithful Muslim who died in the war, according to the teachers of Islam, goes to heaven, where he experiences eternal bliss.

Islam, like Judaism, prescribes circumcision as a symbol of the Covenant, an agreement with God. This custom was borrowed from the Jews. The progenitor of the Arab tribes, Ishmael, according to sacred texts, was circumcised by his own mother. Muslims, as elsewhere in the East, are allowed polygamy. This phenomenon was common in the East and caused embarrassment only among Europeans. The same custom existed among the ancient Jews, at the beginning of the history of their people. Political, property and civil rights in Muslim countries only men have it. A woman is a creature with almost no rights and is entirely in the power of her husband, for whom betrayal is punished very hard. There are various currents and sects in Islam, from traditional to the most intolerant. Different religious groups are in power in different Muslim countries. In general, this religion is quite conservative, designed to keep intact the eastern way of life with the unlimited power of the monarch and the almost complete lack of rights of his subordinates. However, the systems of Eastern monarchies are very stable and static.

Judaism can be conditionally attributed to world religions. This is the religion of one people, the Jews. Non-Jews professing Judaism are negligible. Judaism is both a religious and political doctrine, the religious goal has become the state ideology. hallmark Judaism, its main idea is the idea of ​​God's chosen people of the Jewish people. The Jewish God is Yahweh, the God of the Jews first, and they are His people. This national idea allowed the Jews to survive as a people during almost two thousand years of forced emigration, which, of course, commands respect. Jews are extremely religiously conservative and very painstaking in achieving national goals. The goal of the current Jewish state is to increase the territory of the State of Israel to the boundaries indicated in the Bible. The second national and nationwide goal is the construction of the temple of God Yahweh on Mount Zion, where the Mosque of Omar, one of the greatest shrines of the Muslim world, is now located. In this temple, according to Judaism, the Jewish king, the Messiah, will be anointed to the kingdom, who by force will conquer all the nations of the Jews. In Judaism, Yahweh is a formidable God, requiring detailed observance of all the prescriptions of a religious nature. The holy book of the Jews, the Torah, or Pentateuch, contains the books of Moses, the leader of the Jews and the unquestioned spiritual leader. The Jews revere the prophets and their Scriptures, they divide the prophets into great and small, according to the volume of the handwritten text they left.

The Jews have a unique knowledge of the Holy Books, they have created unique ways of storing information. Thanks to them, we have one of the greatest books of mankind, the Bible, most of it, the Old Testament. The most massive religion of mankind, Christianity, is based on the Hebrew tradition. The sacred books of the Jews, the Torah and the Prophets, became part of the Christian Bible.

Christianity

Christianity in its deep essence is a continuation of the Hebrew tradition. The founder of this religion, Jesus Christ, was a Jew by birth, a Jew by religion. He observed the religious prescriptions of the ancient Jews, visited the ancient Jewish temple. He was the king of Judea by origin, and His Mother Mary, came from a high priestly family. The disciples of Christ were Jews and the first Christians came from the people of Israel. Christ supplemented, enlarged, expanded and revealed the Hebrew religion.

At the same time, so many new things were introduced into the religious system of the Jews that Christianity became a religion in its own right, although at the dawn of its formation, the Romans considered Christianity a Jewish sect. Christianity has unique history majestic and dramatic at the same time. It is an optimistic and joyful religion, looking to the future, very versatile, ascetic. Christianity contains philosophical depth and wisdom, while remaining in its essence a fairly simple religious system. Christianity has played a huge role in European civilization, it is its foundation and driving force. Christianity has several branches of theological systems and many sects. This circumstance has given rise to some confusion for the modern reader, who involuntarily asks the question: “What is true Christianity after all and how to distinguish it from fakes?” The answer to this basic and many other questions, let the larger section of this book entitled "Orthodoxy" serve as an answer. It will include brief information about the main Christian creeds and features sects. Most of this section will be information about Orthodoxy, since this dogma is the most familiar in the territory of the CIS, it was practiced by our ancestors for a millennium. This is the most ancient religion in our homeland, which has followers, theological literature and its own scientific school. Famous Russian writers and poets, artists, scientists, military leaders and statesmen grew up on this soil. Orthodoxy left a deep imprint in the mentality of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples. Now, it is experiencing a spiritual upsurge, which everyone who seeks God and Christ can join.