subject: An Introduction to World Religions [print this page] An Introduction to World Religions An Introduction to World Religions
A religion is generally a set of beliefs pertaining to creation, life and death. There are two kinds of religions; monotheistic and polytheistic. Monotheism is the worship of one God; polytheistic more than one. Monotheistic religions include Judaism, Christianity and Islam (all Abrahamic faiths). Polytheistic includes Hinduism, and various ones certain people had such as the ancient Egyptians, perhaps Native Americans, the Aztecs and the Mayans.
There are different assumptions one may have about how religion in general originated; some might believe that it primarily was a result of people trying to gain control over the general society. On the other hand, certain people may very well believe the claims that "prophets" had about having had communication with "God", or an angel for instance. There are obviously MANY, MANY different beliefs which were held, and perhaps are held to this day, by many different sorts of people.
Given knowing what religion is, it's actually difficult to find a great amount of people who are actually religious; in other words, if someone disobeys the "God(s)" he or she claims to believe in, the person is obviously not religious, even if by word of mouth the person is. That can be a VERY common occurrence, and it's not meant to be taken seriously. There have been certain misrepresentations of belief systems, for whatever possible reason(s). But the people who actually ARE religious are considered by a typical person to be "extremists", or "radicals", when actually the person is merely going by his or her own belief system. There were certain people throughout history who were "martyrs", or were tortured for what they believed in. This is the exact sort of personality ANY religious person is expected to have from their God(s), depending on which (God(s) the religion is about.
Some people might separate the words "Spirituality" and "Religion" in their minds, and others may intertwine them as if they're the same thing. It seems to be up to you. "Spirituality" seems to pertain significantly to New Age, which basically is a kind of outlook which involves psychic occurrences, astral projection and other things. "Religion" might be thought of as a more traditional way of having beliefs about creation, life and death.
Certain religions have significant similarities, such as Christianity and Judaism, which both include the Old Testament as an authentic set of books, and Christianity and Islam, which both hold certain acknowledgment for Jesus, though according to Christianity he was God, but according to Islam he was a great prophet.
